The SUV's arrived about a half mile from the Gardner's driveway and pulled down a gravel road so that they were unable to be seen from the highway. The two vehicles parked and the 5 of them got out, meeting between the two vehicles for final instructions.
Waverly walked over hand in hand with Nicole, it was winter so the weather was piercing through her thick jacket, but what surprised the Earp was that the redheads hands felt hot through the gloves she wore.
"Baby, your hands are burning up, are you okay?" Waverly asked quietly as she stopped and faced her girlfriend with concern, glancing over to see if the other 3 were occupied.
Wynonna, Dolls, and Kendall were standing in a circle looking over the lay out of the property for a final time, discussing the route through the woods Kendall would run and where Dolls and Wynonna would be posted up for their ambush.
"I actually feel warm, but good," Nicole said with a reassuring smile.
"I'm glad one of us is warm," Waverly said with a shiver.
Nicole grinned lovingly and then took off her thick winter coat and draped it around Waverly's shoulders.
"Baby no! It's freezing outside and without your jacket you're in a long sleeve shirt and vest and your super cute little beanie on your head…" Waverly said as she snuggled into her girlfriend's jacket, secretly grateful for the extra warmth, "That is not nearly enough clothing for this kind of weather!"
"Waves, I'm fine," Nicole said as she leaned down and kissed Waverly's forehead, "I think it's another part of me adjusting to the changes, Kendall said my body temperature was going to rise and from watching what she walks around in, it doesn't seem like I'll be needing my jacket very much anymore."
Waverly glanced over at the blonde, who was still talking to Wynonna and Dolls. Kendall was wearing ripped jeans and had on an old long sleeve shirt of Nicole's that appeared to be from a softball camp Nicole must have gone to in high school, nothing like the rest of them who were all wearing stocking caps (beanies), heavy winter coats, and winter boots.
"Okay but still, you know I worry about you, a lot…" Waverly said softly as she put her arms through the sleeves of Nicole's jacket.
"I know baby," Nicole said, giving a grin to the brunette, "But I promise I am fine… Plus, we both know that the one and only thing my amazing girlfriend can't handle is the cold. I feel warm… Actually I feel better without my jacket on right now."
Waverly leaned up and put her gloved hands on Nicole's cheeks, "Honey your face is burning up… Are you sure you feel okay? Your sister did say that you would have fevers spontaneously happening with your temperature changes."
"I promise I'm okay Waves," Nicole said as she allowed her hands to cover Waverly's gently and leaned down placing a lingering soft kiss on the brunette's lips, "I feel warm, but it feels good. It's probably just a low grade fever while my body starts trying to figure out how to adjust to everything."
"Okay, well…" Waverly said as she leaned her forehead against the red heads, "Thank you for being my knight in shining armor and giving me your jacket."
"Of course, anything for you," Nicole said sweetly, earning another soft kiss from her girlfriend.
"Hey! Lovebirds!" Wynonna growled from her conversation with Dolls and Kendall, "You two can suck face later, get over here and go over everything with us!"
Waverly and Nicole rolled their eyes but complied with the Heirs request.
"Thank you," Wynonna said with an eye-roll.
"So everyone knows the plan?" Dolls asked as he raised an eyebrow to the couple.
"I wait with you and Wynonna while Nicole and Kendall go around through the woods to the side of the house with no window, they confirm if the Gardner's are the Widows and if they are…" Waverly said as she glanced to her girlfriend.
Nicole immediately stepped in, continuing the explanation of the plan, "Then Kendall goes to the back of the house and gets their attention, then shifts and takes off into the woods running a long path that will cut back to where you and Wynonna are waiting…"
Waverly quickly smirked and proceeded to pick up where her girlfriend left off, "While you and Wynonna are heading to the ambush place in the woods, I run towards the house and Nicole and I check out the basement and start looking around to see what we can find…"
"And if I hear Kendall howl and one of the Widows has broken off from their chase, Waverly and I get the hell out of the house and meet back over here at the SUV's and wait for you," Nicole said as she raised an eyebrow.
