Thanks for the positive reviews. I'm very excited about my ideas for this story, so your encouragement keeps them coming. There was a question about whether Kainin knows about skinwalkers yet, as he was in the station in Chapter One. My thoughts were that out of everyone else in the station, he was the only one who could not hear through the glass window. He could see Matt was deeply upset, and see how everyone around him was affected, and he therefore assumes something happened to Sophia. He doesn't know what it is, but feels reluctant to disturb Matt in obvious grief. The others certainly don't tell him anything. Hope that answers it.

Enjoy Chapter Two!

Chapter 2: Emptiness

Coach Avery was a very happy guy. This was his third year at Wolf Lake High and he felt as though he'd never want to leave. Looking at his varsity baseball team practice for the spring season, he knew that they would win yet another trophy. This group of young athletes was unbeatable at whatever they did. The trophies were piling up in the coaches' office: football, basketball, and baseball. These kids were a wonder. His first year here, he questioned what their secret could be. Was it in the water? Or perhaps the fresh air? He even thought perhaps it was steroids. But there was no evidence for that. These kids were very strong and tireless. They were lithe and very quick. Sometimes a little too aggressive, but the coach always relied on Lucas Cates to set them back in place. Cates seemed such a natural born leader and the others always listened to him. The coach was always careful to be diplomatic with Lucas in letting him know his expectations for the team. So far, it worked very well. Scouts came from many different universities and many of these kids were offered full sports scholarships. But that was something the coach couldn't understand about these kids. None of them accepted the scholarships, and their parents would turn the scouts down and simply say that their sons needed to stay and run the family businesses.

The coach noticed that another thing they all had in common was that they attended the same church. He wondered if perhaps the churched preached some doctrine of being perfect at what you do. He decided one Sunday, a few years back, to attend a service and check it out but he was stopped at the door and told that they were accepting no new members. So he concluded in the back of his mind that they must have some sort of cult thing going on. After all, the families that attended there were the ones in charge of this town. Yet the coach decided he didn't want to dig too deep. He liked the way things were. He was very proud of the boys and loved the trophies and titles they earned. He could see the envy on the faces of opposing teams and their coaches. He loved it.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon, time to call it a day. The coach blew his whistle and waved them in. The boys grabbed their gear and headed for the locker room, the coach fell in place behind them. Suddenly, the boys stopped and stood extremely still and gazed toward the northeast. The coach almost bumped into one of them. He looked around to see what they were staring at and could see nothing out of the ordinary. "What's up boys?" No one answered. No one moved a muscle. It was as if they were frozen in place. "Boys?" "Cates, what's going on?" "What do you see out there?"

No one spoke. All were listening to the distress signal only their kind could here. Something bad was happening to one of the pack. They listened carefully trying to discern who it was and what the problem could be. The coaches' questions were irritating them. Lucas replied, without moving, "Don't worry about it coach. Go home." The coach stood a few more seconds', and then walked away. These kids were strange, he thought.

Sean and Randy stepped up next to Lucas. Sean was the first to speak, "Is that Donner?" "Yeah. Shhh..." Lucas needed to hear what was going on. He felt a growing fear. God! Donner was crying! This had to be bad. He knew there was only one person the sheriff cared that much about. Sophia! Luke found his hand reach up to steady himself on Randy's shoulder. He felt as if the wind was knocked out of him and his feet would no longer support him. Randy staggered at the impact and he turned to look at Lucas, confused. "She's dead, isn't she? Sophia's dead!" Lucas found himself saying. Another boy, Adam stepped up next to Randy. "No, I don't think so. That's not what I heard. I heard him say her name as if he were speaking to her." Lucas glared at Adam, wondering why Adam could hear so well. "What else did you hear?" ordered Lucas. Adam looked at the alpha's son and knew he had better be right. But Adam knew what he heard, he was sure of it. "He was giving her advice, about ... flipping."

