Chapter 3

"What do you have, Finch?" John asked as he and Joss entered the computer room.

"I've found a website with some interesting racial theories when it comes to Wolf People. Apparently some of your fellow Wolves are not happy being "civilized" as you put it earlier."

"I've known a few Wolves who would like to assert their superiority over non-Wolves, but they are a small minority. Most of us realize our race almost got wiped out and still could be, if non-Wolves felt threatened by us again."

"Well it looks like someone is trying to organize the minority into a majority. Look."

John and Joss looked over Finch's shoulder at a website called "Legion of the Lupine," extolling the superiority of the Wolf over the non-Wolf. "It's like the Aryan Brotherhood for Wolves," Joss observed. "Look, they even advocate killing 'Traitors', Alphas who enforce the Code."

John was radiating anger and his blue eyes had gone glacial. "I need to know who's behind this." His snarl was particularly wolf-like, even in his human form.

Finch looked smug. "Fortunately they have appallingly bad security. A first year computer science student could have hacked the site." Joss had to stifle a giggle at Finch, he was obviously quite disgusted with Legion of the Lupine.

"The site is run by a Brian Rodgers, who lived in Boston until a month ago. He just relocated to New York. Coincidence? I think not."

"Any known associates?"

"I hacked his email. He corresponds with many people, but mostly Peter Dunbar of Brooklyn and Mark Ryder, also of Brooklyn. It seems they arranged "outings," as they called them, on the exact same nights the Alphas of Boston were attacked and again last night."

"So why didn't Joss's number come up last night?"

"From what I read, it looks like they were not planning any violence; it was more of a reconnaissance mission to gather data on you and your pack. The ambush of Joss was spur of the moment, a crime of opportunity, which the Machine cannot detect, as you know. They probably could not believe their luck when they thought they had caught her alone."

"Well, their luck just ran out. It's time to show them what Wolf on Wolf violence really looks like," John snarled as he headed for the door.

Joss ran after him, "I'm going with you, John. No way is my mate going without me."

John grabbed Joss by the arms and looked her straight in the eye, "Joss, if you go with me, you will not be going as a police officer, you will be going as my mate, as an Alpha Wolf. You will leave your badge and service weapon here and we'll settle this Wolf style."

Joss searched his eyes for a second, then placed her gun and badge on the table. "Watch these for me, Harold."

"They will be waiting for you when you get back, Jocelyn."

John got Joss a new gun from his considerable arsenal, and they left to find the head of the Legion of the Lupine.


The address Finch had for Brian Rodgers was one of the most dilapidated, fleabag hotels Joss had ever seen. "Nice accommodations," Joss noted, "no wonder our boy is angry." John snorted, "I think on my worst days as a drunk I would have avoided this place."

No clerk was on duty at the desk, and there were no signs of life as they moved silently up to the top floor where Rodgers was supposed to be holed up. They took up positions on either side of the door to his room, and John reached over and tapped on the door. There was no answer, no sound to indicate that anyone was home. John swiftly kicked the door in and Joss followed him into the room.

It seemed that Brian Rodgers did not have a lot of material possessions, so it only took a few minutes to search the room. There were a few clothes, and their sizes indicated that Rodgers was a fairly large man, so Joss deduced that he was probably the big Wolf whose hate and anger had been so blinding that night they tried to attack her .

While Joss searched the rest of the room, John started going through the papers and books on the nightstand. He found a list of the Alphas of Boston with the names of the dead Alphas crossed out, he also found a partial list of the Alphas of NYC, with Bill and Bess Cross listed at the top, and his and Joss's names just below. Seeing his friends and his mate listed on a hit list filled him with rage and his Wolf side snarled and vowed revenge. Rodgers was a dead man if John had anything to say about it.

Just then, Joss stopped dead in her tracks, she had felt the presence of another Wolf. "John, someone's on the roof."

"Let's go check it out, there's not much here."

John headed for the stairwell and Joss checked out the fire escape, intending to go up that way, but it did not go all the way to the roof, the ladder was missing. Big chunks of the fire escape were missing all the way down to the street. She frowned and made a mental note to call in to the housing department for code violations, this place really needed to be shut down as unsafe. She followed John to the stairwell, the only entrance and exit for the roof.

They reached the door to the roof and discovered that there was no door knob, the door only had a latch that was currently unlatched and an unlocked padlock dangled from the latch.

John went through the door to the roof first and his heart sank when he took in the number of hiding places it had. There was a lot of junk up here and it was going to take them a while to search it all. Joss followed behind him and he could see by the expression on her face that she was thinking the same thing he was.

They moved off towards the first pile and as soon as they were a several yards from the door they heard movement and turned just in time to see Brian Rodgers rush through the stairwell door and lock it behind him.

John swore and tried the door. Rodgers had locked the padlock on the latch and after several minutes of them trying to force the door open, they realized they were probably going to have to call Fusco or Finch to come let them out. John pulled his phone out to call Fusco when suddenly Joss grabbed his arm, "I smell smoke!"

John laid his palm flat against the door; it was warm to the touch. He ran to the side of the building and looked over the edge, flames were already shooting out of the window to Rodgers's room. "He set the place on fire! This old place is going to burn fast."

Joss ran to the other side of the building, "Flames on this side too, I can't believe how fast it's moving! He must have set the entire top floor on fire!"

Joss looked up at John trying to keep the fear out of her eyes but she wasn't succeeding. The flames were getting worse every second and they had no way out.

Unless….

John looked at the distance to the next building. They could not make that leap as humans, but in their Wolf forms they could do it. Only one problem, it was daytime and Joss had only changed under the full moon. John could change at will, but Joss….

