Rated M for language, sexual themes, violence, and rape and torture. This story contains no explicit sex. All rape and torture content comes in the form of memories and dialog of past trauma.

*This story is written in Patricia Briggs' Alpha and Omega universe and is solely for entertainment purposes. I have the highest respect for Patricia Briggs and her writing and hope that this story compliments her work. I make no money from this work. Enjoy!

This story takes place after Hunting Ground.

CHAPTER 10

With his wolf so seriously contemplating courtship, Nathan found himself entertaining the possibility. He wondered what she looked like in her human form. Wolf size and human size did not always correspond, but they usually did at least to some degree. He was a little larger than the average man, not in height, but certainly in the muscles he'd spent the last few decades building. There were others though, like Bran, that didn't quite fit. Bran was an average size man, but smaller than average wolf – not that that made him any less terrifying. He imagined that this female was probably at least above average in size to turn into such an enormous wolf. He'd always liked small women. Petite and portable, his brother had teased him back before he'd become a wolf.

He was distracted from his thoughts by the streak of black fur that rocketed by him at full speed. She had a longer stride than him, but he'd always been fast, and he managed to catch her up after a little while. He was struggling to understand what she was doing, when she suddenly cut a sharp turn away from him. When he altered his own course to follow, she let him get close, then cut back the other way.

Finally, he noticed the body language she was giving him. She wasn't trying to get away, she wanted to play. Interesting. He'd picked her as more reserved than that, but he wasn't about to complain. His wolf very much wanted to play her game.

And so they spent the rest of the run back to the ranger station that way. He only caught her once, and when he did, she dropped the to ground and let his momentum carry him over the top of her before taking off again. She was exceptionally agile for such a new wolf. She must have spent a lot of time running around in the park over the last couple months.

When the ranger station came into sight, she settled down so suddenly, it left him stunned. She dropped out of her playful stance and crouched with her ears back, staring at the building.

With a sad sigh, he remembered that one of the rangers here had shot her just a couple days before. It was easy to forget that with how spry she'd been. She must have taken good care of herself to heal that fast, and the bullet must have passed straight through. It takes longer than a day or two for a bullet to fester out. He sat down and Changed back right there. Not all the rangers were so keen on werewolves as Alex, and he didn't figure they'd be delighted with public nudity.

"You can change back now if you want to," he advised as he pulled on his pants, ignoring the biting cold of the snow on his feet until he could slip his shoes on. "You don't have to," he offered, "but the drive will be my last chance to answer any questions you might have before we see the Marrok. I have some clothes you could borrow in the car."

She didn't move except to lift her ears peaceably and stare at his chin.

He shrugged, "That's fine too." He was just glad that he had a big SUV with two rows of seats that folded down. She certainly wasn't going to be fitting on top of any of the seats, and he hadn't anticipated that. Most werewolves were only a little bigger than a St. Bernard. This female was something else entirely.

"Just give me a minute to call the station," he said to her as he took his phone out of his pack. "They won't miss you walking across the field and I want to make sure they're not surprised. Some humans are stupid when they're surprised." He smiled a little and smelled vague amusement from her too. Only a really stable werewolf could find amusement in getting shot that wasn't connected to harming the one who'd done the shooting. That was what he loved about submissives. They were an easygoing bunch in a world of hot heads and short fuses. Submissives were relaxing to be around. Maybe that's what his wolf liked about her.

He dialed quickly and the ranger who'd shot the female answered on the second ring.

When she heard his voice through the phone, she slumped a little and bowed her head and he got the sense that she was sorry she'd scared him. Nathan gave her a sympathetic smile as he asked to speak with Alex.

"Nathan?" Alex answered.

"Yeah, I just wanted to warn you that I found the wolf I was looking for and we're coming out to my truck. I didn't want to startle you," he explained.

"You found him? That's great. Now Bob can stop jumping at his shadow," Alex replied.

Nathan smiled. "Found her actually."

"Hear that Bob," Alex said away from the phone. "You're scared of a girl!"

Nathan laughed softly and gave the female a shrug. "Well, I'm gonna bring her out now. Keep Bob away from the rifles," he advised lightly.

"Will do," Alex responded and Nathan ended the call.

"Sorry about that," he apologized quickly. "Are you ready?"

She stood up and he took that as an affirmative, though she waited for him to lead the way.

Again, his wolf was loving the exciting thrill of danger that he felt for having her at his back. Nathan didn't understand it. He didn't feel a shred of danger from this female except that she might accidentally step on his foot. She was big, but he hadn't sensed even the tiniest shred of aggression from her, even when they'd played on the way here. A dominant would have been walking the line between play and fight doing something like that with another dominant. He didn't have to worry about it because she was submissive. He'd really have to push her to get her to threaten him.

He glanced back at her as they walked across the open field toward the station and his car parked in front of it. She had her head tilted toward the building and she was staring at it, though her ears were up and she appeared calm enough. He could smell wariness again. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but she was afraid they wouldn't feel the same way, he guessed.

When they got to his black Tahoe, she walked around it while he opened the door and started shifting the seats. He noticed that she positioned herself perfectly so that no one in that building would get too clear a look at her, but she was keeping her eye on it in the reflection of the truck window parked next to him. He was impressed by her strategy.

Once he had the seats down so the back was just an open expanse of carpeting, he motioned for her to get in through the back door. She hesitated just a breath before hopping in and he closed it quickly so she wouldn't feel so vulnerable.

When he got in the driver seat, she laid down – taking up the majority of the space – and settled her head on her paws in just such a way that she could watch him. He could smell her uneasiness permeating the vehicle. "You're okay," he assured her as he started the engine. "No one is going to hurt you. I promise."

She just continued to watch him with and expression that looked blank even for a wolf.

"I need to call the Marrok now and let him know that I'm on my way back," he confided as he pulled out his phone again.

She didn't move, but he smelled the uneasiness rolling off her now.

There really wasn't anything more that he could do to reassure her. He could only guess that her experience with Cal had left her uncomfortable with trusting her own kind, but she would understand the truth soon enough. He wished that she could smell his honesty, but detecting lies took practice that she would not have had living in the wilderness all by herself.

"This is Bran," the Marrok answered, and the female's ears perked up, though she still didn't move another muscle.

"I found the rogue," Nathan explained. "I'm almost positive that she's the female from Samoya Junction," he said, carefully not mentioning Cal again. "And she matches the description of the ranger's wolf, though she hasn't been eager to Change, so we haven't had a chance to talk."

"Interesting," Bran observed neutrally. Of course he would assume that she was within hearing range of both ends of the conversation.

"We're just leaving the ranger's station now," Nathan offered as he was, in fact, just pulling out of the little parking lot and heading toward the highway.

"Did you have any problems?" Bran asked curiously.

"None," Nathan assured him. "She's submissive, and I think she was lonely. She actually found me." He glanced down at her apologetically. She smelled… curious and a little insulted. He smiled. "Submissive isn't an insult, it's just a classification," he explained to her quickly. "Submissives are highly valued pack members."

She huffed once, and he smiled.

"It's good to hear that you didn't have any problems," Bran said with a little smile in his voice. He would have heard the huff. "I'll see you both soon then."

The line went dead, so Nathan closed up the phone and dropped it on the passenger seat.

More to come...

I hope that you enjoyed and would welcome any reviews and/or suggestions.