It had been…Kehpri had to admit, one of the most pleasant weeks of her life so far. She'd never really considered herself a people person, always preferring the solitude of lab work, but the spending so much time with Chance had been enjoyable. She grinned, stretching. Then there had been the daily sex. That had been even better than enjoyable. In fact, it had been damn near perfect. It hadn't taken her long to figure out that once you got Chance going, she went for a while. Speaking of which, the brunette wondered how long it would be before the woman was back from her drive to town. Kehpri hadn't missed how nervous Chance got every time the subject of a full moon came up, which was exactly twice so far.

Considering the full moon was tonight, that was going to make things interesting.

For all her research, she'd never spent a full moon close to a Were, or even seen one change shape before. Her scientific mind wondered if Chance would let her watch. The rest of her was a little uneasy with the idea of the agent turning into a wolf.

Flashes of her childhood came to mind, and she grimly, again, shut those thoughts away. Chance wasn't like that, she knew the other woman better than she knew anyone still alive, and she trusted her.

There was always her insurance policy, in the form of a double barrel shotgun loaded with silver pellets that she kept under her bed. Impatiently, she started clearing up the remnants of breakfast, trying to make the time pass quicker as she waited.

####################

Chance drove along the dirt road to the trailer and bounced down the road. She knew how Kehpri felt about Dr. Miller, and considering that, the woman would more than likely be mad at her.

She stared down at the cotton ball taped to the bend in her elbow, a single dot of red staining the white. Yeah, Kehpri was probably not going to be happy with her. She almost felt like she'd been unfaithful, which was silly.

The sound of tires on the dirt outside caused Kehpri to drop the dishes into the sink and hop over to the door, wiping her hands off on the torn jeans she was wearing. Happily, she yanked the door open, grinning as she spotted the agent. "Hey, thought you'd gotten tired of me and decided to hole up with some other sexy brunette."

"No, no, no, you're the only sexy brunette I want," Chance said, getting out of the car and shutting the door. "Work stuff, my supervisor says he can get my back earlier if I go see a shrink."

"Bah. Why would you want to go back earlier?" She started down the wooden steps, stopping when she came within arms reach of the woman and frowning. "What's that on your arm?"

"Would it do any good to say 'Now don't get mad'?" Chance asked, thinking she probably should have tried to hide her arm in some way.

Grabbing her arm, Kehpri frowned at the gauze taped over what was obviously a needle wound. "That fucking psycho Miller gave you a shot?"

"Well, I'm glad you're not mad. Um, yes, and she took some blood, made a pass at me, and felt me up." And oddly, none of it had remotely turned her on.

Kehpri's eyes narrowed dangerously. "She took some blood? That's it? Didn't give you a shot?" She would deal with the pass and feeling up part in a minute.

"No, she gave me that too." Chance really wanted to have less moral fiber at the moment.

"Fuck!" Kehpri shoved away from Chance. "I told you she was evil, but you let her give you a shot! Goddamn it, Chance, do you listen to anything I say? Fuck!" Kehpri kicked at a rock then cursed and jumped around for a few seconds, having hurt her toe.

Chance stiffened and quietly said, "I do listen to you." Then she made her way to the trailer and went inside, out of the heat, before she did or said something she'd regret.

The cursing continued for a little while outside, until her toe no longer hurt. Then Kehpri sat on the steps, frowning as she considered the last few seconds. "She felt you up?" she finally called into the trailer. "And made a pass?"

"Yes. I think she was under the impression I would be more helpful," Chance shouted back.

Kehpri fiddled with a pebble for a moment, biting her lip. "Did you, umm...you know, she's really pretty, and I wouldn't really blame you if you wanted to...ummm…" She frowned, really hating saying this.

Chance opened the door and just stared at crazy woman. "Don't you dare say anything, but if it makes you feel better, nothing, not even a twitch. I didn't even get a little wet." She slammed the door shut, going back inside

Insane as it was, Kehpri smiled at that door. "Awww, that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever told me!" she yelled at the closed door.

