Virtual Season Two – Episode #25
"Where The Wild Things Play"Part One of Three
Based on the cancelled TV series, Wolf Lake,
written by Sapphira
Sequel to "The Virtual First Season Continuation"
Disclaimer: Don't own any of it… not the characters (unless they are my original creations) the music, or the original TV series in any form… I am making no profit off of this, or ANY of my other fanfics… I'm writing it purely for my own enjoyment, and hopefully for the enjoyment of some of the fellow fans.
Summary – The next chapter in the lives of those connected to Wolf Lake has been opened, and its pages will prove that the story you thought you knew, is only just beginning as the secrets still hidden unknowingly within the fold of the Clan will start to threaten to rip it apart at its very seams…
Timeline – Three months after the events of the finale of the First Season Continuation
Moscow, Russia 2:14 am
The night had reached its darkest peak, and there was a chill to the land that only those in residence of this country could comprehend. One didn't truly know what coldness was unless they came here. Especially during the harsh winter months.
A young man hidden in the shadows of an alleyway, buried in the heart of an abandoned section of one of the darkest corners of a frozen city, stood there rubbing his palms together reflexively and looking around nervously.
Even those who finally did come to this land still were faced with the difficulty of the climate. And many were only more than happy to leave this land behind as fast as they could. Unable to accept the possibility of existing in it much longer than absolutely necessary.
But then there were always the very few that actually found a home here. A very select few that actually found themselves welcoming the frigid temperatures, even though this was not the land of their birth…
Maybe it was because they needed a home that was as cold as they were.
Looking down at his watch for the countless time, he suppressed the shivers trying to race up the length of his body despite the thick clothes and the heavy coat wrapped about his frame. The wind was picking up again, and not even the warmest clothes in his possession could ever be enough to keep those frigid fingers from penetrating those barriers to freeze against his skin.
Looking around himself again, he acknowledged that the only reason why this alleyway was barren of any other life was because even the criminals of Moscow's underworld weren't foolish enough to conduct even the foulest of their businesses in its streets at this hour. Where no other hindrance of man could ever hope to keep them from their corrupted lifestyles, the most basic nature of the land surrounding them did.
This was the only time where such areas became as neutral a location as a church or playground… and it was only because it was a time that hardly anyone could expect to survive out in it for very long.
He left out a frustrated breath and watched as it frosted in the night air as soon as it left his mouth. He pulled closer into the minimal shelter provided by one of the ancient buildings flanking him, and leaned his back against it. Hunching into himself in an attempt to block the worst of the wind that had now stirred up into a frenzy, and feeling the faint stirrings of anger for having been kept waiting as long as he had.
He didn't know how long he remained in that position, but when he felt a much larger portion of his body start to go numb, he decided he had had enough.
Preparing to leave, he pushed himself away from the wall, and crossed over into the center of the alleyway in preparation to leave, when he sensed more than saw sudden movement slinking towards him. A shadow swathed against the darkness of the night that only relief was in the pale carpeting of snow and ice that crunched beneath the figure's feet as he moved closer. Revealing the line of his form being that of a man's.
Speaking unthinkingly, the young, nearly frozen man foolishly said the first thing that came to his lips.
"You're late."
He heard a short sound that should have been interpreted as laughter, but it wasn't humor ringing in that voice that made the young man regret having spoken that accusation. He watched warily as more and more of the figure slipped away from the shadows into the faint circle of muted light cast by a dull overhead bulb. His open black leather trench coat swirling about his feet in the wind.
"And what makes you think that?"
The young man nearly flinched at the sound of that voice. "Y-you were supposed to meet me here at 2:00am."
"No, I wasn't. I told you to be here at 2:00am… There is a difference."
The figure came to a stop just a few feet away, and the young man was once again reminded of what kind of being he was dealing with, by what his wardrobe consisted of.
