Endangered Species

With my Pack here, the mass change went smoothly. There were no icemakers or fans to move air, so we had to improvise. Gathering all the vehicles we could find, Melanie worked with the soldiers to transport everyone to the Shoreline Park Beach on the north side of Interstate 5. This area was still part of the Joint Base but contained mainly dependent housing. It was outside the patrolled perimeter, but my Pack ensured it was secure.

I stayed behind with Major Perriman.

I’d warned him about the pain that was to come, but the reality was different. He tried to tough it out, but the bones breaking overcame even that. We’d moved far from humans, making the change in the woods behind one of the many firing ranges to the south. I did my best to encourage him, but the pain would prevent him from even hearing me soon. Watching his first shift brought back painful memories of my own.

When it was over, a grey and white-furred wolf with a silver patch on his chest lay on the grass. I’d already shifted, so when he went to attack, I pinned his neck to the ground and let my dominance out. His wolf calmed as he submitted to me, and I brought him into my Pack. He sat up and looked around, his human and wolf now integrated inside his mind. “Congratulations, Bruce. You’re one of us now.”

Bruce was looking over the terrain with his wolf night vision and taking in the scents around him. “It’s overwhelming,” he replied.

“You’ll get used to it. Come on, moving around will help ease the aches.” He stood on four paws and stretched, ending with the ‘downward dog’ stretch. In human form, Major Perriman was intimidating and dangerous-looking. His wolf was no different. His dominance level wasn’t as high as mine and was a match for Lead Warriors Ted and Lois. I could tell immediately he would have a leadership role in my Pack.

We spent the rest of the night learning about our new bodies, with Oscar giving us lessons on general wolfiness. I was exhausted by the time we turned in. Oscar taught us to run, track, fight, and shift while moving. We’d be at a full sprint in wolf form, and he’d tell us to shift. We had to jump high enough to make room for human legs, then land at full speed. It was much easier doing it the other way, with fewer faceplants. We could barely eat a big dinner before going to sleep.

The next day was going to be busy. Our group took over one of the airplane hangars, keeping the new shifters in a big, enclosed area. The Major and I spent most of the time talking strategy while the new wolves suffered through their shifts. When the first ones became wolves, I stayed busy by placing dominance on them and bringing them into the Pack. Melanie had organized WolfyCamp stations around the hangar with different topics. As wolves finished their shifts, they started classes.

After all, we didn’t have much time. By midnight, all 287 volunteers had completed their shifts. “I can’t believe it,” Ted told me as the last one headed for his training.

“What?”

“They all made it.”

“So?”

“This doesn’t just happen, Alpha. Humans die during the change all the time. Sometimes the first shift is too stressful for their body to handle, or they give up because of the pain. Maybe they are too injured to heal, or they cannot integrate their wolf with their human side. Even with a mate and an alpha, not everyone makes it. We expected to lose ten, even twenty percent of them, but they all made it!”

I didn’t know how to explain it. “Maybe the Goddess knew we needed them?”

“Or maybe the bite of a silver wolf did it,” he speculated. “Look around, Alpha Summers, because you did this.” I did look; groups of people were learning about their new bodies and abilities. Their mix of dominance levels skewed higher than a typical Pack. We saw many posturing and dominance displays, but not many fights, as wolves slotted into their Pack ranks. Nearly all were at warrior level, with some higher-ranking wolves mixed in. I guess it made sense; most of the volunteers were soldiers already.

Two new wolves were mates with women who had come with Renfro, while three other pairs found each other among the changed wolves. I sent the happy pairs off to private rooms; they would be excused from tonight’s activities so they could complete the mating process.

As the night finished up, my much larger Pack dined together on oatmeal, pancakes, and juice. The changes and the training resulted in huge appetites, followed by fatigue. We formed into units led by Beta-rank wolves and marched back to the Madigan Army Hospital’s main floor. The base personnel had heard about us, and many of them turned out to watch us arrive.

That’s when I lost fourteen more.

All found mates among the humans. All fourteen wanted their mates turned as soon as possible. And all remaining injured personnel and a bunch of healthy ones wanted to become werewolves too.

The Pack would return to wolf form overnight, choosing to puppy-pile in one of our larger interior rooms. I was exhausted, but I had to deal with a worried General. I mind-linked my senior leadership in on the conversation so I wouldn’t have to repeat it later. “Ensign Summers, reporting as ordered, General.”

He returned my salute, then started walking away from the group at the door. When we were alone, he finally spoke. “I’ve probably got another two hundred who want the change now, Ensign. I’m still struggling to understand how I can maintain order and discipline among the three-hundred-some you have here now!”

“What do you mean, sir? Everything is proceeding as expected. Tomorrow we’ll start unit exercises, and we are on track to attack in three more nights.”

He nodded at that. “I noticed the formations, Summers. You told me military rank wouldn’t matter in the Pack, but I didn’t believe it until now. There are officers and senior NCOs in the ranks and Corporals leading squads and platoons!”

“There is order and discipline, sir. The Pack will be ready for the fight.”

“What about the ranks?”

“I’m sorry I’m fucking with your pay scales, General.”

He let out a laugh at that. “Money is the least of anyone’s worries now, Alpha. I think I’ll call you that now because an Ensign commanding a battalion of warriors seems wrong.”

“On the scale of everything wrong in this world, I can handle that one.”

“I suppose you can.” He looked over at the new mated pairs, some of whom faced the long task of getting their mate to agree to the change. “What do we do about them?”

“That depends on whether you want another batch of turns before I leave, sir. I can’t be here for the shifts and be there for the scheduled attack on the submarine base. An Alpha has to be here on the third day.”

He looked out at the horizon, where the first glow of dawn was coming over the mountains. “I can’t push back the attack; Northern Command is adamant we retake the base.”