"I don't like you anymore," the muffled reply came.

"I like you though." Kehpri got up and tried to door, very pleased to find it wasn't locked.

Chance grunted and swallowed some beer, "You sure about that, since I don't listen to you."

"Sorry about that." Kehpri crept closer. "I have this thing about people dismissing what I say." It was a recent thing, and she wasn't that proud about it, but there it was. "I got worried when I saw the needle wound." She still was. God only knew what Miller injected her with.

"I did listen to you. However, my supervisor gave me an order to see her, and then she practically cornered me in the parking lot. It was like she was stalking me." Chance shivered.

"She probably was," Kehpri growled, hands twitching. That was it, she wasn't sure how, but she was going to stop Miller's nefarious plans. It would be really great if she had an idea what those plans were though.

Kehpri took a deep breath. "Ok. Listen, can we do that over again? I'm sorry I reacted that way." She wasn't going to say she overreacted, because she hadn't. "Hi," she smiled, "I missed you. Welcome back."

Chance looked over at her and set her beer down. "I missed you too."

"I wish I could say I understand, since you've never really told me anything about you and why you may have a bone to pick with Miller." She sighed. "But despite all that, I like you, and forgive you."

That hurt a bit, and Kehpri looked away. "I'm sorry I don't talk about my past... I just can't, not yet. Please, just trust me that she's not a good person though."

"I know." She held out an arm towards Kephri, who slid into the embrace with a relieved sigh.

"I'm really trying not to screw things up. I know it doesn't seem like that, but I am."

"It’s okay." She kissed the woman's temple, feeling the curly hair tickle her face.

Kehpri stayed where she was, eyes closed, enjoying the closeness, and a little shaken by how close things had just came to being bad. "That was our first fight I guess."

"Yeah… Just so you know, I was going to sneak home without seeing her. I know you have...um...reservations about the doctor." Chance kept her face close to Kehpri's inhaling her scent.

That was a polite way to put it. "I'm sorry I blew up without finding out what happened." She sighed. "You know what night it is, right?"

Chance stiffened, "Uh, yeah. We should discuss our options for this evening."

"You haven't changed before, right?"

"I have memories of running around on all fours as a child," she supplied.

"Hmm…" Kehpri started to rub the other woman's back. "But then I guess you can keep control if you change or not?"

"Zoya says I'm not any different. If I was a control freak Alpha before then I'm still one, despite what I know now, that I didn't know before." She frowned and examined what she had just said, not sure if it made any sense.

Kehpri wasn't too sure she followed either. "Whatever happens, I know you won't try to hurt me."

Blue eyes blinked. "How...how can you know?"

"Chance…" Kehpri grinned, looking up into her eyes. "I know you better than I know anyone else right now. You take those honor and duty things more seriously than anybody else I know, and I used to know a lot of honor and duty people. You won't hurt me."

"Okay, when you put it like that, it makes me seem boring," Chance said, but she had relaxed a little bit.

"Yeah, that's exactly how I see you, boring. An FBI agent who risks her life all the time out on a reservation full of insane people and angry Were's who, until a few days ago, didn't know she was a Were also. Yup, sounds boring."

Chance snickered. "Okay. I'm not that boring." She set her beer down and wrapped her arms around Kehpri, pulling her more firmly into her lap. "Okay, so no biting tonight, I'll be on my best werewolf behavior."

"I don't mind nipping, but this one was a bit much." She touched the bandaged area on her neck, and arched an eyebrow. "Good thing I don't have coworkers, or they'd be snickering over what sort of hickey I got last night." She smiled, happy that Chance seemed to have relaxed. That was good.

The agent kissed the back of Kehpri's neck. "Sorry about that." She really wasn't.

Kehpri really wasn't that upset about it either, so that worked out well. "So tell me, what do you want to do tonight?"

