Dominant Species Ch. 68-71

It had been a long night. He linked with Derek; in the morning they would take one of the two tractors and trailers and drive to Salmon, picking up any passengers along the way who didn't get better transport. It would take a while, but it was better than a long run through the mountains.

-

Calvin held Kelly's hand as they stood in front of the funeral pyre for Travis. The rest of the Pack and the humans staying in North Fork spread out in a circle, surrounding the pile of wood with the wrapped wolf on top. The flames had caught in the dry wood easily, and they all ignored the smell of burning flesh as his body was consumed. Calvin pulled off his clothes for the shift, the Pack following him. He sat and let out a long, mournful howl; the next time, Kelly's wolf joined him, and then the entire Pack let out their emotions.

Travis had been well liked within the Pack, a good young man and a good warrior. He would be missed.

They watched until the pyre collapsed on itself, just as the sun was threatening to rise above the mountains. They shifted back and went to their houses or rooms for the day. The Alphas headed for the hotel where Silvia had remained behind her closed door. The funeral had occurred immediately after the car carrying Travis arrived with Alpha Calvin and two others who had been left in Henderson, so they had not had time to talk to her about what they now knew.

Donald had driven one of the buses that still worked from Corvallis to Henderson to drop off humans from Missoula, then loaded up with people from Corvallis heading to the gathering and stopped in North Fork. Silvia had been glad to see him, but it was the second time he had returned to her without her parents. He had a short time to fill her in on what had happened; he knew her parents had survived the gangs, but they were trapped by the fire he had escaped. She would have to wait for Calvin to return to find her answer.

She had turned her back on him as he drove off to Salmon. Donald was crushed, but he drove on. Kelly had tried to help her, but her grief was strong; Donald hadn't given her much hope they would have survived the fire they barely escaped with their lives.

Kelly knocked on the door and called for her. She opened the door, Michelle was almost asleep against her chest. Zach and Abigail had been sent to Salmon with Donald to complete their change and start Wolf U; the only reason she hadn't gone with was because she was waiting for word on her parents. Kelly held out her hands and she handed Michelle over then they all sat on her bed. "We have good news, Silvia."

Calvin took her hand in his. "Your parents survived the fire, they are safe and are up in Corvallis." Silvia screamed in happiness, causing Michelle to give out a tired cry, before she collapsed back onto her bed. "Eric and Derek found them and they all rode out the fire in your parent's safe room. Earlier tonight, I took three others including Travis back to Missoula. We met your family outside of town, they were driving a tractor with a hay trailer and some refugees down to Corvallis. We kept going and met up with Eric and Derek, who had their own tractor and were searching the town for survivors. During that search, Travis was accidentaly shot."

Silvia sat up, tears running down her face. "He was the funeral, right?"

"Yes, we did everything we could to save him but it wasn't enough. I had your car so we were able to get him here from the Henderson clinic before sunrise. I haven't seen your parents again, but I did verify they made it to Corvallis safely."

She looked at him, pleading. "Take me to them, please!"

Kelly shook her head no. "They will come to us. They are going to the gathering in Salmon, when it is dark again they will drive the tractor down with anyone else from that town who needs to come. They should be through here before midnight." She looked at Calvin. "We have to get home, the sun is almost up. Sleep well, and we will talk again after sundown." They let themselves out and raced back home, just beating the rising sun.

-

Marcus made his way to Rachel's room at the Salmon clinic as sunrise approached. He had made a visit to North Fork to check on Megan; it had gone as well as could be expected given the limited medical equipment that still worked. She wasn't bleeding and he could hear a fetal heartbeat, so he settled for weekly checks. He cautioned her and her mate Al to stay out of the sun, take it easy, and sleep underground. He then caught one of the transports that were headed to Salmon, making it back around midnight.

The night had been busy, more new werewolves were being brought in from Henderson and Corvallis plus those from North Fork and Salmon itself. As people became more comfortable with werewolves and saw people they know change, they were eager to make the change themselves. The fever and the pain of the change were nothing compared to what they gained, the additional adaptations that would help them function in the world they found now. Just the better night vision of a wolf was a major advantage.

