Ruby had seen some strange things in her life, but none of them would amount to what she had just experienced with Sophia. She had felt to some what had been beyond the grave, with Sophia's mind connecting with hers. Sherman had been right when he said Sophia would utimately change the ways of Pack. Even after just flipping, her powers were already growing stronger by the second. Whatever danger was coming had to be bad by the power building within the small body of Sophia. Ruby tried to steady her heartbeat when she noticed how rapid it beating was. She tried to calm down and relax, but she felt like she was falling to pieces with so much power also building within herself. It seemed that once the two white wolves had finally emerged together, they were able to strengthen their abiblities in an almost state of immortality.

Ruby felt her body shaking, the power within her trying to escape. She looked at her hand to see the tremors racing through her veins. There was too much power in her body from the contact made with Sophia. So much power Ruby couldn't think clearly. She had to transfer her power to someone or something else or it would in the end hurt her rather than help her. Ruby felt like she was once again going through the painful process of the flip, the power racing through her body, yet this time the power increased instead of the other when she accepted the power. Accepting the fate of what was going to happen to her only increased the power within herself. That power that soon began to take over.

The power in Ruby began to surface its energy towards her head causing the worst headache in her life. She felt like her head was literally going to split open right then and there. Not being able to withstand the power contianed in herself, Ruby let out an air-splitting scream make her throat protest in the force she used in that scream, if you would call what came out of her mouth a scream. She couldn't handle the pain racking its way through her body as her limbs grew heavy making her body fall back against the softness of the bed.

John had sensed something was wrong with Ruby the minute she had woken up from her nap. He began to use his new wolven talents to enter her mind and see what was wrong. But something was separating John from connecting to Ruby. Some other body was blocking him to connect with her. Walking closer towards the closed bedroom door, John was stunned by the scream, and unearthly scream, exiting Ruby's mouth. Now more focused on Ruby's health than contacting her over their link, he barged into the room, breaking the hinges that held the door, and raced to Ruby's side.

Pushing the hair back from Ruby's face, John saw the intensity of Ruby's eyes which were glowing brighty. So bright he thought that they would permanantly stay that way. Somehow the touch of John's skin against hers pulled her out of that daze and back to reality a little bit. It was as if John's touch had absorbed some of that pain relieving her of its hold on her. She blinked her eyes a couple of times to get them back to their true color and felt some of her pain go away. Knowing that her energy could be channeled for good, she decided that it was best to use her power on John. She knew that he would understand that she would never hurt him even though he was still confused of their ways of living.

Ruby lifted her arm up so that her fingers lightly touched John's temples. Using the strength she had left, she willed the power still increasing within her to be transfered to John to help him heal from the flip since his body had not yet healed from the night before. As she pushed the power from her to John, a white light formed around Ruby's hand that touched John's forehead. That light reminding her of the light she had seen streaming towards her in her dream. Only holding her hand to John's forehead for seconds, she immediately felt most of the pain leaving her body and also felt the healing beginning to take place in John's body. Ruby had to forcefully take her hand away from John knowing that too much exposure would probably kill him in the end.

Now finding her power draining after so much of it racing thorugh her body, Ruby found herself in desperate need of sleep. Just before she closed her eyes she saw a worried look come across John's face along with the face of Sherman who had just witnessed this amazing new talent by Ruby. Ruby tried to stay awake to explain what had happened but her mind and body willed her otherwise, forcing her to sleep that she now ached for. With one last look to see that John was going to be okay, Ruby gave into the force that was taking over her body and fell into a deep sleep.

***************

"What?" Tyler asked knowing inside he had just dug himself into a very deep hole with the Sheriff but he wasn't worried knowing that the Sheriff had no real evidence against him.

"I said how did you know that the victim was woman?" Matt asked seeing that Tyler was getting worried which rarely happened.

"I just assumed that's all Sheriff. Usually you never ever hear about a man being strangled to death." Tyler said which was true but it still left Matt with a sense of suspicion on the man. "Why was the victim a woman?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. But you won't know that now would you Tyler?" Matt asked playing along with Tyler.

"Sheriff as I said before I had no idea of this murder and I was here the whole night."

