The Pack… by ishotsherlock.
A/N: I'm now off work until 15th September lol so I can get some more writing done.
Chapter 24.
Sara had just finished lapping at the cool water in the stream when she heard the howl in the distance, her ears pricked up as the last note died, he would be coming for her soon. She had spent the time since she had been awakened making a lot of false trails for him to follow, she had left a lot of urine tracks, she had also doubled back, walked and run around in large circles, crossed as many streams and rivers as she could find, she even swam up and down streams getting out every now and then only to get back in and continue swimming. Now she took a deep breath and began running towards the distant mountains, hoping she could get there before the sun set.
While she ran she considered her options, one she could try and elude him for the two months they would be here or at least until her season stopped, two she could double back and try and get Janet to take her back to the base, three she could give up now and let him find her, four she could play him at his own game and keep taunting him with her scent, five… she couldn't actually think of a five at the moment but she hoped something would come to her as she ran. She quickly looked over her shoulder and thought about slowing down to a trot when another howl drifted to her on the wind, she looked forward again and picked up her speed.
Panting and nearly exhausted she finally reached the mountains, she thought she had seen him once when she looked back but there was nothing she could do about it now so she got as far away as possible. She climbed as high as she could until she found a small ledge, she lay down and looked out over the land below her, she traced her route from the forest to the base of the mountain looking for any trace of Gil but no matter how hard she looked she couldn't see him. Her eyes grew tired as she looked at the changing shades of the sun set. As she drifted off she heard one last frustrated howl come from the distant forest, she smiled, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The howl woke her, he was getting closer, she looked out from the ledge and saw the grey blur jump over the stream half way between the forest and the mountain. She got to her paws and continued climbing, she scrabbled over the loose rocks, up ahead of her she could see the entrance to a tunnel she wondered if it was a dead end or if it went on through the mountains, she had to risk it but she wouldn't go straight there. She gave the tunnel a wide berth and continued up to the next ledge then headed back down on the other side of the tunnel entrance hoping to give her a big enough lead in the tunnel to out run him.
She dashed into the tunnel bumping her nose on the wall, she kept going full blast down the tunnel, she had seen him at the bottom of the mountain and knew he would be upon her soon, so with out looking where she was going she stumbled into the freezing and filthy smelling water of a pool inside the pitch black tunnel, getting to the surface she began to paddle hoping that it wasn't to large and that she wasn't swimming in circles. After what seemed like hours the freezing cold began to drain her strength , she kept slipping under the water as she paddled regaining the surface coughing and spluttering, it felt like her whole body was numb when her front paws touched the rocky bottom. With the last of her strength she pulled herself out of the freezing water and collapsed in a shivering heap on the cold floor.
Since being woken Gil had been following Sara's scent, it frustrated him that he had not caught her by now but after a while of following her scent he realised what she had done, he began urine marking the start and end of all the trails she had made until he found the only one that went past the rest and on into the forest, he howled in frustration as he picked his way through the streams and rivers. He followed her scent all night until he emerged from the forest and onto a grassy plane. He was starting to tire and his paws were hurting from all of the running he had done, he couldn't believe she had got so far from him, little did he know that Janet had kept him sedated for an extra four hours, giving Sara plenty of time to get as far away as possible. He decided to sleep for a little while to gain enough strength for the coming chase.
He woke up after a few hours sleep feeling refreshed, he stood and stretched loving the way his knee's and back never hurt in wolf form as they sometimes did in human form. He lifted his nose and inhaled deeply instantly picking up her scent, he trotted over to the nearest stream and drank his fill then set off running. He howled again as he crossed a stream in the middle of the plane, he knew she was headed for the mountains, they had been getting closer as he followed her scent. He looked at them and could see many hiding places and hoped he would come across her (no pun intended lol) in one of them, he smiled and increased his pace.
Gil had reached the bottom of the mountain as Sara turned from the ledge and headed back down. He looked up and saw her enter the mouth of the tunnel, grinning he dashed up to the first ledge, he took a little time to catch his breath before he climbed the rest of the way to the tunnel entrance, he walked a few paces in side then stopped and closed his eyes and counted to ten letting his eyes adjust from the brightness outside to the darkness inside. When he opened them he could see much more, he heard a splash in the distance echoed down the tunnel followed by coughing and sneezing, he laughed to himself that she had fallen into a puddle but when the splashing continued he grew worried, he wanted to run as fast as his aching paws would carry him but he knew that would be a mistake so he slowly trotted down the tunnel keeping his eyes on the floor and breathing in the scents around him.
