"Damn it, Alley-Fang though, Now not only can't I escape but I don't want to escape, Gaia knows what the freak will do to Sarah if I leave without notice. Come on think, what do you usually do when you're in trouble over your neck and can't think of a plan…"

He crumbled in sitting position when he answered his own question: "You rely on your packmates…"

Meanwhile, Cry-the-red-tear attempted to communicate with his packmate via the totem link: "Aaron, can you hear me?"

But due to the interferences, on Alley-Fang's side it sounded like this: "Aaron….hear…."

Luckily, he recognized the voice…

"Cry, am I glad to hear you, I'm trapped in a DNA lab and I really could use you guy's help."

But all the other packmates heard was: "Cry….DNA….use….help…"

The werewolves attempted to communicate further but in vain, neither side could understand the other…

"Well, DNA sounds like our only lead, anyone knows where/what that might be?" Asenka asked.

"I do." answered Sirine "It's a genetic research lab on the outskirt of town. If we leave now, we should be there by the morning."

"Then there is no time to waste, let's go." With that order from their alpha, the pack was on its way.

Back in his cell, Alley-Fang had far less reasons to be optimistic. "Man, even if they do get here, it's very likely they'll get caught or killed… Gotta get my own hide outta here, there's gotta be a way…" Alley-Fang though.

"Trying to contact your little friends are you?" The speaker was once again transmitting this guy's voice.

"No idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me, I just had the pattern spider strengthen the barrier that keeps powers like mindspeak, dreamspeak or annoying totem link to penetrate those walls, I know you just tried to use one."

"Well I got good news for ya, your god damn barrier works, didn't get a damn word what they wanted to tell me…"

"Even if you could have spoken with them, any werewolf attempting to get in or out of this building will be terminated of subdued."

"My friends and I are quite resourceful; you might learn that the hard way…"

"Dream on mongrel; now just remember what I told you about Hapkin…"

The speaker was silent again.

A plan formed in the ragabash's mind, it was bold, it was risky, but in the current situation, he just had to try it.

The morning after (Alley-Fang assumed it was the morning) the speaker went on again, to transmit a much friendlier voice this time: "Hi Aaron, you slept well?" It was Sarah.

"Kind of, could you give me a minute?"

"Euh…yes of course, but what for?"

Alley-Fang focused on the totem link, he tried to see through hispackmate's eyes.

Sarika, all too happy to sense his presence once again after a nigh of walk, allowed him to see through her eyes.

Alley-Fang saw that his pack was near the entrance of a large building with "Development Neogenetic Amalgamated" written over the entrance. He sent three simple words to Sarika before the link was severed once again: "Don't come in".

Sarika knew that, no matter how carefree and irresponsible the ragabash could be, this was the kind of situation in which he knew he had to be serious, so she stopped Cry-the-red-tear and Asenka.

They concealed themselves in the bushes and kept their eyes on the front door, expecting Alley-Fang to come out, or at least to send them a sign of some sort.

Part one of Alley-Fang's plans had worked, well, he hoped.

"Ok, I'm ready for today's interrogation, but can I ask you something first."

"After all you said yesterday it's the least I can grant you."

"Did you know that everything we say through this speaker can be heard by someone else in this building?"

"Well yes, the conversation and camera footage are recorded and can be displayed live on most of my superior's personal terminals. Wait, how do you know that?"

"No time for that" he took the most serious tone he could manage, "can you make sure, and I mean a hundred percent sure that no one but us will hear what I want to tell you?"

"Well, I could pick another channel but they would find it quickly, why…"

"Don't ask, just do it, it's important."

"Done, I picked a random channel, but if someone really wants to find us, it should take hardly two or three minutes…she answered after a few seconds."

"Someone in this building wants you dead because of what I told you, go to the floor level and get out by the front door, there will be three werewolves, Sarika, a tall native American girl, Asenka, a girl with short black hair and Cry-the-red-tear, a wimpy looking native American, ask them to take you to safety."

"But…"

"Quickly, he might already be on to us, if you value your life do as I said…"

"What about you…"

"I can take care of myself, now go!"

The speaker went silent. "May it be Gaia's will that she gets there safely"

Now, about getting him out of here…

The speaker went on again to transmit the mysterious guy: "Wanted to talk to her one on one? What did you tell her, she got out of the transmission room and looks terrified?"

"Let's just say I pulled out a speech worthy of the cruellest black spiral dancer, I did what you asked…"

"Why to her only?"

"I just figured if anyone else heard that, I was gonna be executed as a sick psycho rather terminated as a test subject…"

"I had every channel on record, it should take me about three minutes to find the one you spoke on and if you lied to me, you'll prefer a trip to Malfea to what you're gonna endure here…"

"Hurry Sarah…that's three minutes of his attention he wont focus on you…" alley-Fang though.

Trying to look as calm as possible, Sarah walked up to the elevator. As calm as possible considering every person she encountered was potentially someone who wanted her dead.

