Disclaimer: I own the X-Men… Not. *sob* I do own Alika, Beta, and Derek.

Chapter 14

Alika

Her claws were not doing what her brain told them to do, which was 'Get the hell back into my arm and stay there, ya stupid claws.' Her father's question did not help. In fact it did the opposite, because he said the word them with such hatred, she remembered they had gotten ahold of him too.

"They put me through pain that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. They tried to make me into what they tried to make you into. Fury saved my life during a raid they did, and I got to go back to my mom, just in time for her to die."

"Kitten, put the claws away. There ain't nobody that gonna hurt ya in this truck."

Ally felt embarrassment rush to her face as she told him that she couldn't make them go back in.

"Ya just gotta calm down. That's it, take it nice and easy. Yer perfectly safe." The big bad Sabretooth then did something that she, and everything else in the truck, least expected him to do. He began to purr. She felt her body instinctively relax. It worked in calming her down a little too much, as she was able to sheathe her claws, but was also gently lulled to sleep along with the rest of the patrons of the truck.

She woke up to a bump to the head as the truck traveled over a pothole. The truck made a sharp turn, then pulled to a gentle stop. She was too busy trying to figure out what Victor had done to them.

"What the hell did you do? Knockout gas? Hypodermic needle? No, you couldn't have used those, because my head doesn't hurt and most don't work on me…" Her mumble could just barely be heard as she blinked sleep from her eyes.

"Kitten, are ya allergic to sleep or something. You've only been asleep for two hours, that thing normally lasts at least four."

"My head hit the door when you ran over a pothole. Are we there yet?" She saw that they were at a stoplight and groaned with restlessness.

We'll be there in about five minutes. Ya think ya can sit still fer that long."

"No, I can't. I need to get out of this metal death trap before I go crazy. Seriously, how long does it take to get to wherever we're going?"

Normally it takes twelve hours… I took a shortcut."

The light changed to green, and the truck began moving again. Ally was having trouble staying still for the rest of the ride. No trouble at all, though, once she saw where they were. They were parked in the large gravel driveway of a mansion that was roughly the same size as the Institute.

She sat dumbfounded for a couple of minutes while her uncle got out of the car and set to work waking up the others. For Logan, he simply opened the door, which caused her father to fall onto the ground, hard. He had awakened with an enraged snarl until he remembered who he was with. Then it turned into an enraged growl, directed towards Victor as Logan picked himself up.

Victor ignored him and simply shook Derek and Beta to wake them up. Finally he came around to her door and opened it. She shot out as fast as she could and tried to move past him, but his arm was quicker than she was, and he had her by the collar before she could get one foot.

"Awww. God damnit! Let me go! You cannot make me stay in one place after seven hours of being in a vehicle!" Ally was careful to make sure she didn't shout too loud, because she didn't want to hurt anyone's ears. squirmed out of his grasp and moved forward once more. She got about three steps this time before he grabbed her.

He dragged her back towards the group as easily as pulling a piece of paper out of a notebook. Ally kicked him in the shin as hard as she could. "Let me go, asshole! I swear, its not like I'm gonna get lost!"

Her outburst was met with a growl and two hard slaps to her backside. "OUCH!"

She winced, she had hurt her own ears with her outburst. Luckily, the pain only lasted for a moment or two. She took the warning to heart and stopped squirming. "Stay." He gave a look, like he didn't believe that she would listen. She resisted the urge to move.

"Jimmy, make sure she stays right there. I mean it. She tries to run off again, there will be hell ta pay fer her backside." He glared at her, and she resisted the urge to move again, the animal inside of her roaring in displeasure with being told to stay put like some domestic beast.

'Who does he think he is? He's not alpha.'

'Shut up. Dad is alpha, so that makes Victor Alpha's elder brother. Alpha seems to think that it is a good idea to listen to him at the moment.'

'I want to run.' her beast complained.

'I know. Just please wait.'

'I could do it if I wanted to.'

'What?'

'I could take over and take us far away from here. Take littermate with us. Protect pack.'

NO! You run, we'll get taken again. Beta too. We stay here.'

Her beast tried to free itself of its confines of her mind, but Alika was not having it. She imagined an adamantium box enveloping her beast and sent the box to the far corner of her mind.

"Hey Ally, want ta spar?" Derek knew exactly what she needed to get her energy out.