After a while the smell changed he picked up the fetid stink of filthy water, as he rounded a corner he came upon the stench, but he could no longer hear the splashing, he looked at the black water and followed it to the far wall seeing no way across he turned and went to the other wall, here he found a narrow ledge just wide enough for his paws, he trod on it and felt the slime from the water under his paws. He inched his way along until the ledge grew wider he went a bit faster but not much knowing that one slip and he would end up in the water. Finally he came to the end and he didn't like what he saw in front of him, Sara was lying in a soggy heap her fur was matted with the slime from the water, she was surrounded by fetid water that dripped from her fur and onto the floor. He looked at her lying so still, a lump formed in his throat as his mind told him that she was gone but his heart told him to go to her and wake her up.
As he walked to her he prayed that she would take a breath but she never, he stopped close to her and looked at her face, he put his nose on hers "Sara…Sara." nothing, she didn't respond, he took a few steps to her chest, ignoring the foul smell coming from her he placed his ear above her heart at first he heard nothing but his own breathing he sucked in a deep breath and held it, that's when he heard the slow faint beat of her heart. He knew he had to warm her up and he knew that being in wolf form his body temperature was higher than in human form, but before he could do anything he needed to get her away from the water so he gently grabbed her by the scruff and began pulling her away, when he had enough distance from the water he curled his body around hers trying to cover as much of her as he could. He put one of his front paws over her heart and began moving it to stimulate her as he breathed warm air onto her nose.
It was days before she began to stir, he could tell she had a raging fever and her heart rate was erratic, he needed to get her back to the camp but how was he going to do that, he had to come up with something to save her. Suddenly a smile spread across his jaws, he moved away from her and began the transformation back to human. Once it was done he gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms as he began inching his way back to the pool, he knew that if he went in it was over for both of them and that thought kept him going until he could see the sunlight spilling through the entrance of the cave. He emerged panting and aching into the sunlight and knew that the hard part was yet to come, he looked around her body at his bare feet then down the side of the mountain he had climbed days ago but seemed much longer.
He placed her gently on the rocky ground while he caught his breath and looked for the safest way down, but as he studied the routes down he saw that it didn't make much difference what way they went each route had its own dangers. So he thought fuck it and picked her up again cradling her against his chest he stood up, said a silent prayer to anyone who would listen and began to pick his way down the mountain.
A few times he slipped and fell, always keeping Sara on top of him, he knew his back and feet were in tatters but he continued on into the night where he could only see a few feet in front of him, but as day broke and the sun slowly inched its way over the mountain again they reached the bottom of the steep slope. He lay her on the grass and let the strong rays from the sun warm her shivering body and his, he knew he needed sleep but he couldn't yet, looking around he got an idea, he spent the next few hours blocking out the pain as he built what he needed.
When he was finished in front of him sat a litter, the whole thing was made of broken tree branches and held together with lengths of rope made from the strong grass that surrounded them, he had padded the litter with more grass. He placed Sara on it and strapped her in, kissed her on the top of her head then began the change back into his wolf form. He padded over to her "Sara, you have to hold on a little longer for me, can you do that."
"Sleeeeeeeeeeep." she thought at him.
"No Sara not yet but soon okay, we can both sleep for a long time once your all better."
"Lovvvvve you Gillllllll."
"Sara hang on." he shouted at her but got no response, he checked her breathing and heart and found they were racing and her temperature was rising he quickly got into the harness and began pulling the litter back towards the trees, as soon as he had the feel of it he began running as fast as he could. He had to slow down when he crossed the streams but as soon as they were on the other side he began running again, across the grassy plane and into the forest. He emerged on the other side and saw the camp, he slowed and came to a stop outside the tent, untangling himself from the harness and panting so hard his chest hurt he began the transformation once again.