Lucas' head snapped back towards the northeast. He had no idea how to feel. Sophia was flipping! Yes!!! Isn't this what he always hoped for? But why did a big knot of fear fill his belly at the same time as excitement flood his heart? He knew why. She was a half-breed skinwalker. Her chances of successfully flipping were not good. He sensed his mother was near Donner. He used his familiar mental pathway to communicate with his mother. Mom? Is it true? Sophia is flipping? In Italy?

Yes, it seems so. This is bad. This is why none of us should leave Wolf Lake, came the reply. Lucas, I'm going to stay with Matt for awhile. He's very upset. Can you get dinner yourself tonight?

Lucas was shocked that his mother could think of such trivial things at a time like this. Yeah. Don't worry about me.

Lucas glanced at the others and they all seemed to be waiting for some kind of direction from him. "Hit the showers," was all he could tell them. He didn't want anyone around him. He didn't want to speak to anyone. He needed to think. He needed to feel.

The others walked off towards the locker room leaving him alone with his thoughts. He heard a snap and looked down at the bat he had been holding. It snapped like a twig under his worried grip.

Sherman stepped into Matt's office, looking very sympathetic. He sat himself in a chair across from his old friend and folding his hands in his lap. "Many are gathering at the church tonight Matt. They'll be sending their prayers to help Sophia."

Matt sat slumped in his chair. His red rimmed eyes staring at the phone, waiting for some word. He glanced up at Sherman, barely registering what he said. Then he nodded an acknowledgment. Vivian came in with a cup of coffee in which she placed in front of Matt. Then she came around behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Matt's hand instantly went up to grasp hers. He needed the comfort of touch. He needed to feel connected to someone. Vivian felt a jolt at his need and yet it pleased her as well. She too, had been bereft of touch since Willard died seven months ago. To be able to have this connection with Matt, even under these circumstances, felt very good. Matt had been her first love many years ago and she had been thinking about him more and more of late. But she knew Matt would never cross that line with her. She was the alpha now. Any male that became her mate would also have to proclaim himself alpha. She knew Matt did not want that job. He rejected that position long ago. So Vivian decided to be content with whatever friendship they could have, although her dreams desired otherwise.

Lucas stood under the stream of the shower, his hands and forehead resting against the cold wall tiles. The water flowed over his well muscled, lean body as he closed his eyes and thought how important this night is to him. The others had quickly retreated from the shower room, sensing their leaders' need to be alone. She had to be all right. She just had to, he agonized. She was his friend. The only girl he knew that he could talk to about anything. The only one who did not expect things from him. She was a source of comfort when the pressure of being the future alpha got too much. But he felt so guilty about that night. He felt it was his fault that she left so quickly. He didn't even have the chance to apologize. Not that he wouldn't do it again. He knew he would protect her from anyone trying to force himself on her. That's how he perceived the situation. With his wolven senses, he could see Scot's lust and knew he wanted more than a kiss. What set him off was the lack of lust on Sofia's part. He could tell that Sofia did not desire more and she was too nice to tell Scott. He had to do something. It was against all that had been taught to him. Males of his species never, and I mean never, are allowed to force themselves on an unwilling female. If a female did not give off a sexual musk around you, then you did not have permission to proceed further. But human boys had no such senses. And human boys had no honor. He heard of how they get girls pregnant and then deny it is theirs. He heard of how they pledge a vow of marriage and then run off and cheat on their wives. No one would treat Sophia like that. No one!

Lucas knew Sophia had a hard time understanding skinwalker morals as well. They were very sexual beings, highly erotic. It was their nature. But once they found their mates, and completed the mating ritual, they would be loyal to each other for life. It was an unbreakable bond. If, by chance, a pregnancy should occur before being mated, then the couple would immediately be mated in a special ceremony. A male never denied his pups, nor did he want to. In fact, it was an occasion that made him extremely proud. Nevertheless, the teens of the species, who did not feel ready to be mated yet, freely engaged in sexual sport. It was healthy and expected. As long as they mated in human form, they would not conceive.