A cool smile crossed her face before becoming blank as she said, "Sure. Don't let me win though…"

Sabretooth: Ten Minutes Later:

He had just finished checking the house for intruders and stepped out side to let his family in. The sight that greeted him was not what he had expected. Alika was still there, her face one of amusement as she held Derek down in the mud easily. Said Derek was cursing and struggling wildly. Logan was watching them to, he assumed, make sure they didn't do any serious harm to the other, and little Beta was cheering on her sister.

"Go Ally! I think that's a new record. you pinned him in, like, a minute!"

"Yeah. Derek, I thought I told you to not let me win…?" Ally taunted her humiliated cousin.

"Let…. you… win? I'm just getting started." His defiant growl turned into a howl of pain as she struck a nerve in his back. She let go of him and took a step back. Derek growled again and made to get up. He couldn't move his arms or legs.

"Give?" Her tone was no longer taunting, but curious.

He grumbled for a second, but said give. She hit a different nerve and he was able to move again. "Dangit. I should have said no nerves before we started."

She giggled at something her sister said, and Victor was surprised his son had been beaten by her. Right now, she didn't seem like she was able to fight a rock. Too naive, too carefree.

"You guys can come inside now. No running inside, though."

All three cubs ignored him and ran inside, Derek giving them a grand tour of his home. Victor let a rare smile, a real one, fall on his face as he listened to his son drone on about stuff, and the girls pretending to make snoring noises when he hit a particularly boring spot. His smile was replaced with a scowl as the sound of jet engines hit his sensitive ears.

"How the hell did they get here so fast?" He snarled at his brother. He knew they would find them easily, but he hadn't expected them till tomorrow.

"I have no idea, actually…" Victor snarled as he smelled the lie. His brother seemed to have forgotten that he wasn't the only one that could smell lies. He wondered for a moment why his brother would lie to him if he had all of his memories back…

"You don't have all your memories back, do you? Cause if you did, you would have known that I can smell a lie just as easily as you can, little brother."

"I'm not lying. I have an idea, but it's not fer sure. It was only supposed ta be fer emergencies, like if one of the kids got kidnapped… oh."

"Yeah, oh. Idiot." There was no real fire behind the words, and Logan looked at him in surprise.

"James, yer gonna have to re-learn that who I am when I'm working, and and who I am when I'm not are two different people."

Logan flinched at being called James. He wasn't able to make anything of it though, because the Blackbird had landed, and a very angry weather witch was exiting it.

"James Logan Howlett. I can not believe that you did not tell me that Sabretooth was your brother. Or that you told Jean not to come. She almost died from laughing so hard." Her face was deadset in anger, all directed at his brother, who was practically shaking in fear.

Turning her shocking blue eyes to him, he realized why. He got the feeling that if looks could kill, his healing factor would be giving him hell trying to keep him alive. It didn't help that the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end.

"And you. How dare you take those children and my husband! If you think that your reasons are good enough to excuse the fact that you did so, then you better fess up NOW."

Thunder shook the house as she finished her sentence, emphasizing her point. He rounded on his brother, angry that the weather witch had thought she could intimidate him. "Yer married?" His brother nodded. Victor cursed under his breath. Now he tells me!

'...New… packmate?'

Victor was startled at the confused voice of his inner beast. They were so intertwined, they normally thought the same thoughts, to a degree.

He explained the situation to it in the simplest terms he could think of.

'Little brother's mate.'

'Not the same,' his beast argued. A mental image of Eternity- no, she hadn't gone by that for a while before she died. He struggled to think of her real name. Evangeline Angelica Pureheart. That had been her full name. He remembered her telling them, he and Jimmy, the reason for her name.

"My mama and papa didn't name me until I was four years old. When they did, they couldn't decide. They both wanted me to be an angel, so they hoped that giving me holy names would make me behave better." She chuckled. "They said that it didn't work. My mama always said , 'Elle ressemble à un ange, mais agit comme un démon!' when I was a teenager." Her voice still had a hint of the cajun accent she had tried to hide all her life.

(She looks like an angel, but acts like a demon!)

She hated that place, but she still went back to raise Ally there. Until she got pregnant with Beta, Evangeline had been raising Ally in New Orleans. She had moved to the middle of nowhere Canada, to keep them safe.

'New mate. The other one died...' His beast seemed satisfied with that answer. He realized that Ally had a little cajun in her accent as well.

All of these things passed through his head in about a second.

"I was trying to keep my family safe."

Whatever she thought his answer to her question would be, it apparently wasn't that. "And how do you think that taking them here would protect them. From whom are you protecting them from?"

"One, Magneto doesn't know where this place is, and two, I'm protecting them from Magneto." Seeing her expression, he added, "No I don't work for bucket head."