Dolls, Wynonna and Kendall looked a little surprised and impressed that the two were able to ramble off the plan, considering they didn't think the two had even been paying attention.
"What?" Waverly said as she looked around the group, "We can multi-task."
Nicole grinned and put her arm around Waverly's shoulders.
"Yeah shove your tongues down each others throats and still focus on what you're supposed to do in a life or death shit show of a plan, that's super reassuring," Wynonna said with a shake of her head.
"So we know the game plan. If anything goes wrong, we get out and meet here. Kendall, you're going to need to be on point. If anything happens," Dolls said looking at the blonde.
"I'll let you know. Give me some credit lizard boy," Kendall said with an eye roll.
"AH-HA!" Wynonna said as she pointed to Dolls excitedly, "So you are a lizard?!"
"I'm not a lizard!" Dolls said with a glare towards Kendall.
"Well, close enough," Kendall said with a chuckle.
"ANYWAY…" Dolls said as he grabbed the anti-paralytic vials from his SUV.
"So need to continue this conversation later…" Wynonna whispered as she leaned over to Kendall who nodded.
Dolls grabbed the anti-paralytic vials from the SUV and passed one out to each of them.
"Bottoms up…" Wynonna grumbled as everyone tossed the vials back, the Heir making a gagging face after and sticking out her tongue.
"Alright… Let's go," Dolls said as he gave a respectful nod to Kendall and started walking down the gravel road.
"Be careful," Waverly said as she got on her tip toes and placed a quick kiss on Nicole's cheek.
"I'll see you soon," Nicole said with a grin as she watched her girlfriend jog to catch up to Dolls.
Kendall had already turned and was walking through the wood line slowly, marking the trees as she went, which Nicole assumed was to make it easier to find the SUV on their way back. Nicole went to follow her but was stopped when she felt a firm grip on her arm.
Nicole turned and saw Wynonna had a hand on her.
"Nicole…" Wynonna said in a low voice, "If anything happens…"
"If I hear even the slightest noise that could indicate the Widows are coming back, I'll get her out of there," Nicole said with determination in her eyes, "I promise… I won't let anything happen to our girl."
"I trust you," Wynonna said with a stern gaze and slight nod, "Don't let anything happen to you either… Kinda nice having you around."
Nicole gave a genuine smile and nod before feeling Wynonna let go of her and then the Heir was walking away from her to go after Dolls and Waverly.
Nicole turned and followed her sister through the woods. Kendall had stopped and was kneeling down in the snow about 50 feet into the woods. Nicole walked over and kneeled down beside the blonde.
"What is it?" Nicole asked as she looked at the small spec of blood that was on the snow.
"What kind of blood is this?" Kendall asked as she glanced to her sister.
"What?" Nicole said in confusion.
"We have to get you to decipher the difference between scents," Kendall said as she glanced over to her sister, "Right now you're experiencing changes with your body, and part of that will be the heightened sense of smell. You need to learn how to separate the odors so you know what they are."
"This is a tiny spec of blood though Kendall and who knows how long it has been here, how could I get a scent off that? I don't even know how to get my sense of smell to focus, it just… happens. I can't turn it on and off," Nicole said as she frowned.
"Not yet…" Kendall said with a grin as she put her hand on Nicole's shoulder, "You can't control it yet, but you will pup. You're smart, you're strong, and you're a Haught. You can do this and you can control ALL of your abilities, you just need to learn how to do it. Which is why you have me…"
Nicole gave a slight smile and nodded, "What do I do first?"
"Find out what direction the wind is coming from," Kendall said as she closed her eyes and felt the wind softly hitting her face, "Close your eyes, feel where the wind is coming from and position yourself so that the scent from the blood blows towards you…"
Nicole followed her sister's instructions and felt the breeze hitting her face and leaned further down, closer to the spec of blood.
