Because I haven't updated for long time, I've written a re-cap about the whole story. I hope I've kept everything in mind, but if you still got some questions don't hesitate to pm me.
The story so far
A small child runs away from an orphanage after she kills its abusive owner in self defense. She finds herself in Four Corners with a wolf at her side, a companion and protector. Chris takes her in and she becomes friends with Rose, Vin's ward who can read auras and has a supernatural connection with nature. The girls get themselves in a little strife when wandering into the woods. However the wolf had been watching them and fights with a Wendigo that has been hunting the girls.
Meanwhile, the Winchesters arrive at the town where Amalia had escaped. John wishes to catch up with an old friend, Grace, who had had his child. Before he can discern the whereabouts of either, the Winchesters are pulled into a ghost fight at the very same orphanage. John finds out that Grace is dead and Amalia gone for fear of the law over the murder of Kendall. They now set out to Four Corners because they heard rumors about a strange creature in the forests.
Meanwhile back in Four Corners Gabriel, aka the wolf has made it back to town to keep the child safe from further predators.
Later that day Vin took the girls out fishing, but Gabriel (Wolf) stayed behind, because he was still exhausted from the fight with the Wendigo.
Once the Winchesters arrived in Four Corners they met Vin and Gabriel (Wolf). As it seems Gabriel's parents had an encounter with John Winchester and both of them were killed. John set Gabriel into an orphanage, as he didn't know that the infant was a mixture of Werewolf and Skinwalker.
Chapter 9 : Puzzles and Warnings.
"Mrs. Patterson? Mrs. PATTERSON!" Amalia called as she went into the boardinghouse. The woman came out of the kitchen.
"I'm right here, no need for yelling child." She scolded the girl gently, as she wiped her hands on her apron.
Amalia blushed then stuttered, "I-I-I-I jist wanted to ask if ya could cook the trout Rose and I caught for dinner. I caught four and Rose done caught six." She added with a proud smile on her face.
"You're lucky, I just started preparing supper; bring them in."
Rose followed Amalia into the kitchen. Amalia's aura had changed remarkably in the last few days, from being constantly afraid and sad to a content and happy girl. She seemed to feel better with each day she was in town under the seven peacekeepers protection.
Rose handed the fish to Mrs. Patterson, then both girls ran out of the building, giggling together.. They immediately headed over to the jailhouse where Wolf was lying.
Amalia lay down in the dust on her stomach next to Wolf and snuggled close to her friend, wrapping her arms around his neck, just as Chris came out of the jail. Seeing Amalia lying on the ground cuddling with her Wolf he headed back into the building and emerged a few seconds later again with two blankets in his hands.
Rose grinned, she knew what was coming. Chris carefully spread one out on the ground, bent down and picked the child up. Not listening to her indignant protests he dropped her on the blanket and chased wolf over to her. Then he spread the second blanket over them.
"Jist so you don't get filthy." He declared grinning.
Rose giggled and ran over to them again, concentrating on their auras. Wolf's was as bright as ever. It still befuddled her that an animal could have such a bright aura. It was just as bright as a human aura. She shook her head; that would just be silly. She had to be mistaken. Wolf probably had such a bright aura, because he was close to his mistress. Fury came around the corner of the jailhouse and Rose quickly scooped the cat up in her arms. It purred loudly and stroked his head against her chin. The girl giggled then joined her two new friends on the blanket.
Meanwhile at the Boardinghouse
"So what have you been thinking about dad?" Dean asked, flopping down on a chair and then propping his feet up on a bed.
John pushed them down again and sat down on the bed. "You know when you were younger I was often gone for several days…" He started, but stopped again. This was going to be difficult. He had no idea how they would react.
"Spit it out dad." Sam said checking his arm in the same time.
"Alright. You remember the town Rockridge?"
"Yeah, you got pretty badly beaten that time. I remember how a woman came to Bobby and asked him for help. She was quite pretty." Dean grinned, then as quick as the grin had come to his face it vanished again. "You…"
"Yes, I stayed with her for a while and visited her regularly in the following years." John interrupted him. Now that they had found out it was better to get over with it. "After my fourth visit I found out that she had gotten pregnant and I married her. I wanted to keep her safe from the yellow-eyed demon and especially our little daughter, Amalia. So I didn't tell anyone about her. But she died of the smallpox and Amalia was sent to the orphanage. I went to find her, however she didn't stay there; what happened is unclear. All I know she killed the owner and ran off, stealing his entire money and now I have no idea where she is. As soon as this job is done I'll need to go and look after her. You two can go and stay with Bobby." He stated.
Sam was just staring at him unable to speak, but finally he found his voice again. "So you mean… you betrayed mom? You betrayed her with another woman?"
"Mary was dead Sam and nothing can bring her back." He muttered tiredly.
"I knew that you slept with other women dad, but I didn't think that ya would marry again." Dean said clasping his hands tightly together as if he was afraid of losing his temper.
"And what's this thing about our sister? How do you know if she's even yours? You said yourself….."
