Hunter of the Shadows

Chapter 24

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Dean rummages through his duffle, muttering in frustration.

"Dammit! I know I put them in here…

Sam glances up, curiously.

"Something wrong dude?"

"Thought I had a deck of cards," Dean huffs and pouts. "Was so looking forward to kicking your ass at poker."

"Yeah right!" Sam chuckles softly. "Try the inner zip compartment."

With a cocky wink, Dean reaches into the duffle again, but suddenly freezes, grin fading.

He's staring down at something in his hand.

It's scratched and muddy, with dried specs of blood. When he runs a thumb over the cracked surface, some of the mud falls away.

Sam glances up again, wondering at the sudden silence, then his eyes drop to Dean's hand.

"Do ya think…?" Sam swallows hard, then tries again. "Dya think, may be, it's true?"

Dean's head shoots up, his eyes alive with an angry feral gleam.

"No way."

"How can you be sure, Dean?" Sam's eyes are brimming with unshed tears. "She sounded pretty certain. And... and we haven't heard from him..."

Dean sighs, some of the heat gone from his gaze when he glances over at Sam's distraught face. He's gone back into protector mode, and Sam knows Dean will fix this.

Somehow.

Someway.

Because Sam still has faith in his fatherbrother.

Dean only hopes that faith is warranted.

"I… I'd just know, ok?" he whispers in reply.

And for Sam, who's been an adult for quite some time now, that's enough.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The circle of protection tightened up.

I shouldered my way into Sam's apartment, fully expecting a fight when I dumped my duffle down on the bed in the guest room. But when I turned to face him, one eyebrow raised in readiness for the battle, his face was lit up by a relieved smile.

"Thanks Dean."

I just nodded and ruffled Sam's hair. He made a small noise of complaint and ducked away, but I grinned and followed him into the kitchen.

"So squirt, what you want to eat? I'm cooking tonight."

Sam rolled his eyes.

"Please don't call me that in front of the other students, especially…" he suddenly blushed, and ducked his head.

My grin widened.

"Uhuh," I drawled. "Especially… not Jess?"

Sam's head shot up again and he fixed me with a scowl.

"I mean it Dean… not a kid anymore..."

I just waved him off.

"You know I won't, Sammy," I was being serious now. Couldn't do that to my boy. But I sure could tease him about it. "I'll just wait 'til ya go to the bathroom, and show her all your naked baby photos."

Not that we had all that many. Most were burned up in Kansas, but John had kept a few in the Impala.

"I'm not embarrassed by those," Sam shook his head with absolute certainty, "I was a cute baby. She'll be cooing all over me in no time."

Chuckling, I elbowed him out of the way and delved into the newly cleaned and restocked fridge.

"Yeah," I threw a packet of mince beef onto the kitchen worktop, "and then she'll be begging to make one with ya!"

"!-!"

"You ok there dude?" I didn't even look up from the saucepan, just carried on preparing the Bolognese. But inside, I was laughing my ass off.

"Y-yeah…" Sam made another choking noise, "something got stuck in my throat… probably just dust..."

"Uhuh."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Tobius checked in with us once a week and visited most weekends. Sam recovered quickly from the incident with Jo Harvelle, and Lenore had been in contact with her on-campus vampire. Apparently, the vamp-bitch had been just as easily cloaked from her own kind as she was from us. It was therefore considered redundant having Lenore's vampire watcher around, so he or she was recalled to base in Florida.

Life ticked along nicely for a while.

I worked a job at the Student bar, where it was easier to keep my ear to the ground, befriend the most incorrigible gossips, and keep an eye out for Sam during the day.

It made Sam pretty popular, having an older brother running the student body's only watering hole, though I have to say, the kid was popular in his own right.

Sam treated others with respect and courtesy, whether or not they deserved it, studied hard, and helped the struggling students without waiting to be asked. That made him one of the most likeable guys on campus.

I felt kinda smug.

And proud of my baby boy.

Aw, c'mon. I had every right to be!

Sam was thriving and growing, happier than I'd ever seen him.

Growing.

That took me a while to figure out, but I suddenly realised one morning that my son was actually towering over me by a few inches. Try as I might, I couldn't figure out when it happened, but it must've been going on right under my… uh… nose?

So that kinda sucked. I was now officially the shortass of the family, with Tobius about one or two inches taller than me.

But Sammy still 'looked up' to me with trust and hero worship, so I guessed I could live with it.

