New Companions

There was nothing at first; Damon was in a world where there was no shape, no color, just darkness all around him.

Then mist rose from the ground and begins to twirl around him like dancers, entrancing him. Suddenly, the pillar of smoke in front of him took shape and a figure was running towards him. Damon squints and saw the bandana skull mask, the beanie and the sniper rifle; it was Swans. He began to smile when he saw his friend, but suddenly there was a cackle of gunfire and multiple red dots appeared on the snipers chest. Swans fell short of Damon and lands at the Ghost Commander's feet. Damon tries to help, but his body wouldn't move, forcing him to stare at his bloodied teammate.

The wind suddenly picks up and the smoke begins to form different shapes, Swans broken body became white smoke and it too floats away. Another form took shape, a figure was standing a few yards away from Damon, his back was turned to him, but he could see the LMG in the man's hands and knew it was Falkner. Damon again tries to move, to shout a warning, but his body wouldn't respond. Tendrils of smoke flew at the Ghost from out of nowhere and obscure Damon's view. When the smoke clears away there was the eerie afterimage of Falkner's Ameli gun, lying on the ground absent of its owner.

No more, Damon pleaded, but the dream continues. A man forms over Damon and he was force to look upwards at the giant. Gordon stares back down and holds out his hand. Then there were the cracks and two holes appear in his chest, showering Damon in his fake friend's blood. The smoky body of Gordon falls and evaporates when the body hits the floor.

The air whistles and soon, three ghostly shapes appear before Damon. The bloodied body of Swans in front of him, a blood stained gun to his left, and Gordon's body on his right, smoke billowing where his chest cavity is.

Then he heard the sound of a round being chambered and he was finally able to move.

"Have a good day Señor," a ghostly image says, standing behind Damon. Damon tries to move but it was too late, the ghostly figure holds up a pistol in its hand and fires.

Damon violently awoke and gasps. His first instinct was to grab his weapon, but after a few moments of blindly groping for something that wasn't there, Damon stops struggling and tries to breathe normally.

Great, he thought, I'm going into shellshock, my body is still a wreck and my right eye is no longer in play, what's next?

He casts a glance outside. It looks like one of those sunny days where everything was right with the world. The sunshine was bright; the blue skies are filled with clouds, the fresh smell of pine trees was gently blown through the air. Yup, it looks like the start of a perfect day. So why did Damon feels so miserable?

He sighs and decides to get ready. Tenderly, Damon removes his blood crusted pants and replaces it with a pair of clean shorts and an olive green t-shirt; this was as close as any Ghost gets to looking ordinary.

Wearily, Damon tries to stand, his whole body was sore from the extraction of the bullets the other day. He couldn't stand up to his full height within the den, so ever pain staking slowly, he crouches and made his way to the entrance.

He crawls out of the cave and lets out a hiss as the sudden brightness of the day hits his left eye. He felt around the entrance until he found his walking stick and uses it to help him off the ground. He breathes steadily as he ponders what his next move should be.

Maybe I should check my perimeter, he figures, that'll give me some exercise and the knowledge should prove useful in the future.

He put the stick out in front of him, but due to his blind spot, he didn't see he was placing it on Garth's tail until the wolf lets out a startled yelp.

Surprise by the sudden appearance of the young Alpha, Damon stumbles backwards and has to use his improvise cane for support to prevent himself from falling over.

"Garth!" he screams, "what are you doing? Why were you hiding outside my den?"

"I wasn't hiding," defended Garth, "I was right in front of the cave, are you blind-" he suddenly stops right there, but it was too late, he has already spoken.

Damon was silent for a minute before replying, "No, I'm only blind in one eye, other than that, I can see."

Garth bows his head slightly, "Sorry Damon, I didn't get enough sleep last night and wasn't thinking straight."

"Why weren't you sleeping?" questions the Ghost, "furthermore, why are you here instead of back at your own den with Lilly?"

"Um," Garth became silent and avoids Damon's gaze as he answers, "we were…worried that you might need our help in the middle of the night, so I stayed to make sure you were ok."

