Rebellion (( Mature, Male, R. reserved for Scy))

"....Come along, now... Open your eyes." came Drachen's powerful but soft tone beckoned. They were back on Mari's property, and the whole pack was gathered. Even a blind fool could see that they were riled. Some were working out, others were on the firing range--landing some terribly accurate shots--and still others were practicing with more archaic weaponry, with knives, even bows.
"Come to now... we have work to do." Drachen encouraged his alpha's mate.
"We need to get to Strattauvian." Lance said, holding Mari's hand.
"Lord only knows what the hell they'll do to him. Damn government's been wanting to get a hold of werewolf blood ever since Sing Pu Pau was locked away in the Vatican in the late seventeen hundreds." Brough growled deep in his chest.
Then Ayrric piped up. "And nowadays, with genetic testing....."
"....Fucking jackass lawyer."

Mari wasn't sure what was going on through the haze of her sleep, she heard people talking, several she recognized, like Drachen, though she had only met him once, she never once forgot a voice, then there was lance. . and of course her high school friend Ayrric, she couldn't figure out who said the fucking jackass lawyer comment.

giving a slight groan, and the fact that she wished she was out cold again cause now she became very aware of how badly she was burned from the sun since her skin felt so damn tight it hurt to move. and it still had a slight burning sensation to it.she flexed her fingers on impulse around whoever's hand was holding hers.. . . groaning again she forced her eyes open" ugh .. who the hell is Sing Pu Pau?" she tried to move, giving a grunt and hiss of pain , before she noticed some parts where bandaged, probably from the bad burn's and blisters, other parts of her where not that bad.. she figured she wasn't out that long other wise she wouldn't be hurting so much. " ugh if i wasn't hurting so bad i would think i was dead and got a ton of good looking men around me. '' mumbled, still fighting the fog of being unconcious, atleast until everything came rushing back then she sucked in a breath and frantically looked around for cale, hoping to hell it had been a dream, but the longer she didn't see him the more frantic she got., and yanked her hand out of lance's and tried to get up.

"Easy, easy!" Drachen's authoritative voice rang out. It really was unique. The boys held onto her, carefully as possible, while their temporary leader calmed her down.
"Listen, Mari, you need to calm yourself. We're going to get your mate back. But first we need to fill you in." Ayrric said. "Otherwise you won't be much help at all."
So Drachen took some time to talk as the others rubbed her medicinal cream over her exposed sun burn.
"Mari, you've been out for three, almost four days now. We took you to the hospital. They've given us some medications for you, including antibiotics for your legs, and cream for your skin, and painkillers and an anti-inflammatory we can't give you unless you're coherent, which clearly you are now, so..."
Keith, a younger member of the group and barely out of high school, came to her then with a glass of water as Drachen got two medium sized pills out of a prescription bottle, and put them in her hand. Then he gave her a third pill, of a different color and shape, and put it also into her hand.
It was Ayrric who explained, "To answer your question, Mari, Sing Pu Pau isn't a person. it's a jade statue imbued with a much darker version of the magic that turns people into werewolves. It's what led rise to the more 'conventional' version of the werewolf, and gave the rest of us a bad name and a disgusting reputation our kind will never live down. These werewolves spread the magic in virus form, through infective bites given under the three nights of the full moon when such things are at thier strongest. The Chinese Magician who crafted Sing Pu Pau used it to turn thousands of innocents across Asia and Europe into these more savage werewolves in the fourteen and fifteen hundreds, leading to such a vile taste in the bards' mouths about us, and led to the slaughter of thousands of normal wolves.
It took Strattauvian, a good number of upper-class Preternaturals, and us normal werewolves three centuries to destroy all of them. it was then that Strattauvian wrapped Sing Pu Pau seven times in Baghdad silk and entrusted it to the Papacy , and it was locked away in an iron box with a cross of pure gold on its lid and his forever in the Vatican archives."
Brough then continued for his companion, "That was in the eighteen hundreds. Ever since, the United States and many other governments have tried to get thier hands on werewolf blood, hoping to create an army of thier own. Of super soldiers who can transform into wolves. In essence, us.
"They tried in both of the World Wars, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and even in the Cold War, even now in this war, to make that ambition a reality. Leave it up to your jackass lawyer ex to finally bring them one. And it would have to be the prince, of all ironies...."
Drachen cleared his throat. "...And speaking of irony... While you were at the hospital, the doctors found something...."
With that, he handed her something that looked very suspiciously like an ultrasound.

~~~~~

Cale groaned, and awoke, peering through blurry eyes at a dark wall, through bars. His insides felt like they were on fire, and he was so stiff he could barely even move his eyes as he looked down, seeing a jet black paw attached to him. So, he was still in wolf form. Well enough. But where was he?
With a muffled whine, he lifted his head with a whole lot of effort to see things. His chest and side were throbbing as he found himself in some office. It actually looked like a lab of some sorts.
His body protested, but he slowly rolled onto his stomach from his side, heavily bandaged and feeling ill.
There were test tubes around, being vibrated by machines to keep the blood in them mixed. There were charts, x-rays, and all manner of things one would find in a medical lab.
But then, as he looked around, the memory of everything that had happened flooded back into his groggy brain, and he snarled at the memory of Roy, and the gun he'd been holding when pain had forced Cale into oblivion.
But then, he remembered where he'd been when he'd been shot, and he whined loudly for Mari, praying she had gotten away. He rested his head on his paws as a wave of overexertion's dizziness washed over him, and he found himself still whining as he thought of his love, and how much he found he was missing her.

she scowled at Drachen as he told her to slow it down and easy like she was some sort of horse or animal, glaring at him before hissing at the others rubbed cream on her. '' ow! damn it that hurts' she hadn't meant to snap , but she was frantic as she glared at Drachen'' don't bloody tell me to calm down and be easy damn it. we need to get cale.. wait who the hell is Stratauvian?" she frowned as she was handed several pills..'' huh?" shaking her head as they began to explain what the Sing Pu Pau was, and what happened and what the government had been wanting, she popped the pills in her mouth and pretty much dry swallowed the nasty things.

she took the glass of water, giving a small thanks to Keith as she drank the whole glass of water down. she was definitely thirsty , and still hungry as hell. she glanced from each and every one of them while trying to pay attention and keep up with what Ayrric was explaining and then Brough.

" ugh this is all making my head hurt. " she glared at Brough once again as he mentioned her ex again. " whoa right there, he is definitely not MINE. .. he doesn't belong to me and i don't belong to that fucker and get this straight , say he is mine again and i will neuter you just as painfully as i plan on doing to that bastard." she hadn't meant to snap at him, she didn't know what was wrong with her.other then being panicked and worried out of her damn mind.

She froze as he mentioned something about ironies. " huh? what you talkihng bout?" blinked , glancing at Drachen as he handed her some black and white photo type thing. at first she couldn't figure out what the hell she was looking at, before it clicked in her head what it was.. an ultrasound, she had seen them before when they had a horse who had trouble with her pregnancy.." why the hell are you..... " she froze again, her mind racing as she paled, " i am pregnant?" completely stunned , shell shocked really before she suddenly jerked away again and literally leaned over the bed as she got sick, being as her stomach had been empty only thing that came up was the glass of water she downed and of course the pills. it had been sudden and it bloody well hurt and made her eyes start watering, she couldn't help it. she was such a bloody mess and then they spring this on her, she seriously wished Drachen had actually waited atleast another day or two before telling her, loading everything on her all at once was just too much for her system, especailly after just waking up. that and she was now embarrassed cause whoever had been standing next to the bed , just got thrown up on. .

"Ack!" Lance yelped as, despite his wolfly agility, his shoes caught the full brunt of her vomit. "These things cost me two hundred dollars!"
There was some laughter from his packmates, and Ayrric, who had plenty of experience with messiness, said, "Your own damn fault, wearing two hundred dollar shoes on a working ranch."
Lance flipped him the finger, kicked off his ruined shoes, then strode off barefoot to wash his feet. Drachen took it upon himself to dispose of the shoes, and proceed to scrape the crud off of her porch for her.
"Yes, you are. When the doctors took your blood-work, they found that you had increased estrogen, and whatever else they look for in those things. So, he put the stethoscope to your gut, and sure enough he ordered an ultrasound. Says you're almost two months along."
Then Brough, still wincing from her very dangerous threat, and even instinctively cupping himself a bit, said, "Sorry to spring it on you like this, but wolf policy is that, either keep your secrets or when you tell them, tell them straight. The point is that you and Cale are expecting a child, and a lot will be riding on his or her survival. But perhaps Strattauvian can explain it better."
"Clearly, Brough," Drachen said with an icy tone, "Mari does not know who Strattauvian is, so referencing him familiar clearly is not helping her frustrations any."
"Pfft," Brough said, then went to find Lance and help him wash his feet. It was then that Drachen sat beside her and said,
"The one we keep talking about; Strattauvian Pyronov, a black phoenix with a Russian accent and a just as Russian attitude. He's the resident bad-arse of the entire North American continent, and head of the Department of Preternatural Affairs."
Then he thoughtfully tapped his lip. "I saw some of the books in your library." he said. "I take it that you're familiar then with the Kenyon work?"