He opened the door, Raven was already asleep in her bed in the corner and Rachel was reading a book as she waited for him. She hated bedrest, but she and her wolf would do anything for their new baby. She smiled as he walked in. "Good day?"

"Busy. Almost everyone is here for the gathering, and we had a bunch of people entering Wolf U tonight. I have plenty of help, so if there isn't an emergency I'm yours for the next eight hours or so."

"That's good," she smiled as she moved over. He slipped into bed and laid on his back, allowing her to lay on her side with an arm and a leg over him. "I love you, Marcus. No matter what happens around us, I still have you and Raven and that's all I really need."

"I love you too," he replied and they quickly drifted off to sleep.

-

"COLONEL! WE HAVE CONTACT!"

Colonel Michael Kent of the Montana Air National Guard sat up in his underground bunk, his fatigue disappearing as his mind processed the news. He looked at the Airman who had barged into his room as he was putting his boots on. "With who?"

"NORAD. We got Cheyenne on a VHF frequency." The airman stood aside as his Commanding Officer burst out of his room, zipping up his flight suit and taking off down the hall towards Communications. The room door was open, as the electronic locks no longer functioned and there were only a handful of them left anyway.

"Tech Sergeant Billings, you fucking genius, how did you get this to work?" He clapped his radioman on the back as he entered the room.

"I managed to find parts in storage in the back of the bunker and cobbled it together. It's spotty, but I was able to raise the Air Defense Command. They want to talk to you."

He put on the headphones and Sgt. Billings handed him a microphone. "Cheyenne, Cheyenne, this is Malmstrom Air Force Base, Colonel Kent commanding, come in." Malmstrom Air Force Base was a missile defense base, his Air Guard unit operated helicopters from the base airfield.

"Malmstrom, this is NORAD Actual. Colonel, we can't raise your missile command. Status report?"

"Dead, sir. We haven't been able to access all the control areas, but those we found open the personnel died in the sunlight. We have one operational helicopter, twelve surviving personnel."

There was a pause on the net. "Malmstrom, any evidence of attack?"

"No sir. All the damage thus far is from the solar storm, it knocked out almost all electronics and transportation. We've cobbled together the assets we have. We have made scouting missions in our helicopter to surrounding areas. Estimate is 99 percent of the population is gone, and society has broken down in many places. None due to enemy action, we're collapsing on our own." He paused for a moment. "Sir, are you in contact with National Command Authority? Is the President alive?"

"Negative, Malmstrom. You're the first unit we've been able to contact."

He bent his head close to the microphone. "We can put a helicopter in the air with a 400 mile range, more if we can find a field and a way to refuel. Other than that, we have no assets."

"Roger that, Malmstrom. Stand by for orders."

A half hour later, the Colonel had hand copied his orders onto two pages of a legal pad. His face was pale, he didn't like it, but orders were orders. As soon as the sun set, he would set out with his men for Salmon. They had been invited, and he may as well start there.

-

Carl woke well before sundown, as an Alpha he had trained himself to function on little sleep. His days had been so busy with Pack business that he became an early riser out of necessity; in the time before the others woke, he could concentrate on his work.

Looking down at the beautiful woman in his arms, work was the farthest thing from his mind. Justine was sleeping deeply, her arm draped over his right shoulder while her head pillowed on his left. A leg was tossed over his, and as he gazed at her form his body responded. He memorized her face, moving the dark hair out of the way. It was cut short enough to tuck under her surgical cap, but was just enough to cover her eyes. He couldn't have that, her eyes were a pool that drew him to jump in.

She twitched and opened her eyes as he continued to gently stroke her face and neck. He smiled down at her, still shocked he had found her. She returned the smile, and started to sit up, but grimaced a little as the soreness from the previous night made itself apparent. Although both were inexperienced, they quickly figured things out and had exhausted themselves in repeated bliss. She focused on his face. "Turn me? Please?"

"Of course, Justine. I'll be as gentle as I can." He rolled her on top of him, giving her the ability to control the pace and penetration. She lined him up, rubbing him on her rapidly moistening sex she lowered herself onto him.

