Stolen Birthright Ch. 38-41

"Can you still feel Mommy?"

"No." The boy started crying. "My wolf says she is gone. I can't feel anyone except Tina now."

I pulled the two into my lap as we drove away. "We have you now. What is your name, little man?"

"Tony. Tony Keller. This is my twin sister, Tina."

"Well, Tony and Tina, my name is Ella. I'm an Alpha in North Dakota. You know Olivia?"

"Yes, she was in our Pack, I remember," Tina said.

Olivia turned around, she had cried it out for now. "Hi guys. This is my mate, Mark."

The two looked at her, then at me and Mark. "They're human."

I chuckled. "Yes, I am now, but I wasn't always. I was a wolf until late last year. A bad man gave me a shot and took my wolf away. I'm still Alpha, though, and my mate is a wolf. Mark has always been human."

The two naked kids fell asleep on me as we drove; Olivia reached back and covered us with a jacket. "We need to get them clothes soon."

"I know. Mark, can you find us a Wal-Mart or something? We need to get supplies."

We found one on the south side of Brainerd. I had Mark park in a darker section of the lot, away from other vehicles, and had Olivia switch places with me as the kids kept sleeping. We didn't want her out of the car, she had taken a big enough risk just coming along. I made sure Mark had my burner cell number and went into the store.

I grabbed a cart and went to the kid's section. The kids had nothing, and could never go back home. Their home was with me now, Matthew had entrusted me with those who survived and I would honor his sacrifice. I quickly loaded the cart with the basics,

figuring we could get more back home. I also grabbed some kid-friendly snacks for the drive home. Everyone likes cheddar cheese goldfish, right?

By the time I got back to the car, the sun was rising. We stopped at a gas station with restrooms accessible from the outside so everyone could safely go to the bathroom, then drove through a McDonalds for coffee and breakfast. We had a bit of a drive ahead of us, so I took the wheel for a bit and let Mark rest.

We were approaching Detroit Lakes when I heard the news on the radio. There was a lot of talk about the raid on the pack in the Brainerd area; the press conference said that all werewolves had been killed, either in the fire or trying to escape. The talking heads were beside themselves, Minnesota wasn't exactly the Rocky Mountains and this Pack was located near cities and vacation spots. Where was it going to end?

I should have been paying more attention. I passed the police and HUMVEES parked on the exit ramps, but it wasn't until I saw the road ahead filled with stopped vehicles that I realized how much trouble we were in. The stopped traffic along the road ended about a mile ahead where a number of police and military vehicles were stationed. They were using the rest stop area to allow searches on a half-dozen lanes at a time. I poked Mark to wake him up.

"Police checkpoint." We were at a stop now, and traffic was backing up behind us. Looking in the mirror, I could see the vehicles moving to ensure nobody tried to turn around or escape. I also noted soldiers stationed along both sides of the road, rifles at ready, about fifty yards apart.

"We should be all right, they won't be able to tell who are wolves and who aren't." He got out the binoculars and started looking ahead. He watched for a few minutes before we noticed the activity in the rest area.

Police were surrounding a man who had just been pulled out of a car, weapons drawn. It looked like he was going to his knees, but he suddenly shifted into his wolf and bolted for the trees. All the officers opened fire, one hitting a fellow officer by accident, as they fired at the fleeing werewolf. It didn't make it off the grass before it was cut to shreds by small arms fire. "Holy shit," I said.

We moved slowly up towards the checkpoint, becoming more nervous with each motion. I watched as a policeman walked between the cars stopped in the two lanes, headed towards us. I rolled down the window as he approached. "Officer? What's going on?"

"Viper checkpoint, we're doing random searches for werewolves. Nothing to worry about, Ma'am."

I smiled at him, like I was trying to flirt. "I'm too young for Ma'am, you know." He came over and looked at me a little closer, my huge ta-tas were straining at the shirt I was wearing and I know he was interested. "How do you find the werewolves? Don't they look human?"

He nodded. "Yes Ma'am, they do. We have a way, though. We found out that black light causes their eyes to glow. Pretty simple, so we're doing what we can to keep you safe."