Damon didn't think Garth was lying, but he wasn't telling the whole truth either. Damon quickly went through the facts. Alphas are the fighters, a lot of wolves aren't happy with him staying with the pack; was it possible that a certain group of wolves meant to do him harm and Garth was here to ensure they wouldn't attack him? He wasn't sure if this was the case, but it sounds reasonable and far more believable than Garth's tale.

Sensing the questioning gaze upon him, Garth tries to change the subject, "so, uh, is there anything you need?"

Damon shakes his head, "I was just going to walk around, get my strength back and have a look around the area."

Garth nods his understanding, "well if you want I can come with you as a guide of sorts."

Damon nods in confirmation, "That would be good."

Garth spent most of the day showing Damon the borders and markers of their territory, usually it wouldn't take all day to view these things, but due to Damon's injuries they had to move slowly. Garth was astonished to see the human being able to walk, he figured he would have been crawling by the time they were done but he was actually keeping up with him.

They stop so Damon can chew on the strange human food he had brought from his den while Garth went out in search for rabbits or some other small creatures he could use as a snack. As Damon chew on his energy bar, he reviews all the places he was taken to and tries to lock it down in his memories. There was Rabbit Poo Mountain, Two Paw Lake, and Squirrels Nutty Tree; he had a sinking suspicion that it was the Omegas who came up with the names for most of these places.

Soon Garth returns with a good size rabbit and began tearing into it. Damon tries not to gag as the pungent aroma met his nose; he now wishes he had brought his mask along to wear.

When Garth was done with his light snack, Damon asks, "is there a place where I can get some water?" his water bottle went empty nearly an hour ago.

"Sure," Garth replies and led him to a nearby stream. As they drew closer, Damon thought he heard the laughter of children, at first he thought he was just becoming delusional again until they arrived at the river and he saw what was causing the noise.

It was indeed children, or pups he suppose. They were the size of a regular puppy going on its growing spurt, all of them were tackling, chasing and biting each other like regular pups do. What was different was the fact that they were laughing and calling each other out by name. The scene was a little too bizarre for Damon to take in for a moment, never before would he have guess that wolves would, or even could, laugh, talk, and play like an average human being.

Garth notices his staring and says, "Cute aren't they?"

Damon had to think for a moment. Cute? What was his definition of cute? For the past ten years beautiful, adorable, cute and other adoring adjectives weren't use; it hardly ever is when your homeland is under constant siege.

Seeing Garth still waiting for an answer, Damon just nods his head, not in the mood to tell Garth of the bleak world he came from. Together they made their way to the stream, but as they neared the pups stops playing, some put their tails between their legs and ran off.

Damon shouldn't be surprised; he was a Ghost, one of the most deadliest predators alive, proven only two days ago when he and team took down nearly a hundred combatants. Yet seeing the young playful wolves run from him left him a daunting feeling.

Sensing his sadness, Garth says, "they just never seen a human before, give them a few days and they'll be swarming all over you, you'll see."

Damon says nothing as he painfully bends down, dip cupped hands into the river and brought cool water to his crack lips.

The human and the wolf made their way back to Damon's cave, he hasn't eaten dinner yet, but he was exhausted after covering what felt like twenty miles while Garth claims the area was just five mile in length. Damon was about to collapse in front of the den's entrance and crawl inside when movement caught his eye.

He turns and sees a brown wolf observing him from a nearby bush. Damon's hand instantly clutches his stick tighter and whispers, "Garth, who is that?"

"Eh?" Garth looks to where Damon was pointing and just grins, "That's Viola, don't worry, she's one of Winston's head Betas, I guess she'll be watching over you for tonight."

"Why," Damon asks, "is there something wrong?"

"Oh, uh, no, not really," Damon continues to stare down at the wolf until he shifts from foot to foot and says, "it's nothing, really, it's just in case you know, there are a lot of wolves who doesn't like…um, the arrangements at the moment."

Damon nods his understanding and looks back at the brown wolf, Viola, who stares back with a cool intensity that reminds him a bit of a glance of a seasoned soldier. Was the wolf there to protect him, or to keep him prisoner of his den so he won't cause any havoc?

The next day was different, it was still a perfect spring day, but unlike yesterday, Damon was much too sore to move his muscles much. Instead of walking the perimeter as was his original plan he instead sits outside his cave on a rock and observes the day.