"Then you wouldn't object to a DNA test?" Matt asked knowing the answer to that question well before Tyler even spoke.

"Matt you know why I can't do that. You yourself wouldn't want to risk the Pack's secrecy on a simple unnecessary blood test." Tyler said now getting tired of acting innocent. "I'm sorry but I have other arrangements Sheriff. If that is all, I must ask that you leave now." Tyler said getting a little offensive towards the end of his remark.

"I'll be back Tyler." Matt said before retreating back to his car.

"Oh Sheriff, by the way, I'm terribly sorry about your loss." Tyler said with a cold and sickening smile beginning to form on his even colder face.

Matt simply ignored the statement Tyler made and got in the car wanting to get out of there as bad as Tyler wanted him out. Matt's ignorance to say anything only made Tyler smile grow wider if at all possible as he closed the door.

"If you only knew the half of it Tyler." Matt said as he pulled the truck in gear and drove out of the driveway.

************

"Sophia? Sophia, it's time to wake up." a woman's voice said bringing Sophia out of the dream she was in and pulling her back to reality. "Sophia, are you awake?"

"Yeah, I'm up." Sophia said not believing the terrible headache she was feeling right now. Something had happened when she had fallen asleep and she was still trying to piece together the puzzle working its way in her head. She felt like she had just connected with someone in her dream but when she woke up she found no one with her in her mind. Trying to stand up from the bed she was sleeping on, all the blood began to rush to her head making her sit back down on the bed.

"Sophia, honey are you okay?" the woman said this time entering the room and seeing the drained look on Sophia's face. She was an older woman with gray hair and piercing blue eyes. Although she was old and short in height, Sophia knew that she was strong nonetheless. The woman walked over towards Sophia and dropped down next to her by the bed, pushing back Sophia's long hair to see the tired and sleepy look on Sophia's face. Also planted on that face was confusion and fear considering Sophia had no idea what had just happened to her.

Sophia had just placed her head back down on the pillow when the woman had walked into the room. Trying to find out what had happened to herself, Sophia strained into her already throbbing mind to recall what happened in her dream. Only after experiencing it another time did Sophia truly understand what she had just gone through. She had unconsiously connected with Ruby back in Wolf Lake. Not only connecting with her but joining the two of them together to openly talk to each other. Sophia had used so much power in trying to connect with Ruby she accidentally put too much power in Ruby's body through the joining of their minds. However, Sophia felt like there was another force pushing and helping Sophia with her connection to Ruby. Some other, more powerful, force combining the two women so that they could communicate privately on their own link.

"Sophia, are you okay?" the woman asked again feeling that Sophia had not heard her the first time.

"Yeah, I'm fine Alice." Sophia said to the woman sensing her fear and worry. Somehow Sherman knew Alice from before he was a keeper for the Pack and kept close with his friend even though the distance between the two was hundreds of miles. They were friends no matter what and when either of them needed something, they could count on the other one to be there. Such was the case when Sherman asked Alice to take Sophia in for the time being. She gladly ablidged and welcomed Sophia with open arms.

At first Sophia was nervous and scared about being so far away from home, never leaving it before. However, her curiousity soon took the better of her knowing that Alice lived alone in a small town and that her house was on a ten square mile plot comprised of forests, streams, rivers, and even a small lake on the edge of the property. Although Sophia was free to run in the forest in the pelt of the wolf she was, she wasn't quite ready to risk the opportunity for something to happen to her. In fact, since she had flipped, she hadn't changed into the wolf she was prophesized as. The other end of the deal was that Alice surprisingly knew all about Sophia, her wolven abilities, and the Pack's way of living. If Sophia didn't no any better she would have said Alice was a wolf herself, but Alice assured Sophia that she was in fact 100% human. Therefore, Alice was there to listen, and listening she was good at just like Sherman, to whatever Sophia had to say no matter what the subject might be.

"Good, cause I was starting to worry." Alice said smiling down at Sophia seeing the color begin to come back to the child's face. "What happened to you Sophia?"

