Storm stood proud and tall. Across from him Sam stood naked, surrounded by wolves and forest. “Look at yourselves, living like animals. I come offering you a place where you can be yourselves and enjoy a better way of life.”
“At what price?” Sam asked. She had no doubt that whatever Storm came selling came with a price.
Storm gave a casual shrug. “All I ask in return is that you use your unique abilities to serve your country.”
“You mean serve you,” Sam said. She wasn’t fooled. She had no doubt exactly what type of man Storm was.
“You would be serving your country,” he insisted. “But you would report to me.”
“And the testing?” Sam asked. She wanted to hear it all, wanted him to answer to all he would have done had he been successful.
Again that same shrug. “I admit that we want to study you. With all supernaturals we look to learn, to understand what makes you different.”
“Why?” she asked.
“It benefits us all,” Storm said.
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You want to weaponize us, use us in your wars.”
“They’re your wars too,” Storm insisted.
“Perhaps,” Sam said, “but it should be our choice how and when we serve, not yours. You came here today with plans to take me from my family, killing anyone that got in your way. That’s not the kind of man I would serve.”
“How does that make me any different from you?” Storm asked. “Your pack,” he sneered, “cut through my men with total disregard for life. That makes you no different from me.”
Sam shook her head. “We defended what is ours, there’s a big difference. Agree to leave now and never come back and you can walk out of here.”
“Come with me and I promise you’re pack will remain safe,” Storm countered.
“I’ll never go with you,” Sam said.
“And I’ll never stop coming for you,” Storm promised.
That seemed to be the signal that Nafarius was waiting for. All at once Nafarius, Dresden and the rest of the pack launched themselves taking Storm down to the forest floor.
Sam stood back and watched. She had no desire to get in on the kill. The only thing that mattered to her was that Storm no longer threatened her or her family.
It didn’t take long, seven wolves and a panther made short work of a single man. When it was done and each man had stepped back Sam stepped forward. All that was left of the man that had caused her such trouble was his uniform. “It’s done,” she said and turned towards home.
“Excuse me, sir.”
“What is it?”
“Major Storm and his unit are overdue to report in.”
“By how much?”
“They never reported in yesterday and they were due back this morning.”
“Why am I just now hearing of this?” General Miller asked, his tone deceptively mild.
“Major Storm’s orders, sir. He ordered 24 hours pass before being considered overdue.”
“Get a group together, I want a team dispatched to his last known location.” General Miller ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
General Jack Miller led a team of men into the wilderness around Wolf Lake. Storm had been out on what should have been a simple locate and retrieve and it was unlike the man to fail to report in. Storm was a royal pain in the ass, overzealous to the point of near fanatsism, he was nevertheless an excellent solider and could be counted on to succeed. Whatever the cost.
They arrived at the last known coordinates, a small clearing halfway between the lake and the pack’s home. The clearing was clean, no sign of Storm or any of his men.
“Spread out,” he ordered. “I want a sweep of the entire area.”
Miller waited, his aid at his side, while the men swept through the area. Two hours later everyone had reported back – all with the same report.
“The area is clean, sir.”
“The pack?” he asked.
“Gone,” the man reported. “We found their living quarters, there’s no sign of them. The entire area is clean, nothing and no one was left behind.” He didn’t bother adding that the place made the men nervous. There was a other worldliness about the area that skittered across their skin like fire ants.
“Thank you, Sgt. Have the men move out, we’re returning to the base,” Miller ordered. He had no doubt that Storm and his unit were gone, never to be heard from again. Storm, in his enthusiasm, had run up against the pack and lost.
Somewhere in Montana
Sam stepped out onto the porch and looked out over the valley surrounding the pack’s new home. Located along the western part of Montana, the pack was surrounded by deep valleys and high mountains.
Nafarius joined his mate from inside handing her a steaming mug of coffee. “Happy?”
Sam turned to stare up at her mate. “It’s beautiful here.”
Nafarius nodded. “The land has belonged to the pack for generations. A few years back I had the main house built. I guess I knew that we wouldn’t be able to stay at Wolf Lake forever. Sooner or later the surrounding civilization was bound to intrude.”
Sam nodded. She’d been surprised when Nafarius made the decision to relocate the pack even though it made sense. Storm wasn’t the only one that knew who and what they were or where to find them. Eventually, someone else was going to come looking.
“When did you start adding the smaller buildings?” Sam asked. The valley was dotted with smaller, single family homes as well as a barn, a dorm for the single young men and several storage sheds.
“Two years ago,” Nafarius admitted. “Right after we were mated.”
Sam raised her brow in question.
Nafarius shrugged looking slightly embarrassed. “I wasn’t sure how long you would want to stay at the lake, if you could really be happy there. I knew that I could never leave the pack and that many of them would refuse to move into the city.”
“So you started adding the smaller houses so that the pack could move with us?” she asked touched that he would go to such lengths.
“Not all of the pack will move inside,” Nafarius said. “Some of them will wander the surrounding area and find places to settle. But everyone will be welcome here and we’re close enough to take care of each other.”
Sam nodded and turned back to the valley. They’d arrived a few days ago and everyone was working to get settled in. Sam, Nafarius and the twins had moved into what was already coming to be called the Big House. Roland, Tasha and Payton had taken up residence in the house closest to the Big House while the rest of the pack families were spread out throughout the valley. It would take some time to adjust, especially for those families that knew nothing beyond Wolf Lake, but in the end it was the right thing to do.
“Will you miss them?” Sam asked.
Nafarius turned so that his back rested against the porch railing, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I’m not sure I’ll have a chance to,” he said as two more pack members climbed up the porch steps and let themselves into the house.
Sam laughed and knew that he wouldn’t have it any other way. “Come on,” she said. “I hear there’s going to be lasagna for dinner tonight.”
“Seriously?” Nafarius asked. “I can’t remember the last time we had lasagna.”
“It what happens when you give a girl a kitchen,” Sam said. Linking their arms she walked with her mate back into the Big House where pack members mixed with the smells coming from the kitchen.