Alex shook his head as Tyler informed him of Mandy’s idea.  “Good gracious!  Do you know what that could mean for us?”  He shook his again.  “And why on earth didn’t one of us think of that?!”

Tyler flashed a lopsided grin at his dad.  “Because we didn’t think that the solution to the rabid problem could ever be so easy.  In any way, we still have to test this theory to see if it does work.”

Cassy nodded as she looked at her eldest son with a soft smile.  “But you think it will.”  Her smile broadened when Tyler nodded his head cautiously and she sent a silent ‘thank you’ to Mandy.  This would not be the first time that she was responsible for easing the burden that Tyler had taken upon himself.  She had sometimes, on the odd occasion doubted their suitability due to the large age difference, but now she clearly saw that Mandy was the light that would guide him along his path; wherever that might lead him … them to.

Talk around the kitchen table had not been this positive and exciting in long time and it kept them up way past their normal bed times.  That did not keep Tyler away from seeing Mandy off the next morning, and this time his father did not have to threaten him to come back home to sleep.  After seeing her off, he went back to bed and slept peacefully; the best sleep he had since he started out.

Tyler woke up to the sound of soft feminine laughter somewhere outside his room followed by a deeper rumble that he immediately recognized as Sean.  Smiling he realized that Sean must have brought his mate Patricia up to fetch the last of his stuff from his old bedroom.  Tricia, as they all called her; was nearly a year older than Sean and she had known he was her mate before Sean did, because she had already shifted.  Smiling, Tyler thought back to the commotion that had caused.

Tricia and her friends had not really mixed with Sean’s group of friends because they were all a year ahead at school.  At that stage Alex had both his sons helping him with the training of all the new wolves.  The wolves in their animal form against the two ‘human’ brothers as neither of them had shifted by that stage.  Sean was running late and missed the introductions with the new group.  The training was already underway when he got there, so Alex just split the group in two and sent them rushing at Sean as he already knew what was expected of him.  As part of their training, the wolves were supposed to run to the ‘human’ and push them over to ‘protect’ them against other wolves.

Both boys were repeatedly pushed over and subjected to what the word ‘protect’ meant to the new wolves while the other wolves tried to attack the wolf protecting them; so when this one female wolf charged at Sean, he was bracing himself to end up on the ground; hard.  However, the new wolf slowed down as she got near, and then started whining as she kept staring straight at him.  Not long after that the other male wolves started circling her as they snapped and growled at each other.

Sean was confused as hell when she suddenly bumped into him; making him fall over in his surprise at her unexpected actions; even if it had been happening to him all afternoon.  She curled up next to him and put her head on his chest as she kept on staring and whining at him.  As the circle of male wolves closed in on them, she crept even closer to him, tucking her tail over his legs.

Sean could not bear how distressed she sounded and wrapped his arms around her; pulling her even closer to him as he tried to understand what was upsetting her.

“Get away from her!”  He told the males wolves as he gently rubbed over her shoulders as his fingers tangled in her thick fur; he could sense that they were scaring her.  When he could not figure out her behavior, he started paying attention to the males surrounding her.  It was only when he saw them constantly sniffing the air around them that it struck him that she was in heat.  The one piece of the puzzle fell in place after the other to form a perfect picture as soon as he understood what had happened.  This female wolf was in mating heat because she had met her mate!  And he … was it!

Now he knew why the young male wolves were acting so badly.  This was most likely the first time they had come across a female who had just gone into mating heat; while still in their wolf forms.  No wonder they were having such strong reactions to her scent.

He looked down to the wolf on his chest as he saw her with new eyes.  She had the saddest look in her eyes with a sliver of longing in them.  “Shush, it’s gonna be alright.”  He whispered as he stroked along her muzzle as he hugged her closer.

The sound of loud and angry growling brought him back to their surroundings.  Sitting up he kept her as close to him as he could.

“Can you shift?”

He did not miss the panic in her eyes as she shot a glance at the circling wolves.

“Come on little mate; shift for me.”  He coaxed her; and then nearly laughed as he saw the surprise in her eyes.  Pretending to be hurt, he clutched his chest.  “What?  I’m a clever boy; I can figure things out you know.”

The she-wolf rolled her eyes at him and pulled at his shirt.

“Oh!”  Sean realized that she did not want to shift now because she did not want to be naked in front of an audience right now.  She nipped at his shirt again and he understood that she wanted him to take off his shirt for her.

“Now where’s the fun in that?”  He asked her with a chuckle; and then yelped in surprise when she nipped at him almost hard enough to break skin.

“OK, OK!  I get the message!”  He let go of her just enough to drag the shirt over his head and held it towards her.  He felt a slight tingling as the wolf on his lap changed to a stunning young girl.  She quickly pulled the shirt over her head and then hid her face in his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry.”