"I'm not sure if I even know." Sophia said as she tried to reconnect to Ruby finding that the link was still open only that Ruby was now asleep causing Sophia to temporarily block the link to Ruby letting her get some sleep knowing that Ruby had just had the experience of a lifetime. "Just another lucky little aspect of being a white wolf I suppose. I need to call Sherman." Sophia said smiling back at Alice and trying to get up once more now successful with the help of Alice.

"Not until you have eaten something and gotten some more sleep." Alice said sensing that it was best for Sophia to get a little more sleep seeing that she wasn't full of energy after what had just happened to her.

Just as Sophia was about to walk out of the bedroom with Alice at her side, she suddenly had a vision strike her like a kick in the gut. Just when she thought nothing else could be more weird, she was in for a great awakening. Her mind and power of a white wolf once again took over her body allowing it to lose all feeling as she felt like she was falling back. In reality she was catching Alice by surprise by her sudden fall onto the floor, Alice only cushioning her fall, not successful at stopping Sophia's body to lightly hit the floor.

***************

Sophia felt like she was being sucked into a whirpool and someone had just let the water out. A blend of colors swarmed aroung her, making her dizzy and causing her head to spin. When she thought she was about to throw up from the motion caused by this allusion in her head, it stopped and the colors suddenly formed into shapes. The picture cleared and showed her father sitting in the living room of his house in the dark.

He was sitting there alone, crying to himself in the confines of the big, empty house. Sophia saw the stress beating at him, she saw the emotion expressed in her father knowing the reason why he was crying. He didn't want his only daughter to live alone out there in the world. He wasn't ready to be alone. Although he knew the truth about her, he was still nonetheless upset and worried about how much his life would change without the presence of his daughter in his life.

Just as soon as Sophia had become comfortable with the image of her father, she was sucked back into the tunnel of the whirpool, and spit back out into another picture. She now saw Luke at the Diner looking out of the window out into the rain. It was as if she was in his mind reading his thoughts at that present moment. She heard his thoughts as clear as if he was actually telling them to her. She heard and felt how much it was tearing him up inside to come to terms with the thought of her death. He didn't want to believe what he had seen and he didn't want to live in reality. He wanted Sophia to come back to life in anyway possible. He refused to give up hope for her return yet knowing that someone couldn't come back from the dead.

Sophia could feel her tears surfacing after finally seeing a true side to Lucas Cates. So true she wondered if what she was seeing was true or just an mirage. Sophia was once again sucked into the tunnel, now getting used to its effects on her body, as this time less spent than the others. Sophia's next picture was of Ruby and John after such a long time the past few months, reunited at last. Yet the terms on which they were connected were not ones to be joyous about.

She saw how John was fighting the Change and how Ruby coaxed him to not deny what was happening to him. How could John be flipping? Sophia made a mental note to ask Sherman later. Sophia saw the love through that picture, mesmirizing her of how much those two had been through yet their love stayed the same if not stronger. She was amazed how they had survived together through their battles with enemies and constrictions they faced in their life.

Even though Sophia was getting used to this new talent, she was now getting tired of the feeling she got when she was in that tunnel transporting her to a different picture. Her last picture for the moment was one that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Those dead, lifeless eyes staring back at Sophia calling for her to help the woman, but Sophia knew there was no way of helping the woman realizing the woman was dead. Sophia looked beyond the woman and saw a gray wolf in the distance looking at Sophia. For a split-second, Sophia caught his gaze, a cold, emotionless gaze hanging high in the air. Just when she thought she recognized the wolf, she was finally released from the hold over her body and mind and brought back to the cabin and room where she had just been kidnapped from.

Opening her eyes, Sophia saw Alice sitting next to her on the bed, noticing that Alice had managed to place Sophia's limp body once again on the bed. Placing her hand to her head, Sophia knew that a headache was growing and she would need some aspirin before too long. Turning her head towards the clock sitting on the table next to her, Sophia noticed that she had been out for more than four hours. It had only felt like a few minutes, but the time had flown by.

"What did you see Sophia?" Alice asked already knowing what Sophia's new gift as a white wolf was, she could see things others couldn't. She had the power of premonitions.