"Good…" Kendall said leaning back with her eyes now open and watching her sister, "Take slow deep breaths… You can smell the trees… Nature… But there is another smell here, a smell that isn't supposed to be in the woods… Focus on that."
Nicole did as her sister instructed and began taking slow deep breaths. "I smell it…" Nicole said softly as she opened her eyes and looked at her sister.
"What do you smell…" Kendall said as she looked into the red eyes of her little sister.
"Blood… Human blood…" Nicole said in a low voice. The red head was well aware that her eyes were probably red, and began of feeling uncomfortable about them. As if she could sense her sister's discomfort, Kendall reached over and placed her hand on Nicole's shoulder, causing the red head to look at her.
Kendall kept eye contact with Nicole and shifted her eyes from their usual brown to the deep gold eyes of her Alpha, offering a firm nod to her younger sister
"Good Nikky," Kendall said as she glanced back down, "You're right… It's human blood. Are you sure you are ready to do this?"
"Yeah," Nicole said as she looked back at her sister, "I need to learn this… I-I want to learn this."
Kendall gave a genuine smile and squeezed Nicole's shoulder tightly as the sisters stood up, "I'll help you through this. You'll learn pup. Come on, we have about a 5 minute walk until the wood line reaches the house."
Nicole nodded and walked beside her sister, the two scanning the area making sure they didn't see any threats.
Nicole glanced at her older sister, who was looking around the woods and appearing to be on high alert. Nicole couldn't help but notice that Kendall's eyes were remaining their Alpha yellow.
"Why are your eyes still yellow?" Nicole asked quietly.
"Why are yours still red?" Kendall asked back in a whisper, offering a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"I-I have no clue, I can't really… I don't know… Why are they?" Nicole asked in confusion.
"Well one, you're a pup who is starting to really transition into your wolf and your body is altering its physiology so controlling your eye color will take time," Kendall said as she continued walking quietly, "Reason two, the change in the eye color is the most basic of our shifting abilities and is the precursor to all other abilities we have because of our wolf. Our eye color will shift when we are accessing parts of our wolf, because it's like the cover of our book… I don't know if that's really the best example but… It's the part of our wolf that appears so easily because it's the forefront of what we are. When you are actively trying to focus your senses or access parts of your wolf, your eyes will shift."
"So by focusing on separating the senses with the blood, I tapped in to a part of my wolf, which will cause my eyes to shift," Nicole said as she nodded her head, taking in all the information.
"Yeah, it happens to all of us pup, which is why my eyes are yellow," Kendall said as she glanced towards her sister, "I'm listening to every sound in the woods right now, I'm sniffing the air as it goes by, and I'm looking all around us… I'm using my wolf to do that. Remember the first stage of shifting I showed you?"
"Yeah," Nicole said as she looked at her sister.
Kendall offered a small smile showing her canines that were down. Nicole grinned and nodded.
"When do I get the teeth?" Nicole said with a smirk.
"Your day will come pup, I can't say for sure when it will happen but your eyes are shifting pretty quick so I'm sure it will be soon," Kendall said as she pointed towards a wood pile at the edge of the property, approximately 30 yards from the house.
Kendall nodded to Nicole, indicating for her sister to come squat beside her.
"They had a longer walk than we did, we can't make a move until we see them," Nicole whispered as she looked around.
Kendall nodded and studied the house and took slow deep breaths.
"Your eyes have been red since you smelled the blood, which means you are still accessing your wolf, work on focusing on the 3 basic parts of our wolf's ability. Your scent, your sight, and your hearing… Just like I did on the walk here, listen out for them, try to pick up on scents and separating them to figure out what each one is and look around… Your eye sight when you are a wolf is far better than that of a human."
"Yeah I figured that one out earlier, the night vision came in handy," Nicole said as she followed her sister's instructions and looked around to survey the property.
"You were able to see in the dark?" Kendall asked in genuine surprise.
"Yeah, that is part of it… Right?" Nicole asked as she glanced at her sister.