"Ohhh fuck..." She closed her eyes as he filled her, it stretched and it pushed and it hurt but it felt oh so good to do it. He reached up and cupped her breasts, his thumbs flicking across the hardening nipples. She started moving as the pain left, rising slowly and dropping back down with a loud moan. Carl sat up and scooted them towards the wall, never leaving her as he easily lifted her weight. She moaned as the new position caused new places to be stimulated. They rose together to a peak, and as she broke apart in his arms he lunged forward, shifted teeth biting deep into the junction of neck and shoulder, as she screamed in pain and pleasure. He released her, licking the blood that leaked out, as they wound back down to normal again.

"You will be a great Alpha Female, I can feel your strength and my wolf is giddy at the thought of you being at my side." Carl hugged her tight as she rested her forehead on his. "This will work out well, we can go to Salmon for the talks and you should hit your fevers by daybreak."

She smiled at him. "You will stay with me and help me, right?"

"I never want to leave your side again," he said as he captured her lips with his.

When the sun was below the mountains, the assembled wolves gathered around Alpha Carl. "Tonight we run, not as individuals, not even as a Pack, but as something greater. We run together as allies and friends. Shift!" The wolves shifted who hadn't already, some had packs or bags they could carry in their mouths. Carl had Justine, who was dressed in jeans, top and sweater for the long run with a small backpack for their things. They would both be staying a few days until she completed Wolf U. Carl's large wolf, obviously an Alpha compared to the mostly normal rank wolves around him, laid on the ground so she could get on. As he stood up, she adjusted her grip. With a powerful howl, the twenty-three wolves from Henderson headed south.

-

"Come on, let's get to work." Reggie pulled Donald along towards the meeting room the Alphas would be using. Carl wasn't here yet, neither was Calvin, but there were things they could do. "We need to start laying out the parameters of the Alliance Agreement. I'd like to get as much done as we can before the others arrive so we can spend more time agreeing and less time writing."

Donald walked with him, his heart clearly elsewhere. Without Silvia, being an Alpha was pointless. His wolf was mad at him for leaving his mate in North Fork when she was upset; he needed to deliver people here, but she was upset at him and had turned away as he drove off. Twice he had left to find her parents and twice he had returned without them.

Alpha Robert joined them, having dropped Tammy off at the clinic. The gathering was about more than just the Alphas, each functional area had representatives that would meet. There was no point in every Pack raising rabbits, for instance; one or two could focus on doing it on a large scale, then trade with the others. Information and training would be just as valuable, as they all had to learn skills long forgotten in the age of technology. It wasn't that there wasn't a Wal-Mart, there was, it was just burned out and looted. You had to learn to get water, cook, wash clothes, grow food and heat buildings in a way your great-great grandparents might have done. Tammy was going to meet with the surviving medical professionals to work out the best way to provide health care to the Packs.

The Alphas smiled and greeted the various Pack members and humans who were gathered in small groups. There was a palpable excitement in the air, a feeling best summed up as Hope. After all the death and sickness and horror brought on by the solar flare, they were starting to rally together and see a way forward. The excitement just built with each new group that had arrived, and more were expected throughout the night. By daybreak, they expected over four hundred adults to be here.

They entered the meeting room and Reggie adjusted the oil lamp that was providing illumination. The conference table was covered with a large map of the area. Post-it notes were attached in various locations, showing the status of the town or the Pack as they now knew it. "So how will we work the territories," Robert asked. He was, right now, an Alpha without a Pack or land.

Reggie pointed to the map where they had outlined the current territories of the North Fork and Salmon Packs. "You are set up in Henderson, right?" Donald nodded. Reggie used a pencil to draw a border between there are Corvallis, then extended the territory line to the mountains on either side and through the south valley. The northern portion of the valley was drawn similarly, with Corvallis as the base, and extended up to the outskirts of a burned-out Missoula. "Alpha Carl is from here," he said pointing to Blue Mountain off to the southwest of that town. "He's familiar with the area, and we need someone in Corvallis with the human population we still have there. At some point, if we can find another Alpha, we can set up a territory north of there that includes Missoula and the valley to the east and west."

