Hey, sorry it has taken me so long to update. A combination of exams and writer's block has been attacking me relentlessly for weeks. Anyways, I'm back now with another chapter, although some of you will be disappointed to find that there will be no beating up of Riley and Parker in this chapter. Sorry about that, but when I actually got around to writing I found that there was too much that needed to happen before hand, so we'll have to save that for another chapter.
Enjoy!
13.
Gasping at the sudden light and loud noises, Buffy slowly raised her head off of her pillow, searching around groggily for the source of her disturbance. Seeing Willow and Fred moving about the room, throwing their few bags into a pile while getting dressed at the same time, she sighed and flung her head back down onto the bed. It was too early to be alive, she decided, and closed her eyes again contentedly, sinking back into the world of pleasant dreams.
"Oh no you don't," commanded Willow, yanking the blankets off of the blonde's body, and causing her to yelp and open her eyes once again, now scowling at her attacker. "Come on, get dressed. We have to be down in the front hall in twenty minutes and we still have to eat breakfast."
"Fine," muttered Buffy, forcing her tired body up and off of her warm, comfortable bed.
She looked around the room, trying to remember where she had put her bags the day before and where she had set out her clothes. Finally spotting them on the floor near the closet, she hurried over and quickly began stripping out of her pajamas, attempting to get dressed in record time. She slipped into a pair of warm, tan, hiking pants and pulled a form-fitting blue t-shirt over her head. The outfit was completed with a light black jacket, and she then moved into the bathroom to deal with her hair. She pulled it back into a neat ponytail and then brushed her teeth. After five minutes of hurried grooming, she turned around to see Willow and Fred dressed and waiting for her by the door, bags in hands. Picking up her own luggage, she joined them and the three girls headed down the hall and towards the kitchen.
"Why in the world are we leaving sooooo early in the morning?" questioned Buffy grumpily as they walked.
"Angel wants to make sure that we reach the valley by noon so that we can set up and get ready for tonight," replied Fred. "Don't worry, you'll wake up as soon as you get some coffee in you."
Still muttering to herself, Buffy entered the kitchen behind the two girls and plopped down at the table. All the other teenagers were already there, along with various other pack members, all trying to squeeze in a bit of food before they had to leave. Yawning, she reached for a banana and started peeling it slowly.
"Hey, Buffster, how'd ya sleep?" asked Xander, smiling at her.
Groaning, she just glared at him, much to everyone's amusement.
"Not an early riser, B?" smirked Faith, taking in the girl's grumpy demeanor.
"It is way too early in the morning to be alive," she complained, taking a large bite and chewing on it slowly.
"Oh, but it's going to be so much fun, Buffy!" exclaimed Willow, still chipper despite the early hour.
"Speaking of fun, we should really be heading out now guys," declared Angel, taking one last drink of his coffee and then slamming the cup back down on the table. With a sigh, he pushed his chair back and then moved over to his parents who were currently chatting with some of the other adults.
"Hey, mom, I think we're going to head out, okay?" he asked her.
"Oh, yeah, that's fine. But, Angel," she turned and gave him her full attention, fixing him with a serious look, "promise me you'll be careful, alright? I'm not oblivious to all the rumors going around here, you know."
"Mom," complained Angel, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"Hey, I'm just warning you to be careful." Lifting up a hand, she teasingly ruffled his hair, just laughing as he scowled at her. "Have fun!" she yelled at his retreating back as he left her to rejoin her friends.
"We all good, bro?" asked Faith when he returned.
"Yeah, we can go now, if everyone is done eating," he replied, quickly scanning his friends to see if any of them were still eating, but it appeared as though everyone had finished gulping down their meals.
"How long is it going to take to get all the way up there?" asked Willow as she stood, gathering her up her backpack as she spoke.
"Don't know red, prob'ly a few hours or so," said Spike as he too stood up, looking to Angel for confirmation.
"Yeah, sounds about right. If it's just about 6:30 now, and we walk for four hours or so, then take a short break, and keep going for another hour, then we should make it there by noon," said Angel.
"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Cordelia, rolling her eyes at the tall brunette youth. "There is no way that you are making me hike for five hours, I'll die. Why the rush?"
"Yeah, Angel, why the hurry?" agreed Faith, still lounging in her chair at the table. "We don't need six hours to set up camp."
Angel didn't want to admit the real reason why he was in such a rush to make it up to the valley, and he was at a loss for a good enough excuse. His real reason was because of a certain blond girl who was, at the moment, sitting with her head down on the table, her eyes closed and clearly not paying any attention to anything that was going on. He was worried that they would run into Parker and Riley before they had reached the valley, and despite his eagerness to thoroughly teach them a lesson, hopefully one they'd never forget, he wanted to be in a secure location where he could be sure of the protection of the females.