~~~~~

Cale didn't know how long he'd been here, but for three days he lay there in his small cage, resting and trying to recover, at least regain some of his mobility. If he ever saw that arse hole Roy again, he'd personally chew his balls off. Slowly. And maybe everything else, while he was at it.
He couldn't tell how many times he'd been stuck with needles of various sizes, with varying contents in them. Some kept him drugged enough so that he couldn't stay conscious. Others kept him from falling asleep. Thankfully one or two of them seemed to be an antibiotic, and then there were the hypos they drew his blood with.
Grey eyes wide, he quickly realized that the blood in the vibrating vials was his own. And he realized what they were trying to do. The government had only been trying to do it since the eighteen hundreds. Leave it up to dickless Roy to sell his DNA to the geneticists. Hope he made a fucking good profit on it. he found himself snarling one night after he'd been fed--a slab of thoroughly cooked meat.
His tongue and throat were swollen from the lack of hydration, and he couldn't lap up the water in his dish fast enough.Apparently, one of the injections he kept receiving was forcing him to be stuck in his wolf form.
When he was cohesive, though, he was always studying his captors' routines. He learned that he had no quarrel with the geneticists. They were just working and trying to earn a living. No, his qualms were with the security guards. They were the ones who spoke cruelly to him, and beat on his cage.
But he didn't know where he was, so he resigned himself to an extended stay while he found that out. He let the geneticists do their work, though he did resist the needles. He couldn't let the power of the werewolf get into the hands of the government, who would do nothing but inject it into every special ops soldier they had, and turn them into werewolf supersoldiers. That would do nothing good for the world. Besides, though his DNA contained the material needed to gain the transformation, his blood wouldn't hold the pure magic needed to make natural werewolves. Only the Druidian talismans could do that. Or reproductive transferring. And he certainly wasn't going let himself be bred like an animal to human women to try and breed an army. No, he and his reproductive organs were already the property of one woman, and he missed her dearly.
But if the government approved any vaccination from his blood, they'd create an army of unpredictable monsters, just like if not worse than those generated by Sing Pu Pau. And then how would they explain it to thier precious voters?
No, he had to, above all else or all consequence, escape from here, and destroy the material they'd already retrieved from him.
Where was Strattauvian when he needed him?

Mari gave a small groan, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before taking the napkin from who ever just gave it to her, she was glad it was clean too. . she slid a glance to lance, swearing that if she hadn't been sunburned, she would be blushing mad. '' sorry lance, that was not on purpose. '' mumbled, knowing he could hear because of what he was, once she was sitting back up and no longer feeling like she was in danger of getting sick again she looked to Drachen then to Brough. " bloody impossible for me to be pregnant would have had to have unpr..." she blinked suddenly remembering the first night that she had been with cale, glancing away she cleared her throught, a little embarrassed again but once again , glad her blush couldn't be seen.. " never mind.." muttered. she was mentally kicking herself for not using protection that night but then again .. now that she was slowly getting over the shock of being pregnant, she wasn't all that worried.. that and she was actually thankful for the fact that the pregnancy was definitely way to early for that whiskey she drank, to have any affect on the fetus.

She was actually glad she payed attention in her high school teacher when the councelor had forced her to take preperation for parenting class. something to do with an extra credit she had needed to gaduate. " okay... so pregnant.. i can handle that.. " bit her lip slightly her mind racing" gunna need prenatels. if the doc hasn't given me any yet.. definitely going to need monthly blood work. and what not" mumbled, then sighed when she realized she was rambling agian , well atleast before she narrowed her eyes on Brough again. " boy i think your glutten to get hurt, what the bloody hell do you mean alot is riding on the survival of the baby? you know for someone who likes my cookihng alot, your pissing the wrong person off and don't be surprised of oh say something i give you has alot of laxetive or something slipped into it" she was practically growling that out, he was pissing her off, she didn't know why but the fact that he was being a bit too blunt for her taste, just rubbed her raw, why didn't he see that?..when he walked out to go do something, probably help lance or stuff his face, she gave slow sigh of relief." damn it all . bloody man is going to get kicked in the nads" muttered under her breath, the fact that some of the men had once again , cringed but laughed a little under their breath , told her they heard her comment." don't think the man can tell any news in a bit of a sensitive manner"


Raking her fingers through her hair, wincing a little when she caught several snags. she didn't even have her brush, it was back at the camp. Going silent as she once again remembered that cale was in danger, since she refused to believe he was too badly injured. She turned to Drachen, as once again , and she was grateful for this.. he began to explain , not in the same rash way that Drachen was doing but he was doing it to a point where she could actually understand and not get too confused. " alright so he is like. the big bad boss of all preternaturals. i guess.. thats easy to understand.. Russian huh? " now why did that not surprise her?.

Arching a brow at his comment about being familiar with the kenyon work she snorted" you kidding?... romance novels have been my friend for.. shit forever.." mumbled " so yes i am very familiar with her work. one of my favorites actually.. why?" she was getting frustrated again as she shifted a little. " i am sorry but this is ridiculous, we shouldn't be sitting around here talking, you explain crap to me later, when the hell am i going to get cale back? is this.. Strattauvian guy going to help or what?" she was frustrated, and yet couldn't help it, she was worried, scared, and frankly right now she was holding onto her anger just to keep from crying her eyes out.." sorry.. don't mean to snap.. i .. i just don't know what to do Drachen.. i really don't." she scowled , a traiterous tear managed to slip down her cheek where she furiously wipped it away with her hand.

"Well," Drachen said, think of Strattauvian as the real world version of Kenyon's Acheron. Not quite Salvatore, but definitely Acheron." he said. "He's in charge of every preternatural on the continent. And if you double cross him? Oh I shudder to think about it."
Drachen softened up though when he started hearing the vulnerability creep into her voice. When he saw the tear, he took her and held her close. "...We'll get him back, Mari. I promise. But we need Strattauvian's help. And as for what Brough was saying about your unborn, Strattauvian can explain that better than any of us. We've already sent word for him."
"And he's already agreed to come." Daniel piped up, coming in from the next room. He'd been doing dishes for her, and his shirt was soaked from it. "Which is like a frigging act of God, mind you. Usually he's the one you go to. The old Rooster never goes anywhere unless it's a special circumstance, or it involves the Xynons. Mostly he just ventures from his regional offices throughout the year."

Her eyes widened slightly as he spoke of thinking of the guy like Acheron mixed with Salvatore. " oh hell" mumbled, , that definitely made her understand him a hell of a lot better,. and just the thought of meeting someone like that gave her goose pimples. she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. " oh so.. he is a guy who is all powerful, with a gothic complex if he is anything like those two.. " he startled her a little when he pulled her close and held her, she did the only thing she could do and hid her face against his chest, bunching his shirt up in her fist's as she slowly relaxed.

Hearing Daniel's voice pipe up she peeked over Drachen's shoulder once she was sure she wasn't crying , to see where he was at, and nearly laughed at the state he was in. it made her wonder what the hell he had been doing. " okay now your scaring me and making me start to think i don't want to meet the guy... Daniel dear what the hell did you do to get all wet?"she mumbled, though grateful they where atleast distracting her from breaking down, even if they were not meaning too. she looked to drachen again '' better get him back.. or i think every man near me will not be safe until i do.. ''

