Wolf Six's Salvation

"Jackson is a different story altogether, and Quent has had years to learn how to control the wolf," Arthur said. "What Quent is trying to say, and failing, is that you need to stay in the councilors cabin tonight. And should probably not play football with them."

A loud bickering came from the football field as the four men scrabbled for the ball. Muscles and snow mixed on the ground as each man tried to gain the football. If she had been playing, she would have been squished. Hell, she thought, if a Denver Bronco's linebacker was playing, he'd be squished.

"Excuse me for a moment." Arthur turned from Quent and Chloe and stepped into the melee, yelling at the four to break it up. The two soldiers backed off immediately, but Blake and Jackson took a moment. Blake only seemed to back down once Jackson relaxed. Arthur picked up the ball and handed it to the blonde and the game resumed.

"This is not an option. I'm requiring you to stay in the councilor's cabin tonight," Arthur continued as he returned to his original spot. "With new Weres, they have a tendency to be unpredictable. They are a lot like big puppies. They don't know their own strength, and they tend to get a bit... overzealous. I just don't want to see you get bit. Or worse."

Chloe chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment. The idea that her sweet, helpful, loving little brother could be a dangerous killer was a difficult concept to wrap her head around. She didn't have the same bone-knowing feeling that she did with him and her safety that she did with Jackson. She thought back to when he first woke up from the tank and how he had squeezed Jackson's throat. Her hand touched her neck in an unconscious movement as she watched the Blake take down the dark haired soldier in a decisive tackle.

"I understand and I'll stay in the councilor's cabin away from Blake tonight," she said slowly. She looked up at the two men, and bit her lip. "They're all going to be okay, though, right?"

Quent put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "They're going to be fine. It's going to be a rough night, being their first shift and all, but they're going to be just fine."

"Your brother and his friends are stronger than any Were I've ever seen. Faster too." Arthur's eyes followed the football as it sped through the air and into Blake's hands.

"It's a good thing we got to them in time," Quent told her softly. I'm terrified to think of what that last dose would have done to them. As is, they are on the upper scales of Weres. I've never encountered anything like them."

Chloe nodded. "Thank you for telling me."

Quent patted her shoulder gently as the three of them resumed watching the football game. "You deserve to know what's going on. You're as much a part of this as anyone now."

Chapter 28

The evening sun hung low in the sky, slowly dipping behind the mountains as it were tired. The sky was awash in purples and reds with thin clouds making abstract and beautiful designs in the sky. On the other end of the sky from the sun, stars were starting to dot the navy blue heavens and the moon was beginning her full rise to glory.

Chloe sat at the window, watching the sun and moon shift places. A friendly fire crackled in the small councilor's cabin and she had a cup of tea on the table beside her. The cabin was meant to hold camp councilors during the summer months. As such, there were three small bedrooms, one bathroom, a utility kitchen, and a small table with four chairs next to the big window overlooking the center courtyard. Chloe could see the sun fading into to the west from the edge of the window, and the moon ascending in the middle.

The moon had been in the sky for much of the day, hanging low but still visible. She had asked why they all weren't shifting since the full moon was in the sky.

"The pull is strongest at night," Quent had told her over lunch. "We think it has something to do with the light source and some other phenomena."

"Like the ocean and fish spawning?" Chloe asked, her brain trying to combine various papers she had read on the subjects. Quent shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Not exactly a huge area of research currently being done on the shifting habits of werewolves," he said with a grin.

The day had been relatively calm. The

three new Weres were bustling with nervous energy as the moon pulled them ever closer to their wolf state. Arthur had her stay away from them, and as much as she wanted to see her brother, his flashes of anger at the other wolves told her it was for the best. Arthur and Jackson had to break up several fights, and Arthur had even been bit by the blonde soldier.

Evan, she reminded herself. The blonde is Evan Drandt, the other one is Joel Martinez. She had picked up their names when Blake had finally seen her watching them play football. Introductions were made all around, and then Joel had gotten a little close to her and made Blake growl.

A scuffle had almost broken out, but Jackson had been her protector that time. He stepped between her and the other two, and seemed to grow bigger. They had both backed down, then. That was when Arthur had decided she should spend the day away from the wolves. Jackson went with the three soldiers off into the woods to burn off more energy. She wished he would have stayed with her.

Instead, Quent had spent much of the day drilling her on her thesis plans. In all the commotion, she had almost forgotten that she was still a student and that there were still tests and papers due. Luckily, she was supposed to be with Quent this week to work on her thesis and lab work. Unfortunately for her, Quent didn't let her off the hook just because they were in the middle of the woods.

The sun gave one last yellow flash before ducking under its blanket of mountains and going to sleep. Chloe got up and checked the lock on the sturdy oak door one last time. The wolves would be coming out at any time now.

She was debating watching the transformation at all. Quent had told her that people often got sick watching a wolf shift for the first time. He said the first transformation was the hardest, the most brutal, and the longest. Once it had been done, the mind learned how to do it and it became easier. Just as a baby's first steps were clumsy and slow, so was a wolf's first transformation. Only, instead of steps, it was realigning bones, growing new teeth, and sprouting fur.

Chloe went to the window, the orange firelight reflecting across the darkness outside. The last rays of golden sunshine caressed the tops of the evergreen branches, making the snow sparkle before turning into dark purple shadows. She bit the cuticle on her thumb. She was too curious not to watch, but she was still nervous of what she was about to see. Her beloved brother was about to change before her eyes, not to mention Jackson.

As if her thoughts summoned them, the wolves walked into the center of the courtyard. There were eleven men total. The three soldiers stood together, laughing nervously as they pushed one another playfully. Jackson, Quent, and Arthur followed behind them at a more sedate pace, obviously calmer about what was going to happen. The last five wolves were The Giant and his four equally massive brothers.

Ty, Trent, Tim, Trev, and Troy (the Giant) Kozlov were there to act as enforcers. If any of the new wolves misbehaved or tried to go off camp property, the Kozlov boys were there to stop them. Arthur didn't think they would try anything, but fresh wolves on their first change were always unpredictable and he didn't want trouble. Looking at the five men, she figured those new soldiers would be good as gold.

Every single male was buck naked. Chloe purposefully ignored her brother and his friends, willfully did not look at Quent or Arthur, and tried not to gawk at the Kozlovs. They weren't just big in muscles. But the one she couldn't resist looking at was Jackson. His chiseled body drew her eyes to him like a magnet. She stared, taking in his sculpted pectorals, the six-pack abs, and the delicious V that tapered to between his legs. Just thinking about his body, naked under her touch again made her heart race.

Moonlight began to fill the courtyard and as moonlight touched the men, Chloe wasn't gawking at muscles anymore.