In the normal course of student relationships, I got to meet Jessica and spent a little time getting to know her. And yeah, I sure could see why Sammy was so besotted with her. From the very first second, when Sam brought her to the apartment for dinner one evening, I was smitten. Not only was she a beautiful woman, and a sweet one at that, but it was clear to any idiot with eyes that Jess had fallen deep for Sam.

"It's an honour to meet you at last, Miss Moore." I bowed and kissed her offered hand. Yeah, Tobius sure had influenced me over the years. "I've heard a lot about you."

Jess blushed prettily, and laughed.

"All good I hope."

"Absolutely!" I gave her the quick appreciative Dean Winchester Roving Eye, which actually made her laugh again, and declared her more than fit for my boy. "And I have to say, you are way out of my little brother's league." I clapped a hand on Sam's back, and grinned at his red face.

Ya did good, kid. She's a real honey.

Sam blinked and ducked his chin, a shy grin forming.

Thanks Dean.

"So, Miss Moore." I smiled warmly at the young woman, who was making some serious puppy eyes of her own at Sam. "Hope you're hungry."

"Completely!" She rolled those beautiful blues, and chuckled. "Been studying all day, haven't had a chance to eat beyond a bag of Doritos! And please, call me Jess."

She was great company, and fell into our 'brotherly' teasing like she was meant to be there all along. And could she eat! Couldn't work out where such a darn tiny girl packed it all away, but I sure approved.

Hearing the two of them laugh so easy, how they gelled... Tobius once said I ain't the romantic type, but I could certainly appreciate the concept seeing these two together.

In Tobius' words, Jessica Moore was delightful company.

So? Whadya think?

I caught Sam's eye for a moment, when Jess was sipping her wine. He was gazing at me, those big ol' puppy dog eyes full of hope.

I could definitely get used to having her around.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Tobius was more than happy to see Jessica again, and greeted her warmly whenever he was in town. I often wondered what she'd say if she knew Tobius was actually Sam's grandfather.

Come to that, what would she have said if she knew of my true relationship to Sam?

As time moved on, Sam and Jess became practically inseparable. I should've felt left out, like some kind of werewolf 'empty nest' syndrome. But Jess made that impossible, treating me like her own brother, and in any case, I was just so pleased for Sammy.

Jess didn't come between us.

In fact, she became a part of us.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I could feel Sam's anxiety. He was building up to something, and I knew what it was.

You sure about this Sammy?

Uhuh… but I… I just…Sam threw his hands up in frustration, and paced the living room.

You're wondering how to go about it?

Well, duh! He stopped his pacing for a moment just to stare at me. Maybe I could…

No. If you're serious about this woman, then you have to tell her the truth. You have to give her the choice. Can't have a true solid relationship without honesty.

Yeah. Dean Winchester, expert relationship counsellor. Go me!

Sam dropped his gaze and looked utterly miserable.

She's gonna freak. Scratch that, she's gonna think I'm a freak.

Getting up off the couch, I moved over to him. Rubbing a hand up and down his back, soothingly, I studied his sad face.

Not if she truly loves you, Sam. Sure, she'll probably go into shock, maybe scream blue murder, call you a lunatic, call me a lunatic, faint or have a heart attack…

Sam snorted softly.

…but once she gets passed that, she'll see you're still the same man she fell in love with. Still her Sam. Just be patient with her.

I guess. Sam nodded slowly and huffed, running a hand through his mop of hair. Only one way to find out, huh?

Damn straight.

I'll be honest. I sure didn't envy him the task.

There were several ways it could go, and each one had the potential to end in disaster and heartbreak. But Sam had chosen his mate for life. It was unavoidable.

If Jess truly wanted to be a part of it, to be with Sam, then she needed to know the truth.

It's not considered essential that a life partner also be a non-lunar; humans are allowed in our club, though it is unusual. In larger packs than ours, distant relatives can volunteer to turn the new comer. It's considered etiquette.

Tobius, God love him, had already been in contact with an old pack, asking for assistance from the alpha in case Jess decided to go all the way on this. It wouldn't do for Sam, Tobius or myself to turn Jess. That would bind her to us by blood, making her sister, daughter or granddaughter.

And that would really put the block on Sam's relationship with her in some pretty major ways.

But I was getting ahead of myself.

We had no idea how the girl would react to all this. It was risky. She could escape and run, tell the authorities to lock us up in a mental institute, and throw away the key.

Of course, we'd be long gone by then, and Sam would have to give up everything he'd worked so hard for, just to disappear.

As I said. Risky.