"Yeah…" Kendall said as she nodded and went back to looking at the side of the house, "Most wolves don't get their night vision until after their first change, looks like you're ahead of the game Nikky. Enough talking… Work on what I said."
Nicole went back to looking around and was taking slow deep breaths, mimicking her sister's actions, trying to focus on all the different smells circling in the breeze. Nicole closed her eyes and inhaled, instantly recognizing the smell of Waverly's perfume.
Kendall had stopped surveying the land and was watching her sister curiously. Nicole sniffed several times, her eyes still closed, and her head turned towards her left so it was facing the edge of the property.
"They're here…" Nicole said with a smile as she opened her eyes and looked on the far edge of the property just to her left. Nicole realized that her sister was not exaggerated in saying that the vision when in her wolf was exceptional. Nicole could see Waverly and Wynonna huddled together behind a large tree, while Dolls knelt down low near a fallen tree getting his rifle up and facing towards the house.
Kendall looked to where Nicole was looking and gave a breathless laugh, "You had your eyes closed, so I know you didn't see them first…"
"Waverly's perfume…" Nicole said absent-mindedly as she kept her gaze on the 3 across the open field.
Kendall shook her head and smiled as she looked at her sister, "Okay Romeo, you impressed me but now but the love struck puppy act on hold… It's show time."
Nicole tore her gaze away from her girlfriend and looked at her sister with a serious face and offered a nod.
"Where are they?" Waverly whispered as she looked around with her binoculars and peered behind one side of the large tree that she and her sister were behind.
"I don't know, they're walking on foot through the woods, it might take them a little longer to get in position?" Wynonna whispered back as she peeked out behind the other side of the tree sporting her own pair of binoculars.
Dolls was prone out on the snow with his rifle stabilized on the fallen tree and was using his scope to search for the Haught sisters on the opposite side of the field where they were supposed to come out at.
"There, they are coming out from the wood pile on the far side of the property just to the right of the house," Dolls whispered as he slowed his breathing
Both Earp sisters whipped their binoculars out and spotted the two Haught sisters crouched low and quickly moving in the open field to the side of the house where they would be out of sight from the main windows of the house.
"I swear I will never get use to their eyes looking like that…" Wynonna said softly as she watched the sisters get right up to the house.
"Damn she looks good," Waverly whispered as she clenched her jaw.
Dolls and Wynonna rolled their eyes but didn't comment. From where the trio was positioned on the front left corner of the property, they were able to see when the sisters reached the side of the house and pressed their bodies against it.
Nicole and Kendall both leaned against the side of the house and were sniffing the air.
Kendall wrinkled her nose and shook her head as if she smelled something disgusting. Nicole looked at Kendall with confusion, not smelling the same thing as her sister.
Kendall took a deep breath and steadied herself. Truth be told, the blonde was able to pick up on the scent before they reached the wood pile they hid behind. Kendall knew that with Nicole's body changing and her senses growing, it would be harder for Nicole to pick out the scent from far away.
With the Widows being a demonic force, some wolves wouldn't be able to smell them out at all, but the Haught blood line had strengths beyond any ordinary werewolf. Although it was apparent that Nicole's abilities were coming in quickly and the red head was certainly proving to be powerful, no young wolf would be able to smell something supernatural from afar so Kendall sucked it up and decided this teaching lesson was one they would do up close and personal.
Kendall fought to settle her stomach and then turned to her sister and leaned in and whispered, "Deep breaths pup, remember the blood, take deep breaths and see what kind of scent is coming from the house."
Nicole nodded and focused herself on deep inhales and taking in the odors all around her. I smell the pine trees from the woods, freshly cut cedar, Waverly's perfume, melting snow, and… WHAT THE FUCK?! Nicole thought as her eyes shot open wide and she fell to her knees covering her nose and her mouth.
Kendall kneeled beside her sister quickly grabbing Nicole and pulling her back close to the house.
"Nic, are you okay?!" Kendall whispered as she held her sister.
"I'm going to barf!" Nicole said quietly.