"Um, I don't know. I could call Zoya, I think we’re still speaking. We could lock me up somewhere or chain me, although I'm not sure how chains work with changing shape, probably cut my arm off..." Chance rambled as thoughts popped into her head.

Kehpri twisted around in the other woman's arms so that she could silence her with a kiss. "I don't think that the chains thing is a good idea." She had a sudden, vicious flash of the things kept in the basement of the research facility. Chains had held some of them in place, blood, dark red, oozing from where the manacles cut into flesh. "No, no chains."

"Okay. No chains." She rubbed soothing circles on the tense muscles under her hands. But she didn't ask. She had long since given up trying to get answers about the demons that rode Kehpri's distress.

"Good." That was good. Kehpri relaxed, trying to once again forget those images in her mind. "What do the other Weres do during the full moon?"

"Run around with their pack. Some who get full moon madness get locked up, they hunt, they fuck, and they bond with their pack mates. I'm not really sure. I've never belonged to a pack."

"Maybe you should try it." Although she wasn't too fond of the idea that someone else might try to have Chance.

"Try what? Hunting?" she teased.

"Sure, hunting," Kehpri nodded her head, "whatever you want to do, other than the fucking part, that's reserved for non-pack time."

"Hmm, maybe we should practice that part." She had a leering grin on her face.

Laughing, Kehpri stood up and held out a hand. "Care to retire to the bedroom?"

"That would be lovely," Chance said, taking Kehpri's hand.

Leading the way, Kehpri grinned. "I have to make sure you're all tired out before moon rise, after all, right?"

"Works for me… Maybe I should get you a red cape." She grinned widely, "Yeah, just a red cape, nothing else."

Kehpri narrowed her eyes and pulled the other woman into the bedroom. "Anyone tell you that you talk too much?" she demanded, shoving her towards the bed. She had so many better uses for that mouth.

Chance laughed and let herself be pushed towards the bed, and began to softly sing. "Hey there Little Red Riding Hood, You sure are looking good. You're everything a big bad wolf could want..." trailing off as she forgot the next lyric.

A laughing Kehpri dragged her down to claim her lips. "And you say I'm crazy."

"Yes I do," she murmured against warm lips. "Something that must be catchable, because what I allowed to go on in the car the other night…that was crazy. I'm an officer of the law, I know I know better." She was kicking off her shoes while her hands were busy undoing the buttons on her pants.

"I don't know if catchable is a word," Kehpri countered, her own hands tugging aside the shirt then undoing the other woman's bra. "Contagious you meant, right?" she teased, her fingers sliding across newly revealed breasts.

"You PHD types and you're fancy words." Her breath hitched, and her system thrummed with pleasure, her entire body coming to attention under the woman's touch.

"That's MD, PhD types to you," Kehpri mumbled, her fingers paving the way for her lips to follow.

"My parents would be so proud. I got me a doctor," she joked then squeaked as lips hit a sensitive spot. She wasn't a virgin by any means, but on the flipside, she hadn’t had that many girlfriends. But sex with Kehpri was fun.

Kehpri chuckled, the sound vibrating through her lips onto the body part she was currently licking and nibbling on. "Can we avoid talking about parents and family for a little while?"

Chance wasn't certain how Kehpri did it, other than her magical powers of insanity, but the woman just got her going until she turned into a regular old slut puppy. Currently, she was naked, lying on her stomach on the rumpled bed with an equally naked Kehpri lying on top of her. She had no idea what time it was, and she didn't really care.

She felt sated and warm, like there was liquid sunshine in her bones.

That wasn't a normal feeling after sex, and wondered how close to moonrise it was. Then she stopped caring, as she felt Kehpri's warm breath against her neck and the woman's steady heartbeat lull her into a doze.

Kehpri was half dozing on top of the other woman, drifting back and forth, in and out of sleep. She knew that they must be getting close to moonrise now, but she didn't care. It was too nice to move. Finally, she managed to summon enough energy to talk. "We should probably get up." She made no attempt move.

