Hi everyone, sorry it took awhile to update this. Some of you may know that I'm also working on a story in the Lord of the Rings section, which I started even before Sophia's Choice. I neglected that one in order to finish Sophia's Choice, so I felt I had to focus on that for awhile. I'm trying to finish it before starting on the sequel to Sophia's Choice so I can be only focused on Wolf Lake. I'm really excited about the sequel and many ideas are coming at me regarding it. Birthrite will be a shorter fiction than Sophia's Choice and the sequel, but I hope your enjoying it all the same.

Let me know. Thanks.

Desperate Measures

Vivian Cates had finally reached home after that Arthur Van Halen incident and was hoping to get some rest when she received a phone call from Tyler Creed about some strange breed of skin walker that he had locked up on his property. Now she found her self back in her black Mercedes-Benz driving to deal with more problems.

When she pulled up to the property she noticed that Sheriff Matt Donner had just arrived as well and was getting out of his truck. He walked up to her car, opening the door for her. "Well, Madam Chairwoman, would you happen to know why Tyler has kidnapped a boy? Unless you came for some other reason," Matt asked.

"A boy? Really Matt, that's not the report I received. Come on, let's take a look," Vivian said as she stepped out of the car and began walking around the side of the house to the garage. Tyler met them by the garage. "Tyler? What's going on here?" Vivian asked.

Tyler looked from one face to the other and said, "I think you should see this for yourself." He led them back to a strong metal cage he had in his garage. One he occasionally used to lock up his wayward wife.

They looked in at Oz, in his werewolf form, still tranquilized on the floor of the cage. Buddy had sat in a chair nearby, dosing him whenever he stirred. Vivian and Matt had never seen a skin walker like this before. He smelt wolven, as they did, but his appearance was different. It was as if he was stuck in a grotesque form of an unfinished transformation.

"Explain what you know so far," Vivian ordered.

"Well he was a somewhat normal looking guy, in an urban kind of way. Came here with an ungulate girlfriend. Said they were on a trip or something, but Buddy and I saw them drive up when Van Halen was getting taken away. We figured they were helpers of his in some way so we found them downtown and took him for questioning. Said he was from someplace called Sunnydale, California and that he had no pack. He was adopted and raised by ungulates. When we stopped by Sherman's to see if he knew anything, creature boy here went native, busted out and almost ate our keeper. Been keeping him down every since. So, boss, what do we do with him?"

Vivian sighed and Matt ran his hand through his hair. She looked over at Matt, "What is it Matt?"

"The girlfriend called me and told me he was taken. I don't know Viv. There is something weird about this whole thing. I wasn't aware that Van Halen had helpers. Maybe this kid was an experiment of his that had gone bad," Matt tried to guess.

Just then Vivian's cell phone rang and she answered it. She listened as Deputy Molly told her about arresting Willow Rosenburg and about the phone call that the girl had made to Sunnydale.

"Alright," Vivian said to Molly, "just keep her there for now. We'll probably pick her up in a while." Vivian hung up the phone and sighed. This evening was going from bad to worse.

Matt, Tyler and Buddy all looked at her in question.

Vivian stated, "It looks like the girlfriend made a phone call to some friends back home telling of this town of "werewolves". She also told her friends that her boyfriend was kidnapped by them. She talked about her fears of the full moon."

"Well I think they both need to disappear if you know what I mean," Tyler said.

Matt gave Tyler a hard look. "No, I won't allow that."

"Matt, we have to protect the pack at all costs, you know that. This is already getting way out of hand," Vivian explained.

"I think we try other options first. If this is a full moon occurrence, then he'll most likely transform back in the morning. I think we should question them and find out more. We should at least find out if there are more of these things and why they are here. I'll go over and fetch the girl. Obviously she knows all about him and maybe she'll be easier to talk to," Matt said.

Vivian thought it over for a minute and then replied, "Alright Matt, but if we can't find another solution before nightfall tomorrow, then…"

"I know Vivian. Thanks for giving it some time. They are just kids you know. About the same age as our own."

"Speaking of which, I've heard some pretty interesting things regarding events tonight involving my son and your daughter," Vivian said pointedly.

"Sophia was out on a date tonight, and it wasn't with your son," Matt answered defensively.

"I know. But he was there nonetheless. I think we need to talk about Sophia. But that can wait until this little crisis is taken care of."

"I can handle my own daughter Vivian," Matt stated.

"Can you?" she asked. Vivian turned and left the garage, while Matt stared at Oz and thought of his daughter. Then he looked up and saw Tyler smirking at him.

It looked as though Tyler was about to make some smart ass remark, but Matt said, "Watch it!" Tyler smiled and shook his head. Then he too left the garage and when into his home.

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Willow sat in the cell, trying to think of what she could say to get Deputy Molly to listen to her. So far, all her attempts to speak with her were met with silence. Then the front door of the police station opened and a tall, dark haired man came in. Molly looked startled at seeing him.

"I thought you weren't due in until morning Kanin," Molly said to him.

"I'm not," he said as he made his way to his desk. "But I'm having a hard time sleeping after what that freak tried to do to me and then I remembered some things I left here. Might as well do something useful if I can't sleep." John Kanin then noticed the red haired girl sitting in the holding cell. "Who's this?"

Before Molly could answer him, Willow jumped to her feet, "Please sir, that officer won't tell me why I'm under arrest! Please help me. I came in here because my boyfriend has been taken, and then she put me in here!"

John turned his face towards Molly. "What's going on Molly?"

"She and her boyfriend were partners with Van Halen," Molly lied. She knew John was very anger with Van Halen for filling him with wolf's blood and that this may lessen his sympathy for the girl.

"We were not! We have nothing to do with him! I swear it. We were on vacation, that's all!" Willow tried to defend herself.

