A/N: I own Lakin, Callan, and Nick. They did come from my twisted little brain. The other characters all belong to Patricia Briggs. This is my first fanfic so please be gentle. :)

Lakin

Lakin held her breath as her dad took another sharp corner in their mud covered four door truck. She hated it when he drove so fast, especially on dirt roads. He may have better than human reflexes and sight, but that didn't make her feel any better. He thought it was hilarious. Even when Lakin tried to drive he refused and would then drive crazy to freak her out on purpose. She eventually learned to stop asking and try not to freak out. She was still working on that last part.

The truck slid into the Alphas drive way at a ninety degree angle that would have made Bo and Luke Duke proud, only slowing slightly to drive over the cattle guard. Lakin reached for the Jesus handle in a panic. Her dad was still laughing at her when he got out of the truck.

"I'm driving back home Dad!" she shouted at him as he closed the door. Lakin got out of the truck and was picked up in a bear hug.

"Can't breathe," she finally said in a whisper.

"Sorry I'm just so glad to see you. Do you have to receive a formal invitation to see us now?" Chase asked. Lakin graduated high school with Chase and both of their dad's were werewolves. He's always had a crush on her, she didn't return the sentiment.

"Yeah, I'm a bitch like that," she said dryly. "You know I've been at school." He smiled and nodded. "How's your family Chase?"

"They're fine. Dad's in the house. I'm sure he'll want to see you sometime tonight," he replied.

"It's been awhile since I've seen him." He didn't reply. They stood by the truck in silence. To fill the awkward silence she said," You seem to be taking to the change well." She kept in touch with the pack enough to know that he was struggling to control the wolf. That wasn't something you brought up until there was a body on the ground with his about to follow.

"Yeah, I love it increased speed, sight, smell, and increased everything. It's nothing like I thought it would be. They tell you but you don't really know until you know."

"So I'm told," she replied.

"You would be amazed at all of the things I can do," he said staring at her intently.

"Unless you can spontaneously create a fire, I'm going inside. It's too cold," Lakin said. Honestly, it wasn't too cold for her. She just didn't like that look on his face. He closely followed her inside.

The Alphas ranch was massive. He had enough land far enough away from everyone that the werewolves could freely run on the full moon without having to worry about drawing any attention. The white farmhouse was two stories with tall white columns in front. It was big enough that if they needed to the entire pack could comfortably stay there. The back rooms were reinforced and could be used to hold hostile wolves.

"Al," Lakin yelled and ran up to the Alpha for a hug. Al was the nickname she gave to him when he came to the house to help her dad. She's called him that ever since.

"Don't call me that. You know I don't like it," he said with a grin.

"How have you been? Have you been keeping Dad in line?" she asked.

"We're good as usual. Your dad though, you know how he is. There's no way to keep him in line. You did get that from him," he teased.

"Whatever. It would be boring without us and you know it," Lakin said with her trademark grin. "Why did you invite me to the meeting tonight? I didn't think humans could attend without them being mated."

Al said, "The meeting was originally called tonight so we could talk to you before you go back to school. Now, there's another pack coming to get some help finding a kidnapped mate."

"That's terrible. Why are they coming to you for help? Is it a pack close by? Wait, why does the pack want to talk to me?" Lakin asked.

"Now that our pack is all here, we have a proposition for you," he said smiling. Lakin looked at him eagerly waiting for the explanation. "The pack discussed it and we will pay for the Preternatural Medicine program if you meet a few conditions."

Lakin was thrilled. She had been so worried about saving money and applying for student loans. She didn't want her schooling to be a burden to her parents and now it didn't look like that was going to be a problem.

"The conditions?" Lakin asked.

"You will become the packs official doctor. We will be your priority. You will also have to report everything back to me. Every wolf or victim you see I need to know about it," Al said.

Lakin thought about it for a minute and said, "I will be able to treat anyone not just pack. I will only report dangerous things to you. You don't need to know everyone's medical problems. They have a right to privacy."

Al stood there thoughtful. You could tell that he wasn't happy having his wishes contradicted, but he was still taking the counter offer seriously. "Agreed, with the condition that you give the pack priority."

She glanced at her dad and he smiled proudly at her sticking to her guns. He knew she would make the right decision for herself. "The pack will get priority unless there is someone in a worse situation. I won't help a pack wolf with a cold over someone bleeding to death from silver wounds," Lakin said firmly trying not to look Al in the eye.

"Agreed," Al said and stuck his hand out for Lakin to shake on it. They shook hands and he said, "We will have papers drawn up and the money transferred within the week. Now you just have to stay out of trouble and study. Do you think you can manage that?" he asked.

"When have I ever gotten in trouble?" she said grinning. "Wait… don't answer that." Al glanced at the window at the distant sound of a car driving up the drive way.

"Sounds like the other pack is here," Al said. "You can go into another room if you like. This shouldn't take long."

