Rogue Wolf

Ch 61 night terrors

Trapped! Darkness everywhere! No where to go. Dust and stone behind me. Dead ends before me. And there, way up high where I could not reach, a glimmer of fading daylight, a hint of freedom, trickling down from the tiniest of cracks in the stone ceiling above me. My paws would not stretch that far, my hands could never reach that high, but my song could, and would. I took a breath, threw back my head, and called out for those who would be looking for me.

"Beta Scout! Lord Scout, wake up!"

Water, trickling through stone and dirt. I was drinking, my mouth full of grit. There is an urgency in me, a need for... something... there was something by my ear. I could feel my ear twitch...

"Scout, you need to wake up! Come on, man, I need you! Bad!"

I felt the warm breath against my upright ear, making it tickle, and I twitched it again. The urgency in that command matched the urgency within me. I felt hands on me, but they couldn't stop me. I was moving fast...

I was gliding swiftly through the dark, with barely a scent to guide me. My nose was close to the ground, working overtime. My paws scrambled on rough stone. A sound! The slightest slither... I was hungry and eager to hunt, searching the dark for my meal. My muscles tensed, all my senses straining...

"Scout!"

I heard my name as if from a great distance.
Sirens! I heard the wail of emergency vehicle sirens. They just went on and on. Without thought I joined in, my howl loud and clear, undulating up and down, mimicking the sound of emergency vehicles that meant help was on its way. The message must be spread! Help was needed. We had to go! The surety of it filled me, released in the timber of my howl as I sounded out again.

Arhooo, ooohahoooo!

"Jax! Wake up, come on man, I need you! Wake up!"

There was a rough thump against my side. It was the use of my name, however, that had me growling and showing my teeth, finally able to focus on the face before me. It was Michael, scared out of his wits and near panicking. He wasn't the only one. I blinked, becoming aware of the small group behind him.

Suddenly another wolf was coming up behind me, pressing into me. The other wolf released his own howl. It set off another round of near-panic in me, the memory of need filling me once more. I couldn't resist adding my voice to whoever was next to me.

"Man, you gotta stop. You gotta come back to us Jax, come on man!"

I blinked at Michael again. My attention was split between him and the wolf desperately pressing into my side.

"Scout, as your Alpha I command you to return to human form," ordered Max as he shoved his face before mine, pushing Michael away from me.

There was something in him, my Max. He looked down and I followed his gaze. His hand was holding my paw, his thumb stroking the top. "Please my Scout," he begged in a near whisper. I couldn't refuse him, even as the wolf next to me howled again. I could hear another howl not too far away, abruptly cut off.

"Sounds like Lone Wolf managed to stop Alpha," said one of the guards behind Max.

"Now if we can just stop the omega," said Max as the wolf still pressing into me howled again.

I turned my head to the wolf next to me. It was hard to focus, but the need in my Max outweighed everything. Paws shifted to hands, to match the hands that were holding me. I felt the rest of me changing to match my hands. It was weird, feeling the change roll through me from top to bottom. I think I usually started with my feet? My face felt strange, tingly, as my snout retracted.

I lost physical contact with Max as whichever omega was against me shoved harder, knocking me off-balance. I struggled to sit up, my legs still mid-shift. Arms from someone were twisting my body, helping to push me upright. Someone else's arms were around mine, moving me to wrap my arms around the omega. I hugged the smaller wolf tight against my chest, then closed my hands firmly around his snout, pressing my head next to his.

"It's ok," I told him. "The message got through. We're gonna go, we gotta. We heard, it's ok, it's enough."

He struggled against me for a moment, but I held him firmly, keeping him looking at me. I wondered if I'd been that disoriented as I watched him blink, coming back to the here and now. I kept uttering reassurances, holding him tight. I think I needed the physical contact as much as he did. I tried to lean into my Max behind me, but the omega started to panic. Max took the hint and leaned over me, his chest tight against me. His arms encompassed me, bringing the comfort I needed; even as I comforted the omega. Eventually the wolf I was holding shifted back to the omega Michael had chosen to be ours.

"So what just happened," I finally asked. I still felt a little disoriented.

"We dreamt," Max stated.

"We? You dreamt that too?" I asked.

"It was dark," whispered the omega.

"I felt trapped," said Max, "and the only opening was way up high. I couldn't reach it, but my howl could, so I howled."

"You howled?" I asked incredulously.

Max gave me an amused smile. "I wasn't the only one. The guards who were awake managed to wake me, and together we woke the rest of the guards. I couldn't wake Alpha, and the guards couldn't wake you. Lone Wolf went in to stop Alpha, and I came to you."

His eyes as he looked at me then, it seemed to me, were full of his love for me. I could only keep looking back at him, smiling myself; at least until the omega pushed against me again. I smiled down at the younger teen, rewarded as he finally relaxed some.

"You aren't in trouble," I told him, "not when we were all howling."

He gave me a hesitant smile back, lowering his eyes. I chuckled, pulling him tighter against me.

The guards in the doorway moved as Lone Wolf pushed through with his bulk, followed by a naked Alpha.

Alpha's head was hanging low. I'd never seen him so... he looked almost defeated. I'd also never seen Lone Wolf heaving like he was, not even when he worked out.

As much as I hated Alpha for all he did and all I think he might have done, I knew right now he needed us as much as the omega did. I didn't even look at or ask Max.

"Come," I commanded, refusing to call him Alpha. I scooted over on the bed, making room for him even as my one hand grabbed onto my Max.

Alpha's eyes came up slowly, giving me this wounded look that at the same time held a glimmer of hope. My movement on the bed seemed to decide it for him. He shifted to wolf as he approached. His hands were shifting to paws as he started to climb up. He stopped, ducking his head down to my Max, acknowledging him as Alpha.

Max waited, and I had to keep myself from grinning as I counted. At the count of 53 Max finally gave a nod, moving a hand to Alpha's shoulder. "You may approach," my Max said quietly. I wondered if I'd been unaware of something between them.

Alpha finished struggling up onto the bed, circling, then practically crawled onto both mine and Max's lap, curled into a tight ball. His head was between us, and I was pretty sure I heard the slightest whimper come out of him.

I looked out on my pack. The guards were as huddled together by the doorway as we were on the bed. I could see the uncertainty in them, their fear and confusion. I took in the fur that had sprouted along Lone Wolf's shoulders.

Become the actor, I told myself. I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly. I sat up straighter, drawing all eyes to me. Regal, I told myself, go for regal. It felt weird taking command, really grasping command by the horns and taking control of it. What else could I do? Right now everyone was looking for direction, and no one, not even my Max, was giving it to them.