"Well, I appreciate it sir." I waited until he rolled up the window and moved on before I talked. "Shit. They found out." Mark looked confused. "Wolves are taught to avoid black lights as children. Our eyes glow in it, like a cat's eyes in dim light. It can't be helped."

Olivia's voice was shaky. "We have to get out of here, they'll figure us out."

I looked back at her. "How? We're surrounded. If you run, they'll chase. They've even got a helicopter, if you shift they will shoot you dead and then come back for us." I looked at the twins. "And those boys won't be able to run fast enough to get clear."

Mark looked in the mirror. "If we try to turn around, they're on us."

"We keep going, they're on us." I looked ahead, the checkpoint was a worse option than turning around. "Only a human can be safe."

Olivia started digging around under the seat, we kept a well-stocked first aid kit in our vehicles when we traveled with wolves since we couldn't use human hospitals for them. She pulled out three packages of hypodermic needles and a bottle. "I don't have a choice, Ella. I can't risk you all, and these kids deserve to live."

"What are you doing?" She was drawing up liquid into the first syringe, then a smaller amount into two more.

"Wolfsbane. I have to kill my wolf." She handed the first hypodermic to Mark. "You have to do it, Mark, there's no other way we survive this."

"Olivia, that's permanent. I know. Your wolf is gone FOREVER."

She nodded. "I know. At least I found my mate first." She kissed Mark, then held out her arm. "Hurry up, it needs to be over before we get to the front."

"Wait." I took a T-shirt out of the Wal-Mart bag in the back; twisting it, I tied it around her head, gagging her and giving her something to bite down on. "The pain is horrible, we can't attract attention."

She nodded at Mark, and he injected it into her shoulder. She started to scream into the gag as the poison worked through her veins. She collapsed onto the backseat floor with the pain, kicking the seat as she went.

Mark turned around and pulled the twins, one at a time, out of the back seat and up with us. They woke up and rubbed their eyes and then I got their attention. "Tony, Tina, your Mom sent you to us to keep you safe, you know that, right?" They nodded. "There are men up there, men who will find out what you are and kill you for it. We can't let you be found out, but the only way to keep them from hurting you requires us to hurt you instead. We have to take your wolves away."

"NO! I WANT HIM!" Tony yelled, while Tina just held on to her brother and cried.

"I'm sorry. I've done this before, and Olivia is doing it right now. Your wolf will be gone, but you will continue to live. It's the only way." I kept their attention while Mark injected Tony; when he started to scream, I grabbed him and held him tight to my chest. Mark injected Tina right away and did the same.

For the next five minutes, my heart and ears were breaking. Their pitiful screams as their wolves were destroyed within them brought back too many memories, bad memories. I cried with them as we moved forward with the traffic. Olivia finally sat up, untying the gag and slumping back into her seat. "Fuck, that hurt."

"Are you all right, baby?" Mark looked at her with concern; Tina had finally fallen asleep on his chest.

"I suppose. I feel... empty." She closed her eyes. "Just in time, huh?"

"Yeah." We were waved into the line at the rest stop; ten minutes later our car was at the front.

"I need all of you to step out of the vehicle for a search, please." The badge and uniform were Transportation Security Agency, and he had a VIPR ballcap on. I guess with the airports shut down, they had plenty of screeners available for the roads.

We got out of the car and were lined up along the curb. Mark and I were each carrying one of the kids, who were shaking in fear. An agent with the TSA came up, holding what looked like a penlight. "I need each of you to look into the light, please. This won't hurt a bit."

I was first; I was nervous because I'd never checked to see if my eyes still had any of their wolf nature left. He shined it in each eye, then motioned to Tony. He checked both his eyes, then moved on. Mark and Tina each were checked, finally Olivia. Meanwhile, other agents had checked our car and trunk, but closed it up.

"Thank you for your cooperation, have a nice day."

We got back in, driving off as my hands shook on the wheel and the kids started crying. We had escaped, but at what cost?