Despite the sub-zero temperatures, he only wore a dark sweater and leather pants tucked into boots. His hands and throat were bare, and his skin was almost the same shade as the snow under their feet. The only article of clothing that could be considered protective was the black leather trench coat, but it was wide open, and it wasn't hard to assume that even that was only there just for appearances.
Seeing this man – if he could indeed be called that – in person made it very easy for the younger man to believe that any semblance of humanity or civilized behavior that he may witness here tonight was nothing more than a façade.
Standing this close to someone who was now the sole embodiment of a thousand years of the darkest of the dark legends and myths, he could almost see the countless generations of bloodshed and death in those soulless eyes.
The man in front of him tilted his head to the side, and one dark brow rose slightly.
"Is there something wrong?" the question should have sounded like one of concern, and on any other's lips it would have been. But on his…
He knew exactly what kind of fear he was inspiring, and the younger man knew then that if this inhuman being was capable of such an emotion as humor, then he was feeling it right now… at the younger man's expense.
He shook his head, and would have voiced a denial, but the dark one stopped him in mid-breath with another question.
"Did you bring it?"
He nodded. Fingers fumbling in his front pocket as he fished out a small flat object. His eyes never leaving the dangerous figure in front of him.
He didn't seem the least bit concerned about the younger man reaching into his pocket. He didn't seem the least bit concerned that the younger man might have had a weapon. He wasn't even armed himself. At least not with any weapon that could be seen.
But the younger man knew better than most that one of things that made this man so dangerous was that he didn't need a weapon. He was the weapon. And he could move with the speed and accuracy and strength that no mere human could ever hope to match. Even an armed one.
Finally withdrawing his hand, he held out the disk, and waited for the other man to take it.
"I'm assuming that everything we discussed is on here?"
He nodded quickly. Anxiety apparent in his skittish gaze. "The locations of Vega Controls and the weapons and biological laboratories are, as well as info on all personal members and bases located in Russia."
He watched as the dark one took the disk from his nerveless fingers and slid it into his front pants pocket. The supple leather hiding it from view seamlessly. "Your… assistance in this matter is appreciated. I'm trusting that you are already pleased with the amount forwarded over to your private account?"
"It is a very generous amount."
"Good. The rest of your fee will be transferred upon confirmation that the information on this disk is accurate."
The younger man bristled slightly. "I assure you it is."
The other man smiled. If a faint twisting to his lips set in a face that still bore absolutely no emotion could be called a smile. "I am not suggesting that you have swindled me. I doubt that even the lowest members of your group would ever be that foolish to try and deceive one of my kind."
The younger man wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, so he wisely said nothing in response.
"I am also… assuming that you shall be leaving Moscow tonight?"
"Y-yes. I have to be long gone, in case the people I work for find out about what I've done. They don't take betrayal very well." He frowned slightly then. "I have wondered, however, why it is that you need this information. The Society leaders would love nothing more than to take you on as one of our leaders. Why not join them?"
The dark one cocked his head to the side. His midnight dark hair tumbling about his shoulders loosely. His eyes glittering strangely, as the shadows of the alleyway played upon the carved and cold perfection of a face that looked as if it had never even seen daylight.
"I am follower to no man. And my reasons for requiring this information are just that. Mine. It is no longer your concern."
The younger man nodded quickly. "Of course, Mr. Van Halen. It makes no difference to me anyhow."
He hadn't even gotten those words out in their entirety before the dark one had already turned around, and was beginning to disappear back into the frigid shadows surrounding them once more.
He knew that he should take his abrupt dismissal gracefully, and just leave. Leave now. He knew he should forget about asking any more questions or having any more contact with this strange person. But even though he was no longer willing to work with the Society, the curiosity was still there. And only the leaders of the Society had ever met with one of his kind face to face.
He simply couldn't let the chance slip past. No matter how foolish it might be to try and continue to talk to this… man as if he was just another simple human being.
