Lunar Bachelorette Ch. 03

Sam stared at Jack, her heart somewhere in her throat, her mouth suddenly dry she stammered, "You expect me to believe that I am in some sort of Sci fi movie?"

The dark chuckle that left his throat made her spine stiffen "I expect you to be a smart woman, which you clearly are. You have survived this long in this madness." Jack gestured to the room. "Movie? No, you are not in a movie Sam, however I what would it take to prove to you that something like that exists. That the things that adults use to scare children at night are real?" Although he got no closer to her, she could almost feel his words on the back of her neck.

Sam reached blindly for the glass of orange juice and sipped it while considering him and his words. His posture never changed, she never saw him move, yet he looked impossibly larger than a few moments ago. The bulk of his body seemed to take up more of the space in the room. Did the air get thinner? Struggling to breathe properly, she set the glass down and chose her words carefully, "Proof. I... I would need some irrefutable proof."

"That I have, in spades. I am going to show you something Sam." He stood and stretched out his body even more, his mass seemed so imposing to her now, towering over her. "You cannot scream, whatever you do. Do not run, do not scream, just trust that I am not going to hurt you. Can you do that?" His hands went to the button on his fly, but her eyes never left his face. "I need your answer Sam. Can you do that?" She nodded slowly and he chuckled again. "Words Sam, I need your words. Tell me that you can do this." He stepped out of his pants and unbuttoned his shirt.

"I... I can do that." Sam gulped suddenly and her hands gripped the table hard. As his clothes melted away her eyes darted to the floor, then the door. Oh my god... oh my god...

"I need you to watch this Sam." Jack's voice cut through her panic and her eyes clashed to his. Amazingly she watched as the air around him seemed to shimmer and a look of euphoria came over his face. It was then that she noticed his face elongating and morphing into something less than human. A scream started in the back of her throat and was held there by the shear force of her terror. Bones snapped sickeningly and wet popping sounds were heard as Jack's tall body crouched down to the ground. It seemed like it took forever, but in just a moment it was over and in Jack's place a large wolf stood staring at her. The scream she had held on so tightly to bubbled in the back of her throat and came out as terrified whimpers, causing the wolf's shaggy head to snap in her direction.

A scream from down the hall made Sam jump, her terrified eyes forgetting the large animal in front of her. Those were the screams she could hear from way downstairs, the ones that made her blood run cold and a cold sweat break out across her skin. The wolf in front of her growled and she jumped up onto her chair, the scream in her throat threatening to break free. Her eyes locked onto the wolf, it's tail twitching and ears back, teeth bared at the door. Something in the way that his body was positioned made her breathe a little easier, which made laughter bubble out of her mouth. The animal in question swung it's large head in her direction and she put her hands up to try and hold it off. It padded closer to her, it's claws clicking softly on the hardwood floor. Hot breath landed on her leg and she felt the need to giggle again. What the hell did they slip into the food... There is no way that I just saw what I think I just saw... Abby would know.. Shit...This is so stupid Sam, what the hell are you doing. That thing could eat you! He was a man a few seconds ago, and now he has a row of razor sharp teeth! Her heart thundered in her ears, but as she looked into the eyes of the wolf it was almost as if she knew that this was where she needed to be. Tentatively she reached out her hand and touched the tips of her fingers to his snout, and gasped at the feel of his silky soft fur.

The wolf rumbled a low pleasurable growl as her hands traveled to caress his head and shoulders.That semi hysterical laughter threatened to bubble up to the surface again as the wolf rubbed his body against her hands. A short scream and a loud thump startled her so much she pulled her hand back and slammed her elbow into the edge of the table. The scream she had been holding was ripped from her throat with the sudden pain and the wolf barked in protest, causing her to jump again. It's head tilted to the side as it sat, it's tail gently sweeping the floor, and the laughter bubbled out and over. Perhaps it was the sudden release of all the terror and fear, the hopelessness, but her laughter bubbled out and faded into sniffles and sobs.

