Dominant Species Ch. 17-19

The .223 caliber bullet left the barrel of her AR-15 at 2900 feet per second, and it took only a tiny fraction of a second for it to travel to its target. It hit just to the right of his spine, breaking a rib as the bullet broke and tumbled through his chest cavity. She ignored the muzzle blast, quickly reacquiring the target and sending a second shot into the back of his head.

She ignored the screams and the growls, trusting Marcus to do his part, and she moved the rifle to her right. The man behind the trunk had stood up, but didn't move fast enough to save his life. She squeezed the trigger as soon as the dot on her sight covered his stomach, then sent two followup shots. He fell to the ground and tried to crawl under the car. Taking a moment to aim, she sent the next round into his head and exploded it like a watermelon.

Her heart was racing as she lowered the rifle and looked down. Marcus had knocked the rapist off the woman and had ripped out his throat. He lay on the road twitching, his hands at his neck as he struggled for breath that would not come. The pool of blood under him spread even after his movement stopped, and Josi felt no pity for him as she watched.

She started to breathe normally again when she realized it was over.

The adrenaline rush hit her and she started to shake; she looked back at the men on the ground. The reality of what she had done hit her hard then. She had killed people.

She closed her eyes and her mind kept repeating the man's head exploding as the final round stopped him. She started to cry silently, she was now a killer.

Marcus was right, she could never take this back.

She blinked back tears and saw Marcus waving her down. There were people that needed them, she thought, so she slung her rifle and stood up to go to them. She picked her way along the trail in the dim moonlight.

Marcus had shifted back to human form after making sure the man was dead. He rose up onto his good leg and hopped naked over to the car to check the woman out. She was in full breakdown mode, sobbing as she sank to the ground. She hid her face in her knees from the carnage around her, and when he tried to touch her she screamed.

Apparently, a naked guy covered in blood isn't comforting to a rape victim.

He turned away, then hopped over to the side of the road where the rapist had tossed his shirt. He pulled it over his head, luckily the guy was big and it covered him a little. He hopped to the passenger side door and opened it, moving himself into the back seat where the two children were.

The boy was protectively shielding his baby sister even though he was still crying and calling for daddy. Marcus opened the door and put his hand on his back. "It's all right, it's over now." The boy stiffened but didn't turn around. "Are you all right? Did anyone hurt you?"

The boy finally sat back after a long cry. He looked to be about eight years old. "They hurt Daddy!"

"I know." He gave the boy a quick look, no blood on him, then quickly checked the baby girl and saw the same. "I need you to help your sister while I help your parents, all right?" He unbuckled her from the car seat and put her in his arms.

"But Daddy, he's hurt, there's blood!" He started to look over the seat and Marcus gently pushed him back, shaking his head.

"Don't look out there, just watch your sister and keep her calm. I'm going to check your Dad." The boy nodded his head and turned back to his sister.

Marcus got back out and hopped to the trunk, finding an old blanket. He threw it over his shoulder as he hopped around to the man lying face down on the pavement, half out of the car. He put his fingers to his neck to check for a pulse, but he knew he wouldn't find one. He could see gray matter mixed with the blood on the door and the car. The bastards had shot him in the back of the head as he was getting out. He laid the blanket over him and pulled him clear of the car, wrapping him so the family wouldn't see him like this.

Josi jogged up as he was tucking the blanket around his feet. She put the backpack down and retrieved his leg, bringing it to him along with his shorts. He looked up at her. "Are you all right,Josi?" "I'll deal with it. I'm going to check the woman." She moved to the front of the car. Kneeling down, she put her arms around the crying woman and started to whisper in her ear. The woman wailed her loss to the sky before burying her face in Josi's shoulder.

Marcus could now move around normally so he retrieved his artificial wolf leg and stored it in his backpack. He then went back to the trunk and opened a suitcase, finding her clothes. He grabbed underwear, shorts and a t-shirt, then a pair of ankle socks and running shoes. Holding the clothes, he came back to the front and set them by Josi. "The children are fine, just scared. Is she injured?"

"Ma'am, what is your name?"

"Sylvia. Silvia Perkins."

"Silvia, have you been hurt?" She sobbed louder. Josi lifted her head so she could look at her. "Marcus is a doctor, he can help you. We saw those men raped you, we need to know if they did anything else to you."