With gentle hands, he lifted her face his to his.  “Don’t be.”  Forgetting that they had an audience, he stared at her while she gazed back at him with many different emotions playing over her face.

“Ah!  This is so awkward!”  She moaned as she hid her face in her hands.

“Why?  Because I cannot confirm your claim as my mate?”

As reply she did nothing else but nod her head; her face still hidden behind her hands.

“Well,” Sean said as he moved suddenly when he changed his position, making her grab onto him so that she wouldn’t fall.  Grinning down at her he made sure he had her complete attention before he continued, “at least I know that I have a smoking hot mate without being under the influence.”

A confused look crossed her face and stayed there.  “Under the influence?”

Sean shrugged.  “Yeah, you know?  Under the influence of the wolf?”

Her delightful laughter traveled throughout her body traveling to his, and suddenly he was very aware of the fact that he was sitting with a girl.  Now that, he liked.  Not only that her laugher was doing all sorts of new and wonderful things to his body, but that she was not afraid to laugh.  Then he also realized that she just so happened to be completely naked under his shirt.

She must have read what was on his mind because she pulled at the hem of his shirt.  Her tugging at the shirt made the neckline dip lower across her shoulder.  His eyes immediately zeroed in on the newly exposed piece of skin and he was so lost to what was happening around him, that he was shocked into action when the male wolves jostling against them brought him back to life.  In a flash he was up, with her at his back; his one arm wrapped against her as he circled around to asses his situation.

“Shift!”  His father barked out the command and within moments all the wolves were gone, in their place stood a bunch of teenage boys with relieved looks on their faces.  They quickly backed off, and with no further instructions, they ran off, leaving the alpha, his two sons and the girl standing alone.

Tyler shook his head to clear them of the old memories as he heard Tricia squeal, and then the sound of heavy footsteps sounded as Sean thundered passed his door; obviously with Tricia over his shoulder as he could hear her muffled laughter travel along the passage with the footsteps down the stairs and into the kitchen where they stopped to talk to Cassy before they left.

Tyler took the time to shower before he went down to join the group sitting in the kitchen over a cup of coffee.  He planted a kiss on his mother’s head as he passed her; grabbing some cookies in the process.  He went straight to Mandy and helped her with her math homework.  When she started working on an essay, he sat back and looked at her while she worked; her head bent over the book and a frown of concentration between her eyes.

Automatically he reached across and let his finger run along the frown.  He was rewarded with a quick smile as she glanced at him before going back to work.  Her head bobbing up and down as she hummed a tune while her pen scribbled and scratched on the paper.  Her short, light blond bunch of hair was nothing more than a mass of unruly curls that somehow always managed to catch the light; giving her an ethereal glow that always surrounded her.  The roundness of her face was slowly giving way to the more delicate adult lines that gave him a glimpse of what she would look like when she was a little bit older.  Her smile was unchanging and without a doubt, her best asset ever; he thought as she graced him with one as she carried on with her homework.

They were still chatting up a storm when he felt a shift of awareness in his perception.  The shift happened to be along the outer edge of his ‘reach’ so it took him a while to figure out what it was.  He was up in a flash when he realized that this was the first time he was aware of the change happening as he felt a new sliver of consciousness enter the broad spectrum already present in his mind.  At first it was hardly more than an itch but it steadily grew until it was a burning hot patch at the edge of his consciousness; until suddenly and without warning; it exploded into a black cloud of smoke.

It was only after he heard Mandy cry out load that he noticed he was lying on the floor, clutching at his head.  His arm shot out and dragged her to him to offer her comfort and she sagged against him as she sobbed quietly into his shirt.

“What happened Ty?”

Still shuddering from the experience, he kissed the top of her head.  “I felt someone turn rabid.”

She stood on her tiptoes, and he picked her up; allowing her to tangle her arms around his neck as they comforted each other.

“Does that mean you will leave soon?”  Her breath was warm as it tickled his neck.

“Yes squirt.  I think I should leave right now.  Maybe I can try out your idea and see if it works, OK?”

“OK.”  She sniffled, slid down his body and landed on her feet.

Tyler looked down at her tenderly.  The last year she had really grown a lot taller; she was not able to burry her face in his stomach any more.  She had grown at least a head taller.

“Let me know what happens.”  She told him as she walked with him to the door.

“I will.”  Tyler said as he planted a last kiss on her forehead before he jogged away from her; and for the first time, he wished he could take her with him.

Running through the tight confines of the tree plantation, he hoped that the rabid wolf was not too fast for the other wolves to box him in.  They had been chasing him for nearly an hour now and the others were tiring from the unrelenting pace he had set.  Not long now, he thought as he eased up a bit; hoping that the rabid wolf they were chasing would hear them falling behind and start to slow down as well.