It wasn't long before he got bored and decides to entertain himself by creating combat scenarios using the woods around him. The mental images in his head were filled with plans, booby traps and lots of blood.

I'm too exposed, he grimly thought, if I can pull some branches loose and use them to cover the entrance of the lair and if I had a suppressed weapon, I could withstand any attack. Traps could also be used as a factor, but what about the wolves? I may have to suspend the tripwire high in the air and find some way to hide it so they don't accidently set it off.

While he was pondering how to hide a suspended piece of wire, he felt a presence closing in on him and looks up to see Kate walking over.

"Hello Damon," she says, "how you feeling?"

Afraid, horrible, and agitated…"I'm doing alright," was his response.

Kate nods and asks, "so what are you doing today?"

Damon just says, "nothing, I'm tuckered out from the small walk I took with Garth the other day, by the way, where is he? I haven't seen him for a while."

"He left with a hunting party earlier today," she explains, "the caribou was scared all the way across the park, so it may take a while before he gets back."

Damon nods and lets out a small smile of relief. He only had enough MRE's to last him one week, he was glad the wolves ate something other than bones.

A silence hung over the pair as an awkward moment continues. Finally he asks, "Kate, I couldn't help but over hear that you split the wolves in the pack into two groups, Alphas and Omegas, do you mind telling me why?"

Kate took a seat and begins talking, "An Alpha is a wolf who has gone to Alpha school, and it is there they learn to hunt, lead and learn a little bit of the outside world. An Omega is a wolf who is good for laughs; they don't have much skill, so they mostly rely on us Alphas."

"I couldn't help but notice you tend to separate yourselves over the matter," said Damon, "why is that?"

"Sometimes it's a matter of survival, in order to survive, the Alphas must band together should they need to hunt or defend the pack from any and all dangers," said Kate.

Damon thought for a bit before asking, "How do you know if a wolf is an Alpha or an Omega?"

"We just tell by their parenting, my parents, Winston and Eve, they're alphas, while Humphrey's are Omegas."

"Like I said, you separate yourselves from one another, right?" asks Damon to make sure he got it right.

"Only when it concerns hunting or fighting for the pack, but yes, we all fall under either of those categories."

"Mind if I ask something personal?" Asks Damon, "If you two are supposed to be separated, how was it you mated with a Omega?"

Kate giggles, "That's a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere soon," Damon says and waves at his exhausted body. Kate smiles before beginning the story.

Damon listens as she talks of the two packs, the western and eastern wolf packs that were always fighting one another. In order to stop the violence, Winston, leader of the western wolves, and Tony, leader of the Eastern wolves, planned an arranged marriage between Garth and Kate. Before the wedding however, both Kate and Humphrey were taken by humans and was transported to a place called 'Idaho'. There they met Marcel and Paddy who helped them get back. Damon couldn't help but laugh along with Kate as she talks about Humphrey, how he supposedly made it stop raining with a backwards rain dance, how a simple snowball fight with a bear cub turn into a chaotic chase from hungry grizzlies and how Humphrey was nearly killed by Kate's mother when she thought he mated with her daughter.

Damon had tears in his eyes and was still chuckling when he finally asks, "I still don't understand it, how could someone as highly trained as yourself fall for a little nut ball like him?"

Kate laughs at the description before saying, "I don't know, it just sort of…happen and we didn't even realize it until we kissed," she says with light embarrassment.

"Speaking of realization, I think it's late," Damon says as he notice the sky was turning orange in the setting sun. Ghosts were trained to stay up all night at a time but he figures it was best if he gets an early night's sleep to help speed his recovery.

Damon rises and says, "well good night Kate, hopefully I'll see you tomorrow."

"I won't be here tomorrow," she informs him, "I'm going to go on border patrol to make sure no soldiers are around our territory."

Damon was silent before saying, "alright, be careful Kate, remember, these guys are a lot stronger than you are, if you got a choice, run, don't fight, run for your life."

Kate silently nods before turning and pads off back to her den. As Damon enters his shelter, he pauses and looks around. Sure enough, there was a grey wolf watching him from the same spot where Viola was hiding yesterday.