Arms wrapped around her shoulders and she realized that she had missed the transformation in reverse. Jack had his arms around her again, and this time it was his bare shoulder and chest she was pressed into. The thought didn't immediately register as the sobs wracked her body, but as she simmered and the tremors slowed, she became acutely aware that he was wearing nothing. Pulling her head back she looked up at his face looking for a hint of the animal he was, that hint of darkness that she saw in him before his change. All she could see was his concern, and that in itself shook her. A scream made her shrink against him and a rumble roll through his chest. "Wh.. What is going on out there?" The whisper hissed out of her as she stared up at Jack again, eyes wide.

Jack cursed as he looked down at her, "The other men here are not like me Sam, they are ruthless and take whatever it is that they want." There was a bite to his words that was not there before when he was comforting her. "They give no thought to anyone else." He brushed his thumb down her cheek and something softer touched his features. That lasted only a moment before he released her and motioned for her to sit and finish eating. "Eat up, you will need your strength." He nodded at her plate and gathered up his clothes. Sam watched out of the corner of her eye as he pulled on his jeans, sans undergarments, and pulled on his shirt not bothering with the buttons.

"What is it they want?" The words were whispered out of her mouth before she could really think about them.She wanted to smack her forehead as he stiffened and turned to her, the anger was back in his eyes. Of course the obvious answer was women, her and her friends were proof of that. The whole situation was because these... things wanted women. Werewolves, the thought skittered across her mind. The glass of orange juice was suddenly in her hands and pressed against her mouth so that she could say nothing else.

"Children." Jack's voice was quiet, Sam was sure that just a few months ago she would not have been able to hear the words, but now with those new found senses, she seemed to hear everything. There is your silver lining Sam. Super powered hearing from straining in the dark. Congrats. She choked on the OJ at her own thoughts. "They want offspring. They... we are in desperate need." She glanced back over to him as he said the words this time, to be sure that he said them.

Children... They want us to be broodmares! I had a hard time contemplating when I wanted to have Kids with Jake and now this... What do they want with kids? They are just kids! How can you raise them in this type of environment! Wait... he said we need them, we..."The others are... like you?" Jack nodded slightly, but just enough that Sam could catch it "wha... What..." Thousands of question floated around in her mind, she couldn't focus on which one she wanted to start with.

"Children are... our pack hasn't been able to produce many pups." There was a sadness in Jack's voice that made sam set her glass down and look up at him. "It has been a long time since there were little ones running around our Pack House." Jack pressed his back to the wall and looked sadly at her, "This is all a mess now, none of this is what my father would have wanted and my brother..." His voice trailed off and he closed his eyes, head hanging low.

"This isn't normal then?" Sam ate some more off her plate and looked up at him, "you don't go around kidnapping girls and dragging them off into parts unknown?" Jack shook his head looking a little lost. "What does your father have to do with any of this?" motioning grandly to the room she watched him look over her slowly.

"My father... He... not directly...It's complicated," He took a deep breath and moved to sit back on the edge of the bed, his back to her, head pointed at the door, "but I will try to explain." Sam continued to eat the food in front of her while she waited for him to collect himself. "My father was the Alpha, the leader of our pack." The words came slowly at first, hesitant, but when she looked at his figure she could see his shame."My father died very suddenly one night, and my eldest brother took control of the pack." Jack stood then walking over to the table and taking the seat opposite her, his eyes focused on her plate. "It's the natural way of things in our Pack. We were not yet prepared for father's death, but Sebastian knew... Sebastian was a good man." His eyes were pleading now, "Sebastian had the training, had since he was just a pup, he knew how to govern the pack the way it was needed. Our pack had problems with pups for a long time, miscarriages were very common amongst the women, and few pups had been born directly after me. Perhaps five within the next 20 years. We are... Weres are gifted with longevity, we can live a long time, and we just assumed that perhaps we weren't as prolific as we wish we were." There was a slight smile with that, as if he was lost in some memory.

