Endangered Species

I did what I promised. I stood by Alpha Cole’s side as he spoke to the humans about the changes coming. “I never expected to find a human mate,” he said as he looked down at me with love shining in his eyes. “I was wrong in how I treated you. Your future Luna is now in charge of humans in this Pack. She will tell you your options, and you will decide your future. I hope you choose to join our Pack to make it stronger. Thank you.”

He leaned down and kissed me, which had me shivering with desire. I watched him leave the room, and the guards stayed on the outside as they closed again. The hundreds of women in the room watched Cole depart before turning their eyes to me. “What did you DO,” a woman in front asked.

“I played the hand I’ve been dealt,” I told her. “It wasn’t MY idea to be that man’s mate. I am, though. I can’t deny what I feel and what Cole and the Pack believe. All I can do is make the best of the situation that I am in.”

“You used your influence on our behalf,” another said.

“Yes.” I looked around the room. “I have zero chance of escape from this. If I reject him, he will kill or imprison me. If I accept him, Cole won’t let me leave his side. The powers I’ve gained came because he feels guilty about my punishment and hopes being around him will convince me to mate. I gave him no choice; women would be my responsibility after mating, so I’m taking that authority now.” I sat down on a chair, wincing as I did so. Those bruises weren’t gone yet. “If you wish to become a werewolf, you can start that tonight. It is strictly voluntary, so don’t feel any pressure. If you aren’t ready for that yet, you can stay human but ask to become a member of the Pack. You would no longer be a slave or a breeder; your status would be below full wolves, but you would be part of their structure. You would gain freedoms and improved living conditions. You would continue to work as directed for the betterment of the Pack. If you want to live and be part of the repopulation of this land, this is the best place to be. I can’t imagine a more secure location, safe from the sun and the roving mobs, with supplies galore, power, and indoor plumbing. You would share in the future with every other Pack member, taking the change later or leaving altogether.”

“I just want to get the FUCK out of here,” a younger woman said.

“You will be able to, but it might take a few days for some of you,” I said. That didn’t go over well. “Look, we can’t just open the gates and let people start walking out. It would draw too much attention to the rest of us, and the Pack has stripped the shelves bare of supplies within a five-mile radius.”

“So what is the plan,” she asked.

“If you leave, I want you to have a chance to survive out there. I’ll arrange to provide clothes, food, and water, plus some basic supplies. I will arrange for this in the afternoon before you witness the after-dinner joining ceremony.”

“I don’t want to watch,” came an objection from the back.

“And I don’t want you to die out there,” I replied. “You will see others get the choice, and I hope you will realize it is better to give this place an honest try before braving the horrors beyond the fence. Your best chance of survival is if our people drop you off with most of the night remaining to travel and find shelter. It’s not enough to leave here; you have to survive. Small groups of you need to form and stick together during days and weeks of travel. I want you to put together teams heading towards particular places. I’ll work with the Alpha to put you on vehicles heading that way, and they will let you go when you ask.” That calmed down the hard cases. “The ones who want to give it a shot or go full wolfy, stay here. I’ll get Pack members to explain the details of everything involved and answer your questions. If you are determined to leave, follow me.” Just over a hundred women fell in behind me.

The guards must have notified Luna Melanie of our meeting breaking up because she arrived before all the women following me left the room. Melanie took over for me, joined by a half-dozen female wolves. I followed the guards to the warehouse bunker.

The warehouse space was well-organized. We went to boxes filled with new and used backpacks, and I had the women grab one. We went to the boxes of shoes and clothing, and the ladies changed out of scrubs into more sensible clothes like jeans or cargo pants, underwear, T-shirts, and a warmer waterproof jacket and hat. Moving to the supply storeroom, I had them take sunglasses, matches, toilet paper, and a flashlight. While they were working on this, I asked the guards for a map. It took a little more time to get a list of areas the Pack was planning to search tomorrow night.