How serious is this protection deal, wonders Damon, feeling annoyed. He didn't like being the weak one, the one who others have to take care of, he needs to hurry and recover soon if he is to fight the Feds.

The next day, determine not to be the weak link, Damon forces himself to move from the cave and walk the perimeter. That day it was Humphrey who came to spend the day with him. He found the presence of the Omega quite amusing. Damon wasn't sure if the wolf was trying to be funny on purpose or if he was simply born goofy.

Their walk through the forest came to an abrupt end when Damon was forced to stop. Between the excruciating hike and the breathless laughter he was simply too tired to keep moving. With the help of Humphrey, he was taken back to the den and spent the rest of the day inside, ending what was supposed to be his work out session. Sensing his disappointed mood, Humphrey stayed with the human and told stories, jokes and performs one man, or one wolf, plays, some were a bit cheesy, but some truly made Damon laugh.

"So why was the little wolf so small?" asks Humphrey.

"I don't know," Damon honestly replies.

"Because he was afraid to grow," that joke wasn't too funny, but the unexpected answer causes Damon to chuckle.

Fresh out of jokes, quietness envelops them. Suddenly there was a howl and Damon saw Humphrey tense up. He was about to ask the wolf what was wrong when another howl followed the first, causing the grey Omega to relax.

Curious, Damon asks, "What was that?"

"Alpha patrols," Humphrey says, "They howl to send messages, one howl means they're in trouble, two means they're ok."

"I'm guessing from that worried look you had on you were concerned about Kate," Damon guesses.

Humphrey sighs and nods, "I worry about her whenever she's out there, especially with these human soldiers around; I wish I was out there with her."

"Well why don't you ask Winston if you could join the Alphas?" Damon questions.

Humphrey stares at Damon before bursting out laughing. Humphrey laugh and laugh, going hysterical, causing him to roll around on the dirt floor. Damon knew his knowledge on the wolves was limited but he couldn't help but feel slightly humiliated that he suggested something that was apparently so ludicrous that even the Omegas have never thought of before.

Humphrey finally calms down, still chuckling every so often. Damon gazes at the wolf before asking, "Are you done?"

Humphrey gave him a wolfish grin before saying, "Sorry, but that was the craziest thing I have ever heard," he ends with a chuckle.

"So I'm guessing you're an Alpha or Omega for life, you can't change it?"

The question caused Humphrey to suddenly somber up as he replies, "Yeah, us Omegas are too unpredictable and aren't trusted when it comes to any physical activity."

That I can understand, Damon thought to himself remembering all the times Humphrey has stumbled and tripped just by going on a walk, it would be bloody murder if he enters any battlefield.

The sun was setting and Damon felt his heart sink. He knew he was healing, the stinging pain in his arm and lower back wasn't as intense as it was yesterday, but his health wasn't returning as fast as he would have liked it to.

Damon excuses himself and says, "I hope you don't mind Humphrey, but I think it's time I went to sleep."

"Yeah, sure, no problem," the Omega says before getting up and left, "good night Damon."

"You too Humphrey," he calls after the wolf before lowering himself back down within the confides of his den once more.

When Damon woke the next morning he was on high alert. His senses were screaming at him that there was something out of the ordinary within his environment. The den looks the same, aside from his duffel bag; there was nothing else in the room.

Damon was about to fall back asleep again when he heard it, or to be more precise, heard them. There was a multitude of voices outside his den; he counted five different voices, all seeming to be arguing among each other. As he listens in, he realizes the voices were high pitch yet they were speaking in a semi-minuscule tone, suggesting the speakers weren't fully grown wolves, but young pups.

He was hoping he was hearing human children whispering to each other, but that hope disappear when he was able to make out what the voices were saying.

"But what will happen if the human wakes up?" one voice asks.

"Then he might skin us alive," replies another, "that's what my mom said."

"Maybe we should do something else," suggest a feeble voice.

"But this could be the only chance we get to see a human up close," said a strong voice with a hint of daring within it.

"Well you can go in there and see him, I'm staying out here," a whiny voice said.

"Fine, I will," the daring tone said.

