Thanks to everyone who is reading and enjoying this version of Wolf Lake. I welcome and enjoy your comments! Keep them up!

Chapter 12: Plotting

The next morning was Saturday and the day promised to be sunny and warm. Sean and Randy were in a good mood as they pulled up in front of the Cates house, looking for Lucas. Vivian opened the door and told them that Lucas was in his room getting ready.

They expected to find him dressed more casually for the lakeside barbeque and instead found him dressed as if going to church. Sean looked him over as they came into the room and said, "Aren't you planning to swim?"

Lucas was fastening his shirt and replied, "I have to go to that meeting with my mom. They want to talk about what happened with the Silver Lake wolves."

Sean and Randy looked disappointed. "That sucks," grumped Randy.

"Yeah, well, that's life. I'll come by later, when this thing is done," Lucas grumped back.

"Yeah, all right, but this might be empty by then." Randy pulled out a bottle of rum he planned to sneak in.

Lucas turned to Randy. "Have you asked anyone to the prom yet?"

Randy gave Lucas a funny expression. "You know I don't care to socialize with a lot of humans. Why do you ask?"

"I need to ask you for a favor," Lucas continued. He had been planning this all morning. "I need you to ask Sophia to the prom."

"That's more like a favor for me," grinned Randy. "I thought you didn't want to share her."

"You know I'm already going with Presley. Besides, she thinks she's going with a human and I want her to feel like she has another option."

"She can't go with a human!" Sean stated. "Did you tell her that?"

"Yeah, I did. But she's mad at me right now, I don't even know why, so she's not listening. I need you two to help me with this."

"Tell us what to do," said Sean.

"I need you to make that human, Scott, see that she's off limits."

Randy smiled wide. "I'd love to kick his weak little ass! How dare he think he could have one of our females!"

"No that's not what I want," Lucas said, and Randy's face fell. "I just want you to be all over her today whenever that little punk is looking. I want him to be the one to break it off with her. If we attack him or force her to break it off, then she'll just be more pissed at me. Think you can handle it?" Lucas smiled a knowing smile at Randy.

"It's a tough job, but someone has to do it," Randy grinned back.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sophia and Sarah sat with their legs dangling off the pier, watching the activity on the shore. The barbeque pits were all lit and the teachers and volunteer parents were getting ready to start cooking. The skinwalker teens naturally gravitated to each other and took over the occupation of the pier. They did this every year at this same event. The human teens avoided the pier, as they always felt unwelcome there. So the human teens stayed to the shore, playing volleyball and talking amongst themselves. There was also a large anchored raft that floated offshore about forty feet away, that both skinwalkers and humans enjoyed swimming out to.

The weather was promising to be warm and all were decked out in shorts and swimsuits. Some students were in charge of music and set up a stereo and speaker system to play throughout the area. The skinwalker teens were happy to see that some of the cooks would be skinwalker teachers this year as last year the humans overcooked the meat.

Sophia dreaded seeing Lucas today but so far he had not shown up. Presley had just arrived and took a place on the pier with her friends, not too far from Sarah and Sophia. Sophia wondered if Lucas went straight to Presley last night after their talk. The thought was depressing.

"Look, here come Sean and Randy," Sarah pointed. Sophia looked around and noticed that Lucas had not come with them. They were carrying many cans of cola in their arms and sat behind Sarah and Sophia. Randy then spread his own towel next to Sophia's and Sean spread his next to Sarah's. "Hey Sarah," Sean said as he put his arm around her and kissed her shoulder. Sarah smiled at him and said, "Hey." Something definitely happened between those two, thought Sophia.

Randy was busy dumping half the soda out of every can they brought and replacing it with rum. Sean sat at an angle, blocking the view of the adults who might notice. "Anyone thirsty?" Randy asked. "How about you, Sophia?"

"Yeah, sure," she said. She felt that she needed to relax before Lucas showed up. She took a sip of Randy's concoction and made a face. "That is strong!"

Randy let out a laugh. "You'll get use to it." Randy scanned around for the human boy, Scott. He found him by the volleyball area, talking to other humans. He looked at Sean and Sean glanced back at him, nodding slightly. They had discussed what they would do on the drive here. First they needed to get Sophia good and relaxed. "Drink up beautiful. There's plenty more."

Other people nearby reached for the drinks as well. The heat of the sun felt wonderful on their skin and the teens stretched out on their towels. They did not have to worry about sunburn because skinwalker skin was not sensitive to the sun. Still, they loved to rub fragrant sun oil on their bodies as it seemed to intensify the heat of the sun and it made them feel decadent.