But the fact remained, it was gonna be tough for her to believe.

So I came up with a cunning plan. A definite sign Tobius had me hooked on Blackadder.

Which shoulda been a warning all on its own...

Sam waited anxiously in the hallway, eyes darting nervously from me to the front door, and back.

Stay calm, Sammy. She's here.

I know. I can smell her perfume…

Thankfully, before he could go all googly-eyed, the doorbell rang loudly, and the both of us nearly jumped out of our skin.

Here we go…

Jess stepped inside the moment I opened the door, a bright smile on her face. She automatically leaned up on tiptoe and kissed my cheek, chatting nineteen to the dozen about the weather, Sam of course, her grandmother's chocolate fudge cake recipe she'd dug out especially for me, asked after Tobius… I just nodded along, making the appropriate noises here and there.

Then her eyes lit on Sam.

"Oh my God!" Jess dropped her bags, a wondrous smile forming. "What a beautiful dog! And he's huge!"

"He's actually a very rare breed of wolf," I offered tentatively, hiding the wry laughter that threatened to bubble up inside.

"Where did you get him? Can I stroke him? Is he dangerous?"

Only in the wrong hands, I wanted to say, but instead I just shrugged and tactfully ignored the first question.

"Sure. He's a big softy. He won't hurt you."

Easy now Sammy. Here's your chance. Take it slow.

Sam's tail thumped the floor lightly, soft eyes filled with hope and love. His girl was reaching out a hand, beckoning to him, and the poor kid couldn't hold back any longer. For a big wolf, he could still make all the wriggly, squirmy puppy movements when he got excited, and it still looked cute as hell. He bounded over, tongue hanging out, looking all stupid and happy when Jess immediately knelt down, and wrapped her arms around him. He buried his thick muzzle in her neck, snuffling softly when she giggled like a little girl.

Jess drew back and gently scratched Sam's ears.

"What's his name?"

I paused, wondering if this was such a good plan after all. But I couldn't ignore this question. And now was not the time to lie, not when the truth was so important.

"Sam. His name is Sam… uh…" I was finally about to explain, but thankfully, she wasn't listening by that point.

She was too busy studying the young wolf's face, her smile fading a little.

My inner alarm bells started sounding.

Loudly.

"Sam," she nodded slowly, brow furrowed in confusion. "Yeah, it suites him somehow… I… uh… this is gonna sound really damn stupid… but it feels like I've known him. Like I've met him before."

Oh, it's about to get better than that, lady, so hang on tight. You're in for a bumpy ride.

Jess stared deep into Sam's eyes, then gasped when they suddenly started glowing. Backing away, she nearly tripped over her own feet in panic.

"Wh-what is it? What sort of wolf has eyes that can do that?" she shrieked in fear.

Sam, heartbroken, padded forward a step, but stopped when Jess backed off again.

"Jess…" I began, but the girl was on the verge of panic.

Yeah, this was a real bad idea.

So much for the cunning plan.

Sam whined pitifully, then did something that was even worse than a real bad idea.

He began to change.

Slowly at first, his nose shortening, ears sliding down, and body shaking and morphing like a power ranger on crack.

Jess's eyes were wide, round, and panicked, and by the time they rolled back in her head, Sam's change was complete, and he lunged to catch her.

Cradling the poor girl in his arms, Sam, his own eyes sad and remorseful, looked up at me.

That's not gone well.

It was to be expected, Sam. Now c'mon. Let's get her comfortable.

Sam carried Jess effortlessly into his bedroom, laid the girl on the bed, and covered her with a blanket. Slipping on a pair of jeans, he turned to face me.

Dya think…

I shook my head.

I don't know Sammy. We'll just have to wait. If it helps? My gut tells me she'll come to terms with it. Might take a while, is all. I mean, changing right in front of her probably wasn't the best plan. Not when she was already scared.

He nodded sadly, then lay down beside Jess, tucking her into his arms.

I know. But I couldn't seem to stop, like my body was reacting, determined to show her, whether she was ready or not.

I didn't know what else to say.

Giving his shoulder a quick squeeze, I quietly left the room, closing the door behind me.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sam told me a little of what transpired when Jess woke up.

Voice small, face heartbroken, she'd asked him what was going on, claimed she'd had a terrible dream, and where was the wolf with the glowing eyes?

"And what did you say in response?"

Sam shrugged, morosely.

"I told her that it wasn't a dream, that I'm a werewolf, along with you and Tobius. Told her of our true relationship. That you're my father, Tobius my grandfather."