"Weeeeelll, not all powerful, but damn near it. A force to be reckoned with, that's for sure." Drachen said, still holding her.
Then he looked at her. "Look, I'm not Cale, but if there's anything you need, a hug, a handshake, or someone to talk to..."
Then one of the pack girls, Kelly, gently squeezed Mari's hand. "We'll get him back, no worries. Rooster and the DoPA have been sabotaging government efforts to get hold of preternaturals since it was invented."

~~~~

Cale awoke, still in the same place, the same dreary place. He was bored, and lonesome, and worried all at once. He hadn't even had a decent bath since they'd bandaged his shot wounds.
But there was one scientist among them who he found himself drawn to. Luma, the offbeat and beautiful one, well, he could smell that she was different.
When she came to give him his next injection, he finally reached out to her. "....Please tell me where I am."

She snorted, glanced to Drachen, '' yea definitely not cale. but still family and comfort is definitely needed" mumbled, taking a slow steadying breath then looked to Kelly, giving a slight nod, she was definitely believing they would get him back, agian she refused to think of anything else. " i hope its fast. i can't stand to think what they are doing to him in that.. that.. damn place wherever they took him. " she scowled now as she leaned back " and roy , he better be damn lucky that i only shot him in the ass... where the hell is my gun?" glancing around she was getting all fired up again as she went to get up. " can anyone make a sandwhich?. i am a bit starving here. need food. "

she winced when she moved a little too fast and jarred some of her burns, but ignored the stinging pain as she looked for her shoes. " i can't just sit here and do nothing.. when is this... err.. rooster guy getting here?.. what kind of a name is rooster anyways? naming him a Cock Bird. sheesh."

--------------

Luma sighed as she got the needles ready before going into the room they where housing the wolf in, she felt sorry for the beast, but thankfully she was the one that gave him the shots and cleaned him up real good, she even chewed out the moron who shot him, including that dumbass lawyer who , which she found extremely hilarious, got shot in the ass by some ex woman of his. The idiots had tranq guns for this kind of thing and yet the go and shoot the wolf. Just thinking about it made her pissed off again.

Scowling she set the needles on a tray and brough it over before leaning down to punch in the code to unlock the cage, wishing she could easily sneak him out, but it wasn't that easy. Shaking her head she sighed, again glad that she was the one taking care of him and not the others, they wouldn't be as gentle as she was, and frankly she figured they got their rocks off by torturing him.

She hated keeping him drugged up, but it was the only way she could keep him from injuring himself. Focusing back to the task on hand she opened the door slowly " alright big boy, just hold still and we will make this as painless as possible." she knew he was awake, she could sense it, and his worried state, which didn't come as a surprise to her, she would be worried too if she was in his position. reaching over for the scruff of his neck she glanced to him. " woo you stink. can try and give you a bath but i am worried about those wounds of yours. "

She hadn't expected him to respond to her at all but the moment she stuck him with the needle and he reached out to her, she nearly jumped, eyes wide, and the usual grey blue color swirled to its eerily silver, she looked down at him straight in the eyes, keeping her voice low, even though she knew there was no listening bugs in the room, just camera's with no sound." Washington. " putting the empty syringe down she reached for the other one, and was carefull as she stuck it into his thick skin.slowly pushing the plunger down on it, another antibiotic." how are you feeling?" She had already sent off a small report to Dopa about their new arrival, it was annoying the way she had to do it. unable to use her own computer for fear it may have been hacked, she always borrowed a friend's, and not always the same friend. and never once did she use her own email. putting that syringe down she proceeded to now check his wounds.

Drachen raised an eyebrow at her. "Wow, guns and sandwiches all in one breath, Mari. Nice."
He went to help her though, taking the orders of their pack mates, and quickly set to work with hr in the kitchen.
"Strattauvian will be here in a day, maybe two if weather's an issue. He has connections in the airlines." Drachen said, preparing the bread slices.
"And as for why we call him 'Rooster', it's rather funny actually. Sweet and simple. See, the first part of Strattauvian's name reminded someone of the word 'strut', which he sort of does--if I had his kind of power I probably would too--and he's a phoenix, so everyone just started calling him 'Rooster'. A lot easier to say than Strattauvian--and yes, that's a tribal name. Not Russian."

~~~~

"......Washington? As in D.C.? .....I want to go home. My fiance` may be hurt and I have no way of knowing how she is, or if she even made it back home. I know you're not a human. Please.... You can't tell me you're on thier side."
It wasn't in his nature to beg like this, but he was drugged and confused, hungry, thirsty.... utterly miserable. But the only thing he cared about was Mari and getting home to her.

She snorted as she glanced at him, '' that still doesn't explain where the hell my gun is.. no matter i have a rifle in the closet" muttered, it was alot bigger, and had a bit of a kick to it. but it will work. Sighing she followed him with his help to make the sandwhiches, she couldn't help but stealing small pieces of ham out of the packages as she placed slices on the prepared bread he was doing.

Frowning she rolled her eyes'' your right, that is simple.. still. funky name for a guy " her frown deepened as she glanced out the window and spotted zenith, her movements froze as she realized Faith, cale's horse, was still at the camp site." Drachen. did anyone go out and get Cale's mare? she has a foal with her .''getting worried agian she bit her lower lip.figuring the SWAT guys would have left the horses there.'' our camping stuff is out there, good lord i seriously hope they are alright. can we sends omeone out to get them?" boy was she feeling like crap all over again. never once had she ever forgotten a live animal before.

----------------



Luma arched a brow before shaking her head, leaning over and lightly stroking his muzzle, " easy babe, just relax. and yes as in D.C. .. don't strain yourself now. " wiping her hands clean she checked his gums to make sure he didn't need another blood transfusion. still keeping her voice low and gentle to try and get him to stop panicking. She looked at him again as she spoke." i have my resources. and lets just say i am not entirely with them.. more like a .... err.. " frowned, trying to find the right way to put it.. " road block for the government put here courtesy of Dopa. " she gave a half smile knowing damn well he would know what that meant., he was a smart wolf after all.

leaning back to write down his vitals and such she glanced to him again, still keeping her voice low. " as for your Fiance. She is fine, unharmed and eagerly waiting for you to come home. " she seriously hoped that was true, she was really good at lieing, and it made it easier to lie to him while he was doped up. She only did it to give him peace of mind while he was stuck in this hell hole.the way he was begging just made her own heart ache. she definitely didn't like seeing him like this but she had a job to do . sabotaging the governments expirements was hard enough, but getting him out would be harder, hence why she was waiting on orders for the head honcho himself.

Putting the clipboard down she leaned forward again , using the act to push a bowl of water closer to him to disguise the fact she was speaking once more. " you will be home soon enough and back in her arms before you know it. i know your hungry , i should be back in a few with some meat for you."

"We've sent the twins up to get everything for you. It's taking so long because we had to make sure S.W.A.T. cleared out. But we sent them two days ago. should be back by the end of the week. Cale's aunt and uncle are furious--we had to tell them the truth and all of it. We even had to transform in front of them before they'd believe us. But they've kept the ranch running just fine, so it'll be in working order when Cale gets home. The man's going to need some serious R and R, after getting four shots in him like you said."
The twins, of course, were Zach and Zen, a brother and sister who both transformed into wolves with Irish red pelts. They were unique, and scrappy, and sweet all at once.

~~~~

Cale whined softly, fighting back the seductive oblivion of the drugs, and then he said again, "Then I assume you've gotten the Rooster into this. Good. We're going to need him. I assume he's the one who planted you here too. Bastard's always six steps ahead."
he fell upon the water bowl with the ferocity of a rabid one, and had it half down his throat in minutes.
Panting, he said, "What the hell is it they're pumping into me to keep me from changing back? I didn't know the government had gotten that far in thier preternatural research. It's terrifying. Next thing you know they'll be putting it in weapons."
He staggered a little, dizzy from the drug she'd given him. Then he snarled at her. "When I get out of here, I'm going to personally destroy every vial of serum this place has got."
Then his paws gave out from under him, and he fell onto his side again, groaning as he fought against the fog just long enough to say, "If you don't even know who I am, you can't possibly know who my fiance` is or what's become of her. but I appreciate the thought....."

~~~~~~~

"...And what the fuck is this?!"
He had just arrived to Montana, and discovered his office in a complete shamble.
"Rooster, you have two calls on lines three and twelve."
"...Word travels fast." Strattauvian muttered to himself. He slammed a stapler onto the counter and screeched, "Get your acts together and fix the fucking place, pussies. I'm going into my office now and when I come back out the joint better be spotless. Da?"
The black phoenix slammed his office door shut as mumbles of fearful and disgruntled employees followed him, and he sat down at his computer.
He was logged in in five minutes, and accessed the coded one-on-one forum he used to communicate with Luma in D.C. Another call came in for him then, and the indicator light beside it was blue rather than green. This he answered straight away--only a very privileged few got his direct line.
"Da....?" he answered. As the call continued, the pencil in his hands bowed more and more, until prior to the conclusion of said call, it snapped. He threw the phone back onto the hook and first reverted back to his accent before colorfully cussing in Russian.
Still screeching under his breath Strattauvian pounded out a message for Luma.

"~ROOSTER: That werewolf isn't just any werewolf. He's the prince himself and if you don't get him out of there in three days I will personally string you to the prow of a garbage barge. Tell him to play more and more incohesive until he plays dead. Fake his readings in your reports. Tweak the coding in the machines to zero out his vitals. They have no use for a dead werewolf since the DNA breaks down in a matter of hours. I. WANT. HIM. OUT. OF. THERE. I'll have a connection waiting for you at the transfer site."