The pain hit him as soon as he was changed but he pushed it to the back of his mind as he checked on her, he felt a faint heart beat and her breathing had slowed to just above nonexistent but he was glad she was still there even if it was just for a few more minutes. He rushed to the box with the red cross on it and ripped it open, as soon as he did this a siren began wailing but he ignored it as he rummaged through it looking for the things he needed. Grabbing the box of needles, a drip setup, tape, gauze and a swab he rushed back over to her limp form.
He thought back for a few seconds to the seven years he spent in veterinary school then began looking for the vein in her leg, he knew it would be collapsed but after three tries he finally found it and taped the catheter in place, pulled out the long needle then attached the drip line. Once that was done he hung the bag from a low branch and went back to the box this time he withdrew a box of antibiotics and another of pain killers, syringes and needles and went back to her he picked up each bottle until he found the one he wanted, he drew up the liquid into the syringe, then holding her scruff he injected the thick liquid into her neck, he did the same with the pain killer.
He unzipped the tent and looked for the heater he knew would be there, once it was placed in the tent he started the generator and plugged it in, making sure it was working properly he lay two blankets over it then closed the flap to keep the heat in. his breath was coming in short gasps as he gently picked up her limp body took the bag down from the branch and with shaking muscles he carried her into the warm tent and lay her on the blankets then hooked the drip bag to the bar across the top of the tent. He went back out and picked up two clean syringes, again he filled them up with antibiotics and the other with a strong pain killer but he didn't administer them yet instead he found the rations that had been left and made himself eat and drink until he felt sick but he knew he had to keep his strength up in order to heal. As the pain in his back and feet began to wriggle into his brain he crawled back into the tent, he placed an emergency blanket over her body, then injected the antibiotics and pain killer into his arm, and with the last of his strength he changed once again, he crawled under the blanket and curled up around her body "Sara you promised that you wouldn't leave me and I'm going to hold you to that promise now so you keep fighting or I will come and kick your tail until you start fighting." As he let the drug induced sleep take him he prayed one last time, he prayed that she live even if the powers that be took him in return.
(A/N: I was going to leave it there but decided I had left the last few chapters on cliff hangers so think I'll give you a bit more to make up for it lol.)
Someone was shaking her gently and she could hear a voice calling her but she just wanted to stay in the nice warm dream she was having, but the shaking was becoming insistent "five more minutes." she mumbled but the voice called her again.
"Sara its time you woke up, come on open your eyes for me." grudgingly she opened her eyes, as soon as the dim light hit her she clamped her eyes shut again and the memories came flooding back, running from Gil and going into the cave, the freezing cold of the water. She jumped to her paws, paws why did she still have paws she pushed through the memories and remembered the promise she had made to Gil, Gil where was he she looked around the large tent she was in and spotted him on another table across the room.
Janet appeared in wolf form in front of her "Sara you have to calm down okay."
"What happened, why are we here." she said as she began to cough.
"I don't know what happened but someone opened one of the medical boxes that is alarmed, when I got here you were both unconscious in the small tent. You had a temperature of one hundred and nine point nine. You have both been out for five days, I had to put a tube down into your stomach to feed you, you will have a sore throat for a few days."
"What about Gil." she asked not taking her eyes off of his still form.
"He had deep lacerations on all his paws and back, I tubed him as well and he seems to be healing but he had a bad infection in two of his paws and I think he's keeping himself asleep until he is fully healed. Can you tell me what happened to the both of you."
Sara sighed and lay back down "All I remember is running into a cave on the mountain I fell into cold and stinking water, I think I got out but I'm not sure." she looked at her front leg with the drip in it.
"He must have done that, he saved your life Sara." Janet said as she indicated the drip.
"Can you move me closer to him please."
"Give me a few moments to change back and you can go on the same bed as him, I think it will do him good to have you close to him, he will be able to hear, smell and feel you."
"Thank you." Sara said, she was deep in thought when Janet came back into the tent, she didn't flinch when she was injected she just kept looking at Gil. Finally she was moved onto the same bed as him, she curled up next to him and looked at his swollen and weeping paws, without thinking she instantly began licking them, when she had cleaned them and the blue electric arcs had stopped streaming across his now clean and rapidly healing paws she got up and moved to his back. She could see that some of the wounds had healed over already but a lot still looked bad so she set about licking them as well. Once again when she finished she lay down between his long legs, she licked his nose "Gil can you hear me."
