Wolf Killer

(A Hammer Commission Novel)

Published by John Van Stry

Copyright 2016 John Van Stry

Copyright John Van Stry 2016

Cover Credits: eBook Launch (http://ebooklaunch.com/)

No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form without expressed, written consent from the author.

Any resemblance between characters in this story and people living or dead is purely coincidental. This is a work of fiction created by the author and the author retains all rights to the material in this story.

License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Hammer Commission Series:

The Hammer Commission

The King of Las Vegas

Wolf Killer

Portals of Infinity Series:

Portals of Infinity: Champion for Hire

Portals of Infinity: The God Game

Portals of Infinity: Of Temples and Trials

Portals of Infinity: The Sea of Grass

Portals of Infinity: Demigod and Deities

Portals of Infinity: Reprisal

Portals of Infinity: Kaiju

Table of Contents

Prologue

1: Washington, DC

2: Stillhouse Run, George Washington National Park

3: FBI, DC Offices

4: Blacksburg, Va.

5: Washington DC

6: Marlington, West Va.

7: Blacksburg, suburbia

8: Marlington

9:  Forest outside of Marlington

10: Virginia tech / Blacksburg

11: Streets of Blacksburg

12: Blacksburg

13:  Ursula's house, Blacksburg

14: Hotel room, Blacksburg

15:  Command Post, Blacksburg

16: Somewhere west of Blacksburg

17:  Interview at Zeke's

18: A cave near Marlington

19:  Confrontation

20:  Burned out cabin

21: Marlington

22: Charleston, West Va.

23: Washington, DC

After word

Prologue

Trevor padded up to the cabin on all fours. It was daylight out, and his daddy would whip his ass for sure if he knew his youngest was out running around in wolf form in the daylight. It wasn't that people didn't suspect that there were wolves in the forest around here, but anyone seeing him, at least up close, would wonder just where such a large wolf had come from. Except the locals of course, most of them would immediately know.

Because while Trevor might be the youngest of his daddy's boys, he was also the biggest and the strongest. He was only a junior in high school, but the college scouts were already sniffing around, thinking that he just might be the next all-American linebacker to come out of these hills.

Trevor liked team sports; they appealed to the pack mentality of the wolf half of his nature.

Padding slowly around the cabin, he let his nose tell him about it. He wasn't supposed to be up here, this entire hillside and the surrounding countryside for a couple miles was off-limits to all of the clans in West Virginia. The old folks would tell stories at night about the great evil that lingered in this valley many decades ago. So great that even today none were supposed to be here.

But Trevor wasn't buying any of that. Whatever had been here, had died or been killed long before he'd been born, and he wasn't much for the old wives tales or the tall tales of drunk old men.

What he was buying however, were women. There'd been a few rumors running around school about some college co-eds coming out to the hills here on spring break, and he'd heard stories about those co-eds. Why just the other day one of his friends at school saw a guy driving out this way with two young women in the back seat of his SUV! So Trevor figured a big 'ole boy like himself just might be able to catch the eye of one of those shapely ladies. Trevor hadn't had much experience with the local girls, oh they liked him sure enough, he was big and he was one of the stars on the high school football team. But they were all so plain and average, plus the way they gossiped and carried on. But those college co-eds, those girls were smart, exotic even! And they all knew what they wanted and didn't play games when it came to getting it.

And right now his nose was telling him there had been quite a few young women here, and that there were still some inside!

He heard it then, a soft moan, and he felt his heart start to speed up a tad, maybe even those stories he'd been hearing about those co-eds from his older brother in college were true!

But his daddy didn't raise no fools, so he'd best be sure who else was inside that cabin. There were a lot of shifter clans in the forest around here, and the last thing he wanted was to get a beat down on his ass for fishin' in somebody else's water hole.

Coming back around to the front of the cabin, he could pick up the scent of a man, just one, it smelled a little strange, but it was weaker than that of the women, so whoever he was, he hadn't been here in a quite a few hours, which meant the lovely ladies inside were all most likely alone!

He heard another moan then and padding up to the door he took a nice deep sniff, figuring he'd find out just how many women were inside.

Trevor's hackles stood up instantly. He smelled blood. Shifter blood. Suddenly he realized those moans weren't pleasure, but pain!

Jumping off the porch he ran back into the trees where he'd left his pack. After all, showing up naked would probably get him accused of rape, if not shot around these parts! Shifting back to human form he pulled on his shorts and a t-shirt, grabbed his buck knife and ran back to the cabin kicking in the door.

His daddy also didn't raise any cowards, and if there was something bad going on inside that cabin, Trevor was sure as hell gonna put a stop to it or die trying!

1: Washington, DC

"Agent Levin?"

Mark looked up from the magazine he'd been browsing. The man addressing him was in a neat black suit, with a thin black tie. He had short black hair, blue eyes, and an average complexion. There was a badge hanging out of his breast pocket, in one of those holders a lot of the agencies used these days.

Mark smiled and setting down the magazine, he stood up.

"Yes, that would be me."

"Agent Michael Sikes, FBI." the man said and offered his hand to Mark.

Mark shook hands and was a little surprised at the offer; he assumed that the agent knew exactly what he was. Since he'd been outed to most of the officials at the many agencies the commission did business with by his now deceased and former boss, he had found that a great many officials were put off by that information, well at least those that knew it. He hoped that with time they'd get over it, but until then, it was just something he'd have to deal with.

"Welcome to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. If you would follow me, Sir?"

Mark smiled, "Mark is just fine, Agent Sikes."

"Yes, Sir, this way please."

Mark nodded and followed. Sikes led him through the metal detectors at the front, signaling to the guards to ignore them when they both set them off, signed him in, and then took him to the bank of elevators, heading towards one in the back.

"So, Agent Sikes, worked here long?"

"Four years, Sir."

Mark smiled and shook his head slightly, "Are you with the group I'm on loan to?"

"Yes, Sir."

"How long?"

"Two months, Sir," Agent Sikes said as the elevator chimed and the door slid open.

"Ah, I see." Mark said and followed him into the elevator. Sikes seemed remarkably unconcerned.

"I'm curious, Agent Sikes, what exactly do you know about me?"

Agent Sikes turned and looked at him, Mark noted that he was about the same height and size as him; say six foot, probably a hundred and eighty pounds. "You're Agent Mark Levin, you are on loan to us from the Vatican, and are also a member of Interpol. You have a distinguished career in dealing with religious issues for the Vatican, and are recognized by Interpol as an expert on certain classified types of criminal activity.

"You're also rather well known to the State Department and the FBI, and have worked with Homeland. You are a combat vet, but were given a medical discharge due to post traumatic stress after an ambush in which you were the only survivor."

Mark nodded, "Anything else?"

"What else is there?"

Mark smiled, "What else indeed?"

The elevator chimed and the doors opened, "Follow me, please," Sikes said and again led the way.

The hallway was short and ended in a set of glass doors that unlocked as Agent Sikes grabbed the handle. "RFID passes," he said, "Makes it a lot easier when you don't have to swipe everything."

Mark nodded and followed Agent Sikes as he passed inside, it was pretty much like any other office he'd ever seen, except for everyone being armed, even in a lot of the Interpol offices he'd been to over the years, it wasn't common to see everyone carrying. Agent Sikes led him into an office in the corner, and Mark noticed the title on the door said 'Agent Woods, Head - Special Interstate Affairs Division'.

Agent Sikes knocked once, and opened the door and they both went inside.

"Ah, Agent Levin! Good to see you, have a seat."

Mark looked over the man sitting behind the desk, he looked about fifty, with graying hair, cut militarily short, almost what they used to call a 'number two guard'. He looked very fit and was dressed in a much nicer suit than Agent Sikes was, however it was the same color and style, just better material and better made with a rather nice blue silk tie.

"What, don't want to shake hands?" Mark said with a smile, moving over to the one of the empty chairs.

"Maybe once I know you better," Agent Woods huffed from behind the desk, looking just a tad uncomfortable.

"You know you can't catch it, well not from me at least." Mark said sitting down.

"No actually, I don't know that," Agent Woods confessed.

Mark nodded, "Hence why I'm here I guess."

"The Assistant Director was rather hot to get you here, once he heard you were available for loan." Agent Woods said looking him over. "You know, you don't look like anything special at all."

Mark nodded again, "Which is an important thing to remember, we don't look any different at all, and for the most part, we don't act any different. Not standing out is very important. How's Henry doing anyway?"

"On the fast track for director, I didn't know that you knew him." Agent Woods said.

Mark shrugged and leaned back in the chair, "I've worked cases here in the states before, a couple of which he was the lead investigator on. Turns out we were in the same company in Afghanistan, so we go back a little." He noticed that Agent Sikes was looking at him very carefully now.

"So how many people here know about me?" Mark asked Agent Woods.

"None of them."

"Really?" Mark said surprised. He would have thought that Agent Woods would have warned everyone.

"Well, they know your reputation, and they know about your work."

"Ah," Mark said and thought about that, "How many of them know about monsters and devils and all the rest?"

"Oh, they all do."

Mark nodded and looked at Agent Sikes, "How many of them believe it?"

Agent Woods laughed, "Agent Sikes is still new to the team. That's why I'm assigning him to you."

Mark raised an eyebrow and looked back at Agent Woods. "What, did he kick your dog or something?"

Agent Woods shook his head smiling, "Everyone else is already teamed up, and I don't like the idea of breaking up a team for a temporary arrangement. Besides, you're probably the most experienced devil and demon hunter on the team. Figured Agent Sikes here might as well learn from one of the best."

"Thanks for the compliment, so what do you have for us?"

"Nothing yet, Agent Sikes will show you to your desk, and introduce you around."

"Thank you, Agent Woods," Mark said and stood, "Sikes?" Mark asked looking at him curious.

"You're not human, are you?" Sikes said looking him over slowly.

"Not anymore," Mark grinned.

"Agent Sikes," Agent Woods said from behind the desk.

"Yes, Sir?"

"You are not to inform any of the team members of that information, understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

Mark looked at Agent Woods curiously.

"I want to see if they can figure it out," Agent Woods said smiling, "either way; it will be a good lesson for them."

Mark nodded, "Not all monsters are dangerous, and not all are obvious."

"Exactly," Agent Woods said with a nod and standing up behind his desk he stuck out his hand, "Welcome aboard."

Mark shook hands and nodded to Agent Woods again, then led Agent Sikes out the door. "Well, might as well get started," Mark said looking around.

"What exactly are you, anyway?" Agent Sikes asked quietly.

"Your partner, apparently. Now, where do I sit?"

Mark sighed and stretched as he lay down on the bed of his hotel room. Agent Sikes had settled down rather quickly and not tried to ask any questions again. But then they'd been in the office for the rest of the day doing paperwork for his new assignment, so he really hadn't had any chances. Also Agent Sikes didn't appear to be the kind of person who would go against what his boss told him.

Of course Agent Woods didn't look like the kind of person you wanted to be on the bad side of either, especially if he was your boss. At least he did seem to be the type who adjusted to things quickly.

Mark wondered just how long he was going to be assigned here, the hotels in the DC area were pretty nice, but he wasn't thrilled with the lack of privacy that being in a hotel gave you. A furnished apartment would give him a lot more privacy, and anonymity, especially here in DC. In most places in the U.S. and Europe, people didn't pay much attention to those around them, but here in DC, everything was under the magnifying glass. Staying out of the spotlight, not coming to people's attention, that was what Mark preferred.

Besides, if he stayed here long enough, sooner or later one of his wives was going to show up. A hotel wouldn't be the best place for that, he could see it leading to unwanted attention, plus well, who wants to spend family time in a room at a hotel? So he might as well be ready for it when it came.

Not that he wouldn't be happy to see them again. Hell, if he could find a nice enough place, he'd invite them out himself. Being this close to New York, he was even considering a trip to visit his mom, he wouldn't put it past Judith to call her and spill the beans on him. She'd already warned him once, after all. Better to be the one to explain his situation to her himself, or Judith would definitely get him in trouble.

But he'd only just left Manresa, so he had some time yet, he was sure. For now, best to focus on what was before him, and try to figure out just what he could teach these guys, and why they had been so hot to get him on their team.

2: Stillhouse Run, George Washington National Park

"That stupid freaking BITCH!" He swore looking at the turn off to the cabin as he drove past it. He'd only left her alone for a few hours, just a few hours! And look what she did to him!

He looked at the cracked dashboard from where he had hit it with his fist. He had scented the smoke from over a mile away; it hadn't occurred to him that it might be his place that was on fire.

And now! Now there was forestry units running up there in those ugly green cars of theirs, the local police, the state police, even a fire engine had gone by! Thankfully he'd seen them turning up the forestry road that led up the hill to the cabin before he'd turned up there himself! All he would have needed would be to explain just why he was there, a couple hundred miles from home, with a bunch of ropes and shackles in his car!

Especially after they put the fire out and started asking questions about just what was inside.

He swore again, cursing his bad luck, he should never have left that troublemaker alone! It had taken him years to find the place, and even then he had stumbled on it by luck and pure coincidence. He'd heard the stories and rumors from the locals about the place while out here doing some scenic work, and anyplace that they were too afraid to go, was just the kind of place he wanted to go and relax when the pressure just became too much.

And then there were the things he'd discovered after he'd found the cabin, the real reason all those cowards were so afraid of the place and wouldn't go anywhere near it.  Even after all those years!

But he wasn't afraid; he wasn't one to run with his tail between his legs! No, he'd confronted the power that they'd feared, and he'd taken charge of it! He'd found out what he had to do to make it blossom and grow and he enjoyed the rewards of his labors as he was rewarded, time and again for all he'd done. And eventually, eventually he'd get the big prize, the one he'd been working for two years now to learn the secrets of. Once he had that, well then he'd take his just reward for all of this hard work! The reward that he'd been promised, the reward that he deserved, for all of the years of putting up with these peasants.

And now, now it was burning, his plans, his goals, all set back because that stupid bitch had probably knocked over a lantern while trying to escape. He thought about that a moment, and then he laughed, a low and cold sound as he thought of what must have happened next. There was no way she could have escaped the silver chains, so she would have hung there while the place burned around her, until she too was consumed by the fire.

Oh to have been there to hear the sweet screams of terror and then pain as she was consumed! He found the thought of that alone to be more than exciting, perhaps someday he could recreate that experience for another bitch that had sought to challenge his authority. To punish those ungrateful curs who spit in his face and spited him, who struggled against him, who cursed him, after all he had done for them, given them, shown them! He had given them the greatest gift there could be, to contribute to a cause and a power greater than themselves! And all they can do is whine and cry because they have to make a few paltry sacrifices. He'd grown tired of explaining it to them; they were all just too small minded and shallow to understand their purpose in life.

A van passed him rather quickly, going the other way. The words 'Medical Examiner' clearly printed on the side. Yes, they'd found her body by now. That would mean police, which would mean an investigation. He'd been careful, he didn't leave anything at the cabin that could be linked to him, after all, anyone could stumble in there and find things he would rather not be found. While the cabin was taboo to the locals, who feared it because of their old superstitions, it still paid to be careful, as these woods were full of stupid hillbillies, college kids, and other busybodies after all.

They were all fools of course, the cabin wasn't where the power was, it was just a convenient place to stop and linger nearby. A good spot to enjoy some of life's pleasures before taking one of those filthy bitches to their well deserved reward. A fitting place to relax as he contemplated his own rewards and replay the scenes he'd just witnessed in his mind's eye for his own personal enjoyment when they saw the glory of their purpose revealed to them at last.

So, he'd have to lie low for a few days, maybe even a week or two. He was flush with power now, he could wait. Yes, he had time on his side, anyone who stumbled on the hidden place he'd found wouldn't survive, not after all the time he'd spent restoring its warden to their rightful power. Because he had been first, and he'd willingly offered his help, in exchange for certain considerations, only he could come and go in safety.

So, it wasn't the time to try and sneak up and discover what was going on, that would be pure folly. Now it was time to go home and consider his next move. Give the investigators time to do their searches, their examinations. In a few weeks something more important would grab their attentions and they'd move on. They always did; their feeble minds not able to truly focus on any single thing for more than a few days.

He was nearly done with this place anyway. The first three promises that had been made to him had all been kept, wealth, power, and influence. He had them all now and he had mastered them. Now there just remained the final promise, and after that one had been kept, then he would need come here no more. For then he would know the secrets of the blood, and the ways of extracting the power that lived inside it.

He would finally have the freedom he craved, and the power that was rightfully his, to do with as he wished.

He smiled as he thought about that, and turned the stereo in the car back on. Yes, it was a setback, but only a small one. One that he would easily overcome. After all, they were only human, and he was so much more than that.

3: FBI, DC Offices

"So, what kind of gun do you prefer?" Agent Sikes asked Mark the next day while they were taking a break in the office. This morning they had finished running Mark through the basic indoctrination, typical government stuff, how to requisition things, sexual harassment training, cultural sensitivity training, non-profiling training, and how to kiss ass one-oh-one. Or as they called it here, 'proper modes of addressing the elected representatives.'

At least they'd bought him lunch.

"Normally I don't carry one," Mark said.

"What?" Agent Sikes looked surprised.

Mark shrugged, "Most devils and demons only get pissed off if you shoot them. Religious items have a much better effect."

"Yeah well, what about with other things, you know, the supernatural creatures and such?"

"Oh, you mean when dealing with monsters?" Mark asked leaning back in his chair.

"We're not really supposed to call them that, you know," Agent Sikes said.

Mark laughed, "Oh please. They're monsters. They know it, and they admit it. Most of them even like it. Oh, it's easier to identify them by type when talking about them, but in general, that's just what they are."

Agent Sikes huffed a little, and shook his head, "Well my bosses might disagree, anyway, what sort of weapon do you prefer?"

"Well normally, if I can get it, and I'm going to carry one, I'm partial to SAWs."

"A saw?" Agent Sikes blinked looking confused, "What are you going to do with that, saw wood?"

Mark grinned and shook his head, "Sorry, forgot you're not ex-military. Squad Automatic Weapon - SAW."

"You want a machine gun?" Agent Sikes said, looking a bit shocked now.

Mark noticed several of the other agents in the office were listening now, looking at him across the room. All the desks were set up in an open area, which made it easier for people to communicate.

"I don't believe in fair fights," Mark said. "If you're going to bring the heat, might as well bring the fire, right?"

Mark noticed that a couple of agents nodded when he said that.

"But a machine gun? I think I've seen one of those, they're huge!"

"We have HK417's," one of the other agents spoke up, he'd been introduced to Mark as Agent Jeff Haines, he was the senior agent on the staff, and was in charge when Woods wasn't around. Mark put him at about late forties, he had a touch of gray hair, just starting to make an appearance among the brown, and was of average build, a couple inches shorter than Mark was.

"Five-five-six?" Mark asked.

"Nah, three-oh-eight Winchester."

Mark nodded and smiled, "Yeah, a few of those would do."

"For what though?" Agent Sikes asked.

"Monsters come in two basic types," Mark said. "The smart ones will want to talk; they know if they go after you, it will bring a lot of trouble down on them. The real nasty ones though, they'll kill you without a second thought if they feel like it, and some of them will always feel like it.

"Those are the tough bastards, and if you're going to deal with one of those, you bring all the firepower you can, and you use it."

"Just like that?" Agent Sikes blinked.

Mark nodded, "Just like that. Take vampires. You find one, you just kill it. No talking, no discussions, no 'we're taking you in', or any of that. Go in guns blazing, kill them. kill their followers, kill everything."

"Ever killed one?" Agent Haines asked. Most of the others were listening as well now Mark noticed.

"Yes actually. The Church gets called in whenever anybody finds one these days."

"They hard to kill?"

"They can be, especially the older ones. The trick is to get them on your terms and have a plan, a good plan."

"How'd you end up working for the Church?" Agent Haines asked.

Mark shrugged, "I killed a vamp in Portland. They sent out an investigator to find out who did it and why when the local police and the feds claimed not to know anything about it. Next thing I know, they'd offered me a job."

"So why'd you do it?"

"Well, the money you get on a medical retirement from the army isn't all that great and the pay was good," Mark said and shrugged again.

"No, why'd you kill the vamp?" Agent Haines asked again.

"Oh, that ambush in Afghanistan? The one that wiped out my platoon?"

Mark noticed that they all looked shocked. "Yup, vamp. Some old Brit I think. Probably had been there since Queen Victoria. So let's just say I have issues with vampires."

"You kill it?" Agent Sykes asked.

"Course I killed it!" Mark almost growled that one out, "He killed my teammates, damn near killed me too! Only reason I got out of there alive was that I killed it." He shook his head, "We had no idea what we were getting into of course, especially as no one in the general population knows these things even exist. Pure dumb luck that I survived."

"Umm," Agent Sykes looked a little uncomfortable as Mark said that.

Mark looked around the room; they were all looking a bit uncomfortable. "You lost somebody recently, didn't you?" He sighed.

"Yeah, nine months ago," Agent Joe Timms, who was a thirty-something guy with blond hair, spoke up. "Outside of Oklahoma City, some crazy witch doctor was using a momo to terrorize people into paying him protection. We didn't know that of course, we'd just heard some rumors."

"Sorry to hear that." Mark looked around the office, not counting Agent Sykes there were only eight agents in the room. "How many more agents are in this department?"

"It's just the nine of us, plus you now," Agent Haines said.

Mark looked surprised. "That's all?"

"Well we have a support team of another couple hundred that are spread out in nine key offices. They're not field agents however; they handle the more mundane tasks and gather intelligence for us."

Mark nodded.

"But they're not dedicated just to us; we only get them if something special comes up, otherwise we have to share them with the other divisions."

"Well, better than nothing I suppose," Mark replied.

"So why are you here anyways?" Agent Haines asked.

"Well, apparently State has been leaning on the Vatican for a long time now to loan out one of us to you guys." Mark shrugged, "I'm an American, so I got picked."

"Rumor has it that things were pretty hot for your people last month."

Mark nodded, "Yeah, it heats up from time to time. How has it been for you guys?"

"We get about one case a month; there aren't a lot of monsters in the U.S."

Mark laughed rather loudly at that and they all looked at him.

"You don't believe that, do you?" he asked looking around the room, trying not to snicker.

"This ain't Europe, or the Middle East, we don't have all those ancient groups," Agent Rich Chance, who was Haines' partner spoke up.

"Monsters, the smart ones, follow the laws and police themselves; their secrecy is their strength, and their survival. There are a lot more humans than there are monsters these days, especially if you're looking at any single type of monster. Oh, against one or two people, even a small group, most of them are going to win. But against an entire town? A city? No," Mark said, shaking his head slowly.

"So why doesn't the government just out them and hunt them all down?" Agent Sykes asked.

"Remember the Salem Witch Trials?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"How many witches do you think they caught?"

Agent Sykes looked at Mark a moment, "They didn't catch them all, did they?"

Mark shook his head, "They didn't catch any. And that's the problem with going public; most of the people who will be swept up in the mayhem that would arise would be innocent.

"Besides," Mark smiled, "If they're not breaking the law, they can't be prosecuted. Most of them are citizens and they have rights, just like everyone else."

Agent Sykes looked surprised at that. "What? But they're monsters!"

"He's right, Michael," Agent Haines said, "Nowhere in the Constitution, or any of the other major laws are monsters mentioned and a lot of them still can be classified as 'men', no matter how loosely."

"What about vampires?" Agent Sykes asked,

"Oh, they're already dead," Mark said, "So you're not really killing them."

"But they can still talk, move, even think!"

Mark shrugged, "They don't breathe, they don't eat real food, they can't take the light of the sun, they can't reproduce, and can't be killed as easily as a normal human being. I don't think they really meet the definition of 'alive' used by most scientists or politicians. Plus by the time you discover one, it's already got a pretty decent body count associated with it."

"So, you've killed a lot of vampires then, I take it?" Agent Chance asked.

"Twenty-three," Mark said without hesitating.

"That many?"

"That few," Mark sighed. "These days they just have me go in as an advisor and backup to the locals. A lot of governments want their own people to realize that they can do it too. Hell, the French don't even bother to call us in, just let us know afterwards."

"Really?" Agent Chance said, looking surprised, Mark noticed everyone else did as well. "The French?"

Mark laughed, "Paris is like the vampire Mecca, too many guys who become one think that they'll move to Paris and rule it, I guess they all grew up watching the same movies or something. No, the French are really good at dealing with vamps, and quite a few other monsters. Course, they have been doing it for over a millennium now."

"Huh, would never have known that."

"A lot of the older countries are aware of the problem, and have policies for dealing with monsters. I suspect that eventually we'll have a policy here in the states as well."

"So, how long do we have you for?" Agent Chance asked.

"I honestly don't know, but that reminds me, anybody know of a good place to rent a furnished apartment?"

"Tired of free maid service already?" One of the other agents, Bill Walters, who was Timms partner, asked laughing.

"Eh, now that I'm going to be in one place for a while, I'm sure the family is gonna want to come visit. Would rather have an apartment for that."

"Didn't know you were married," Agent Sikes said looking surprised.

"Yup," Mark smiled, "with children, and happily so!"

"Call HR," Agent Haines said and gave Mark a piece of paper with a number on it. "We get people out here on long term assignments all the time. I'm sure they can help you out."

"Thanks, I'll do that."

By the end of the week, Mark had been set up with a nice townhouse apartment, about a thirty minute commute away from the office, a little longer if you took mass transit.

He let Helena know the address when he talked to her Friday morning, and made sure she understood that it was only a two-bedroom apartment in DC and to make sure everyone didn't try to come visit at once.

She let him know that she'd take care of it.

Saturday morning she showed up at his door, having caught the redeye not long after hanging up.

"So, this is handling it?" Mark smirked after kissing her hello and dragging her inside.

"I'm the oldest, I make the rules," she grinned looking up at him.

"Still, I thought Hope would be the first to come."

"What, you don't think I love you?" Helena said looking at him a little funny.

"Lately, I've begun to worry a little," Mark confessed, "you've been a little distant, and when I was stuck in Portland for a couple of weeks the other month, you never came out and visited me."

"That's because you were supposed to come and visit me!" Helena growled.

"I knew I was being targeted, I didn't want to chance anything happening to the kids," Mark sighed, "you know that."

Helena folded her arms under her chest and looked up at him sternly. Mark looked down at her and just had to smile. She was the tallest of the four, but she still was six inches shorter than him, and she looked younger than he was, even if she was actually two years older. She was thin, trim, slightly muscular looking and weighed less than he did.

And could probably kick his ass, as she was a pure blood, where he was only a turned. Of course as she was the one who turned him that gave her even more of an edge.

"And what are you smiling about?" She scowled.

"You know I love you, right?"

"But Hope is your favorite," She growled.

"Actually," Mark's smile turned into a grin, "you're my favorite."

Helena's light brown colored eyes got a little wider, "What?"

Mark put his arms around her and hugged her close, "I love you all very much, and yes, sometimes my favorite changes, usually after you piss me off," he said softly. "But you are the one who saved my life, and you are the one who made the decision to keep me around."

He could feel Helena shift a little nervously and pulling back a bit he could see her blush, "So, uh, you knew about that, huh?"

"Yes, I knew about that," Mark said with a smile and kissed her.

"And you're not upset?"

"You know how I feel about all of you and our children. Do you think I would have wanted me around, if I had gone off the deep end?"

Helena sighed and gave him a lopsided smile, "And that's why I decided to keep you. You have always have been a very devoted father."

"And husband," Mark added.

"Oh?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"You know how many times I've passed up offers from other women?"

She blinked, "Really?"

Mark nodded.

"And all this time we all thought you had a few on the side. What with all the traveling you do."

Now it was Mark's turn to blush, "You know I already feel guilty about having multiple wives, there is no way I could ever bring myself to sleep with another woman.

"Besides, with the way I feel about you, it would never compare."

Helena purred and leaned into him.

"Now, let's go to bed."

"It's ten in the morning." Helena protested.

"Exactly," Mark grinned and dragged his wife off to the bedroom. Not that she resisted much of course.

"So how long are you going to be here for?" Helena asked him, later that night over dinner.

Mark shrugged, "I honestly don't know. They hinted that it would be for a year when they sent me off, they did have a lot of things to cover up and gloss over, so that nobody asked too many questions."

"So 'out of sight, out of mind' then?"

Mark nodded, "Pretty much. Plus things are quiet right now, and they are training a whole lot of new people, and I haven't really had a vacation in over a year."

"You're still not having a vacation," Helena pointed out.

"True, but this is a lot closer to home, plus you don't need a passport to come visit," Mark smiled. "Once things get settled down here, and I know exactly what they want me to do, I'll see about time off, so I can come home and spend some quality time with all of you."

Helena looked at him a little surprised, "You've been here a week, and you have no idea why they wanted you here?"

Mark chuckled and shook his head, "When they first started asking to borrow someone, I'm sure they had a reason, but that was several years ago. Now that they finally got someone?" Mark shook his head, "The original matter has been resolved I suspect. Now I think they're just looking for some pointers."

"Maybe you should see if you could work from home, then," Helena said smiling.

"It would have its advantages," Mark smiled back and leaned over to kiss her.

"Oh, one other thing," he began.

"What?"

"Once I get settled in, I want to take all of you to New York to meet my mother."

Helena looked at him a little surprised, "All of us?"

"Well, as many as I can get to show up," Mark said with a shrug, "Of course for you and your sisters, that will be a mandatory attendance."

"Oh, really?" Helena giggled, while raising an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Because the woman I was working with, the one I took by Hope's after I got skunked? She's threatening to call my mother and tell her all about you and the kids if I don't show up and tell her myself. She said my not telling my mom about my family was a crime against mothers everywhere."

Helena laughed at that. "Well, as a mother myself, I must say I think I side with her. Think your mother's heart is strong enough?"

Mark shrugged, "Judith thinks she'll just chalk it up to the over achiever in me."

"How long did you work with that woman?" Helena asked, looking rather surprised.

"A month, why?"

"Because she sure has you figured out! If you hadn't told me you weren't sleeping around on us, I'd be feeling jealous."

"Well, we can't have that, now, can we?" Mark said and slid over a bit closer to his wife, as he put an arm around her.

"It's going to be nice having you around again," Helena sighed and leaned into him.

Mark nodded and gave her a hug. The last few years had been rough. Maybe he should ask to be kept on assignment here in the states, once his 'suspension' was over. Traveling Europe and Asia without Jake around anymore wouldn't be much fun anyway.

4: Blacksburg, Va.

"That's it Karen, look at the camera, focus on the camera, make love to it, that's it baby, the camera is your friend, your lover, the man of your dreams, he's watching you, and he likes what he sees!

"Now, tease him, that's it, baby! Tease him, tempt him, beckon to him!" Craig said moving around the studio and getting shots as his newest model posed topless on the couch, wearing only panties, stockings and a garter belt, pressing her chest into the fabric so as to not expose too much of her breasts.

Craig smiled at her, and tossed her a large pillow. She wasn't half as shy now as she was last week.

"Okay, Babe, use this and keep it going! You need to tease the camera, keep those sultry looks coming! Think of the man you want the most, imagine that he's here, watching you, wanting you! That's it! You're flirting with that man, you want him, and you're driving him wild! Great! Keep thinking of him, wanting him, desiring him! You want him to make sweet love to you. Perfect!"

Craig nodded and continued the encouragements as she started to hold and caress the pillow. The shots he was getting were fairly good, she had the look, and when she pouted for the camera she looked rather angelic.

Next time he'd work her up to baring her breasts for the camera, he was sure she'd go for it by then, and with her looks, he'd be able to peddle those shots to a couple of agencies for online adverts and such. A day or two after that and he'd be able to start in on the real money shots, the stuff that paid the big dollars.

"Okay, I think that's enough for today," He said and set camera down. Picking up a robe he came over and wrapped it around her and smiled, pulling her close and giving her a kiss as she smiled back and leaned into him.

"Do you really think I'm that good?" Karen asked, surprised.

Craig nodded and gave her another kiss, "Yes, I do, Babe. I get a lot of women coming through here, and you are definitely one of the better ones. Once we get a full portfolio worked up, I don't think I'll have any problems selling your shots. They're always looking for fresh new faces, and I've sent quite a few girls to the advertising houses in New York and Los Angeles," Craig said and used a little of his glamour on her. He'd never sent any of his girls anywhere; well, at least not anyplace they wanted to go!

He smiled and gave her another hug, "In a couple of weeks, I'll be selling your shots for enough to cover your tuition," He promised, not that she'd see any of it of course. "Now, why don't you come upstairs and get cleaned up, before you head back to your dorm?"

"I, err, I don't..." Karen hesitated. Craig was handsome, and he'd been so nice to her, they'd gone out to dinner twice so far and he'd been a perfect gentleman each time, but a shower sounded a little risky. She had a guy back home, and she wasn't sure she wanted to dump him.

"It'll be fine," Craig said and smiled, leading her to the stairway. "Besides, the only other shower is in the basement, and it's all smelly and damp down there, you don't want to go there, right?"

Karen nodded slowly and let him steer her out of the studio and towards the staircase. She saw Colleen; she was one of the girls who worked here, standing behind the counter in the showroom. She was rather beautiful, but looked kind of sad all the time. Craig had told her that Colleen had failed out of Tech last semester, and was working for him now as she tried to decide what to do with her life.

But what stuck in Karen's mind the most was Colleen always looked at Craig with a hopeful kind of longing, yet Craig always ignored Colleen in favor of her. He could easily have Colleen, and yet he wanted her! That gave her a warm feeling inside, to be wanted like that.

When they got to the top of the stairs, Craig steered Karen into his bedroom, and removed the robe from her shoulders.

"I, I don't know if I'm ready for this, Craig," Karen said to him as he pulled her close. But honestly, after posing for him for the last two hours, in less and less clothing, and in more and more provocative poses, she really was more than ready, and he was so big and strong.

"I'll be gentle," he whispered in her ear, smirking to himself. She was panting like a bitch in heat, and soon enough, she'd be one of his.

It was almost closing time, when Craig finally escorted Karen down the stairs and out the front door of his shop.

"Tuesday, don't forget, Tuesday," he said with a smile and gave her a parting kiss.

Karen smiled back and lingered as he kissed her, it had been wonderful! He was a strong and passionate man, and much more experienced than she, or her boyfriend back home. She honestly couldn't wait to see him again.

"Bye," Karen said and gave a little wave, heading to the bus stop to catch the next one back to the campus.

"Bye, Karen," Craig said sweetly, then closed and locked the door. So sweet, so clueless.

He turned to Colleen and scowled, "Go get changed, we're doing a shoot tonight."

"Yes, Master," Colleen said looking down at the ground and ducking her head in submission. The thoughts of what he'd done to those two new girls were still fresh in her mind.

"And get Dianne, it's time for her to star in a new series of her own," Craig laughed.

"Yes, Master," Colleen said and fled the room, going down the stairs to the cellar. She felt sorry for Dianne, the stars of the master's evening photo and video sessions got whipped and beaten, and then tortured! She'd seen one of the older girls, Claudia was her name, beaten until she could no longer scream, only whimper, for their master's pleasure and his photography.

Because he'd made them all his bitches, as he continually reminded them, the damage healed quickly and rarely left a mark that any could see. So they had no right or reason to complain, he told them. It was only temporary after all, and they had to earn their keep somehow, didn't they?

However Colleen knew that it still hurt tremendously. She wished she could leave him, run away, but where could she go? She found it hard to go against him now, and he was right, they were no longer human, and if he didn't take care of them, they'd die. He'd told her more than once what people did to werewolves when they found them, and she could feel it in her bones that he was telling her the truth. That he had seen it. That he knew.

Craig went into the other studio, the one he used for making his movies, and uncovered the special table that he'd had made and started attaching the chains to each of the corners. Tonight would be a special treat, Dianne's first time on the table. None of them ever thought he'd chain them to the table, not until he did. The fear, the panic, the begging, he loved it, it was better than sex, and it all looked so great on the camera. It was why his films sold so well, and for so much, the people who bought them knew these weren't staged, that the women actually suffered, and that they knew what he was going to do to them, but they still submitted to him anyway.

He thought about tonight's video. He'd tease Dianne first for a while, maybe even give her a few false hopes, before he brought them crashing down, and then he'd have Colleen whip her. Colleen had never whipped anyone before, so the look on her face as she was forced to do it would make for a wonderful scene as well.