"DON'T YOU DARE… EVEN THINK OF ACCUSING GRACE OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT, SAMUEL !" John bellowed as he got to his feet.
"WHY? YOU SAID YOURSELF THAT YOU DIDN'T VISIT HER OFTEN! HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT SHE DIDN'T SLEEP WITH ANOTHER MAN!" Sam yelled.
John raised his hand and slapped his son hard across the face. "You have no right to talk of her like this." He growled voice shaking with anger. Sam looked as if he was tempted to lunge at his father.
Dean quickly got to his feet and deposited himself between Sam and his father.
"Alright, we should try to calm down; we got a job to do." He soothed and put a hand on their shoulders. "And besides there's nothing we can do now. We don't know where Amelie…"
"Amalia, her name is Amalia." John muttered.
"Alright Amalia. I think we should first concentrate on the here and now and then we can think of a way how to find the little fledgling. Maybe she was possessed by demons when she killed that man; a little kid like that killing a grown man. How old would she be now?" He asked trying to distract Sam and John from their earlier fight.
"Rising eight. I saw her the last time six years ago. She was jist a little thing. I could still hold her with one arm then." He sighed at the memory.
"Okay, I don't think an eight year old could get very far. At least not further than to this town. I mean everyone would recognize such a small child. If she doesn't have some kind of protector she won't get far." Dean continued. He was feeling the tension in the room growing thinner and thinner with each second passing, now that Sam and his father had something else to concentrate on. Sometimes they were like two dogs. Always fighting and bickering. He thought with a grin.
"This man, Vin, with the wolf, he mentioned it belonged to a certain Amalia." John said.
"Hold on a second dad? Do ya think it's your daughter?" Sam asked a doubtful expression on his face. "That's too much of a coincidence."
"Not really, like Dean said a little girl could not have gotten far. She would need protection, plus the name is unusual." John stated.
"Just the same I think we should really check it all out," adamantly suggested Sam.
John gave Sam a warning glare, not pleased with the attitude that the boy was exuding. "I'll excuse the attitude son, only because if these children aren't one and the same, I won't be disrupting her life."
"Not like ours you mean!" snapped Sam.
"Hey kid, you forget, I didn't have a choice. They killed your mother and know who you are. Fortunately for Grace she didn't have that burden."
"Oh so we are burdens!"
"Boy I'm coming close to taking off my belt. Yes a burden: a worry, constantly that I can't keep you boys safe."
"You two are bickering like an old couple." Dean sighed.
Both Sam and John turned towards him and snarled, "Shut up, Dean!"
"Alright I know when I'm not welcomed." Holding up his hand in defeat Dean stalked out of the room.
"At least you're together on something." He muttered and slammed the door behind him. Deciding a trip to the saloon would be a good start and maybe a source for information about the creature he headed down the stairs and out of the boarding house.
Later that evening
The peacekeepers and their two young charges were sitting around the dinner table in the boardinghouse. Amalia had made herself comfortable in Buck's lap and watched the men while they were playing a game of poker. Yawning she shifted her position and lay her head down on the peacekeeper's shoulder.
"Why don't ya get into bed if you're that tired?" He rubbed her back. Her only response was to start snoozing softly.
"I'll take that as a compliment." He murmured. "Alright I'll put the critter into bed." He stood up and headed up the stairs.
Carefully he laid Amalia down in her bed and tucked her in. She curled up to a ball and hugged her pillow tightly with both arms. When he opened the door, Wolf pushed past him and lay down beside the bed.
"You would never let her out of yer eyes wouldn't ya?" Buck murmured absentmindedly, and then closed the door behind him.
Gabriel sat back up on his haunches and looked over at the small girl. He felt the urge to change back into his human form. Some fleas had taken up residence on his back and he wasn't able to scratch himself back there. However, it was too risky to change in the town, so he had to wait. All of sudden a small shadow jumped through the window into the room. It was Fury, Rose's cat.
It came over to him and stroked his itself against his legs. He looked down at it, hesitated for a second and gave it a quick flick with his tongue. Fury purred and decided to take up residence beneath his belly. With a very unwolf-like sigh, Wolf rolled his eyes and lay down on his side. The cat snuggled close to him and was soon fast asleep. A few minutes later a very drowsy Rose was carried into the room by Vin who lay her down in the bed next to the other girl. He brushed a kiss to her forehead, and then tucked her in.
"Sleep tight, both of you." He whispered, headed out and closed the door behind him.
In the saloon
John slumped down in the chair next to Dean and scrubbed both hands across his face.
"Your brother's a brat." He grumbled. Dean remained silent and waited for his father to continue.
"I'll ask the people here in town about the girl and you and Sam will try to find out some more about this creature." He continued.
"Okay…. so what do you think it could be?"
"Don't now could be anything. A Crocotta, an Arachne, Ghoul, Werwolf, Wendigo or something else. I don't know. Maybe it's just a fantasy born out of the dreams of a drunkard." He added.