I winced.

"How did she take it?"

"Really well, actually." Sam snorted sarcastically. "She said it changed nothing, that she still loved me, but wanted me to seek psychiatric counselling from campus."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

"So? What next?"

"I sought to make her believe me…" Sam's hesitancy caught my attention in the worst possible way.

"Sammy?" I stared at him, worriedly. "What did you do?"

"I… uh…" Sam swallowed nervously. "I let my eyes glow again, then performed a partial change with my hand."

Oh God! I resisted the urge to scrub a hand down my face. "And she reacted… how?"

This was the most miserable I'd seen him look in a long time.

"She asked, why her? What did it mean for her?" Sam sobbed out the next part. "She thought… she asked if I was going to kill her."

That must've hurt.

Hearing her say out loud that she didn't trust him, had to sting like a bitch. Didn't matter that we couldn't really blame her. Poor girl just had her eyes opened up about werewolves in the most abrupt and shocking way possible.

But it still hurt.

Sam sniffed loudly, and I waited for him to continue.

"So… uh… I told her... I loved her... could never do anything to hurt her, stood up, walked to the bedroom door... opened it and stepped back." Soulful eyes gleamed with sadness. "She walked away Dean." He was barely holding the tears at bay, and his voice was breaking with grief. "She just walked away from me."

I broke out into a broad grin.

"Sammy? You did the right thing."

"Huh?" The kid looked at me as though I'd lost my mind.

"You let her go, proved she can trust you." I wrapped an arm round his shoulders, "Jess'll be back, kiddo. Once she's thought it through. Anyone can see how she feels about you, and that don't go away over night." I tapped my nose. "Girl's a smart cookie; she'll figure it out in a few days, maybe a week. Now put on a shirt, and some shoes. Let's go get a beer to celebrate."

The kid looked shell shocked and bewildered, but did as he was told.

And a few hours later, with Sammy barely walking in a straight line, Jess proved me right. She'd figured it out a damn sight faster than I gave her credit for, though.

Jess was sitting on the doorstep, shivering in the cold, worried eyes watching us.

She was the first to move.

"Sam... I..."

Without saying a word, I handed over her drunken boyfriend, who was by now gazing at the girl, completely love struck. And yeah, his eyes were glowing again, but Jess didn't seem to mind, even seemed fascinated, and, if her scent was anything to go by, hellishly turned on.

At least all his inner wolf switches weren't shorting out this time. Not sure how she might have taken it if his nose and ears had begun morphing, but judging by the look on her face, she'd probably have thought it was cute.

I shook my head in amusement.

Women, huh?

Guess I'll never understand you mysterious creatures.

Guess that's why I love you so damn much: always full of surprises.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I don't know what they said to each other, and I didn't want to. That was between Jess and Sam, and, maybe one day, when the pain dies down, and his heart's a little less fragile, he'll tell you himself.

But they'd obviously made it up that night.

'Cos I ended up sleeping on the couch, iPod playing loudly though the tiny ear pieces. Anything was better than listening to the happy noises coming from Sam's room. Had to respect the kid's privacy.

For my own sanity.

The walls weren't thin, soundproofed in fact, but with werewolf hearing? I'll leave the rest to your imagination guys, 'cos seriously… that was my son in there!

Though I must say, never thought a girl could be turned on by howling, of all things. I might have to give that one a try someday 'cos man! What was he doing to the girl? Sounded like death-by-orgasm!

That's my boy!

Dean! Get out of my head! This is private time!

Grinning with pride, I rolled over, turned up the volume, and drifted off to sleep.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The first warning came, when we heard nothing.

Something was wrong.

Tobius usually checked in with us every Wednesday night, around 23:00, without fail.

But this week was different.

Our Rolex watches remained silent.

Our cell phone calls went unanswered, and passed straight to voice mail.

'Please leave your message after the tone.'

I even called from the bar, where students in fancy dress costumes milled about, getting drunk. Jess was in a hot little nurse's uniform, and I was trying to remind myself that this girl was my son's mate, and she was in love with Sam.

Besides, there were plenty of other fish in the sea, not that I had much time to notice.

It was a tough night. I was ran ragged, pouring shots, clearing up spills, washing glasses, doing the whole Tom Cruise 'Cocktail' routine, but all the while, Sammy and I were worried senseless.

Tobius was more than a big boy. He was over eight hundred years old. So we agreed to wait another twenty-four hours before taking action.