Kendall suppressed a laugh and rolled her eyes as she let go of her sister and peeked around the corner of the house.
"What the hell is that smell? God it's awful…" Nicole said as she leaned forward in the snow and was trying hard to not vomit in the snow.
"That pup…" Kendall said as she looked back to her sister and grinned, "Is the Widows."
Wynonna, Waverly and Dolls watched Nicole fall to her knees looking like she was going to puke everywhere and Kendall quickly at her sister's side before they saw the blonde attempting to hide a laugh.
"Guess that's the confirmation we needed," Waverly said as she watched her girlfriend glare at the blonde.
"I can only imagine how much of that nasty ass widow stank your girlfriend just inhaled with her dog nose," Wynonna said as she snorted in quiet laughter.
Dolls was even grinning at this point.
Waverly, not taking her eyes off of Nicole, lifted her foot and gave Wynonna a light kick in the side of her leg.
"Be nice, she's learning," Waverly said with a little smirk.
"She's going to hurl," Wynonna said as she let the binoculars fall from her eyes, "You know this is a little funny."
"A little," Waverly said as she glanced at her sister with a smirk, "I feel a little bad for her… Then I also feel like it's kind of comical."
"When we see Kendall take off with the Widows, we will make sure they follow her into the woods then we will head out to cut them off, Waverly as soon as the Widows are out of sight and in the woods you and Nicole search the basement. If you don't find anything get out of there and meet back at the cars," Dolls said as he glanced up to the Earp sisters then went back to looking down the sight on his rifle.
"Got it boss," Waverly whispered as she went back to looking through her binoculars at her pitifully sick looking girlfriend.
"You knew it was going to smell like that, didn't you…" Nicole said with a glare.
"I smelled that half way in the woods, but you need the experience… Glad you picked up the scent," Kendall said with a wink as she helped her sister up.
"I hate you," Nicole said as she shook her head, trying to get the stench from her nostrils.
"Everyone has to learn how to work the wolf scent little one, you just so happened to get a lesson on Supernatural beings that smell like death," Kendall said as she patted her sister's shoulder, "Okay pup, we know it's them so I'm going to go around back and get their attention and shift, when you see them follow me into the woods, find Waverly and search the house."
Nicole seemed to refocus on the task at hand and offered a firm nod in understanding.
"Nikky," Kendall said in a serious tone, "Be alert and use your senses… Listen for me, and if you hear me howl, get Waverly and the hell out of there."
"Okay…" Nicole said with another nod, "Hey… Did you bring a blanket or something? I mean… Aren't you going to rip your clothes?"
"Uh…" Kendall said as she looked down, "No… But there should be one in the SUV, I'll just wait to shift back when I get to the car and throw the blanket on and you can drive."
"You're not ripping that shirt. That's one of my favorites," Nicole said as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"Are you serious right now?" Kendall asked wide eyed, "Nikky! It's a damn shirt!"
"You made me use my new found wolf nose to huff rotten Widow ass from literal hell," Nicole said, standing in her stern position, "Plus, you borrowed my clothes this morning when you wolfed out and I love those jeans and that shirt! I've had it for like 10 years!"
"I hate you," Kendall grumbled as she took off the shirt Nicole had given her.
"Payback's a bitch big sis," Nicole said with a smirk.
"Uhhhh…" Dolls said as he cleared his throat and looked away from the sights.
"Dinner and a show? What in the actual fuck?" Wynonna gawked as she watched the blonde stripping off her clothes.
"That's one of Nicole's favorite shirts," Waverly said as she chuckled, "When Kendall wolfs out she'll rip all her clothes."
"Nicole is making her sister strip down and go lure the Widows out of the house, in the snow, because she doesn't want to get her clothes ripped?" Wynonna said in astonishment as she glanced over to her sister.
Waverly chuckled and shrugged, "I mean it could also be payback for Kendall making her get a nice nose full of that Widow stink, but I would be willing to bet it's because that's one of her favorite shirts."