But yet having still come to that conclusion, he had a hard time forcing the words out while remembering the hint of the dormant power behind those black eyes.
But force them out he did, because he had to understand how such a dark, powerful, and bloodthirsty army could be reduced to just this one last survivor. A survivor that he hadn't even really believed until this very moment was still alive.
"Why did your brethren willingly carry with them the very objects that could destroy them?" he called out to that retreating back quickly before he could change his mind. "Why did they keep with them the one weakness that could be exploited and used against them?"
The dark one turned back. Face pale against the spill of the backdrop of the night, as his coat flared out slightly in resistance of the wind as he moved.
He was silent for a while. So silent, that the younger man feared he would only have to blink and he would be gone as if he had never even existed. As if he had only been a figment of his imagination. A dream brought on by the potential possibility of mild hypothermia.
But he didn't disappear. He stood right there, staring back into his face, and the younger man didn't have to imagine the deaths of a thousand years reflected there… he could literally see their presence burning there in that unblinking gaze.
When he finally did begin to speak, it was all the younger man could do to keep from jumping out his skin by the sudden change in the heavy silence that had fallen.
"If your only chance to fulfill your ordained destiny to destroy your sworn enemy lay in the possibility of dying at the very force that would make it possible for you to triumph, then what would you imagine you would be willing to risk in order to finally win?" A slight shifting of his shoulders marked what could be considered a shrug. "For my brethren it was... everything."
"But you survived. You didn't die with the rest of them."
Those black eyes flickered slightly with what could only be called emotion, but it was so quick that the younger man couldn't hope to interpret which one it was, and those eyes were once again so frigid that it left him wondering if he had even seen anything to begin with.
"Apparently I didn't desire it as… ferociously as they did."
Unlike his eyes, his tone was noticeably altered, and the younger man fell silent. Watching as the last of a race almost as old as the Skinwalkers themselves finally turned away and melted back into the night. Stepping into its embrace as if he was made of it.
The wind kicked up another notch, and blew snow over his tracks. Hiding even those from view. He had disappeared as if he had never even been there. As if he had never even existed.
Only the younger man knew the truth… and a big part of that for him was wrapped up in the fact that his front pocket was noticeably lighter…
… and the unsettling notion that he had just stared straight into the abyss and had somehow managed to survive the encounter relatively unscathed, despite how the abyss had stared right back.
A couple of blocks away, a dark shadow shifted and merged into those that cloaked a dark corner as a figure emerged from within them in order to lean his hip against the tall lamp post crowned by a single flickering light that cast a halo in the snow blanketing the cracked pavement and broken rocks beneath it.
Damien tilted his head back and looked up into the night sky. Studying the various constellations with a mild interest as he acknowledged with almost a sense of faint bemusement how different this very night sky must look on the other side of the world.
He didn't seem to be aware of the drama beginning to unfold just a few blocks away, as a young man finally emerged warily from a dark alleyway, and made his way hurriedly towards his vehicle parked only about a hundred yards away. Hands tucked deeply into his coat pockets and his chin tucked under as he battled against the invading cold and dreamed of finally making it to his car and the warm security he would find once within it.
He couldn't have even known the exact moment that the younger man finally did make it to his car, or the way that he slid into the front seat with a sense of relief. Shutting the door firmly behind him to block out the frigid chill of the night wind.
But he still didn't even so much as blink when the sound of an explosion rocked the silence of the night, or how the earth beneath his feet reverberated with the mild shock waves radiating from such a close range.
He didn't acknowledge the sudden blaze of light that reached towards the heavens, as the explosion reached its peak, or how suddenly the silence of the night became a vacuum as the vicious sound faded away. Bleeding back into the quietness of a night that had just been temporarily violated.
He stood there for a little while longer. Watching as clouds slowly began to roll in, blocking out the sparkling pinpricks of light embedded against the darkest of backdrops.
It was only when no more of the night sky was visible that he finally dropped his head, and pushed himself away from the pole. Duster swirling about his legs as he moved.