He clicked the Send button, then logged off and stormed out of his office, in an even fouler mood. His curses switched from Russian back into English.
"I'M GOING TO FIRE ALL OF YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!!!"

she practically paled at the mention that his aunt and uncle now know. " oh gawd, they are not mad at me are they?" considering she kept that little secret from them as well, boy did this situation suck more and more the longer it went. groaning and rubbing her temples, where now a new headache was forming she tossed the second slab of bread onto her sandwhich before closing her eyes'' just bleeding great. i like his aunt and uncle and i don't want them hating me over this" now she worried that they would blame her for the whole mess since as Brough had brought it up earlier, it was her EX that did it all.

Groaning all over again she suddenly slid down to the floor in a sitting position as she leaned her back against the counter" cale is going to hate me i just know it. he was fine and dandy until he met me and then Roy and damn it all to hell and back ." She felt like she was in one of those spiraling out of control situation's that she had no chance of getting out of. it was either drown in it all or figure out a way to deal with it. and right now she was struggling.

Closing her eyes she leaned her head back and took another slow steady breath. '' ok so they know... can't be that bad. they are furiousi but i am sure they will get over it... i hope Zach and Zen are okay retrieving the things" gawd she was a mess and she kept switching back and forth from several types of topics because it was her only way of coping with it all. she literally feared that if she slowed down she would lose the last shreds of her sanity and end up shooting someone. Something she really didn't want.


---------------


She arched her brow and the only thing she could do to answer his assumptions of her contacting Rooster and him being responsible for her being in the lab in the first place, was to just nod before watching him viciously gulp down the water.

She sighed as she listened to him rant on and on. " i will explain later just calm yourself before you make others come in here will ya? last thing we need is for them to think i can't do my job and then i get replaced..and there will go your one chance of getting out of here" mumbled, keeping her facial expression calm so the camera couldn't see if she was being stressed out or something.She watched him stagger, before snarling at her, rolling her eyes made sure the cage was relocked while she made herself look busy on putting the viles away and documenting the things. , she only glanced towards his way again when he collapsed" don't worry about the vials, i have taken care of them " glanced at him and gave a ghost of a smile" its why they are way behind on some of their research, now then rest, let the drugs help you sleep. more sleep you get the more strength you will regain. " With that she put in the tray of meats for him again before punching in her code in the main door and walked out, turning the lights out to help him sleep. It was late at night and most of the researchers had gone home, she was the last to leave just so she could turn around and be back within four hours.

Thirty minutes later she was home after successfully taking care of the viles of blood they had taken from him, she found it amusing that they couldn't figure out what was wrong and just figured the blood was no good after a while. "stupid people call themselves scientists?" she gave a snort as she tossed her keys on the old table in her mini apartment. She was tired, but alas, she was also used to not getting very much sleep. Running her fingers through her hair she glanced at the laptop her friend had left.

flipping it open and on she went and started the shower before sitting down and booted up the email account she was using. Arching a brow as she noted she had one new message, from Rooster of all people " huh, wonder what new vocabulary he is going to spit at me this time. " clicking it open she leaned back to read silently.

"~ROOSTER: That werewolf isn't just any werewolf. He's the prince himself and if you don't get him out of there in three days I will personally string you to the prow of a garbage barge. Tell him to play more and more incohesive until he plays dead. Fake his readings in your reports. Tweak the coding in the machines to zero out his vitals. They have no use for a dead werewolf since the DNA breaks down in a matter of hours. I. WANT. HIM. OUT. OF. THERE. I'll have a connection waiting for you at the transfer site."

She couldn't help but laugh at the image that just gave her. shaking her head she hit the reply button, even though she was still reeling from the fact she just got told that Cale was the prince. Once the page loaded, her fingers went flying over the keys on the keyboard as she furiously typed.

"~Luminous~: Listen here feather brain's, don't go making threas you won't be able to complete or i will have your balls in my clutches before the end of those three nights. Subject is still regaining his health, wolf is in bad shape, have medical gear staff waiting as well.."

she thought for a moment, knowing not to send too big of an email before she grinned, she couldn't help the next retort.typing again she laughed at the mental image she put in her own head. ~just for that threat my little cock birdie, be warned i have retaliation in mind.see you soon.~ she left the rest hanging,
" let his imagination figure out what i will do to him " hitting the send button she shut it down before stretching. so now she had to recalibrate the machines and rig them to make a false reading, something she has done before and can easily do it again without getting caught.

Over the next few hours she planned out how to slowly get the machines redone. if she did it all at once it would throw suspicion on her and that would be bad. Taking about a two hour nap, she was up once again and back at the building and watching over Cale, it took her nearly a full day to get another few minutes alone with him sense all the other scientists had been trying to learn how she was able to get him to hold still with her and not them. but they left in disappointment when they couldn't figure it out. she just told him maybe it was because she was alot more gentle on him.

The moment they left her alone with him for that few precious seconds she quickly relayed the message that Rooster had given to her about him faking his health going down hill, she even got as far as telling him a small little signal she would give him to have him stop breathing for as long as he could hold it. which was basically when the machine would fail to read his heart beat.

After that they all came back in again and had her run more tests on him, which of course, over the hours she managed to get them to fail. Within the two days she had , she managed to rig the machines to slowly begin to fail. it didn't take long before the others began to get frantic on his supposedly failing health. she was even getting nervous, though hers was due to the deadline they where fixing to reach. she already got the job of disposing of him if he should 'die'..

Leaning down near his head again as he faked to be out cold, since they no longer needed him on sedatives, she checked his eyes while keeping her voice low. " almost time baby, machine should fail any minute. then all hell is going to break lose ."

"Oh, they're not mad at you. They're far too sweet for that. They're just worried about him like you are."
Drachen put a dab of mayonnaise on her nose. "And relax. Cale loved you. Obviously loves you enough that he proposed to you, am I right?" He tapped her ring finger with his clean pinkie.
"He's probably aching to come back home to you, miss."

~~~~~

"~ROOSTER: You honestly think you'd be able to pull that off? Let alone get away with it? Perhaps next time I'll rip your pretty little bra off for you. Fuck, I may even shred your panties if you piss me off.
Anyway, I'll have a chopper waiting. DON'T BE LATE."

~~~~~

It had been a difficult three days for Cale. At first, he hadn't quite understood what Rooster intended, but when the drugs had worn off a moment he'd figured it out.
But it was difficult to fake getting weaker when he was getting stronger. The antibiotics and bandages seemed to be really helping, if only he'd had a bath.
He was impressed at how well she'd been able to tweak the machines, and now on the third day, with the last one set to fail, he held very still.
The look in his eyes was the only way he communicated with her at this point, and didn't even twitch, straining to keep from blinking.
Then, though his ear wanted desperately to flick to it, he held it in place as the heart meter struck zero and began to squeal on a dead line.
He put a glazed look in his keen eyes, and waited for what she would do next.

She relaxed a little at his words to her, Mari looked up at him and blinked as he dapped Mayo on her nose, wrinkling her nose she wipped it off before getting up to pull out the Miracle Whip, her favorite. . " i won't relax until he is home and in my arms. " mumbled, she blinked again before once again feeling her face flame red as he tapped her ring finger, looking down at the ring she couldn't help but turn it a little on her finger, chewing on her lower lip a little before looking back up at him , giving a small smile. '' well yea your definitely right on that one."

She couldn't help but sigh as she finished making her sandwhich.sighing at his words again as she leaned against the counter and now just pushed her sandwhich around. "i really hope so. i want him home, i really don't want to think of all the horrible things they are doing to him.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


On the third day , which of course was the day she had to get Cale out of the place, she had checked her email and nearly laughed at Rooster's reply.typing out a quick response before she left.

"~Luminous~ Oh i know i can pull it off, your not that lucky to even get close to my panties, birdbrain. Have to be wearing some in the first place. I am never late YOUR JUST EARLY. see ya in a few hours. L. "

she read her reply several times before sending it, powered down the computer then made her way back to the lab. She had told Cale atleast two hours ago that the time was getting closer.

Once at the lab she made sure to keep time on the clock, which wasn't too hard since every time she documented something she would have to put the time it was noticed and such on the papers. She was impressed with how well Cale managed to pull things off with him looking like his health was going down hill when it actually wasn't. hell he even got smart enough to not eat all of his food or none at all when it came to feeding, which definitely made it more believable that his health was going.

She knew it was hard for him to hold still like he was, considering she had done it many times herself with out a single twitch, it was damn near nerve wracking. She knew that him getting the shakes was actually real.From her no longer giving him meds to get him sedated, he would be going into withdrawels. So it impressed her even more that he didn't shake one bit as the machine finally flatlined like on schedule.. Swearing loudly and rushing over to his side she checked him while barking out orders to the others, being handed an adrenaline shot, which she jabbed into him to see if it would get his heart going, it was all for show and the amount she gave him would barely affect him. And wouldnt' be picked up by the machine's.