"Well, I just think that it would be better if we got up there as soon as possible. We don't want to run into any unexpected 'problems'," replied Angel, looking pointedly at the other four guys, who were well aware of the situation by then.
"Oh yeah, because problems, would be problematic, and would cause lots of, problems, which we don't want," stuttered Xander, trying to support Angel, and failing miserably. Even Buffy raised her head up off the table, giving him a completely confused look, to which he simply responded by shrugging helplessly.
"Whatever," said Angel, also giving Xander a weird look. "Point is, we're leaving in ten minutes, and what I say goes."
Recognizing the commanding tone in his voice everyone instantly sprung into action, clearing away their dishes and grabbing their bags. Though they were all friends, Angel was the future leader of the pack, and he was owed a certain level of respect and loyalty. As everyone moved towards the front hall, saying goodbye to parents as they went, Spike grabbed a hold of Angel's arm before he could move past him.
"So, you worried about Riley and Parker makin' an appearance before we get to the valley?" he asked quietly, looking around to see if anyone would be able to overhear them.
"Yeah," he replied, also in a whisper, turning to face his friend. "I just want to make sure that the girls are out of the way."
"So are we going to go looking for them?" asked Gunn, coming up behind the two guys and joining in their conversation.
"I don't think we'll need to," replied Angel, beginning to turn and walk away. "I have a feeling that they'll come after us. So," looking back at his two friends, he fixed them with a serious stare. "We have to be sure to keep track of all of the girls at all times, make sure that they have an escort where ever they go. Also, stay on your guard and be prepared at all times." After stating this, he walked away quickly, joining pack up with the rest of the gang where they had congregated in the front entrance hall.
"Man, can you say 'obsessed'?" muttered Gunn to Spike, as the two of them followed slowly after Angel.
"Can you say in love?" smirked Spike, watching as his friend stared fixedly at a certain blond-haired girl who was, at the moment, arguing with Xander over some random thing. Exchanging knowing glances and laughing to themselves, the two of them made their way over to the group, preparing themselves for the long walk ahead of them.
"Oh god, make it stop!" screamed Cordelia, throwing herself down on the ground in a small clearing where the gang had decided to stop for a few minutes.
"Cordelia, Cordelia, Cordelia," said Xander condescendingly. "Having problems?"
"Leave her alone, Xander!" scolded Willow, panting from the exertion as she sat down next to her friend and pulled out her bottle of water. She was soon joined by Buffy and Fred, each groaning as they lowered their sore bodies down onto the grass.
Everyone set their backpacks down and Oz grabbed a bag full of nuts from his bag, grabbing a few and then passing it around. The gang had already been hiking for three hours and everyone was pretty tired. They had been walking at a steep upward incline over rocks and streams and it had definitely been time for a break.
"How much longer?" asked Buffy, yawning as she laid back on the ground, curling up into a comfortable ball and shutting her eyes. Smiling at her from his perch on a near-by rock, Angel had to resist the very strong urge to curl up on the ground with her and take her into his arms.
"We've only been hiking for a few hours," said Gunn, picking out a few nuts from the bag and popping them in his mouth.
"Does 'a few' translate into a thousand?" asked an exasperated Cordelia, taking a long drink of water. A few minutes were passed in silence as everyone relaxed and had some food and water.
Angel, sitting on the rock, looked around nervously. There had been no sign of either Parker or Riley, but he wasn't going to push his luck. They still had about two hours of hiking left and he wanted to get moving again.
"Come on guys, lets get going," he said at last after they had been resting for ten minutes. "We'll stop and take a longer break in an hour or so."
All the guys immediately got to their feet, Spike pulling Faith up with him and giving her a short kiss. Sitting up, Buffy blinked her eyes open lazily and put her water bottle back into her bag.
"Angel," she called to his passing form, putting on a pouting face when he turned around to look at her. "Help me up?"
Giving her a sexy half smile that never failed to make her weak in the knees, he leaned over and grasped her outstretched arm, pulling her to her feet. She smiled back at him and hoisted her bag up onto her shoulder, walking over to join Willow and Fred.
The next three hours passed rather uneventfully and the gang finally made it up to the mountain valley at around 12:45. The boys immediately set about making camp while the girls decided to forgo any and all forms of manual labor and opted instead to fix lunch.
Looking around, Buffy had to admit that it was a beautiful spot. Tonight was the night before the full-moon, and she could already feel the power and excitement inside of her, as her wolf half rejoiced. After helping make up a large batch of grilled-cheese she joined the rest of the girls where they sat on a bunch of rocks, watching as the guys continued setting up camp. From her position she had a great view of Angel's ass as he bent over, driving a stake into the ground.
"Likin' what ya see, B?" asked a smirking Faith. She had been asking the same question for the past two minutes, trying to find out if Buffy wanted any water, only to find her friend's attention to be completely consumed with watching her brother as he moved about.