And if Colleen didn't whip her hard enough? Well, then he'd demonstrate the proper technique on Colleen! He always enjoyed that part as well; his bitches would do anything to avoid pain, just as they'd do anything to avoid making him mad.

After Dianne's back had gotten good and bloody from the whipping, then he'd have Colleen flip her over and start on the other side. Though tonight, maybe not the whip, he pondered that for a few moments, perhaps he should put on a hood to hide his features and get involved, this was Dianne's first time after all, and how would she know he cared if he didn't take a hand in it himself?

Craig looked over at the small electric braiser in the corner, he'd used it a few times, hot irons really did look good on film, and the sounds of the flesh sizzling was one that some aficionados really paid top dollar to hear.

He nodded slowly to himself, sure it would take her longer to heal, but he could put Aurora though one last really hard scene while he waited for Dianne to heal. Aurora was pretty much all used up anyway, so he might as well get one last good show out of her. Yeah, he wouldn't be able to take her to the cavern and give her to the sage, but there were other benefits for using her up here instead. It would teach the girls a nice lesson, and Ursula would be her usual grateful self if she got to watch, and maybe even help.

Besides, what good was having all of these bitches and feeding them if he didn't get a little pleasure out of them once in a while?

Walking over to the braiser Craig turned it on and put a couple of irons in it while smiling happily. Life was good.

Taking it was even better.

5: Washington DC

"What's got you so tired?" Agent Sikes asked as he picked Mark up on the way into work Monday morning.

"My wife Helena showed up," Mark said and yawned.

"Oh, so you had one of those nights!" Agent Sikes said with a smirk.

Mark grinned, a little wearily, "Partly. Though we haven't had a lot of time to talk over the last year, work had me away from home for a lot of it. So we also just spent a lot of time catching up."

"They make you guys travel a lot?" Agent Sikes asked surprised.

Mark nodded, "They only had a handful of us to do the dirty work, so I racked up a lot of miles."

"I'm surprised they let us have you then."

Mark shrugged, "We took a lot of casualties this last year, I lost my partner, one team was killed, and another guy was forced into early retirement for medical issues. So they decided that as long as they had to recruit and train up a new bunch, that they'd increase the number of active agents. As I don't really have a partner right now, and it will be some time before they finish training any new ones, I guess they figured it was safe to loan me out."

Agent Sikes had winced when Mark had mentioned their losses, "Damn, you lost four people last year? And your partner? Sorry to hear that, that must have hurt."

Mark nodded, "Yeah, it was rough, but they're all in heaven now, so you can't feel too bad about it."

Agent Sikes gave Mark a look.

"What?" Mark asked.

"You really believe that? That they're in heaven?"

Mark nodded, "One of the benefits of the job, you stay loyal, and you go to heaven. Oh, they may throw you in purgatory for a little while to punish you for your sins, but it's guaranteed. When you think of what some of those devils can do to you, you need that kind of backing to stand up to them."

Agent Sikes shook his head, "I don't know, Mark."

Mark looked at Agent Sikes for a moment, "Do you believe in Heaven and Hell, Michael?"

"Mark, let's not get into religion, okay?"

Mark rolled his eyes and looked at the roof of the car, "Just answer the damn question, Michael, it's important, so answer it."

"Why is it important?"

"Why are you dodging the question?"

"They told us not to talk to you about religion, said they didn't want any religion in the office."

"What, they're afraid I'm going to start preaching in the office or something?"

"Something like that, yeah," Agent Sikes nodded.

"Well thanks for letting me know, now, do you believe in God, any religion, heaven, hell, any of it?"

"I thought we just had this conversation?" Agent Sikes said glancing at Mark.

"And we're still having it. You're also learning an important work lesson."

"Oh? What lesson is that?"

"That when you're in an enclosed space with a monster, you should answer his questions, because pissing off a monster is definitely a good way to ruin your whole day."

Agent Sikes glanced at Mark, "You wouldn't!"

"Kill you? No, of course not. Teach you a lesson? Most definitely. Now answer the damn question, and answer it honestly or you are going to be one very embarrassed FBI agent when we get to the office."

"No, no I don't believe in any of that stuff, I did when I was a kid and all, but these days? Heaven? Hell? I don't know man!" Agent Sikes said shaking his head.

Mark smiled, "See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"What kind of a monster are you, anyway?" Agent Sikes grumbled.

"The kind with diplomatic immunity and a desire to see you live to collect retirement."

"So, why all the questions on religion?"

"Because you were skeptical when I mentioned heaven."

"Why should that matter?" Sikes said turning into the FBI parking lot, flashing his badge and nodding to the attendant as they drove through the gate.

"You know that I've dispatched devils, and you don't believe in heaven or hell?" Mark shook his head, "That's a logical fallacy, right there."

"Devils are just a different type of monster, that's all."

"No, no they're not. You can't kill a devil, you can destroy its earthly form, but that just sends it back home. Same for angels actually. Never tackle a devil, especially if you don't have any faith, you just won't be able to."

"Have you ever seen an angel?" Agent Sikes asked looking at him.

Mark nodded, "Once. They're not supposed to show themselves, but one did me a favor once when I asked."

"What about God, ever seen him?" Sikes asked a little snarkily.

"You only get to see God when you're judged," Mark said ignoring Michael's tone, "and well, if you go to heaven, you get to see him there too I suppose."

Agent Sikes didn't say anything, but he didn't look very impressed as he parked the car.

"Look, Michael, it's up to you really, but I would advise you to pick a religion and follow it. In this business, there will be times when you will need something to cling to, and it will possibly save your life, and probably your sanity."

"So, monsters go to heaven?"

"Only the good ones, and only if they have souls. And believe it or not, all monsters have religion, so it's really important that at the very least you understand it, though it is always better if you have a little too."

Mark got out of the car and led the way down the stairs and into the office today, his conversation with Sikes made him realize he needed to clear up a few things in the office.

Mark waited until the morning briefing was almost finished, they locked the doors for that, and only the agents and Agent Wood's secretary, Marylyn, were allowed inside the room during the morning briefing as some of it was highly confidential or classified information.

"So, any questions?" Agent Woods asked looking around the room.

Mark stood up, "If I may, I'd like to address everyone, Agent Woods."

"Of course, Agent Levin," Agent Woods said and Mark walked up to the front of the room.

"Okay, I want to ask a few questions, and maybe clear the air on a few things, this is just between those of us in the room, but if you feel you need to talk to me in private afterwards, or file a complaint with Agent Woods, or even HR, I'm fine with all of that. Remember, I work for the Vatican and Interpol; I don't work for the FBI. So feel free to complain if you don't like what you hear, you can't hurt my career and I can't hurt yours.

"That being said however, there are a lot of things out there that can kill you, and do even worse things to you. And before anybody asks, yes there are worse things than death and I have seen them with my own two eyes."

Mark looked around the room, "So, forgetting all that bullshit that the HR people told you, how many people here have a religion, and believe in it? Show of hands, please."

They all looked at Agent Woods, who raised his hand. "You heard the man, if you don't like it, you can file a complaint with HR and he won't care."

"Thank you, Agent Woods," Mark nodded, "Now, everybody?"

Mark smiled, except for Agent Sikes, who was looking a little surprised; everyone else's hand went up.

"Good. Now, how many of you think that devils are the same as any other monster?"

No hands went up, but Mark could see some uncertain looks.

"Okay, I see some uncertain expressions among you, so let me explain. Devils come from hell, or whatever your religion's comparable place is. If it doesn't have one, go talk to one of your elders or leaders about it, they can sort it out for you. The reason I make this point is simple, devils can only be dismissed or destroyed here in our world, you cannot kill them. What does this mean? It means that you can get one who doesn't know a damn thing about the modern world, or you could get one who knows everything. Because it may have been here before, it may have been here last week for all you know, and knowing that they can't be killed, only sent back to where they came from makes many of them fearless in a confrontation.

"It also means that they can not be hurt by most material weapons, only holy objects will effect them, and in many cases only if those items are wielded by someone who has faith. The more powerful the devil, the more powerful the item that will be required. This isn't a religious organization, religious issues aren't really in your scope, so I would suggest that you just don't have anything to do with those things if you can help it, and you just call in someone who can deal with it."

"But if we are faithful, and we have a holy object, we can dismiss them, right?" one of the agents in the group, Mary Swain, asked.

Mark nodded, "Yes, you can, if your item is powerful enough and your faith strong enough. But I'll tell you right now, that if you run into anything big, just run away as fast as you can."

"Why?"

"Because when a bigger devil kills you, you go to hell. And until someone comes along and does the proper blessing, you stay there."

They all grimaced at that.

"Now, how many of you think that the monsters have religion?"

Mark looked around, and no one's hands went up. Well, Agent Sikes's did, so he must have believed Mark.

"Monsters may or may not practice a religion; most of them have souls, as far as I understand it, only a few do not. However, they all have religion, as in they all believe in God, heaven, and hell. But, they believe the things that will get them into heaven are different than the things you believe will get you there. You believe being a better person and following your religion is what is necessary.

"They believe in being a better monster."

Mark watched as they all absorbed that little tidbit.

"Not all monsters are evil, not all are good, but some are good or evil innately. For the rest, they're just like you, they can be good or bad, and they can be persuaded to change their ways. But things that you see as bad, they may not, and for them those things may not even be bad. So always approach with care, know who and what you're dealing with. You don't want to attack the good ones, because they'll defend themselves just as much as the evil ones.

"And you don't ever want to give the evil ones a chance."

"Have you dealt with a lot of monsters?" Agent Timms asked.

Mark nodded, "It is not uncommon for the Church to get called in to deal with them. Usually in smaller towns, out of the way places, people are a lot more likely to go to their local priest for help, than they are the government. Also there are some that have abilities or knowledge that can be helpful to the Church and its own fight against devils."

"What is the Church's stance on them?"

"If they're not innately evil, the Church's stance is that they are to be ministered to, just as humans are ministered to. As far as the Church is concerned, if they have a soul, that soul is worth saving."

"Does everyone deal with the monsters, or mainly you?" Agent Haines asked.

"Mainly me," Mark said.

"And why is that?"

Mark smiled and looked around the room, waiting a moment before answering.

"Because I'm a monster."

Everyone got very quiet in the room at that point, and Agent Woods just shook his head and sighed.

"He's not kidding, is he, Sir?" Agent Walters asked Agent Woods.

"No, he's not kidding. I'd asked him not to tell anyone."

"Why not?" Agent Chance asked.

"Because he wanted you to learn that not all monsters are evil, and most are not easy to pick out of a crowd," Mark said. "How many of you had suspicions?"

Agent Haines's hand went up.

"Ah, good. What made you suspicious?"

"Your record. You came out of nowhere, and then suddenly became the Vatican's number one devil killer. They sent you everywhere, and when you and your former partner were ambushed, only you survived."

Mark nodded, impressed, "Solid reasoning."

"So, what kind of monster are you?"

"I'm a were-creature, a lycanthrope, or lycan for short. But I'm not a natural, or a pure blood. I'm a turned lycan."

"What's a turned lycan?" Agent Chance asked.

"I was bit by a natural were, someone who was born a lycan, and not turned into one."

"Why'd they do that?"

"To save my life." Mark said; briefly remembering the living hell his life had become, before Helena had bitten him. "I had been inflicted with a magical disease by the vamp I'd killed in Afghanistan, it was slowly and painfully killing me, and I would probably have come back as some sort of ghoul. Regardless, the prospects weren't pretty and I didn't have any alternative." Which was true, because Helena hadn't asked him if he wanted it or not, she'd made that decision for him.

Not that he'd ever regretted it, especially not afterwards!

"So, if you bit one of us?" Agent Denise O'Brien, the other female agent on the team asked.

"If I bit one of you, I'd get arrested for assault. Plus my wife would kill me," Mark said with a smile, "A turned lycan cannot themselves turn someone else into a lycan; only a natural born can do that. And this is important! Just getting bit won't change you; they have to intentionally want to change you when they bite you."

"Well, that's a relief!" Agent O'Brien sighed.

"Trust me; lycans really aren't interested in turning everyone, or even anyone. If they were, they would have done it already."

"Are there any other differences between the natural born and the turned?" Agent Sikes asked.

Mark nodded, impressed that Michael was thinking about this. "The natural born are tougher, stronger, harder to kill, and are a lot less likely to get in trouble. Like all monsters, lycans police themselves; they tend to be very law-abiding. The ones most likely to cause trouble, and bring attention to them, are the ones that have been turned. Because they haven't been raised with it, and taught not to run afoul of human society."

"Which is why they don't want to turn people," Agent O'Brien said.

Mark nodded, "Exactly. When they turned me, if I had gone off the deep end, they would have dealt with me immediately."

"So, what do you turn into?" Agent Timms asked.

"A cougar."

"Just a regular, average cougar?" Agent Timms seemed surprised.

"Well, a two-hundred-pound one, or whatever I weigh right now, but yes, just a plain, North American cougar."

"No half man, half cougar, monster?" Agent Swain asked, looking almost disappointed.

"Nope, sorry."

"Can we see?" Agent Timms asked.

"I'd have to strip naked first, so no, you can't," Mark said with a smile.

"I think that's enough questions for this morning," Agent Woods said, standing back up. "And as a reminder, everything in the confidential morning brief is just that: Confidential. You are not to go spreading Agent Levin's status around to anyone; I don't even want to hear you discussing it with each other. Leadership knows, but for the same reason we don't go public about the monsters, we don't go public about this either, and that includes not telling other agents.

"Understood?"

Everyone nodded and said "Yes, Sir."

"Dismissed, now get to work people. Mark? A moment?"

Mark nodded and went over to Agent Woods.

"I thought I'd asked you not to tell them," Agent Woods said lowering his voice and looking at him a little cross.

"I was having a discussion about religion with Michael on the way into work this morning, and I realized there were some things that needed to be said," Mark sighed, "I'm sorry if I ruined your planned reveal, Agent Woods, but they all got the point you wanted them to learn.

"You do have a problem, however."

Agent Woods looked up at him, "What?"

"You need to have a talk with the HR department and make them understand that no one who isn't a member of an organized religion, or who doesn't have faith in one, should be allowed on this team."

Agent Woods just shook his head and sighed, "I've tried, believe me I've tried. I got a bunch of legalistic BS back."

"Then tell them that everyone interested in joining this group has to sign a waiver that they understand that their lack of faith will most likely get them killed," Mark said with a shrug, "You're not discriminating then, you're just pointing out a real life working hazard. Everyone, or rather every monster, that they deal with will have some sort of religion, so anyone joining the team should as well. Or they may end up paying for it with their lives."

Agent Woods nodded slowly, "That might work. I'll take it to Henry."

Mark nodded and followed Agent Woods out of the room. It would be interesting to see how everyone dealt with him now, knowing what he really was.

Surprisingly, Mark found that they really didn't seem to care all that much, when lunch came he was invited to join several of the agents as they went down the street to a sandwich shop that was rather popular with the group. Mark suspected then that the only 'us and them' that existed was 'FBI' and 'everyone else' in a lot of the agent's minds, and honestly, he could deal with that.

When they came back from lunch Agent Woods came out of his office with a folder in his hand.

"Everybody, listen up, we might have something."

The office got quiet then and everyone put down what they were doing.

"About a week ago, there was a fire in the George Washington National forest, a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Because it was in a national forest, and arson was suspected, it came to the attention of one of our groups.

"That by itself wasn't a big deal, but they found human remains in the rubble, and they found chains, chains with silver manacles."

"Silver?" Agent Swain asked, looking surprised.

"Silver is poisonous to were-creatures," Agent Woods replied. "They also think the victim was tortured to death."

"Do they have any leads on who set the fire?" Agent Haines asked.

Agent Woods shook his head, "Everyone is clamming up, no one knows anything, no one saw anything, nothing."

Mark raised his hand, "I'd like to go."

"Of course, you and Mike are going, along with Mary and Steve."

"Why us?" Agent Swain asked.

"Because the body recovered was that of a woman, and if there are other women involved you'll be better able to interview them. Also Steve is our most experienced woodsman."

"When do we leave?" Mark asked.

"Immediately. I've already checked out one of our SUV's from the garage for you. Here's your copy of what we have so far." Agent Woods handled them a small stack of folders. "They've set up an office in the local sheriff's department; Marylyn has booked you rooms at a local hotel."

"We're driving?" Mark asked surprised, "How far away is this place?"

"Hundred, hundred fifty miles as the crow flies, probably two hundred by car. It's one pm now, so with any luck, you can be there before six."

Mark looked at Agent Sikes who shrugged.

"We'll stop by your place so you can grab some things," Agent Sikes said and then looked at the other two who were going. "Where do you want to meet up?" he asked them.

Mark picked up the phone and called Helena while the others worked things out.

"Yes, Mark?" Helena said answering her phone.

"I'm being sent out on a case, Hon," he told her. "I'll be stopping by in a bit to pick up some clothes and stuff, sounds like we're going to be there a few days."

"Oh? Where are you going?"

"George Washington national park."

"There are a lot of shifters living around there, you know that, right?" Helena said in a lowered voice.

"Yeah, I kind of figured as much. Your parents were from there, weren't they?"

"Yes. Does this involve shifters?"

"Yeah, that's why we're going."

"I'll pack a bag for you, Mark."

"Thanks," Mark said and hung up his cell phone.

"So, tell the wife?" Agent Sikes asked

"Yup. You ever been to this park?"

Agent Sikes shook his head, "No. I'm not really the outdoors type. Steve's been there a few times I think; you can ask him about it on the way there. I told him and Mary that we'd pick them up on the way to your place. Let's go get the SUV."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I keep a suitcase in the car," Agent Sikes said smiling.

Mark looked at him surprised. "You keep a packed suitcase in your car?"

"I used to be on the quick response team. You're required to keep one in your car or at your desk. Still a habit."

Mark nodded, "Can we stop by the armory on the way? I'd like to check out a few things."

"The SUV's come with shotguns and AR-10's, you sure?"

Mark nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Fine, this way then."

"I can't believe they didn't have any machetes," Mark grumbled as they drove towards his apartment, the others were looking at him surprised.

"It's an armory, not a knife store," Agent Michael Sikes chuckled from behind the wheel; he was driving the big black SUV they'd been given. Mark had checked, there was quite a bit of hardware in the back, including windbreakers and bullet proof vests with 'FBI' prominently labeled on them.

"Knives are weapons too, and a machete is going to be a lot more useful in the forest than a gun," Mark grumbled.

"For you maybe," Agent Swain said. "For us, I don't think so."

"I can lend you mine if you want," Agent Steve Hughes said from the front passenger's seat. Hughes was Mary Swain's partner, Mark had noticed him right away, he was a fairly rugged looking type, dirty blond hair, heavily built, and about six foot. From the items on his desk, Mark had gathered that he had been in the marines.

"You brought a machete?" Michael said glancing over at Agent Hughes.

"We're going into the brush, I always bring a machete," Steve said and shrugged.

"Nah, I'll hit up a hardware store or something when we get there," Mark sighed. "Still, someone needs to have a word with the people running that place. They didn't even have any hand grenades!"

"You asked for a hand grenade?" Mary said looking rather surprised.

"He asked for a whole box," Michael laughed, "after they told him they didn't have anything with an edge on it. You should have seen the looks on their faces when he did, too!"

"I was curious to find out just what they did carry, if they couldn't be bothered with something as simple as a machete," Mark chuckled. "I'm going to have to make a list of weapons for you guys. There are some pretty tough monsters out there, and if you ever need to flex a little muscle to impress one, you're gonna need more than just a couple of rifles."

Michael pulled over and stopped in front of Mark's townhouse.

"Here we are, Mark."

"Give me a minute," Mark said and getting out of the back he walked up to the front door and let himself in. Helena was standing there waiting for him, so he gave her a hug and a kiss.

"I'm not sure how long we'll be gone," Mark said.

"That's okay, I'm going with you," Helena said and handed him his overnight bag.

"What?" Mark looked at her surprised.

"I'm going with you," Helena purred and leaned up against him. "These last two nights were our first nights together in almost a year. You don't think you're getting off that easy, do you?"

"Helena," Mark said staring down at her, "This is work. We're on a case. I can't just go dragging my wife along!"

"Sure you can," Helena smiled.

"No, I can't, and I'm not."

"Yes, you can, and you are!" Helena said a little more firmly, "First, I'm your leading expert on lycans and forest lore. Second I have family in those woods, and that might count for something, and third," Helena winked and poked him in the stomach, "I am the one who turned you, and I'm more than willing to use that influence to beat you into submission. I'm your mate, Mark. I demand it."

Mark sighed, he probably could force her not to go along, they'd butted heads before and she didn't always get her way anymore. But she had a point, they'd only spent two days together, and this wasn't his real job, he was supposed to be more of an advisor than anything else, and Helena did know a hell of a lot about North American lore.

Besides, it wasn't as if she couldn't take care of herself.

He grabbed her bag; at least it was a small one like his. "Lock the door for me, dear, and don't scare the humans. Please?"

"Yes, dear." Helena smiled and followed Mark out to the back of the SUV, closing the townhouse door behind her and locking it.

Mark opened the back of the SUV and tossed his and her bags on top of everyone else's. Mark's was fairly small compared to the other's, he was used to traveling light on things like this, and Helena's was the same. As far as he knew she never wore long pants, just cutoffs or short dresses. She probably owned fewer clothes than he did, which was another obvious indicator that she wasn't really human.

Walking around to the side he opened the door and Helena hopped in and slid over to the middle of the rear bench seat as Mark climbed in and closed the door behind him.

"Everyone, this is my wife, Helena. Helena, this is Agent Mary Swain," Mark motioned to the woman sitting now sitting next to Helena on the back seat. Mary was about six feet tall, almost as tall as Mark was. She looked like a jock and kept her black hair in a military style, also being a former marine like her partner Steve, not as short as the men, but definitely shorter than most women.

Helena, was of course only five foot six, long tawny hair, lightly tanned skin, and where Mary was wearing a suit like the other two guys, Helena was wearing cutoffs, a simple tank top, and a pair of nice sandals that she could kick off rather easily. Helena was very attractive, and sitting next to Mary, she looked like a super model.

"The two men trying not to trip over their tongues up front are Agent Michael Sikes, in the driver's seat, and Agent Steve Hughes."

Mark noticed Michael and Steve were taking a moment to compose their thoughts, Helena showed a lot of skin, and it was rather nice looking skin. Plus she didn't wear a bra and it was a little cold outside today.

"Mary, Michael, Steve," Helena said very politely giving each of them a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"What is she doing here?" Mary said, being the first to recover her wits.

"Her parents grew up in the area, she has family there," Mark said thinking fast. "You heard Woods tell us how everyone wasn't talking. I figured she'd be able to help us with the locals."

"Agent Woods is gonna have words with you over this," Michael said shaking his head.

Mark sighed, "Just drive, Michael."

"But she'd not law enforcement!" Mary said.

"She's an expert on North American monsters and a professional tracker," Mark sighed.

"What's this," Steve said and pulled out a stone that was under his shirt, which he was wearing on a cord. The stone had an uneven hole worn through it, which the necklace cord ran through.

"Hag stone," Helena said leaning forward to look at it. She didn't touch it however, Mark noticed. "Came from a fresh water stream too, not from a beach."

"She stays," Steve said slipping the rock back inside his shirt and buttoning it back up and fixing his tie.

"What?" Mary looked at him surprised.

"I'm senior agent, Woods put me in charge. People out there in the park, they're a pretty superstitious lot, their families have been living around there since before the revolutionary war. Having another person around who knows the lore can be helpful. Besides, she's cute."

"Steven!" Mary said looking shocked.

"Can it, Mary. Guy's tongues always wag when there's a pretty girl about, even if she is married. You know that," he looked over at Michael, "Let's go, Mike."

Michael shrugged and put the SUV in drive and off they went.

Helena just smiled at Mark, and then snuggled up against him and quickly fell asleep.

Mark smiled back and put an arm around her, Agent Woods could bitch at him all he wanted to. He was going to enjoy this.

Not like he had any choice of course, but still, she was his wife.

6: Marlington, West Va.

"Wow, this really is the middle of nowhere," Mary said looking at the small town as they came around a hill on route thirty-nine.

Michael turned off onto a side road, and Mark noticed a church on the right as they drove down the street. It was obviously a fairly old town, at least by American standards. He saw older ones in Europe all the time when working. There were a lot of newer buildings here as well however. Thankfully his countrymen didn't have problems with pulling down the old buildings and putting up new ones when needed.

"Here we are," Michael said and pulled into the parking lot of the sheriff's office.

Mark looked at his watch, it was almost seven. The sun was setting, and with all of the hills around here, there were already a lot of long shadows covering parts of the town.

"Well, let's go in and introduce ourselves," Steve said.

"What about Mark's wife," Michael asked opening the door.

"I'll deal with it," Mark said smiling at Helena as she stretched and yawned rather fetchingly.

"I'll introduce you last then, Mark," Steve said as they all trooped inside, the agents all putting their badges in the breast pocket of their suits. Mark had his on a cord that went around his neck, along with his Interpol ID. He didn't wear suits, ever, just khakis and either a dress shirt or a polo shirt. Being with the FBI he was wearing a dress shirt today, but his tie was a clip-on. The idea of wearing a noose around his neck never really had appealed to him much.

When they came in the front door there was a woman at the desk who looked up at them.

"Hi, I'm Agent Hughes, we're with the FBI. Sorry we're late; we hit some traffic coming out of DC."

"Up the stairs at the end of the hall, office you're looking for will be on the right. I'll let the Sheriff know you're on the way up."

"Thanks," Steve said and they followed her directions, went in the room she'd told them to and Mark saw there were two men already inside.

The first was dressed more like Mark was, and was wearing his badge on a chain. He was clean shaven, short hair, about five foot eight and obviously the FBI arson investigator that had written up the report that Mark and the others had been reading on the trip here.

The other man was about six-foot-four, and heavily built with a stomach that had gone slightly to pot. He had short gray hair and looked to Mark to be in his fifties. He was in uniform, and obviously the sheriff.

"Scott, nice to see you again," Steve said nodding to the other agent. He turned to the Sheriff then, "Sheriff Clayton, I'm Agent Steve Hughes, this is my partner, Agent Mary Swain, that's Agent Michael Sikes, and Interpol Agent Mark Levin who's on loan to my division."

The Sheriff shook hands with each of them, as Hughes went down the line introducing them.

Mark smiled at the sheriff who was scowling at him when it was his turn to shake and stepped up and stuck out his hand, "Sheriff, Mark Levin, and this is my wife Helena."

The sheriff shook hands and looked down at Mark, his eyes narrowing just a tad. Mark had been suspicious, but the moment they shook hands it was clear, the sheriff was a lycanthrope, probably a bear.

"Sheriff," Helena said stepping up and shaking hands next. Mark noticed that the Sheriff's eyebrows went up a little.

"Does your husband always bring you along to work, little lady?" He said.

"Only when I tell him to," Helena said and gave him a wink. "My parents grew up here, over in Richwood."

"Do tell! My wife's people live in Fenwick. She might even have known them!" The Sheriff smiled at her, "I was just about to head home for dinner, you and your husband would be more than welcome to come and join us."

"Oh, we'd love to, right, Hon?" Helena said and smiled at Mark.

Mark smiled back and nodded, "Of course."

Steve was already repeating the introductions with Agent Scott Koss, the arson expert. He looked a bit surprised at Mark and his wife, but didn't say anything.

"Why'd they send you out here, Steve?" Agent Koss asked. "Isn't this a little out of your bailiwick?"

"The vic being in chains set off a few alerts with the intel group," Steve replied. "There are some fears about trafficking, with the increased numbers of illegals we've been seeing lately, also some of this matches up with a few things we've seen elsewhere, plus over seas, which is why we got Agent Levin from Interpol with us.

"So, Agent Woods sent us out here, and told us to take over. Got anything to tell us that's not in the report?"

Agent Koss shook his head, "No, it's like the report said, someone splashed gasoline around the inside of the place and then just lit it with a match. There were two sets of car tracks outside; best guess is a foreign made all-wheel drive. Smaller one, not a big SUV, for the first. A more standard American made four-wheel drive truck for the second.

"We don't have an ID on the victim yet, still searching dental records and missing person's reports. Everything else burned up in the fire."

"Everything?" Michael asked looking a bit skeptical.

"Best I can figure it, they used about twenty gallons of gasoline on the place," Koss said and shook his head, "They knew what they were doing, and they wanted it gone."

"The report said there were three other sets of manacles, besides the ones you found on the body," Mark said.

"Yeah, one set must have gotten damaged in the fire, they looked broken."

"Okay, thanks, Scott," Steve said. "If we have anymore questions we'll call you."

"Sure, I'll tell the people working the victim's ID to contact you if they find anything." Koss nodded to the Sheriff, "Bye, Sheriff. If you need me, you have my card."

Sheriff Clayton nodded and Agent Koss left.

"Well now, what say we all meet up again, about eight in the morning, and I'll answer any questions you might have," Sheriff Clayton said, looking at Steve.

"Sure thing, Sheriff. See you in the morning. Mark, I'll have the hotel put your bags in your room."

Mark nodded and watched as Steve and Mary left, Michael gave him a look, then shrugged and followed, closing the door behind them.

"Welp, come on home and meet the wife, and then you can tell me just why the heck I got two cougars working for the FBI in my county," Sheriff Clayton smiled.

Mark sighed and leaned back in his chair and surveyed his empty plate. Sheriff Clayton's wife was one hell of a cook, and she laid out a lot of food. Not surprising when you considered that her husband, her kids, and she herself, were all bears.

For dinner however, it had just been the four of them, the talk had been pleasant, discussions about family mostly. Clayton's wife's name was Serena, his was Bill, and Serena had known Helena's parents, Jacob and Sally.

"I'm sorry to hear that they're no longer with us," Serena said. "But sounds like you and your sisters did okay for yourselves, though I do have to wonder about the wisdom of you all sharin' a man."

Mark blushed and Helena laughed, "Trust me, Serena, he's a keeper. He may only be turned, but I'd put him up against any tom in the county."

"Yeah, but you already told us there weren't any toms out there!" Serena winked.

"I was talking this county," Helena grinned back. "Take off your shirt, Hon."

Mark blinked and looked at Helena, "What?"

"Women like to show off their husband's scars. At least the feline ones do," Bill chuckled. "More than likely your wife there has been dying to do this for years."

Mark looked at Helena, who actually blushed.

"Sure," he sighed and standing up, pulled his shirt off.

"Holey moley, what in the heck did you get into?" Bill said while Serena got up and came and looked over his back and arms.

"Ran into a vampire in Afghanistan, back when I was in the army. He had some proto vamps, ghouls, and a bunch of followers. I was the only one to make it out alive," Mark replied softly.

"These are scars from bear claws," Serena said pointing to a few of the scars on Mark's upper arms.

"A werebear was trying to rape Charity," Mark sighed. "I had to kill him."

Serena shook her head, "That must have been pretty tough, but a man has to protect his women."

"That was before I turned him," Helena said, literally purring the words out.

"You killed a werebear, with your bare hands, when you were still just a human?" Bill said looking at him a bit skeptically.

Mark shrugged, "I had a machete. And a large burning brand from the fire. Plus by then I was just a bit upset with things, and well, someone has to stand up and protect the helpless."

"And that was when you bit him?" Serena asked.

"Yup!" Helena smiled and patted Mark's leg as he put his shirt back on and sat down.

"Weren't you worried about him going crazy?"

"There were four of us, so no, not really. Plus he'd already seen the worst that there is in the world, and yet he still stood to protect us. I was fairly sure he'd be okay."

"Well, obviously you knew what you were about," Bill said nodding, "now, why are you here? Why do you work for Interpol? And just what does the FBI really know about us?"

"I work for the Vatican actually," Mark said. "The Interpol thing is just to make my job easier. I'm one of their devil hunters."

"They know what you are?"

Mark nodded, "Of course. I bet the priest running the church I saw back by your office knows what you all are too. We've got souls, we're not evil, the church will minister to us, just about any religion will."

Bill nodded, "Father Jeb is a kindly type. I've suspected he knows, but he's not one of us, so it's something we don't discuss. What about the FBI?"

"Well, the government has known about us for ages, probably since the beginning. Most governments do, but for ages they just let the church, or other religions, deal with it and ignored it. But after what happened with Las Vegas, the US government and the powers that be decided that they needed to take a bit more of an interest, and they set up a group in the FBI to start dealing with any crimes."

"So they're not after us?"

Mark shook his head, "We're still citizens, and again, we have most of the religions on our side, as well as the law. That's why when they found out about me, they started bugging my bosses to loan me to them for a while, to help train their people."

Bill thought about that and nodded after a moment.

"So, what took place in Las Vegas that got them all worried?"

"Well, an American got turned into a Rakshasa while on vacation in India, and the Indian government deported him back to the States. As Vegas was already full of vampires, I said to send him there."

"What's a Rakshasa? Can't say I've ever heard of one of those."

"Sort of a tiger-demon. They're not innately evil, though a lot of them lean that way. This one is fairly good, and he cleaned up Vegas, killed all the vampires, took out a few other problems in the area, then claimed everything in the area as his domain."

Bill snorted, "Let me guess, they weren't happy with that?"

"As he enforces the law and pays his taxes, most of the government didn't care, but there were some others not in the government who weren't happy about it. The government got involved more out of a concern about what those 'others' were doing. Plus I think they just got tired of having to call in the church or someone like us, whenever they had a problem."

"Well, that answers that question, now, just why are you here, in my county?"

"The silver in the manacles. Those were made to hold lycans, or rather, turned lycans like me. The intelligence people at the FBI know about us, so they kicked it to this unit to go investigate. If someone is torturing or killing lycans, that's the same crime as killing a human. But sending investigators that don't know about us, well, that could put them at a disadvantage, as well as in danger."

Bill nodded in agreement at that. "The victim was a wolf lycan; turned, like you suspected. Autopsy says she was dead before the place was burned down though. We figured that much out, but not much more beyond that. The park services dragged the FBI arson group in almost immediately; they don't have anything to deal with arson and murder. However, the FBI folks were kinda' gettin' in the way of us doing any real investigating."

"Do you know who she was?"

Bill shook his head, "I called all of the heads of the wolf clans and even had a couple of them come and look at the body. Nobody has turned a human around these parts in decades. Whoever did this, they're not from around here."

"That or they're not telling anyone about it," Helena pointed out.

"No," Bill shook his head, "that cabin is on forbidden ground. No one is allowed to go anywhere near it."

Mark looked at Serena who was nodding and then back at Bill.

"Forbidden? Why's that?"

"According to my great grandpappy, an evil wizard lived there. Raised demons and devils, and did all sorts of evil things. Human sacrifice, you name it.

"Well, he started to go after some of the werewolves in the area, so the clans banded together, killed his minions, then drove him out. Some say they killed him, others weren't sure, still others were afraid he'd come back one day. We were all surprised that the place burned down like it did, my grandpappy said they tried to do that a hundred years ago, and nothin happened."

"Have you brought the priest from the church up there?"

"No, think we should?"

"I'll go and talk to him, yeah, it should be blessed. If there is anything lingering there, that should help destroy it."

"What's the penalty for going up there?" Helena asked.

"A butt kickin from your old man, and a month on the local public works gang with the drunk drivers and other miscreants. Go up there again after that, and we start talking to you about leaving town and not coming back." Bill shrugged, "We get young males running up there on dares occasionally, whenever it starts to get out of hand we'll hear about it, and we'll make a few examples. That puts the youngin's back in line."

Mark nodded. "I'm sure Agent Hughes will want to run up there in the morning and have a look around. You okay if I tell him you're a bear? Or would you rather I left him guessing?"

"I'd rather you didn't tell him. They know about you two, right?"

Mark nodded, "I've told them."

"I don't think they've put it together for me," Helena smirked. "I'm just a little old harmless country girl in tight shorts after all."

"Ha, that'll serve them right," Serena snorted.

"I'll pass the word around with the other clans in the area that they can talk to you. Don't know if they will of course, people around here like their privacy," Bill added.

Mark nodded, "I understand. But if whatever was up there before has come back and is looking to prey on the wolf clans, it's in their best interest to talk to us."

"I'll tell 'em, but I wouldn't go countin' on it much."

"Can't ask for much more than that," Mark agreed.