As he expected, the wolf gave it no thought and carried on at the same pace, forcing Tyler and the others to pick up their pace again to keep the distance between them to a minimum.  Two long and loud barks up ahead let him know that the other wolves were in place.  The trap was set!  Now all he had to do was get hold of the rabid wolf before he could reach any of the other wolves and bite him.

He ran up to the alpha and gave a short bark; their pre-arranged sign that they should start slowing down so that he could go ahead and catch up with the other wolf.  The alpha grunted, showing that he understood and rest of the group fell behind.

Speeding up he ran, hoping that Mandy was right.  He refused to consider the alternative as he shortened the distance between him and the rabid wolf.  Too soon he could hear the heavy breaths and panting of the wolf and he urged his legs to run even faster.

He immediately heard it when the other wolf stopped running and turned towards him, so he slowed down as well.  When he came within view, the other wolf was breathing heavily as he shifted around nervously and impatiently.  Coming even closer Tyler noticed that the wolf was covered in a few deep scratches in his face as well as a patch of dried blood on his right flank.

As soon as the wolf spotted Tyler, he attacked furiously.  Tyler stuck to his normal tactic of tiring the wolf so that he could control the situation better later on.  When the opportunity came, he struck as fast as lightning; clamping his teeth into the soft flesh of the wolf’s neck while he used his larger body weight to pin the creature down.  The moment he knew that the rabid wolf was secure, he howled long for the rest of the team to gather around.

Being unsure about how effective his ‘anti-venom’ was going to be, he released his hold on the wolf’s neck and bit him wherever he could reach in an attempt to get as much of his saliva into the wolf’s system as possible.

As the rest of the tracking team arrived, they formed a loose circle around them and watched as the smaller wolf fought relentlessly to get rid of the larger wolf that was for all intent and purposes crushing the living daylight out of him.  But Tyler held.  And held; and then held some more.  For the rest of the afternoon he sat on top of the other wolf and waited.  As the time passed, the smaller wolf would calm down for a short while, only to start wriggling, howling and scratching to be free in the next moment.  This carried on well into the night, the only difference in the length of time between active periods.

While he was waiting, Tyler kept ‘listening’ for any change on the level that only he could hear, and when morning started breaking, he was starting to loose hope that he would sense any change at all when within the dark cloud, something like lightning flashed.  Anxiously he waited for it to happen again, but it didn’t and he was starting to think that it was his imagination when it happened again.  Then again and again.  Then the lightning flashed so brightly he was almost blinded and he grunted in surprise as his world exploded into a brilliant flash of color.

Shaking his head to clear his vision, he released some of the hold he had over the wolf; allowing him to breathe freely and move his upper body a little bit.  During the rest of the morning he released more and more of his weight, allowing the smaller wolf more room to move in.  By mid afternoon Tyler was sitting right next to the wolf that was showing no signs of getting up.  Now Tyler started worrying about how badly the man’s mind had been affected.  He grimaced when he thought how stupid they all were not to think about how his mind would be after all the trauma he had experienced.  While he was thinking about that, he wondered if the man would even be able to remember who he was.

Tyler whined softly as he thought that it might be less cruel to just kill them if they were not going to be able to recover from their horrific experience.

The alpha nudged him and offered him a bottle of water.  Somewhere during the night, runners had come along carrying supplies for their vigil.  Tyler shook his head in refusal, but dipped it in thanks.

The alpha understood somehow, and sat down on the ground next to Tyler.  “Do you think he is going to be able to cope with all of this?”

Tyler sighed and shrugged.  The he projected his thoughts to the man sitting beside him.  “I hope so.”

The alpha nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the unfamiliar voice in his head.  It was bad enough that he had yelped out loud like a damn puppy.  His pack looked at him in surprise.

“Stupid insect.”

None of them dared to laugh at him openly, but they did not do much to hide their smiles, and Tyler knew that he liked the alpha when he chose to ignore all the smiles directed at him.

“Warn me next the time you intend to surprise me like that, will you?”  He spoke softly as he took a large gulp of water from his bottle.

From the corner of his eye Tyler thought he saw some movement, and he looked back at the previously rabid wolf.  The wolf was eyeing the bottle of water with such intent that Tyler could not help but feel some hope come alive again.  Shifting, he cupped his hands together and he shoved them at the alpha.

“Give me some water, quick!”

Not hesitating, he nearly emptied the whole bottle into Tyler’s hand, and then Tyler moved his hands to the wolf.  Nearly all the water had dripped through his hands by the time the wolf decided to sniff at his hands.  He sniffed for a second time before tentatively licking at the water and he licked until Tyler’s hands were dry.

Very slowly Tyler reached out his hand and put it on the wolf’s head.  “It’s going to be OK, alright?”  He held the wolf’s head in his hands as he looked him in the eye.  “I am not going to leave you like this and I will stay with you until you are OK.”