She entered the elevator and pressed the floor level button. Why did she believe blindly in what Aaron said? He could very well be lying to him just to get her away. Maybe the werewolves outside were the one who wanted her dead for knowing too much.

No, she couldn't bring herself to believe that. She had never felt so much sincerity in anyone's voice before. Plus, has he not risked his life to save hers? Was he not mauled in a hostile environment surrounded by people who didn't consider him human?

She was probably the only scientist in the facility who was willing to threat him decently, it made no sense to send her away. Unless her life was truly in danger and that he cared.

They had known one another for two days and he cared about her life. Thinking back of the scientist who asked that the interrogation would stop in favour of a battery of inhuman test, she wondered who really deserved the title monsters.

The elevator stopped at the floor level, she rushed for the front door. Once out, she saw no one…

From the bushes however, three werewolves could clearly see her.

"She sure seems lost." Asenka pointed out.

"I sense a weak Wyrm taint on her, Said Cry."

"Wyrm taint… then no one would hold it against us if we rough her up a little." said the alpha.

"What do you have in mind?"

"You create a shroud in a straight line from here to her, and then let me handle the rest."

"Ok, get ready."

The Uktena focused to evoke a cloud of darkness as commended by sarika.

Suddenly, Sarah couldn't see anything, there was darkness all around her, then she felt something huge and powerful heave her off ground and carry her away. She was too surprised to scream.

Went the light came back, she saw that she was being carried in the wood by a huge woman, nearly seven feet tall, with bulging muscles, reddish skin, long braided black hairs, slopped forehead, large teeth and abundant body hair.

She was thrown to the ground and the large woman pointed a spear at her throat. She was joined by a shorter girl with short black hair and a Native American who looked quite tired and sick.

"Now if I were you, I would stay calm and answer our questions…"

"You must be Sarika."

That sentence seemed to hit the woman like a battering ram.

"How do you know my name?"

"Aaron, well, Alley-Fang, told me, he also told me about you, Cry-the-red-tear and you, Asenka."

"You spoke with Aaron?"

"Minutes ago…"

"He's in there?" Her voice seemed to rise at every question.

"Yes."

"Then there's no time to waste, we're going in, you give me any password, key card or important info you got and get out of my sigh."

"Wait Sarika, aren't you being rash…" Said Asenka.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you find it strange, she comes out, seeming completely lost, she knows our names, she knows Aaron's deed name, we were waiting for a sign from him, don't you think he expect us to talk to her?"

"Isn't that what I'm doing?"

"She means without pointing your spear at the poor girl's throat, or using your Glabro form." Cry-the-red-tear said.

Sarika pulled her weapon back and assumed her homid breed form. "Fine, have it your way."

"Excuse our friend's behaviours; loosing a friend has made her tense." Cry-the-red-tear said.

"It's all right."

"Now, you said you spoke to Aaron?"

"Yes, I was the scientist charged with interrogating him, we don't usually talk to werewolves, but I asked for a special favour, he revealed me several things…about the triat, the apocalypse, the umbra and Gaia…"

"That idiot told you all that? What part of "the veil shall not be lifted" does he not understand?" Asenka sounded furious.

"The veil forbids us to let humanity know that werewolf exists, the people in this building had obviously found out this much. Now, what's your name?"

"It's Sarah, Sarah Hapkin."

"Why did Aaron tell you about us?"

"He said someone in the complex wanted me dead because of what he told me, and that I should go to the floor level where I would meet three werewolves, you."

"Why did he send you to us?"

"He said you could take me to safety."

"Get yourself to safety, my packmate's in there!" Sarika said.

"Well, fine, go in there and get yourself riddled with silver bullets for all I care!" Sarah's temper was starting to flare.

"Sarika she's right, we have no idea what to expect in there, we can't run blindly into trouble. Let's take her somewhere safe so she can tell us enough to mount an efficient rescue mission. I mean, Alley-Fang isn't stupid, if he was in direct danger, he would have sent her asking us to go help him, not to take her somewhere safe." Asenka intervened.

"Fine, let's go." Sarika started walking toward the city.

"Heu, we're walking?" Sarah asked.

"What, you expect us to carry you on our back, he said safe, not comfortable."

The four of them left in direction of the city.

Meanwhile, the voice in the speaker had apparently found the right channel.

"Sent her to your packmates for her protection, have you, well you'll have their death on your conscious, I'm sending soldiers to take all four of them down!"

"Send expendable ones; they're up against some real warriors…"

"You garou think yourselves so damn strong, how good it's going to be when I purge this world of your arrogant kind once in for all…"

Alley-Fang wasn't listening to that pointless ranting anymore, he said he would send soldiers against them, which meant Sarah was out and had his three packmates for protection, it was time for phase three…

He focused on the cell door and used open seal. As soon as the lock opened, he focused all his will on activating the one gift that would get him out of this mess…

"You're not taking out the whole race pal, 'cause that would mean taking me down and that ain't happening anytime soon…

On that, Alley-Fang jammed every technology more complicated than a spring-loaded blade in the area.