He moved his way down yet another one of the abandoned pathways, as the sharp sound of sirens in the distance became an interruption to the silence once more and the air surrounding him became permeated with the harsh, acrid scent of smoke...
And the fresh snow above him finally began to fall.
One month later…
It was dark under the cold surface of the lake's murky depths, and even with her enhanced vision, Sophia couldn't really see through it. So she didn't try. She just allowed her body to float along, legs and arms slicing through the water languidly. Not particularly caring which direction she was going, as a set destination wasn't what was intended while she remained submerged as long as she was able.
The muted silence that the water provided however, was. It allowed her mind a momentary sense of relief and peace. Almost like a sensory deprivation chamber, with only the sound of her heart beat thumbing rhythmically in her chest echoing in her ears.
But like all good things, it wasn't going to last her very long.
It basically was just a couple of minutes that allowed her to sort of refuel before facing the masses once more, and being forced to place the whole strong white female image back into place. Just a couple of minutes that she took every single time she had to reluctantly come to one of these, that even those just a few feet away from her would never even know about. Although she often wondered just how many of them did exactly what she was doing now from time to time.
She stayed like that for a little while longer. Trying to ignore the steadily increasing pressure building up in her lungs, as she felt the cold water of the lake move over her body caught within the faint tug of the tides. Rocking her back and forth slowly in its embrace.
But even she knew her limits, and eventually they forced her to start to move upwards.
Tilting her head up, she viewed from below the way the light from the bonfires cast a flickering red and orange glow over the dancing surface of the water, and she slowly moved her hands towards it. Propelling herself to the surface. Her dark curtain of hair fanning out gently over the sides of face, and caressing against the curve of her neck and shoulders.
(Soundtrack Suggestion – "Truth or Dare" by N.E.R.D. and featuring Kelis & Pusha T, and on the album "In Search Of…" and "xXx the Soundtrack" )
When she broke the surface, she entered a completely different world. One where peaceful or relaxation were two very different cards not a part of this particular game.
No matter how prepared she might have been, it was still always enough to send you into momentary sensory shock.
First thing that hit you was the bombardment of sight and music echoing through the darkness of night… an overwhelming combination when it was the youth of the Wolf Lake Clan putting it together. It was easy to be taken aback by it at first, as if you should have been prepared for it…
But Raves on the 'Hill' and the young Skinwalkers who threw them didn't care about one's personal comfort level. They just tossed you carelessly into their world whether you liked it or not, and figured you'd survive.
In one smooth, fluid motion from using muscles that no mere human could possess, she thrust her body firmly from the water, and leapt onto the wooden docks just a couple of feet away. Ignoring the various couples that had moved their erotic games from land to the dark surface of the lake, and not particularly caring about the amount of water that sprayed outward from the suddenness of her jump. Soaking those who were still lingering on the docks.
The flames of the massive bonfires swept staggeringly high, and the intense flickering glow cast against the expanse of her smooth, pale skin revealed to the night air still carrying a chill from the dying winter months. Beads of moisture slid off of her lithe form in a constant repetition, as she tossed her head back. Flinging the now almost waist-length sodden mass of dark hair away from her face. Using her fingers to help with the process as she slowly began to make her way down the length of the docks. Her soaked black bra and matching underwear still intact and covering their respective areas despite not having been intended for swim wear.
She made her way up the plank wood steps. Blinking water out of her eyes, and oblivious to the way reflections of the firelight caught in the beads of water still clinging to her skin. Turning them into faint shimmering embers, that echoed in the depths of her dark eyes. A familiar crystal pendant settled on its silver chain against the place over her heart.
In the past few months since the ordeal of dealing with the Hunters, Sophia had had plenty of time to come to terms with some of the more… unsettling aspects of the Skinwalker culture… One of those things had been nudity.