**************

Just as Sophia was waking up, thousands of miles away, Ruby was doing the same. Feeling drained and weak, Ruby managed to open her heavy eyelids to see both Sherman and John in the room with her. Although Sherman was calmly sitting in a chair a few feet away, she noticed that John was impatiently pacing around the room. As soon as John had sensed Ruby's heartbeat increasing, telling him that she would soon be awake, he stopped his pacing and walked over to where she was lying on the bed to sit next to her. Ruby took a deep breath and opened her eyes a little bit more, finally starting to feel better after waking up from needed rest. She turned her head to meet the gaze of two dark brown eyes. Eyes that she could drown in forever if given the chance.

"Hey, are you okay? I mean, what happened to you?" John asked Ruby tried to hide his worry and fear, but Ruby saw right through him.

"I'm fine, I just had a enlightenment from a very close friend." Ruby said taking her gaze away from John to stare at Sherman. Following her lead, John did the same so confused by what he had been experiencing in the last 24 hours, not comprehending it all the way. As soon as Ruby looked at Sherman, he sat up in his chair, getting closer with Ruby realizing what she was referring to with her statement.

"That's right Sherman, I was able to connect with Sophia. Actually, it was the other way around, she contacted me. Sherman she's powerful. More powerful than I am." Ruby said looking back at John to see the expression on his face with the mentioning of Sophia's name.

"Ruby, you promised to not tell John. Nevermind that, she connected with you?" Sherman asked amazed as much as Ruby had been with the efforts of Sophia. "After she just flipped? Her powers are growing quickly, as will yours in no time." Sherman stated confusing Ruby.

"What powers Sherman? I thought that white wolves were only stronger than other wolves and they would out rank any Alpha female." Ruby said not understanding.

"That is what every wolf is told about white wolves which is true, but you have more priviliges than just that." Sherman said pulling her attention towards the subject. "See white wolves all have special powers that vary from wolf to wolf and yours seems to be the power to heal by the way that you transferred your power to John when there was too much within yourself. You were able to heal the effects of the Change for John since his blood isn't as strong as some other wolves just yet. Ruby, every white wolf gains her powers during different times in their life, it just seems that it is fate for the two white wolves to gain their powers at the same time. Sophia may be powerful because she has embraced or broke down to the force willing itself into her body, but her power can't get much stronger. It is just by chance that Sophia was strong enough to handle all of her power at one time. Your power is just starting to grow though." Sherman said scaring Ruby as well as confusing John even more.

"So what I just experienced was just a small amount of my powers?" Ruby said her fear showing which was shown in her eyes when John looked into them. Trying to comfort her, he slowly pulled her into his arms, letting her know that he would be there even when the tough got going.

"Yes, but over time your body along with your mind will adjust to your powers. It's just like the Change, it is painful for everyone to flip but once they have, it is simple to change into a wolf." Sherman said trying to aleve some of her fear. "Don't worry about it Ruby, you're strong. That's why you were chosen to be a white wolf because you could handle the pressure and power that it takes for such a responsibilty."

"Hang on a second, would someone please explain what is going on?" John asked tired of being left out of the conversation.

"One minute John. I just have one more question for Ruby." Sherman said sensing the aggresiveness in John's voice when Sherman and Ruby were talking about her abilities, something John had no idea about. "Ruby, did she say anything to you?"

"No, I think we were both devastated with the power we had received and the strength it took to hold the link open for that long of time." Ruby said answering Sherman's question while also expanding her mind to see if Sophia still had the link up and running. "The link is still there but Sophia has blocked it out for now."

"Alright, let me know if she contacts you or if you are strong enough to talk to her. Don't force it Ruby, you've had a long day." Sherman said as he exited the room and closed the door behind him.

"Now can you explain what just happened to you and what the hell you did to me awhile ago?" John asked bringing Ruby's attention back to him as she laughed at his stubborness to always know what was going on. You could never take the cop out of man once it had been placed there. Ruby began to explain the whole story from beginning to end starting with the conversation with Sherman earlier in the morning to explaining in further detail what Sherman had just been talking about a few moments ago. She hated the fact that he had to learn everything there is to know about the Pack within only a few days, but she knew he wouldn't stop until all his questions were answered. She didn't want any more secrets to come between John and her not wanting to chance the consequences. That was why she had gone against Sherman's advice to hide Sophia's true identity from him. He deserved to know the truth and Ruby wasn't going to deny it to him.