"Well, let me get my keys, and I'll take you to your hotel."

"Actually," Helena said standing up, "I was thinking about going out for a run through the woods for a while, Mark?"

Mark stood up and stretched, smiling, it had been months since he'd had a good run as a cougar. "Yes, lets."

7: Blacksburg, suburbia

Craig walked up to the door, stopping a moment; he schooled his features, putting a pleased expression on his face. He didn't care much for Ursula; at times he actually detested her. But she was a necessary evil, and for now, he still needed her.

Smiling he pressed the doorbell and waited.

An attractive older woman opened the door, she was almost forty, and had obviously been quite the beauty in her youth, externally at least. Inside was undoubtedly a different matter.

"Craig! What a pleasure to see you again," Ursula said.

"You know I have a hard time staying away, I enjoy your company so much," Craig said, with a smile.

"Oh, do come in, please," she told him stepping back from the door. Craig smiled and stepped inside, giving her a hug and a kiss.

"How are those two new girls working out? Susan and Kerry?"

"Oh, well, they have worked out quite well," Craig said, putting an arm around her and closing the door.

"I'm afraid I'm going to need them to drop out of school however. They just have too much work to do for me."

"Already?" Ursula said, a slightly predatory smile forming on her lips. "And the both of them? Really, Craig, you must learn to take better care of your toys."

Craig growled low in his throat and pulled her tightly against him, she gasped slightly in pain, but he could smell her growing excitement.

"Be careful, Ursula, or you may just share their fate yourself," he warned.

"But then who would get you your pretty little toys?" She gasped, pressing her hands against him. "Tell me, tell me how they died," she said looking into his eyes.

Craig smiled down at her, a smile full off cruelty, hate, and lust. Ursula's need to see younger women punished for the slow and ongoing loss of her own beauty was a powerful drive, one that had drawn him to her like a moth to a flame. He always told her how the girls had died, though his descriptions were at times embellished by his own fantasies rather than what he actually observed.

After all, as much as he enjoyed it, he didn't always have the time to watch the life go out of his victim's eyes.

"Come, let us go to your room, and I will tell you in great detail," he said with a smile. Talking about death and torture affected him as well as it did her.

"Of course, did you bring me any trophies?" She asked looking at him rather hopefully.

"Only one," He sighed. "The other was too well burned and I didn't want that stinking up the car."

"Burned?"

"I burned her alive, in a great big fire," he told her.

"Oh! Tell me that one first!"

"Of course, I would be more than happy to...."

"You know, I'm going to make one of my special movies tonight," Craig said to Ursula as she curled up against him. The sun was setting, and as always, Ursula had been thrilled by the stories of the two young co-ed's demise.

He felt her hands grab him tightly around the sides and he looked down at her to see her staring up at him with blatant lust.

"Can I watch?" She asked rather breathlessly.

Craig smiled slowly, "Of course you can watch. I'll even let you help," he pulled her up and using a little of his glamour gave her a passionate kiss. "I thought you might appreciate it, seeing as all of the extra work you'll have to do for those other two."

"Which one is it?" she asked eyes wide with excitement.

"Aurora, that little hottie from New Orleans you got me a few months ago."

"Ahh! Oh yes, oh yesssss...." Ursula shivered against him and he wondered if she'd just had an orgasm while thinking about it. That was one of the things that impressed him so about her; she got off on the pain and torture of others even more than he did. He would honestly miss her when her time finally came.

"Well, why don't we get cleaned up and head over to my shop? I'd like to get started early, she's a tough one, my little Aurora, and I'm sure it will take many hours before she gives us her all," Craig smirked and ruffled her hair.

"And I can help? Honestly?" Ursula said sitting up and almost bouncing on the bed with a hopeful smile on her face.

"I'll even let you do the finish," Craig promised. "Would you like that?"

Ursula leaned forward and kissed him with more passion than he had ever seen from her before.

"I'd love it," She said rather breathlessly.

Craig had all of the girls, except Aurora, lined up in their outfits, which were really nothing more than leather straps and buckles. He had them all barefoot, because he didn't want to hear any footsteps as they moved around, filming everything, with the five video cameras that he was using tonight.

Aurora was shackled naked to a big metal 'X', a heavy plastic drop cloth was spread around it. The girls all looked scared, they knew something different was going to happen tonight. Aurora looked downright terrified. Craig was enjoying that quite a bit, when he edited this all together, he would be sure to capture her terror at the beginning of the film.

"Dianne, set your camera to focus on Aurora's face, don't leave it, ever, or else," He said growling out the last.

"Yes, Master!" Dianne whimpered in reply.

Ursula came in then, she was wearing a special outfit that Craig had made some time ago, like the other girls, it hid little of her sex or her breasts, being a series of straps and buckles, making her look every inch the dominatrix. The boots with the three-inch spike heels, the flogger hanging from her side, and the silver spikes all over it, really enhanced the effect. She was wearing a small mask that covered the upper half of her face, to try and hide her identity, but which left her lower face totally exposed so that you could still see her expressions rather easily on camera.

Craig smiled, Ursula really looked good in it, the hours she spent taking care of her body showed, she was toned and fit, and didn't have a single sag, wrinkle, or stretch mark. Being human of course, the silver studs didn't bother her, but she'd burn any of the girls should she grab them or hug them, and they knew it, so they were all rather wary of her.

She was pushing a cart, one that had a variety of instruments laid out on it, like a doctor's trolley in an operating room. There were knives big and small, pliers, pinchers, scissors of several different types, awls, needles, sharp pointed rods, and even a couple of hammers. And the best thing was, they were all made of silver. None of Aurora's werewolf healing abilities would help her tonight, none of them at all.

"Hello, Aurora. Remember me?" Ursula said and gave the bound girl a strong hug, kissing her deeply and causing her to whimper as a dozen silver studs ground into her body, burning her.

"Let's get started now, shall we?" Ursula said in a husky voice and picked up the first instrument on her cart.

It was late, very late; it had taken hours to sate Ursula's lusts. Craig was rather impressed; she'd kept Aurora alive and screaming in agony for hours. Even when she'd lost her voice, Ursula had still been able to provoke rather loud wails of pain and other whimpers from the girl.

Of course the others had also whimpered rather loudly, more than once, as Ursula slowly and methodically tortured Aurora, not leaving a single inch of her body untouched. When she finally stuck her hand inside the girl's chest and squeezed her heart, stopping it, they had all started to cry, their soft sobbing making a rather nice addition to the sound track Craig felt.

He sent the girls down to their room after that to clean up, and then he and Ursula had engaged in some rather gratifying sex.

"That was impressive, I must say," Craig said looking down at Ursula, she was covered in blood, most of it dry or sticky now, but then again, so was he. "You really are amazing."

Ursula blushed, "Thank you," she hugged him, "and thank you for letting me do this. I hope we can do it again some day."

"There are plenty of fish in the sea," Craig laughed, "So, I'm sure we will."

"Can I get a copy of the video?"

"Oh, of course. But for now, I think we should go shower off all of this blood and gore of Aurora's. I suspect I'll be up until sunrise cleaning up this mess."

"I'd help," Ursula sighed, "but I have to be at work tomorrow. I need to get those files processed first thing in the morning."

Craig nodded and got off of Ursula and stood up, offering her a hand. He looked at the eyeless corpse and smiled, Ursula had taken Aurora's eyes for a trophy before the girl had died. Aurora had such pretty eyes after all.

8: Marlington

Mark was sitting around a large table in one of the local restaurants, eating breakfast with his wife and the rest of the team. Steve had asked for a table in the back, away from everyone else, and slipped the greeter a twenty. Mark had to appreciate Steve's idea; shifters had better hearing than normal humans after all.

"So, learn anything interesting at dinner with the Sheriff last night?" Michael asked them as they sat down, Steve and Mary looked curious as well.

"Two things, both of which are important," Mark said watching the greeter walk away and waiting until she was out of earshot.

"First is that, yes, the victim was a wolf lycan, a turned one, not a natural. No one around here knows who she was, and there hasn't been a turned wolf around here in decades."

"And the second?"

"Second is that the cabin was on cursed ground, and it's a taboo for any of the local lycans to go up there. So either our killer isn't from around here, or they're something other than a lycan."

"What makes you think that they're not a human?" Steve asked.

"Only a lycan or another monster could overpower a lycan, even if she was only a turned. Plus," Mark stopped as the waitress came over.

"Coffee?" She asked looking around at everyone.

Mark noticed she picked out all of the guns on the FBI agents immediately, even though they were concealed. She started when she looked at him, so he winked at her. She was a wolf lycan; Bill had told him last night that one of the larger wolf clans lived around here, so he wasn't all that surprised.

"Yes, please," everyone said and smiled at her.

"You know," Mark said watching her walk away, "you should probably wear your FBI windbreakers and leave the suit jackets back at the hotel."

"She made us, didn't she?" Steve laughed.

"Short hair cuts, dark suits, and you're all packing. Yeah, she made you," Helena smiled.

"She could tell we're armed?" Mary said surprised.

"This is a hunting town, lots of people here go armed," Steve said nodding, "I wouldn't be surprised if she calls the sheriff to check up on us while she's getting the coffee."

"So, you were saying?" Steve prompted me.

"Somebody had to turn her."

"Could be whoever killed her hates who turned her, or that she was turned. Crime of passion," Mary said.

"If that were the case, I'd expect the one who turned her to appeal to the local communities for help," Mark pointed out.

"Maybe they don't want to get in trouble for turning someone?" Michael replied, then held up his hand as the waitress came back and filled up their coffee cups, then took their orders.

"So, what's our next step?" Michael asked Steve after the waitress had left.

"I was thinking of examining the crime scene ourselves," Steven said and looked over at Mark, "Agree?"

Mark nodded.

"So, Helena," Mary asked, "Did the sheriff's wife know your parents?"

Helena smiled and nodded, "Yes actually, they went to school together. She's a few years younger than my folks were, but it was a pretty small town. We're thinking of driving out that way tomorrow, so I can pay a visit to some of my kin."

"Ever met them before?"

Helena shook her head, "Unlike my Mark here, I don't travel much."

"Mark, you should be ashamed, not taking your wife on vacations!" Mary teased.

"Come out and see our place someday, and you'll see why we don't feel the need to go away," Helena smiled.

"Must be nice," Michael said.

Mark and Helena both nodded, "It is."

They made some more small talk while waiting for the food to arrival, mostly going over the details of the case that were in the file, though there were some comments on the town and the surrounding area. Mark learned that Steve had apparently been out here a few times before, mainly to go camping or hiking.

When they went out to the SUV after finishing breakfast, Steve looked at Mark as Helena got into the vehicle.

"We're going to a crime scene, Mark. We can't be taking your wife with us everywhere."

"She's got a better nose than I do," Mark said and smiled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see."

"Woods is going to be pissed when he hears we dragged your wife to a crime scene."

Mark shrugged, "That's my problem. Now, let's go."

The drive up to the cabin took almost an hour, mainly because there wasn't a direct route, and once they got off the main road, it was slow going up the dirt roads to where the cabin was.

"Would have been faster to run here," Helena grumbled.

"I don't know, ten miles through the woods is a long way to go," Steve said looking around as they pulled into the clearing where the cabin was. There was an old model ford bronco already there, and a man in a black shirt and jeans walking around the property.

"Who's that?" Michael asked pulling up next to the bronco.

"Local priest," Mark said, "Sorry, I forgot to mention it. I asked him to come up here and bless everything."

"What for?" Steve asked turning to look at him.

"Because it's my job," Mark said. "Remember when I told you this place is taboo?"

"Yeah, so?"

"It's cursed. Locals never thought to have it blessed. So I called Father Braener up last night and asked him to take care of it."

"You should have asked me first, Mark," Steve said.

Mark shook his head, "No, I'm sorry if you feel that I stepped on your authority, but blessing something that's cursed always comes first. But you're right that I should have told you about it, I'm just not used to working with others. So, again, sorry I didn't tell you."

"Any other surprises?" Steven grumbled.

"Oh, one or two," Mark chuckled. "Now, let's go see what the good Father has to tell us."

They all got out of the SUV and walked over to the priest who was obviously now waiting for them.

"Father, Mark Levin," Mark said walking up and shaking hands, "This is Agent Hughes, Agent Swain, my partner Agent Sikes, all of the FBI, and my wife, Helena."

"Ah, Mark. Yes, never expected to see one of you commission types here in my diocese, but I'm glad all the same. You were right about this place."

"How bad is it?"

"Well, I am going to call my bishop and have him send out a few more priests to help do a proper blessing, but whatever happened here, it was a very long time ago, so it is not as bad as it could be. But still, better to be safe than to be sorry, better to be sure to keep anyone else from coming here and stirring up that best forgotten."

"That bad?" Steve asked.

Father Braener nodded, "The evil that was done here was great, even if it was done over a hundred years ago."

"Would that be a reason for someone to come here, if they wanted to do something evil as well?"

Father Braener pondered that a moment. "It could be. Certain rituals and summonings are easier on ground that is already profane."

Steve nodded, "Thank you, Father."

Father Braener turned back to Mark, "I'm done here for now. I'll be back each morning to bless it again, until the bishop sends out a team."

Mark nodded and shook hands with him, "Thanks, Father. See you on Sunday I hope."

Father Braener smiled and nodded to everyone and then got into his old bronco and drove off.

"Okay, well we might as well..." Steve started and then looked over at Helena who had already kicked her shoes off and pulled off her top.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked then turned to Mark as Helena wiggled out of her shorts.

"You wanted to see a lycan shift," Mark nodded at Helena, and as her shorts hit the ground she suddenly flowed down towards the ground as well, in a blur, and there was now a cougar standing there.

"She's a..." Mary started.

Helena chirped and padded off into the woods as Mark laughed.

"She's my wife; do you think I'd be married to a human? Really now, it's been staring you in the face since yesterday!" Mark shook his head smiling, "She runs around half naked, even though it's cold outside. She isn't impressed or fazed by anything you say or do. She's my age and had a bunch of kids, but doesn't look it."

"Damn, I feel like an idiot," Michael said shaking his head.

"Yeah, me too," Mary agreed.

"So, that's why you wanted her along, to teach us another lesson." Steve said, looking at him.

"Partially. Also because she told me she wanted to come. I don't argue with my women."

"Wow, a man who doesn't argue with his wife? That's a first!" Mary laughed.

"Well, let's go look at the crime scene," Steve said and motioned towards the remains of the cabin.

Mark nodded and walked over to the pile of burnt wood and rubble. There were a few signs posted around it, labeling it a crime scene and giving the usual police warnings, but that was about it.

He walked up the stones that had been mortared together to form the two steps up to what appeared to have been the cabin's front door. Stepping over the ruins of the front door, he noticed that the floor was stone, or rather rocks that had also been mortared together to form a very smooth surface.

"Wow, that floor is amazing," Michael mumbled.

"Magic," Mark said looking around the rest of the ruins. There was a stone chimney and a fireplace, but most everything else was burned pieces of wood, mostly just charcoal. He could pick out the remains of some furniture, a table, some chairs, a couple of chests and a set of drawers. The spot where the body had been was obvious from the chalk outline on the floor and the rubble that had been shifted away from that spot.

Mark stopped and looked at that for a few minutes, then squatted down and looked closer at the floor, turning to look at either of the walls then back at the floor.

"Find something?" Michael asked coming over to him.

"They found the body here," Mark said. "And according to the pictures we got, the other sets of manacles were here, here, and here," Mark pointed to the spots on the floor, which had been numbered with chalk.

"What don't you see?"

"I don't see any manacles between the body and the next two. While the third set was over there," Michael said.

"And the third set looks broken."

"Think someone escaped?" Michael asked looking around.

"That or they were rescued."

There was a loud chirp from the forest, and Mark stood up. Helena was calling him.

"Helena found something," Mark said to the others and started to trot down the hill, into the woods, towards her.

The others quickly caught up and he saw her sitting on the ground with her tail curled around her.

"What did you find?"

"A wolf boy was here. He had a pack here with his clothing in it. There's another trail leading past here of him and a wolf female."

"Think he rescued someone?" Mark asked.

"You can understand that?" Mary said looking rather shocked.

"Humans," Helena said and rolled her eyes. "It's possible. The trail is about a week old, so the timing is right. We should backtrack it."

"What did she say?" Steve asked looking at Mary and rolling his eyes as well.

"A lycan was here about a week ago with a female."

"That would put it about the time of our fire," Steve said nodding.

Mark nodded and pulled off his shirt, clipping the phone he'd been issued by the FBI to the cord he had his badge hanging on around his neck.

"Where'd you get all those scars?" Michael asked, sounding a bit shocked.

"Afganistan," Mark said kicking off his shoes, he started to undo his pants. "We'll track it from here to the other end, I'll leave the GPS on my phone on, so you can track us. Pick up Helena's clothes please?"

Mark balled his own up and handed them to Michael.

"Yeah, sure."

"I'll call you, Steve, if we find anything along the way."

"Sure you don't want to wait for bloodhounds?" Steve asked looking at Mark.

"Bloodhounds won't track werewolves. Scares the hell out of them."

"Ah."

Mark shifted then, and followed Helena as she padded off into the woods.

"Wow, he's hot," he heard Mary say as they disappeared out of sight.

"Better not let his wife hear you say that," Michael laughed, "I have no doubt she could tear me to pieces without even breaking a sweat."

"Well, looks like someone is learning," Helena said with a laugh.

"They're not stupid, just ignorant," Mark replied.

9:  Forest outside of Marlington

It took Helena several hours to follow the track through the forest, mostly because it was old and fairly scattered, but also because whoever had left it had been moving fairly quickly. Helena had found a couple of footprints, they'd been in human form, and as there were only the scents of the male most of the time, she figured that he must have been carrying the female.

They were coming up the side of a hill when they suddenly encountered four wolves, sitting on their haunches, one of which was growling softly.

Mark stopped and looked around, there was a clearing a hundred years up ahead with a house in it.

One of the wolves made a noise, and Mark looked at Helena.

"You speak wolf? I don't."

"Nope."

Mark shrugged his cougar shoulders and shifted back to human form, Helena doing the same. He noticed three of the four wolves started to stare at Helena, who he had to admit always looked good when she was standing around buck naked.

"I don't speak wolf, so how about you shift so we can have this conversation."

The wolf growled again, and Mark noticed that he was a rather large specimen.

Mark shook his head and held up the cord with his badge and his phone. "FBI, we're investigating a murder, a kidnapping, and arson. And before you decide to do anything stupid, this phone is not only showing my current location to my office, but recording all of this conversation as well.

"So, unless you've been killing and kidnapping young woman, I'd suggest you talk to me, Son."

The wolf stood up as Mark watched and shifted into a young man, a rather large and strong looking young man.

"I didn't kill anyone!" He growled.

"Good, now where is the woman you carried here?"

"What woman?" He growled again.

"Son, if you don't start answering my questions, I'm going to call Sheriff Clayton, and him, me, and the head of your clan are going to be having a rather long discussion about respecting the law and the local customs.

"Now, I'm willing to take your side on going up to the cabin, but only if you produce the woman. Otherwise, I see a very long absence in your future," Mark growled back.

"This ain't a game, Son. This is for real."

"How do I know you won't hurt her?"

Mark sighed and pulled the phone off the cord around his neck and dialed the sheriff.

"Sheriff's office."

"Sheriff Clayton," Mark said replied, "We got a survivor, she's at this young man's house. Would you be so kind as to tell him I won't kill her?"

"What? Where are you at?"

"Ask him," Mark said and tossed the young man his phone.

"Sheriff Clayton?" he said after catching the phone, "It's Trevor. Deke's son. What? Okay, yes, Sir. No, Sir. Yes, Sir. Right away, Sir." He tossed the phone back to Mark.

"Sheriff?"

"I'm on my way."

"Okay," Mark said and hung up the phone. He looked back up at Trevor. "Satisfied?"

"Yessir. Come on up to the house."

"The rest of you can stop staring at my wife, got that boys?" Mark said as he and Helena walked up the hill.

Helena laughed as the other three wolves all slinked off. "Friends?" She asked.

"Brothers," Trevor sighed. "Listen, Mister. I didn't mean to cause no trouble, but I'd heard some of the humans in town saying that they saw a guy headed up to the cabin with a couple o' hot college girls, and I thought maybe I'd go take a look."

"Call me Mark. So what happened?" Mark asked as they entered the clearing and walked to the house.

"I heard a girl moaning in pain, and well, I kicked in the door and she was hanging from the ceiling, she was all bloody and bruised and the girl next to her," he swallowed and lowered his voice, "the girl next to her was dead."

"So, you burned the place down, and brought her back here."

"Son, who are you talking to?" An older man said coming out of the house, looking angry.

"Cops, dad. They're here for Susan."

"What?!"

"FBI," Mark said holding up his badge.

"Since when are there lycan feds?" He said looking Mark and Helena over.

"What, do you think regular humans would be able to catch someone preying on were's?" Mark asked looking at him, he figured this was Deke.

Just then a woman came out with a couple of robes, handing one to Mark and another to Helena.

"Trevor, go put some clothes on, boy. We got company and I hear a car coming down the drive."

"They're with me," Mark said, "And they're human, so don't expect them to know our ways."

"How many of you are there?" Deke asked.

"Just three. My partner and a team I'm training."

"No, I mean lycans. How many lycans are working for the FBI?"

"Not nearly enough. If you know anyone who wants to apply, let me know. I'm Mark by the way. Mark Levin," Mark shook hands with Deke, who seemed to be settling down now. "This is my wife, Helena."

"Deke Styles, this is my wife Margaret."

Mark nodded and shook hands with Margaret as well as he heard the SUV pull up out front and the doors open.

"Well, let's go around and I'll introduce you to the others, and Helena and I can get dressed. Then you can tell us what happened, and let us talk to Susan."

Deke nodded, and led them around the front of the house.

They were sitting in a small bedroom; Susan was sitting up on the bed against the headboard, with her legs drawn in close and her hands around her knees, looking rather lost. Helena was sitting near the foot of the bed, Margaret near the head. Mark was sitting in a chair on the far side of the room, with Michael sitting next to him. They were both wearing their FBI ID's. Steve and Mary were downstairs with Sheriff Clayton talking to Trevor and his father, Deke.

"So, Susan," Mark started, speaking slowly, not wanting to spook her, "What is your full name, and where are you from?"

"Susan Meyers, I'm a freshman at Virginia Tech," Susan sniffed a moment and looked down at her knees, "I'm not going back there, am I?"

"Probably not this semester, but you can go back," Mark continued in the same slow and soft voice.

"But, but I'm no longer human, I, I can't go back there!" She said looking miserable.

"Who told you that?" Mark asked, "Was it somebody in this house?"

Susan shook her head sharply, "No. It was Craig, Craig told me that. After, after he changed me and Kerry. He said we weren't people anymore, we were bitches, we were just dirty bitches to be used like the dogs we were."

Mark heard the sharp intake of breath by Margaret, who reached over and patted Susan gently on the shoulder.

"Was Kerry the girl you were found with, by Trevor?"

"No," Susan said and sniffed loudly, closing her eyes, "I don't know who she was. She was already chained to the wall when we got there; she was gagged and barely alive."

Mark sighed and leaned back a bit, "How did all of this start?"

"Are you going to kill me?" Susan sniffed again and looked up at him, she was quietly crying, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Why would we kill you?" Mark asked.

"Because I'm not a real werewolf, because I don't listen to my alpha. Craig said I wasn't taking to the change, I wasn't behaving, and that meant he'd have to train me to know my place. That the other wolves wouldn't accept me otherwise, that they'd kill me. He said he'd made a mistake when he bit me."

"I see," Mark said thinking about that a moment. "Did you ask for this?"

Susan shook her head, "No, I didn't. I don't want this; I don't want any of this. I just want to go back to school."

"We're not going to kill you," Mark told her. "Now, how did this happen?"

"A few months ago," she sniffed and hiccuped, "I met Craig. He was a nice guy, he had a lot of nice things, and he treated me well. He had a photography studio, and he asked me to model for him. I'd seen other girls doing it already, if you had the looks, you could make decent money and you didn't have to do anything crude."

Susan sniffed again and taking a tissue she stopped talking a moment and blew her nose.

"After a month, he started taking me out to dinner afterwards, he'd buy me drinks, and he, he seduced me. He told me that he loved me." She sniffed and started crying softly again.

Margaret and Helena both spent a couple of minutes comforting Susan, until she settled down. Once she'd recovered her composure, she started talking again, a wad of tissues in her hands now as she stared down at them, looking miserable.

"A couple of weeks ago, he, he bit me. I knew right away he'd done something to me, but, but I didn't know what," Susan shivered, "and, and he changed. He went from being nice and caring to being hard and demanding. Violent even! He started making me do things, he started to abuse me, and, and I couldn't resist him or even say no!

"That was when he told me I was his bitch, and he wouldn't let me leave. Ever. I had to live in this little dorm room with his other bitches, there were like six of them and they all looked scared and beat down, like, like me," Susan sobbed softly a moment, blew her nose and continued. "The next day, he tossed Kerry in with us, she'd been working for him too, and had come looking for me. She was my roommate at college."

"How did you end up in the cabin?"

"I, I wasn't getting along with the other women very well, and I wasn't doing everything he told me to. Kerry, Kerry could resist him, and she told me one night that I could resist him too. That he wasn't an alpha, we weren't bitches, and we weren't his."

"I bet he didn't take that at all well," Margaret chuckled.

"The next time Kerry resisted him, he beat her, he beat her hard, and he put her in chains. The other women told him that Kerry had been talking to me, and corrupting me as well. So he beat me next, and then he put me in chains too, chains that, that burned!

"He said it was time to for him to visit the sage's home, and rather than take one of his old used up bitches, that we'd go instead.

"So he had the other women carry us out into his car, then he drove us up to the cabin. He chained me to the wall, next to the body of the other girl, and left with Kerry. He, he came back later, I don't know how much later, without Kerry, and he started to beat the girl next to me, telling her that she'd have to wait another day for her reward, because he'd found someone so much better.

"I, I think he killed her then, because he suddenly screamed out in rage about being 'cheated' and he turned on me next and beat me until I passed out. The, the next thing I remember was when Trevor burst in and freed me. I, I was so scared, I told him that Craig would be coming back, and that he was going to kill me!"

Mark watched as she started to cry again.

"Trevor said he'd protect me," Susan looked up at him, "I don't want to die, I just want to go home, I want to go home!"

"Would it make you feel safer if Trevor was up here with you?" Helena asked her softly.

"Wh... What?" Susan sniffled looking up at Helena surprised.

"Do you want Trevor with you? You trust him, right?"

"I..." Susan paused and thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I trust him."

"And he's a big strong young man, tough, fierce, caring. He'd keep you safe from Craig, wouldn't he?"

"But, but Craig's so strong."

"Strong enough to run ten miles through a forest, while carrying you?"

"Trevor, he, he did that?" Susan said looking hopeful.

"This Craig sounds like a right bastard," Margaret spoke up, "my Trevor would beat him to within an inch of his life if he showed up around here."

Mark remembered when he had first been turned, how he'd needed someone to hold on to, someone to reassure him that he hadn't gone crazy, and that things would be okay. Helena and Hope had helped him a lot in those first few weeks and he realized what Helena was doing, she was giving Susan someone to help her adapt to the change. He turned to Michael, "Go get Trevor, and bring him up here."

"Sure, Mark," Michael said and left, returning less than a minute later with Trevor who immediately zeroed in on Susan, looking concerned.

"Is everything alright?" he asked looking around the room.

"Trevor, I want you to curl up with Susan and hold her," Helena said.

"Okay," he nodded and kicking off his shoes he joined her on the bed putting an arm around her rather protectively.

"Susan, you know what you are now, right?" Helena asked.

"I'm, I'm a werewolf?"

"Yes, but it's not like the movies," Helena smiled.

"Is there a cure?" She asked looking worried.

Helena shook her head, "No, once done, this is something that can not be undone."

"But, but I don't want to be a werewolf, I didn't ask for this!"

"I didn't ask for this either," Mark spoke up, drawing Susan's attention, "but it happened, and once I got used to it, I found I was rather happy with it."

"You, you were human once?" She asked hesitantly, looking at him with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Yes, I was. Trevor, his mother, my wife, they were all born lycans, unlike you and me, who were turned into one. I work in law enforcement now, for the government actually. My wife and I have a family. Life is good."

"This isn't the end, Susan," Helena said picking back up. "Being turned, and not born a lycan can be tough, I won't lie to you, it's going to be hard for you at first. You're going to have to learn a bunch of things, and you're going to need a good teacher."

"How, how long?"

Helena shrugged, "I taught my Mark there most of it in only a few months, though I still can't get him to put the seat down on the toilet."

Mark sighed loudly, but Susan gave a weak giggle.

"But the point is, if you want to get through this, you will get through this, that young man with his arm around you will turn himself inside out to help you, if needs be. Won't you, Trevor?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Trevor said nodding.

"What, what do I have to do?" Susan said looking up at Helena with determination in her eyes.

"I want you to move into his room, I want you to sleep with him at night, and spend your days with him too. Until you feel safe and comfortable with what you are, you stay with him."

Mark noticed Trevor's eyes get wide in surprise, even Susan looked shocked.

"But, he's still in high school!"

"Two years is not that big a deal, Mark there is two years younger than me, just makes them a bit more frisky in bed," Helena smirked and winked at Susan who blushed.

"Look, Susan, I said it wasn't going to be easy, but I know from me and Mark what does make it easier, and that's having someone to hold and someone to love. Even if it's just a summertime romance and you part come next fall. There aren't many men in the world who will risk their lives to save a stranger, and Trevor did. A man like that deserves more than just a reward, a man like that deserves a long and careful look. A man like that will always do fine by you."

Mark noticed that Susan was looking at Trevor rather thoughtfully, and Trevor was caught between blushing and looking rather proud.

"One last question," Mark asked as he stood up to go.

"Yes?" Susan asked suspiciously.

"Do you have Craig's address?"

"Oh, of course," Susan said and told them where his shop was in downtown Blacksburg. Apparently he lived above the shop, which she believed he owned.

"Wow, that was some reward," Michael whispered with a smile as they headed downstairs, they had left Susan and Trevor alone in the room and closed the door behind him.

"She's been through a lot," Helena replied in an equally soft voice, "if someone doesn't give her something to hold on to, she might not make it."

"What happens then?" Michael asked looking at her with a worried expression.

"Oh, don't you worry about it none," Margaret smiled, "Come next year, I bet you she's married my Trevor and when he leaves for college, she'll be able to go back to her degree."

Mark smiled at that, "That would make all of us very happy."

"Can't argue with that," Michael agreed, and turned to look at Margaret, "You know Ma'am, we could use a man like him in the agency. When he goes to college, you might want to steer him towards criminal justice."

"Because he's a lycan?" she asked looking at Michael curiously.

"Because he risked getting in trouble, or worse, to save someone in trouble that he didn't even know." Michael shook his head, "Yeah, we can always use more people like that."

"Why thank you, Agent Sikes."

"You sound like a recruitment poster," Mark chuckled.

"Eh, I'm young and good looking; so they send me out to the colleges during the job fairs. Pretty depressing what you see there these days."

"You know, I have a couple of daughters looking for a husband," Helena mused giving Michael the eye. "Maybe you should come visit sometime."

Mark almost laughed at the wild look in Michael's eyes, but they came into the kitchen where Steve, Mary, and Sheriff Clayton were still sitting with Deke, saving Michael from further embarrassment.

"Everything okay up there?" Deke asked looking up.

"She's got a good chance, Hon," his wife Margaret said going over to stand by him, "I think she'll make it."

"Is it really that tough?" Mary asked looking over at Mark and the rest of them.

"It can be," Helena said with a sigh. "It's not just the fact that you're not human anymore, that can be hard enough. Your body changes, your needs, even some of your desires, change. You're stronger, faster, tougher. Some just can't deal with all that, some start to think that they're better now, privileged, and go down some dark paths."

"Does that happen often?"

"Often enough that most don't want to take the chance when it comes to changing people," Margaret spoke up and headed over to the refrigerator and started to pull out a bunch of beers. "Mark there turned out alright, so Helena here must know what she's doing. Which is why I didn't say anything when she put my son and Susan together like that."

"How did the cabin get burned down?" Mark asked, as Margaret handed him a beer and he found a seat as she handed the rest out to the others in the room.

"I did that," Deke said. "Susan said that this guy would be coming back, and I didn't want him thinking she had survived and tracking her back to our house. So I drove up there with a couple of my boys and a few cans of gas and we torched the place."

"Probably a good idea," Mark agreed as Helena also got a beer and sat on his lap. "If nothing else, it definitely put a kink in his plans."

"So, what did you learn about our perp?" Steve asked.

Mark spent the next several minutes recounting the interview.

"Well, we can call for a raid on his shop," Steve said.

"Stop and think about that a moment," Mark warned. "We have a purebred wolf lycan, and about a half dozen turned wolf lycans."

"So? We take him out with silver bullets, and once he's dead we rescue the women."

"It don't work like that, Agent Hughes," Deke said shaking his head. "You attack this Craig guy, and the women will all go into a frenzy to protect him. Like him or not, he's their pack leader. They'll fight to protect him."

"And silver doesn't hurt purebreds," Mark said.

"Wait, what?" Steve said looking up at Mark from the kitchen table.

"I thought silver killed lycans?" Mary put in.

Mark shook his head, "Common myth. Only those who've been turned are affected by silver. It got started because it's usually the turned that go crazy and have to be hunted down."

"So how do we take him down?"

"Overwhelming firepower, do more damage than he can easily deal with, then cut his head off while he's trying to regenerate," Mark suggested.

"With a machete?" Michael asked.

"You're learning," Mark said with a smile and tipping his beer bottle at him.

"That still leaves us with the women, how do we deal with them?" Steve sighed. "They're victims, we can't just shoot them."

"Odds are, they'll probably have to be killed anyway," Sheriff Clayton pointed out. "If the man who's controlling them is a nutcase, they're all liable to be unbalanced now as well."

"Still, they deserve a chance." Steve sighed, "We're supposed to be the good guys here. There has to be something we can do."

"I think we should talk to the clan heads," Deke said looking around the room. "If we sent in a bunch of our own alpha males, they could overwhelm those girls, and get them under control once he's dead. Then they could bring 'em back here, and see if any of them can be saved."

"Why here?" Steve asked.

"Us naturals are stronger and tougher than the turned are." Deke shrugged, "not like they could really hurt us, and being surrounded by lycans, people who understand them and care, maybe we can save a few."

"And if not, we're capable of dealing with the problem," Sheriff Clayton said, taking a long pull off of his own beer. Mark could tell he wasn't happy about the possibility of anyone having to 'deal with' such problems. It wasn't something anyone was comfortable talking about, especially not in front of a bunch of humans.

Steve sighed and shook his head, "The paperwork alone for this is going to be a nightmare. But you're the experts, we're still just learning. We'll have to go back to DC and talk with our boss, Agent Woods, and get the ball rolling on this today."

Steve turned back to Mark.

"What do you think this 'Sage's house' he was talking about is?"

Mark shook his head, "I have no idea. It could be anything from some hidden sacrificial altar, to some special place of his. Though I do wonder if there is a creature, or even a person, whom he gives the women to once he's done with them."

"Great, another problem," Steve sighed.

"Well, let's deal with the one we know about first," Mark replied. "After we take out this Craig, then we can come back here and spend some time searching the forest for wherever it was he took that girl Kerry that Susan told us about. It can't be too far from the cabin, or he wouldn't have been going there in the first place."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a plan," Steve agreed.

10: Virginia tech / Blacksburg

Twelve hours later and Mark was sitting in a hangar at a small airport in Blacksburg. The entire team was there, and they were all armored up and armed. There were also eight of Sheriff Clayton's 'deputies', a group of quiet older men, sitting off by themselves. They were a rough looking lot, Mark had to admit, and they just exuded 'calm and in control.' This of course meant that the rest of the team had slowly gravitated away from them rather unconsciously.

"Gentlemen," Agent Woods was addressing them, "I want to personally thank you for your help, as you've already been told, we believe there are approximately six young women inside the building. Without your assistance tonight, I don't know that we would be able to save them."

"Let's just get this over with, I got work in the morning," one of the men growled.