She seemed unable to form words. Good, he thought, maybe now I can explain the situation without getting interrupted.

He explained why he had done what he did in an even tone.

"Well, I cannot say I would have done the same thing, but your reasons do make sense." Turning back to Logan, she said, "Logan, about half the mansion wanted to come with us, but since we could bring them all to rescue you, we decided it best if we just let Rahne, Jubilee, Kitty, and Rouge come. Remy also wanted to come, but we told him that he shouldn't come."

"Not dat Remy listen to you, Stormy!" A certain cajun voice grated on Victor's ears.

"Remy! What are you doing here? You were told to stay at the mansion!"

"Remy is not a child, chere. He can make decisions for himself."

"Just why exactly are you here, gumbo?" Logan's tone was annoyed, like he couldn't care less why.

"Remy wanted to meet his step-nieces, Logan. I already met da petite, now Remy want to meet da older one."

Logan shook his head in disbelief. "Well ya might as well just all come out of the jet."

There was a number of squeals from the jet, and four girls came charging down the ramp and tackled Logan in a hug. Logan somehow managed to stay upright during this and was laughing along with the girls.

Victor recognised them as Logan's adopted daughters. Rouge was 16, Kitty and Rahne were 15, and Jubilee was 14. To magneto, they were known probably as leverage. Which meant that he would be having more guest at his home than he had planned for.

Golden smoke filled the air as Ally, Beta, and Derek appeared in the yard, concern on their faces. Beta smiled when she saw the weather witch and yelled out-

Beta

Where we just left off:

"Miss Oreo! I mean Miss Storm! What are you doing here? Did Mister Kitty Cat kidnap you too?" Beta ran over to the weather witch and gave her a big hug.

"Who is 'Mister Kitty Cat' child?" Beta pointed at Sabretooth and said, "Ally says that a sabatooth is a kitty cat, and that I can't say it very well. So I decided that I was gonna call him Mister Kitty Cat!" She heard said man growl beside her, and she turned in fear towards him. Ally only ever growled at her when she was annoyed, or when Beta was being naughty.

Using what she called her 'big girl voice' she said in perfect a perfect imitation of her sister, "My apologies, I do suppose that I should have asked you if you were fine with me calling you that name. If you wish, I will refrain from calling that name any longer." Ally had once told her that if an adult was mad at you and you don't know them very well, or they are in charge, you should be very polite. It had taken her a week to learn how to say what she just said.

Turning to Ally, she said in her normal voice, "Did I say that right?"

Ally laughed and said, "Dead on, darlin'."

Beta grinned, oblivious to the shocked looks the adults were giving each other. Ally cleared her throat and said, "Hello. My apologies, but I don't believe that I know any of you, nor you me. My name is Alika Logan, but you can call me Ally if you wish."

Remy came forward and said, "Remy's name is Remy Lebeau."

Ally gasped and said, "As in Jean-Luc Lebeau?"

"Dat is Remy's papa! How do you know him?"

"He was my neighbor when I lived in New Orleans, eight years ago!" Beta leaned towards Ally a little. Ally never talked about New Orleans, and when she did, it was always sad the way she talked.

"Ally, what was it like in New Orleans." Beta tried, trying to get her sister to tell her. Ally would never give her a straight answer.

"Um, I'll tell you about it when you're older. I don't think you should be burdened by some of the things people will do to other people when they're different."

"Yes I can. I'm seven now. you can't use that excuse anymore."

Ally sighed and looked almost like she was going to give, but she shook her head. "Not today, sweetie. Soon though."

Beta humphed and went over to the girls that were hugging her dad. "Hi Kitty! I'm Beta, but you can call me Bets. What are you guy's names?"

"I'm Rahne. Nice to meet you, Beta."

"Mah name is Rouge. It's nice ta meet ya Bets. How old are ya, sugah?" Beta grinned at her accent.

"I'm seven! I love the way you talk! It's so… sweet!"

"I'm Jubilation Lee, but you can call me Jubilee! So Wolvie's your dad?"

Beta was confused. "No. Wolvie is Ally's puppy. And she's a girl. Ally, can you make Wolvie and Cougy come out. I want them to meet Jubilee so she knows who they are."

Ally snorted, but in a couple of seconds, Wolvie and Cougy were standing at her side. There was a collective gasp as Wolvie came up to Jubilee and held up a paw. Jubilee took it and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, Jubilee. I'm Wolvie, and I am not a puppy."