True, everyone here (and pretty much everyone else who wasn't) had already seen the entire show back during the Meeting in which it had been necessary for her to disrobe and prove to everyone in the Pack beyond any reasonable doubt that her pelt was indeed the color she claimed it to be. It had been easier then with the threat of complete genocide hanging over them. But during the more… intimate gatherings, her still all-too-human modesty reared its disconcerting head.
It was an aspect of her nature that Luke still couldn't resist teasing her about. Even though she had made very big strides towards being more comfortable with the concept. The first thing that she had to realize was that, although it was natural for her mind to assume that being nude around other people had a sexual significance, she wasn't human, and neither were those that she was around. And for all of them, nudity didn't necessarily mean sex. Just like being clothed didn't necessarily mean non-interest. Pack members just didn't place that much significance over what clothed their human forms.
Despite all the suggestive and occasionally lewd banter, unless a female was either offering an invitation or already emitting aroused pheromones, the males did not attempt to initiate intercourse regardless of her state of undress, because with their constant shifting back in forth, seeing a lot of skin was typical. Normal even. The males eventually got used to programming themselves not to think of the females in that regards unless invited to, and in the, again normal, instances where they became… interested themselves, they still didn't try and force the issue with one of the females, and the unresponsive females ignored the fact that their male companions had… issues with the rules.
Of course, considering the highly hormonal nature of the Skinwalkers, very rarely were the females… unwilling. And there were no rules against males attempting to arouse the females, so long as he was careful to avoid her claws, and/or the claws of her lover in retaliation.
But regardless, Sophia had become more comfortable with being without a bunch of clothing on, simply because none of the other males were foolish enough to try and cajole her into their embraces. Not only was that an insult to her status as white female, but possibly an immediate death sentence from Luke, who would be within his every right as the alpha male of their generation to rip the throat out of any potential male rival.
And after what had happened to the last young male who had tried to come up against him in regards to Sophia, none of the others were willing to take that chance. Sophia was just glad Luke hadn't killed him, even though she wasn't exactly sure how to feel about being fought over like that.
Weaving in-between the various bonfires, she mostly ignored the various scenes playing out around them. Having already become familiar – if not necessarily comfortable on a moral level – with the antics of her generation. Regardless of whether or not she liked it, she was their top female. One of their unofficial leaders, and as such, they were all hers. Every last one of them was under her protection. Whether they fully understood that themselves or not.
Word had circulated fast what she had been able to do for Skyler, so every time now that the Pack had a young one locked in the agonizing throes of the initial Flip, she was called upon as a last ditch effort.
She wasn't comfortable with them all trying to make her into their guardian angel or what not. In the past four months, she had saved only four out of seven of their kind that she had been called upon to help.
She wasn't God, and that was something she had desperately tried to impress upon everyone else from the beginning. She didn't know why she could save some and not the others, except that it simply wasn't meant to be. She wasn't a cure-all for the problems facing the Pack's youth, and she needed to make sure that they all understood that. Their species was still in serious trouble. All Sophia was capable of doing was slowing down the process by a few saved lives. But she couldn't eliminate it.
All she could do, was the best that she could with an ability that even she didn't understand. But if there was one lesson that had stuck with her from the ordeal with the now extinct – except for one – Hunters, was that she didn't have to understand something to believe in it and call it to the surface.
Those four that she had managed to save from their early graves was proof of how well that theory was working out for her. But that was pretty much the way it always was with her unique abilities. It wasn't really herself that was controlling them. More the other way around.
Tossing her damp hair back from her face again, she secretly reveled in the sensation of the heat radiating out from the numerous flames surrounding her. Warming the liquid still clinging to her skin. Even though it was nearing the end of March, and spring – or what passed for it on the edge of the Cascades – was around the corner, there was still a considerable chill to the air… But Skinwalker tolerance and the numerous bonfires scattered everywhere beat back the chill till the temperature surrounding the area was comparable to early summer. Not that it would particularly matter regardless. She had swum well over a mile in the dead of the winter with no protective clothing, and without developing hypothermia.