Mark smiled, Agent Woods didn't even flinch, he definitely had brass ones. "You have been told you that you will all be paid for your work tonight, correct?"

"Actually, no, we haven't," the one sitting at the front said.

"Stop by Sheriff Clayton's office when you get back home, we arranged the payments through his office, as you're all technically his deputies. I know you're doing us a favor, and I hope that if we should ever need your help again in the future, or if you should need ours, that we can work together."

The one sitting in front just nodded, the others just looked at him indifferently. Mark smiled and nodded to Agent Woods as he walked over to join the rest of his team, who were gathering around the coffee dispenser.

"So, you're that turned cougar out of Portland who took up with Jacob's daughters?" The one in front said to Mark as he walked up.

Mark nodded and pulled up a chair, "Yeah, that's me. I'm Mark."

"Did you really kill a bear with a machete and a stick?" He asked looking Mark over.

"Well, the stick was on fire," Mark said grinning.

"I'm Zeke, Deke's older brother," Mark listened as Zeke introduced the rest of the men with him, each giving him a nod as he did so. They all looked to be in their thirties, which meant they were probably more like in their fifties, and they all had that no nonsense look that Mark had come to associate with authority that had been earned and not just awarded.

"So how did you end up working with these boys?" Zeke asked him, giving a nod towards Agent Woods and the rest of the FBI team.

"Eh, I work for the church taking down devils and the nastier demons. The FBI has been begging them for years now to let me train their new team as I'm an American and a veteran, and well, they finally said yes."

"The church hires lycans?" Zeke said a little surprised.

Mark nodded, "If it's got a soul, it's worth saving. That's their basic stance on things."

"Well that's good to know. What about these guys?"

Mark shrugged, "They mean well, but the sooner we've got some of our own people working in the agency, the happier I'll be. Took a while to get it through their heads that keeping you all out of their database is a good idea."

"Oh? How's that work?"

"Simple," Mark smiled, "I told them that if people could look you up in their files, they wouldn't have to actually come to them for help. I appealed to their sense of self-importance."

Zeke chuckled softly, "Yup, that will make any bureaucrat happy. So, now that we got the pleasantries out of the way, what do you need?"

"I need to figure out where the hell this lone wolf came from," Mark said lowering his voice. "I admit I don't know a lot about you guys, I mainly deal with the kinds of evil things that the church goes after. I want you guys to sniff around this place after we get in there and see if you can figure out just where this guy came from."

"In case there are any more of him out there, right?"

"Exactly. This guy just lit up the entire lycan community in West Virginia, and I want to know why he came here."

"You want to know, or your boss wants to know?" Zeke asked quietly.

"Me. I'm not going to share this unless I have to. I've got kids too; last thing I want is a campaign against the 'shifter menace' or the 'lycan scourge.'"

Zeke nodded, "We're all pretty worried about this guy too, we've got calls out to every clan we know about, to see if anyone's got a boy that's gone missing."

Mark nodded, "Thanks," and standing up he gave Zeke a clap on the shoulder and went over to join his new teammates.

"Any problems?" Michael asked softly as Mark joined them.

Mark shook his head and took the cup of coffee Mary handed him, "No, just chatting a bit, making sure we're all on the same page. Wolves are big on team work, they may not be happy to be here, it goes against the lycan philosophy of laying low and not drawing attention, but they know what's at stake and they'll do their part."

"Their part being to make sure we don't have a bunch of crazed female wolves running around a college town wreaking mayhem," Agent Haines said.

"That and getting them bundled up and out of here, and taken someplace where they can be rehabilitated," Agent Woods agreed with a sigh. "Sooner or later the oversight committee is going to want a report on this. If we can tell them that we saved those girls, helped them to get their lives back together, and home to their families, that'll go a long way to getting our budget increased."

Mark resisted his temptation to say anything snarky, Agent Woods was right, if the team could show that they were successful, they'd get more money. If they couldn't, they'd get less. Right now, the FBI did seem like the lesser of evils.

"Everybody does love a winner," Mary agreed.

"Well, its go time, let's get everyone mounted up and going," Agent Woods said looking at his watch.

Everyone nodded and Agent's O'Brien and Waters went over to the deputies to lead them out to their cars. Mark got into the first car with Michael; they'd be two to a car, except for the deputies who would all be in the last two.

The plan was fairly simple, they'd encircle, and Mark would lead the entry team. As it was two in the morning, there wasn't any traffic and hopefully the line of black SUV's with FBI painted on the sides wouldn't be noticed.

"I see you got your machete," Michael commented as he turned onto Main Street, heading into town.

Mark smiled, "Almost had a fight with Woods over my carrying it."

"What, he doesn't like knives?"

"He doesn't like non-agency issued equipment," Mark chuckled. "He only relented when he found out there weren't any in the armory. Then he ordered two dozen. Gotta say, he's awful quick on the uptake, you explain something to him once, and he takes care of it."

Michael nodded, "So, Mark, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Won't know until you ask," Mark said looking out the window as they drove through town. It reminded him a little of home, the streets were almost empty, very few people were out and about.

"Are your daughters as cute as your wife?"

Mark turned and looked at Michael in complete surprise, "Are you serious?"

Michael blushed, "Dude, your wife is seriously hot! Sorry for noticing and all, but she did strip in front of me."

Mark sighed and rolled his eyes, "You do realize that any trip to my place to meet my daughters is going to end up with you getting bit, right?"

Michael glanced over at him, "What? Really?"

"Mike, my wife is looking for husbands for our daughters. That means you become one of us."

"What, no mixed marriages?" Michael asked sounding surprised.

"We can't crossbreed, if you're not a werecougar, you can't get a werecougar pregnant. And before you ask, wolves and cougars can't crossbreed either."

"Huh, I didn't know that. So who gets me, the oldest?" Michael chuckled.

"Beats me," Mark said, "ask Helena if you really want to know. I doubt she'd hook you up with just anybody, she'd want everyone to be happy."

"So," Michael chuckled, "are they?"

"Are they what?"

"Hot?"

Mark shook his head, "I can't believe we're having this conversation, but yes, they're rather good looking, they all take after their mom, thankfully."

"Hey, you seem pretty happy with it," Michael pointed out and pulled around the corner and stopped. "Well, we're here."

Mark nodded and watched as all the cars in the convoy split up to take their assigned positions.

"There is that," Mark said adjusting the headset for the radios they were all wearing. He got a kick out of that, radios, headsets, body armor, the HK 417 he was carrying; the FBI got a lot of fun toys to play with. Quite a difference from what he was used to.

"The others are set, let's go," he said opening the door.

"Aren't you going to wear your helmet?" Michael asked as they got out of the car.

Mark shook his head, other than the flack vest; he was wearing as little armor as possible. "I don't need one, now, let's go."

Mark led the way as they trotted down the back street, turning down the alleyway and coming up to the back door. There were fire teams assigned to cover each of the three doors, in case Craig tried to make a break for it. Mark would have preferred to have Helena backing him up, she'd be able to lay a smack down on any of the girls that might be inside, should they get in the way, but Agent Woods had vetoed that immediately as they had the group of wolf shifter deputies on loan.

He hadn't been happy when he found out that Mark had taken her along to Marlington, but she'd gotten results, so he'd quickly accepted it. Again, Mark was surprised at how well Woods rolled with the punches once he saw something worked. He was definitely a good pick to lead the unit, appearing to be quite willing to 'think outside the box.'

Also Agent Woods had told Mark that he did not want a civilian in what could very well turn out to be a gunfight. Mark wondered briefly if he should have asked Sheriff Clayton to deputize his wife as well as they took their positions.

Michael kneeled down in front of the door and pulled out a lock gun, picking the deadbolt first, then the regular door.

"Entering," Mark said softly into the headset.

"Roger," Agent Woods' voice acknowledged from the command vehicle.

Opening the door, Mark saw a hallway with a staircase at the end, on the left, just as the building plans they'd gotten had showed. There were large framed pictures on the walls, women models in bathing suits, or nude, but arranged to make the shots not much more than cheesecake photos with strategically placed towels or plants. It looked every inch the photography studio it was advertised to be.

He entered carefully and quietly moved down the hallway. Michael took up station just inside the doorway with Steve and Mary coming up from behind to back him up.

When he got to the stairway he could see it went both up and down, again, just like the building plans said, and went up. There were more pictures arranged on the walls, but these were all landscapes and forest pictures.

At the top of the staircase, he turned right. According to Susan, the room to the right of the staircase was Craig's; the room to the left was the living room. The doors on the other side of the hallway were a kitchen, bathroom, and storage. The dorm room where his 'bitches' lived was in the basement, at the bottom of the staircase.

Mark crept up slowly to the door; lycans had better hearing than humans, even while in their human forms, however, they also moved quieter. Especially the cats.

"Ow!" Mark heard through the door, "You bit me?!" A shocked women's voice said.

"You're mine now baby, you're one of mine!" He heard a male voice say.

"He just bit a woman," Mark whispered and then kicked in the door.

The room was fairly large, there were no lights on, but the large windows on the far wall let in enough of the outside light to illuminate the room. The first thing Mark noticed was the four-poster bed sitting in the center of the room, the sheets were a mess of course, and the room reeked of sex. The next was the two people on the bed, there was a young blonde woman laying on her back, naked, holding her arm with her other hand; kneeling between her legs and wiping the blood from his lips was a man, twenties looking, black hair, slender but well defined muscles, also naked.

"Contact," Mark said as he brought the gun up shooting Craig twice in the back.

The woman screamed and Craig grabbed her, rolling off the bed onto the floor. Mark had to move around the bed to keep Craig in sight, when he did the woman was still on top of him, he was holding her as a shield.

"FBI, you're under arrest!" Mark said loudly.

"You shot me!" Craig yelled.

"Roll over and put your hands on your head, or I'll shoot you some more!" Mark growled.

"I can't! I'm wounded!"

"Cut the crap! You're a werewolf. Roll over!"

"But she isn't," Craig said, laughing, "Can't shoot me, without shooting her."

Mark circled left, trying to get a better angle on Craig, the bastard was right, he may have just bit her, but it would take a while before she was fully changed. Right now, if he shot her, he might kill her.

The girl was struggling and screaming, trying to get away from Craig, who was holding her by the upper arms and moving her to keep her between Mark and him.

"Send a few of the wolves up here," Mark said into the radio, "I need help!"

Hearing that, Craig threw the girl at Mark then, and jumped to his feet. Mark dodged the girl's body as she flew past him and hit the wall, and started shooting again, as Craig ran to window and dove through it, shattering it and sending shards of glass everywhere.

Swearing, Mark ran after him, and dove through the window behind him. Craig was already shifting as he fell, Mark could see agents Walters and Timms staring at Craig in surprise. Mark held the trigger down and emptied the magazine into Craig as he hit the ground, a large black wolf now where the man had been a minute before.

"Shoot him!" Mark yelled and charged Craig, dropping the rifle and pulling his machete out, swinging at the wolf as it staggered away from him.

Craig continued to stagger away, as Mark hit him again, the machete sinking in rather deeply, but the wounds healed almost as fast as Mark was causing them, surprisingly leaking very little blood. He needed to do more damage if he was going to get ahead of the Craig's ability to heal them, and Craig seemed a lot stronger than any lycan that Mark had ever dealt with before; thirty rounds of three-oh-eight hollow points should have done a lot more than just stagger him.

Mark swore again as Craig turned a corner and then turned to snap at Mark, so Mark hit him in the head with the machete, causing Craig to step back and growl.

"What puppy, not used to fighting another were?" Mark said and stepped forward and hit Craig again. That wound at least drew a little more blood, so Mark charged and attacked again, but this time Craig turned and fled.

"He's running!" Mark and took off after him, "Get one of the cars!"

Mark dashed after Craig, as the black wolf started to pick up speed. Dropping the machete, he started to tear his own clothes off; hopefully he could slow Craig down until someone else caught up with them.

Shifting as he undid his belt buckle, Mark kicked his pants free and took off in a dash after Craig. Wolves might be distance runners, but cougars could sprint pretty damn fast, especially werecougars.

Mark started to make up ground, as Craig dodged down side streets and alleyways. Mark would have smiled if he wasn't breathing so hard already, cats cornered a lot better than canines, and every time Craig dodged, Mark picked up another couple of feet.

Finally as they came around a corner, Craig had to dodge some late night driver in a car, and Mark jumped to the roof of the car, then using its momentum he landed on Craig's back and started to tear into him with his claws.

Craig howled and spun around, dislodging Mark, and snapping at his head.

Mark smacked him in the face with one of his heavy forepaws, letting his claws rip the side of Craig's head open. Wolves fought in packs, Cougars fought solo, Craig's only advantage here was his superior healing as a full blood.

Craig lunged again, and Mark jumped up, Craig got his left leg and bit down hard, Mark yowled as he came down on top of Craig and dug into his back with his claws, and bit him hard on the rump, drawing blood as he felt the bone in his own leg snap.

Craig started to spin in circles trying to dislodge Mark as Mark continued to savage Craig's back, the pain from Mark's own leg as Craig chewed on it was excruciating, but he continued to hold on, shredding Craig's back with his claws.

Suddenly something slammed into the two of them and sent them both flying. Twisting his body in the air, Mark saw a car with some terrified co-ed behind the wheel as the car screeched to a halt.

Landing on all fours, Mark yowled rather loudly, as his broken leg hit the ground. Craig hit, slid a few dozen feet, then scrambling back onto all fours he started to stagger down the street. Mark took off on three legs; his hind leg was healing, but slowly, along with the several broken ribs he'd gotten when they were both hit by the car. By the time his leg was strong enough to pick up speed; Craig had already started to run again and was almost out of sight, while Mark's chest was now heaving in exhaustion from both the fight and the healing.

He slowed to a walk, and started to track Craig by scent, continuing down the street for several minutes until he spied a police car, light's flashing, heading his way. Ducking into cover he watched as the car drove slowly by, he could see they were looking for something, and he suspected it was probably a wolf or a cougar called in by the gal that had hit them.

Closing his eyes and ducking deeper into cover he swore again and waited for them to slowly drive off. Less than a minute later one of the team's black SUV's came down the street, lights also flashing.

Mark popped up out of hiding and trotted over to the vehicle, jumping through the back window as it came down, and landing on the back seat.

"Local police got a call about a wolf and a cougar fighting," Michael said from the front seat. So we figured it was you."

Mark shifted back to his human shape and sighed, "Some stupid college girl hit us with her car!" He growled.

"Here are your pants," Mary said, from the front passenger seat.

"Thanks," Mark said grabbing them and putting them on.

"He got away, didn't he?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, dammit, I might have had him too. I was trying to hold him there long enough for someone to catch up and shoot him or something."

"The report said that you two were tearing into each other something vicious," Mary said.

"Full bloods heal faster; it takes a lot of damage to wear one down. I think I was finally starting to get to him when she hit us. "

"You okay?" Michael asked.

"Leg's still healing, but it'll be fine by the time we get back to the house. Where are the rest of my clothes?"

"Steve has them."

"Did Walters or Timms say why they didn't shoot when Craig came out?" Mark asked, "I mean, that was the plan, right?"

"They didn't want to hit you," Mary said.

Mark sighed, "Right instinct, wrong time."

Mark got the rest of his clothes back from Steve after they pulled up outside of crime scene. The deputies were still there, though he could see they were getting ready to leave.

"How many?" Mark asked softly, walking up to one of them, Hank was his name.

"Six, counting the one he just tried to turn."

Mark looked at him confused, "What do you mean, tried?"

"Zeke re-bit her, so his bite will be the one taking effect."

"You can do that?" Mark asked surprised.

"If you bite them right away like four or five times. It's an old alpha trick," Hank said.

"Why would you do that?" Michael asked.

"Whoever bites you has a certain relationship with you," Mark explained. "Especially when you're first turned. Makes you more tractable, more agreeable, unless of course you hate them, nothing can ever change that. And I bet right about now, she's hating Zeke."

Hank laughed, "Hardly. Zeke's got a way with the women; he is an alpha after all. He explained it all nice and sweet and then did his thing."

"What about the others?" Michael asked.

Hank sighed and shook his head, "They're all pretty beat down, but none of them have been there more than four months, so we're pretty hopeful about helping them."

"Why four months?" Michael asked scowling.

"Yeah," Mark asked, "Why four?"

"Because he'd drag one of them off every five weeks or so, never to be seen again, and replace them with a new one. Sometimes he'd take two."

"Did any of you see him as he ran, or at least catch enough of a scent to identify him?"

"Yeah, we did. He's not from around here; Zeke thinks he's a Russian wolf."

"Damn, that's going to make things difficult," Mark said shaking his head.

"Not my problem, thankfully," Hank said. "Well, we're gonna head back to the hangar, and move these gals into the van we brought down here. Gotta say though, every single one of those gals is a looker. This guy must have a pretty magnetic personality.  You'd think someone would have noticed all these pretty gals disappearing around him."

Mark nodded slowly; if Craig was taking a girl off the campus every four or five weeks, someone should have noticed. Especially as most girls in a college town pretty enough to be working as models probably had dozens of guys chasing after them. Someone should have noticed these girls disappearing, and would have been bound to make a complaint, or at least ask some questions.

"Yeah, that is strange," Michael agreed. "Maybe he had someone helping him on campus."

"More things to look into," Mark sighed shaking his head. "Let's go inside and see what's up."

Mark followed Michael inside, the entire team was in the building, searching everywhere for clues.

"Where's Woods?" Mark asked.

"Upstairs," Agent Waters said.

Mark nodded and went up the stairs and found Agent Woods in the bathroom searching the medicine cabinet of all things.

"Why are you in here?" Mark asked, surprised.

"Werewolves shave, right?" Agent Woods asked.

Mark nodded, "Yeah, we all do everything the same as people do, why?"

"Most men decide on such things as shaving cream, razor type, blades, aftershave, hell even their brand of soap, when they're still teenagers. So no matter where they go, they'll try to get the same things they grew up with."

"Huh," Mark said impressed. He'd been using the same brand of blades and shaving cream since he was a kid himself.

"So, what have you found?"

"He's either Russian, from one of the former eastern block countries, or grew up in a household with a father who was." Agent Woods said and pointed to a tube of shaving cream, "Tet A Tet. Not too hard to get here, everything else seems local."

Agent Woods turned and looked at him, "I heard he got away, and I heard that Walters and Timms hesitated. I also heard you got hit by a car, you going to be alright?"

Mark nodded, "Yeah, but thanks for asking."

"When we get back to the rallying point, I want you to change for everyone and back, let them see it, and get used to it."

Mark nodded, "That sounds like a good idea. I probably should have changed for them back in the office. I'm so used to it, that I never once considered how others might react to it.

"By the way, he didn't have a Russian accent or really any kind of an accent at all that I could tell."

"Okay. Go look around a bit, see if anything stands out. I've already got the rest of the team bagging and tagging the usual stuff. But you have a different perspective from your Interpol work; you might see something the others miss."

"Sure," Mark nodded and leaving Agent Woods, he gave the place the once over himself.

The upstairs was pretty typical as far as Mark was concerned, just living areas. Yeah, they smelled of werewolf, and the others wouldn't pick that up, but from the scent and the looks of things, Craig didn't walk around his rooms in wolf form very much, if ever.

Mark searched around for a vacuum cleaner, and when he found it, he took the bag out and put it in an evidence bag. He tagged it to be searched for wolf or dog hairs and then put it with the rest.

The main floor was the photography studio. There was the small front room with the front door, where the customers were greeted. Other than a counter and a few chairs, there wasn't much there.

Next was the office, again, a desk with a computer, a couple of large monitors, one of which faced the chairs in the room. The machine was turned off; no doubt Agent Woods would get some sort of forensics computer team in to look at it. Going through the drawers of the desk, there were a lot of memory cards, big ones too. Obviously Craig did everything on digital media.

Next to the office there was a small changing room, with very little in it.

On the other side of the hall that bisected the first floor, there were two very large studios with lighting rigs set up. The first one had a number of props and set pieces, nice chairs, some neutral backgrounds hanging from the ceiling; this was most likely where the standard studio work was done.

The second room was different. There was a bed, a couple of couches, some patio furniture, and outdoor backdrops. Mark guessed this was where the more risqué and cheesecake photos were taken. A number of the props had drop cloths thrown over them, so he pulled a few back.

"Shit," Mark swore. It was a Saint Andrew's cross. He'd seen these before, and he'd never seen one used for a good purpose. Bringing his nose close he took a deep sniff, and then sneezed, the scent of bleach was overwhelming.

He pulled the covers off of all of the other props, half of them were bondage gear and all of them had been bleached clean. That did not look good.

Moving back to the center of the room, he pulled off his cloths and shifting into his cougar form he slowly scented the room.

He could smell fear, terror. Someone had died here, he was sure of it.

Shifting back, he put his clothes back on, and stopped a moment to catch his breath. After the night he'd had so far, he was definitely getting tired.

Heading down to the basement, things were just a little bit different than the rest of the very clean and professional looking building. It was cooler, a little bit damper, and there was a line of dog's food bowls along the wall in the hallway that led to the dorm.

"He didn't," Mark said looking at the food bowls.

"Yeah, he did," Steve came up and pointed to a door, "That's the closet, go take a look."

Mark could already smell it, but he had to look for himself. Sure enough, when he opened the door there were bags of dog food, one was already open.

"He fed them dog food, and made them eat from dog food bowls," Steve said, "kind of sick, isn't it?"

"You know what's even stranger?" Mark said looking it all over.

"What?"

"That he was still screwing them, even though he thought of them as animals. Says a lot about what he thought of himself as well."

"You sure he was? Once he kicked them down here, he may have stopped," Steve pointed out.

Mark thought about that, he'd have to get Zeke or someone to check with the women they'd just rescued.

"Good point, I'll look into it. Have you seen any fur or hair down here at all?"

"Women's hair, yeah, quite a bit. No fur though, why?"

"Lycan's like to shift, new ones especially. Yet I can't find any evidence at all of anyone shifting anywhere around here."

"And so that's strange?"

Mark nodded, "Very. I'm starting to think that Craig has issues with his wolfness."

"So he's crazy then."

Mark looked down at the food bowls, and then over at the door to the dormitory and thought about what he found upstairs. "Yeah, I think we can make that assumption."

Two hours later Agent Woods rounded everyone up.

"Okay people, our suspect got away, but we know he was naked. So that means no cash, no credit cards, no ID, nothing. So he's not going to be getting very far. I've talked to the local police; they'll keep a couple officers posted in case he comes back. They've been told not to engage him, but to call us.

"What this means for us however is a change of plans. In the morning we're going to have to start canvassing the neighborhood, looking for anybody who may have noticed a naked man running around, or a black wolf. Also, with the number of women he's apparently kidnapped over the last year, it's pretty obvious that he's been getting help from somebody over at the college. So we're going to have to do some investigating over there as well."

Agent Woods looked around at everyone. "I got us a block of rooms over at a hotel by the airport. We'll all head there for some shuteye after we regroup at the command post. I told the air force guys that we wouldn't need them to haul our stuff back for a few days, so they went back to Andrews.

"So let's get the doors sealed up and head back to the command post."

"Agent Woods," Mark said and waved Woods off to the side, "a moment please?"

"Sure, Mark. What did you find?"

"I think you're going to need to get a forensic team in here," Mark said softly. "All of that bondage gear in the one studio has seen use, serious use. I'm pretty sure he killed someone in there."

"Why?" Woods asked softly.

"I could smell it."

"Everything in there was bleached," Agent Woods pointed out, Mark hadn't realized he had gone through the room as well.

"Maybe not everything," Mark said, "There's an overall scent of fear, terror, and death in there."

Agent Woods nodded slowly. "I just had a thought as well."

"What?"

"He may have been filming it, and selling it. I'll get a team in here tomorrow from DC, and I'll talk to the guys handling the pornography cases. If he was making snuff films here, he'll have leads for them on just who he was doing business with."

"Thanks, Chief," Mark said.

"For what?"

"For not ignoring something just because I scented it."

Agent Woods laughed, something Mark hadn't seen him do before, "Ignoring your sense of smell would be like ignoring a drug dog or a bomb dog when it alerted on something. I may be old, but I'm not stupid."

Mark smiled and went back to the SUV as the others put FBI seals on all the doors and packed up the SUV's. Woods was definitely a lot smarter and more open minded than Mark had thought. He was adapting rather quickly to the things Mark was telling him, and what he was dealing with. All in all, Mark was quickly becoming impressed with him.

Once they were all packed up they drove back to their command post in the hangar at the airport. When they got there, the 'deputies' had already left to go home, taking their new charges with them. Any interviews Mark might want to do would have to take place later, at their new homes.

"Okay everyone, gather round," Agent Woods said.

All of the team members came over and looked at Agent Woods.

"What's up boss?"

"I want you to see what it looks like for a lycan to shape change," Agent Woods said. "I should have thought about this before, it hadn't occurred to me that the sight might affect people's reactions."

Mark noticed that Walters and Timms both turned a very deep shade of red and were staring at their feet.

"Look, I'm taking the blame on this one," Agent Woods continued. "You see something that you grew up believing can't happen, well it's going to take you a minute to process it." He turned to Mark, "Could you strip and change for us?"

"Happy too, Chief," Mark said and stripped down to the buff.

"Watch carefully," Mark said, looking around, Agent Denise O'Brien looked a little embarrassed at seeing him naked, but otherwise no one seemed too bothered.

And then he shifted.

Several people gasped, and Denise took a step back. Mark sat and looked around at everyone.

"Mark?" Timms asked.

Mark nodded his head, and gave a small "mow", then stood on all fours and stretched. After that he padded around in front of them all for a moment, then stopped, looked at them all again, and shifted back.

"Any questions?" Mark asked catching his breath.

"Why are you panting?" Michael asked.

"Been a long day, so I'm pretty tired now. Shifting takes energy, and I already did it a couple of times today, plus I had to heal a bunch of broken bones and cuts."

"Okay, get dressed," Agent Woods said.

"Wait, one last thing," Mark held out his hand to Michael, "Loan me your pistol a moment."

Michael undid the snap on the holster and passed it over.

"I didn't want to get any blood on my clothing, plus when I'm tired this tends to hurt a little more," Mark said and stuck the muzzle into his side.

"What are you ..." Agent Woods started.

They all jumped when the gun went off, and Mark grunted.

"Damn that stings," He said and handed the pistol back to Michael who was just staring at him like he was crazy.

"Okay, look, gunshot wound, but notice it's barely bleeding. and here comes the bullet," Mark pointed as the bullet popped out and fell to the floor, leaving a small smear of blood on his side, along with a powder burn.

"Anyone got a rag?"

Denise pulled out a wad of tissue and handed it to him, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Thanks," He wiped off his side; there was no wound, just some powder residue in a circle.

He looked around at everybody, "Getting shot isn't that big of a deal, well not until you've been shot a few times, so if I'm telling you to shoot, shoot. You're not going to kill me, or even hurt me that much if you hit me once or twice by accident. For a pureblood, there would have been even less damage than this.

"Unless of course you dump about a hundred rounds into them. We're tough, you can overwhelm our healing, tire us out, wear us down, but it takes a lot of damage. Ideally you don't want to try and take a lycan down, even a turned one like me, without other lycans on your team."

"Thank you, Mark," Agent Woods said, and Mark could see that he actually meant it. He turned to the rest of the team as Mark got dressed, "This is why we need to do everything we can to maintain good relations with those wolf lycans we had down here today. Their leader told me that events like today's are rare; they police their own pretty hard and they want this Craig caught even more than we do. So they'll help us again with this guy if we need it.

"I'm going to talk to Henry about recruiting some for the team. So be on your best behavior, and if any of them express even the slightest interest, knock yourself out trying to recruit them."

"Does that mean hiring bonuses?" Mary asked with a grin.

"Yes, it does," Agent Woods said with a nod. "Now, everybody, we're at that hotel we passed on the way in here. Go back and get a room, I had to double us up, so sort yourselves out as you wish. It's almost five now, you'll be getting wake up calls at nine.

"Now, go."

Mark watched the others head out to the SUV's as he got dressed, Michael waiting for him by theirs.

"Nice to see you're onboard with the idea of hiring some of us, Chief," Mark said, heading after the rest.

"You know, that's twice now you've called me chief," Agent Woods said.

"Respect is earned, you know that," Mark smiled at him.

"And I'm earning yours, well, I can't complain about that. But, yes, it's only logical to start hiring lycans, especially in a unit like this. They're tougher, they'll get hurt less, and frankly, they need some representation on the force just like all the other minorities.

"I could tell those werewolves don't trust us much, I can tell you're a bit hesitant about some things as well. Only way to change that is to bring more of you onboard. Hell, if they ever tell HR about you guys, we'll be forced to do it under threat of equal rights lawsuits," Agent Woods added with a smirk.

Mark shook his head and chuckled at that, then went and got in the car with Michael and headed off to the hotel to get some sleep.

11: Streets of Blacksburg

Craig looked behind him as he ran down the street, that damn cougar had fallen behind, and he needed to put more space between the two of them while it continued to heal. He could feel the gashes on his back healing; it had really laid into him with its claws. When he saw the car coming, he knew his only chance was to run in front of it, and it had worked, the impact had separated the two of them and he'd been able to escape.

What he couldn't understand was where the hell it had come from! Yes werewolves, everyone knew about werewolves! There were werecougars too?

It was bad enough his house had been raided by the FBI, and being shot so many times had stunned him, but when they'd started to run, he still had most of his extra magical power. He still had no idea how it had caught him! Wolves where supposed to be faster than cats, and with all those twists and turns, he should have lost it!

He shook his head so hard his whole body shook as he ran. It didn't matter, not now, none of that mattered. What mattered is he needed clothes so he could get out of this dirty animal form.

And power! He needed more power! The cat had done a lot of damage to him, and he'd used up almost all of his extra powers, the stuff he'd worked so hard to earn with his bribes and gifts to the old sage who lived up in the hills. Now he was just another werewolf, the extra abilities would barely work, so he needed to get dressed, get a car, get a suitable sacrifice, and go see the sage again. Once he got his power back, his abilities, then he could decide on how to deal with this new problem.

He looked up at a street sign, it was still dark, and while his wolven eyes could see in the dark, making out the sign took a few minutes. Another problem with this lesser form, he grumbled.

Once he knew where he was, he set off to Ursula's house. She'd have clothes he could wear, as well as a car he could borrow. With any luck she could identify someone he could snatch tomorrow, someone he could use to appease the old man, and get his powers restored in the process.

"Craig! What are you doing here this late! And why are you naked?" Ursula said to him, blinking her eyes.

Craig pushed by her and into the house, closing the door behind him.

"My home was raided, I had to shift in order to escape," Craig growled.

"What! Raided? How? Why?"

"One of the people I sell my movies to must have been compromised," Craig shrugged, "It's of little matter." He said and turned towards her, "Right now, I just need some clothes and a place to sleep for the night."

"But, but what if they come here?" Ursula asked, worried. She didn't mind helping him; in fact she had enjoyed it immensely. However, she wasn't about to risk her own life or wellbeing for his.

"Don't worry," Craig said using up what was left of his powers to spin a small glamour on her, "your name is not written down anywhere, or even in my files. Plus everything is encrypted; they will have no leads, no trail to track me here."

"I shouldn't have doubted you, Craig," Ursula said and leaned against him, the danger of their relationship warming her loins once more. She knew he was a werewolf, he'd even shown her once. He'd also promised to change her one day, when she no longer needed her job at the college to help him find the young girls he needed.

Craig smiled, and led her to the bedroom. He should bite her soon; tie her more closely to him. If she freaked out, her rampage through town would more than help to distract the government agents from him as he escaped. But not yet, he still needed her help.

12: Blacksburg

Mark pulled out his phone while he waited for Michael to finish in the shower and called Helena.

"Yes?"

"Hi, Hon. I'm not sure when we'll be back we're stuck here for another day at the very least," he sighed.

"You don't sound happy," Helena said

"He got away," Mark grumbled, "a couple of the team members got distracted when they saw him shift. I might have had him, but I got hit by a car while I was trying to bring him down."

He heard Helena sigh "So now what?"

"We need to canvass the town, look for leads, witnesses, and see if we can find anyone who might have been helping him."

"Helping?"

"He's kidnapped over a dozen women, at least we're pretty sure he has, but nobody seems to have noticed. Or if they did, someone was covering for him."

"That doesn't sound good."

"No, it doesn't. There's a few other things about him that don't seem right either."

"Such as?"

"I don't think he ever shifted in his home, not even in his bedroom. I didn't see any fur around, anywhere."

Helena hmm'ed, "Yeah, that would be pretty strange."

"Also, he seemed to heal a lot faster than normal, and I was having a hard time tiring him out, it didn't seem right."

"He is a pure, Hon."

"And I haven't really tangled with many of them, I know. Still, it didn't seem right."

"Well, tomorrow is another day, and it's not just you anymore, they have the entire FBI to help them find this guy."

"There is that," Mark agreed, "What we really need is a few more lycans on the team, this guy isn't going to go down easily."

"Well, invite your cute partner out to visit and I'm sure one of the girls will take care of that for you," Helena giggled over the phone.

Mark smiled and shook his head, "He was bugging me for pictures on the ride to the hotel. After seeing you, he figures our daughters have to be 'pretty hot.'"

"I'll have to get his email," Helena said thoughtfully, "then I can sic them on him."

Mark laughed, "Well, I've warned him, so it's on his head now."

"Oh? What did you tell him?"

"That if he showed up, he'd get bit," Mark chuckled.

"And what did he say to that?"

"That I seemed pretty happy with it, so I left it at that."

"Oh really now?" Helena almost purred over the phone. Mark could almost hear the gears turning in her head, Michael's single days may very well be numbered. "So when do you think you'll be back?"

"I'm not sure, I'm thinking of driving up to Marlington when we're done here, I think I may interview one or two of the girls they pulled out of there, see what else I can learn."

"Hmm, so longer than I'd like," Helena grumbled.

"Sorry, Hon."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll figure something out."

"And that's what worries me," Mark chuckled.

"So where are you staying? They put you in a hotel at least?"

"Oh, they stashed us in a nice little place with a bar and a great Mexican restaurant right next door," Mark laughed and chatted another few minutes with Helena about the hotel and the town until he heard the water turn off in the shower.

"Anyway, Michael's almost done in the shower and we need to head over to the command post. I'll call later when I find out what's going on. Bye, Hon."

"Bye!"

Mark sipped his coffee and looked around the room at the others, everyone was assembled in the makeshift command post in the hangar, looking a little tired, but ready to go. He was wearing an FBI windbreaker like the rest of them today, and Agent Woods was telling them what the current status of the investigation was.

"So, we haven't seen any hits on his credit cards, or bank account. The police officers watching his business haven't seen any sign of him, and the researchers are still pulling up everything they can find on one Craig Pope."

"You know, Craig Pope doesn't sound like a very Russian name," Agent Haines pointed out.

Agent Woods nodded, "The boys in research are pretty sure it's an alias, they haven't been able to find anything about him, prior to his setting up shop here and buying that building."

"So, are we sure he's Russian then?" Agent Patrick Waters asked.

"Zeke said he was pretty sure he was a Russian wolf," Mark said.

"And several of the items we found in his home seemed to indicate that as well," Agent Woods responded. "So we're proceeding on that hypothesis.

"Also, based on observations made by Agent Levin here, I've called in the private-sector group to go through all of Pope's computers and records at his house, his bank, and his credit cards. We have reasons to believe he was involved in the snuff films industry. So don't be surprised to find their agents going through his house later on today."

"Is that wise?" Agent Denise O'Brien spoke up from the back of the room where she was sitting.

"Actually yes, it is. It gives cover to our actions. We can now put out the story that we were saving these women from a pornographer and violent serial killer, and we'll have some evidence to back that up in the public eye. It will also give us an alibi if we have to explain the changes in these women's behavior, and why they've become withdrawn."

Agent Woods picked up a stack of folders and started passing them out to everyone.

"Okay, I'm sending six of you; Mark, Michael, Steve, Mary, Denise and Patrick over to the college to canvas the students and the administration, Steve you're in charge. The names of the girls we rescued last night, along with copies of their driver's licenses are in there, along with what we have on Pope.

"See if you can find out who else might have taken a job from Pope. Call me if you need any warrants, we've got the department lawyers appearing before a local judge later today.

