Hawke wondered if he could drop his hammer on Jack's head and convince the women that it had been an accident. Seven. Long. Days. Seven days the boy had been talking. Hawke was beginning to think that he did not know how to stop.

Maybe Hawke could 'accidentally' give Wolf the kill command. It would be awfully hard for Jack to keep telling Hawke stories about all his adventures if he did not have a throat. But then again Wolf had not been around for seven days. Hawke had seen him several times at the edge of the clearing and down by the lake but the sudden appearance of two new people had him keeping his distance from the cabin.

Hawke looked over at Jack and shook his head as the boy laughed out loud at his own joke. A joke that Hawke had not even heard. Hawke had to admit that though the boy was annoying, he had been a big help with the cabin. Already with the two of them working together they the walls done except for patching the cracks with mud and they were currently nailing on the split wood planks that made up the roof onto the support beams.

"Can you believe that Hawke!" Jack asked with a loud laugh. "A darned old preacher man caught buck naked climbing out of the whorehouse window!"

"Perhaps he simply got lost on his way home." Hawke replied with a shrug and this caused Jack to laugh again.

"You crack me up Hawke. You say the most hilarious things without ever cracking a smile." Hawke finished nailing in a plank and then wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I am hungry. I will go down and see if Lily and Allie will make us a sandwich." Hawke said.

"I'll do it!" Jack said quickly and then without another word, he threw his knees over a support beam and dropped down into the house so that he was hanging upside down from the roof. Hawke shook his head but couldn't help but smile at the boys antics.

"Hello…." Jack called. Allie walked into the room and let out a small, shocked scream before breaking down in laughter. Jack's hat had fallen off and his dark blond hair was hanging in the air as he swung upside down and gave her a smile.

"Hello doll. Me and the big guy are getting hungry. Do you think you ladies could whip us up a sandwich or two?" Allie slapped his stomach and he grunted and reached out to tickle her sides.

"No fair attacking a man when he's unable to defend himself." he scolded. Allie just rolled her eyes as she stepped out of his reach.

"We'll make your sandwiches but how on earth do you plan on getting out of the rather awkward position you've gotten yourself into?" she asked raising a brow and handing him his hat. Jack grinned and gave her a wink.

"That's easy, doll." his replied, his blue eyes shining. With a grunt he tightened his legs on the support beam and swung his body upward until he was again sitting on top of the beam. He looked back down into the room and Allie was looking up at him and shaking her head. He blew her a kiss which caused her to blush and quickly leave the room. He put his hat back on his head and turned his attention back to Hawke and nearly fell off the roof at the protective, angry look in his eyes.

"She is only thirteen." Hawke said. Jack swallowed hard and nodded.

"Yeah and it was only an air kiss." he replied. Hawke swung the hammer hard, driving a nail through the plank and deeply into the support beam with one whack.

"That had better be the only kisses you are sharing." her said sternly. Jack gave a nervous chuckle and nodded. So far air kisses were as far as he had gone with Allie but he was hoping to have the real thing soon. He figured that if he liked breathing, he better not let Hawke know that though.

"Take the tools back to the barn. I am going hunting after lunch." Hawke said as he stood up on the beam.

"Careful, old man.. You don't wanna break no bones." Jack said with a grin. Hawke raised a brow and Jack couldn't believe his eyes or his ears when Hawke jumped from the beam and landed on his feet as silently and gracefully as a cat, on the floor of the cabin below.

"Show off." Jack muttered and though he thought he had spoken quietly enough that Hawke could not hear him he saw the man flash a rare smile before walking into the original part of the cabin and out of sight.

Jack gathered up the hammers and the bucket of nails and decided that if Hawke could jump down and land like a gosh damned mountain lion then so could he. He walked to the edge of the roof and jumped down to the grass, only his landing wasn't quite so graceful and nails went flying as he and the bucket fell to the ground.

Jack jumped to his feet quickly and looked around to make sure no one had seen his clumsiness. He let out a few curse words that would have had his mother boxing his ears if she had still been alive and began gathering the nails.