"Wolvie, you aren't supposed to let Alika or Beta know we can speak to other people. You just totally ruined Beta' birthday present."

"So I gave it to her a day early, she won't mind."

"How do you know?"

"Because we are part of her sister's mind. It's amazing that she didn't know already."

"Oh no! Ally, I forgot your present you gave me at the Harelesses. That was the mean family that adopted me." The last part was to the rest of the group.

Ally was turning a really really dark shade of red. She was also looking at her feet. Beta took a step towards her as Alika took a step back, holding up her hands to ward her off.

"Ally… are you okay?"

"Ye-yeah Bets. I just need a little space." With that she took off running down the drive, and Beta could swear that she heard a sob. Then she remembered what had happened on her birthday three, almost four, years ago, and even before that eight years, almost nine ago.

"Oh no! I forgot!" Beta couldn't remember her mom very well, just that she had moved them from the States to Canada before she was born, because something bad had happened in New Orleans.

"What did ya forget, Bets." Logan, her newfound father asked.

"Mom died on my birthday, but I don't remember her real well. Ally always either spends the whole day with me, or she disappears for hours, remembering stuff… When she gets back, she always smells like forest, and a little bit like a dog mixed with a cat. Not like she was hanging around Wolvie and Cougy, but more like it was actually her…"

"Child, what are your sister's powers?" Miss Ororo asked.

"She has really good ears eyes and nose. And she can heal really fast, and she has claws that come from her hands, they used ta be bone but now they're metal, cause some mean guys changed them. And Wolvie and Cougy, of course. She has another one , but I don't know what it is."

"Then how do you know about it?"

"I asked her what her powers were, and when she told me, I asked if she had any more, she said no, but she smelled like she was lying."

"What are you guys' powers? Are any of you like Ally?"

"Mine are. I'm a werewolf, but I can turn into a regular wolf at all times. Watch."

Beta watched in awe as she watched the girl change into a red wolf. She giggled in delight, but Wolvie shoved her back and stood between her and the wolf, guard hairs raised, a growl emanating from her chest. Beta got the feeling that her sister's companion's eyes were no longer blue, but black.

Wolvie's posture changed from threatening to at ease after a moment. "My apologies, Rahne. Ally was full feral for a moment, and I had trouble staying myself. All I saw was a wolf standing in front of my companion's sister. No offense was meant."

"Logan, are you sure these are your daughters? They seem awfully polite."

Beta went over and grabbed Rouge's arm. It had a lot of cover on it, so Beta grabbed one of the few places that had bare skin. Well, almost. Cougy intercepted her hand, putting her head in between it and the arm.

"Child, you know better than to grab at someone who you barely know. Besides, you shouldn't touch this one's skin. It is dangerous for humans to do so."

"Ah'm sorry fah not warning ya sugah, but ya took meh a little by surprise. Ah-"

Whatever she had been going to say was cut off by a piercing howl in the nearby area.

Alika

Where I reveal her secret mutation that most of you have probably guessed at:

Damnit, she was lost. Whenever this happened, she always got lost. Grrr. She was going to have to call for help. She lifted her muzzle and let out a peircing howl, then sat and waited for someone to come investigate. Meanwhile, she was going to get the high ground. She wasn't very big yet, so she was able to easily clamber up a tree.

Three minutes later, her rescue came in the form of Wolvie, Cougy, Logan, Derek, and Victor. Deciding to scare them a bit, she said, "Hey, I'm up here!" Derek was the first to see her, and just about died laughing.

"Y-y-yer a puppy!"

"No… I am a half grown dire wolf, idiot! Learn the difference." Whoever decide that dire wolves looked like actual wolves were wrong. They were about the size of a big cat, with the body, head, and tale of a wolf, and the paws of a big cat. Her coat was black and gold, like her hair.

She hopped down from her perch, lading lightly on Logan's shoulder, then to the ground.

Logan didn't even flinch when she head butted him. "Well, are we going or not?"

"Yer okay? Not hurt or anything?"

"No, I was lost.?" she mumbled quietly.

No one made any comment, lucky for them too, because if they had, she would have ripped off their heads.

Ally was still afraid that her feral side would gain control and hurt others, just like it had the first time in New Orleans. She hoped she didn't. She was starting to get used to being in a pack again.

A/N: Thanks for reading. I made this one really long, cause I revealed her secret mutation. Up next: Dog Baths and New Orleans, the whole story comes out about what happened there! Please R&R! I don't even care if it's mean. I you are one of those people who just reads and doesn't review, then I'm gonna sic Ally on ya! :)