Dominant Species Ch. 57-58

As they approached the bridge that marked the border between their territory, Reggie howled in greeting and was immediately answered by a welcoming howl. A border guard was standing naked on the middle of the bridge when they came into view. "Follow me, Alpha is expecting you." He shifted into his grey and white wolf and took off, and the column didn't break pace as they continued down the road. It wasn't long until they came into North Fork and were led to where Alpha Calvin, Luna Kelly and his Betas were waiting to greet them.

Reggie stopped in front of them and shifted, pulling shorts out of a bag around his neck he put those on then a shirt as his men and women behind him did the same. Moving forward, he embraced Calvin and Kelly, then stopped confused as he encountered the Alpha aura surrounding Donald. "Donald? You..."

"Luna appeared to me and gave me Alpha powers, she is sending me to the Bitterroot Valley to protect the people there." He embraced Reggie, who he used to play with at Pack functions when he was a puppy, and smiled broadly. "Come, we have much to talk about."

They all moved to the picnic area where Calvin had his Pack waiting. "Wolves of North Fork, honored friends, tonight is a great night because Luna herself has spoken to us and blessed us." There was a murmuring that quickly died down. "Last night, Luna spoke to me about how the North Fork pack would help lead the way out of the mess that surrounds us." He detailed the charge she had given his Pack, to teach and help organize the resources of their area so that they would have food, water and heat for all to survive. When he was done, he turned the stage over to Alpha Reggie, who described his own dream and how Luna wanted their Pack to take the lead in changing and training humans to live within the Pack. Finally, it was Donald's turn.

"Last night, Luna appeared to me and told me more about what was happening to our north." He sighed, some of the people in the park had been rescued from those towns, and more remained. "The Packs of the Bitterroot valley were hit hard, none of the Alphas of that region survived. There are a few wolves who have already come to me, and others are out there. Luna charged me with becoming the Alpha of the region, and my first task is to protect the people that live there. Barry, Brian and Terry were with me when we met the criminals in Corvallis, men who were out to rape and plunder the populace. Those men are dead, but more are out there. This is also personal to me, because my mate's family is in Missoula where this gang is based." Silvia moved forward and took his hand as he looked at her with adoration. "Our first task is to bring peace to the Valley, after that we will gather a Pack and help the remaining humans survive and change if they desire."

"This isn't just something for Donald to do," Reggie said. "Luna wants this done first, and how we do it will be a model for how we move into new territories to bring peace. Whether you have friends or relatives up there doesn't matter, we still haven't heard back from our allied packs to the South and that is the next direction we will go. Luna wants us to establish safe and secure territories where human and werewolf can live and thrive, and repopulate the earth."

"Donald is going to lead the warriors in the fight to the north, and Reggie and I will be at his side directing our warriors." Calvin looked at his men and women who were ready to go. "Our Lunas will be in charge here. Beta Candice will be going with us along with a few of her assistants; Luna's charge for our Pack is to lead organization, and no one is better at that than Candice. She will be loaned to Donald's pack to help him get things established."

The meeting went on for another ten minutes, as questions were answered, then Alpha Calvin called for the warriors to head to the buses. They were using them as transport as not only were they faster than running, but they would be needed to bring humans back to Salmon who would volunteer first to make the change. The Pack gave them a rousing sendoff as the buses pulled out and headed north.

From the door of her hotel room, Silvia watched with Michelle on her hip as Donald left her again. She couldn't hide it any longer, her heart belonged to him and his leaving left her with a huge hole in her heart, a hole that she never expected to have. Brushing aside the tears, she went back into the room and checked on her son and her friend, both of whom were still out with the fevers.

Luna Kelly came to her room as she was wiping the sweat from Zach's forehead with a damp cloth. "Silvia, can we talk?" She waved her in and Kelly sat on the bed across from her. "You heard the Alphas talk about how the Packs will be concentrating on what they do best. When the truck returns from the Salmon clinic in an hour or so, we need to send these two down there."

Silvia froze, she hadn't thought that far ahead. She had fled Salmon but that was only because they believed a war had occurred with the humans, one that Josi had averted. "Who else is going?"

"You are welcome to go with, you know Donald won't be back for a while and it won't be safe for you to join him until he can get established." She noted how Silvia blushed at the thought, then continued. "I'm sending Britney and Bethany too; their mates are fighting with Donald, and as recent turns they can both help out and be helped. Autumn as well. The training they have there will help them learn about their wolf side."

"Do we have to stay?"

"No, of course not. The Alphas all agreed, they will allow every changed human to choose their own Alpha and will allow free movement between Packs. We expect that Luna will put people where they need to be, and with the people that are destined for them." She snickered a little. "I can't even keep up with all the matings that are happening these days."

Silvia came over and flopped down on her bed. "Will I ever get used to this?"

Kelly laid next to her and held her hand. "Of course, you will. You have a lot within you that you haven't tapped yet. Luna wouldn't have picked you to be an Alpha if you couldn't do it."

Silvia shivered. "I suppose I'll have to become a wolf too?"

"Yes, to have your Alpha powers you will need your wolf. There is no hurry, though- get your son through the change. When you are ready, Donald will change you. Then you will fully appreciate the strength of the bond you have with him and the power you have inside." She sat up and pulled her with her. "Come on, we need to get you packed."

Meanwhile, the two school buses were moving through the mountains. Alpha Donald was on edge, and his wariness was soon validated when he spotted the headlights approaching from over the next rise. "STOP!" The buses pulled to the side.

Hopping out, he told the drivers to kill their lights as he met with the other Alphas. "There's a truck coming... just one." They could hear it, a single diesel engine and the sound of gears changing as it reached the peak and started back down the road. "We need defensive measures. Reggie, your men have rifles, send four up each side of the road and find firing positions. Calvin, have a dozen of your men shift and take position on the ditches down by the stream. Nobody does anything unless they fire first, until you hear my signal."

"What's your signal?"

Donald smirked as her opened the cargo door under the bus, removing one of his homemade Claymore mines, a detonator and a spool of wire. "It goes boom."

A few minutes later, the men were in place, a tree had been knocked down across the road, and Donald was pulling wire back from the hidden roadside mine to a large rock that would provide him cover. They all hid as the truck approached, and the riflemen trained their weapons on it, fingers next to the triggers.

As it slowed before the downed tree, Donald stretched his senses out. Whatever was in there was masked by the overwhelming smell of manure.

He put his hand on the detonator and watched as it came to a halt.