The girls left their backpacks by the wall as we gathered around the map on the wall. Cole planned to send six teams out, and I taped sheets of paper with the locations spaced out along the walls. “These are your choices tomorrow night,” I told them. “Groups are limited to six people, so not everyone gets to leave tomorrow. You might get something better later if you don’t like where they are going tonight.” They probably could have taken more than eight, but I’d worked this detail out in advance. It was enough movement to get them to patiently wait their turn, yet slow enough that most would still be here for the reports of those who changed their minds. I hoped to change some minds over the next four or five nights.

There were two women I needed to speak to, and I pulled them aside as the others tried to form groups. You see, I’d lied about being the senior Navy officer in our group. Two commissioned officers were taken prisoner, Lieutenant Mary Connolly and Ensign Anna Natchez. “I need your help,” I said. I quietly explained the mission given by the Captain of the USS Maine. “I can’t leave here, and communications weren’t working when I left the sub. You need to make your way to Everett, maybe Bremerton, and carry this message to any surviving members of the chain of command.” I handed them a handwritten copy of the message I’d memorized.

The Lieutenant looked at it. “How? That’s like forty miles away and across the Sound!”

I nodded. “Bremerton is closer, but that’s all over land, and it’s a much more dangerous trip. The shipyard is right in town, not surrounded by open land like Everett is. I got here on a two-person sea kayak. It’s still down by the triangle dock; it is safe and silent. You follow the peninsula north, head east to go below Whidbey Island until you hit the mainland again, then north to Everett.” I handed them the pocket compass I’d used to get here.

“That’s a hell of a paddle in one night,” Anna said.

“You’ll have to find a place to hole up overnight. Under a bridge or a road would be best, someplace with a lot of steel and concrete above you. We found an overhanging cliff that kept us out of direct sunlight. That’s the killer.” They nodded. “There are three boomers out there without orders. I can’t finish my mission, so I give it to you.”

“I understand,” Mary said as she tucked the paper into her pocket. “What should I tell them about this place?”

“The truth,” I said. “All other military are dead, the base is under the control of a hostile force, and hundreds of innocent civilians are here under the control of a werewolf pack. Oh, and they have control of God knows how many nuclear weapons.” Their expressions showed their sudden realization about how that message would come across. “Yeah, I’d lead with the message from Captain Grimes.”

“No shit,” Anna said. “When do we leave?”

“I’ll take you to the kayak as soon as the sun goes down. If they ask, you want to go to Whidbey Island, so their trucks won’t work.” The other women were getting organized.

The women had hope again as we headed to the dining room to prepare and serve dinner. Since they weren’t joining the Pack tonight, the group got tasked with the service. I had promised to be by his side, so I ate with him at the head table. As the Pack and the other humans finished the meal, Alpha Cole called for their attention. “Tonight, we begin the voluntary changes of thirty-seven women into Werewolves of the Brinnon Pack. I have ensured they understand what they are doing and agree to their change. Would the women come forward to receive the blessing of the bite.”

The ladies lined up facing the crowd, all the wolves standing to witness the event. I held them from behind as Alpha Cole asked their name, verified they were volunteering to become wolves, and gave them a bite on the left forearm to start the change. It was just enough to draw blood, and Doc Pine and the medical staff helped stop the bleeding as soon as we moved on. In ten minutes, it was over.

“That isn’t all,” Alpha Cole said. “Our future Luna is wise beyond her years. She convinced us that Pack membership shouldn’t be limited to werewolves, not when so many women volunteer to stay with us. Those who remain human but desire to join the Brinnon Pack, come forward.”

This group was much larger, with over a hundred and fifty women. They swore to be loyal to Alpha Cole and the Pack Leaders and to live under Pack Law. The crowd applauded as they finished. “In the future, many more women will choose to take the bite and join the Pack Link. In the meantime, they are Pack members with all the rights of membership in the Brinnon Pack. Let us celebrate!”

The door to the kitchen opened, and carts bearing pieces of cake rolled out. Other women brought out five-gallon buckets of ice cream. It only took a few minutes for everyone to get dessert, and the mood was festive. I spent a lot of time watching the servers for reactions. I would bet a few dozen change their minds by morning.

I was giving up my life to change these women’s lives. I didn’t want them to die out there alone.