So they laid there in the sun, listening to music and the sounds of the crowd, lifting their heads to sip their drinks once in awhile. Sophia then sat up to stretch and she felt a dizziness shoot straight to her brain. "Whoa..." she swayed.

"You all right?" Sarah said as she sat up too. Sarah was feeling tipsy as well. They both looked at each other and grinned. "Guess we had too much," they giggled.

The eyes of Randy and Sean opened at the same time and they looked across at each other behind the girls' backs. "Do you want me to do your back for you Sarah?" Sean asked.

"Um... that would be great," she swayed toward him.

Sophia then felt Randy's face right next to hers, his cheek brushing hers lightly. "How about you?" he whispered.

"How about me what?" she giggled.

"Do you want me to put some oil on you?" he said placing a light kiss on her cheek. Sophia swayed away from him and looked at him the best she could.

"Watch it... mister!" she laughed.

Her eyes caught Presley watching them. Presley rolled her eyes and turned her head the other way shifting her position on her towel away from them.

"Lay down girls and let the master masseurs get to work," Sean stated as he made of show of cracking his fingers. Sarah and Sophia laughed and turned over on their tummies. He uncapped a bottle of coconut sun oil that had been warming in the sun and poured some over Sarah's back. She squealed in delight and then let a sigh of pleasure out when his strong hands started gliding over her back.

Randy took the oil and said, "Your turn sexy." Sophia felt the oil and then his hands on her back. At first she was tense, as she wasn't sure if he would try to cop a feel. But he stayed on her back only and she began to relax under the wonderful sensation.

"I love this bikini, Sophia."

"Thanks," she said, her voice was muffled because her face was cradled in her arms.

Sean and Randy then looked at each other as they worked on the girl's backs. They noticed that Scott was now engaged in a volleyball game. It was time to put their plan in action. Their eyes turned slightly amber as they prepared to combine energies.

Scott was enjoying the day. He had wished that he could spend more time with Sophia, like he did at last year's barbeque, but she was staying on the pier with the teens he disliked the most. Maybe when she came to each lunch, he could talk to her, he planned in his head. The volleyball game he was engaged in was a bit slow and he felt a little frustrated that he couldn't get a good game in with better players.

About midway through the game, Scott began to feel a weird sensation in his head. It felt electrical, like a current. He tried to shake his head to get rid of this strange feeling. When that didn't work, he shut his eyes for a few moments. It was then, with closed eyes, that images began popping into his mind. Images of Sophia... naked! Not only naked, but with Randy touching her most private place. His eyes opened quickly and his head whipped around towards the pier where he knew she was.

He couldn't believe his eyes! There was Randy, rubbing oil onto Sophia and he had the string of her bikini top in his mouth, pulling it loose. Randy's eyes connected with Scott's as he did this, grinning a wicked grin.

Scott backed away out of the game and started walking off. He did not want to be here anymore. One of the players in the game yelled, "Hey Scott, where are you going? Aren't you playing?" But there was no answer.

Sophia felt the string on her bikini being pulled and she turned her head sideways to glare at Randy. "What are you doing? Please tie that back up for me."

"You don't want to get tan lines babe. And it's easier for me to massage you this way," Randy simply said. He looked over at Sean and projected on a private pathway.

That was too easy. Did you see the little fucker run?

Sean just smiled in return.

I was hoping to give him more to see.

Then Randy remembered the other thing Lucas had asked him to do. He laid his body on his towel next to Sophia and propped his head up sideways to look at her. Sophia felt his gaze and turned her head towards his.

"What?" she asked.

"I wanted to ask you something Sophia," he grinned. She waited for him to speak more. "I'd really like to take you to the prom; will you go with me?"

Krissy, lying next to Presley, lifted her head up and looked at them in shock. She had heard everything. She was sure that Randy was going to ask her for the last month. She nudged Presley and angrily pointed at Sophia and Randy. Presley just said, "Drop it!" She did not want to deal with Sophia today. She ignored her friend's indignation and closed her eyes to soak in some more sun.

Sophia looked at Randy and said in a sleepy voice, "Can't. Already got a date."

Randy pretended disappointment. "Well, if that doesn't work out, give me a call." She gave him a funny look. Something didn't seem right to her. She sighed as she grabbed on to the front of her bikini top to prevent Randy from getting a peek. She sat up and ran a hand through her long hair, feeling very tired with the effects of the drink, the sun, and the massage.

"Could you tie my top back on please? I think everyone is lining up for lunch now," she pointed out. She looked around at Sarah and noticed Sean was now lying next to her and they were kissing deeply. Sophia cleared her throat loudly and they broke the kiss.