*************

Matt had finished most of his first day back at work filing reports at the police station. He had only another hour left until he could go home to his empty house. On the other hand, he could stay here all night and work on paperwork that was beginning to pile up from the past few days he hadn't been at work. Just when he had decided that it was better to go home, Matt got a call from a deputy of his.

"Hello, Matt Donner speaking, Wolf Lake Police Department, how may I help you?" Matt asked almost in a monotone having to repeat the same words every day of his life.

"Sheriff, we got another body." the deputy's voice said echoing through Matt's head as the deputy continued to talk about the latest victim.

"Alright, I'll be there in a moment." Matt said hanging up the phone while finishing his cup of coffee. Grabbing his coat, he stood up and began to exit his way out of the station keys in his hand.

**************

"So Sophia is alive?" John asked Ruby once again hardly believing the words coming out of Ruby's mouth yet knowing she would never lie to him unless to protect him.

"Yes, she is very much alive John." Ruby said smiling and not being able to help the laugh that exited her mouth. She couldn't believe what had happened to her in the last 24 hours. She had reunited with John, successfully helped him to flip into a wolf, something she never thought existed or would be possible. She found out the truth about Sophia how the girl was alive and safe and a white wolf like herself. She also connected with the young girl, discovered a power ability about herself, and had healed John with that ability. Thinking on what had just happened, Ruby couldn't help but be grateful for what she had been given by fate.

"Ruby, what's wrong? You're crying?" John asked as he wiped away a tear that had traveled down her cheek.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just that so much has happened within such a small amount of time and we came out on top again, alive and together at last." Ruby said while placing her hand on John's cheek.

Allowing Ruby to cup his cheek, John felt a flicker in Ruby's eyes. Looking into her eyes, he saw that golden hue becoming brighter and brighter when in fact he was simply seeing the reflection of his own eyes. Ruby also saw that gold fire beginning to flame to life within John and herself as well. Moving her hand from John's cheek to the back of his head, Ruby curled her hand around John's neck and gently pulled his head towards hers. At the same time, John's hand came to Ruby's face almost mimicking what she was doing to him. Ruby stopped pulling when their lips were only centimeters apart and stared into his eyes. She never thought this day would come when she would finally be joined with John again in more ways than one. She looked at the door, expecting Tyler to come charging in and steal her away from John, but that moment never came.

At last subsiding her fears, Ruby looked back at John seeing that he wasn't going to disappear and in fact this time he was here to stay. No longer able to hold back the bottled up emotions-mainly love-stirring inside her all these months, Ruby put all her effort in kissing John as he slowly led her body down on the mattress. The taste once again on her lips was enough to make her go off in ectasy having been too far apart from John for so many months. Old emotions and feelings came back along with new ones joining into one emotion and feeling beating in her heart. Love.

***************

When Matt arrived at the crime scene he had a sick feeling in his gut telling him that this murder was not going to be any better than the other one. The eerie feeling was not only lurking around in Matt's stomach but also in the air around the scene. Wanting to get this over and done with, Matt quickly got out of the car and walked over the deputy who was waiting for him.

"What do we have now?" Matt asked the deputy as they began to walk towards the body in a dark alley.

"This is Jacob Conners-"

"Yeah I know who he is." Matt said recognizing the young man as a Skinwalker and a member of the town, also contributing to any problem the town might have.

He was a young man only in his thrities with dirty blond hair and blue eyes. Physically fit and a tall man reaching 6'2" Matt wondered how the man could be killed especially becuase of the strength he exibited as a Skinwalker. Although Jacob Conners hadn't shed his wolven pelt in years, he still was a member of the Pack. The reason why he hadn't been in wolven form in years is becuase he married a weaker Skinwalker, Lucy, which was unsuitable for his parents. Together the two of them decided to stay in Wolf Lake becuase of the rules set by the Alpha to stay in Wolf Lake for the rest of their lives, but they kept to themselves just like Margaret. Matt remembered certain instances involving Jacob and other members of the Pack how they had hated him for his decision to leave the Pack for a girl who was of the weakest chains of the wolves in the Pack.