"Yes I can hear you my love, how are you feeling." came faintly into her mind.
"I am much better thanks to you."
"I need to sleep some more, I can feel you have helped me already but my body still needs to heal."
"I understand and I will be here when you wake up." she licked his nose again and settled down, she watched him for hours until she also fell asleep.
When she woke up later the first thing she saw was a pair of blue eyes looking at her "How are you feeling now."
"A little stiff but much better thank you, are you all healed." he asked as he looked her over.
"Yeah I feel great, Gil what happened on that mountain."
He told her everything including when he thought she had passed away and everything he felt as well, by the end she looked at him in shock.
"How did you know how to do the drip."
"Fifty years ago I trained to be a vet, I thought that it would come in handy in case we had a serious injury while we were in our natural form. And thank god I kept up to date with all the latest equipment and drugs."
"Well its good to see both of you awake." Janet said as she jumped up on the bed, before she could ask Gil spoke.
"Hey doc, I'm a little stiff but apart from that I could eat a buffalo." he chuckled.
"Good to hear, your paws are looking better and so does your back I think once your drips have been removed you two should get up and exercise your muscles."
"Cant wait." Sara said looking at both drip lines, hers had begun to itch a little.
"Would you like to join us for a hunt doc." Gil asked.
"I would love to but I have to get back to the base and report to your friends that you are both okay, they have been driving Jack and Sam mad with their question and I think Jim even threatened a guard trying to get out of the guest quarters." she laughed then jumped off the bed and left, she came back in human form and removed both of their drips "Okay a herd of deer have been released into the forest, don't take the females because they have young nearby but you can take the young stags but please leave the big stags as they are for the initiation hunt by our pack later in the year."
They both nodded.
"I'll leave you to it then." she was just about to leave when she turned and looked at them "Oh and Sam said if you make your way behind the camp there is a beautiful field of flowers that you should look at, apparently her and Jack go there whenever they visit here." she winked at them and left the tent.
"What do you think that was about." Gil asked.
"No idea. Shall we go hunt."
"After you my dear." he said as he stood up on shaking legs.
Sara also stood then licked his nose and jumped of the bed landing heavily on her own aching legs. She walked a few paces then stretched her legs and back enjoying the creaks and cracks. Gil joined her on the floor and he also stretched, but unlike Sara he winced when his joints creaked and cracked "I'll be glad when we have some fresh meat in our stomachs." he said standing as tall as he could and stretching the muscles of his legs, he winced again.
They made their way out of the tent and began the hunt for the deer, the sun was just setting when they caught sight of a young stag "Gil your still limping, why don't I get this one and you get the tomorrows dinner."
"Sara you got the sheep on the base, it should be me who gets this one."
"Gil, look at you, your still not healed properly, stop being an alpha for one minute and let me get this, or do I have to knock you onto your ass."
He looked at her and admired the way she had unknowingly become a true alpha female "Okay but the next one is mine."
"We'll see." she through over her shoulder as she gained ground on the deer. Her hunting technique had improved and the deer had passed on into the next world in minutes, she began to drag the carcass over to where she had left him but he padded up on her left side.
"You've got better." he said as he ripped over the animals stomach, he pulled out the liver and offered it to her.
"Thank you and thank you, but you should eat that, we both know it has the nutrients you need to heal properly."
"You also need it to heal, how about we go halves on it."
"If you insist."
"I do." he said then carefully split the liver in two, she pushed the larger portion over to him.
Once they had full bellies they rested curled up around each other until the warmth of the sun woke them "Shall we go look at the field of flowers Janet mentioned." Sara said as she stretched her long legs in front of her.
Gil admired the sight in front of him, her coat shone in the sun light and the way the rays penetrated the tree top illuminated her, she looked like she was glowing a golden brown hue surrounded her.
"Did you hear me." she asked cocking her head to the side.
"What… oh yeah lets go look." he stood and stretched next to her, he heard her chuckle "What has you so amused."
"You look like a well fed puppy." she indicated his protruding stomach.