Dean shrugged. "At least we've got something to do. You and Sam reached an agreement, signed a temporary truce?"
John threw him an angry glare, but Dean simply smirked and continued, "Tomorrow Sam and I will go out on a ride and look around. An old guy gave me a pretty good description of the place where he had seen the "monsters" fighting. One was small and hairy and the other was tall and fast."
"Yeah do that, but stay alert. Take the usual arsenal with you."
"Yes, sir and don't remind me what it includes. I know it." Dean added raising a hand.
John remained quiet and poured himself a glass of whiskey. "What do you think about all this, Dean?" he finally asked. His oldest shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his hands.
"I guess I can't change it, so what use is it to be angry. I'm sure my baby sister is a lovely little critter," he added with a small smile. "She's a Winchester."
"That she is." John agreed and emptied the glass in one gulp. "Come! It's getting late and we should get some sleep."
Dean nodded, stood up and followed his dad out of the saloon towards the boarding house. They had gotten hold of the two last rooms. His father would sleep two doors away from the black clad gunman he had seen earlier this day.
Once inside his room Dean yawned and lay down on the bed next to Sam's. His younger brother was lying on his back with his intact arm folded under his head and stared up in the ceiling. He seemed to have calmed down by now.
"I wonder what she looks like," he said after a while.
Dean shrugged. "I have no idea Sammy." He rolled over to his side and pulled the covers over him. "Try to get some sleep we can think of it tomorrow while we're out checking the surroundings."
"Hmm," Sam grunted and closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be a long day.
Next morning
Amalia felt a cold nose nudge her cheek and she let out a small huff. With one hand she tried to push Wolf away, who simply climbed up on the bed and started to lick her face.
"Awww! Stop it Wolfie!" she whined and rolled over to her stomach. Wolf didn't mind and started to lick her ears instead. That tickled. Amalia giggled and soon it turned into laughter when she couldn't manage to escape Wolf's wet tongue. The sound woke up Rose who looked around drowsily. Fury who had taken up residence on her legs meowed before stretching and jumping down to the floor.
"What's the commotion?" Rose asked tiredly and glared at her friend. She had just had a wonderful dream. It had been a nice and calm one. She had been fishing with Vin and having a grand old time of it but now she was awake she was overcome with the feeling that they hadn't been alone in the dream. Someone had been with them; someone whose essence had pushed their way into her dream state, only a powerful witch could do that. The imprint left behind had a familiarity to it; it belonged to someone whose magic she knew. She pushed the thought out of mind, it wasn't important right now.
"He won't stop!" Amalia laughed and sat up. Wolf jumped down from the bed, walked over to the door and then looked back to his little mistress. "Alright I'm comin'." The small child stood up and shivered when her feet touched the cold floor. Quickly she ran over to the door and opened it. Wolf raced out as if all the demons of hell were after him. "He probably jist had to go. He'll be back for breakfast," Amalia said and headed back for her bed. Maybe she would be able to get a few more minutes of sleep, before breakfast.
As soon as Gabriel was outside he looked around. Even though he didn't like to trick Amalia, it had been necessary this morning. Sam and Dean Winchester were already saddling their horses. They would head out to search for the Wendigo. Gabriel was tempted to let them walk into the danger unprepared just to let John feel the same as he had all those years ago. He quickly chased away the thoughts and rounded the corner of the boarding house. If he let such revenge take over his soul, he would be no better than John Winchester. He would warn them and tell them everything he knew. Maybe they knew a way to kill the beast. Gabriel didn't know one. He had only heard of such creatures and had never met one before. It was said that Wendigos were immune against bullets and they could heal every wound. He had experienced that himself when he had fought against it, but he hoped the rock had squashed the life out of the beast. He would check the protection marks he had put up around the town, and then he would warn them.
Behind the boarding house a rope had been tied between two poles. He jumped up and grabbed a pair of trousers and a shirt from the makeshift clothesline. He didn't want to meet the Winchesters completely naked. They would definitely get a wrong impression of him then. He grinned and ran at full speed to the first mark. It was still in place. He had scratched it into a flat rock instead into the dirt. That way it was most likely permanent. He placed the clothes behind a bush before he continued in a wide circle around the whole town, noting that every mark was still in its place.
Gabriel let out a relieved sigh. Now he only had to warn the Winchesters. He raised his head and sniffed. Their scent had gotten stronger. They were heading towards the forest. He quickly changed into his human form. Then he dressed himself with the clothes he had hid, before stepping out of his hiding place. The two brothers were about three hundred feet away and didn't see him immediately, but once they did, their hands immediately went down to their guns.
"Well this will be interesting." Gabriel thought and raised both hands letting Sam and Dean know that he was unarmed.
Alright that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
A big thank to Gaben who beta-read this story for me. I also thank otkcp who's my co-writer and must say she was very patient with me ;).
So I hope you enjoyed it and I would be pleased about getting some feedback. Even if it took me so long to update.