The woman looked at Josi and nodded. "Hit me mostly, but I'm only worried about my baby." Josi smiled. "Your son and your baby are fine, Marcus already checked them."

"No... I'm three months pregnant. One hit me in the stomach, and I can feel blood down there." Josi could see the red streaks on her thighs. "That man... I saw him. He was a vicious wolf, he killed that man then he turned into a man. He's a werewolf. You probably are ... Shit! Get away from me! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The woman scrambled to get away from Josi, slapping her hands away. Her knees scraped on the pavement as she crawled off to the passenger side, desperate to get to her children. Josi stood up and hugged her until she stopped struggling. "I'm human, just like you. Marcus is a werewolf. He is also a good man. He saved my friends and I yesterday and he saved you tonight."

"He's an animal! He's dangerous!"

Josi moved her until she was sitting in the passenger seat, her feet still outside. "He's a big old teddy bear too. Married, daughter at home. Friends, neighbors, just like you. Dangerous only to guys like that. He was a Green Beret years ago." She lifted her chin and looked in her eyes. "Think of what he did and what those men did and tell me which is an animal."

She didn't say anything. Marcus moved to the back seat and lifted the boy and the baby together into the front seat. He immediately started crying into her shoulder as Josi moved the baby to her other shoulder.

"I'm going to get my medical kit. Silvia, I'm just going to clean you up and check your baby, but only if you let me. We won't force you." He turned away while Josi went back for the clothes. Marcus found some baby wipes in the diaper bag behind the seat and set them on the hood for Josi. "Can you clean her up and get her shirt on?"

Josi nodded. She moved back to her side. "I'm going to clean this up while you hold your children, all right?" She nodded, so Josi took the wipes and started with her face and the scratches on it. She cleaned up her elbows and palms, then her knees. "Are you all right with this next part? I need to clean the blood and your... Lady parts." She blushed, but there was a boy there.

Silvia nodded. "Zach, I want you to keep your head where it is. Don't move, even if I flinch or cry out, all right? I need you to be brave so your sister doesn't get scared."

"Yes Mommy."

Josi suppressed a gasp when Silvia opened her thighs. She worked as gently as she could, but the cuts and tears the rapists had left behind were painful. Silvia gritted her teeth as she worked. By the time Marcus arrived with the bag, she was done.

"Silvia, may I examine you?" Marcus set his bag on the hood and was donning gloves.

"Yes." She looked at Josi. "Hold my baby for me?" She handed the girl over and Josi smiled down at her. "Her name is Michelle, she is ten months old."

"She's beautiful." Josi sat in the back seat so her big brother could keep an eye on her. Marcus knelt between her legs and inspected the damage. "You have some lacerations that will require stitches, but the damage won't be permanent." He used the stethoscope on her lower abdomen. "Strong heartbeat, and I didn't find any other bleeding. Your baby will be fine."

He went back to his bag and drew a lydacaine injection along with some alcohol pads and antibiotic cream. She hissed in pain as he cleaned the wound with the pads. "Sorry, but we can't have you get infected. You will feel some pain from the shot, but in a few minutes you will be glad I used it." He gave her the injections then started getting the stitching kit ready. "How can you even see?"

Marcus looked up at the moon. "Wolf vision is much more sensitive than human night vision. When I bring that forward, I can see find but mainly black and white."

"And you can do this with one eye?"

"I've done everything with one eye since that suicide bomber hit." He started to work on the cuts, and they made small talk as he fixed her up. He found out that they were traveling to a classic car meet in Sun Valley when it happened. They were stopped at a diner when it hit, luckily the owner got them all in the basement when people started getting burned. They stayed one more day to rest up and let their vision clear up then they hit the back roads. Their attackers had dropped a tree across the road, and when her husband David had stopped, they shot him as he was getting out. They then dragged her from the car and raped her in front of her children. "And then you showed up."

Marcus finished up the sutures and spread cream over the wounds. "All done. Josi will help you get dressed." He walked away, now that he was done being a doctor the anger flowed through him. He clenched his fists, then decided to clear the road. He pulled the tree aside then dragged the dead men to the shoulder.