Alpha Robert looked at the map, wondering where he would fit in. "My problem is that I'm from Salmon and my mate Tammy works here. There's not enough room in this town for the both of us, so to speak, unless we split the town down the middle."

Reggie nodded. "I have a different idea. Notice anything about this map?"

"Yeah, we're good north and south in the valleys but open in the middle." He pointed to the area between Gibbonsville and Powder Mountain. "We've got an opening here at the middle, Highway 43 comes in from Montana. Tactically, we could be cut in half without knowing."

"Exactly. The other issue is simple distance; the Pack bonds can only work so far, and we don't have radio or telephone communications. The werewolf solution is to relay messages along the Pack bonds, then relay from Pack to Pack, but these mountains make that impossible... unless there is another Pack there. The terrain is rough, but there are plenty of areas that might work for you since there are so many cabins and vacation homes."

"My family has a cabin here," he pointed to a small valley a few miles south of that intersection. The North Fork of the Salmon River flowed through it, and there was enough farmland and housing in the area to support a few dozen people. "What about Gibbonsville?"

Donald let out a heavy sigh. "The main drag is pretty much gone, lots of bodies around from where the fires took out the buildings. Back up the hill the houses may be better, but they have no basements- so the whole town is gone. It would be good to have Tammy in a central location, since we have clinics in Salmon and Henderson."

"I guess I need to make a Pack and do some exploring, then." The others nodded. There was a commotion outside, they left the room and greeted Alpha Calvin and Luna Kelly arrived with a half dozen other wolves from North Fork. Those in wolf form were giving them excited yips, while those in human form were waving. They stepped inside a tent which had been set up as a changing booth, with plenty of extra clothing, a concession to the humans who were still embarrassed by nudity. When they came out, Kelly went down by the river park to meet the working groups while Calvin joined the other Alphas.

"Calvin, is Silvia all right?"

"She's just fine, Donald. She's waiting for her parents." Calvin smiled, he knew Donald had left with the bus before he had arrived with the news.

"They are alive?"

"They are fine. They rode out the fire in her parent's safe room, then we picked them up. They will be here later tonight, they are traveling by hay wagon so it isn't fast. I only got there last night because we had to bring Travis back and burn him. He died when he was shot while looking for survivors south of Missoula." Donald's face fell, he hadn't known about that. He closed his eyes, a tear dripping from his eye as he remembered his younger friend and warrior. He had been a good one.

He opened his eyes, as his mind processed that Silvia would be arriving and he would get to meet her parents at last. He hoped she wouldn't still be mad at him, he had to fix their relationship soon because his wolf was going nuts that he hadn't marked her yet. They all filed back into the room; Calvin agreed with their ideas for territories, so they just needed Alpha Carl and they could settle that issue for good. Reggie had a copy of the Pack agreement that North Fork had with the other surrounding Packs before the flare. While they were waiting, they would go through it and work out some rules that fit their new world.

-

Silvia walked back and forth nervously at the north end of town, looking for her parents. Things were quiet; most of the Pack had already left for North Fork. Michelle was playing in the grass on the side of the road, and Zach was already down in Salmon, so it was just them.

She wrapped her arms around herself, the waiting was driving her nuts. She looked up at the sky; the Northern Lights weren't as prevalent as before. They suspected the solar activity had dropped back to normal, which was good, but she missed the shifting colors.

She looked up as a strange noise came from up the road; it was like a stampede, but softer. She looked up again, just in time to see a shooting star flying across. "I wish... I wish my parents get to meet Donald and like him." When she opened her eyes again, movement up the road caught her eye. Wolves. A whole Pack thundering down upon her, made different only by the woman who was riding the lead wolf like a small horse.

She picked up Michelle as they came to a stop by her. The woman jumped off, patting the wolf's neck. "Holy cow that is fun! I'm Doc Jenkins, Justine Jenkins. You waiting for someone?"

"My parents, they are coming down from Corvallis in a hay trailer I guess."

"Well, we left Henderson before they got there, but I'm sure they are fine. The road is clear and it's a nice night." She looked around. "Everyone already in Salmon?"