"Jeff and Rich, I want you to check with all of the local banks and see which ones he was doing business with. Bill, Joseph, I want you to check in with the local police, talk to whoever handles prostitution and investigates the sex shops, tell them Pope was making porno's and snuff films, and see if they know who might be distributing them in the area. Chase down any leads you find, keep me in the loop, and call for backup if you decide to raid anyone."

Agent Woods looked around the room, "Any questions?"

Mark raised his hand, "I'd like to go up to Marlington and interview the girls we rescued last night, Chief. I have some questions I want to ask them."

Agent Woods nodded, "Let's see what we turn up today first. Those girls aren't going anywhere, but our perp is probably still in town and I'd like to see if we can't take him down before he runs on us. Remember everyone, flash Pope's picture around, pass out the flyers in the folders. Headquarters has authorized a ten thousand dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of our Mr. Pope. So let's see if we can't flush him out."

He looked around the room again, "Last of all, do not take him on alone! Remember, he's one tough son-of-a-bitch. Call for backup first.

"Dismissed!"

"So, what's the plan?" Mark asked Steve Hughes as they all walked out to their cars.

"Mary and I will head to the President's office, to make sure they know what's going on and that they cooperate. You and Michael head over to dean of students, see what you can learn there. After that I want you to head to Eggleston Main, its one of the dorms where two of the girls came from and is by the dean's office.

"Denise, you and Patrick head over to Ambler Johnston East, that's where the rest came from."

Mark and the others nodded and they got into their cars and drove off.

"Wow, look at all those cute co-eds," Michael commented as they drove across campus.

"I thought you were interested in my daughters?" Mark smiled, shaking his head.

"Never hurts to look," Michael grinned. "Besides, most college girls really aren't interested in us feds, to a lot of these kids, we're the bad guys."

Mark nodded, "Yeah, everyone is always nervous when the police are around these days. Kinda sad."

"Eh, you get used to it," Michael said and shrugged.

Mark laughed, "You maybe, people rarely take Interpol or the Vatican all that seriously these days. They figure I'm just after art thieves."

"Oh? Do the girls in Europe like that?"

Mark shrugged, "I'm married, so it's not like I'm in the market."

"Really?" Michael glanced at him surprised. "Is that because you work for the church?"

Mark shook his head, "No, it's not that, my family is just really important to me. I've got no interests in messing that up."

"Yeah, I saw what the divorce did to my older sister," Michael shook his head, "I don't ever want to deal with that."

"Well, find a parking space, and let's go inside."

"Parking space?" Michael laughed. "We're the FBI; we park close to the doors and let everyone see us. Then we see who gets nervous."

"No wonder everybody hates you," Mark chuckled.

"Just working with what I've got is all!"

Mark laughed at that and got out of the SUV, looking around the campus as Michael walked around the SUV to join up with him. He'd never been to college, and this place was huge. He wondered briefly just how many lycans or other monsters were here? With over thirty thousand students, there had to be at least a few.

Walking in the front door they flashed their badges and were quickly shown into the dean of students' office, who was visibly surprised to see them.

"Gentlemen, how may I help you?" the Dean said as Mark and Michael were escorted inside.

"Hi, I'm Agent Mark Levin of Interpol, this is my partner Michael Sykes of the FBI," Mark said as he and Michael shook hands.

"Stan Jakowski, Dean of Students. How can I help you?"

Mark pulled out the list of women who they knew had been with Craig, "We're looking for information on these students," and he handed the list to the Dean.

"I'm afraid I can't help you with that, Agent Levin," Dean Jakowski said looking over the list. "All student information is confidential."

Mark nodded, "All of the women on that list are either already in protective custody with the FBI, or we suspect that they're deceased," Mark said.

"What?" Dean Jakowski said sitting down heavily in his chair, his eyes wide as he looked up at Mark, and then Michael.

"We've been tracking a serial killer that preys on young college co-eds," Michael said, handing the Dean one of the flyers that Woods had printed up. "Here's a picture of him."

Dean Jakowski looked at it and shook his head, "I don't think I recognize him. Is he a student here?"

"No," Mark said, "But he owns a photography studio here in town, which we raided last night. Unfortunately, we were not able to take him into custody at that time."

"He had a modeling business going," Michael picked back up, "he'd convince the more attractive freshman girls on campus to come work for him. After a while he'd enslave them, then eventually he'd kill them. Best we can figure it, they all came from here."

"Dozens of them," Mark said. "Dozens of young, attractive, women. But apparently no one seems to have noticed all of these young girls going missing from your campus."

"Are you, are you suggesting my office had something to do with this?" Dean Jakowski said starting to look worried.

"Somebody did," Mark said. "We need to know the status of all of these girls, if they were un-enrolled, who un-enrolled them. We also want a list of all the other freshmen girls who have suddenly dropped out, or were expelled, over the last two years. We're still trying to find out just how many victims there are."

"I see," Dean Jakowski said, "I want to help you, I really do, but without a warrant I can't possibly turn over that kind of information."

"Just tell us what the warrant has to say on it, and we'll have one delivered before the end of the day," Michael said. "And if you could direct your staff to start compiling that information that would save us a lot of time."

"Of course," Dean Jakowski said nodding and standing back up. "I'll take care of it immediately."

"Who is in charge of enrollments?" Mark asked.

"Oh, that would be Janice Vanderwall, come, I'll introduce you."

Mark nodded and they both followed the dean out of his office and over to a woman sitting in a cubicle.

"Janice, these men are from the FBI and they have some questions on student enrollment. Also, once they're gone I'm going to need you to compile a list of every freshmen woman who has either un-enrolled, been dis-enrolled, dropped out, or left the school for any reason over the last twenty-four months. Complete with student id, personal and academic records."

"That will take a while, Stan," She said looking up from her computer.

"Its top priority, we'll be getting served with a warrant later today, put everyone on it, and no, I can't tell you why, I'm sorry." Dean Jakowski sighed.

"Okay, I'll put everyone on it immediately," she turned to Mark and Michael. "How may I help you gentlemen?"

"How hard is it for someone to dis-enroll a student out of the university?" Mark asked.

"Impossible. If the student doesn't come down and fill out and sign the paperwork themselves, it can't be done."

"What about for academic reasons?" Michael asked.

"Well, yes, it can happen then. But there's a hearing and the student still has to sign the proper paperwork."

"What if they just stop showing up?" Mark asked.

"In that case, we contact the local sheriff's department and file a missing persons report. We also contact their family, their roommate here, if they have one, and whomever they have listed as their emergency contact on their student information card," she told them.

"Wow, that's rather thorough," Mark said, surprised.

"The university takes its responsibilities towards the students here very seriously. Not all students cope well with college, we've had more than a few develop issues, and either lock themselves in their room, run away, or sadly, commit suicide.

"We've also had a few get into serious car accidents, or suffer other accidents or injury and end up as Jane Does in the hospital until we followed up."

"So, if a student goes missing, the police do get notified?"

Janice nodded, "Yes."

"Who in the office here can file the paperwork for when a student dis-enrolls? After they've signed the paperwork, of course. Is it just you, or can anyone do it?"

"Most of the people on my staff can do it," Janice told him.

"Can we have a list of those people, please?"

"Sure, give me a minute to print it out."

Mark waited as she worked on her computer a minute, and then took a sheet of paper off the printer beside her.

"Here you go," she said and handed him the list, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to get done."

"Sure, and thank you!" Mark said and headed for the exit. Michael had already stepped outside to call in the request for the warrant.

"Well, shall we walk over to the dorm?" Mark asked Michael as he walked up to him outside.

"Better to drive over, let everyone see the car," Michael smiled and put away his phone. "Also I want to fax that staff list back to Woods, so they can run backgrounds on them."

"There's a fax in the back of the car?" Mark asked.

"Fax, scanner, copier, printer. We are the FBI, Mark!" Michael laughed.

"Damn, and I'm lucky to get a bag with a cross, holy water, and some incense," Mark sighed.

"Come on, I'll show you how it all works."

Mark sat down and took another bite out of his hamburger. It was after nine, Agent Woods was holding a meeting to go over everything before they all went back to their hotel rooms for the night.

Somebody at least had hit the local Wendy's and come back with a ton of food. Mark had grabbed four burgers and was already on his third.

"You always eat that much?" Michael joked.

"Last night took a lot of energy. Still stocking back up," Mark said and took another bite. "Monsters burn through a lot of energy, when they're being monsters."

"So no fat monsters?"

"Oh there are fat ones, and not all of them are lazy either. Some are just storing up enough energy to kick your ass. So be wary of the fat ones, they're usually the toughest ones."

Michael and a couple of the others sitting nearby all nodded at that.

"Okay," Agent Woods said coming into the room, "I'll be quick, and go over what we've got. I'm sure you're all tired and want to hit the rack."

Mark nodded and several people stopped eating long enough to give a thumbs up.

"Okay, the private sector folks cracked his computers and got quite the bonanza. Pope was heavily into the porn business, specializing in torture porn. We've got a lot more pictures from screen captures of women to ID.

"They also found four different snuff films, and from the file dates they believe one of those was filmed this last weekend."

Several people swore loudly at that.

"I know, I feel the same way," Agent Woods said, "if we'd gotten involved sooner, maybe we could have saved her, but we can't save everyone people, and at least we're on to him now, so he's not going to be getting away with this anymore."

"Do they know who he was selling to?" Agent Chance asked.

"Yes, and they're preparing a major bust as we talk. We won't be taking part in it however as it's not local. He was dealing with a group in Manhattan.

"We also have a picture of a possible accomplice," Agent Woods said and started passing out copies of pictures of a woman.

Mark took one and looked at it, there were two pictures, the first was of her in some sort of bondage getup, he recognized the background as Craig's studio. The second was a close up that isolated the face. She was rather pretty; however there were a couple of red specks on her skin, and Mark didn't need any hints to figure out what they were.

She was wearing a small mask that covered some of the upper half of her face, but that wouldn't stop anyone from being able to pick her out of a lineup. He knew from his own work that the lower half of the face was the most distinctive. If she'd really wanted to remain anonymous, she should have worn a larger mask.

That or she just didn't know, most folks apparently did not.

"We don't have a name on her yet, but she was very active in the last movie. She's now wanted for murder. We don't know if she's a werewolf like Pope, or not."

"She's not, Chief," Mark said.

"How can you tell?"

"I only scented the one pure blood, Craig, in the building."

"He could have turned her."

Mark shook his head, "She's wearing silver. That knife she's holding in the one picture appears to be sliver as well. I think she's human. She may not even know what Craig is or what the girls are."

Agent Woods nodded slowly, "I'll take that into consideration. Still, when we find her, I want all of you to treat her as if she is a lycan, just to be on the safe side. Also, I suspect when we find her, we'll find Pope. So again, approach her with caution.

"We've also managed to find a number of locals who knew Pope, mostly people who did business with him, or his neighbors on the street. They all say he was very personable, polite, and paid his bills in cash. They also all remarked that he always had a lot of young and attractive women working in his shop.

"He did a lot of school portraits for the local high school, and also for the college. Which probably explains how he found his victims. He showed up here about two years ago and went into business as a photographer. About a year and a half ago, he suddenly appears to have come into a bunch of money, which is when he bought that building and moved into it."

"What did he tell the locals?" Steve asked.

"No one seems to remember, they think it was an inheritance or something like that. Mostly people felt it wasn't their business, so they didn't ask."

Agent Woods looked around the room then checked his watch. "That's pretty much it for right now. I'll have more at the morning briefing, go get some sleep."

Mark finished his last burger and stood up and stretched, "Let's go," he said and yawned.

"What? It's not even ten yet," Michael said. "I was thinking about a couple of drinks first."

"Normally I'd be all for it," Mark said and led the way out to their SUV, "but right now, I just want to sack out."

"Getting old?" Michael chuckled as they got into the car.

"Fine, but the hotel bar is as far as I want to go," Mark said and yawned again, as Michael drove them both back to the hotel. The ride back only took a few minutes, then Mark followed Michael as they trooped into the bar, unsurprisingly several other members of the team had the same idea.

Mark dropped into a seat at the table with the rest of them, with Michael taking one on the other side.

"So, how do you like being a fed?" Denise O'Brien asked Mark.

"It's different," Mark said and flagged down a waitress.

"Bring a couple extra pitchers, and a couple more glasses," he said.

"Sure," she nodded and scurried off.

"How's that?" Patrick Waters, Denise's partner asked. From what had noticed so far, Denise was the senior of the two. Denise looked to be in her mid to late twenties, and was a fit redhead with a rather no nonsense look that made you overlook the freckles on her face. Patrick had short black hair, was a bit shorter than Mark, but was pretty strongly built, probably a gym nut. He looked a few years younger than Michael, probably not yet twenty-five, Mark would guess. He may have been on the team longer than Michael, but he obviously hadn't been with the FBI very long.

"We only investigated crime scenes really; all this canvassing stuff was taken care of by other people. Except for the actual dealing with devils, demons, summoners, and monsters, it was a lot easier work," Mark said with a smile. "So where are the other four?"

"Jeff, Rich, Bill, and Joe are all married," Mary said. "So they're probably on the phone to their spouses right now."

"Surprised you're not on the phone to yours," Denise said.

"That's because she just walked through the door," Michael said.

Mark sighed, but he couldn't help smiling. "I guess she decided to come down here and join us."

"Hi, Michael, Steve, Mary, Hon," Helena said sliding around and sitting in Mark's lap.

"Hello, Dear," Mark said and gave her a hug.

"Who are the other two?" She asked putting an arm around him and getting comfortable.

That's Denise O'Brien," Mark said nodding towards Denise, "and the guy with the deer in the headlights expression is her partner, Patrick Waters."

Helena nodded, "I'm Helena, Mark's wife."

The waitress came over at that point and put two pitchers of beer down on the table, with several more glasses.

"Thanks!" Helena said and started filling glasses.

"Do you want me to get another room, Mark?" Michael asked.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to jump his bones tonight," Helena chuckled. "I know he has to work tomorrow."

"So what brings you here, my love?" Mark said smiling as she handed him a beer.

"You have to ask?" She said and handed another beer to Michael. "But you said you're tangling with a pureblood, and I figured it would be easier if you had some help. Between the two of us, I think we shouldn't have any problem."

"Agent Woods is gonna love this," Denise sighed.

"She has a point," Steve said to Denise. "You heard Woods telling us this morning not to try and take this guy down ourselves; I'm not so sure he's going to be all that upset."

"Let's talk shop tomorrow," Michael said sipping his beer. He turned towards Helena, "So how did you and Mark meet?"

"Oh my sister and I found him camping in our woods," Helena said and recounted the story to them. Mark was rather happy that she left out any and all references to sex, multiple wives, and breeding. But she did tell them about his killing the bear single handedly.

"So, if you hadn't bit him, he would have died?" Mary asked.

Helena nodded, "That or come back as a ghoul. Older vampires can really do a number on a human."

"But they can't on a lycan?"

"Oh hell no, vampires are complete wimps!" Helena laughed. "They have very little magic; they're just charismatic as hell and have a small amount of glamour that they can use to beguile you if you're not very strong willed."

"I'm gonna have to talk with Woods in the morning," Mark said standing up, and letting Helena slide down to her feet. "Because we are going to need Helena if we do corner this guy." Mark looked at the others, "Sorry guys, but none of you are strong enough to stop Craig if you come up against him."

"But he's like twice her size," Michael said.

"I'm a lot tougher than I look," Helena said smiling. "Add in Mark, and he won't stand a chance."

"Well, I'm going back to the room, and we're going to sleep," Mark said.

"I guess I'm going to pack it in too," Michael said finishing his beer. "Are you sure I don't need to get another room?"

"Only if you don't want to sleep in a room with a couple of cougars," Mark said and leading Helena he went back to the room.

13:  Ursula's house, Blacksburg

Craig looked up from the couch as Ursula came into the house looking rather agitated. It was only five, so she must have come home straight from work. He'd asked her to see if she could find him someone easy to grab, but from the look in her eyes he was wondering if he'd just have to pick up some random girl off the streets.

"They were at work today!" Ursula said angrily, "I thought you said they didn't know who I was?"

"Calm down," Craig said standing up and walking over to her. "Who was at work today?"

"The FBI! Two of them! They came into the office, and talked with Dean Jakowski! Then they talked to my boss, Janice, and she and a couple of other gals in the office spent the rest of the day compiling records on dropouts for them!"

"Did they talk to you? Ask about you?" Craig said.

"No, they didn't even look twice at me," Ursula said shaking her head, still rather upset. The FBI was in her office today! How could he not be worried?

"Then they have no idea who you are, or that you were involved," Craig said and put his arms around her, calming her. "You have nothing to worry about."

"But they'll find that all of those girls were removed from school!"

"Is your name attached to any of them?"

"Well, no, but...."

"And they did sign all of the paperwork, right?" Craig prompted.

"Well, yes, of course. You had them fill it all out."

"So what are you afraid of? The girls did the paperwork. If you're asked, just say you really don't recall, you just filed what they handed you."

"But, that's not how it's supposed to work."

"You told me that there was no way it could be connected to you, didn't you?" Craig asked.

"Of course, but still, they came to the office!" Ursula said.

"They're only human, Ursula, I wouldn't fear them," Craig laughed.

"But I'm only human too!" Ursula said, looking up at him rather worriedly.

Craig smiled, then holding her tight he leaned down and bit her on the shoulder, triggering a partial shift of his fangs, so he could inject the magic that would make the change.

Ursula gasped as she felt the cold fire now spreading through her body.

"Not anymore," Craig said smiling at her. He was surprised that he didn't feel as strong of a revulsion towards her as he often did with a woman after he changed her. He wondered if this was because of her rather impressive performance several days ago with Aurora, or if it was just because he needed her?

"Come, let us go celebrate," he said and dragged her rather willing body off towards the bedroom. "Come tomorrow you'll start to see just how inferior they all are, and realize that you really have nothing to worry about anymore."

"So, tell me about the FBI," Craig asked her. It was much later and the sun had already set.

"There were two of them. One looked rather young; Michael I think was his name. The other was older, a bit more rugged looking, and he wasn't wearing a tie, his name was Mark."

Craig looked over at her, "Rugged you say? Describe him."

Craig listened as she described a dark haired man with his badge on a cord hanging around his neck. He swore.

"What?" Ursula asked looking up at him.

"He's a werecougar, he could be dangerous."

"What? How?"

"If he sees you, he'll know what you are."

"What, what do we do?"

"They said they'd be back tomorrow, right?"

Ursula nodded.

"That means they'll be staying at a hotel here, somewhere. With your help, I can kill him. Then you'll be safe."

"But, how will we find them?"

"How many of those big FBI cars do you think are in town? You can probably do a search on the local school gossip sites and they'll tell us which hotel they're at."

Ursula nodded, "Then what?"

"Then we just sniff him out. I won't have any trouble remembering what he smells like," Craig growled. "After he's dead, I'll run up into the mountains, and you can stay here, safe and secure, to keep an eye on things."

"Yes, Craig, whatever you say," Ursula said, bowing to his will. She could feel the power in her body now, and it was rather intoxicating. The idea of being able to stroll among the mere humans of the school now, stronger and faster than any of them, was a rather heady one. If she had to kill an FBI agent or two with Craig, so what? It wasn't like she hadn't killed before.

"Let me go turn on my laptop, and I'll find out where they are," She said and smiling at him, she kissed him. "Maybe we can even play with his cute partner a little before we kill him too."

Craig laughed; Ursula was definitely a change from those timid college girls he had been preying on. He really would miss her, when her time came.

Craig looked around the parking lot, the six FBI marked SUV's were all parked together. The lights for most of the rooms were out, it was late, almost three am, people packed it in early on a school night in this town. He and Ursula had both armed themselves with knives, he'd thought about taking a gun, she had one in her house, but the sounds of gunfire would attract too much attention. Besides, he'd rather gut and stab his prey, than just shoot it.

Ursula had taken the time to disguise herself, wearing a dark jumpsuit and a ski-mask. Craig didn't mind. He wanted her to be able to stay here, for now. So it would be better if no one knew who she was.

They already knew what he looked like, so he didn't care so much about his own identity being hidden. In fact he preferred his victims knowing just who it was that killed them, and he blamed this agent, this 'Mark' for being the one to ruin his rather well set life. Now he'd have to go someplace else and start all over again.

"Let's go," Craig said and he led the way across the parking lot. Looking inside through the glass doors there was a single man working behind the desk.

"Wait here until I call you," he said to Ursula, and opening the door he walked up to the front desk.

"Hello, Sir! What kind of room would you like?" The young man asked, logging into the terminal in front of him.

Craig grabbed him around the neck and dragged him over the counter, as the young man's eyes went wide in shock from the sudden attack.

Craig laughed as he struggled, trying to free himself from the tight grip around his neck.

"Okay, I want to know some things," Craig said, going back around the counter and dragging the young man with him. "Tell me what I want to know, and I'll just tie you up and leave you behind the counter here. Refuse," He gave a slight squeeze, causing the kid to stiffen in pain as he waved Ursula inside.

Looking at the terminal, he could see a list of rooms.

"What rooms are the FBI agents in?"

The young man's mouth moved.

"Oh, sorry," Craig chuckled and loosened his grip.

"Second floor," The kid gasped, and started to rattle off some room numbers.

"Which one has the agent named Mark in it?"

"I don't know!" He said and Craig squeezed tight for a moment, cutting off his air again.

"What did you say?" Craig growled at him.

"I need to look it up! It's on the terminal!"

"Do so."

Craig watched as the kid quickly typed in a few commands and a list of names with rooms came up.

"Mark Levin, FBI, room two-twelve!" The young man told him.

"Thank you," Craig said, and then crushed the kid's throat, and dropped him to the floor behind the desk as he choked and thrashed around, dying.

"Come," Craig told Ursula as she looked at the dying kid and shivered. This time he was sure it was lust. "They're on the second floor."

"Let me get the passkey off of him," Ursula said, and after quickly rifling the still dying young man's pockets she held it up triumphantly.

"Well, that does beat kicking the door in," Craig had to admit, as he led the way upstairs to the agent's room.

14: Hotel room, Blacksburg

Mark's eyes flew open as he heard the door unlock and the scent of werewolf came flooding into the room as the door opened. Helena was already starting to growl as they both leapt to their feet and turned their heads towards the opening door.

Hunkering down on all fours, Mark dug his hind claws in and prepared to launch himself at whoever was breaking into the room, the second the door swung open wide enough. He could feel Helena getting ready to jump as well, and he was rather thankful that they'd both curled up on top of the sheets in their cougar forms.

Michael hadn't even started to stir yet, and once the door opened fully, Mark launched himself, claws out, at the first person in the doorway.

As he got closer, he could see there were two of them, one was a woman, she was wearing a ski mask and a jumpsuit, and she was the one in front, who had just opened the door. She was still holding the cardkey in her hand as he hit her in the legs, digging in with his claws as he knocked her back, sending her to the ground.

Mark felt something stab him in the side, but that was when Helena voiced a loud scream and came flying over his head at the other figure, which he could now smell was Craig. Helena hit him in the face and started to tear and rip at his head and body with a rather fierce determination.

Mark refocused on the woman, she was stabbing him, she had a knife of some kind in her hand and was stabbing him with it, again and again, as he tore at her body with his claws. He quickly realized she was a turned, but she wasn't recovering from his attacks as quickly as he was recovering from hers. Jumping off he backed away and as she scrambled to her feet he charged her again, rearing up on to his hind legs he head slapped her was a large paw hard enough that he heard her neck snap. As she dropped like a sack of potatoes, Mark dropped back down to all fours and attacked Craig, helping Helena as the two of them fought each other; Helena with teeth and claws, Craig with the two knives he held, one in each hand.

Craig cried out and stumbled back against the far wall as one of the two cougars got him in the knee, making him lose his balance. Where the hell had the second cat come from? And why was it tearing into him so fiercely? It was far more powerful than the one he'd first encountered, the one named Mark. It wasn't even as big as Mark, but it was far more savage. And it was healing as fast as he was, and now with the two of them on him, he was starting to worry about his own abilities to keep up.

Ursula gasped in pain as she felt her neck start to heal; the muscles pulling her head back into line after the cougar had broken her neck. She could see Craig, and she could see that he had two of them on him now, and that they were both tearing at him, his clothing already shredded and his blood was starting to fly everywhere.

Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed her gun. Craig had said they wouldn't need it, and knives would be quieter. But she'd grabbed it anyways. Pulling it out she aimed at the larger of the two cats and started pulling the trigger, dumping shot after shot into its body.

On the sixth shot its whole body shook and it started to turn towards her, so she continued to pull the trigger, putting another six rounds into the body, as it fell to the floor.

The other, smaller, cougar screamed then and ran to defend the one on the floor. Ursula fired her last four rounds into it, as she jumped to her feet and started backing away quickly.

"Quick, Run!" She yelled at Craig, and turning she took off down the hall towards the fire escape. She wished she had brought a second magazine, but she'd thought that surely sixteen bullets would be enough to stop anything.

Of course, she hadn't thought about a werecougar.

Mark was dimly aware of Michael coming out of the room, gun out, and yelling 'Stop' as he fired a couple of shots down the hall, and then stopped himself and looked down at Mark and Helena.

"Shit," Michael swore, "Get him out of the hallway!"

Mark could feel himself being dragged, looking up he could see Helena had shifted and was picking him up, and carrying him back inside, where she dropped him on the bed.

"Everyone, back in your rooms! FBI!" He heard Michael shout.

Closing his eyes, he just groaned as the bullets started to be slowly forced out of his body and he started to heal.

"You okay, Hon?" Helena asked him.

Mark nodded and gave a soft purr as he laid there panting, catching his breath.

"Okay, the others have control of the hallway, I need to get dressed," Michael said coming back into the room. "You should wash up, Helena, you're covered in blood."

"As soon as Mark's okay," she said, not taking his eyes off of him.

Mark groaned and shifted back then, getting shot that many times after being stabbed so much hurt.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said sitting up, and steadying himself against Helena.

"I should have realized she had a gun. I figured I'd help you wear him down a bit before she got back into the fight. I don't know what kind of bullets she had in that thing, but damn, those were nasty."

"And you're both covered in blood." Michael said. "Wash up, get dressed, and then if you're up to it, meet us, well, wherever the hell Woods wants to talk."

Mark nodded, and got to his feet a little dizzily and headed off to the shower with Helena steadying him as he walked.  He hurt all over and was definitely having trouble standing.

"How many times did she hit you?" Michael asked as he went by.

"I lost count after ten," Mark grumbled. "That definitely was not a nine millimeter."

Michael picked up on of the slugs off the bed. "Looks like a ten, and these are not your standard hollow points.

"Go get clean, we can talk about it after you're both dressed."

Mark nodded and let Helena pull him into the bathroom.

"So, he came after us in the hotel," Agent Woods said.

"I think they were after Mark," Steve said.

Mark nodded, "I have to agree with that, my name was near the top of the screen on the terminal downstairs, they'd gone by several of yours before stopping at me."

"So, why do you think they were interested in you, Mark?" Steve asked

"Because he's the only one that's a threat to Craig," Agent Woods said.

Mark nodded, "Makes sense, and now that he's recruiting again, that's a bad thing."

"How many more do you think he can turn?"

Mark shook his head, "I'm not sure that matters. He's not going to be able to force someone to commit murder and take on the FBI just because he bit them. Whoever she was, she was already on his side, already willing to help. And you saw how beat down the girls in his house were. I can't see any of them doing something like this.

"This is someone different."

"Well, it's a good thing I was here, wasn't it, Mark?" Helena said coming back into the room and sitting down next to him.

"Yeah, it was." Mark looked at Agent Woods, "Can you deputize her for the duration or something? With two of them now, there is no way I can take them on alone."

"I'll figure something out," Agent Woods said. "Right now, there isn't much else we can do. For now, you six go back to bed; you're going to hit the college again first thing in the morning. Jeff, Rich, Bill, Joe and I will stay up and deal with the police and the coroner's office."

"We're going to need another room, ours has a lot of Mark's blood in it," Michael said.

"Take mine, I won't be using it," Agent Woods said and dismissed them. "I'm going to be spending the next several hours making up a suitable story for the press waiting downstairs in the hotel lobby."

"I still can't believe you got shot that many times and survived without so much as a mark," Michael said shaking their head as they drove back to the Dean of Student's office that morning.

Mark sighed, "Still hurt like hell, damn, I thought the larger calibers didn't hold that many bullets!"

"She had a glock, good sized one too. Kinda surprising for a lady, they usually go with the smaller ones."

"She wasn't much of a lady, Michael," Mark growled.

Michael chuckled, "Yeah, guess she wasn't. Good thing Helena showed up."

"Maybe," Mark admitted, "though if I was sleeping as a human, I would have led with that gun Woods is making me carry."

"Don't like admitting she might have saved both of our asses?" Michael teased pulling to a stop in front of the building.

"More like I don't like putting her in the line of fire," Mark sighed. "I've got this rather old-fashioned attitude about protecting women and children."

"Even when your wife is a monster that can kick your ass?" Michael laughed.

"Especially then, gotta earn my keep some how," Mark said with a smile as he opened the car door.

"Where is she anyways?" Michael asked getting out as well and coming around to join him.

"Said she had to take care of something this morning, that she'd see us at lunch," Mark knew she was up to something; he just had no idea what. Whatever it was, he'd accept it, he knew Helena was just a little bit upset with seeing him getting shot up like that last night. Obviously she had something planned, and he'd find out what it was when she told him.

"Just remember what I told you about silver and turned lycans," Mark said as they got to the door, "it hurts them, and this female is a turned. So use those silver bullets I gave you."

"Just don't shoot you with one, right?" Michael said.

Mark nodded, he hadn't told anyone about his little gift from having become a knight in the commission, and hopefully wouldn't have to.

The receptionist was expecting them, and led them up to the Dean's office.

"Ah, gentlemen," Dean Jakowski said, standing up and shaking hands with both of them. "We received the search warrant and subpoena for the records last night, and our lawyers said it was all in order. Janice has the records you need, so if you'll come with me?"

"Of course," Mark said and they both followed Dean Jakowski out of his office and over to the cubes where his administrators sat.

"Hi, Janice. I have the two agents from the FBI here; they're back for that information."

Janice got up and turned to them, shaking hands with both of them. "It's a lot, guys," she said and nodded to the seven cardboard file boxes stacked next to her desk. "I can get some of the interns to help you carry them down."

"How many files are there?" Mark asked looking at the stack rather surprised.

"About a thousand, along with all of the other academic records you requested."

"You had a thousand dropouts?" Mark asked surprised.

Janice nodded, "That's about five hundred a year. Out of a school of over thirty thousand, that's really not that much when you think about it."

"Can we get these on a CD or something?" Mark asked, "I thought you kept your records electronically."

"It's in the box on top. The subpoena said paper and digital format."

"Did you notice anything unusual in the records?" Michael asked.

Janice shook her head, "Not really, first years drop out for all sorts of reasons, not just academic ones."

"Excuse me a moment," another woman said walking up to them, "Janice, did Ursula call in this morning? She hasn't shown up and no one has heard from her."

"Did you call her?" Janice asked.

"Yes, she didn't answer. I sent her a couple of texts from my own phone as well. Nothing."

Mark pulled out the photo of the woman from the video that Agent Woods had given them yesterday, the one that only showed her face.

"Is this her?" He asked showing it to Janice, who perused it a moment.

Janice looked up at him, "I think that's Ursula. Why is she wearing a mask? And where did you get that picture?"

Mark turned to the other woman, "Could you take me to her desk please?"

"Why?" She said looking up at him surprised.

"Because I asked you nicely," Mark said. "Also, because I have a warrant to search the office."

"I'll take you there," Janice said and led them to a cube that was on the next corridor over.

"This is where she sits."

"What's her home address?" Michael asked as Mark looked over her desk. There wasn't much of anything on it that stood out. A couple of stacks of documents, pencils, stapler, computer monitor, keyboard, headset.

Mark picked the headset up and sniffed at it, then dropped it on the floor by the seat, taking a good sniff of that as he bent over to pick up the headset.

It was the woman who attacked him last night alright!

Mark looked at Michael who was writing down the address.

"Get her phone number too, so we can run a trace on it," Mark told him.

Janice rattled it off immediately and the other woman's eyes got wide.

Mark looked around; they had attracted quite an audience.

"Okay, listen up, we are the FBI and we can get all of your cell phone and desk phone records pulled in an instant. From this moment on, any of you call this Ursula, and you're going to jail for interfering with a murder investigation, understand?" Mark said looking at the small crowd of office workers who had come over to see what was going on.

"You think she killed someone?" one of them asked.

"No," Michael added without missing a beat, "but we think she may know someone who did, and her life may be in danger, so we don't want any of you accidentally warning the guy if he is indeed holding her. If this guy is holed up at her house, and you warn him we're on the way, he may just kill her. So no one says anything, right? Unless you want to be charged as an accessory after the fact."

They all nodded and Mark led the way back to the SUV at a run.

"Quick thinking," He said as Michael entered the address into the GPS unit in the SUV.

"Eh, you learn a few tricks after a while," he grinned and started the engine as the GPS worked out a route.

Mark nodded, "I'll call the others, let's go!"

Ten minutes later they pulled to a stop in front of Ursula's house, Mark immediately ran around to the back of he SUV, opened the door and unracked one of the HK's, grabbing an extra magazine and sticking it in his pocket.

"We don't have a warrant," Michael warned him.

"Sure we do," Mark said and walked up to the front door, aimed the HK at it and blew the locks off, then kicked the door in, "FBI! On the ground or we will shoot!" He yelled and ran inside.

"Mark! What are you doing!" Michael yelled.

"Stay by the door, watch your back!" Mark called back as he swept the house. The scents inside weren't strong enough for anyone to be in there, but both of their scents were definitely there.

He checked each of the rooms in the house, best he could tell, they'd left hours ago.

"They're gone," He sighed and walked outside, "and Craig was here. His scent is everywhere. I guess we found his helper."

"You should have waited; this could mess up the investigation, Mark." Michael sighed.

Mark laughed, "Remember when I said some monsters you don't give a chance to surrender, you just kill?"

Michael looked at him, "What? She's an admin at the college, Mark."

"No, she's a werewolf that tried to assassinate a federal agent while helping a serial killer werewolf torture and kill college co-eds. She's on the kill list, Michael. They don't have a jail for monsters, and she's an evil one now."

Mark watched as Michael took a step back and looked at Mark like he'd grown a second head. "We can't just kill her, Mark. We can't."

"Welcome to my world, Michael. Yeah, it sucks. But that's the reality we have to deal with now. No one is going to build a case against her, because there won't be any case. She's not human anymore, Michael. They'll say that Craig killed her and just add her to his list. All we need to do is provide the body."

Michael sighed and sat down on the steps, safing his weapon and setting it on the ground next to him.

"You know, I think it just hit me what I'm getting myself into," he sighed looking down the street as four more FBI vehicles, with their lights flashing, pulled up to join theirs in front of the house.

"Yeah, well look on the bright side," Mark said and sat down next to him, as the others piled out of their vehicles.

"Which is?"

"My daughters really are smokin' hot!" Mark laughed and slapped him on the back.

"Not helping," Michael sighed.

"Gone?" Agent Woods said coming up to the two of them.

Mark nodded, "Couple of hours ago at least. Probably left right after the failed attack last night."

"You sure this is the right place?"

"Yeah, Craig's scent is all over the place, and so is the scent of the female from last night. Also, we showed them the picture of the woman from his last snuff film. They ID'd her as Ursula."

Agent Woods swore, "I had been hoping to catch him before he left town. I'll put out an alert on her car, and credit cards. Maybe we'll get a lead that way."

"We need to go back to the college and pick up those records, Chief." Mark said standing up.

"I'll get Walters and Timms to process the site," Agent Woods said. "We'll list her as a hostage for now; tell everyone she was kidnapped and that there were signs of a struggle inside. Hell of a lot easier than telling everyone she was an accomplice to a serial killer."

"You are going to tell them though, eventually, right?" Michael asked looking at Agent Woods.

Agent Woods sighed, "Yes, eventually we'll tell everyone just what she was doing, but right now we don't want to create a panic. Plus if the news reports she's a victim and she hears it, she's more likely to think she's still in the clear and turn herself in."