Damon had no idea what to do next, should he try and leave, make it known he was awake, or pretend to be asleep. He opted for sleep when he saw a shadowy silhouette enter from the corner of his eye. He breathes slowly and evenly, keeping his left eye open only by a centimeter.

The unknown figure cautiously moved forward, edging closer and closer to Damon. He notice that the wolf was the color brown and white, it was also small and he knew his theory was correct; this was a pup. The pup moves up to him and ever so slowly started sniffing Damon's motionless body; he had to fight the urge to move his arm when the wolf's wet nose tickles his bare skin. Next the wolf just stared at him for a bit before losing interest and moves away from the human.

Damon was frustrated when he couldn't see out of his right eye, forcing him to carefully turn his head to see what the little wolf would do next. The pup was now inspecting his bag, which he accidently left open last night. The wolf sniffs the contents, nosing around inside. He saw the wolf moving his MREs, spare clothes and water bottles. The pup stops shuffling around, grabs something with its mouth and pulls out Damon's mask.

He knew the wolf wasn't going to steal it or vandalize it, but still he considered his mask as off-limits to everyone but him.

"I prefer it if you don't touch that," he says in a casual tone, now opening his left eye fully.

The wolf spun around, opening its maw in the process and letting the mask drop to the ground. The wolf starts to whimper; it places it tail between its back legs, crouches and backs itself into a corner, trying to get as far away from Damon as possible.

"P-p-please don't s-skin me," the wolf begs, "I-I was only looking, p-please, p-p-please, don't hurt me," the pup finishes with a whimper.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Damon says in a reassuring voice, "I just didn't want you to touch my mask."

"S-sorry," says the wolf in a low soft voice, marking the wolf as a female, "I meant no harm."

"I know you didn't," Damon said, "my name is Damon, what's yours?"

The wolf stares at Damon with wide eyes before whispering, "M-Meadow, my name is Meadow."

"That's an interesting name," he says, "So what are you doing here?"

Sheepishly she replies, "Oh, my friends and I just wanted to, um, see you, you're the first human we have ever seen."

Damon nods, understanding her when a voice from the outside calls, "Meadow? Who are you talking to in there?"

"Damon," she calls back.

"Who's Damon?"

"The human," she calls back. There was a moment of silence before she calls again, "come in and meet him."

There was a sudden explosion of protests as the pups talk among one another until cautiously the small pack of pups walk in. There were four of them all together and all looking nervous as they walk in.

A male pup asks, "Meadow, are you ok?"

"No," she answers, "he skinned me alive, of course I'm ok, I'm standing in front of you aren't I?"

The wolves chuckles lightly before turning their focus on Damon. Meadow walks forward and says, "Guys, this is Damon," she then turns to him, "Damon, this is Max," she indicates an all-black pup, "Ann," referring to a chestnut colored wolf, "Devan," a grey and white wolf, "and Talia," a black and white wolf.

Damon nods and says, "Pleasure to meet all of you."

The wolves had no idea what else to say, until Talia asks, "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Los Angeles California," seeing their confused looks he just said, "I'm from the land down south of here."

"Do you eat caribou?" asks Max.

"No, but I do eat steak, it's kind of like caribou but I don't eat it much, not enough from where I'm from."

"Do you…uh, eat naughty wolves?" asks a timid Ann.

Damon laughs, "is that what your parent says?" they nod to him and he says, "No I don't eat wolves, so you have nothing to fear."

Meadow next asks, "Are you an Alpha?"

"By your standards, yes I am, but I also like making jokes, so I guess that makes me part Omega," the comment causes the wolves to look and whispers among themselves.

Seeing them starting to shift from foot to foot and them bumping into each other, Damon guesses they were getting restless. "Let's move outside," he says and could tell the pups were relived to.

They all ran outside, nipping and shoving each other out the tiny entrance while Damon picks up his mask and places it back in his bag before slowly moving after the pups. Meadow stops and watches Damon's slow progress.

"Are you alright?" she asks.

"Yes and no," he says, "I'm healed but still recovering," he finishes as he gets out and sits on the rock in front of the small cave.

Meadow continues to watch him so he says, "I'm fine, really, I just have to wait until my wounds close."