Jack thought about the last week he had been staying here. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed having a family until he had come to live with Hawke and Lily. Lily was the nicest person he knew and she reminded him of his own mother. She was also a darn good cook. And Hawke was an alright guy too even if he was too serious and liked to try to scare him. And then of course there was Allie.

Jack smiled as he finished gathering the nails and started toward the barn with thoughts of Allie swirling in his head. She was just about the prettiest darn girl he had ever met and he was pretty darn sure that as soon as she was old enough he was going to marry her. That is if she would marry a no account, worthless drifter like him.

He hung the hammers on the wall and sat the bucket of nails on the ground below them and then he turned and nearly collapsed as his knees buckled at the sight of a giant gray wolf walking toward the cabin.

Just then the cabin door opened and Lily walked out. Before Jack could shout out a warning Lily ran to the wolf and dropped to her knees, throwing her arms around his neck. Jack pulled his gun and ran from the barn.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "That damn thing'll eat you for breakfast and come back for seconds!" Lily looked at the revolver in his hand with horror.

"Put that away! Wolf is a friend." She scolded. Jack wasn't about to put the gun away with that beast this close to a woman he thought of as almost a sister but he did lower it so that it was no longer pointed at the wolf's head.

Allie and Hawke stepped out of the cabin and Allie looked at her sister, who was now standing with her hand on Wolf's head as he sat beside her as tame as a pet dog , with absolute horror.

"Jack shoot him! Before he attacks her!" Allie shouted. Jack shrugged.

"I was going to but she said he's a friend." he replied and then he put the barrel of his gun up to his temple and moved it in a circular motion to indicate that he clearly thought Lily was crazy.

"Wolf, come." Hawke said and Wolf walked over to him and sat down by his feet. "I found Wolf as a puppy and raised him."

"Is he safe?" Jack asked, eyeing the creature suspiciously. Hawke shrugged.

"Safe for me." he said. Lily rolled her eyes at Hawke's vague answer.

"You just love to sound mysterious don't you?" she asked him and a small smile tugged at his firm lips as he shrugged. Lily turned back to Allie and Jack.

"He's safe unless someone threatens Hawke. I guess maybe he would protect me too. Hawke can give him commands as well and he does whatever Hawke tells him."

"Well I'll be dipped in tar and rolled in feathers." Jack said, holstering his revolver and scratching at his chin. "I ain't never heard of such a thing."

"Sometimes you say the strangest things." Lily said with a warm smile. "Come on in and eat, your lunch is ready." she added and Jack nodded and quickly headed for the house with Allie on his heels.

"I never realized just how much a teenage boy can eat." Lily said scratching her head. "I think we'll need a bigger pantry and smokehouse." Hawke just mumbled under his breath and led her back up to the cabin while Wolf flopped down in the grass.

Wolf watched the two leggers walk into the cabin and close the door behind them. He had stayed on high alert since the newcomers had arrived to make sure they were not a threat to either he, the alpha or the female. Wolf did not trust very many two leggers but these two seemed okay. The small one smelled a lot like the female and he suspected they were from the same litter and the one who liked to make a lot of noise with his mouth smelled safe.

Wolf knew the alpha would not let the man near his female unless he trusted him and that eased Wolf's worry. He wished he knew why the female smelled so distressed lately. There was something bothering her but Wolf did not think the alpha noticed. Wolf had learned that the alpha's nose was not as good as his and therefore he missed a lot of things.

Wolf hoped the female would be okay soon because she needed to keep her strength up with that pup growing inside of her. Wolf sighed and stretched out in the sunshine letting the rays warm his thick fur. Sometimes his two legged pack made so sense to him but he loved them anyway.

888

"I need to go hunting." Hawke said after he and Jack had finished their lunch.

"Can I come? I would like to learn how to hunt." Jack spoke up. Hawke sighed as he looked at the boy.

"Fine." he said. "But you cannot talk."

"That's fine. I can be quiet. I am darn good at keeping quiet. Can't make a lot of noise when you're cleaning out somebody's pantry. You know some people keep the weirdest things in their pantries….." Jack was still talking up a storm as he and Hawke left the cabin.