When he was done, Silvia was in the back seat buckling her baby in the car seat and Josi was sitting in front. Marcus cleared space in the trunk then lifted David's wrapped body and placed it inside.

"What now?" Silvia's voice was strong now, she was focused on her children and that was good.

"We drive to Salmon where my family is, since you came from there the road should be good. You can stay with us until you heal up enough for your next move."

He looked over at Josi. "Stay alert and keep the rifle handy, things could have changed."

Josi sat up straight and patted the magazine of her rifle. "I've got you covered, Doc."

They turned around and headed south for home.

---

The hatch opened and Autumn came back down crying. By the time she got to the bottom of the stairs, Mary had ordered the children to shift back. They jumped off the bed, each taking a side of the young girl, and led her back to the bed and curled up around her.

Their Alpha's voice boomed through the shelter. "Tom, get over here and catch her." Richard Wolfe lowered the unconscious mother feet first down the ladder until Tom had her, then he climbed down himself. He tossed off the blanket he had used to protect himself from the intense sunlight during his brief trip from the shelter at his house to his daughter's. "Everyone all right?"

Mary nodded. "The only damage was a couple cans of baked beans and some laundry that smells like brown sugar now."

Tom placed the woman back in her bed, but this time he used a pair of handcuffs to lock her left arm to a pipe protruding from the wall. "It was tense, but she didn't want to hurt us. She was scared and wanted to get away from us."

"How did she find out?" Rachel looked at the children. "Raven needed to go to the bathroom, she saw her changing back. We had the kids in wolf form for the night because we thought they would be able to protect themselves better." She looked at where Autumn was now back to sleep with the dogs. "It's my fault."

Richard sat next to his daughter and put his arms around her. "It was a risk we took, and it didn't work out. That's just the way it is sometimes." He looked over at Abigail. "We'll talk to her when she wakes up, I clocked her pretty good when she came out of there. I'm sure she will be bruised."

"I feel horrible. I know the Law, and she's terrified of us. If she refuses the Change, we have to kill her to keep the knowledge from getting out. How do I deal with that when her daughter is here too? What, do we kill her too in order to keep the secret?"

"We'll deal with that tonight, but we won't make a hasty decision. We need to explain things, show her we aren't to be feared. All right?" Rachel nodded her head. "Now let's get some sleep, sundown will come soon enough and we have a lot of stuff to deal with tonight." He kissed his daughter as she got into bed, then kicked off his shoes and climbed in next to her. She put her neck on his broad chest and quickly fell back into her slumber.

--

Bethany woke slowly, the smell of cooking food and the hand gently caressing her face and hair helping to pull her mind out of the fog. She opened her eyes slowly, the light was bright in them and she closed them again. The movement was enough to cause her pillow to shift. A man's voice, deep and calming, was in her ear.

"Welcome back, love. Take it easy, moving might be painful until the burns are gone."

She opened her eyes again, this time keeping them open long enough to adjust. She saw his chest, broad and strong, with a patch of dark hair just in front of where her face was lying on his shoulder. She moved her head until she could see his face. He was gorgeous, she thought- like a runway model- but she had no idea who he was. He smiled at her and it settled her down; somehow, this felt right even though her rational mind was wondering what the hell just happened to her.

"Beth, you're awake!" She looked over at the cot next to her, where her twin sister Britney was resting in the arms of her own man. She looked at him, then at the man holding her in her arms, then back at her sister. "I know it's a lot to ask, but I need you to just relax and we'll explain everything to you." She looked up with loving eyes at her man. "This is Eric, he is my man. His twin brother Derek is yours. They are our mates."

"Mates? What the hell?" She rose up, grimacing with the pain, and looked at him again. "How? What?"

Derek kissed her forehead. "I know it is a lot to accept, but you are mine and I am yours. Eric and I are werewolves. We found the two of you because your scent called to us, and told us you were the other half of us. The two of you were severely injured, so much so that we did the only thing we could to save you. We bit you."

Her mouth could have caught flies. "This some freaky Twilight stuff?"

"No, my love, it's real. The change helped to heal you, a little more and your burns will be gone. They tell me your vision was lost that afternoon, but obviously you can see now. How is your vision?"

She looked around. "It's weird. I can see, but it's in black and white. There are some colors but they are muted." She looked at her sister. "Are you all right?"