"And if she does?" Michael asked. Mark could see the look in Michael's eyes and Agent Woods saw it too.

"If you want off the team, Michael, no one will think any less of you, and it won't look bad on your record. This isn't a nice cut and dried law enforcement job; this is why we get subjected to a much stricter review by the administration and by Congress than the other groups.

"We don't have the ability to keep a werewolf in jail, much less rehabilitate one. Her case will be presented to a special court later today, now that we're sure she's not a victim, we'll have a death warrant, all nice and legal before the day is done. We got one on Craig before we even raided his house. This is a harsh job, Michael, but the government doesn't want to keep relying on outsiders to do what we should be doing ourselves."

"And just what are we doing?" Michael asked.

"Protecting the innocent, and punishing the guilty," Agent Woods said. "Now go, get those records, and we'll meet up at the command post for lunch."

"I'll drive," Mark said.

Michael just nodded and tossed him the keys.

15:  Command Post, Blacksburg

"So, the neighbors didn't see anything or hear anything. There were a number of ATM transactions at about four in the morning, and a gas station sale shortly after that," Agent Woods said. "So I think it's safe to say that our perp has flown."

Agent Woods, Mark, and Michael were sitting at the command post, Mark and Michael had just delivered the records, and Woods was filling the two of them in on the most recent intelligence that had been developed.

"We have, however, learned a few more things about him since this morning," Agent Woods continued. "We know his real name is Gregory Popov. He is an orphan; a couple of Russian immigrants adopted him when he was five years old. They settled in the Midwest, which is where he grew up and went to school. Apparently they adopted him from an orphanage back in Russia just before they emigrated.

"He wasn't a very popular kid in school; apparently he had some attitude problems and a rather large ego. However, he was big in sports, so when he got in trouble with the school a few times, they let it slide, as he was one of their star athletes. That was until a few months after he graduated, when he got in serious trouble for smacking around his girlfriend. He was released on his bail, but skipped town before the trial. His nickname around school was 'Craig Pope', so best we can figure is he just decided to go with that.

"I'm going to see about getting a profiler assigned to him, if we can't find any leads as to his whereabouts. I'd rather not have one of them brought into the unit, because I honestly don't know if he has the same psychology as a human. But I think it's pretty clear to all of us that Craig has some serious issues."

"I'd still like to go back to Marlington and interview those girls, Chief," Mark said. "Also, I want to see if I can find just what he was doing up there in the first place. It might help us track him down."

"Sounds like a good plan of action, Mark. I'll send Steve and Mary up as well, once they're done tracking leads here, and whoever else is free. You're in charge of this one; I think we're going to need someone with your experience handling this now."

"Thanks, Chief," Mark said and turned to Michael. "Let's find my wife and get on the road."

An hour later they were on the road; Mark was still driving, as Michael seemed a little subdued.

"So, what were you off getting, Hon?" Mark asked Helena, who was sitting in the back of the SUV.

"Some things to help us when we run into this Craig guy again."

"Oh? What?"

Mark saw Helena nod at Michael as he looked at her in the rear view mirror, "It's one of those secrets I don't like to share," she said. "But if you'd pass me your pistol, I've got something to treat the bullets with that might help."

Mark shrugged and shifting in his seat a moment, he pulled out his handgun and passed it back to Helena.

"Yours too, Michael."

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Michael said and Mark watched as he drew his handgun as well and handed it back to Helena, who unloaded both handguns, then putting on a pair of rubber gloves emptied all of the bullets in the magazines into a bag. She then pulled out another small plastic bag. He couldn't get a good look at what she was doing, as he had to keep his eyes on the road, but she was obviously doing something to the ammunition before reloading it.

Whatever it was, it looked like she'd be a while at it, so he turned to Michael.

"So, care to talk about it, Michael?" he asked.

"What's there to talk about?" Michael sighed, looking out the window.

"Whatever it is that's bugging you, obviously."

"Or you'll beat it out of me?" Michael said, smiling wanly.

"'Spare the rod, spoil the child' is very much a werecougar maxim," Helena piped up from the back seat. "Though we tend to use two-by-fours, we're notoriously thick-headed."

Mark just rolled his eyes and went back to watching the road, "Michael, if you don't ask any questions, you won't get any answers."

"I'm not so sure I want to be a killer," Michael said looking back at Mark. "And that's what you are, you're killers."

Mark sighed and shook his head. "Helena only kills animals, Michael. Most lycans only kill animals when they are hunting; they're not much different than anyone who goes hunting deer or duck, or anything else. They just don't use a gun."

"What about you, Mark? What do you kill?"

"I kill what needs to be killed, Michael. Have I killed people? Yes, I've killed quite a few of them, and demons, and even monsters. There's a war on, oh I know you don't believe all that much in religion, but there is a war on and its been going on since before God created man. Working for the Church as I was, I was on the front lines of that war for a good many years."

"Well this isn't a war, Mark, the FBI isn't at war, the US isn't at war with anybody. Yet you're still going to kill these people," Michael said a little sourly.

Mark nodded, "Yes, I'm going to kill them, if they don't kill me first of course. Or if the wolf clans in the mountains around here don't find them and kill them first. What other choice is there?"

"What about due process? What about a trial?"

Mark shrugged, "You heard what Woods said, they're getting, or already got, a trial. And will be found guilty and sentenced to death."

"Sounds all kind of pat, doesn't it? Not much different than a kangaroo court if you ask me."

"Would you have killed Hitler, before he rose to power, if you could have?" Helena piped up from the back seat.

"Well yeah, of course! Who wouldn't?" Michael said, turning around in his seat to look at her.

"We wouldn't have; in fact, we probably could have gotten to him a lot easier than anyone else, fairly early in the war."

"Well, why didn't you then?" Michael asked looking back at her rather surprised.

"Not our problem. It was a human issue. As they say: not our circus, not our monkeys."

"That's cold!"

Helena shook her head, eyes down and watching what she was doing with the bullets. "No, that's reality, Michael. Do you know why humans fear werewolves? Why there are all those nasty stories about them?"

"No," Michael said, "I don't."

"A thousand years ago, some bright werewolf got the idea of uniting all of Europe under his banner. He started turning humans; he used them to enforce his ways and his rules.

"Well, of course the humans resented being told what to do, and who to obey, especially by a bunch of monsters, which they outnumbered anyway. Also a lot of the humans he turned apparently weren't very reliable and a lot of them went crazy and did things that only provoked the humans he was trying to control even further. So the humans all banded together and started to slaughter all of the werewolves they could find.

"They didn't stop with the ones this 'leader' had turned, they went after all the purebloods they could find, and they also started looking for the lycans of other races. Even after a bunch of werewolves slaughtered this leader and turned his dead body over to the humans, they were still hunted down and killed."

"Well, he shouldn't have tried to take over then, should he?" Michael said.

"He was trying to stop the ravages of the black plague, Michael. Something that we lycans are immune to. He was trying to stop all of the fear and the violence that accompanied it. The accusations of witchcraft, the burning of homes with families still in them. No, he was trying to help the humans with a problem that didn't affect us, and we all paid a horrendous price for his trying to help. Of course the humans didn't see it as help, they saw it as interference. Even if it would probably have helped them.

"So the rule was made: We do not interfere in the affairs of humans. And we do not ever come to their attention publicly. We do not hunt them, we do not kill them. Those who violate this rule are to be hunted down and killed."

Helena looked up from what she was doing, meeting his eyes. "The religions, the governments, they have agreed, tacitly if not actively, that they will stay out of the lycan's business as long as we stay out of the human's. People like my Mate; they exist in the gray area between your people and mine. They work to keep the peace, to keep the billions of humans on the planet from deciding to slaughter the millions of lycans out of fear.

"If you don't think that is a job worth doing, then why did you join the FBI in the first place?"

Michael sighed and shook his head, "It's not that simple."

"Yes, it is that simple, Michael. For us. We have seen how willing humans are to slaughter other humans in massive numbers, over minor differences. So we know they'd be more than willing to wipe us out, if they ever became afraid of us."

"You know why I do this, Michael?" Mark spoke up, glancing at Helena in the mirror who met his eyes and nodded, going back to whatever it was she was doing.

"I take it, it wasn't the money?" Michael said.

"No, it wasn't the money. It was because I wanted to make sure that we were accepted by the church, so that if there ever was a pogrom to wipe out the lycans that my family would be protected by the church. That was the sole reason."

Mark snorted, and shook his head, "And the reason I've stayed doing it so long was because I realized that humans really suck at dealing with the devils, demons, and monsters, and after having lost a lot of friends to a rather nasty monster back when I was human, that it was only fair I lent a hand for a while."

"So it's all just good versus evil then?" Michael said, still looking rather unconvinced.

Mark sighed, "Working for the church, yeah, it pretty much was. We only went after the bad guys; we left the good guys and the middle of the road or neutral parties alone for the most part."

"This isn't the church though Mark, it's the FBI. We enforce laws; we're not in the good versus evil fight."

"I know that. And that's something that you're going to have to find your own peace with, Michael. I can't help you. But these two? They broke the number one lycan law and there's only one penalty for that. The evidence is overwhelming and you don't get a trial. And as my wife pointed out, lycans enforce the lycan laws and the government is more than happy to let us do it."

"Is that why Woods put you in charge?"

Mark nodded, "Probably. Though I wouldn't be surprised to learn he was ordered to."

Michael sighed and leaned back in his seat, "I just keep coming back to those young women, they never chose this, but some of them are going to die, aren't they?"

"Probably," Mark agreed softly.

"It's just not fair," Michael said shaking his head, "but then, what is these days."

'And that's why we're here,' Mark thought to himself, to try and make it just a little bit more fair. Because with a monster like Craig on the loose, no one was safe.

16: Somewhere west of Blacksburg

Craig was angry. There really wasn't any better way to describe it. Where had that other cougar come from? Why hadn't he seen her before? He thought the government hated monsters? The sage had told him that the werewolves, that all lycans, maintained a separation from the government. That they feared the government, and that the government feared them!

Craig had figured that the first was merely a fluke, someone like himself, who lived outside of the stifling ways of the clans and their stupid belief of hiding away in the mountains. Humans were weak, he was powerful! Might makes right! It always had, and always would, the weak, the losers, no one cared about them and no one made exceptions for them.

Craig looked at the gas gauge, there was still half a tank, they'd filled up before leaving, but best to fill up again before they went up into the hills. It might be a while before they could chance going into town again.

"Hmm?" Ursula said, waking up as he pulled into a gas station.

"We're almost there, I wanted to fill up again." he told her and pulled up to one of the pumps. Looking around there was an attendant behind what looked like bulletproof glass on the other side of the station. He had his eyes down and was reading a book, not really paying any attention to what was going on.

On the other side of the aisle he'd pulled into, was a large gray pickup truck, a four-by-four. The front door was open, so the guy pumping gas could listen to the rather loud and obnoxious music that was blaring.

Craig rolled up a little further so the larger truck blocked the car from the view of the man in the booth, not that Craig thought he'd hear them over that racket.

Getting out of the car, he stretched and then winced at the loud music as it started to boom deep enough to cause everything to vibrate.

"Why don't you turn that crap down," Craig yelled at the guy pumping gas. He was a pretty big guy, probably six-four, and easily three hundred pounds. He had on some sort of security guard shirt, a shaved head and was wearing some old jeans.

"Screw you! Mind your own business, asshole!" He said and flipped Craig off.

"I am, you made it my business when you turned that shit up loud enough to hurt my ears," Craig growled. "Don't they teach curs like you manners around here?"

"Who you calling a cur? You better shut your mouth, or I'll mess you up!"

Craig looked at the truck again, there was even a girl in the passengers seat, of course she was ignoring everything, probably couldn't even hear it over the noise. A nice big truck like this? No one would be looking for it, and it would fit in around here a lot better than Ursula's car would.

Craig smiled slowly and walked over to the guy, "Go ahead and try."

The guy let go of the pump and took a swing at Craig, who stepped aside, grabbed his wrist, and then pulled the guy off balance towards him.

"Shouldn't mess with your betters, asshole," Craig growled and punched him hard in the throat, smiling as the guy's eyes went wide and he suddenly found he couldn't breathe anymore.

Craig knocked him down to the ground then, and pulled the guy's arms behind his back and just held him down on the ground with a knee in his back, until he suffocated. He was surprised at how long the guy actually lasted.

He looked up at the gas pump as it clicked off, so he took it out of the truck's tank, put it away and put the gas cap back on. The truck was still running, and the music was still blaring, and the girl inside was still oblivious.

"Pull out into the street, and follow me," He told Ursula, who quickly shifted over into the driver's seat.

Walking back to the dead body on the ground he looked up at the attendant who was still reading his book. So picking up the dead guy he tossed him into the back of the truck, then hopped into the front seat and closed the door.

"Hey! You're not ..." was all that the girl in the passenger's seat got out before he backhanded her, knocking her unconscious. He checked to make sure she wasn't dead, then tied her hands behind her back with her belt, tore a piece of her shirt off to gag her, so he wouldn't have to listen to her when she did come around, then belted her in, put the truck in gear, and drove out of the station.

As soon as he was out, he turned the radio off, and sighed happily, he now had a fitting sacrifice for the sage, and he wouldn't have to give up Ursula right away after all. He looked in the mirror at the body in the bed of the truck. He'd have to do something about that, it would be getting light out soon, and he sure didn't want anyone to see it. But in these woods, that wouldn't be all that much of a problem.

"So, where are we going?" Ursula asked him, as he turned onto an old forestry road. They'd left her car parked on a side street in the last small town they'd gone through. Odds were good no one would think twice about it. The body they'd dumped off an embankment and into a copse of trees not long after that.

The girl was hogtied and gagged now, and stuck behind the seats in the cab. Craig had bit her after they'd dumped her boyfriend. He wanted to be sure she was fully turned when they got there; the sage had made his preferences for lycan blood clear to Craig when they first met, and as long as Craig kept him fed, he'd keep granting Craig his powers.

"There is an old Russian sage who lives in a cave here. The cave is some sort of a place of power, which the old man uses to stay alive. He's very old, hundreds of years he told me."

"Is he the one you bring the girls too?" Ursula asked.

Craig nodded, "He feeds off of their blood. It's really quite a lot of fun to watch, he says their adrenaline adds flavor, so he likes to play with them first, before he drains them."

"So, he's a vampire?" Ursula asked, a little unsure.

Craig laughed, "No, he's alive, like you or me. But he has unlocked the power of blood; he's told me that there is a lot of power in the blood of even the most normal and mortal of all humans.

"So I bring him these girls, and he grants me wealth, strength, power," Craig smiled at her, "but that's not the best part."

"It isn't?"

"No," Craig said shaking his head, "he's promised to teach me the secret of the blood, how to take the power for myself. He's almost powerful enough to do so, and once he has I have promised to help him kill his old enemies here in the mountains, the ones that tried to drive him out years ago. Then I will return home and deal with my own enemies!"

Ursula nodded slowly and smiled, he had such anger in him, she'd enjoyed watching him kill that man at the gas station, the idea of watching him kill many more was intoxicating. "Can I help?"

Craig glanced over and smiled at Ursula, he could smell the lust coming off of her, she really had been a good choice, "Of course you can."

A few minutes later he pulled up under a lean-to he had built here last year. He didn't come this way often; normally he had parked by the cabin a ways from here and then walked in. But there were times he'd had to come this way instead, and he didn't want to chance someone spotting his car. The cave was only a hundred yards from here.

"Come," he said getting out of the truck, stopping only to reach behind the seats and drag the struggling girl out of the back. He stopped a moment to take a better look at the girl in the light of day. She stunk of fear of course, and the look of it in her eyes was rather sweet.

"She looks a bit young to be running around at night with a guy like that," Ursula laughed.

"No doubt," Craig said and tossing her over his shoulder he led the way to the cave. The way was well hidden, the sage said that various magics helped to hide it from those who he did not want finding him here. Craig was still rather surprised he'd been able to find it himself, but the sage had told him that Craig's anger had led him there, as they both shared an anger, the same anger, and that the time would come when he would cleanse Craig of the curse that he hated so passionately, so that they might both have their revenge on those that had wronged them.

"Watch your head," Craig warned as he ducked into a cave that was well concealed by a bush on the hillside just over the entrance, and several trees that were gathered around it.

The cave went in about a dozen feet, then turned sharply to the left and opened up into a rather large cavern, one that was well lit by several glowing spheres that resembled modern-day light bulbs; for all that they hung motionless in the air.

The rest of the cavern was rather well appointed, the ground was covered with thick rich looking rugs, there was a large bed to one side, a table, chairs, and a whole wall covered with bookshelves full of what Craig guessed where magical texts.

But the most important thing was the altar. The altar sat in the exact center of the room, and a pale red fire hovered a half dozen feet above it. The altar itself was made from the bare rock of the floor, shaped by either magic or processes that Craig could only guess at. The rock was stained heavily with blood; some of those stains were from the many women Craig had brought here, to feed his ally. The rest of them had been here long before he had ever found the sage and this place. Craig sometimes wondered if there had been any stains here when the Sage had found this place, if he had been the first to use it so, or if others had used it even before then.

And on the other side of the altar stood the Sage, he looked to be a middle-aged man, bald, but with a handsome face, on which he wore a small van dyke beard, he dressed in a style that Craig himself wasn't familiar with, a dark blue jacket with a wide white collar that looked something like he'd seen on a box of Dutch Masters cigars, just without the funny hat.

"Ah, Gregory, it is good to see you once more, I see you have done me a kindness yet again and brought me a treat?" The Sage said smiling at Craig as he held his arms open in welcome.

"Yes, Sir," Craig said and dropped the bound girl onto the altar.

"Ah, I thank you yet again. You are an ally most kind. Who is your friend?"

Craig smiled and gave a small bow, to acknowledge the Sage's thanks. He had learned that the man appreciated such small gestures.

He turned to Ursula, "This is Ursula, she has been very helpful to me in selecting and gathering all of the women who I have brought here before."

"Ah, why I must thank you, milady. You have a wonderful eye for the delectable."

Ursula blushed and ducked her head to acknowledge his compliment, the feeling of his praise sending a warm feeling through her.

The Sage looked down at the young woman lying on the altar; she was struggling against her bounds, her eyes filled with terror.

"Well, why don't I deal with this little morsel, and then we can discuss other things," He looked up at Ursula, "Would you care to watch?"

Ursula smiled and shivered in delight. "I would love to."

17:  Interview at Zeke's

It was after nine and the sun had already set when Mark finally pulled into Zeke's driveway. They'd had to go to the sheriff's office to get directions, which Sheriff Clayton wouldn't give to him until after he'd called Zeke and asked him if it was okay for Mark to visit.

Annoying as that might have been, Mark couldn't blame Sheriff Clayton, Zeke was one of the clan leaders, and Clayton depended on him and had to live here.

"Mark, Agent Sikes, and ..." Zeke said standing by the front door as they walked up.

Mark motioned to Helena, "This is my wife, Helena. Helena, this is Zeke, he's one of the wolf clan heads."

"Pleasure," Zeke said and shook hands with Helena who smiled.

"Come on in, I've got two of them here, Karen, who's the girl I re-bit, and Claudia, who was there the longest."

"Where are the other girls?" Mark asked.

"Spread out among a couple of the other older alphas," Zeke said and led them inside the house, "We're still evaluating them, they've all been beaten down pretty harshly, he really did a number on them."

"What about the girl he just bit?" Michael asked as they came to a closed door in the back of the house.

"She's under my influence now and is doing pretty well. Sherry likes her, think we might keep her."

"Keep her?" Michael said looking shocked.

"She's a wolf now, Michael," Mark told him, "She needs to belong to a pack."

"Oh, just the way he said it, I thought he meant as a girlfriend or something," Michael said.

"Wife actually," Zeke said putting his hand on the door and holding it closed for a moment as he turned to face Michael who was visibly bristling.

"Something you need to understand here, Agent Sikes: that girl is no longer human. Neither is the one on the other side of this door. They're wolves like me and my wife Sherry, like my kids, like my parents, like my neighbors, and they need a place to belong now. Someone has to take them in, give them a life, and give them a place in the world.

"When I bit Karen, she became my responsibility, and yes, mine as well. Now she's not as submissive and beat down like the others are so she could turn me down if she wanted to, but," Zeke smiled, showing a lot of teeth, "she'd rather be sleeping with the alpha than someone else in the pack.

"Besides, it isn't any of your business."

"What do you mean it isn't any of my business? What'll I tell my boss? His boss?"

"Nothing, it isn't any of their business either," Zeke said.

"But ..."

Mark put his hand on Michael's arm, "Michael, are you still serious about meeting my daughters?"

Michael stopped and turned to face him, "What does that have to do with this?"

"Everything. As I told you on the drive back up here, if you become one of us, you're going to quickly realize that the rules are different for us and for you. That there are things better left unsaid and unknown. Things that it's not any human's business to know, because most humans aren't going to understand. We're all monsters here, Mike."

"I wouldn't exactly call you monsters," Michael protested.

"No, but everyone else does, Son," Zeke said. "They'll be calling you one too. This ain't like changing church congregations, or joining the Elk's club. You will change, and your life will change, and you're gonna have a wife and children who will be depending on you for their safety."

Michael looked at Mark.

"It changes your whole perspective on life," Mark said to Michael. "Lycan adults may be tougher than humans, but lycan cubs are not. Infant mortality can be high, and you'll never quite fit in with humans ever again, eventually they'll notice something is different about you.

"And you won't want to go to the trouble of fitting in, either. You'll start to find them annoying at times, even insufferable on occasions, because they won't understand you anymore, even if you still manage to understand them."

Michael looked at Mark, then at Zeke, who nodded, and then turned back to look at Helena who looked surprised.

"Was biting him really worth it?" Michael asked.

Helena laughed, "Every minute."

Michael looked down at the floor and sighed heavily. "Okay, consider me rebuffed and educated. You're all right, I really don't know about lycans or what being one means."

"At least your willin' to listen," Zeke said and opened the door and led them inside.

The room was fairly small, Mark noticed, it had a dresser, two chairs, and a bed, and not much else would have fit. It was painted in a dark green, and there was only a dim lamp on the table. The single window wasn't very large, and probably didn't let much light in.

But it wasn't confining or claustrophobic, it felt comfortable and secure.

Lying under the covers of the bed was a young woman, she was pale and had circles under her eyes and looked a little gaunt. But even so it was obviously apparent that she was a striking young lady, most likely not yet twenty. Her eyes had a bit of a wild look as she glanced around at each of them as they entered the room.

"Claudia," Zeke said sitting down on the bed near the foot, and putting a hand on her legs giving them a pat, "these two gentlemen are Agents Mark Levin, and Mike Sikes of the FBI, they had a part in your rescue the other night. Mark's a werecougar, Mike's a human. The woman back there by the door is Mark's wife, she's also a werecougar."

Claudia nodded slowly, "Thank you," she said in a voice that was barely more than a whisper.

"Mark here wants to ask you some questions about the pretender. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, and no one will be upset with you, no matter what you say."

"Okay, Sir," Claudia said.

Mark went over and kneeled down besides the bed, putting his head on the same level as hers.

"Claudia, how long were you with," Mark looked up at Zeke.

"He wasn't a real alpha, a real alpha doesn't treat his women like that, that's why I call him the pretender."

"Amen to that," Michael replied and sat down in one of the chairs.

Mark nodded and looked back at Claudia, "with the pretender," he finished.

"About three months," she whispered.

"In all that time, did you ever see Cr... , I mean the pretender, turn into a wolf?"

Claudia shook her head.

"Did he ever show you how to turn into a wolf?"

She shook her head again.

"Have you shown her yet, Zeke?" Helena asked from the doorway, where she was still standing.

"No, not yet. I wanted her to have a couple of good meals and some rest first."

Helena nodded.

Mark gave Helena a cross look for interrupting him, she just smiled back at him.

Mark turned back to the girl on the bed, assuming a more comforting expression, "When was the last time the pretender slept with you?"

"Oh, he never slept with us. He said we were too filthy, that we were animals and not pure like he was."

"When did that start?"

"After he changed me. He led me down to the kennel in the basement and told me that was my home now," Claudia sniffed a few times after she said that.

"Did he stop having sex with you too?"

"No, well, not at first. At first I was his 'good dog' and he'd have sex with me all the time, but eventually he got Dianne and it got less and less," Claudia looked sad when she said that. "When he stopped having sex with you, that was when he took you to your new home."

"Your new home?" Mark asked.

"We, none of us, knew for sure where he would be taking us. I'd heard him once say to one of the older girls that he was taking her someplace she didn't deserve to go, that it was too good for her. Another girl said she heard him say to a girl that he was taking her to a new master, the great one, even though she didn't deserve the honor because she was just a filthy bitch."

"Did any ever come back?"

Claudia closed her eyes and shook her head no.

"Did anyone ever ask?"

"We weren't allowed to ask questions, the last two girls who asked questions got beaten and were both dragged away a week ago."

"Thank you, Claudia. We found one of those two girls, she's safe. We're still looking for the other one."

Claudia nodded, "What's going to happen to me?"

"Zeke is going to teach you how to be a wolf, how to be a lycan," Mark said.

"What if I don't want to be a wolf?" she said looking scared.

"You are what you are, accept it and embrace it," Mark said and patted her hands, which were now folded on top of the covers, holding a mass of tissues. "The pretender lied to you, you are not filthy, and you are not a dog, you're a wolf now, and wolves are proud and great. You have been given a rare gift, one that is usually not shared with just anyone.

"Embrace it, and I promise you, you will find a fulfillment you would never have found otherwise."

"Honestly?" Claudia said with a look of hope in her eyes.

Mark nodded and smiled, "I was born human until I was given this gift too."

"Thank you, Agent Levin," Claudia said and smiled shyly.

"You're welcome."

Mark stood up and left the room, with Michael following him, and Helena bringing up the rear as they headed back towards the front door.

"I'll be back in a minute, Claudia," He heard Zeke tell her as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Once outside in front of the house they all stopped.

"Thanks for saying that, Mark," Zeke smiled, "I might ask you to visit the other gals, might help them to know that others have come through this too."

"What happens to her next?" Michael asked.

Zeke shrugged, "Up to her mostly, if she decides to accept what happened to her, and what she is, we'll find a place for her, find her a mate. She's pretty submissive now, after all the beatings that bastard gave her." He sighed and shook his head, "Only time will tell."

Zeke turned back to Mark, "I hadn't thought to ask her about being taught to change, I find that rather odd that she never saw him change and that he never taught any of them either."

"I'm starting to think Craig has a problem with wolves," Mark said.

"Obviously not too much of a problem, he sure kept screwing them," Zeke said and spit on the ground. "Filthy animals," he snorted. "We have words for men like him, and I hesitate to use them in polite company."

"Thanks for your time, Zeke," Mark said, "And thanks for taking this on."

"Someone had to; we just can't leave those poor girls to suffer. Do you think this had anything to do with the curse on that old cabin my brother burned down?"

"Why do you ask?" Michael said.

"Well, legend has it the mage there started preying on the wolves, no one knows exactly what he was doing, but everyone figured he was sacrificing them. Now this guy starts showing up there, bringing wolf girls to the cabin and killing them."

"But he was a wolf himself!" Michael replied.

"Well, he sure didn't seem to like that these gals were wolves, now did he?"

"Zeke has a point, Michael. For all we know, he was just creating them so he could kill them."

Michael shook his head, "I've never dealt with a serial killer before. Maybe Woods is right; maybe we should grab somebody from the serial killer group back in DC and get them to do a profile on the guy."

"We'll see," Mark said and turned back to Zeke and shook hands, "Thanks. We'll be in town at least until tomorrow, Clayton will know where to find us if you need us."

"Thanks, Helena, Michael," Zeke said and shook hands with both of them and then went back inside.

"Well, let's go see if the hotel has any rooms," Helena said as they got back into the SUV. "Then maybe we can go out for a run!"

"Jogging at this time of night?" Michael said looking skeptical.

"Best time, if you're a cougar," Helena purred at Michael's suddenly embarrassed expression.

"So, what's bugging you?" Helena asked him later that night as they walked back to the hotel.

"What makes you ask?" Mark replied.

"Because you haven't said a thing since we left the hotel, and have been just following me the whole time."

"Maybe I just wanted to let you lead?"

"Talk to me, Mark."

Mark sighed and sat down, curling his tail around his legs. They were still in the woods, only a short trot from the hotel at this point.

"Michael. I've been thinking a lot about what he said. When I started on this whole affair, it was mainly for you, your sisters, and the kids. I guess I'd absorbed some of your paranoia about the norms. That and I've always liked the idea of being one of the good guys, you know, fighting the good fight."

Helena padded over and sat in front of him, facing him, "You were, you still are. How is this any different?"

"With the church, it was pretty clear cut. Devils are evil, demons, well; they tend to be pretty clear cut as well. As for monsters," Mark ducked his head in a shrug, "we only dealt with those who were actively evil, or with those who wanted to help us. Both of which were rare. We really weren't cops; we weren't enforcing the law, or even customs.

"Yet here, now? I'm doing the job that the clan heads and alphas are supposed to do. I really am nothing more than a hired gun. I didn't sign up for this; I sure as hell didn't ask to be a government sanctioned executioner, a hit man."

Helena leaned forward and rubbed her head against his. "Yet you're still stepping up to do what needs to be done."

Mark ducked his head again. "Because someone has to. How many people has this guy murdered? Or his girlfriend? Yes, I'll do it, but it doesn't mean I have to like it, and I honestly do worry about what the church, and yes, God, are going to think about this. It's one thing when you're fighting on the side of the angels, but when you're fighting on the side of the government? Of the law? Of mortal things made by mortal men?

"It bothers me," Mark admitted.

"I understand," Helena purred and nuzzled him some more, "But consider this: You are showing the government, those same mortal men, with their mortal laws, that the lycans, the monsters, are invested in them, their government, their laws, their traditions. That we want to cooperate, that we will help, that we believe what they believe, and that when any monster goes bad, even one of our own, we will help them and protect them."

Mark nodded slowly, "I guess I can see that, but still, this is uncomfortable territory for me, Hon. I have always just been a soldier. And right now, I'm thinking perhaps it's time to call it quits and go home."

Helena purred rather loudly then, "That, would be a very welcome change! Come, let's go back to the hotel and get some sleep."

"Some how, I suspect sleep isn't what's on your mind," Mark said, standing back up and stretching.

"And that's how you know I love you!" Helena purred and bopping him on the nose with a paw she ran off for the hotel with Mark now in hot pursuit.

Helena was right of course, his helping the FBI would go along way towards helping the government develop a more positive relationship with the various races of lycans that lived in this country. But still, why did he have to be the one to carry the torch for this? Surely there were others who could take over. Governments were fickle; they could be your friend one day, and your enemy the next, because a different person with different ideas was now in office.

He followed Helena into the room; the hotel owners had given them one all the way towards the back of the building. Being wolves themselves, they understood the need to be able to slip in and out unmolested.

He smiled at Helena as he closed the door behind him. Tomorrow he'd go back to worrying about the job. Until then, he's just worry about Helena.

18: A cave near Marlington

"Gregory, I need a favor," the Sage said to Craig as he walked over to where he and Ursula were sitting.

"Of course, what do you need?" Craig asked.

"There is a holy man of some kind up on the hill by the old cabin. He's rather annoying. I would like you to bring him to me. Alive if possible, and definitely bound and gagged."

Craig nodded and got to his feet. "Of course," he said and signaled to Ursula to follow, not wanting to leave her alone with the Sage. He wasn't finished with her yet, and it would be bothersome to come back and find her being sacrificed before he was through with using her for his own needs.

Stepping outside the cave, Craig looked around. It was early yet, his watch said it wasn't even seven. Obviously this holy man, whoever he was, was an early riser.

"Wow, this guy must have gotten an early start to be here already," Ursula said with a yawn, echoing his thoughts.

"Well, he is going to get an early end too," Craig snickered as he started to make his way up the hill. He was very careful with the route he took; he never took the exact same way, because he didn't want to form a path between the cave and the cabin that might give away the cave's location to his enemies.

The Sage had made it very clear that there was always a chance of discovery if they were not careful. That he had many enemies in these mountains and until he was powerful enough to deal with them, staying hidden was the best strategy.

It took them twenty minutes to make it up to the cabin. When they got there Craig saw a man in a black shirt with a priest's collar putting things into the back of an old beat-up looking jeep.

"Hey! You! Hold it right there!" Craig yelled and charged at the priest, who started on seeing Craig and Ursula, and who made a dash for the car.

Craig smiled; he slowed down just enough to let the priest start to slam the door shut, grabbing it before it was all the way closed.

Then he let the priest struggle with it for a moment, enjoying the tease of letting the priest think he just might be able to get away, before Craig pulled it all the way open and punched the priest in the face.

Craig dragged him out into the small clearing where the car was parked and threw him to Ursula.

"Tie him up," He told her, "I want to see what he was doing."

"But he's bigger than me!" She said.

"He's only human, subdue him," Craig growled.

Ursula cuffed the priest across the face with a hand, and then smiled as he staggered back from the strike.

"Wow! You're right! This is easy!" she laughed and hit the priest a few more times, dropping him to the ground.

"Just remember not to kill him," Craig warned, "otherwise the Sage will be very angry with you."

Ursula nodded. She rolled the man over on to his stomach, took his belt off and quickly tied his hands behind his back, then ripped off a section of his shirt and formed a crude gag.

Craig looked inside the jeep; the keys were in the ignition, the car itself didn't really contain all that much.

Going around to the back, he opened it and looked inside. There were some clothes, a shovel, tow chains, the usual stuff if you lived out in the country, and a small bag.

The bag had some marked bottles of holy water, a cross, and some other odds and ends. Nothing that the Sage would want in his cave, he was sure.

Going back around to the front he started the jeep, drove it over towards the trees, and then drove it down the hillside and into the forest where no one would easily see it. He took a few minutes to tear out some bushes and break off a few branches to toss over it and break up its outline, making it harder to see.

Walking back up the hill and over to Ursula he saw she had the priest hogtied, so he picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, and headed back towards the cave.

"I can't believe how easy that was!" Ursula gushed, "He's almost twice my weight, and I was able to manhandle him with ease!"

"Yes, they are weak and pitiful, aren't they?" Craig laughed.

"I can't wait to find a new place to live. A place full of such easy prey! I'll be able to have my way with any of them!" Ursula said in a voice that made it clear to Craig that all of her dreams were about to come true.

Honestly, he'd have to think about keeping her around a little bit longer. It could be fun to watch the little reign of terror she was obviously plotting. Besides, it would make it all the more sweeter for him when he finally turned her over to the Sage to be consumed.

He wondered for a moment if she'd even care? He almost laughed out loud at that thought. The way she'd acted last night when the Sage had tortured that girl before drinking her blood, Craig almost suspected that she'd enjoy it, when her time to feed the Sage finally came.

He took a more direct course back to the cave this time, though it still took longer than going out, as the man he was carrying was heavy. He'd regained consciousness somewhere along the trip and he was struggling now. Craig debated knocking him back out, but he suspected that the Sage wouldn't appreciate that.

"Here you go," Craig said and dumped the priest at the Sage's feet, almost an hour after they'd left.

"Ah, thank you, Gregory, why don't the two of you go for a walk? I'd like a little privacy."

"Aww," Ursula said, expressing Craig's thoughts exactly. He would have loved to have watched the Sage work.

"Now now, I promise I'll have something nice for you two, when you both get back," the Sage said with a smile.

Craig and Ursula both nodded and left the cave then.

"So now what?" Ursula asked Craig as the stood around outside, looking at the woods.

"There's a small cafe a short drive from here. We can have breakfast and come back after the Sage is done with that priest." Craig said and started walking over to where the truck was hidden.

"They won't recognize you?" Ursula asked, following him.

"Do you really think they can stop us if they do?" He laughed. "Besides, we're a good long ways from Blacksburg. It will be days before anyone even thinks of looking for us up here."

Ursula smiled and nodded, he had a point. No one would expect them up here with the hicks, and by the time they did, they'd both be gone.

19:  Confrontation

Mark, Helena, Michael, Steve, and Mary were sitting in the diner having breakfast. Steve and Mary had come in late last night and were sharing what they'd learned about Ursula from searching her apartment.