Matt stooped to Jacob's level and looked down at the man to see that the man had shed his clothes to change but hadn't had time for his attacker had slit his throat before the man had time to defend himself. There were signs of a struggle and you could tell that the man had fought for his life and in the end his strength wasn't enough for the power of his attacker.

"His throat is slit, not strangled. Different from the other one."

"That's right but we also found similiar hairs to the ones we found on the other body. We think that they will match, but we'll have to wait for the report from the M.E. to come back." the deputy said filling Matt in.

"How long has he been dead?" Matt asked seeing that Jacob's body was fairly new compared to Margaret's.

"At the most sixteen hours." the deputy said placing the murder around four o'clock that morning. "The owner of the restuarant over there was collecting trash to take out to the dumpster and saw the body and called 9- 1-1."

"So our guy likes to do his dirty business during the night." Matt said standing up from his crouched position and stepping back to take the report that the deputy was reading out of his hand.

"Have you contacted his wife?"

"We tried but no one answered the phone when we called." the deputy said standing behind Matt waiting for instructions.

"There won't be any need for that." another deputy's voice said echoing through the alley. "Sheriff, you might want to come and look at this."

Matt quickly followed the deputy back further in the alley way and saw what the comotion was about. Another body was lying beside a pile of garbage. Matt knew instantly who it was. Lucy, Jacob's wife, was lying there on the ground also with her throat slit. The blood mixing with her white t-shirt and blonde hair was enough for Matt to go insane right then and there. How could someone kill their own kind like that let alone innocent people who never barged in on other people's business?

"Sheriff, you might want to also look at this." the deputy said pointing towards the brick wall over Lucy's body.

Matt looked at where her flashlight beam was and saw what the deputy was talking about. There in bright crimson red blood was a message from the murderer.

Your turn is coming Alpha.

Now it all made sense who the killer was after. The people being blonde haired, Vivian, the Alpha of the Pack, was also blonde. Many people hated her for being the first woman Alpha just because they had liked her husband Willard and Matt, who would have been Alpha, backed her as well. Would have been Alpha. Could Matt be the next victim instead of Vivian? Just like the other victims he had disowned the Pack after the death of his wife and the lifelong promise he held in her honor for their daughter. Could it just be coincidence that all the victims were blonde? Was Matt's life in danger now or Vivian's?

*************

"I saw, wait, how did you know I saw something?" Sophia asked wondering how Alice knew that piece of information about Sophia.

"Sophia, I have dealt with some weird things in my life and I am well aware of what a person looks like when they are having premonitions. So, what did you see?" Alice said not scared and understanding what Sophia was going through.

"I saw my dad crying. Two friends of mine reunited at last. One of those friends of mine was able to flip which I never thought was possible, and then I saw a dead woman asking me for help with a gray wolf not far off in the background. I felt like I knew the wolf, but I couldn't put a face with a name. That and the fact that I've never seen any of the wolves in the Pack actually in wolven form, except..." Sophia said trailing off her sentence not wanting to talk about Luke seeing that she had left him out of telling Alice what she had seen.

"So what are you going to do with these premonitions that you're having?"

"I guess tell Sherman. He's kind of my mentor always telling me what to do, but it's not always a direct way of saying it. He kind of leaves you stumped with his philisophical teachings until it finally hits you, so clearer than before." Sophia said almost wanting to be in Wolf Lake to have another face-to-face talk with Sherman.

"Alright, but not right now. It's getting late, and you've had one exhausting day for your first few days here. I walk outside might do you some good tomorrow to let you clear your head." Alice said heading towards the door of Sophia's room.

"I might just do that." Sophia said getting tired of being pent up in the house when she was perfectly able to run freely on Alice's property. Loving the feel of being with nature again would help Sophia with her home sickness.

"Goodnight Sophia." Alice said turning off the light and beginning to close Sophia's bedroom door.

"Goodnight."