Britney nodded. "My vision wasn't as bad, and my burns are healing well. Eric bit me too. My eyes are good, but I can see even better now, especially in dim light."

"That's the wolf vision coming in," Derek said. "Your eyes are changing, developing the vision of the wolf. A wolf's eye is different; it is very sensitive but doesn't have much for color vision."

"Will I get my normal vision back?"

"I don't know, Bethany. We'll have to see what happens after your first shift." She settled back down on his chest while he rubbed her back. "So you're my perfect guy or something? Why does this voice in my head sound so happy to be with you?"

Derek chuckled. "That's your wolf, she's inside of you now, a part of you. You can trust her; she will help you through the change."

"Well, my wolf is starving." Derek chuckled as he moved out of the way, putting a pillow under her head. "Get me some food then you have some explaining to do." He moved off and she watched him move away, her eyes lingering on his broad shoulders and tight backside. She then looked back over to her sister and mouthed, "He's HOT!"

Britney laughed and said, "So's mine. We are so lucky, Beth, they are so nice and my wolf is over the moon when I'm around him. It's going to be all right. Willow and Cheyenne are here somewhere, they don't have hot werewolf mates and haven't been bitten but they are doing all right."

"And Josi? Where is she?"

"She is going to Salmon with Doctor Marcus. She is going to try and find our parents." They both looked up as Derek came back with a plate loaded with food. He fed her lunch as he filled her in on what was happening.

She had a lot of questions.

He had a lot of answers.

And when he kissed her, she finally understood what he meant about him being the other part of her soul.

---

Abigail felt like she was stuck in a dark cave.

She tried to sit up, but her body didn't respond to her. She couldn't touch, couldn't feel. She was stuck in a fog, not realizing the sedative she had been given was still holding her back. Her eyes would not open yet, so she focused on the sounds she could make out around her. Most she recognized, one she didn't. The last thing she remembered was walking out of the closet after escaping from the werewolves, then there was an explosion of pain in her jaw and darkness. She hadn't made it.

Listening carefully, she could hear the delighted squeals of the children as Autumn played with at least two others. She could hear what sounded like a swingset, the whoosh of air past her daughter as she pushed higher and higher.

"Raven, watch this!" A few seconds later there was the clank of chains then a soft thud. "Hah! New record! Beat that!"

"Oh, don't worry, I will." The voice of a boy this time, she heard him pushing higher and higher before he jumped. She focused for a moment on her body, she could start to feel things and figured out she was in a chaise lounge of some sort, probably out in the yard. She didn't want them to know she was awake yet, so she resisted the impulse to move or open her eyes. The swing had started up again, this time with excited laughs of a young girl. Raven? There was a high pitched shriek as she jumped, and when she landed the boy groaned loudly. The girls squealed in excitement. "See? Girls rule, boys drool."

"You got schooled, Michael." Autumn said. "Can you guys be wolves again so we can play?"

"Mom?" Raven's voice was higher and softer as she pleaded.

"All right, but stay in the yard. I know it's dusk but when it gets darker Autumn won't be able to see until the moon is up." She heard the group run past her and the door opened, a few minutes later her daughter ran past with two wolves chasing her. She was having fun and the adults were watching them, so she tried to relax. She knew deep down the two young werewolves wouldn't hurt her daughter.

"Do you think Abigail will accept the change?" She heard Mary nearby.

"They have to. It's either that or be killed, though Richard would never tell her that. He'd tell them they could leave and then kill them when they are on the road." Rachel started to cry softly. "He's had to do it before; all the Packs have. I've never liked it, but it's the Law. We can't let our secret out; we'd be in danger if humans knew."

"My mind understands that, but my heart does not. The option to change and be one of us isn't really an option if the other choice means your death. It would be so much easier if we could just erase their memories or something." She paused. "I think Autumn would do it just so she could play in wolf form. It's only been a few hours, but she really fits in with our kids. She isn't scared of any of this, just look at her." They all listened to the squeals of the playing children as the conversation lulled. Finally, Rachel broke the silence. "I just wish I had my mate here. It's killing me not knowing that he is all right." There was a soft sob. "I know he's alive, I can feel that much. He's too far away to link to, but with everything going on I'm worried."