After a few minutes of no response from the monitors and him, thankfully. she scowled at the other scientists" bloody hell, call it, he is gone." grumbled, she was good at her acting as she ripped off her gloves and flung them in the trash. " no use in keeping him now." leaving the cage door open she flicked the monitors off, writting a few things down on the charts, which of course where just documentation of him being deceased, she placed them in the folders with his other records, which she had switched with falsified papers without anyone knowing.


She was being as quick as possible, knowing he couldn't hold his breath forever, grabbing the keys to her personal vehicle she tossed the folders back on the counter" put it in the records, i will dispose of the body. won't do us any good to leave it here to rot. can't test it." pretending to be pissed she went into the supply closet and pulled out the trolly they had used many times to transport heavy things. Pushing it to the open cage she reached in and with a slight apologetic look to him , she none too gently grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and tail and dragged him across the floor to plop down onto the trolly with a loud thud.. Glancing to the others she scowled" get the clean up crew in here to sanitize this place from top to bottom and every little bar. and dump that damn food and water out. ! i want this place sanitized completely before i get back" when they jumped to the orders she gave, and since she wouldn't be back for atleast twenty four hours, considering they don't like disposing of bodies anywhere near the facility. She wouldn't throw any suspicion up to anyone for a long time. she would be back before any of that happens.

She was quick , as usual to roll him out to her van, opening the back doors as she glanced down at him again muttering under her breath since she knew he had good hearing" don't move yet, wait until i am out of the lot, they have camera's out here too. " pocketing her keys she climbed into the back before kneeling down on the floor, reached down and again, none too gently , scruffed him by the neck and this time his paws as she half hauled, half dragged him into her van, pretending to be a little out of breath from his weight, she jumped out, closed and locked the door, gave the trolly back to the guard before hoping in and starting the vehicle., with a strick warning to be careful and not to be noticed by civilians, she was off the property in a matter of minutes. Once safely down the road, she glanced at him through her review mirror" alright your good. but stay back there, the windows are covered, if you can shift, go ahead and do so, i got clothing for you in a bag under the seat. Rooster has a birdie waiting for you to fly you home. "

Cale had to avoid growling every time Luma knocked him around. But he understood why. He wished he'd asked her to sedate him for this--would make keeping still so much easier. But if he needed to make a quick getaway for whatever reason, at least he would be conscious and able to.
he thought he'd almost given it away when his toe twitched at one point, quite uncontrollably, but he was grateful when she managed to distract the others so they didn't see it, and in all means hide it from the cameras.
Plus his mouth was getting dry now--between holding his breath and holding still, that was probably the worst part--after all animals' tongues relax when they die, so his was lagging at the moment--he'd seen his share of animals dying on the ranch to know.
And his entire body was trying to shake and spasm. He'd been drugged heavily for almost two weeks now, and to suddenly be without them his body was going through withdrawals. He was just about to lose it when Luma steered him out into the parking lot. When she whispered into his ear to keep holding his breath and staying still, he almost whined with the impossible effort. And then he thought of his beloved Mari, and the daunting task suddenly kept much easier as he focused on his thoughts of her rather than his physical discomfort.
When Luma finally had him locked in the safety of the rear hatch, protected by the heavily tinted windows, he finally gasped for air and let himself be alive again.
Of course Cale kept down, but, freed finally from the drug that forced him to stay in one form, he let himself slip back into his human skin and lie there, panting, shaking, and twitching from dehydration and withdrawals, in the buff and in serious need of a shave, and an even more serious need for a long and thorough bath. His beautiful hair was shiny and matted from the oils of his skin, and he had bruises everywhere from being roughed around--forced to stay pinned down and various devices being tightened too much upon him, or against his struggles--these bruises were from his initial capture. Then he had the new bruises from Luma's rough treatment just now, and even bruises around his loins where they'd milked him for semen, to get DNA that way.
But even in his broken down and roughened state, the man still looked handsome as sin.
He lay there curled up, just battling with the withdrawals as they raked through his body.

~~~~~

.....Strattauvian groaned. "Damn you, bitch..." he growled at the email from her. He shut his laptop without responding to it, and panted as he suffered an instant erection. The image of Luma was enough to tempt any man, but the image of Luma not wearing underwear....
He struggled to undo the leather of his fly, and let his erection spring forth from its painful confinement.
He leaned back in his computer chair, his cock sticking out from the dark clothing he'd dressed in for work.
He tried to relax, but the cursing image of Luma without underwear kept popping back into his head, and the little bit of relaxing he'd managed to do stiffened right up again. She was the only woman he'd ever wanted who'd never just lain down for him. Normal women, preternatural and non, couldn't resist his spell. But be damned if this one was not only able to resist it, but she could throw it back in his face.
He groaned in need, and then groaned in anger. He couldn't go to work like this. Even if his nosy minions somehow avoided asking him why he was acting strange, the massive lump in his pants would not be missed.
He was staying in a hotel room--his home was back in Nevada--but it was a large and luxurious one, with lots of space for a man who liked his privacy.
He opened his eyes and glared at the closed laptop, its power light blinking innocently, and then gave his erection a thoughtful arch of a brow.
"...Oh well, the fuckers can hang on without me for a couple of hours longer." he grumbled to himself, then got up, his member still jutting out of his pants. He made his way to the bathroom, then turned on the shower. Nice and steamy hot, just like a firebird loved.
He stripped, slowly, letting the feel of cloth over his taunt and tanned flesh put him in even more of a mood as he imagined them being his would-be lady's hands needfully trailing over his unrelenting flesh.
He tossed the suddenly offensive clothes away--they landed on a decorative plant--and he leaned forward, clutching the sink with both hands until his knuckles were white, torturing himself the way she probably would, then with agonizing softness, the Rooster began rubbing his sensitive erection against the marble counter--warm now and even with some condensation on it from the sheer heat of the shower.
Hell, he could hardly see it for the steam in the room. He shut the door then, and forced the steam to keep swirling around the bathroom, to brush against his heated skin like the whispers of Luma's hair would. Sweat trickled down his back as he continued to rub himself against the counter, arching back and moaning deep in his throat, and he picked up the pace.
But oh, no, Luma wouldn't make it that easy. He did exactly like she'd do and brought himself to the very brink, then stopped dead. He even whimpered a little.
Then the phoenix leaned back against the dew-covered wall, and let his body's high reluctantly fade away before massaging his sacs.
With a groan, he kept up this slow torment, just exactly as he knew she would do. And then finally, when he was about to come again, he growled at his own torture and stopped even more suddenly than before.
"...Damn it...." he growled, and then finally stepped into the shower.
He didn't even bother to stand up. Rather, he sat in the pool collecting along the stone tiles, right underneath the shower head. He leaned back, letting the water pound down onto his throbbing self--the cold water wasn't even on; a fire spirit could handle any level of heat--and practically yelled to the empty room from need, until finally he gave in, and grabbed his aching cock and began to think sinful thoughts of the only woman able to do this to him.
It didn't take him long, but as he jerked off to the constant pound of the water, the reward was well worth the effort and torment as he finally came, squirting out his massive load, and white fluid intertwined with the hot water as he leaned back, still holding himself.
"....Damn woman."

Luma glanced up at the review mirror the moment she heard him shift back, sucking in a breath at how he looked before she cleared her throat and glanced back at the road. she made sure they where several miles away from the facility before she pulled over into a gas station to fill the tank up.. Once it was full she climbed into the back and closed the door behind her, looking down at him as she knelt down'' wooo your mari is one lucky woman babe. even in this state your lovely " she grinned, telling him like it was as she reached under the seat and pulled out the bag of clothing" hold on love. i will help you get dressed and get you hydrated alright? , then you will be back in your fiancee's arms in no time" she was quickly to pull the clothing out, mindful not to hurt him as her hands where gentle this time as she helped tug on his pants" err. hope you don't mind no underwear on. . i didn't have time to pick out any for you . just pants and shirt. " when she had the pants on she frowned, " they fit . just a little loose. from losing some weight." pulling out the button up shirt carefully pulled him up into a sitting position, leaning him against her shoulder as she slipped the sleeves over his arm's. '' your going to have some withdrawel's for a bit, but be glad there is no lasting effects from it.. no cancer or whatever caused from them. hell you are still very fertile just so you know" she knew she was rambling but it was a good thing, giving her voice to him to focus on as she worked on getting him dressed..

" i have no shoes for you , sorry , but you won't need them anyways., alright hun , hold on, going to pull you onto the seat now and buckle you in. i don't want you bouncing all over the place." sliding her arm carefully around his waist she pulled him up to sit on the cushioned seat. " forgive me for the rough treatment earlier. i really hate doing that to you , .. i apologize for the bruises too. but nothing is broken on you and your wounds are healing nicely." pushing him back gently to press his back against the cool side of the van she reached up to pull the seat belt down, placing a soft terry towel over his chest and shoulder so the strap wouldn't rub his wounds., once it clicked into place she slid both of her palms over his jaw and tilted his face up to stare into his eyes'' i need you to hold still for me love. your dehydrated, i am going to give you an iv of fluids, it will help you hydrate and i will need you to drink as much gatorade as you can, the electrolytes will help as well. alright? when you get home, you can have a nice shave , a good hot bathe, some food and good sleep , i promise you that.. " he definitely looked a bit rugged and worn out , but she could still see the fight in him.

releasing his face from her gentle grasp she dug in a small cooler and pulled out a fat clear bag of fluid's and some small tubing for the iv. she hung the back and took his hand, using alcohol swipes to sanitize his hand before carefully and as gently as she possibly could, stuck the needle into his vein before taping it to his hand. '' don't pull it out. or i will be forced to stick you again . Rooster will shoot my ass if you get sick and what not.. " when she had the iv drip going she dug in another cooler, this one blue , and pulled out two bottles of the sports gatorade which was loaded with electrolytes to rehydrate him.. Opening one for him before digging around for a straw, clearly she had done this before, she stuck the straw in the bottle and held it to his lips. " slow sips. its ice cold and might hurt your teeth. " again she gave another small gentle smile, being as patient as ever with him even while he was shaking and jerking. " wish i could have gotten you out of there sooner . but i have strict orders from birdbrain himself not to do anything stupid to jeopardize my position there. do not worry about anything they took from you , all samples have been compromised and degraded down to no usable samples. . its going to be atleast an hour till we get to the pick up site, and i will continue to fly with you until you are safely home. alright?"

She hoped he was lucid enough to understand most of what she had explained, most of the wolves she helped out of that place always where a little loopy for a few days. she nearly jumped when her work phone went off, swearing and glancing to him she pressed a finger to her lips to signal for him not to make a sound before she flipped the phone open and put it on speaker,showing Cale a sign of trust a she gave him the opportunity to listen on the conversation to whoever had called her. which was her boss.. not Rooster, the government boss.. scowling at the phone and pretending to be irritated she snapped at the phone" what do you want Harrison?"

the gruff voice growling from the phone was just as irritated as she was " don't snap at me Miss Phoenix.... i want to know what the fuck happened in the lab and why the hell we now have a dead wolf?"

She rolled her eyes,that was irony that she had Phoenix as a last name, she hated when people used it. that and it was one of the few things Rooster actually did NOT know about her. he still thought her last name was Fine. .like she doctored it on her certificates to say. " why don't you go and yack at the moron's who pumped the wolf full of lead. Harrison. ? i told them to use tranqs. but that shit bag lawyer Roy, decided to shoot him, as well as one of your men. " she growled out at the phone,glancing to Cale and gave s light smile, before turning to scowl at the phone" they wounded him badly and from my guess, his heart couldn't take it any more. one of the bullets did hit very close you know.. i tried my best to bring him back but he was already gone. "

She thought he hung up with how silent he had been on the phone before he gave a long and low sigh." fine. dispose of him , and take forty eight hours to check your files and clean out the van. i want a full report and i want to know if we have any usable samples from him. I will hunt down Roy . though i doubt that will help , think he ran back home to go after that woman or whatever he said the wolf kidnapped.. so he is off the grid . but anyways. get your shit done and don't forget that report!" he didn't even give her a chance to reply before there was a click and the line went dead.

She glanced to cale again and slowly released her breath'' well there ya go. they think your dead. alright then lets get this monster moving" grinned, snatched up the phone and immediately smashed it to several pieces before melting the sim card in it. keeping the company from tracking her, its not the first time she has done it, considering that was protocol." alright then, hang on hun, take a nap if you wish. " climbing into the front seat she clicked her seat belt on before firing up the van once more and immediately drove it back onto the road. glad it wasn't a bumpy ride. . She checked on him every now and then over the next hour or so before she pulled off onto a dirt road and kept going for nearly another half hour before she found the clearing and spotted the black helicopter just landing off in the fields. " woo both on time for once. " driving off the road she parked under a set of tree's before climbing out , going to the back and threw the doors open , climbed back in , unbuckled him and slid her arm around him after she took the iv out. '' half way there love. " she held onto him tightly as she helped him climb down , letting him lean on her when he needed as she half carried him to the copter , then with the other man's help , she hauled him in , buckled him down again and gave him a new iv with a fresh bag of fluids before settling down next to him and closed the door, she put the ear covers on his ears to protect his hearing from the copter sound as they took off. .

Once they where in the air she allowed herself to relax and lean back , closing her eyes and slowly releasing a breath as she settled, now her mind on where the hell rooster was. she even pulled a roll of rope out of her bag and began to gently slid her fingers over it, every where she touched on it, it glowed a gentle red as she enchanted it. remembering his threat she grinned, , planning on retaliating the moment she saw him.

Caught in a dazed stupor, Cale could hardly think, let alone speak. So he communicated strictly with his eyes. Their eerie color was even more haunting with the pain and desperation he was exhibiting. He wanted to go home, but even now, free of the lab and on his way, he felt farther from Mari than he had when behind bars.
He cooperated with Luma, even helped out when she dressed him. He already felt like an invalid as it was, and hew still had plenty of fight in him, beneath the fog of illness and withdrawals. His head was throbbing and his lips were cracked, almost bleeding. Oh but he kept at it. He even managed to groan out a sentence. “…Hell of a time to be talking about fertility and good looks.”

He nodded his forgiveness when she mentioned the rough treatment from earlier, and didn’t really talk much about anything for the rest of the trip. He merely communicated with looks and nods and through simple helping whenever he could.

He did not take to being an invalid well. He was an active man, and independent, and he hated accepting charity if he didn’t have to. Well, now he had to but he wasn’t too happy about it. But still he accepted it just the same.
Cale held still as she buckled him in, grateful that she’d thought to protect his injuries from the painful intrusion of the seat belt.
He relaxed his hand for her as she stuck him for the IV, and like a champ he took it without any problems at all. His thirst was great, but he hesitantly followed her instructions as she strung him up and got him the Gatorades, and despite the burning of his throat for liquid, he consumed the drink as slowly as he could tolerate—after all, that wasn’t too too hard, considering on a normal basis he hated Gatorade. In all forms.