Let's hear it for Wolven genetics.
As she cut through one particular section edging closer to the tree line – where for many the real party began – an arm suddenly wrapped securely around her waist and halted her progress sharply. Palm pressing flat against the plane of her abdomen till she was pressed firmly against the hard line of her capturer's body. But it was a body against hers she knew as intimately as her own.
Feeling a smile curve her lips and an instant warmth begin to spread through her veins, she closed her eyes as Luke nuzzled the side of her neck. Teeth gently testing the sensitized skin.
Another hand came up and cupped the other side of her waist. Allowing him to aggressively press his body into hers from behind. Bare skin meeting bare skin with only the minimal scraps of black lace and the slippery moisture from Sophia's dip in the lake separating them. She didn't have to look to know that he was probably completely nude, and judging by the intensely feral and exotic scent that clung to his flesh, she was also pretty sure he had just been in wolf form. That particular scent was only this strong after a shift.
Reacting to his nearness, her hand went around to the side and her nails gently scratched up the length of his outer thigh. Feeling the strong, hard muscles ripple under the surface as she smeared his skin with the beads of water still clinging to her fingers. Small teeth scraping against her bottom lip when she felt the vibrations emitting from his chest as he growled his approval. Arousal pooling deep within her body like a living, breathing flame of desire.
"Why don't we blow this place off, hmm? There's a place I want to show you." The hand on her hip slid up her ribcage. His slightly calloused palm rasping against the surface of her pale skin. He stopped short of one of her breasts. His fingers incredibly warm with promise as they rested there. Making her breath catch, as her eyes noticeably darkened before beginning to spark with a faint golden glow.
His lips swept up to her jaw line, where he carefully nipped at her earlobe. Reminding her that he had just asked for her to leave with him.
The only reason she had agreed to come here tonight was to give them both a legitimate excuse to get out of the house for a while so they could be alone. Since her and Matt's house had been burnt down to the ground, and Matt had assumed leadership of the Pack, they had both been living with Vivian and Luke in the Mansion. To say that tensions had been a little high at first from the awkwardness of it all was an understatement. Matt still honestly wasn't completely comfortable with the idea of his half-human seventeen year old daughter having an unofficial mate… Of course, he was still having a difficult time seeing her as a white female as well.
But because of their situation, Sophia refused to be intimate with Luke while in that house… and to be honest, Skinwalker sense of smell being what it was, the idea of doing just that hadn't been Luke's cup of tea either. So, contrary to the belief of the rest of the Pack, they did indeed have separate rooms in the Mansion. Just as Matt and Vivian did.
Oh, Sophia and Luke both knew that each of their last remaining parents were now mates. They had to be if Vivian was going to continue on as the official alpha bitch or lupa of the Clan. But they refrained from being intimate in the house just as Luke and Sophia did. The idea of the one pair living under the same roof as the other would have made it just a little too weird.
So, Luke and Sophia started figuring out ways around that… which is what had brought them here tonight.
Turning in his arms, she leaned up to press her mouth to his. The tip of her faceted little tongue tracing the seam of his lips teasingly. Believing that two could play at this game.
He reciprocated by running both palms down her hips to her upper thighs. Gathering them up in both hands, and lifting her up a little ways as he slid his knee upwards between them. The contact driving the breath from her body, as the movement forced her to slowly ride up on him.
Sophia pulled her mouth away from his with a gasp. Pressing her palms against his shoulders in a placating gesture. Remembering that they still had a potential audience, and as comfortable as she may have become with the eroticism freely displayed within the Pack, she drew the line at having sex in public.
Which is exactly where this was going to go if they didn't change the scenery fast.
Nodding her consent, Sophia allowed Luke take her by the hand, and lead her into the surrounding forest. Anticipation singing hotly from within her veins.
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