The camera, the speaker, the guard's guns, the neon lighting, everything went off. Alley-Fang got out of his cell under the cover of his blissful ignorance gift. Anyone not looking for him would not notice him and even if they were looking (and he had the feeling they would) it would be hard.

He ran though the corridors, even without light, his glabro eyes allowed him to navigate effectively, more than the guards that is…

When he came through the part of the building untouched by his techno jamming, he made himself subtler, there was light now and careful observer could see through the blissful ignorance.

Many guard walked right past him as if he wasn't there, in their mind, he wasn't. He came across an elevator and it opened. There was a man in black suit with short white hair.

The man didn't come out of the elevator, he stayed there and kept the door open, and Aaron seized the opportunity to enter the elevator.

Once in, Aaron noticed that no button had been pressed, the elevator had no stated destination, why then wasn't the man coming out? "Unless it was…

He felt a searing pain in his mangled arm and saw the man's hand squeezing it with inhuman strength…

…a trap"

"Don't even think about shifting, that elevator can't take your Crinos weigh; you're going to kill yourself."

He knew that voice; it was that bastard he heard on the speaker, he barely suppressed his rage induced urge to kill him.

"Maybe, but I would take you down with me…"

He turned around to punch the man in the face but the guy caught his fist with his hand.

Now facing his opponent, he realized in horror that the human that was in the elevator when he came in had become a monstrous seven foot tall, six armed, eight eyed humanoid with a hairy exoskeleton, some sort of gross cross between a spider and a human.

"What in Gaia's name are you?"

"I got nothing to do with that bitch mother of yours mongrel!"

He pressed the fifth basement button with one of his arm. Alley-Fang tried to outwrestle him, but he used a second pair of arm to hold him fast.

"What's wrong, surprised? Never, heard of other shape changers before?"

"What, your some sort of were-uglybug?"

The spider-beast punched him in the guts with one of its unused arm.

"I am an ananasi, the werespiders, but you can refer to me as Leicher."

"I'll refer to you as a corpse you psycho!"

Alley-Fang tapped into his inner rage to fuel an instant transformation in crinos, the elevator couldn't indeed support a ton and a half of primal fury and so the cable snapped.

The surprised werespider let go on Alley-Fang and stepped back.

"You fool!"

"I'm pretty confident that I'll survive the fall, what about you?"

He leapt forward to claw his opponent with his good arm, but Leicher jumped to the ceiling, on which he could stick, dodging the blow.

The ananasi punched a hole though the elevator's ceiling, hardly large enough to pass his arm.

"Have a nice ride." he sneered.

Alley-Fang tried to rake trough his much smaller opponent, but the latter literally dissolved in a mass of smaller spiders…

To Alley-Fang's great disbelief, the crawling carpet of vermin went though the hole, leaving him alone in the elevator…

"a crap."

The elevator had started on the first basement and was going down the bottom, to the fifth; impact was going to be brutal.

He tried to claw a bigger opening in the ceiling, but with one arm, it's just not that easy. He still managed an opening big enough for his homid form to squeeze through.

He reverted to his breed form and attempted a one armed trip on the elevator roof, where he intends to shift back to a stronger form to grab a cable of something.

"But he came face to face with his old six armed friend who had apparently been watching his efforts."

"It's small, it's hurt and it wants to live, how cute."

He grabbed Aaron by the collar and jumped off, sticking to a nearby wall with its remaining appendages.

"How nice of you to assume your breed form, this is going to work much better."

Before Alley-Fang could do a thing, the ananasi pulled out a sedative gun and shot him in the neck just has the bone gnawer invoked his resist toxin gift, he felt dizzy but still managed to shift in crinos, more weigh than a single werespider arm could hold, they both fell down.

Alley-Fang span around in the fall slammed the werespider with his elbow, accelerating its fall.

The monster managed to shoot two more sedative dart at Alley-Fang in its fall, they both hit him and the dizziness now hampered its vision.

Still, he buried the claw of his good hand in the wall and putted his hears and nails though torture has the friction between the claws and the wall slowed his fall until he finally stopped, a few meters from the bottom.

"Who's laughing now sucker?"

But he saw a bunch of small spiders form a lone mass just above him, merging into Leicher once again and he still had that gun.

"Me, actually, mongrel…"

The werespider shot the last dart needed to send him in unconsciousness.

When he woke up, he was in his breed form, locked in a small cage hanging above a pit of blades. The cage was forged from one metal he knew only too well.

"Great, I'm trapped again; this is becoming a habit of mine."

((And that was chapter four; once again, at the risk of sounding redundant, I would like to thank Milie AKA FFdemonangel. Thanks also to Guillaume, who takes on the heavy mantle of storyteller every Sunday for us and inspired many of the characters. Gotta thank my latest fan, Manu, who also pushes in my back so that I continue

By the way, I have very little experience with both the ananasi race and free falling elevators, so if anything in this fanfic contradicts the ananasi book or the basic laws of physics (notably gravity), please let me know.

also, sorry about the "" but the for some reason, the dash won't display))