Blushing, Buffy tore her eyes away from what had been a most pleasant sight, and instead turned to face four grinning girls.
"Hey, guys," she finally managed to stutter out lamely. Rolling their eyes good naturedly, they all got up and left Buffy sitting there, moving towards their makeshift campfire to distribute the grilled cheese among the guys.
"So, any sign of them?" asked Xander as he moved over to where Angel and Spike were conversing softly on the edge of their camp. The daylight was slowly fading and it would soon be night.
"Nothing yet," Angel replied, glancing at his approaching friend before turning back to Spike. "Are you sure that the entire area has been searched?"
"Bloody 'ell, Peaches, yes!" exclaimed Spike, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Me and Gunn went and looked everywhere, there's nothin' unusual around."
"Hey, you guys ready to roll?" yelled Faith from her place by the campfire. "It's almost dark, what are you guys doing?"
Sighing in resignation, Angel ran his hands through his spiky brown locks.
"Alright, let's go," he muttered. "But I want everyone to be on full alert tonight."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," mumbled Spike, walking back to the fire, grumbling the entire way with Xander trailing behind him.
Just a few minutes before sunset everyone gathered a little ways from the fire, forming a group around Angel, their recognized leader. The excitement that had been building in Buffy for hours now was at its peak, and as the last rays of light disappeared behind the rugged mountain peaks she let go of the firm control she was holding over her body. She could feel her body changing, her hands and feet shrinking to strong paws and her legs becoming powerful back haunches. In a matter of seconds she had completely changed into her wolf-form.
Looking around at all of her friends, in their furrier versions, she raised her head up to the moon and opened her jaw wide, howling her contentment. She was soon joined by the rest of the pack, and for miles around you could hear their voices echoing of the mountain walls.
Turning towards the center of their group, Buffy's eyes fell upon a great black wolf, large, menacing and without a doubt powerful. His coat was sleek and thick and every hair was the same dark black color. Angel, she thought, mentally gushing at how regal he looked. However, she didn't have long to admire him before she joined in with the others as they submitted to their leader.
The ritual was nothing new to Buffy, she had done it many times before on the full-moon with her old pack, and she had no problem with showing her loyalty to Angel. She approached him slowly by sliding on her belly, inching her body closer. When she finally made it to his feet she made a low, whining noise in the back of her throat, touching her face to his paws, and then rolled over onto her back and turning her head to the side, offering him her neck, the weakest spot on any wolf. Angel growled deep in throat and bared his teeth threateningly. There was no anger in his actions, only dominance, and he quickly leaned his head down and bit her neck gently, not enough to hurt her at all, and growled again. Then, releasing her, he moved on the next pack member who approached him.
After everyone had faithfully given their loyalty to Angel it was time to move on. Everyone was full of energy and wanted to run, explore the mountainside and worship their goddess. Jumping up onto a nearby rock, Angel howled as loud as he could, soon joined by the rest of the gang. Then, jumping down again, he ran off into the woods, everyone trailing behind him.
Throughout the long hours of the night the pack ran all over the mountains, rejoicing in being a were-wolf. At one point they had passed by a stream and Angel had decided to stop for a bit a take a drink. After having his fill he spotted Buffy, lying in the grass near the water. He liked seeing her in her beautiful silver wolf-form like this, without the blood and matted fur. Just thinking about what those two bastards had done to her caused a growl to bubble up out of his throat. Hearing the growl, Buffy turned her head and looked into his eyes, confused as to what was bothering him. As he saw that she was now looking at him, he turned his gaze away, embarrassed that she had caught him staring.
They moved on soon after that and the rest of the night passed without incident. The five males stayed on the outside of the females when they ran, staying alert and watchful, looking for any signs that Parker and Riley were around. Ten minutes before dawn, the gang reached their campsite once again, giving one last good-bye howl to the moon before it could disappear in the lightening sky.
Everyone dispersed a bit as they changed into back into their human forms, hair receding and limbs contorting back into their original shapes. Buffy ended up near the edge of the forest and found herself lying on the ground when the transformation was complete. Sighing contentedly, she thought back to how much fun she had had. Curling up in a ball, she didn't bother to move. She was so tired from all of their gallivanting and she didn't have enough energy to return to the tents. Raising her head slightly, she saw that everyone else seemed to be pretty exhausted too, and Xander was already asleep where he had changed. Laying her head back down she closed her eyes and was two seconds away from sleep when a large hand wrapped itself brutally around her mouth.
She tried to scream but couldn't make a single noise, and before she knew it she was being drug back into the forest, her friends completely oblivious.
Okay, so some things might be pretty confusing, but hey, I try. I only know a little bit about how wolfs interact with their alfa-male, so I kind of just descirbed it according to what I learned in 7th grade.
Thank you to all of my great reviewers, you guys rock!