“Then they will have to wait,” I told him.

We practiced our plans and contingencies until we moved with precision and perfect coordination. Finally, it was time to go. There was one hitch as we loaded up the canvas-topped trucks that would carry armed soldiers and wolves to the north, and it came from the General. “I need one of your wolves to drive the command vehicle,” he told me.

“Sir, I’m in the lead truck.”

“There’s been a change,” he told me. “As soon as you take over the base, Colonel Tester will roll in and take command from you.”

“Sir?”

“Alpha, when you proposed this plan, you told me you’d report directly to a Base Commander I would appoint. My boss is adamant about this; he wants a HUMAN military officer in charge, not another Werewolf Alpha he’s not sure he can control. The Colonel will hang back until the base is secure, so his presence won’t affect your plan. I’ve given him orders that he cannot take command or exert authority over your unit until you report back, through his driver, that you have taken the base. If you fail, he will turn around and report back to me.”

“Aye aye, General.” I asked for a volunteer who could drive a Humvee, selecting one from the group that would remain at the main gate. We left the base twenty minutes after sunset.

We didn’t see much human activity as we drove north towards Silverdale. There was enough moonlight to see, and any working lights had been disabled. We stopped on the south side of the hills, sending out our recon teams under Major Perriman. Their wolves wore harnesses to carry their rifles and observation gear. We sprayed them with scent blocking solution used by hunters before having them roll around in the pine needles and forest floor. They ran off to take their overwatch positions.

Fifteen minutes later, Bruce informed me they were in place, and the road to the main gate was open. “Good luck, Alpha.”

“Stay safe, Major.” I ordered the column forward, the drivers pushing their speed near eighty miles an hour as we rolled down the roads the Pack had cleared. My truck had white truce flags flying on each bumper.

The guards at the main gate saw us coming, and Overwatch reported hundreds of armed men were streaming out of the underground bunker. I smiled as I linked my inside girl, the teen who had been my first Pack member from my reconnaissance run. “Eden, it’s Alpha Angela. We’re coming up on the main gate. When the warriors and Pack leaders have left the tunnels, I need you and your allies to close the blast door and disable it.”

“You can count on me, Alpha.”

We didn’t run the main gate because I didn’t want a fight. Instead, the trucks stopped a few hundred yards short, and the soldiers and wolves jumped out. They formed a line opposite the Quinalt Pack fighters, using stalled vehicles, rocks, and tree stumps for cover. “How many are we facing, Bruce?”

“Too many to take in a straight-up fight, and they know it,” he replied. “No sign of the Alpha yet.”

I expanded the link to the whole Pack. “I’m heading in. If they shoot me, Melanie is in charge. Disengage and return to base.”

This was the fun part. The Pack defenders had working spotlights, and one shone in my eyes as I got out of the lead truck. Wearing my Army uniform and sidearm, I took the white flag in my left hand. Ted and Lois flanked me as I approached, both in wolf form.

It was a long walk. “Don’t worry, Alpha. If they have any skill with those rifles, you’ll be dead before you hear the shot,” Bruce sent.

“That’s supposed to help?”

“You’re taking a big risk, Alpha.”

I got to within ten yards of the gates before a voice told me I’d come far enough. “State your business,” he said.

“I am Alpha Summers of the Renfro Pack.”

He sniffed, trying to pick up my scent. “Are you here to submit to Alpha Edward Winters, the Supreme Alpha of the Northwest?”

I snorted. “That’s what that coward is calling himself? Hilarious.”

My words had them bringing rifles to bear on me. Tensions were high. “Lay down your arms and submit, and you will live,” the Beta yelled.

“No. I, Alpha Angela Summers, challenge Alpha Edward Winters to single combat for the leadership of the Quinalt Pack.”

Some men laughed at this while the Beta was linking his boss. “Alpha Winters does not accept challenges from women.”

“Pack Law and our traditions do not allow him that power,” I replied. “Either he accepts the challenge or forfeits the Pack to me.”

“He is coming.”

“Alpha, we have movement at the tunnels. Another fifty or so warriors are surrounding Alpha Winters.”

“Just as we planned, Bruce.”

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE,” Alpha Edward screamed a few minutes later. He pushed through the warriors gathered at the gate, pointing at me as I sat with my escorts. “WHY ISN’T SHE DEAD YET?”

Beta Todd lowered his head. “She has issued a formal challenge, Alpha. Pack Law protects her until the challenge.”

He looked me over, instantly dismissing me as a threat. “Open the gate and let her in,” he ordered. “This will be over quickly. The challenge area is this way.”

“Unless I can bring my Pack in, the challenge should be right here,” I replied. “Under the law, we are both required to have all Pack members in attendance.”

He looked out at the forces I’d brought and snorted. “Fine. We’ll do it here.”

I had the Pack members in wolf form approach, forming a semicircle behind me. One came up with a bag. I started to remove my uniform, starting with my gun belt. I placed everything in the bag as spotlights illuminated my nakedness. A few males made lewd comments, which I ignored. I shifted into my silver wolf, letting out my Alpha power as I did so.

It rolled over the gathered wolves like a wave. Some men lowered their weapons, while others dropped to their knees. Suddenly, the challenge wasn’t an easy battle. “Kill her,” the Alpha ordered.

His Beta was the first to speak. “Alpha, we cannot attack one who is moon-blessed. She is a messenger from the Moon Goddess herself! It is blasphemy!”

“How can I be challenged by someone I can’t fight,” he asked his leadership.

Instead of backing him up, they knelt to me. The Beta turned on his Alpha. “You gained your position without honor, Edward. Is it any shock Luna has sent her messenger to remove you?”

Enraged, Alpha Edward grabbed a rifle from his guard and pointed it at me.

I heard a shot.