Lucas thought of how his lifestyle made Sophia blush. Her father had sheltered her so much. He made her believe she was human like her mother, that she should adopt the human "morals". But he did not believe the human way was right at all. He had heard human boys bragging to each other about their conquests. They categorize girls as "good girls" and "bad girls". Skinwalker females had no such labels. They were free to experience all they wanted before they were mated. How else could they make a wise choice of mate? Wouldn't you want to know if your mate could satisfy you before you committed? And the males certainly enjoyed proving they were the best in that arena!

"Damn it! Why the hell does she have to be in Italy!" Lucas pounded the tile wall in front of him in anger. Two tiles fell off and cracked onto the floor. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and help her through it. He needed her to make it. He needed to be with her now. Suddenly he remembered what he could do and need for it drove him straight outside into the yard in the growing dusk. He was still nude, but that is how he wanted it to be. It was what he needed to be as he shifted effortlessly into a beautiful dark gray wolf. Off into the tree line he raced, off to the one place he knew he could find the comfort he so desperately needed.

The skinwalker teens gathered outside the church where their parents had mentally told them to meet. Inside, the adults were chanting prayers for Sophia. "Where's Lucas?" Presley whined when Sean and Randy walked up to the group. "What do you think we are? His keeper?" snapped Randy. He did not like how clingy Presley was around Lucas. He knew Lucas did not want to be mated with anyone in particular yet and he was tired of Presley's ceaseless possessiveness. "You're such an ass Randy. What are we doing here anyway? Who cares about that worthless half-breed?" Presley complained. Her friends Krissy and Dawn flanked her on each side and put on expressions of agreement. They always agreed with Presley, which is why Presley probably wanted them around. She was queen of her own little world.

Sean shot her a look of disgust. "Why don't you just shut your rabid mouth Presley? Sheriff Donner is still a very powerful and respected male and ... Sophia has lots of friends."

Presley knew he was referring to the friendship between Lucas and Sophia and it irked her to no end. Why would are next Alpha take such an interest in that mousy little geek? We use to have so much fun ragging on that twit, she thought. Sean could read Presley's disgruntled thoughts. She was right. They did poke fun at Sophia when they were younger and easily led by Presley's vicious nature. But Presley's grudge against Sophia was getting tiresome and, in reality, Sean thought Sophia smart and sweet. He felt himself really caring about what happens to her. "C'mon, we should go inside." Sean said as he made his way up the church stairs. In the absence of Lucas, Sean was next in command. He was a destined Beta. They all turned to follow him. Presley was the last to enter, stopping just outside to scan for Lucas. She couldn't sense him near. "Lucas Cates, where are you?" Then she took some measure of comfort. Perhaps he didn't really care that much for Sophia if he wasn't here.

Lucas opened the bedroom window and stepped inside. It was unlocked. He knew it would be because he had been here before, many times. It was her bedroom. Sophia's. It was his sanctuary these last six months. This is where he came to sort things out. This is where he came to make himself feel better when he was down. This is where comfort was. This is where her scent was. Sophia's special scent. It always calmed him, soothed his hurts, and gave him strength. He had come here three days after she had left for Italy, just to peek into the glass and see for himself that she was really gone, when he noticed it was unlocked. Since then he had come here often, when the Sheriff was at work, for various reasons. But mostly he just needed her scent. He would close his eyes and inhale the essence of Sophia, feeling like she was near. He would laugh when he pictured her face in his mind and how shocked she would be to find him here naked. It always made him feel better.

Today he crawled straight onto her bed and grabbed onto her pillow, inhaling deeply. Her scent was slowly fading away after six months, and with his presence here so many times before, it was becoming mingled with his. The mingling of their two scents was beginning to give him other thoughts, other urges. Hope flared inside his chest as he thought of Sophia becoming skinwalker. Would she adapt to their lifestyle? His body became hard at the thought. He let out a short laugh at the imagined look on her face. He loved shocking her. She looked so cute like that. But then the smile faded as the seriousness of the situation hit him. She may die. She may never come home. He grabbed on tighter to the pillow and prayed.

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