~~~~

Piloting the Black Hawk chopper—with all delicious irony considering who owned the Blackbird, Strattauvian grinned. The Blackbird of course was his pride and joy—a privately owned chopper with a few… tweaks… in it—including a rearranged piloting system that allowed him to operate everything in it by himself—that was the only way he could fly about without being noticed by silly humans.
After all, it was only really at night that he could get away with his true form and of course night was when fire was most noticeable. So Rooster had invested in the Blackbird and she suited his needs quite well. He often referred to her as his mistress.
Banking to the left and swinging into course for the pick-up site, Strattauvian tuned the CB and sent out a call.
“…Blackbird to Lupis, come in…”
Drachen’s voice came onto the speaker. “Lupis reads… go ahead Blackbird,”
“Lupis, I’m coming into position now. Your boss should be on his way. Have you sent that escort?”
“Roger Blackbird, Ethan should be coming up on your tail in about fifty minutes. We couldn’t hold him back. He has extra medical supplies on board if you need them.”
“Lupis, that’s nice and all, but a lot of fucking good those supplies will do me if we’re still in the air. I have supplies on board. If what my contact tells me is accurate then the prince will be in a very poor state indeed.”
“…Understood Blackbird but like I said, Ethan couldn’t be held back.”
“Oh just shut the fuck up and have him meet me on time. Over and out.”

“Come on! Let’s go, Cindy!” the Rooster growled at Luma, the annoying nickname he always called her. She was a cinder, he’d always say, a cinder trying to spark a flame but always spitting out. So, he called her Cindy.
He slid open the door, and leapt out, helping her get the prince into his seat and getting him set up. Even the legendary phoenix had to quiver a little when he saw the horrible, almost emaciated state Cale was in. “This poor bastard’s probably better off on the stretcher, don’t you think?” he grumbled as she buckled him in.
It wouldn’t be too long before the government bastards discovered an unauthorized chopper in D.C. airspace, so when everyone was strapped in he didn’t even hesitate to take off. He didn’t even wait for Luma to shut the door as the Blackbird readily took to the wind, bearing her owner and her new passengers away to safety without even a nod.