"Does that mean you can't play?" asks Devan.

Damon stares at the young pup. He wants a Ghost to play with them? He remembers Garth saying that once the pups get use to him, they'll be swarming all around him.

"Sorry, but I promise when I'm fully healed we can play," swears Damon which only causes the pups to become more excited.

Soon the young wolves start to play, leaving Damon to watch. They tussle together and made a giant ball of fur that would growl and yip at each other as they wrestled. Next they raced each other's through the trees, zig zagging between Damon's den and something called Howling Rock. They then plays hide and seek which eventually turns back into a wrestling contest.

Damon laughs lightly to himself as he watches. As part of his Ghost training, he continues to look around, observing his surroundings and ensuring there isn't a threat. During one of these sweeps he notices that there was no Alpha watching over his den. I guess even pack security grows lax sometimes.

Around midday Lilly came to vists and was shock at the group of puppies still playing around Damon.

"I see you're surrounded," giggles Lilly as she sits next to him.

Damon grunts and says, "I feel like Custard and those guys are Sitting Bull and his band."

"Who?" asks Lilly.

"Never mind, I'll tell you later," he replies, "so what's everyone doing today?"

"The Alpha scouts returned and reports the caribou are now back in our territory, so almost all the wolves left, the Alphas will do the hunting and the Omegas will watch," elaborates Lilly.

"So what are you doing here?" he asks.

"Well somebody needed to watch the pups so I decided to stay, I came out here to see if they were with you, which is correct I assume."

Damon nods and waves at them "are any of them of yours?"

Lilly sadly shook her head, "no, Garth and I have yet to have a pup, but so hasn't Humphrey and Kate either so I guess it takes a while."

Damon nods his understanding before realizing the pups has stop playing. Exhausted, they came up to them and collapse on the ground, panting heavily, which causes Damon and Lilly to laugh.

Meadow was the first to recover, she sits up and asks Damon, "So is it true, are you one of the most deadliest creatures on earth?"

Damon felt a little uncomfortable but says, "Uh, yeah, I believe so."

"Where did you go to school at?" asks Max.

"Uh, Reseda High School," Damon said.

"That must be a great school if they're able to make warriors like you," comments Devan.

Damon busts out laughing when he realizes what the wolves were trying to say, "No, no, that was where I was educated, the school where I learn to be a warrior is called Ghost Training, it's not really a school, it's like a school for an individual person," he amends before asking, "do you guys go to school?"

Meadow shakes her head and says, "Devan, Max, Ann and Talia will go to Alpha school this year," here she looks down sadly and says, "But I'm an Omega so I can't go."

Damon eyes widen when she said this. She was the first one into Damon's cave, showing him she had bravery and he observed that she was the toughest contender during their wrestling matches, if anyone deserves to be an Alpha it should be her. He turns to Lilly and sees her avoiding his gaze as well. Damon didn't know why, but he couldn't stand the injustice of it all.

Talia starts gnawing on Meadow's ear, bringing her out of her gloomy mood and the two begins to pounce on one another again.

Lilly laughs lightly before looking up to the skies and notices it has turn orange. She get up and calls, "children, it's time we head back."

The pups all groan and slowly made their way back to their homes. Ann stops and asks Damon, "Can we see you tomorrow?"

Damon smiles and says, "Sure, I'm pretty sure I'll be here all week."

Suddenly energize by the prospect, the pups walk home with a bounce in their steps, talking to one another. Lilly walks after them chucking to herself all the while.

Damon laughs himself and mutters, "kids."

He looks to the skies as he waits outside for a bit longer. He wasn't eager to go back inside, inside meant sleep, and sleep meant more nightmares. It was always the same, over and over again, being force to watch his teammates die and not able to do anything about it, always ending with the man with the gun who he is sure is Estrada.

Will I keep having this dream for the rest of my life? He wonders, is this what they mean by the curse of the lone survivor? Damon sadly watches the orange heavens disappear, only to be replaced with a dark sky full of stars. This was one of the things he likes about Canada, the stars. Back in the U.S there was too much debris in the sky from the ODIN attacks, he tried to ignore some of the rumors that most of it were human ash flying in the low atmosphere. He gazes at the twinkling suns so far away until he sighs and carefully gets up, deciding to get some sleep.