Halloween was never Sammy's favourite time of year, ever since he watched Jamie Lee Curtis nearly get butchered by her own brother. He never watched the films that followed on in the series, but the opening sequence of John Carpenter's Halloween put him off clowns for life.

Sam was fiddling with his shot glass, occasionally glancing at his Rolex, and trying not to look uninterested.

I wasn't much better off.

But, it was Jess that let us off the hook.

"Go on. You guys aren't enjoying this, and Dean? You look exhausted." She knew enough about wolf lore, by now, to realise this wasn't good news. "We can clean up when this is over. Now go get something to eat and get some sleep!"

She nodded over at Rebecca and Zack, who rolled their eyes and accepted that it was too late to escape the clean-up campaign. Jess was a force all of her own when she put her mind to something.

Sam got to his feet, and grasped the girl gently by her upper arms.

"You go straight to our apartment, ya hear me Jess? No detours. Just wait for us there."

Ok, that caught my attention.

What's wrong Sam?

But he ignored me in favour of his girl, worried eyes dark and fixed on her.

Jess smiled up at him, and tenderly stroked his cheek.

"You know I will…"

But he didn't let her finish.

"Zack? You mind walking Jess home?"

"Sure man." Zack nodded with a solid reassurance that suggested a hurricane wouldn't take him down. I just felt thankful Sam's friends were so loyal. "Becky and I can both walk her home. Your pad's on the way anyhow."

I grabbed my jacket, and joined Sam in front of the bar.

Jess smiled worriedly.

"I sure hope you find him safe and well," she whispered softly, and squeezed my hand.

Sam was biting his lip, looking troubled.

Jess was still getting a handle on things, so Sam hadn't asked her the question yet. But I knew he was working up to it. Had even dragged me round jewellery stores, helping him pick out the perfect engagement ring. And yeah, enduring "aw you guys are so sweet" and "so wonderful to see such young lovers commit to each other" from the shop staff, more than freaked me out, and made Sam laugh his ass off.

But now I could see he was edgy, not wanting to leave, even with his best friends watching out for his girl.

"Dude," I spoke quietly. Zack and Rebecca had no idea what was going on, but we trusted Jess to find a likely excuse for the urgency. "Why don't you stay here, huh? Help Jess and the guys. I can check things out. If I find anything…"

But Sam just shook his head.

"No. It's ok." Jess'll be safe with these guys.

But something sure was bugging him about leaving Jess, and the damn near soul consumming kiss he gave her, confirmed it.

However, that stubborn tilt to his chin told me the subject was closed.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

As it turned out, we didn't have to wait twenty four hours.

We were five minutes into the journey across campus, when our Rolex watches emitted a loud beeping noise, and lit up, glowing eerily in the darkness.

Sammy, silent mode. Now.

The kid nodded, and the beeping noises ceased, the backlite shutting off. We could still see the readout on the tracking device however, a small blip like a heart monitor, and it told us that Tobius was merely five hundred yards away, to the south, just off campus.

Just one problem. Our noses didn't agree with the tracking device.

Our noses told us there was nothing there.

Vamp? Sam stared dead ahead, watching the darkness.

Probably…

Suddenly, the blip on the tracking device sped up, as though whatever was posing as Sire, was belting towards us at one hell of a rate.

Shit!

Just as suddenly as it started, the blip ground to a halt.

And then a voice, soft and female, used to command, called out to us.

"You have nothing to fear from me, Sam and Dean." A tall, attractive woman, with dark red hair stepped out of the shadows and into our path. After strange, dark eyes swept over us a few times, she bowed her head respectfully in greeting. "I bring news of Tobius."

If I wasn't mistaken, and God knew I hoped I was, a thread of sadness had wound its way into her tone.

Sam and I shared a glance, shifting slightly from foot to foot, ready for an attack.

"Who are you?" I called out, though I already had a good idea, and her answer came as little surprise.

"I am Lenore. Founder of the Passive Nests, and friend to Tobius Le Salle."

She held out her hand.

A Rolex, with a black and gold wolf motif on the face, glinted up at us in the dim light.

It was cracked, filthy, and covered in flecks of dried blood.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Author's notes:

Yeah... I know.

But it was necessary at this stage.

There's a lot of trouble ahead...

Don't hate me too much, my darlings.

Anyone looking to write a missing scene on this one? 'Cos I think Sam and Jess are crying out for it re: conversation before the happy noises! Please, be my guest if you wish to include the happy noises... no permission needed. LOL!

Kind regards,

ST xxx