"I tell you, this was one sick woman," Steve said shaking his head. "She was heavily into a lot of really dark fetishes and fantasies. Most all of them were focused on young women."

Mary nodded, "She was apparently quite the beauty when she was younger, as she started to get older and her looks started to fade, she couldn't accept it. Instead she got angry and focused all of that on younger women, and the prettier you were, the more she hated you and wanted to see you suffer."

"Just how dark are we talking here?" Michael asked.

"Let's just say that there are a lot of things I now know a lot more about than I did yesterday morning, and I wish I didn't," Mary said with a rather disgusted looking expression.

"Yeah, it was pretty sick," Steve agreed.

"But, the pictures from the video, she looked pretty good in those," Michael said looking around, confused. "I mean, didn't she?"

"She was a centerfold model when she was eighteen," Steve said, "we found a lot of her old stuff packed away in her attic. She really was a lot better looking then, than she is now."

"Apparently some people just refuse to age gracefully," Mary added. "From what we saw, she now goes to the gym every day, the spa twice a week, and has every beauty supplement you can buy, and some you can only get on the black market. She works hard now for what once just came naturally."

"So, then she was a willing accomplice for Craig?" Mark asked.

"Very willing," Mary said and Steve nodded his agreement as he took a bite of his food. "We even found her collection of trophies," Mary said, and Steve suddenly gagged on his food, and started coughing.

"Couldn't you have waited until I was done eating," Steve said between gasps.

"Sorry," Mary apologized.

Mark looked at Helena and then Michael, "Just what kind of trophies are we talking about?"

"Body parts," Mary said as Helena patted Steve on the back and he got his food back under control.

"She had quite the collection," Steve said and coughed one last time. "And there were a lot of them."

"Yeah, over a dozen," Mary nodded and shook her head with a sad look.

"Do we have any idea on how many women they killed?"

Steve shook his head and took a drink of water, then cleared his throat.

"Not yet," he said, "but we've identified at least another ten or so, from all the pictures and the films, in addition to the nine we already know about."

Michael swore, "We're up to nineteen? And no one noticed?"

Steve nodded, "Trust me; there is already a lot of finger-pointing going on at the college. The President of the university was literally screaming at the dean of students from what Jeff told us last night. Based on what we've figured out so far, we don't think there are going to be many more, but Woods has sent Denise and Pat over to the local high school to start a second front in the investigation. We know he worked there as well, so it's not unlikely that he found some victims there too."

"Just what was he sacrificing them for?" Michael grumbled shaking his head.

"Power," Mark said. "It's always power. Lycans don't get any sort of natural glamour or other magic. But from everything we've been seeing about this guy, he was not only able to influence people, but he was able to make them not notice the bad things he was doing.

"That takes power. I also think he was getting some sort of physical power from it. He seems a lot tougher than what I'd expect a normal lycan to be.

"Then there's the money he seemed to have suddenly come into. He suddenly buys a building? Buys a nice car? Starts throwing money around? No, it all looks like it was for power, magical, physical, and material."

"From what?"

"Maybe," Helena said speaking up, "he found whatever it is that the old mage who once lived in that cabin was using. That he started to prey on the local members of the wolf clans, and Craig is turning these women into wolves before bringing them up there can't be a coincidence."

"But just how would he have found it?" Steve asked. "After all, the locals haven't found it, and it's been what, a hundred years? Longer?"

Mark shrugged, "Could have been luck, or he could have been drawn to it."

"Drawn to it?"

Mark noticed he had everyone's attention, "Yeah, evil people, evil beings, if they have the same driving goals, or have some basic fundamental reason for their being, they seem to instinctively seek each other out. There's been a lot of research on it in the church, because we've seen this sort of thing before. Evil guy stumbles on evil monster, or devil, or font of power, and they join forces. Or to be more precise, one joins with the other, the more powerful one tends to control the lesser powerful one."

"So, whatever he's found. It may be controlling him?"

"Most likely, it's leading him. I'm sure he's rather happily helping it out in return for the power it is granting him."

Mark's phone rang then, so he took it out and looked at it.

Sheriff Clayton was calling.

"What's wrong, Bill?" Mark said answering it.

"I got a bunch of priests over here at the office. Apparently Father Braener was supposed to meet them at the church and take them up to the remains of that cabin and bless it or something. But he's not there, and no one knows where he is."

"I'll be right over," Mark said and hanging up the phone, put it away.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked.

"The team to bless the cabin showed up and Father Braener is missing," Mark looked at his watch, it was almost nine. "They're at the sheriff's office."

"Well that doesn't sound good," Mary sighed.

"No, it doesn't," Mark agreed.

Steve quickly paid the bill and they got into their SUV's and quickly drove over to the sheriff's office.

As they strode into Sheriff Clayton's office, Mark immediately recognized one of the priests in the group from the last time he'd handled an assignment in the area for the commission.

"Mark! It is good to see you! I did not know you were in the area!" Father Hess said coming over and shaking hands.

"I'm on loan to the FBI, Father," Mark said.

"My condolences on the loss of your partner, Jake was a good man."

"You know each other?" Sheriff Clayton asked.

Father Hess nodded, "Of course, I work in the Bishop's office and often handle the blessings and other procedures for these incidents. Mark here is one of our better miles in the conflict between heaven and hell."

Mark nodded at the Sheriff and turned back to Father Hess. "Thank you, now what is going on with Father Braener?"

"That is what we are trying to determine. Apparently he went out early this morning, but no one knows where he is, and he knew we were coming today."

"When was he expecting you?"

Father Hess shrugged, "I honestly do not know. We had told him we should be here around noon. But with the traffic up north, you never know these days."

Mark nodded and thought about that. Braener struck him as the conscientious type, he'd said he would bless the place every morning until the team from the Bishop's office showed up, and Mark did not doubt that was where he went.

"I suspect he went up to the cabin to bless the area this morning," Mark said.

"That should not have taken more than thirty, forty minutes at most," Father Hess said, starting to look rather worried.

Mark nodded, and looked at the others in his group, and then the Sheriff.

"I'm worried that something bad may have happened to Father Braener, it's possible Craig may have returned to the cabin, though why I have no idea. I'm going to take the rest of my people up there and go see if we can find him."

Sheriff Clayton nodded, "I'll set my men out to watch the roads and the town and I'll alert the locals to keep an eye out. If this guy is back, we don't want him taking any hostages."

Mark nodded, "If you could have one of your deputies lead Father Hess and his people up there, so they can do their job, I'd appreciate it." He motioned to the others, "Come on, let's get up there and make sure it's secure and see if we can find Father Braener."

Mark led the way in his car, with Michael in the passenger seat and Helena in the back. He'd gotten out both of the HK's and handed Helena his pistol, then strapped on his machete before getting in the car. Now they were flying through the roads with the lights flashing. He didn't want to use the sirens though, as that would carry here in the hills and he didn't want anyone to hear that they were coming.

When they got to the turn off for the cabin, Mark killed the lights and bounced up the dirt road faster than might have been wise, but it wasn't his car, so he really didn't care all that much.

When they got to the clearing, he locked it up and slid the SUV to a halt, looking around.

"I don't see anyone, but be careful," Mark said and they all opened the doors and got out looking around rather warily.

They spread out and quickly did a circuit around the clearing, Mark could easily see that there was no one hiding in the charred and collapsed remains of the cabin, looking down into the woods he didn't see anyone, or anything. However with all of the trees, it wouldn't be all that hard for someone to be hiding.

The other SUV pulled up then, Steve having driven a lot more carefully. He came out and looked around.

"Anything?" He asked.

Mark shook his head. "Not that I can see. Course with all of these trees, it's hard to see. We're going to have to go in there and scout it out."

"Just a minute," Steve said and walking over to the front of the cabin, he picked up a handful of rocks, then started to walk around the clearing, throwing smaller handfuls into the trees, then coming back, getting more and repeating it.

"What good is that..." Michael started when on the third try the sound of something metal came out of the woods as Steve threw another handful.

"Guess we should look over there," Mark said and carefully made his way out of the clearing and down the hillside, between two rather large trees, and into the brush, a lot of which looked broken, now that he was in it.

"Something came through here alright," Mark called back and fifty or so feet later he saw a large shape behind a tree with some branches thrown over it to better obscure it from anyone up on the hill. Drawing closer he could see it was Father Braener's jeep.

"Found his car," Mark called up the hill, and then moved closer to examine it.

It was unlocked, the keys were in the ignition, and there were no signs of violence, no blood. Putting his hand on the hood, it felt cool, but not cold. So it had been here a while, but it hadn't been here all night.

Going back to the driver's door, he opened it and stuck his head inside and sniffed at the seat. His nose as a human wasn't strong enough to pick up any distinct scents, so looking around first; he set the rifle down, pulled off his shirt, kicked off his shoes and dropped his pants, then shifted.

Taking another sniff around the inside of the jeep he scented it then, Craig. He growled and took a moment to prowl around the car. The only trail led back up to the clearing.

So shifting back he put his clothes back on, then going back to the jeep he opened the back and looked around, finding the small case of materials that Father Braener had brought along to do his daily blessing: holy water, salt, a cross, and an aspergillum. Grabbing the bag he started back up the hillside to the rest of the group.

"Any signs of violence?" Michael asked.

Mark shook his head, "No, but somebody drove it down there and threw a few branches on it to try and hide it."

"Craig?"

Mark nodded, "I had to shift to get the scent, but yeah, it was Craig."

"So, now what?"

"We wait for the other priests to show up, then we let them do their blessing and consecrating of the site. It could be whatever it is around here didn't like what Father Braener was doing, and sent Craig up here to put an end to it."

"Shouldn't we track Craig's trail back to wherever this thing is holed up?"

Mark shook his head, "Then we'd be fighting Craig, Ursula, and who knows whatever the hell they've gotten mixed up with. If that thing doesn't like this place being blessed, then surely when the priests get started, it'll send Craig back up here."

"So set up an ambush and take them out here, away from whatever this thing is," Michael said.

Mark nodded. "Also, the work of the priest up here may weaken whatever it is we need to face. As we have no idea what it is, I'd rather take every advantage that we can."

"What about Braener?" Steve asked.

Mark shook his head, "He's probably dead by now. Besides, I don't want to leave the priests up here alone while we go haring off into the woods." Mark looked over at Helena, "Can you get an idea of where he came out of the woods, and went back in? I want to try and get an idea of where to set up in case he returns."

"Sure thing, Hon," Helena said and quickly stripping down to the buff, she shifted and padded off to scout the perimeter.

"Well, at least I know why she wears so little clothing," Mary said smirking. "Getting dressed and undressed constantly must be a real pain in the butt."

"Now you know why I don't wear a jacket or a tie," Mark sighed. "Go load up on ammo, we may have quite the firefight on our hands when Craig shows up."

Everyone nodded and went back to the SUV's and grabbed a couple of extra magazines for their HK's.

Helena padded over and shifted back, smiling at him.

"They came out over there," She pointed to a spot behind the cabin, "and left over there," She pointed to a spot further around the clearing away from the cabin. "There were two of them, the same two who attacked us in the hotel. Also, they had a third person with them when they left; I gather that was the priest."

Mark nodded. "I hear cars coming, why don't you get dressed?"

Helena winked, "What, no free shows?"

"It's not the priests I'm worried about, it's the deputy," Mark grumbled, "Now quit teasing and get dressed, Hon. Please."

"Well, since you asked so nicely!" Helena laughed and walked over to her clothes and quickly redressed.

Mark watched as first a sheriff's deputy pulled into the clearing, followed by a rather plain looking van.

"What's with all the firepower?" The deputy asked walking up to them.

"Evil werewolves," Mark said and smiled.

"Oh! Guess I should get out my shotgun," he said and walked around to the trunk of his cruiser while the Father Hess and the three other priests that had come with him got out of their van.

"How long is this going to take, Father?" Mark asked as he walked over to Father Hess.

"About forty minutes to set up, then another hour to do the full blessing. Expecting trouble?" he asked looking at Mark and the rest with their guns out.

"Yes. There's something old and evil around here, and I suspect we'll be having trouble."

"Father Braener?" Father Hess asked looking worried.

"Taken, probably dead," Mark sighed.

"Then we better be about this. We'll stay until you find the body, so that he may be blessed immediately."

"Thanks, Father."

"You have your job, we have ours." Father Hess turned to the others, "Let's get going. We'll start with the cabin, that's probably the central focus, and then move around the clearing from there!"

Mark watched as they all nodded, then started to unpack all sorts of assorted items from the back of the van, including a temporary altar of some type.

Mark went and gathered the others up then, and discussed where to best set up their ambush.

"Once we engage, Helena and I will move to the front, I want the rest of you to drop back."

"Me too?" the deputy asked. By now Mark had figured out he was a lycan as well, a werebear actually.

"Yes, I want you to put yourself between our attackers and the priests, in case they manage to get around us. You'll be their last line of defense."

Mark turned back to Steve, Mary, and Michael. "As for you three, if you have to engage anyone, engage Ursula. Craig is going to be too powerful for you three to take on safely."

They all nodded.

"Okay, once the priests start the blessing, we need to be on the lookout. If this thing really can't stand it, expect Craig and Ursula to show up fairly quickly after they start. Any last questions?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Good, now, get in place, and let's watch and wait."

Mark and the others took up prone positions that were concealed behind the SUV's and some of the wreckage of the burned out cabin and laid in wait. It took the priests closer to an hour to set up, and after they started, nothing happened for the first fifteen minutes or so. Shortly after that two figures charged the clearing on Mark's left. Mark opened fire immediately on Ursula, who was the closer of the two, with Mary opening up on Craig. Steve and Michael both jumped up from their positions and moving to the flanks, opened fire as well once they had clear lines of fire.

As soon as he ran out of bullets, Mark jumped up and drawing his machete he charged Ursula, as Helena stood up and started firing her pistol at Craig in slow measured shots not moving in closer as Mary reloaded and fired another twenty rounds into Craig.

Ursula he noticed was still moving forward, and as Michael stopped to reload Mark made contact with her, hitting her several times with his machete. He was rather shocked then to see that her wounds did not bleed, and healed almost instantly. Further he could see no blood on her anywhere even though her clothing was torn with bullet holes.

Ursula took a swing at him with a small knife that she was holding in her hand, while laughing at him.

"Puny mortal!" she yelled as Mark dodged and then kicked her in the kidneys with all of his might, sending her flying a good twenty feet across the ground. She might be tougher now somehow, but the rules of physics hadn't changed and his extra strength combined with her light weight sent her flying.

Glancing back at Craig for a moment, he could see that Steve and Mary were still pumping bullets into him, while Helena was still taking slow measured shots. He was stumbling around, looking confused.

"Michael! Use your pistol!" Helena yelled when Michael stopped shooting to reload.

Mark charged at Ursula as she started to recover.

"And don't hit Mark!" Helena added as Mark and Ursula clashed again, this time Mark started punching and kicking her, using his heavier mass and greater strength to knock her around. She hit him a couple of times with her free hand, he wasn't going to let her get him with that knife, but it wasn't enough to hurt him anymore than he'd have expected. So obviously only her healing was enhanced.

She jerked as Michael shot her, once, twice, and then a third time. Mark got her then in a grapple hold and hip threw her to the ground.  Ursula looked up at him confused, her eyes glassy now as Michael shot her three more times in quick succession.

Mark watched as Ursula shook her head and started to swipe at something in front of her face, and then he remembered that Helena had done something to the bullets in their handguns yesterday.

Raising the machete high overhead he moved in quickly then and brought it down hard on Ursula's neck causing her to scream loudly, it took two more hard swings to cut through her neck and take her head off, but at least she stopped screaming after the second stroke.

Unfortunately, Michael hit him in the leg with one of the bullets as he brought the machete down the second time, and when he lowered it the third time it left a trail behind it as he did.

Suddenly he had an idea of just what Helena had done to the bullets.

"Shit, Mark, are you okay?" He heard Michael yell, but his voice sounded distorted and he could see the grass around him moving from the words.

"Help Helena," he said and dropping the machete he punted Ursula's head, which was slowly starting to crawl back to her body. He heard a lot of yelling then, Ursula's head hit Craig, who stumbled around, and then he suddenly turned and ran away.

Helena started to chase after him, but Michael said some blue words and some yellow words at her, and she turned and came over to him.

"Having fun?" Helena asked him, talking very slowly as he noticed little cats running back and forth across her bare skin.

"You have cats on you, you know that?" Mark laughed and shook his head. "How long will this last?"

"Long enough. Let's sit down and cuddle, okay?"

Mark smiled down at Helena. "Suuuurrre...."

*          *          *

Craig looked around him confused, everything was going right, sure there were a bunch of them, but with the extra powers that the Sage had given him, there was no way that he and Ursula could lose. They were stoked up full of energy and their abilities enhanced far beyond normal.

When the started getting shot, he barely even felt it, it was like walking against a hard rain. He figured he'd kill the shooters first, and then pick off the priests at his leisure.

And then, suddenly, everything changed. The bullets were flying everywhere, and the noise, the noise from them was deafening. He could feel his insides lighting up and inside his head his wolf started to snap it jaws and attack him!

He turned around, confused; the two people shooting at him looked like cartoon g-men, in black and white. Then he saw the woman, she was hot, she was gorgeous, and she was slowly shooting him. One shot. Then another shot. Then another shot.

She was smiling at him. He wondered if she'd like to be in one of his movies? He bet she'd look wonderful, screaming and crying as he cut her to pieces.

Suddenly he got hit with something that made him stumble and look down. It was Ursula's head, she was looking at him, she winked at him and smiled.

"I'll hold them off, you better run, Gregory," she said to him. "Or they'll kill you like they killed your brother!"

Craig looked up, another man was shooting at him, and the bullets were getting bigger, slower, fatter, louder. They started to talk to him; they told him that they were going to kill him, just like they'd killed his brother. All chopped up and torn to pieces.

Craig could see the trees, turning he ran for them, and ran away, the bullets chasing him and laughing, just as they had laughed when they'd killed his older brother, back when he was just a pup, just a young pup out in the cold with his older brother looking for a place to stay after his parents had died.

He ran into the trees, and ran and ran and ran. Slowly, the bullets went away, things started to look, to look normal again. He stopped and looked around him. He had no idea where he was, or how far he had gone. Looking behind him he listened for any pursuit, but he couldn't hear anything.

What had happened? Obviously someone had used some kind of magic on him when he and Ursula had attacked.

He remembered Ursula's head then, they'd killed her. Which meant it was just him, so if they caught up with him, he'd be next. He thought about the Sage for a moment, but he let that thought die. Survival, his survival, was what mattered now. He had no idea where he was, but he knew he had to get as far from here as quickly as he could.

Stripping naked he rolled everything up in his shirt, tied the sleeves so he could grab it, then turning into a wolf he picked up the bundle with his teeth and started to run in the direction he had been going. Survival came first. Once he'd gotten away from here, he'd see about food and a place to rest.

But not until he was far far away.

20:  Burned out cabin

"Damn, woman, what the hell did you do to me?" Mark whispered to Helena when things finally returned to normal.

Helena looked around to make sure no one was within earshot. The priests were still going through their rituals; fifteen minutes had gone by since Mark had been shot.

"I drugged the bullets," she told him.

"Drugs work on lycans?" Mark asked, surprised.

"LSD does," Helena chuckled, "Learned that as a young girl. Because our bodies process everything faster and break it down faster, it doesn't last very long, but it gets picked up by your system almost immediately. Craig just got the full effect of fifteen tabs of very high quality acid. I suspect it will be a while before reality and him become fully acquainted again."

"Where is he?" Mark asked looking around.

"He ran off after you hit him with Ursula's head. I don't know if he freaked out, or just realized he was losing, but he took off into the woods."

"Why didn't you chase him?" Mark asked looking around at the others, who noticing he was talking with Helena, had started to walk back over to him.

"Because you're my job, he's not. You were right about one thing, he wasn't normal. He should have gone down from all of the hits he took. Even that Ursula looked a lot tougher than normal."

"Well, whatever they were into, it's got to be fairly powerful," Mark sighed and carefully got to his feet. "Think you can backtrack their path here?"

Helena nodded, "Easily. But you need a few more minutes, Hon. You still look a little unsteady."

Mark nodded, "Don't worry. We're not going anyplace until they're done." and he motioned towards the priests.

Twenty or so minutes later the priests all finished and started to pack up their things as Father Hess walked over to Mark.

"I see that you killed one of them, what happened to the other one?"

"He got away, Father. We're going to backtrack them to where they came from. I'd appreciate it if all of you could stick around a while longer, wherever it is that they came from, it's a sure bet that something powerful is going to be there. And if it's evil, we're probably going to need your services again."

Father Hess nodded, "Sure. Are you ever going to introduce me to the young woman who acts a lot like your wife?"

Mark laughed, "Father Hess, this is my wife, Helena. Helena, Father Hess."

"Nice to see that Mark hasn't been living a life of solitude," Father Hess smiled, "So when did you get married, Mark?"

"Oh, we've been married since before I went to work for the church. Got a house, kids, everything."

"Really? I was always under the impression that you were single."

Mark shrugged, "When you do what I do for a living, you tend to want to keep people from knowing you have a family."

"I guess I can understand that. So, care to introduce me to your coworkers?"

Mark smiled and introduced them next as well.

"Okay, let's gear up and see if we can find out where they came from," Mark said.

"Do you think we'll find Craig?" Michael asked.

Mark shrugged, "No idea. But stay alert. Father, wait in the van with the engine running and the doors locked. If you need us, sound the horn."

"Sure," Father Hess nodded. "Um, Mark, why is your wife taking off her clothes?"

"Oh, so she can track them," Mark said as Helena turned into a cougar.

Father Hess looked at Mark, "So the rumors are true then?"

Mark nodded, "Yeah, the powers that be wanted it kept quiet, but I knew it would get out sooner or later."

"Well if the leaders don't mind, I see no reason why I should," Father Hess said nodding. "I'll be in the van with the others."

Mark went over and got a few more magazines for his pistol and his rifle, grabbed the cross and holy water that had been in Father Braener's bag, then put on a bullet proof vest marked 'FBI' and after the rest loaded up, he went over to where Helena was waiting on the edge of the clearing.

"Lead on, Hon."

Helena ducked her head and started into the woods, with the rest of them following.

The scent trail Helena followed was surprisingly rather straight. Mark guessed they must have really been in something of a hurry when they came here; they went about a half mile when they came up before a well-hidden cave entrance and Helena growled.

"What is it?" He asked her. He noticed an uneasy feeling as well, like he often got around the more powerful evil monsters.

"Something unnatural," she said to him, "beyond that, I can not tell."

Mark nodded, "Okay, move away from the brush, I'm going to clear the opening up some more."

Pulling his machete out, Mark started to cut back the brush that was around the entrance to the cave, starting with the bush on top, then the ones to the sides and around it. He even cut back a few of the smaller saplings, but left the tree as it was too big for a machete.

"Think it knows we're out here?" Steve asked.

Mark nodded, "Yup," and pulling out the bottle of holy water he started to squirt it around the mouth of the cave. When he squirted some inside, it started to hiss and steam.

"Helena, take Mary back to the van and bring Hess here. Ask for all the holy water they have, a couple of crosses, any and all herbs, some road flares, and the holiest item they brought."

Helena ducked her head and started back towards the van with Mary in tow.

"Now what?" Michael asked.

"We wait. I don't think its going anywhere, and I'm hoping the blessing up on the hill weakened it. But I still have to go in there and kill it. But first I want to do a few things."

"What do you think it is?"

"Evil," Mark said and pointed his HK at the opening to the cave. "If you see anything, shoot first, ask questions later."

"Think that would stop it?"

"It hasn't come out yet, so yeah, I think so," Mark said.

They waited uncomfortably, it took a half-hour for the women to return with Father Hess, they were carrying about a gallon of holy water, a half dozen crosses, which Mark made sure everyone put on, and a thin metal rod.

"What I need, Father, is for you to bless all of us, our guns, and our ammunition, then pour holy water over everything."

Father Hess nodded, and handed Mark the thin metal rod.

"What's this?"

"The remains of the cross that belonged to a minor saint. Hopefully it will be enough; we didn't bring any thing more than that."

Mark nodded and stuck it in the sheath with the machete as Father Hess started to bless them, and sprinkle everyone with holy water, as well as the flares and their rifles. It only took a few minutes, and then Mark had him pour holy water into the rifle magazines, making sure all of the bullets were wet.

"The water is going to play havoc with the rifling," Steve noted, "and probably will have turned to steam before the bullet even leaves the barrel."

"It's the thought that counts," Mark said and eyed the entrance to the cave with a frown.

"Stay behind me, once inside, Michael move to my left, Steve to my right. Mary behind Steve, Helena stay with Father Hess."

"I should come with you," Helena said.

Mark turned and looked Helena in the eye and almost growled, "No. You will stay here and protect Father Hess, and you will not argue with me, understand?"

Helena's eyes got a little wider; she'd never once seen Mark take that kind of tone with anyone, much less her. She nodded, "Okay."

Mark turned back to the cave, "Light your flares and follow me, it's going to be dark, save your flashlights until we have contact."

"Why aren't we using our flashlights?" Michael asked as they entered the cave. Mark had his gun help up, he wasn't carrying a flare.

"They can't mess with what they don't know," Mark said softly.

The cave went in a short distance, then turned to the left and opened up. Mark didn't see anything, the room was fairly large and quite dark and the shadows from the light of the flares wasn't helping much.

"Throw your flares, light more," he said, while sweeping his rifle back and forth slowly.

"Marrrrrk," came a whispered voice, as if in pain, "help me, Marrrk."

"Show yourself!" Mark called as two flares flew by him into the room, and he heard the sizzling sound of more flares being lit behind him.

The flares revealed a more comfortable looking place than Mark would have expected. There were bookshelves on the far walls, a nice bed, table, chairs, even a couch. But in the center of the room there was a stone pillar that came up off of the floor, and flattened out into a table of sorts.

On it laid Father Braener.

"Help me, Mark," Father Braener gasped and shook on the table.

"Shit," Michael swore and started to move forward. Mark let go of his rifle with one hand and shoved him back.

"Mark!" Michael said.

"Shut up, Mike," Mark growled and took a second step into the room, sweeping left, then right, and looking overhead, grabbing the rifle with both hands again.

"Mark, quickly!" Father Braener gasped, "Help me..."

"Recite the lord's prayer," Mark said, moving in carefully. Whatever the monster was, it had to be here somewhere, he could smell it, he could feel it.

"I need help, Mark, I'm dying!" Father Braener gasped, turning to look at them.

This time it was Mary who made to push past them, she had a flare in each hand as she moved forward.

Mark swore and tripped her, sending her sprawling, the flares rolling forward.

"Mark! What are you doing?" Michael said.

"Say the prayer!" Mark growled and ripping the cross off of his neck he threw it at Father Braener.

The moment the cross hit Father Braener, there was a bright flash, momentarily blinding everyone. Mark didn't hesitate; he pulled the trigger and fanned his rifle across the room, until his eyes adjusted.

"Damn," Steve swore and Mike gasped while Mary said something very unladylike from the floor where she was looking up.

Father Braener's body was still there, only now they could see the chest had been cut open, and there was blood everywhere.

"Glamour," Mark said. "Lights!"

They all turned their flashlights on then, filling the room rather brightly. He could make out the room and its furnishings much better now, but there was still no one in it.

"Empty," Michael said.

"More glamour," Mark growled, "Look for the shadow that doesn't belong, quickly!"

It took a moment, but Mark saw it about the same time Steve did; a shadow of a man. Aiming at where it was being cast from they both opened fire at the same time. There were some more flickers, from the point they were aiming at, a ghostly outline of something starting to show, then Michael and Mary added their rifles to the fix, firing as well.

Mark ran out first, from having fired earlier, and he swapped magazines then started firing again while the others ran out and reloaded.

"What is that thing?" Michael asked.

Mark wasn't sure, yet, but whatever it was, it was tough. It took them about thirty seconds to burn through all of the ammunition they'd brought, and when they were done there was a older looking bald man of Slavic appearance with a small van dyke beard standing before them, wearing old, but still fancy, clothing.

"Mary, go get more ammo," Mark said and took a step forward.

"Get all the ammo you want, Mark." The man said, raising a shaking hand and point at them. "This is my home; you can not kill me here!"

"Care to bet?" Mark growled and pulling out the artifact he held it in front of him. "Back to the pits of hell that spawned you, demon!"

"Hah! I am not some devil or demon that can be sent back to the depths of the inferno!" The old man laughed and started to hobble towards Mark, but once he got close he suddenly sprung forward with amazing speed and backhanded Mark, sending him flying across the room and into the bookshelves on the other wall.

Mark swore as he hit the wall, his bones breaking and re-knitting quickly as he fell to the floor. He could see Mary was scrambling out of the cave, the other two backing up and drawing their service pistols and opening fire as they backed towards the entrance, covering for her.

"Pah!" The old man said and with a swipe of his hand through the air, the pistols were ripped from their grasp and sent flying.

Grabbing the rod with his left hand, from where it had fallen on the floor, Mark stood and drew his machete.

"What is your name, old man," Mark growled in pain, his bones were still healing.

"Popov, like that young fool Gregory. He's a relative it would seem. His parents being the great grandsons of one of my many brothers back in the old world."

"So, you're a wolf?" Mark said taking a step forward.

"Hah! I am no filthy animal, like you! I am a great wizard! The greatest! For I have learned the secrets of the blood and I shall live forever! You can not harm me!"

The old man advanced on Mark again, but this time Mark was ready, he ducked and swung with the rod first, then with the machete. He wasn't surprised when the old man dodged. He could move easily as fast as Mark could, but Mark wasn't going to fall for the slow old man trick again.

Mark took several swings at the old man, as the man tried to hit him, moving back and forth. Twice Mark lunged forward with the rod, touching the old man and causing him to grunt. But when he lunged forward with the machete the old man dodged quickly, even moving so Mark could hit him with the rod again.

Mark was still puzzling that when Michael snuck up behind the old man and using the HK rifle like a bat, he slammed the old man in the back with it.

The old man spun on Michael instantly, and grabbing the rifle, he ripped it out of Michael's hands, stepping forward to attack him.

But Mark had seen Michael's approach, and he leapt forward with the machete leading, and stabbed the old man in the shoulder with it, causing him to scream loudly in pain.

Michael retreated quickly as the old man turned back to Mark then.

"So, that's it? Cold iron!" Mark said grinning nastily at the old man as he started to press in hard, swinging the machete back and forth in front of him. Lunging twice he drove the old man back across the cave, though he was picking up cuts and gashes of his own from the old man's fingers, which had nails like claws at the tips.

The old man started to chant something then, but Mark heard a counter chant in Latin coming from behind him. He couldn't take the time to look, but the expression on the old man's face turned evil as he tried to chant something else, but was one again stopped by another counter chant.

"I will take you to the depths with me!" the old man suddenly yelled and raising his hands he took a deep breath, just as Mark threw all caution to the wind and leaping forward he drove the machete through the old man's heart, then stuck the rod in his mouth for good measure.

There was another blinding flash, this time with an accompanying thunderclap, and Mark was once again thrown across the room, but instead of slamming into the far wall he ended up lying on top of someone.

"I think you broke my legs," Mark heard from under him as he rolled off of them, to see it was Father Hess.

"Thanks for helping, Father," Mark said and looking down at his legs as he got up he sighed. "I think you're right about your legs though."

"Well, go cut his head off, then get back over here and help me," Father Hess said through gritted teeth.

Mark nodded and hurried to comply; wrapping the head in what he guessed was Father Braener's discarded shirt.

"Take this outside," he said and handed it to Mary.

"What was that?" She asked.

Mark went back to Father Hess, Steve and Mike were using two of the rifles as splits for his legs.

"I'm not sure, what do you think Father? Upir? Vampir?"

"They're pretty much the same," Father Hess grunted as Steve and Mike helped Mark lift him over Mark's shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"Vampire? That's a vampire?"

"No, vamp-ear," Mark said pronouncing it, "not vamp-ire."

"What's the difference?"

"Vampirs, or Upirs are wizards who turn evil and live off of blood. They're supposed to be immortal, have affinities for certain magicks, and also eat the hearts of their victims after drinking their blood. But they're not undead."

"Though it is believed that they become undead after a century or three," Father Hess grunted from over Mark's shoulder. "Now if you all do not mind, I am in a great deal of pain and would appreciate a trip to the hospital rather soon."

"Yes, Father," Mark said.

"What about the body?" Michael asked.

"Start a fire in the clearing and burn the head. After that, drag the body up and burn that too," Mark said.

"Burn all of those books!" Father Hess said, "but be careful to wear gloves, they may be coated with poisons or other foulness."

"Sure thing, Father Hess," Mark said as they left the cave and emerged back into the sunlight.

"There's a truck over there in under that lean-to," Helena said coming up to Mark. "Keys are in it."

"Okay," Mark said following Helena over to the truck while carrying Father Hess. "Michael, you and Helena take Father Hess back to the hospital in town, then meet us back at the clearing, okay?"

"Got it, Mark."

Mark lay the Father down in the bed of the truck, "Thanks again, Father Hess. Ever think about moving to Spain?"

"Pah! I'm too old for commission work!"

"Funny, you don't look more than thirty-five to me," Mark grinned.

"Do I look like a man who likes getting his legs broken, Mark?"

Mark laughed and shut the tailgate and gave Helena a hug and a kiss.

"See you in a while," he told her, then went back to Steve and Mary to start cleaning up the mess.

"You know, we still have to Craig to deal with," Michael said as he got into the driver's seat as Mark walked away.

"I know," Mark sighed, "I know."

#          #          #

Mark was at the police station, in a meeting room with Sheriff Clayton, Michael, Steve, and Mary. Agent Woods was on a speakerphone, they were using one of the FBI cell phones, which were at least somewhat secure.

"So, you lost Craig," Agent Woods said on the phone after Mark had run down the events.

"Sorry, Chief," Mark sighed, "But we were in no position to chase him when he ran off. I'd hoped he'd gone back to his mentor here, and that we'd catch him there. But unfortunately he didn't."

"Do we know anything about their relationship?" Agent Woods asked.

"Other than what he told us? Not really. The vampir was giving Craig power, and I guess gold or gems or something, in return for the bodies he was consuming. We're still looking into the stories of the old mage that was here a hundred or so years ago. I think it's a safe bet that this was the same guy."

"What was so important about that cave?"

"Some sort of natural energy flow, that the vampir was able to tap into I think," Mark shook his head, "I honestly don't know enough about it. The church might have people who could investigate it."

"Personally I think we should just dynamite it and collapse the cave," Sheriff Clayton said. "Less trouble for all involved, if you ask me."

"Well, you won't get any arguments from me, Sheriff," Agent Woods said on the phone. "If the government wants it, they can always dig it up."

"So what's our next move?" Mark asked. "Man hunts aren't anything I have a lot of experience with."

"The best tactic is to make him come to us," Steve said. "But in order to do that, we need a profiler, someone who can tell us what kind of bait we can use."

"Steve is right," Agent Woods said. "I want all of you to write up everything you know about Craig, and whatever impressions you have. I already got us a profiler on loan, I'm going to run all of this by them, and see what they can figure out."

"Assuming that they'll even believe this," Mark sighed.

"Oh, they were assigned to your friend out in Vegas for a year. They'll believe anything after that," Agent Woods chuckled.

"Thanks, Chief," Mark said.

"I want you folks to stay up there for a few more days yet, incase Craig turns up. We found Ursula's car, dumped in Peterstown. We haven't found the owner of the truck you found yet, but we're pretty sure Craig killed him and took it. Probably just a crime of opportunity."

"Well, at least we shut down the source of his extra power and his money," Michael said.

"Yes, good job on that. Besides, who knows how many people that monster in the cave was preying on?" Agent Woods said. "I expect to see your reports before the end of the day. I have to go now; I need to brief my boss. Bye."

The line clicked off, and Steve put his phone back in his pocket.

"So, Bill," Mark said looking at the Sheriff, "What do the clan heads all say?"

Sheriff Clayton shrugged, "They're going to scout their areas for any interlopers and will let us know what they find. They're also going to keep their communities under surveillance, if anything goes missing, anything strange happens, they'll let my office know."

"How did you know that cold iron would kill him?" Michael asked.