"No that's okay. I think I'll go outside. Thanks again everyone. This means a lot to me," Lakin said and walked to the back door.

As she was about to go around the corner she heard Al, "Callan, good to see you again."

Lakin looked at him. He was tall with broad shoulders and he had the greenest eyes Lakin had ever seen. She could tell immediately that he was an alpha and he was old. He had that extra something that all of the alphas she'd ever met have all had. The best way she could describe it was that it was a heaviness surrounding him. Pressing you to do whatever he wanted, an alpha vibe.

The alpha looked up at her as she grabbed a blanket and left. He had the oddest expression on his face.

Lakin sat down on the porch swing and looked out across the lake. It was a cold night, but not cold enough to prevent the snow from melting. Everything was still dusted with snow, but it was all slowly melting. By morning there would only be mud. The wind was gently blowing and the stars were out in full force. One thing Lakin really missed when she's in the city at school was looking at the stars. Nowhere in the city can you see the stars this bright. Everyone's always in a hurry rushing around. It's never this calm. This was so peaceful.

Lakin took in a deep breath and sighed snuggling in her blanket. She was startled when Chase said, "Miss the country life huh?"

"Damn it you scared me Chase. Why aren't you in the meeting?" Lakin asked.

"Because I knew this would be my last chance to do this," Chase whispered. He pinned her into the swing with an arm on each side of her on the blanket. The blanket was like a seatbelt holding her in place. He kissed her roughly and tried to stick his tongue down her throat. Lakin struggled trying to push him off of her, but he got the wrong idea. He thought she was grabbing onto him to pull him closer. He leaned in and tried to pick up the intensity. Not knowing what else to do Lakin froze and it took him a minute to realize she wasn't moving.

He looked at her with a smirk and said, "Wow that was amazing. I've been wanting to do that for a long time."

"Chase, um, I'm flattered, but I don't see you that way. I thought you understood that. I'm sorry," Lakin said trying to scoot out from under his arms.

Chase started shaking. Not from the cold, but from the coming change.

"Oh, shit," Lakin said racking her brain trying to decide what to do. It takes them awhile to shift. Lakin decided she just needed to slowly go into the house, meeting or no meeting, she needs alpha assistance ASAP. She knew better than to run, running would just trigger the wolf to hunt. She could feel her silver butterfly knife heavy in her pocket. She didn't want to hurt him but not as much as she didn't want him to hurt her.

Chase growled as she was half way out from under him realizing she was trying to leave. "It's Nick isn't it? That's why you won't have me now?"

"Chase," Lakin said very carefully. "Calm down. Is this really a reason to change?" Lakin slowly reached into her pocket to retrieve her knife. She could tell this wasn't going to end well for either of them.

"Mine," Chase shouted as he reached for her again.

"Stop," a deep unfamiliar voice commanded from the doorway. "Pup let go of her right now and go inside."

Even Lakin could feel the alpha command in the air.

Chase froze, blinked his eyes a few times and walked over to the stranger. He tried to do their dominance stare and Chase lost. It wasn't even a contest. Chase couldn't meet his eyes. He stomped into the house muttering under his breath.

"Thank you sir I appreciate your help. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place." Lakin said grateful she wasn't werewolf chow.

"Not a problem. Pups like that have to learn their place in the pack so they'll straighten up. I'm Callan," he said sticking out his hand for a handshake. She turned to shake his hand and his eyes widened.

He stopped in his tracks and said, "Emily? Is that you?"

"No sir. My name's Lakin. Thanks again," she said. Lakin went back to sit on the swing wrapping the blanket around her, but making sure she couldn't be pinned with it again. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. The way Callan continued to look at her made her think she'd just upgraded her trouble. Without a word Lakin got up and slowly headed back into the house.

Callan

"You really don't remember me?" Callan asked.

"I've lived in this town my whole life, my dad's inside at the meeting. The first time I met you was when you made Chase go in the house just now," Lakin said moving slowly towards the door.

Callan couldn't understand why she didn't remember him. He knew without a doubt this was his Emily. Callan thought to himself she said her dad was inside at the meeting. Maybe he kidnapped her from me and had a witch cast a spell to erase her memory? That's a possibility. Maybe she had a head injury and they just filled in the blanks for her. Either way I need to carefully trigger her memory. Maybe if I remind her of our past that will be enough.

"Well, Emily is my wife. She was pregnant and she was taken from me at the hospital. I don't know where she is or our son," Callan said. Lakin was listening with wide eyes from the doorway. "She begged and begged me to have children. It's hard for werewolves to conceive and even harder for the mother to carry a baby to term. I've lost a lot of children in my life. More than I care to remember. We've come here to recruit help finding her. I've been married a few times in my long life, but Emily is my soul mate. I can't live without her," Callan said with tears in his eyes looking out across the field. He heard her foot steps walking closer. She put an arm around Callan. He hoped that she remembered. He looked down into her eyes willing her to remember. "You look like her."