"I know that once, my father had contacted someone to see what was going on after one of our woman kept getting pregnant but having miscarriages. Our doctors didn't understand exactly what was happening so we looked for answers outside our pack... I never found out if my father found any information. He passed so quickly... My brother took over and things... Things started to happen." His hands were in his hair, tugging at the dark strands, "People were going missing from our lands, food started to dwindle to nothing... the morale dropped and Sebastian sequestered himself in his office... And then... they came." Sam set her fork down and stared at the man in front of her, the look he had was vennerable, lost... something like she felt. "Rogues, we call them, wolves with no home... they came one night and petitioned for a stay on our land. We have always wanted peace, never wanted fights, and it's custom among wolves to see a visiting Alpha if they are traveling across their territory, or if they need to hunker down for the night." Sam nodded slowly and waited for him to continue.

"I thought they were asking for a day, two at the most, and I took the leader to Sebastian. They were in the office for hours, and I kept thinking how strange it was that the rogues were not just one or two wolves but at least 10 of them, almost like they were traveling in a pack. When Sebastian opened his office door he told me that the rogues were to join our ranks, that they were a pack without lands, that they had women that would join with us and help us prosper again." That stricken look came over his features, "We were all so naive, thinking that these... monsters would help us. Our pack was dwindling so fast that most of us clung to the hope that our pack would prosper once more. Sebastian, he..." Jack rubbed at his chest over his heart. "Something went wrong in Sebastian, he was doing whatever Edward wanted, anything that the rogues wanted they took. New rules were enacted, ones that went against everything we once stood for, mates..." Sam watched him as he stood to pace in the small space. "Legend has it that there is one mate for every wolf, hand chosen by the fates. Once you have found your mate that is it. There is no one else for you, and you love that person for the rest of your lives." The pain was evident there in his voice, his body hunched over as if he had suffered the pain physically. "Humans would call it soul mates I think..." Sam nodded, though he couldn't see and continued to pick at the plate of food in front of her. "Mates are sacred, special. If you mate, and your mate dies, there are three options for you, you follow your mate into the afterlife to be reborn, you go crazy, or you continue living but in a state of near emotionlessness until your mate is reborn."

"Reincarnation." Her voice seemed to echo in the silence that was left in the room. He turned slowly and nodded facing her fully. Though she had never heard this before, some strange kind of sense was being made in her head. The word Mate fluttered against the walls of her psyche, almost like they were from a memory or a dream. Taking another sip of her orange juice she thought about her next question. "You said that he made new rules?" Her question was asked in a low tone, quiet, barely there. He stiffened but nodded, "What were they Jack?"

Jack took a moment to answer her, thought it looked like it pained him to do so. His eyes were downcast, his frame rigid, "As I said, Mates are sacred." His gaze caught hers fully only to skitter away after a moment, "the loss of a mate can drive one mad, or you feel such emptiness... Sebastian... He decreed that the mating bond was no longer going to keep couples together, that... that the women could be shared amongst the men to create offspring." There was a bite to his voice there at the end, a stinging whip to his words. Sam couldn't hold back her gasp at his words, but the pain and anger on his face led her to believe that there was more to this conversation.

"Tell me." The words were growled out of her mouth, and Jack bit back a slight smile.The grip she had on her fork turned her knuckles white, and her eyes almost seemed to glow an amber color he recognised.

"There were some that didn't make it. Once... Once the decree was laid many males fought for their females, and the rogues cut them down. Others... ended their lives. We lost so many, I was sure Sebastian would... How could he... " Jack began rubbing his chest, his eyes closed, head hung in shame. "My brother has not been seen in person by any but Edward in many long months. All his decrees are now done through him, and I have not... I know not what has happened." Jack looked up from the floor and out the window, his eyes searching, "the last decree was to help with the research here, and to go out into the human populous to find some mates. Mates of the pack, not mate to the wolf."

"Is that what we were taken for?" Sam couldn't put a number on the emotions battling in her body. The question came out low and deep, her teeth clenched in anger. My entire life was uprooted so that some asshole could create some kind of... Harem?