"And just what is cold iron?" Mary asked.

"Cold iron, cold steel, basically it's any weapon with a lot iron in it. For some reason iron affects certain monsters," Mark said.

"Like silver affects turned lycans?" Mary asked.

Mark nodded, "Precisely. It just occurred to me that he was dodging the blade more than the artifact. I could see that the artifact was hurting him, because its holy and he's evil. But it wasn't doing him any real damage.

"I do want to thank you Michael for hitting him in the back with the rifle."

Michael nodded, "Thanks. I figured that because it was blessed, it might cause him some troubles. We should have thought to have our pistols blessed as well. Then he probably couldn't have taken them away like that."

"Huh, hadn't thought of that. But you're right, he never stripped the guns from us, but he did the pistols."

"For all the lack of damage the rifles did, I'm surprised he cared," Mary said.

"Oh, they hurt him. He was just so full of power that we didn't see it," Mark said. "And with whatever that natural power source was down there, taking him down by sheer attrition probably would have taken longer than we would have survived."

"Well, I know one thing," Mary said.

"What's that?"

"I'm getting one of those machetes!" She laughed, "We should probably see about getting steel bullets as well. I know the military makes them for armor piercing."

"More things for Woods to add to the armory," Steve said, making notes.

"Well, I promised the wife to take her out for dinner tonight," Sheriff Clayton said, standing. "You all have my cell if anything comes up. Or you can call the office."

Mark and the others all nodded.

"Dinner definitely sounds like a good idea, talk to you tomorrow, Bill," Mark said and getting up decided to go track down Helena and head over to the diner with the others.

21: Marlington

Mark stretched and yawned, "Man, it's bad enough that they make you guys work forty hour weeks, but now weekends as well?"

"You don't work forty hours for the church?" Michael asked, sipping his coffee as they sat around one of the tables that had been set aside for them in the sheriff's office.

"We work a job when we have one, then sit around and drink when we don't," Mark said stifling another yawn. "I've got open bar tabs in two dozen pubs across England and Europe."

"Must be nice!"

"Normally, it is. Especially as a lot of our work is done at odd hours anyway."

"Well, let's call Woods and see what he has for us," Steve said.

Mark nodded and yawned again, "Have at it."

"Agent Woods here," came out of the speakerphone.

"Chief, it's Mark and the team. Got any new leads for us?"

"Actually, yes. I just went over the report the profiler sent me this morning."

"This morning? Chief, it's nine a.m. What did they do, work all night on it?"

"Apparently," Agent Woods replied. "Of course I did tell them it was a priority."

"So, what did they have to say?" Steve asked.

"A lot of things, actually. I'll email a copy to all of you; you can look at it later. But one of the keys is she's pretty sure that this Craig guy can't take responsibility. Nothing is ever his fault, it's always someone else's and that they must be made to pay when things go wrong."

"Sounds typical," Mark yawned. "Did they have any idea on how to make that work for us, Chief?"

"Actually, Mark, yes, she did. You know the first girl that kid saved? Susan Meyers?"

Mark nodded, "Yeah, what about her?"

"Well, she's obviously the reason the cabin burned down, and the reason that all of us found out about him, and then destroyed the nice little thing he had going."

"So, our profiler is pretty certain that he holds her responsible?" Steve asked.

"She gave it a very high percentile," Agent Woods confirmed.

"So, how do we use that?"

"Simple, we let him know not only that she's alive, but where she is."

"And just how do we do that, Chief?" Mark sighed. "We have no idea where he is, what he's doing, or even where he's going."

"Mark," Agent Woods said with a chuckle, "You're working for the FBI now, that's easy. We hold a press conference."

Mark looked around at the others on the team, they were all nodding.

"A press conference?" Mark said a little unsure.

"Well, we have to explain to the locals all of the fuss that went on yesterday, so we tell them that we tracked down a dangerous serial killer, who took refuge in that cave, where we were forced to kill him after hours an hours of a very long standoff. We then introduce Susan, a survivor who had the strength and the courage to come forward and tell us about this vicious killer."

"But Craig's not dead," Michael said.

"But if he believes that we think he is, he won't hesitate to come back and get retribution, that's the idea, right Chief?" Mark said thinking about it and nodding slowly. It made sense. Craig had gone to the trouble to try and ambush him and kill him, when the smart thing would have been to run. So Mark didn't doubt Craig would come back for Susan.

"Exactly," Agent Woods said.

"Do you think he'll hear about it?" Mark asked cautiously.

"We're the FBI; we'll make it the biggest story of the year. Around here, especially in a slow news cycle, everyone will pick it up. Even more so if we give it some nice graphics. Like 'Interpol agent works with FBI in tracking down international killer' and we put the girl in a nice outfit to encourage pictures."

Mark laughed, "You know, I'm so used to working with a complete press blackout, that the idea of finally being able to use them to help me for once, never even entered my mind. Thanks Chief! If this doesn't draw him in, nothing will."

"Okay, I'll get the press people to work on some press releases, write up a script for all of you, and schedule the event. I'll call Sheriff Clayton and ask if he wants in on it, if you could go visit Miss Meyers and ask for her help, Mark?"

"Sure thing, Chief. Where do we tell him she's staying?"

"We don't, we don't want to make it too easy for him, or he'll suspect it's a trap. We just give him enough clues so that he can figure it out himself. We just mention during the press conference that she's staying with some local relatives. Then we just create a fake family at a convenient location outside of town, and ask Google, Yahoo, and all of the other search engines to load it up, so when he searches on the Meyers name, he gets the results we want."

"You can do that?" Mark said rather shocked.

"Of course!" Agent Woods laughed over the phone, "We're the FBI, we do stuff like this all the time. I just need you to find us a good location for the takedown. Rent a house if you have to, I want to wrap this guy up as soon as possible, and I'll need that address at least an hour before the press conference so we can have our people load the fake records into the search engines."

"Will do, Chief," Mark said. "Anything else?"

"Not right now. I'll have Marylyn fax the scripts for everyone to the sheriff's office as soon as we have them done. Bye."

"Bye," Mark said as Agent Woods hung up. He looked around at everyone. "I had no idea you guys could do something like that."

Steve shrugged and Mary laughed, "It's like he said, we're the FBI, we have the power of the whole federal government behind us, and when it comes to catching a killer, the folks at Google and Yahoo, and all the rest are more than willing to help us out."

"Also, when they need a favor, say when Congress is looking to pass some new regulations or something, they can point to the fact that they cooperate with us," Steve added.

Mark nodded, "Something to keep in mind. Okay, I'll take Michael and we'll go visit Susan Meyers and ask for her help at the press conference. You two get in touch with Sheriff Clayton and ask him for a house to use for this mythical Meyer's family. Call me before you talk to Woods, okay?"

"You got it, Mark," Steve said.

Mark pulled into the driveway, and wasn't surprised when Deke met him as he and Michael were still getting out of the SUV.

"Can I help you, Mark?" Deke asked walking up to him.

"I was hoping to talk to Susan," Mark said.

"What about?"

"Actually, that's for Susan..." Michael started, but Mark put his hand up and stopped him.

"We want her to appear at a press conference. Craig, the guy who abused her, got away when we took care of that mage who'd been using him. We figure that Craig blames her for all of his stuff falling apart, and his losing everything. My boss is pretty sure that Craig will see the press conference, get enraged, and come after her."

"So you want to use her as bait, is that it?" Deke said.

Mark nodded, "That's about it. We're going to set up a fake address for him to go to, and set up a trap there for him."

"That's a lot to ask of the girl, after all she's been through," Deke said in a low voice, Mark could tell he didn't like the idea at all.

Mark nodded again, "Yeah, it is. But it's her decision to make. Not mine, not my boss's, and not yours. This guy is insane, and he's a lycan. We need to take care of him, the sooner the better.

"So, I'm asking you to let me talk to her, and see what she says."

"Where are you planning on setting this trap?" Deke asked.

"We don't have an address yet. I got the others working with Sheriff Clayton on finding a place."

Deke growled a moment, but then shook himself. "You're right, come on in. But if she agrees to it, we'll do it here."

Mark was momentarily taken aback by that. "Here? You sure?"

Deke nodded, "If he's turned any others since you lost him, you're going to need all the wolves you can get, between me and my sons, that bastard won't get anywhere near that girl. Also, she's been all over the place here. Her scent is everywhere. You try to set up a trap somewhere else; he just may notice the lack of her scent."

"That's a very good point," Mark agreed. "Well, let's go see if she's up for it."

Deke led Mark inside; Susan was sitting in the living room with Deke's wife Margaret.

"Agent Levin, right?" Susan asked looking up at him.

Mark nodded, "And this is my partner Michael. I was hoping to ask you for a favor."

"Of course, Agent Levin, I'd be happy too," Susan smiled.

"You might want to hear what he wants first, honey," Margaret said to her.

"Margaret is right, you might not like this," Mark agreed. "We found out why Craig was coming here, to this area. There was an old mage living in a cave who had turned into a rather evil creature, and the long and short of it is that while we were getting rid of that, Craig got away."

Susan's eyes got wide when Mark said that, and Margaret put an arm around her.

"Now, we believe that Craig blames you for all of his schemes failing, and him losing everything."

"Me? Why would he blame me?" Susan said, confused.

"Because you stood up to him, you got away," Mark said.

"But he doesn't know I'm alive!"

"Yes, we know that. But we want to have a big press conference, announce that we killed him in the big fight at the cave, and we'll introduce you as the brave survivor who told us all about him, and helped us catch him. He'll see if of course, and when he comes after you, we'll get him."

Mark noticed Susan's eyes getting wider and wider as Mark talked.

"Will, will Trevor be with me?" She asked in a small voice.

"Yes, Trevor will be with you. So will his brothers, Deke, and several FBI agents. Understand, we're not trying to arrest him, technically he's already dead. We're going to kill him."

Mark was surprised when Susan's eyes narrowed and she made a noise like a growl.

"I'll do it," she said. "After what he did to Kerry, he needs to pay!"

"Oh, he'll pay alright," Mark told her. "The press conference is going to be later today, so dress up in something attractive. We want the press to flash your picture around so Craig sees it, and seeing as you are a rather pretty girl, I think it's a safe bet that the papers will put it on their front page all over the area."

Susan nodded, "Sure thing, Agent Levin."

"Call me Mark, please," Mark said and pulling out his phone he went outside to call Agent Woods and give him the address of Deke's house.

Mark smiled and nodded to the assembled members of the press. Agent Woods had flown in by helicopter to run the press conference that was taking place in front of the sheriff's office. Sheriff Clayton had rather surprisingly agreed to take part in the whole affair. Well, surprising to Mark at least. Both Woods and Clayton had each gotten up and spoken rather well, each of them handled the press with surprising ease.

Of course everyone had a script that the public relations people at the FBI had provided, along with suggestions on how to deal with any possible questions. While both Woods and Clayton had strayed from that script several times, both seemed to be rather comfortable with what they were doing, and knew what to expect.

Mark however, was not, and it was now his turn under the spotlight.

"Agent Levin, it says here that you work for Interpol, in their Rome office?" asked a reporter from one of the local papers.

"Yes, that is correct," Mark said, hands behind his back in his best parade rest stance as he tried to not act as nervous as he felt.

"So, just what is a member of the European police forces, an Italian no less, doing here in West Virginia?" The reporter asked with quite a bit of hostility.

"As Agent Woods briefed you earlier, I'm here on loan as part of an inter-agency cooperation effort. There are aspects of this investigation, ones that I'm not allowed to comment on, that involved Interpol. That's how I ended up working here."

"So," the reporter interjected, before Mark could continue, "I must imagine that working in such a small 'hick' town here in the hills must be quite an experience for a cosmopolitan Italian, such as you."

"I merely work in Rome, I did not grow up there, or in Italy, and I am not Italian, Mister...?" Mark smiled looking at the reporter.

"Jacobs," the reporter replied, and then sneered at Mark. "So which country are you from then?"

Mark looked around at the other members of the press who were starting to look interested in the conversation, and winked.

"Oh, its a rather small country, you may have heard of it. It's called Oregon."

The rest of the people there started to snigger, and a couple even laughed out loud.

"Wait, what?!" the reporter sputtered.

"Someone else?" Mark asked scanning the crowd.

"Hayes, CNN," A woman said sticking up her hand. Mark nodded to her.

"Just how did a guy from Oregon end up working for Interpol in Rome?"

Mark smiled, at least he knew how to answer this, he'd been using the same story for years now. "I got involved in an investigation into some artifacts that had been stolen from the church. They were rather impressed with my performance, so they offered me a job working for their office in Rome. The pay they were offering was better than my army disability payments, and I have a family to support, so I accepted their offer."

"So, you're a disabled army veteran?" the CNN reporter asked, and Mark tried not to smile as most of the reporters turned to stare at Jacobs.

"Yes," Mark smiled and couldn't help but turn the knife a little, "combat, Afghanistan. But we're not here to talk about me; do you have any questions about today's announcement?"

Mark noticed that Jacob had now moved to the back of the crowd.

"Agent Woods mentioned that there were several women involved, and that you were personally involved in their rescue, what can you tell us about that?"

"Umm," Mark said and looked down at the podium a moment, "I'd rather not comment on their situation and circumstances, other than to say that they're doing better now, and thankfully Mr. Pope will no longer be around to make money off of his wanton disregard of women."

"Is it true that you were the one responsible for killing Mr. Pope?"

Mark nodded, "He refused to surrender, in fact he attacked us when we were investigating his recent killing of the local pastor, Father Breaner. In the ensuing battle he holed up in a cave not far from here, one where he had been hiding out with his accomplice. Both of them died in the ensuing firefight... err, excuse me, I mean gun battle."

"What about the women who first reported this?" Another reporter, a man, spoke up.

"Oh, Miss Meyers!" Mark said brightening. "Yes, it was an incredibly act of bravery for her to not only escape, but to come forward after what had been done to her. She is the real hero of this story. The rest of us were really just doing our jobs, if it were not for her, Mr. Pope and his evil would still be preying on the innocent youths of our country.

"Would you like to meet her?" Mark asked, happy to move the spotlight now to someone else.

The assembled press all nodded and called out 'yes' so Deke led Susan out, who immediately latched onto Mark's arm.

"Hi," she said rather shyly.

Mark smiled at her, and then pointed to one of the reporters, who asked her a few questions about herself, then he picked another, then the lady from CNN again. Mark was impressed that they were treating her with quite a bit of respect.

"Jacob," Mark said, smiling at the local reporter who looked rather surprised, "You can have the last question, then I think Susan and her uncle can go back home."

"You have family here?" Jacob asked, and Mark could have kissed the man, he fell into the right leading question without any further prompting.

Susan nodded, and said what she'd been coached to, "That's what saved me, I knew where I was, so I ran to his house and he called the police."

"She's going to be staying at our house, until things settle down," Deke said and turning, he lead Susan away from the podium, with Mark following as Sheriff Clayton came back up to answer a few last questions and end the press conference.

"I'm really sorry," Jacob, the local reporter said, coming over to three of them as they walked back to the sheriff's office. "I had no idea."

Mark laughed, "Don't worry about it. I wouldn't have called on you last if I was into grudges."

"Can I get a picture of you and Susan?" He asked.

Mark nodded, "Sure, just share them with the other papers," and they posed for a couple of pictures. He could tell Susan was a little nervous, but she knew they needed some good photos to draw in Craig.

"Thanks!" Jacobs said when he was done; a couple of the other reporters came over and took some pictures as well before they went inside.

"Well, I'm glad that's over," Susan said with a shudder as Trevor came over and put his arms around her.

Mark smiled as she leaned into the young man, who kissed her and hugged her close.

"I always used to wonder about that saying 'It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good,'" Deke said softly to Mark as they both watched Trevor and Susan drift over into a corner, talking to each other. "After watching the two of them, it does make you think."

"They're that taken with each other?" Mark asked.

Deke nodded, "It's gone beyond hero worship, turns out they have a lot in common, they were even in the same wow clan."

"What's a wow clan?" Mark asked surprised.

"Some online game all the kids play," Deke said and shrugged, "I don't really get it. So, when are you coming out to the house?"

"After the sun goes down. We have to be pretty careful, while I don't expect Craig to show up as a wolf, we still don't want the place stinking of us."

"Yeah, I can understand that, you and your wife will kinda stand out if he does."

"What about the feds?" Mark asked.

"If he falls for us being her kin, most likely he's going to expect us to be human," Deke pointed out.

Mark nodded, "Good point. Well, I'll see you later tonight. Hopefully this works and we're not in for a long wait."

22: Charleston, West Va.

Craig grumbled as he came back to the cheap hotel room he'd rented in Charleston. He only had the clothes on his back and the money in his pocket when he got here, but after killing a couple of drug dealers he had a bankroll now at least. Not a lot, but enough to let him move on. He'd dyed his hair a lighter color, and cut it shorter. He was debating growing a mustache as well, to hide his appearance further.

Tomorrow he'd go on craigslist and buy a cheap car. Maybe buy a laptop as well. But the first priority was to get as far from here as he could. Maybe even leave the country and go south a ways. There was no way a bunch of pissant peasants in some third world hellhole would give him the kinds of problems he was having now.

Walking by the newspaper box, the woman's picture on the cover briefly caught his attention and he thought he saw her, Susan, the bitch who had started it all.

"Nah, it couldn't be..." he mumbled, but he stopped and took a few steps back and looked at the paper in the machine, 'Co-ed Serial Killer Shot Dead!' the headline declared, and right under it was her picture alright.

Swearing he dug out some change and fed the machine, and then opening it he got out a paper.

There were a number of pictures on the front; one was that damn fed, the one he'd tried to kill, the werecougar. There were a few others as well, not that he remembered any of them, all in their FBI jackets, and standing next to that damn fed was that bitch!

He almost tore the paper in half, as his hands started to shake in rage. Skimming down the story he found what he was looking for: '... Susan Meyer, whose heroics saved several others from death, is currently staying with her aunt and uncle in the local area as she recovers from her ordeal.'

"That bitch!" he growled and looked over the rest of the story, swearing louder and louder as they recounted several of his crimes, they even listed Ursula as his accomplice! But as he read down further he slowly smiled: 'Craig Pope was killed after being trapped in a cave that he was hiding out in.'

They thought he was dead! That meant that no one was looking for him! He could just buy a car under his real name, and drive off to wherever he wanted, safe as can be!

Smiling for the first time in days, Craig went back to his room, and tossing the paper on the desk he sat down and started to unlace his shoes. In the morning, he'd still get a cheap used car, and head west. Once he was far enough from here, he'd check his bank account, the one under his real name, and see how his finances were.

Undressing, he laid back on his bed smiling up at the ceiling. Those fools, they must have thought that the sage in the cave was him. Maybe they just blew it up or something and figured the remains were his?

Whatever it was, it didn't matter! He was free! He thought about that bitch for a moment, Susan. He really should have killed her himself, rather than leaving her there in the cabin. He didn't like leaving loose ends around, but they were probably guarding her, so going after her wouldn't be safe.

Maybe once the story had died down.

Craig woke up suddenly. He'd been having a dream, and in it that bitch, that stupid filthy bitch, was being praised by everyone for being 'brave' being 'fearless' for coming forward and exposing him, him! They were cheering her! A stupid filthy dog!

And worse, she'd gotten away from him. No one had ever gotten away from him! He'd always been the one to decide who lived and who died, and by some stupid accident, she'd gotten away, burned down his cabin, called the FBI, cost him his shop, his livelihood, gotten the one woman who he might have liked killed, and caused the sage to be killed before he could teach Craig the secrets of the blood!

That bitch, that filthy mongrel! He'd given her a gift; he'd actually slept with her! And this was how she repaid him? By ruining him!

Oh no, definitely no. They thought he was dead, so they wouldn't be guarding her anymore, they'd never ever expect for him to come back and get her! He was dead! They said so!

He got up and started to pace the room back and forth, he had to make it look good of course, so they wouldn't think that he was still alive. Victim of a robbery wouldn't work, too suspicious. Snapping his fingers he had an idea, he'd get some rope and hang her, he'd even make her write a suicide note first! Let them see what a weak cowardly bitch she really was!

Then he'd win! He'd be the strong one, the one that survived all of this, while her frail filthy body hung from a rope, because she couldn't cope, because she couldn't live without him!

He'd be moving on because he wanted to, because he had won! With no unfinished business, and no filthy bitch claiming she'd taken him down!

Yeah, that would do it, that would fix everything! Smiling Craig looked at the clock, it was still too early to go look at a car, and he'd need to go to the library and borrow their computer. At least he had a cell phone, so he could make some calls.

With any luck, he'd be able to pay her a visit soon enough.

The sun was setting as Craig left Charleston. He would have liked to have left earlier, but it took him a couple of hours to find out just where the hell that bitch was staying. Apparently the Meyer's family lived out of town in a fairly isolated area. Not that Craig was going to complain about such a gift! But figuring out the best way to get there had taken him a while. He eventually decided on a good place to park the car, where no one would notice it, and bought himself a compass and printed out some maps, so he could find his way there.

A handheld GPS would have been nice, but he didn't have enough money to buy one and still be able to pay for gas and food for the next few days when he made his escape.

Still, it shouldn't be all that hard to get around and he didn't want to get there too early anyway. Two or three a.m. should work out just fine, and by the time anyone discovered the body, he'd be long gone.

It started raining about a half-hour into his trip. He swore, he should have checked the weather before he left. The tires on the car were not the best, and the roads could get pretty bad around here during a storm.

On the bright side, however, the police would be even less likely to pull him over. They didn't like getting wet anymore than anyone else did, and with all that water coming down, his movements would be well covered. Even if anyone did pick up his scent, they'd never be able to track him in it.

He'd just have to remember to be careful not to leave any wet footprints around when he took the bitch down. He had picked up a nice length of rope, he found something that was old and used. He figured a new rope might look suspicious, but the guy selling him the car had one that he was willing to throw in for a few bucks more.

Craig whiled away the rest of the trip thinking of just what he'd say to her, once he had the rope around her neck. He decided he'd stay and wait until she was dead, just to make sure she didn't get away, yet again. Plus he wanted to watch her die, he'd never hung a girl before, and he'd always wondered about that 'dance of death' thing he'd always read about. Maybe he could use it in a movie? The news story mentioned he'd been working with pornographers, but Craig was pretty sure that his overseas connections were still around. Some of those countries really didn't care what you did, as long as you didn't do it there, so he doubted that the FBI had gotten anywhere with them, assuming they'd even figured out he'd been doing business with them.

By the time he parked the car, he had a new plan of action figured out. He'd miss having the help of the sage, but now that he knew about the secret of the blood, that it actually existed, he could devote his own time to discovering what it was, so he too could have that kind of power.

The rain hadn't stopped as he made his way through the trees, but at least it wasn't raining as hard as it had been. It took him almost an hour to get to the house, coming up on it from the west side. It was late, after midnight, and it was dark, there wasn't a single light on, inside or out.

That stopped him a moment, but then it made sense, this was out in the middle of nowhere. No one was around, so why the hell waste the money on a light?

He waited a while, just in case, to be sure, taking shelter under one of the larger trees. But nothing stirred, nothing at all.

Moving closer to the house, he kept his ears open, and started trying to see if he could smell anything. The rain started to work against him now, but that was to be expected.

He circled the house twice; nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, so he tried the back door. Sure enough, it was unlocked. Again, living in the country, why bother, right? No one ever breaks into houses here.

Going inside, he was in a small mudroom. Taking off his shoes, he looked around, there were three pairs of shoes, one that were obviously her uncles, one of the others he guess was her aunt's. Picking up the third set he took a sniff and then smiled, Susan's alright!

Now he just had to find what room she was in. He saw a nice scarf hanging on the wall and grabbed it; it would make a nice gag for her. After all, he didn't want to wake her aunt and uncle.

Opening the door leading from the mudroom, he crept out into a large hallway. The stairs going up were to his right, at the other end of the hallway. Taking his time he walked down the hall. It was a nice place actually, kind of old, but clean, with lots of pictures on the walls. It was too dark to make them out, even with his improved night sight.

He'd just got to the bottom of the staircase when the hair on his neck started to rise, something wasn't right. Stopping he looked around, and standing behind him was a dark shape, a large dark shape!

"This is for Sue, you bastard," the figure snarled, and Craig's face exploded in pain, as he was punched, hard!

Trevor had watched as Craig snuck into the house. Yeah, the plan was to corner him upstairs in the hallway, just outside of the room that Sue was supposed to be staying in. The agents and his pa had spent quite a bit of time laying that little trap two days ago.

But Sue was his woman now, and he was going to do what a man did, he was going to be the one to punish the bastard who had laid his hands on her. As far as he was concerned, it was a matter of honor now, his personal honor. If anyone had the right to beat this pretender, this cur, to death, it was going to be him. No man, no wolf, nothing, was every going to mess with his Sue again, ever.

So he'd snuck down the stairs when no one was paying all that much attention, after three nights of waiting, things had gotten a little more relaxed. He'd found a good place to hide, behind the sofa in the living room, and he lay down in his wolf form. He didn't care how good this guy was, when the door opened, he'd hear it.

Sure enough, Trevor had jolted awake the moment the outside door had opened, so shifting back to human form, he carefully put on his shorts and just waited.

When Craig had come in, Trevor watched as he slowly walked down the hall, being careful not to make any noise. He was so focused on what was in front of him; Trevor didn't have any problems sneaking up behind him. He was about to say something when Craig turned around on his own, looking rather shocked.

"This is for Sue, you bastard!" Trevor growled and putting his full two hundred and fifty pounds into it, he punched that bastard just as hard as he could, knocking Craig back and off his feet.

Standing, legs spread slightly, fists clenched, Trevor glared down at Craig, who snarled and quickly scrambled back to his feet.

"I'll kill you, you bastard!" Craig snarled, "And then I'll kill that Bitch!"

Trevor raised his fists, for the first time since he'd been a pup; he knew anger, real anger. It wasn't the threat against him; he knew this pathetic excuse of a wolf couldn't hurt him, ever. But how dare he threaten his Sue! He was going to beat Craig to death, and he wasn't going to regret a single moment of it.

Mark heard the sound of a body hitting something, and then Craig's voice as he swore to kill Susan. Dashing out of his hiding place, where he'd been waiting for Craig to trip the trap they'd set for him, he ran to the staircase, and started down it, Deke was already there, and he held up a hand to stop him.

"What?" Mark said, hand on his pistol.

"He's earned the right," Deke growled.

"Who?" Mark asked, and at that moment Michael and Helena stopped at the top of the stairs, one of them turning on the lights. Mark saw Craig stop for an instant, but Trevor, didn't. He was pummeling Craig, punching him again and again, a furious look on his face.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Michael asked from the top of the stairs.

"He threatened to kill Trevor's woman," Deke said. "You heard him. Besides, do you want to try and stop him?"

Mark shook his head slowly as he watched Trevor administer the most brutal beating he'd ever seen. Whatever superior powers Craig might have had left, they quickly surrendered to the sheer physical abuse of the blows Trevor was landing, one after the other, as he growled.

Craig's punches were ignored by the beefy teenager, who was obviously so enraged he didn't even feel them.

Mark just watched as it went on for minutes, twice Craig tried to make a break for it, each time he got grabbed from behind and throw back against the wall, while Trevor just glared at him and started to kick him until he got up and Trevor could resume beating him to death. When he heard a growl from the top of the stairs, he looked up and saw Susan standing up there, watching, with her own eyes full of anger.

Craig looked up then and saw her as well, and suddenly shifted into his wolf, and tried to dash up the stairs after her, but he hadn't even reached Deke and Mark before Trevor, who was twice his size now as a wolf, jumped on his back, and taking Craig's neck in his jaws he bit down hard, paralyzing the smaller wolf, and started to shake him back and forth as he dragged him back down the stairs, smashing his body into the walls on either side as he slowly shook the life out of Craig's now twitching body.

When Trevor finally dropped Craig to the floor, Mark walked down the stairs, next to Trevor, and drew the machete, "Do you want to finish him off? Or should I do it?"

Trevor looked at the stairs at Susan, then slowly shook his massive head, and stepping over Craig's body he raised a leg, pissing briefly on it, then slowly padded up the stairs to Susan.

Mark moved around Craig's unconscious body then to get a good angle in the confines of the hallway, and raising the machete he brought it down with all of his might, severing Craig's head from his body with a single blow.

"I thought your body turned back, when you were killed?" Susan said from the top of the stairs as the now dead werewolf's head rolled free of the body.

"No, hon," Trevor said, standing behind her, with his arms around her, having shifted back. "Just a story that the humans like to tell each other."

"Hey! I'm human!" Michael grumbled.

"But you thought they changed too, didn't you?" Trevor laughed.

"Well, maybe," Michael grinned.

"Instead of joking, how about the three of you clean up that mess in my hallway, before it ruins more than just the hallway rug!" Deke's wife Margaret said, scolding them.

Mark shook his head, smiling, "Yes, Ma'am. Come on guys, let's clean this mess up. Trevor," Mark said holding up his hand as the young man started for the stairway, "You won this fight, you take Susan and go get some sleep, we'll take care of it."

23: Washington, DC

Mark was sitting in a bar that was apparently a favorite with a lot of the FBI's agents in the DC area. Most of the team was there, they'd all decided to share a couple of beers and celebrate the successful closing of the case. They'd all spent the last two days in the office filling out paperwork, giving sworn statements, and tying up loose ends.

"Well, I'm glad that's over with," Steve said taking a drink. "I think that's the nastiest case I've ever had to deal with."

"Have they even gotten a final number on his victims?" Denise asked.

Michael shook his head, "They found the body of the guy he stole the truck from, and his girlfriend is still missing, so we're assuming she went the way of the previous victims. They think they've identified two girls from the local high school, and have concerns on a third, but at least they think they have a count on the girls who he took from the college. Now they're just looking into any unsolved disappearances in Blacksburg of woman who fit the profile he was kidnapping."

"Who knows how many people he killed before he even came to Blacksburg," Mary said. "I wouldn't be surprised to learn he'd killed before he hooked up with that guy in the cave."

"How are the girls doing, anyway, Mark?" Michael asked, raising his beer and taking another drink.

"Girls?" Mark asked, wondering for a moment what Michael was asking him about. "You mean the ones we rescued?"

Michael nodded, "Yeah, them."

"Well, Susan is obviously okay. That last girl he bit is also doing well; she's moved in with Zeke and his wife and is rather happy with the situation from all accounts.

"That other girl, Claudia, the one we interviewed, Zeke set her up with his oldest son for now. Of the remaining four, well, two of them didn't make it."

"What do you mean, they 'didn't make it?'" Denise asked.

"Just that, they couldn't deal with what they became, they died," Mark said and shook his head, "I regret not having taken the time to go talk to them, maybe I could have helped them, but Zeke said they were just too far gone."

"How did they die?" Michael asked softly.

"I didn't ask, I didn't want to know," Mark said. "Now you know why most lycans don't go around biting people. Yeah, five of the seven seemed to have pulled through okay, and everyone thinks they'll make it, but two didn't."

"Well yeah, but none of those woman asked for it," Denise said. "They all went into it unwilling and unprepared. I'd think that if you knew what you were getting into, you'd be okay."

"Yeah, I'd like to think so too, but few people really know that they exist, and the lycan community prefers it that way, so there haven't been a lot of test cases, and I don't that's going to change any time soon."

"Woah, look what just walked into the bar," Michael said.

"Eyes back in your head," Mary laughed.

"She's smiling at us, and she's headed this way," Michael said.

Mark smiled, "Let me guess, tawny color hair, light brown eyes, five foot six, dresses like Helena?"

"Umm, yeah, but she's wearing jeans, is that one of your daughters?"

Mark closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath.

"And she stopped right behind you, Mark," Michael said sounding a little perplexed.

Mark smiled as her scent drifted over him, it was Hope. He reached back and putting an arm around her he dragged her into his lap and kissed her, rather happily.

"Umm, I thought you said you were married," Denise said.

"Yup," Mark said and opening his eyes he smiled at Hope, "Where's Helena?"

"Bathroom, she'll be here in a minute," Hope said snuggling up against him, "missed you, Hon."

"Obviously," Mark looked around at the confused looks, and shook his head chuckling. "This is Hope, she's my wife."

"I thought Helena was your wife?" Mary said looking at him with a puzzled expression.

Mark nodded, "Yup."

"You have two wives?" Steve asked.

"How does that even work?" Denise asked.

Hope looked at them and grinned, "We share. A lot."

Mark chuckled, "Stop drooling, Mike, or the waitress is gonna slip when she comes back with the beer." He turned to look down at Hope, "Not that I mind of course, but why are you here?"

"Helena's had you to herself for a couple of weeks, now it's my turn," Hope purred. "She's going to fly back home tomorrow."

"Agent Woods is gonna love this," Mary sighed.

Helena walked up at that point, "Hi guys," she said and bent over to give Mark a kiss, then grabbing a chair, she pulled it up and sat next to him.

"So, why do you have two wives, Mark? Is that typical for cougars?" Steve asked.

"Mark doesn't have two wives," Helena purred and leaned into Mark as he frowned at her.

"What? He just told us Hope was his wife," Steve said confused.

"He has four," Helena said and smiled at all the others who were now looking rather shocked.

"But that's not legal!" Denise said.

"Four? How, what?" Michael said looking surprised.

Mark sighed, "It works great, it's legal as I'm only legally married to one of them at any particular time, it's not typical, and," He glared at Helena, "it wasn't my choice and I prefer not to share it with others."

"Whose choice was it?" Mary asked.

"Ours," Hope said in a voice like a purr.

"I can tell you're really upset with it too," Steve laughed.

Mark sighed and smiled feeling rather guilty, "Why do you think I'm such a devoted husband? I may be a monster, but I'm not a fool!"

They all laughed at that.

"So why did you all pick Mark?" Mary asked, while Denise was looking rather skeptical and Patrick's expression was one of disbelief. Mark could see a rather thoughtful look on Michael's face however, while Steve just looked curious.

"We're all pretty close," Hope said. "We're all sisters, and Faith, Charity and I are triplets. And well, Mark is really quite the catch."

For the first time in a very long time, Mark could actually feel himself blushing, but he still felt pretty proud to hear it said in public, it definitely did his ego a world of good.

"Well, at least I know now why you didn't think it strange that Zeke was taking that second woman in," Michael said with a shrug.

"What makes him such a catch?" Mary asked, pursuing her line of questioning further.

"Well first, he did kill a vampire, singled handedly," Hope said.

"And then there was the werebear that was trying to rape Charity," Helena added.

"Which he killed as a human, we hadn't changed him yet," Hope pointed out.

"So, we knew he was pretty tough, which is important in a male."

"Why is that important?" Mary asked.

"Other than wanting your man to be the biggest and the baddest?" Hope giggled.

"Yeah, other than that," Mary said with a nod.

"Well, Infant mortality among werecougars is about fifty percent. Higher for single moms," Hope said.

"That's pretty severe," Denise said.

Hope nodded, "Cougars tend to be solitary. We all live near each other, but we're not like wolves, we don't raise our young in a pack."

"I thought male cats didn't get involved with their young?"

"It's different for us lycans. The males help a lot, they defend the territory from predators and run off anything that looks like trouble, they also watch over the cubs just as much as we do," Helena said, handing Hope a beer as she poured herself one.

"So how many of Mark's kids died?" Mary asked.

"None of them," Hope purred. "And that's why he's quite the catch."

"How many kids do you have, Mark?"

Mark put an arm around Hope and stood up, "Gee, look at the time," he smiled, "I'm taking tomorrow off, so I'll see you all on Monday."

"Chicken!" Mary laughed.

"It's called beating a strategic retreat," Mark said setting Hope down on her feet.

"We're having a party in a couple of weeks, Michael," Helena smiled at him, "And we'd love to have you visit."

"Ummm, I think I'd like that," Michael said.

"That invitation extend to the rest of us?" Denise asked.

"Oh, of course," Helena smiled.

"You do know what you're getting yourself into, if you go there, right?" Mark heard Steve say to Denise as he headed for the exit with Hope, Helena was following not far behind.

"No, what?"

"She's looking for mates for her children."

"So?"

"That means becoming one of them."

"Ooooh," Denise said rather slowly, then everyone laughed as she added, "Maybe I should ask for pictures first."

END

After word

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