John looked at her in suspicion. He was still very upset about the incident tonight. "Why would you choose Wolf Lake for a vacation?" he asked.

Willow did not know what to say. She did not want to tell him about Oz. They might think she was crazy. On the other hand, they might be werewolves too. She decided to see if she could confirm it or not.

"Well, we came here… for… for… his condition, you know," she opened her eyes wide at the word "condition" to see if it struck a bell with John. John made no reaction and just stared at her.

"No, I don't know. Maybe you should tell me," he said.

Just then Molly walked between John and the cell, giving Willow a warning look before she turned to John. "The boy is apparently suffering from a lung disorder and needed the fresh mountain air to ease his suffering. At least that's what we heard before. But I think it's all a lie," Molly said. Willow opened her eyes wide and made to protest again, but Molly shot her a warning glance, her eyes glowing, before turning back to John.

"Where is he?" asked John.

"Matt is taking care of it," Molly answered. "We have it all under control Kanin. Why don't you try to rest before your next shift?"

John took one more look at Willow, who seemed quiet now in a very frightened way. He shook his head and wondered how many other internet fans of Van Halen's would be finding their way up here. This town could turn into a regular circus! He grabbed his file and walked out the door with a "Night Molly."

When he left, Molly looked over at Willow. "I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you."

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Lucas Cates was pacing back and forth in the yard of the Donner residence. He kept glancing up at Sophia's window. He could sense she was in there and she wasn't yet asleep. He couldn't sleep as well and knew he wouldn't until he had the chance to speak with her. He crawled up the trellis on the side of the house and pulled himself up into the open window of her room, hearing the water running in the shower of her little bathroom.

Sophia was crying in the shower and despising herself for her actions tonight. Scott had looked at her like she was a freak! What was going to happen at school on Monday? Would he tell everyone? "Well, he would be right. I am a freak!" she cried. Then she heard the door to the bathroom open. Her dad normally did not enter her bathroom when she was in the shower. She peeked her head on the side of the curtain and saw Lucas Cates!

Sophia let out a loud scream. "Get out! Get out! I can't believe you would just walk right in here! Get out or my dad will kill you!"

"Sophia I just need to talk to you! I'm sorry!" Lucas said trying to calm her down.

"This is so not right!" yelled Sophia. "Get out now!"

Lucas backed out of the bathroom and went to sit on her bed and wait for her. He heard the water shut off and after a few minutes a very angry Sophia came out in her bathrobe.

"No Lucas, I meant get out of my house! I don't ever want to see you again! I can't believe you interfered in my date like that and hurt Scott!" she yelled.

Lucas stood to full height. He didn't come over to get angry with her, but her tone of voice was setting him off. He walked over to her and pushed her against the wall, pinning her in. "You think you can be with a human? Your not human Sophia, and tonight proves it without a doubt. You think I should have let you mess around with him? And what happens when you're all hot and heavy with the guy and you start to flip? Huh? You think he'll be very understanding about that?"

Sophia shoved him roughly away and he landed back onto her bed. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" she screamed.

He got up again and grabbed her arm, tossing her to the bed. "If you want to have sex so badly, then it's going to be with me." He flung himself on top of her, trying to open her bathrobe with one hand and kiss her neck at the same time.

Sophia was hitting him on his back. "Get off! Stop Lucas!" She dug her nails into his arms and scratched him hard, making him bleed. He pushed his head up a little in anger.

"Go ahead and hurt me Sophia. It will add to the excitement," he told her with a wicked look as he pulled the belt of her robe off and continued his explorations.

Sophia's body gave up struggling and she now wept in sorrow and resignation, looking towards the wall and not responding to him any longer.

This made Lucas stop and he looked at her emotionless face. The tears flowing from her blank eyes made him feel terrible all of a sudden. He sighed and rolled off her, covering his eyes with his hand. He looked over at her and closed her robe back up for her. Next he stood and went towards the window. "I'm sorry," he said as he climbed out.

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Willow was very frightened indeed after witnessing Molly's glowing eyes. She knew she was in danger and had to get out of here somehow. She began thinking of what she could do. She had been practicing witchcraft for about a year now and had managed some success with levitating pencils and small objects. She even levitated a pencil and stuck a vampire with it just before he could sink his teeth into her. She remembered how proud of herself she felt for that.

But pencils would not help her now, she thought. She looked around the station, thinking of what she might do. Molly was at her desk, backed turned. Willow had seen her put the keys to the cell in the drawer of her desk. Maybe, just maybe, thought Willow, if I could only get her out of here for a few minutes.

Willow noticed an open bottle of water on Molly's desk and concentrated hard on tipping it over. She wanted to yelp for joy when the bottle fell, spreading quickly over Molly's papers and off onto her lap. Molly jumped up and said, "Shit!" She shook her papers off and went back towards the break room to find a towel. Willow knew she had to work fast. As soon as Molly had risen and turned to go to the back, Willow started concentrating on the desk drawer. It opened. Then she focused on the ring of keys. This was a little more difficult, as the keys were a bit heavier than pencils, but she managed to float them out of the drawer and bring them towards herself. She reached out and grabbed them just as Molly was returning, dabbing her pants with the towel.

Willow opened her eyes wide when she noticed that the drawer was still open! "Excuse me… can I get some water, please." Willow quickly asked.

Molly looked at her in a disgruntled way, having had enough to do with water tonight. But she turned around and went to the water cooler, filling a Dixie cup for Willow and giving Willow just the extra time she needed to close the drawer.

Willow smiled at Molly as she handed her the cup through the bars. "Thanks!"

Molly gave Willow a strange look. Why was the girl being so cheerful all of the sudden? She wished Matt would get back soon and take her off her hands.

Please review me, thanks!!