In approximately fifty minutes, as scheduled, a powerful young man, also of elven blood, a young man named Ethan Arcoux, who also owned his own chopper, guided his bird, a Black Shark attack chopper (pic: http://www.guncopter.com/ka50/), into position behind the Blackbird. The two pilots chatted back and forth on the CB a while, the whole time during which a very exhausted Cale continued to take a well deserved rest.
“Ethan’s another alpha from the area.” Rooster said, breaking the silence. He actually kept his normal robust voice quiet, and made a gentle bank to the right, heading more directly to Montana. “Older than young Cale here. He used to fly for the army, but now he works for us.”
Strattauvian flipped a couple of switches, and the sound of the rotors softened.
“Anyway… We’ll be running on half power for a while. Won’t be as fast but we’ll get farther on our fuel. We’ll stop in Ohio to refuel then move on, stopping next in Iowa and then Wyoming before taking him home to Beartooth. Ethan’ll be escorting us the whole way. He’s the only one I trust—at least when it comes to the Xynons.”

~~~~~~

Drachen looked out to the eastern sky. Daylight was slowly awakening over the prairie.
It had been almost a month now—more like three weeks—since Cale’s abduction. Drachen had to give kudos many thousands of times over to Mari; she’d had so much slammed into her lap during this time; Cale’s abduction, her pregnancy, MJ and Cale’s uncle learning the secret, and so many others. Plus she’d had to take medications to cure her sunburn, and her dehydration, and now she had to endure her prenatal care like nothing was wrong.
But then, finally, the cinnamon-colored wolf flicked his ears up.
Had heard what he thought he’d heard?
He listened again.
……thud thud thud thud……
Drachen’s eyes widened and a canine smile played across his beautiful head, and he saw them crest the hill, the two choppers. And they were coming in for a landing.
He bolted across the way to Mari’s cabin, barking. “Wake up! Wake up! They’re here!”
The reddish-brown beta rocketed past the pastures where the boys had already brought out their alphena’s horses, and a few neighed at being disturbed.
Drachen bolted through the open window on the porch, then as the boys, sprawled out in various forms encamped in her living room, groaned and growled awake, he ignored them and went straight to his alphena’s room.
He reared up to gently scratch open and push in her door, then gracefully jumped up onto her bed.
He put a big paw on her shoulder, and shook her awake, his tail wagging and still smiling his wolfish smile.

luma scowled the moment she heard roosters voice. she recognized that deep timbre anywhere and still he managed to get on her nerves. "stop calling me that thunderbutt!" considering her was a phoenix, which reminded her of a large thunderbird. hence his new nickname as she carefully strapped cale in. " besides,stretcher is too hard to lay on. he had nothing but a metal floor to sleep on for a while so i think he enjoys the cushions of the seat. .that and hell, he's a man for crying out loud. too stubborn to just lay down like that. leave him be. " she glowered at him. silently daring him to disturb cale,before she relaxed and continued messing with her rope.

when he spoke of ethen the only thing she did in response was to nod at him but kept quiet. she used alot of energy and lost alot of sleep getting cale out and working around the clock to sabotage any tests they did, so she too like cale. was taking small ten minute naps when she could. only moving when she either had to give him a new iv or something else to drink and to check his bandages. all in all, she was ignoring a certain male hooker who kept trying to strike up conversations whenever he felt the need for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

mari gave a small grunt as she slowly came awake from her deep sleep. hearing movement out in her living room as well as someone shaking her awake she groaned and rolled over on her back, atleast until she felt someone staring at her. slowly opening her eyes she sucked in a sudden breath as she came face to face with a cinnamon colored wolf. " ack!!! drachen demmit dont do that " rubbing her eyes and quickly sitting up she noted how happy he looked, which sent a thrill through her body and had her getting out of the bed instantly, running to the door as fast as she could before skidding to a stop and realizing she had no pants on. swearing she glared at drachen" not a word out of you mister" her face going beat red as she yanked some pants on, groaning in disdain when she had trouble buttoning them. they where a little too tight but still managed to get them on before pulling shoes on and running out the door. . "come one drachen! i am not waiting on your slow ass!.

Drachen had had to bite his tongue to keep from barking a laugh when she nearly ran out half naked. But when she finally did run out, he followed her noisily, barking and pouncing on his pack mates—some of them had rolled over and fallen back asleep—just as the house creaked and groaned from the massive air currents the rotors were putting off as the choppers hovered over the ground, looking for a flat place to land.
The livestock neighed, clucked, and mooed in protest and annoyance at the sudden, huge disturbance.
The down draft from the blades flattened the grasses for several yards around the aircraft, and just beyond that the wind churned the grass like the waves of an angry ocean.
Soon enough, the pack, most of them men—since males inherited the gene more often and coincidentally were the ones far more likely to pass it on—were standing outside. The majority of them were in nothing but their pants, and any woman would have died to see so many gorgeous men all lined up as they were.

Inside, Cale woke up from the unavoidable jarring of the landing. It took a moment for him to become fully conscious again, and then he actually had the gusto to snap, his voice much smoother now thanks to Luma’s care, “Kill the engines, you moron! You’re startling the livestock!”
“With all due respect, kid, I know what I’m doing.”
“And I know animals. And unless you want a stampede to ruin your precious Blackbird, you’ll kill the engines.”
Rooster growled. “…Pushy prince.”
But nonetheless he shut off the rotors and got on the CB to relay the warning to Ethan.
“…Ethan’s here? I thought he was in Iraq.”
The phoenix reset a couple of levers. “Conveniently enough his papers to come home for a few weeks came through while you were incarcerated in that lab.” he said, implying that DoPA had had something to do with that. There was very little Rooster didn’t have his fingers in somewhere.
It wasn’t long before Rooster had opened the door onto the cool early morning air, and helped Luma get Cale on his feet. The young alpha was far from being able to walk on his own yet, so the phoenix draped one of Cale’s arms around his shoulders and supported him.

The killing of the engines had allowed the pack to get much closer now, and they were just as thrilled to see their powerful alpha as they were shocked to see the horrible weakened state. But as fidgety and eager as they were to see him, they obediently kept their distance, because only one person needed to be close to him right now.
Drachen nudged Mari forward.


Ethan, leaning against his Shark, watched the whole affair from a distance. In the past, he and Cale had been more than rival alphas—they had been enemies. Of course, that was back when Ethan and his pack had prowled the college district in southern Beartooth, and had competed against The Ridgers for their share of the city. Back in those days, the city had been divided between three factions. The Illiek, Ethan’s pack, had held the southern end of the city, the now deceased Thirty-Six pack had held the industrial and slumming northern end of the city, and the much larger and much more fruitful center section of the city, where the odd Heaven’s Ridge jutted out from the nearby mountains and split Beartooth in half, had belonged to the then alpha, Kyle Acryous.
When Cale had arrived on the scene years later and begun to take over, Kyle had spiraled down quite the opposite path from where he had been and wound up in prison in the later years of his adolescence.
But that of course had only solidified Cale’s control of the pack, and set him on quite the opposite path than he had been heading.
So basically, as Ethan had observed with amusement, Cale’s arrival had completely flipped his and Kyle’s roles on society.
It didn’t bother him though; Cale was the Xynon prince and therefore had every right to be in control—remaining uncrowned only because the Xynons no longer had control over the country—and Kyle has always been a cruel and malicious young man outside of his human existence, and so it only seemed to fit.

But now Cale and Ethan were, though not necessarily friends—as competing alphas friendship between them was sketchy and almost forbidden—but rather friendly acquaintances and mutual allies.
He stretched luxuriously where he leaned against his chopper. He was a definite elf blood, and bore most of the signs.
He’d been blessed with sparkling green eyes, and hair that was not only blonde but the second rarest shade, pure gold that looked like it had been kissed by the sun itself, and almost sparkled like his eyes. Similar to Cale, he had once worn it shoulder length and tied it back, but now in the military he was forced to keep it regulation short. But he still made it look damn good.
A thin scar ran along the ridge of his cheek bone on the right hand side, and he actually had a couple of shot wound scars in his side from his service.

Ignoring the gushy proceedings in front of the Black Hawk, Ethan began to distract himself by tending to the Shark’s rotors, inspecting them for any damage caused by running on half power. The rest of his time was spent spitting and polishing his beloved bird—which thanks to Rooster he owned, rather than the government, all due to falsifying the government documents and filing them so that Ethan’s custody of the Shark was completely and 110% legal. It was the government who was using his property.

Luma too had to snap awake both from the unaboidable jolting of the landing and from Cale snapping at Rooster, which she just found absolutely freaking hilarious.. Grinning she took the time to get out of the seat and unhooked Cale from the iv's and such and even helped him get out of the straps before,with Rooster's unwanted help, they got Cale out of the chopper. " Cale dear, i am liking you alot more now " teased, speaking it loud enough for Rooster to hear as well. She just loved to piss Rooster off. Leaning close to call she spoke softly for him to hear only " i will leave the iv's out for now so you and your mate don't get tangled up , but the moment she has you settled down and cleaned up, your getting another bag. i am still a bit worried about your coloring. " looking around she waited till she saw a woman being pushed forward by one of the wolves.