John tapped his earpiece, "Talk to me, Finch."

"The fire alarm has been triggered but it will take fire fighters a few minutes to get there, John," Finch's voice answered.

Joss leaned her head against John's arm, "They won't get to us in time, will they?"

John didn't answer, instead he nodded his head to the building next door. "We'll have to jump for it."

Joss lifted her head and looked over the chasm. "I can't make that jump."

"You can as a Wolf."

Joss shook her head, "You know I can't change now, not during the day." She looked up at him with tears running down her face, "you'll have to go without me," she whispered.

"No," John's response was immediate and firm.

"John, don't be stupid, if you stay here…" Joss started to say.

John interrupted, "I will not leave you, Joss. We both go or we both stay, but I will not leave this roof unless you are with me."

"John..." Joss was pleading now. She could not bear the thought that he would die unnecessarily.

John grabbed Joss's face in his hand and forced her to look up at him. "I will not leave you here to die. I can't. I can't live without you and I sure as hell can't live without you knowing I left you behind."

"John, please, don't sacrifice yourself. I need you to look after Taylor for me," Joss begged.

"And how can I tell Taylor I ran off and left his mother behind to die? No. I can't do that, Joss. I won't live without you." John's voice choked off for a minute and Joss looked up to find his eyes closed and his mouth pressed in a thin line. John opened his eyes and looked down at her, "You're going to have to change."

Tears formed in Joss's eyes, "John, I can't change now, I'm not like you…"

John grabbed her face in his hands and forced her to look at him, "Yes you are, my mate. Joss, you can change, I know you can, baby. Just look into my eyes and focus. You can do this. We both live or we both die right here."

Joss was terrified. John had told her before that he thought she could learn to change when the moon was not full, but now both their lives depended on it. She had no doubt that John would not leave her; she had to admit that if the roles were reversed, she wouldn't leave him either. She had to try. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and centered herself. Slowly she opened her eyes to stare directly back into John's sliver blue eyes.

Joss stared into her mate's eyes, blocking out everything else around them. The smoke, the flames, the sirens from the fire trucks, the shouts of the firemen, they all ceased to exist for her. Focusing herself, she willed herself to change. She was not sure how long she took, it was most definitely not her usual fast change, but all of a sudden she realized that she was in wolf form standing on her hind legs with her front paws on John's forearms. John reached down and kissed her softly on her forehead, "That's my girl." Then he changed.

John nodded to Joss and he backed several yards away from the edge to give them enough room to build up speed, Joss followed and they began to run. They sailed through the air, landing on the roof of the next building over with room to spare. They rolled a few times, and the next thing Joss knew John was thoroughly sniffing her over, looking for injuries. She nuzzled him gently to let him know that she was fine. He nuzzled her back and licked her ear and down her muzzle. They leaned against each other, just soaking in the fact that they were both alive and they still had each other.

After a few minutes, they both started down the fire escape, heading for the library and Finch. They were going to have to remain in Wolf form, since their clothes, phones and guns had been left behind on the roof of the burning building. Before they had gone half a block they heard the roof collapse on the hotel.


Back at the library, Finch was desperately trying to pull himself together. John had left the call open and Finch had heard the entire exchange.

A long time ago, when he and John first started working the numbers, Finch had told John that he fully expected one or both of them to die. But all John was to him at that time was a useful tool, not the close friend he had become. They all had several brushes with death before, but hearing John calmly declare he would die with Joss rather than leave her behind overwhelmed Harold in a way that nothing else had before. For a few minutes, Finch briefly thought he was going to have a front row seat to the deaths of his two dearest friends.

Harold took his glasses off, put his head in his hands and cried for several minutes while Bear nuzzled him. He finally calmed down and dried his eyes. He leaned back in his chair and took several deep breaths. Harold stroked Bear idly and for probably the first time since he and Reese had started working the numbers, he seriously considered ending the project. He wished he'd given more consideration to the idea of giving John and Joss enough money so they could move away from New York, away from the danger and have a nice quiet life. If he'd thought for one second they would take him up on is offer, he would have done it. But he'd known they would not be happy living a quiet life, not yet. Maybe in a few years….

Fortunately for Finch, the two Wolves needed to stick to back alleys and streets with little traffic, so it took them some time to make it back to the library. It was one of the longest hours of his life but Finch had time to recover his composure and begin to make plans for every eventuality. He was further relieved when he heard the distant click of nails on the hard floors. He was waiting for them calmly when they came bounding up the stairs to the computer room.

"I'm so glad you're both alright," he said as they trotted in, giving no sign of how upset he had been, or so he thought. But he had not counted on Joss's sensitivities. She paused and looked at him, then walked over to him and gave him a gentle lick on the cheek before she followed John down the hall into the makeshift bedroom where they both kept a change of clothes.

Once they were both in the room John pushed the door shut and they changed back to human form. John grabbed Joss and pulled her into a passionate embrace and kissed her fiercely, which Joss returned with equal fervor.

After a few minutes, Joss stepped back and looked up at him, gently laying her hand on his cheek, "You were going to die rather than leave me," she said in a soft voice. "I'm not sure anyone has ever been willing to do that for me before."

John moved his hands so that his fingers were behind her head at the base of her skull and his thumbs were under her jaw, He held her so that she could not look away from his eyes, "I will not under any circumstance live without you, do you understand? I can't, I just…can't," he said in a hoarse whisper.

Joss let the tears run down her face. She was completely unable to respond. John gently kissed her tears away and held her close.

After Joss's tears were dried and her composure regained, John was all business, "Let's get dressed. Those sons of bitches have made two attempts on my mate's life. I won't allow that to go unpunished."