But he freezes and looks to the bushes where an Alpha usually sits to keep watch over him. It was still unoccupied. So why was it he felt multiple eyes on him. He was taught to always listen to his senses, so he turns and scans the woods once more. His left eye wasn't able to see the details but he saw them, at least half a dozen black shapes hiding behind trees or in the bushes, their size and shapes suggesting they are wolves.

The fact that they were hiding made Damon assume they weren't friendly. He curses himself for leaving his walking stick inside, the only weapon he possesses.

Hoping to find out the truth and earn him some time to prepare his body for anything, he calls out, "Are you going to hide or are you going to show yourselves?"

The shapes stayed hidden until one, the leader he assumes, steps out from behind the tree and walks over, the others begins following the first wolf's lead.

Damon had an idea who it was, but it wasn't until the shape got closer was he able to identify the leader. It was the black wolf, Oliver, with the same cronies that was with him when they first met.

"Good evening Oliver," Damon says, trying to avoid any violence, "what brings you out on this nice night?"

"You," growls Oliver, "I couldn't help but overhear you say you'll be here all week."

"Well that depends on my injuries, and as you can see, I'm in no shape to be traveling anywhere anytime soon."

"Too bad," Oliver says, "you should consider moving and soon, being this far away from the rest of the pack is dangerous, you could be in trouble and no one will be around to help you."

"Is that a threat?" asks Damon, but knew it was, Oliver's small pack was starting to spread out, encircling him.

"We survive out here because we are strong," states Oliver, "the Omegas stay because they are family, you on the other hand…you aren't one of use and you may cost us valuable resources."

"What resources?" demands Damon, "I've been out here living on my own supplies."

"Doesn't matter," the black wolf growls, "I'll give you five seconds to walk into the forest and disappear, you outstayed your welcome, one," begins Oliver.

Damon stood his ground, unwilling to surrender.

"Two," continues Oliver, eyes beginning to turn red.

"Three," the small pack of wolves loosens muscles as they realize a fight was coming.

"Four," the wolves all crouch and made ready to pounce; Damon loosens his own muscles and curls his hands into fists.

"Fi-" Oliver was interrupted by another growl behind him, causing everyone to turn around.

Standing behind them was Kate, Garth and surprisingly their mates Humphrey and Lilly, looking nervous but determine as they bare their teeth.

Kate stalks forward and says, "leave him alone Oliver."

Oliver gave her and her small family a sneer and asks, "You're willing to fight for him," he jerks his head at Damon, "a human, a killer?"

"He's not a killer," defends Humphrey, "you're the one here willing to fight and murder, which goes against the pack laws."

Members of Oliver's forces look to one another and some begins to bow their heads as if in shame. Oliver however didn't give up.

"This human will be the death of us all," he claims, "the pack leaders know this is true, they just stay their fangs because they have to abide by pack laws, something that won't hold us back."

"Then we will hold you back," growls Garth. The wolves were lock in a stare down, each daring the other to move. All of Oliver's supporters were Alphas, but the small friendly group of wolves had Damon, who silently stoops down and picks up a rock, ready to fight if needed.

Finally Oliver snarls and looks back to Damon, "if you wish to survive, I suggest you leave, and soon." With that he turns back in the direction of the dens and walks off, leaving his followers to catch up with him.

Damon and his friends remain tenses until the last of Oliver's supporters disappears into the woods. Breathing a stiff sigh, Damon leans against the top of his den for support, his muscles still tight from the near battle experience and says, "Thanks guys."

The wolves' walk over to Damon and Kate says, "You're welcome, I'm sorry about Oliver," she said, "he can be quite troublesome sometimes."

"I notice," says Damon "thanks for standing up against them with me."

"No problem," reassures Humphrey, "you're our friend now Damon, and we'll stick with you through the end."

Damon looks at them and smiles in thanks. He found himself a new band of allies, some new friends. People he now knows he can trust and he knows they'll watch over him as he had watch over them all those days ago after they first met. They'll never be as good as Comanche team, he thought sadly but smiles at the four wolves before him, but they'll still be excellent companions.