If mari hadn't been too worried about Cale, she would have laughed at Drachen's antics on pouncing on his pack mates as well as barking in their ear's to get them up. He was acting like a big puppy, all the more reason she was loving him as a really close brother she never had.

She actually had to dodge and step over some of the sleeping bodies in her living room, swearing that she was going to have to get a bigger house if they where to keep doing this. She was moving fast now since her sunburns where completely healed, all but for the worst of the ones she had which where still healing but now no longer looked horrible, just a small sunburn is what they turned into. she had a few faint scar's but everywhere else healed nicely. Grabbing a hair tie she tied her hair back as she stepped outside , narrowing her eyes against the wind from the chopper blades'' hells bells if that idiot don't turn the chopper off he is going to stampede my livestock'' thats the last thing she needed again was one of those. she remembered the damn bull.

Luckily she wouldn't have to chew the idiot out ince almost the same time she was thinking she would, the moter's got turned off, she figured Cale had something to do with it. Pushing her way past the small pack till she got tot he front she sucked in a breath at the sight of Cale, glad he was alive, but horified by his state. covering her mouth slightly she stood there frozen till Drachen pushed at her to move forward.

That was all the encouragement she needed, ignoring Rooster and Luma she ran the rest of the way over to cale, trying hard not to cry but failed as tears streamed down her face, stopping right in front of him she reached up and cupped his face, sniffing slightly before kissing him gently before leaning back to look him over" gawd babe what did they do to you ?" trying to keep her hands from trembling, though that too was hard, she slid them gently over his body . checking his bandaged spots. before moving to his side as Luma's helped her manuever his arm around her shoulders. " lets get you inside love, so you can sit and get cleaned up and some sleep. " she glanced over at Drachen" Drach. can you come and help please?.. i am sure this ummm.. " glanced to rooster and her face went red, she didn't know who he was, she thought it was the man named Rooster but she wasn't sure.. that and he was. scowling or something. making her nervous.. " hell i don't know your name, Sorry. "

Luma grinned , letting Mari take her spot by her mate's side before she glanced to Drachen, motioning him forward. " come on , lets get him in side. before he falls over ." she was happy he was home , glad she could help, she scowled at Rooster for his rudeness before slid her gaze over to Ethan, arching a brow a little and looking him over. Glanced at Rooster then back at Ethan, she planned on getting Cale settled, then hog tie Roost, before giving Ethan a big fat thank you for the escort.

“….Trust me,” Cale whispered, forcing himself to stand on his own as he kissed her back, and gave her a hug that he’d been aching to give her for almost a month. Even he shed a couple of tears.
The pack subtlety moved away to give them a moment. “…you don’t want to know. But I’ll tell you later since I know you’re going to insist.”
As Strattauvian stepped back—Cale had sort of shoved him back too—he brushed a couple of bangs out of his face. And that was about the time Mari spoke to him.
He kissed her hand—despite Cale’s resulting glare—and said, “…Strattauvian Pyronov, miss. A black phoenix and head of the Department of Preternatural Affairs. Most just call me Rooster.”

Oh, he wasn’t showing off at all—the air and aura of power he put off was enough that even the wolves shied away from him. The gorgeous phoenix then spoke again before giving her a little nod of respect. “A pleasure to meet the prince’s woman. I trust you’ll keep him in good care. He and his family are this country’s most precious possessions.”
He bowed away, then moved to go walking.

Drachen helped Mari get Cale into the house and into bed, then returned just in time to see the pack gawking at something.
Even Ethan over by his Shark was arching a brow.
“….What… is all this?” he muttered to himself.

Mari grimaced before reaching up to brush the tears from his eyes. '' frankly hun, i don't know if i really wanna know or not.. might piss me off more then i umm.. need to. right now stress is not very good on me. and my body" muttered sighing. She watched the little dominant show between Cale and Rooster, arching a brow she rolled her eyes but didn't say anything too much at it, even as Rooster introduced himself and kissed her hand. " ahh.. wondering when i was err.. gonna meet you" she frowned before shaking her head'' you need to smile more. your glare is too damn intimidating and i don't like it Rooster." she grimaced slightly " no disrespect to you .. . and its Mari, not miss. makes me feel old. " grumbled, wrinkling her nose, damn she was cranky again, another mood swing she figured, that and she was just eager to get Cale in the house and cleaned up. She arched a brow slightly before giving a slight smile" he will get care he needs Rooster, don't worry about that.. now if you will excuse me i need to get him inside."

she watched him back out and move away before ignoring every one now and with Drachen's help, got Cale inside and in the bed, she chased Drachen out of the room, with a small apology before closing the door and then spent the next hour getting Cale up and into the bath, cleaned up , shaved, rebandaged before back in bed again., By the time she was done , they were both exhausted and she was curled up next to his side, head resting on his shoulder and slowly falling asleep while she looked up at him. she hadn't told him she was pregnant yet. she wanted him to rest first before she shocked him with that news. She had left the ultrasound upside down on the bedside table next to her side for easy reach for when she told him.

Luma waited till the three got Cale in the house before she silently followed Rooster as he walked away, rope in hand she grinned as she slid the loop lose a little." oi bird butt. where do you think your going?" she barely gave him a chance to turn before she flung the rope around him, letting it slide down to around both of his ankles before she yankled hard, tightening the loop around his ankles and making him hit the dirt face first, she moved quickly even as he swore violently. Sitting on his back she yanked his hands behind his back, pulled his legs up behind him and basically just hog tied him. making sure the knots where tight before she grinned. knowing a ton of the wolves where now looking dumb struck.

Leaning down she lightly pressed a kiss to his temple before whispering in his ear" i didn't forget that threat you sent me about tieing me to a garbage barge.. not something i take lightly.. figured doing this to you is better then having your balls in my hand. considering you might need those to go screw some whore." glancing around again she ruffled his hair. " another image for you while your working your way to getting out of that enchanted rope... remember.. you can't shred underwear if i am not wearing none. " with that she got up , stretched before going straight over to where a curious Ethan was standing. she got a bonus when she realized Rooster had a clear view of her and Ethan. Grinning as she reached him she lightly poked his chest.


" hey there love, " wanting to take him by surprise she leaned up , slid her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth, not a simple peck on the lips either, full deep, mouth exploring kiss, knowing he was enjoying it too even though it came as a shock but she felt his body stir. pulling back a little she smiled" thanks for the escort. i am pretty damn sure Rooster never gives you any thanks." leaning back a little and looking him over she arched a brow. " eager for some fun before you return to work soldier?"

“Mother. Fucking. BITCH!” Strattauvian screeched. He’d bitten the inside of his cheek as he’d fallen, and he tasted blood, and some scratches emerged along his cheek bone.
But he didn’t give her the pleasure of yelling, or even cussing, anymore. Just issued her a low, deep, cold threat that would chill even her fiery spine.
“…’Darkness is both friend, and enemy’, dearest Luminous Phoenix. I’ll see to that.”
With that, and a smirk of sheer chilling evil, he did her the indignity of looking away and focused only on the ropes about his limbs, laying more on his belly to prevent her from seeing his fresh erection at the mention of her not wearing panties.
He twisted his wrists gently to test exactly where they were and how tight, and right about then he heard Luma speak to Ethan, and he stole a look.
At her, at him, and the long kiss they were sharing.


Oh well, he thought. He noticed how into the kiss the stray alpha was getting, and he glared at the ground as he proceeded to start the long process of burning through the rope—black and violet flames glowing and then springing to life along its length.
He’d get his revenge on her later.

The pack scattered once they realized that the most powerful being on their continent had just been insulted and embarrassed by one of his minions.
Ethan would have too, but he was a little busy at the moment. At first his eyes had widened, and his instincts had urged him to fight back, but a fire spirit was a tempting one in either sex, and soon he, backed up against the Shark, his hands pressed against the metal, closed his eyes and instinctively deepened the kiss. He brought his hands up, and held her upper arms with the firm but gentleness of a lover—a lover who hadn’t gotten laid in a while.
Naturally, his loins stirred and stiffened, pressing into her leg. When she pulled away, he was left panting softly. He looked around—the twins and a couple of the other were being ballsy enough to keep watching—and he cautiously moved to get back aboard the Shark, and stepped up into it. It was then that she asked him the most loaded question anyone can ask.
He stopped, turned around, then with a raised brow and a betraying look up and down her curvy form, he asked…. “Eh, what sort of fun? And,” he looked over her to the hog tied phoenix. “…should I be concerned?”