"It's a good thing Hawke has the self control of a saint or else I think Jack would already be dead." Lily said with a laugh as she and Allie sat down on the small sofa with their sewing.

"I think Jack is great." Allie replied. "He can always make me laugh."

"That's good and I'm glad that you have found such a good friend." Allie blushed and bit her lip as she focused on her sewing. She wanted to be so much more than just Jack's friend. One day, as soon as she was old enough, she hoped to marry him.

Allie looked over at her sister and saw the same sad, scared, distracted look that had been on her face a lot since Allie had arrived. Allie didn't like that look. The Lily she remembered was one of the happiest people you would ever meet.

"Lily, what's wrong with you?" she asked gently. Lily looked over at her and frowned.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Allie laid her sewing down in her lap.

"It's just that sometimes I look at you when you think no one is watching and I see this scared, sad look on your face and it bothers me. I've even seen Hawke notice it a couple of times but he just looks angry when he does and then goes outside and starts pacing back and forth. I mean I know all of this with Nathan scares you but you said yourself that you are getting the divorce and everything will be fine, right?" Lily bit her lip and was silent for several long seconds before finally shaking her head.

"I'll tell you because I know you can keep a secret." she said laying her own sewing down. "Doc said his friend was mistaken when he told Hawke and I that I was the only one who had to sign the papers in order to divorce Nathan… He has to sign them too."

"And you don't think he will?" Allie asked. Lily shook her head.

"I know he won't. I am his wife and he saw Hawke as a friend. He is going to feel betrayed and I am scared to death on how he'll react. You don't understand how dangerous and scary he is… He gets this look in his eyes and they turn to ice.. His face twists and distorts with rage until he no longer looks human. When he yells, spit usually flies from his lips and his hair becomes wild around his face. He always smiles after he hits me and I'm laying in the floor…" Lily's voice was loud and full of fear and panic as she spoke. Tears flowed from her eyes as she clutched at the material she'd been sewing with white knuckled hands.

Allie quickly moved to her and wrapped her arm tight her shoulders hoping to give her older sister some comfort. She had never had to comfort Lily before.. Lily had always been the one to do the comforting.

"Don't worry about that anymore, Lily. Everything is going to be fine."

"I'm his wife, Allie! The Marshall is still gone and the deputy in town hates Hawke and is friends with Nathan. What if he makes me go back to him? I can't go back to him! I can't stand the thought of letting him touch me.." Allie felt Lily shiver and saw her face turn green. She had never thought about Nathan touching Lily but now she could see the fear in her sisters dark eyes and she knew that the man must have forced her to lay with him and that thought made her own stomach churn.

"Lily, it's okay. Hawke would never let you go back to Nathan. Hawke won't let Nathan hurt you anymore."

"Hawke will kill him." Lily said matter of factly as she stared down at her hands. Allie nodded.

"Good. Problem solved." Lily shook her head hard and looked over at her.

"You don't understand. If Hawke kills him there are people in this town that will be more than happy to hang him. I couldn't go on if something like that happened. Not even for the baby." she added laying her hand over her stomach. Allie's eyes widened.

"Baby?" she gasped. Lily nodded and smiled sadly.

"Yes."

"But you and Hawke haven't been together that long…" Allie covered her mouth with her hand as realization dawned on her.

"Does Hawke know?" she asked. Lily nodded.

"He says that he doesn't care how the baby was made. As far as he is concerned the baby is his and he is going to be its father. But he can't do that if he kills Nathan and is hanged from a tree!" she exclaimed.

"You have to calm down, Lily." Allie scolded wiping tears from her sisters face. "It's not good for the baby to get so tore up. Have you told Hawke about the divorce? Have you talked to him?" Lily shook her head.

"No."

"Well you need to. He can't take care of you if you don't let him know what is wrong with you. He loves you, Lily, a lot if he's willing to raise another mans child. You can't keep all of this bottled up away from him."

"I know. I'll tell him tonight." Lily promised. Allie nodded and stood up.

"You relax and I'll go heat up some water for tea."