"Yes." Jack's answer was simple, his head hung low, and boy did that hurt. There was no way out of this mess. Her friends lives, if they still lived, were in danger because of all this. Life as she knew it was gone, and i did not seem like anything was going to get better any time soon. "I am doing what I can to stop him."The voice that left Jack this time was bitter, cold, very reminiscent of the Boss. "Not far from here lies a pack, we once belonged to that pack." His cobalt eyes latched onto hers, "My grandfather felt that he needed space and split from that pack to form his own, a few members left and we made it for a long while...The Comeaux pack... I am trying to leave them clues to intervene. It is past time something was done."

"Jack, if...If this pack intervenes," Different scenarios started to pop into her head, each worse than the last. The entire planet had shifted under her feet in less than twenty four hours, how was she supposed to just... "What is going to happen? To you? To your brother? Your pack? The women? Me?" the breaths pumping out of her were short, "What is to make them any different than this?"

Shaggy hair fell in front of his cobalt eyes, "Sam, not all packs are like this one. Our pack was easily manipulated, we are a young pack. We only broke off from the original pack about 40 years ago. The Comeaux pack is established, strong. Leon, like his father believes in the older traditions, family, and helping all those he can." Her frightened eyes caught his again, "they would never treat you as these monsters have. They protect women, they cherish them, and the children that they have are what they live for. I can guarantee that they will look after you, teach you everything you need, and even help you find your mate." He let out a long breath, " as for my brother, I wish to do whatever can be done to save him,however I am not sure what there is left to save." blowing out a breath and tossing his head back, he paused before continuing, "As for the rest of my pack, they would be placed within this pack, although they would be lower in ranks & forced to earn a new title, if there are any decent ones left." He put his head in his hands, she could almost taste his emotions, Shame?

"Jack, why... why did he give me to you?" Now that some of her other questions were asked and out of the way, this seemed like the more pertinent question to ask. Jack was speaking as if he didn't believe in anything that the Boss was saying, and yet here he was getting rewarded.

There was a deep grunt from Jack, his hands in his hair half covering his face, "I did as I was told. My Brother, or Edward, decreed that I needed to go look for a specific ingredient that was needed... he trusted no other to get it. I placed one of my most trusted men in charge and went to do my Alpha's bidding. I got the plant, but when I came back..." He slumped in his chair, "Everything was changed. I was to be given a reward for my efforts, for doing my duty. You are my reward."

"I am a person!" Sam shoved away from the table, suddenly very angry. "I am no reward, I am a person. I belong to me!"

"Your anger is well placed, but I'm to turn you Samantha. That is why this building was selected. This is on the edge of our pack lands, and far enough from the Comeaux center so nothing can be heard in the forests. The screams you have been hearing are the women being turned, against their will." Turning, with her hands on her hips, face scrunched up in anger, sam stared at him. His hands raised in defense, "I am to turn you, as the others are, but as I said there are not very many men here that are like me. I find the act of turning someone against their will...abhorrent." A physical shiver went through his body, "There are some good men left, ones that have taken up position here to try and help in any way they can. A medic from my original pack created this with the help of one of our potioneers." A vial with amber liquid swirling inside it was produced from inside his pocket. "This vial contains a powerful aphrodisiac, it is the only thing that can counteract the pain." Sam snorted at this, and another scream was heard bouncing off the walls in the hall. "The only time a human should be turned is when they find their mates. When the mate bond isn't there, there is nothing to stop the pain."

"Why, Why would you need to turn us? If all you are looking for is children, we have children all the time." Sam sat back in her seat, "There is no need for us to be turned."

"You are not incorrect. Humans do have babies all the time, but the cycles are not as dependable." Sam wrinkled her nose, "They cycle of a were is very dependable, for some who are lucky they go into heat up to 3 times a year, but the normal is once a year. You can always track a cycle, it's easier to smell for one, and were females are very, very fertile." Jack stood and his long strides took him to the door, "Were females often have litters of pups and not just one birth at a time. This increases the number of children that can be born to a pack. In this case," He turned to her then, "Edward is convinced that the humans are weak fools. Not only are they to be used as puppets, but they are nothing more than playthings. Turning you into a were makes you the perfect vessel to produce pups."