"Nicole Haught, you savage… I fucking love it" the Heir said as she returned the binoculars to her eyes and watched a very annoyed and naked blonde hand over the last garment to the red head. "Her sister does have a pretty banging body though."
"Must run in the family," Waverly said quietly to herself, of course Dolls heard and he remained silent but couldn't resist a dramatic eye roll and sigh.
Nicole smirked and watched her very naked sister stomp out in the yard so she was standing in front of the sliding glass door that faced the back yard of the residence.
"HEY BITCHES IN BLACK!" Kendall yelled loudly at the house, "HEY! I KNOW YOU TWO ARE IN THERE!"
Kendall gave a quick glance over to the wood line where she knew Dolls, Wynonna and Waverly were at, and then looked over to her sister who was peeking from behind the side of the house.
Kendall took several steps forward towards the back of the house and took a deep breath before crouching and lifting her head back up with fiery yellow eyes, prominent canines barred, and her nose and cheek bones now flushed together.
"She totally does look like some shit off Teen Wolf…" Nicole mumbled to herself as she watched her sister carefully, "Beta stage…"
Kendall slowly stood up and threw her hands out, showing the long and sharp claws now protruding from her fingers, and let out a powerful roar that seemed to shake the house.
Nicole's eyes beamed a brighter red and she instinctively went down to one knee and held her breath as she looked up at her sister.
When the long and loud roar ended, Kendal was panting as she starred down the house.
The back door suddenly opened and out came Widow Mercedes and Widow Beth.
"Well, well, well…" Widow Mercedes said as she and her sister walked down the back porch steps and were now maybe 15 yards from the blonde, "What do we have here?"
"You little wolf, smell…" Widow Beth said as she took a deep breath and grinned wickedly, "Beyond delicious."
"What does the little hell hound princess want?" Mercedes asked calmly as she crossed her eyes and raised an eyebrow.
"You bitches were looking for a 3rd seal right?" Kendall asked with a grin.
Mercedes and Beth both went from a taunting and uncaring attitude to immediately tense and enraged.
"What do you know DOG?!" Mercedes spat out, her eyes darkening.
"I know you'll never get it," Kendall said as she growled low.
"YOU WILL TELL US WHERE IT IS!" Beth yelled angrily.
"Oh honey, I can promise you I won't," Kendall said smugly.
"We are going to devour you hell hound!" Widow Mercedes screamed.
"I would love to see you try bitches," Kendall said with a growl as she turned and started running in the snow and after several step the blonde jumped forward and swiftly shifted into her large golden wolf.
Widow Mercedes and Beth both let out blood curdling screams and immediately rushed forward chasing after the blonde wolf who was running quickly towards the woods on all fours.
The Widows desperate need for the 3rd seal won out on the logic of a young wolf taunting them at their house and the chase was on.
"Let's go!" Dolls said as he stood up and took off through the woods.
"Be safe baby girl!" Wynonna said loudly as she turned to chase after Dolls, the Heir made sure to give her sister a swift slap on the ass on her way by, "Meet us after you two search the house!"
Waverly jumped at her sister's departure and quickly took off towards the house and laid eyes on Nicole as the redhead peered around the corner and waved to her.
Once Waverly was close enough, she heard Nicole say, "I found a cellar door over here!"
"Okay!" Waverly said as she followed her girlfriend around to the side.
Once they got to the door Waverly reached down and tried opening it but quickly realized it was locked, while tugging at the door Waverly realized her girlfriend wasn't helping trying to open it but rather looking down at the door and sniffing.
"Nicole? What is it?" Waverly asked as she looked from her girlfriend down to the cellar door.
Nicole was staring at the door intently with her red eyes beaming, "I can smell something in there…"
Waverly looked confused and cautiously asked, "What can you smell?"
Nicole looked to her girlfriend with worried red eyes, "Death…"
"Oh God…" Waverly mumbled quickly before she looked around to see if there was any sign of the Widows return. "Come on, help me open it, we don't have much time and we have to see what is down there!"