Out of the Mist

~Jordan's Dream Flashback~

The wolf was beautiful, she spotted him from her perch in the tree. Black as night, fleet of foot and playing with a grasshopper, she smiled wanting to giggle but held it back so he would not know she was there. The wolf would pounce on the grasshopper then let it hop away and start all over again, this experience was new for her research. She was only 17 years old, but it was the path she had been on since she was 5. The wolf stopped abruptly raising its snout scenting the air. Damn the wind has shifted, and he knows where I am; turning his head he looked right up at me. Having this beautiful animal focus on me gave me the most wonderful feeling; and the eerie one that he could see right through to my soul with those piercing blue eyes of his, my Blackie.

Xander's POV

Well, that went smoothly, NOT! She traveled 135 miles in ten days and only remembers part of one day. Who brought her this far and why? Someone wants this woman, my woman, and will go to great lengths to have her. The feeling of protectiveness filled his heart, he must protect her at all costs. Time to get it all out there to the pack; I sent a declaration through the pack mindlink, in for a penny in for a pound.

"Attention all pack members, as of this moment we all are to protect our guest, Dr. Jordan Caufield. Beta Theo and I found her in the forest with a rogue standing over her, that is bad enough but there is another special reason for the protection, she is my mate and your future Luna. Please come and pass under my window and get familiar with her scent; bring the pups so they too can get her scent they can be helpful too in a myriad of ways. Your Luna is counting on us but, she does not know what we are at this time; I will slowly introduce her to our ways and eventually shift to show her our true form. Until that time, do not shift in front of her; Do I Make Myself Clear?" In unison, "Yes, Alpha, hail Jordan new Luna of The Sierra Ridge Pack. Here! Here!" Xander smiled and gazed down upon the fair face and auburn hair of his mate, she smelled like vanilla and raspberries, she had the most beautiful blue eyes; she is small in stature, fleet of foot, yet strength surrounded her. "Dr. Hansen, please keep an eye on our future Luna, just address her as Dr. Caufield for now and let me know when she wakes up." "Yes, Alpha." I settled Jordan down to a supine position on the bed with Dr. Hansen taking her pulse.

"Theo, Hugh, Eli and Eric to my office at once!" I left my room, looking back at her not wanting to leave but headed to the fourth floor that housed my office and meeting rooms along with a big conference room and my favorite, the Pack Library. Once in my office, I stood at the window and looked out over the meadow and towards the village. All seemed calm on the surface, but I knew something was brewing underneath. There was a knock at the door and my Beta Theo, Delta Hugh and Gammas Eli and Eric entered. "Sit, please. Theo status on the rogue?" "Alpha, he is currently chained to the cell wall in the dungeon with silver cuffs laced with wolfsbane awaiting your interrogation. We surveyed the area and found no other wolves at this time." "Good, good, we will leave shortly for said interrogation. Hugh how are the patrols?" "Alpha, the patrols have had a small scenting of rogues to our northeastern borders but no actual sightings." "I believe we need to add patrols, and no one goes out alone, two or more per patrol. We don't want anyone taken unaware." "Yes, Alpha." "Eric, Eli, I would like you to add one more training daily for each and every pack member 12 years to 49, excluding those that are sick, pregnant or wounded. Those 50 and older will work to make the stronghold safe and stocked with all necessary items if we are attacked; we all want the pups, women and the elderly protected." "Yes, Alpha." "With that being said, I want all of you to come to the interrogation, so we know what we are up against." On the way to the dungeon, I mindlinked Dr. Hansen to prepare a syringe of 'sodium pentothal' so we could administer it to the rogue. Werewolves were susceptible to some human drugs and sodium pentothal was one of them. "Will do Alpha, have Hugh run by the clinic and Rachel will have it waiting for you." "Thanks, Doc." We headed down the stairs and out the backdoor, the dungeon was underground beneath the old well-house on the property. The place was dark and dank and smells of the earth, we have run electricity down there for when we want to use it, like now. Hugh's guards have the rogue in the cell, and it is well lit for this instance. "Hello, Rogue, what brings you into my territory? Where are you from and what is your purpose?" The rogue looked up through swollen eyes and spat on the floor, "Why should I help you; you are just going to kill me anyway?" "True, but your truthfulness will determine whether it is a quick and merciful death or a slow and painful one with wolfsbane pumped into your veins slowly as appendages are slowly sliced off." The rogue visibly paled but raised his chin in defiance. Xander caught the slight action and moved in swiftly with Hugh coming down the steps with the syringe. "Hugh, knife please." Hugh handed over a silver knife, with a bone handle and bone guard. This was to prevent the handler from coming into contact with the silver itself. In one quick move, Xander cut off the rogue's pinky finger. He screamed in agony, "Fuck you Alpha and all your pack." "No," Xander said, "I think you are the one that is fucked here. Shall we try for another finger, or do we go straight for your balls?" That got his attention as Xander moved slowly with purpose, unbuttoning the rogue's trousers, one button at a time. He really did not want to see his junk, but the threat was a good one. "Stop! What do you want to know?" Xander smirked, this was better. "I want to know who you are, what pack you are from, who you take your orders from and what is your purpose here with the woman you were standing over?"

The rogue looked around the room and then back at Alpha Xander clearing his throat, "My name is Gio, I am formerly from the River Valley Pack in the Catskills of New York State." Xander pondered, Alpha Nicholia's pack. "I left them going out on my own until I ran into this Alpha and his pack, the Sargent Mountain Pack up in Maine; he is the one that wanted Dr. Caufield brought back to him that is all I know. He did not say in what condition I was to bring her to him, so I toyed with her knocking her out and carrying her far away from her starting point, I was getting ready to have a little fun when you showed up, all is for naught now." "He did not give you a reason?" "No, but he paid very well and said I would be given a place of status in the pack." "Well, look how that turned out, Hugh, give me the syringe please, we will see if this is the truth." Gio's eyes went wide as he tried to get away from the needle but was injected with the truth serum. The questions were asked again, and a bit more information was gleaned from the rogue. He now indicated that it was Alpha Petrov Vilnikov, my cousin, who wanted Dr. Caufield brought to him in one piece. Gio had until June 30th to bring her to him so, he was not expecting Gio until then. This tidbit of information would give Xander and his warriors the element of surprise, a plan was beginning to form. 'Why Petrov, what have you done,' Xander thought about his long-lost cousin.