"Callan I'm so sorry that's happened to you. You'll find her. If you found your soul mate once I know you'll be together again. Real soul mates have a funny way of doing that from what I've seen," she said. She patted him on the arm and walked into the house.

She showed such compassion and understanding, he knew this was Emily. Emily looked the same as always. She had the same long wavy blonde hair, gray blue eyes, tall for a woman, but not too skinny. Callan wanted to find out more about the wolf that she called her dad. Callan decided that her 'dad' took her from him. He wasn't sure why anyone would take her. Callan was going to get her address from the alpha. Callan wanted to have another meeting without inviting the thief. He'd have to be careful though. If the kidnapper suspected Callan was on to him he could move her or kill her Callan thought. He wasn't going to let that happen. Callan was going to have a little talk with this alpha, but first he was going to get a look at her captor.

Lakin

Lakin found her dad. "I'll be in the truck waiting for you Dad." He must have smelled her fear, because he waved goodbye to everyone and followed her to the truck.

Lakin got into the passenger seat without even commenting about his driving. Her dad started up the truck and looked at her waiting for an explanation. She put her seatbelt on and asked, "What happened at the meeting?"

"Not much. Are you okay? What happened with Chase? He came in smelling like lust and anger. He was so pissed off and he wouldn't talk about it and now you're scarred."

"Don't get mad. It was handled okay?" I said and he nodded. "Chase tried to make a move on me and he was pissed because I told him I didn't feel the same way. He started to change and the alpha of the pack that came to town made him go inside and leave me alone," Lakin said with a smirk. "It was kind of funny watching Chase obey a stranger. Callan I think is what he said his name was. He was really nice, but he acted so strange. He kind of freaked me out so I ran inside to you."

"Do you still have my old knife? The silver plated one? I know you used to keep it on you all the time. Do you still?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's in my pocket. Why?"

"I don't trust that pack that's in town. They aren't telling us the whole story and you need to be careful of Chase. He's always been a little angry, that's amplified now that he's a wolf. If he loses it I don't want you to be anywhere near him. Okay?"

"Okay Dad. What did the pack want? "

"The alpha of that pack's pregnant wife was kidnapped. They think she's been taken to this area and want our help finding her. They aren't telling us the whole story though. My first thought is that she's running from him. I don't know though."

"I talked to him for a little bit and he was genuinely upset that she was gone. He mentioned her. He seemed so lost and sad. He even said I look like her,' Lakin said.

"Lakin, do you remember when we saw Adam Hauptman on TV awhile ago? I told you that I've met him a few times and he's a good guy. He has a daughter too. We talked about dealing with rebellious teenage girls," he asked.

"Yes, he was on TV with his girlfriend. Mercedes the VW mechanic," she said with a giggle. She always had thought that was funny.

"If something ever happens to me you get your mom and sister and book it to Tri-Cities Washington. You find Adam and he'll protect you. I'd send you to someone higher up, but that's the first place they'd look for you. Adams the only other alpha I've met that I'd trust my girls with," he said gripping the steering wheel to tight.

"Dad I think you're being over protective. Chase is a jerk but he wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose. Why would anyone else try to do anything to us? You just need to relax Dad."

"My wolf knows something's going on and we don't like it. Please promise me if anything supernatural goes wrong you will go to Adam."

"Okay Dad I promise I'll go to Adam if I'm in supernatural trouble. Why do you think something's going to happen to you? You aren't thinking of hurting yourself are you?"

He gave Lakin a look that had the desired effect of making her feel like an idiot for asking. "I'd never do something like that to myself. I just know something's up. It's better to be over protective and have a plan than being caught off guard. Make sure you keep that knife on you and don't roll your eyes at me Lakin. Please for once just listen," he said and sighed.

"Yes sir. Callan saved me from Chase's stupidity tonight. He's a really strong alpha. I could even feel the command when he ordered Chase to go inside the house," Lakin said.

"I've only met a couple of alphas that strong. They've all been ancient. All well over five-hundred years old. That's just asking for trouble. When wolves are that old they tend to have problems adjusting to change. We live in a world that's constantly changing. If he were to loose his mind here there isn't anyone strong enough close by to put him down. By the time help came it would be way too late. I hope the pack stays out of his business. I really don't have a good feeling about it at all," her dad said.

Lakin knew he was right. She knew she needed to get away from Callan earlier. He didn't seem like he wanted to hurt her. She didn't know what the deal was, but she wasn't ever going to be alone with him or Chase ever again.

That was another problem. Chase had never been that aggressive towards her before. Sure he's a werewolf now, but for him to act like that now means that he was holding a lot back when he was human. How did everything get so complicated so quickly? Lakin was glad that she'd be headed back to the city soon. She had more important things to worry about than them.

A/N: We're getting closer to Adam, Mercy, and the rest of the gang. Please bear with me.