"Are you coming?" she said to Sarah. Sarah looked at her confused. "The food is ready," Sophia reminded.

"Oh,... yeah," Sarah smiled. Everyone got up and made their way over to the picnic tables.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The meeting had finally ended and Lucas was on his way to the picnic, his towel and swimsuit on the backseat, waiting to be put on when he arrived. He had hoped there would still be food left when he got there. Sherman Blackstone was sitting in the seat next to him, getting a ride to the same event.

"Do you really think they'll return?" Lucas inquired. His mother had expressed her fears that this may be the beginning of a war.

Sherman shrugged, "Who can tell? But if they are short of females, as they say, then they will continue to have a lot of unsatisfied males. I can understand how they may be driven to extremes. In any case, I think your mother's idea about keeping our females safer, is a good one."

"They will not be happy about it," Lucas sighed.

"No, they will not," Sherman agreed. He looked over at Lucas and noticed that the young Alpha seemed distracted with other matters.

"Speaking of females, I've noticed you've been hanging around a lot with our newest member," he stated. He did not want to seem like a busy body, but as Willard's friend, he had promised to be there for Lucas when he needed help of any kind. Willard had made him promise to look out for Lucas as much as possible without being too obvious.

Lucas grimaced and stared straight ahead. "Well, not any more, it seems."

"Something happen?" Sherman asked.

"You're a nosey old man Blackstone," Lucas glanced over at him. Sherman just shrugged.

Truth was, Lucas did feel like talking about it. He would have spoken to his father about this if he was still alive. He was having a hard time understanding females lately and he wanted the advice of someone who may know something about them. He wasn't sure Sherman was the right guy to talk to, being alone as he was, but Lucas knew he could trust him. He also use to be a close friend to Willard, Lucas remembered.

"I don't really understand what happened," Lucas began. "Everything was going great between us and then last night she's all mad and everything. She says she wants time apart."

Blackstone listened, considering the situation. "Did you ask her what's wrong?"

"Of course!" Lucas looked at Sherman as if he were stupid. "She won't say. I think it's that human, Scott, who's been moving in on her behind my back. She's agreed to go to the prom with him."

"Well, she is a Donner. Donners tend to have a thing for humans," Sherman blithely replied.

"It's not going to happen! You know it's a bad idea. Anyways, I really want to know why she turned so cold all of a sudden. It was like I did something to piss her off, but for the life of me I can't think what that could be," Lucas worried.

Sherman looked at Lucas carefully. He finally said, "She's really gotten to you, hasn't she?"

The car pulled into the parking lot at the recreation area. Lucas turned off the engine and sat back in his seat, shutting his eyes. Sherman sat staring at him, waiting for an answer.

"I can't think about anyone else," he admitted.

Sherman sighed and looked out the window, an idea coming into his mind. He never would have considered what he was thinking if Willard was still alive. After all, it was Willard who had forbidden it. "She may be your true mate," he said softly.

Lucas looked over at Sherman, a surprised look dawning on his face. "What are you saying? How can you know this?"

"I don't know it. But there is a way to find out."

Lucas looked away. Could this be possible? "How?"

I might as well tell him, Sherman thought. Now that Willard's gone, Lucas should have the choice. "There is an old relic, a disk that has been in our pack's possession for longer than anyone can remember. In the center of this disk is a green jewel of great power. It is said that when true mates both lay a hand on it, the green jewel will glow."

"Why haven't I heard of this before?" Lucas wondered. Was the old man making this up?

"Your father had me hide it long ago. He said to tell anyone who asked that it was lost," Sherman admitted. He looked at Lucas carefully. He did not want to tell Lucas why, but he knew that Lucas would want to know that next. He supposed he could tell him part of the truth.

"Why?" came the inevitable question.

"He was afraid that couples would split apart if they found out that they were not true mates. He felt that some people, who's true mates could have died as teens, would have been doomed to a life of loneliness."

Lucas sat mulling these words over. Was it possible that Sophia was his true mate? It would certainly explain how obsessed he was with her. No other female had ever taken over his sensibilities before. Finally he decided.

"I want to know."

"You think she'll be agreeable to this, given what you said about her being upset with you?" Sherman questioned.

Lucas let out a sharp laugh. "Not likely!" He started to think about how he could get her to touch the disk but he did not think she would be agreeable to doing it consciously. Maybe he should wait until she wasn't so upset with him. That idea left as quickly as it came. He wanted to know now! "I'm coming over your place to get that disk tonight. I'll figure out a way to make her touch it." There was no way he was going to rest until he knew for sure.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please review, review, review. Thanks! (wagging my wolfie tail)