"Well I feel like a well fed cub." he bumped her shoulder with his then began a slow lope through the trees.
Sara caught up with him at a stream where they both drank their fill then trotting side they carried on through the trees. Every now and then she tried to trip him accidentally, she would put her front paw in between his, he had stumbled a few times but he just leaned all his weight on her making her move over, they both laughed and chuckled as they trotted along but soon both of them were silent.
They had emerged from the trees and the sight before them totally amazed them both. Flowers of every colour imaginable spread for as far as they could see, they blew back and forth hypnotically in an iridescent haze , and the scent that drifted from them was so indescribable. Both of them inhaled deeply and as if joined by an invisible leash they moved off together into the field of flowers.
As they passed the colourful blooms large clouds of pollen wafted around them "Toffee apples, I can smell toffee apples." Sara said inhaling deeply.
"Cotton candy, popcorn and sherbet, I can swear I can taste them all mixed together." he said as he lapped at the pollen.
Sara touched her nose to his shoulder "Tag your it." and with that said she shot off into the flowers.
Gil gave her a ten count then took off after her, they dodged and weaved, bounced, jumped and bumped well into the afternoon. They chased each other back and forth, jumped over each other and slid under each other. They played chicken to see who would swerve first, but kept colliding into each other, laughing they would get to their paws back away from each other then start again. They played like young cubs with soft nips and growls, Sara picked up a twig and a tug of war began between them.
For days as they ran together Gil unconsciously guided her with his movements and body, and before he even realised what he was doing he was guiding her in the ancient matting dance, they kept pace with each other swerving as one, running faster then suddenly slowing as one, jumping over the fallen trunks of the trees.
Gil was amazed that neither of them were panting yet despite all of the activities they had been doing but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind as they slowed and began circling each other he suddenly picked up on her scent and knew she was becoming ready to conceive.
Sara looked at him and suddenly she realised that she wanted him and only him, not only as her alpha but her partner, her leader, her friend, her lover, her husband and the father of her cubs or children. She wanted to feel the rub of his fur on her back as he took her in wolf form, she wanted to feel his skin on hers as he made love to her in human form in any and all position. She lifted her tail as he circled closer and saw the surprised look in his gorgeous blue eyes.
He began to drool as her scent hit him, he could feel the butterfly's in his stomach at the thought that she was inviting him to mate with her, was she giving him her answer, was this the moment that they would be joined as one for the rest of their lives, he had to know before he made the final leap "Sara, I need to know if you have decided to be my alpha female, I don't want to do anything until you have decided even though its killing me not knowing and at this point I don't know if I have the strength in me to stop now."
She stood in front of him with her rear towards him, but when he asked her she turned to face him "This is my answer Gil… I accept your proposal to become alpha female of your pack, to be your friend, lover, wife and mother to your cubs and children, I have loved you and will love you until my last breath, with this mating I surrender to you." she kicked his nose and turned again waiting for him to mount her. She knew she hated this position in human form but this felt different, natural.
Gil closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, she had said the words he had longed to hear. He got ready to mount her, she took a step backwards towards him, encouraging him. His front legs locked around her waist as he got into the mating position.
Under the light of the full moon he claimed Sara as his, when he had emptied his large load into her they lay down together to rest, which didn't last long because now he had had her he wanted her again and again.
"Wow." Sara said "How long until your ready again."
"It all depends on when your ready for another go my love." he smiled at her.
For the next week the only times they left the flowers was to hunt, the rest of the time they played like cubs and mated at every opportunity they got, they talked about what they would do when they got home. They had just finished their latest mating when they heard a loud siren coming from the direction of the camp "Guess Janet's back." Gil said as he groomed her side.
"We should probably go and see what she wants."
"But I don't want to, I want to stay here." he said in a sulky voice.
"Stop being a baby, maybe she will only be here to check us over and make sure we are okay."
"I don't need her to tell me that your okay." he licked the inside of her ear.
"Later when we get back I'll show you just how okay I am." she licked his nose then got up and led him from the field of flowers.
TO BE CONTINUED.
A/N: okay readers one possibly two chapters left of this story. I am already working on my next one but it may take a while before I post it as I would like it completed before I start posting.