“Is this normal?” She felt her ears turning red. “Um, having this much sex? I mean, I’ve had sex…not a lot of girlfriends to compare.” She gave up, blowing out a breath.

"It's taken some getting used to," Kehpri mumbled, pressing a kiss to the skin beneath her. "You're not wearing me out, if you’re asking."

They should get up though. There was no doubt about that. She just really didn't want to and face the night.

"Come on you." She swung her legs over then rolled off of Chance's back.

"Fine," Chance pouted, and rolled over and sat up. Her lanky limbs stretched and her head turned, looking out the small window. Her eyes blinked. "Dusk," she murmured. "And I don't really feel that different."

"Isn't that what Zoya told you, that you'd stay the same?"

Chance ran a hand through her hair then snagged the hair band from the dresser. "You want me to make some food?" Fuck, sleep, eat, and horse around, perhaps she'd found the secret to life.

"Food sounds great. Let me go fire up the generator so we have some lights." Kehpri stood up shakily, grimacing a bit as she moved and grabbed a pair of short shorts and tank top.

"Nah let me do it. I left the cooler in the car. When I was in town I stopped and bought some groceries." Chance snagged the shirt and shorts from the other woman. Grinning at her naked body, she was looking better not as skinny.

Kehpri slapped her arm and shoved her towards the door. "Oh, no you don't. I know that look now, and no more until you feed me at least!" With all the food she'd been eating over the past week, she felt almost human again.

"What? I was just admiring." She slipped the shirt on then stepped into the shorts, pulling them up.

Kehpri had to work hard not to laugh at the sight of Chance in her clothes. The t-shirt came to a stop well above her belly button and the shorts left little to the imagination. "Nice," she grinned.

"Hush. Or I'll go change. I have to have some clothes around here." She normally hated having so much skin exposed, but for that look on Kehpri's face and the fact they were in the middle of nowhere, she'd keep the clothes on, for now.

It was tempting to just push Chance back onto the bed, but her stomach was suddenly rather demanding. "Go on. I'll get the plates set out."

"Okay, back in a jiffy."

She went outside, the door to the trailer banging softly behind her, and looked at the darkening sky. The moon was just starting to make her grand entrance to the party, and there was warmth in her bones and a spark deep in her belly. Automatically, fear came damping the moon’s call, a response honed by years of living with her Uncle Paul. She shook it off and stuffed it to the back of her mind, making her way to the car.

There was an odd stillness in the world around them that she only realized as she came to her car.

It was the reflection in the car mirror, the grotesque shadow image reflected back to her that alerted her to the danger. Automatically, she ducked the swing and then pivoted, rocking forward with a quick jab to the gut, and then another as she launched upright. Then in a finishing move, she grabbed its head in both hands and brought it down rapidly as she brought her knee up. Knee and skull met somewhere in the middle with a soft crunch. Releasing her hands, it fell over and didn’t move.

She breathed out harshly, her senses straining, and then she felt them, a nice half dozen. Her lips pulled back and she growled a warning. This was hers, the land, the woman, even the fucking fake flamingos…hers. She slowly started backing up, retracing her steps to the trailer. She needed her gun, and maybe a backup call.

Out of the gathering darkness of night, a figure launched itself, catching Chance and tackling her to the ground. She hooked her fingers around his shoulders and allowed her body to go with the fall, using the momentum to her advantage. She leveraged her knees under him, pressing them against his hipbones. As they hit the ground, she kept going, rolling them over. Pinning him to the ground, her thumbs immediately went into his eyes, pressing until blood and other liquids poured down over her hands. Even if he was a Were, he was a blind Were for at least a while.

She didn’t see the kick coming, but it caught her under her ribs, lifted her up, and sent her flying. She staggered to her feet, only to have her head snap back as she caught a fist with her face. She shook herself and jumped back out of the way of the second punch.

As her vision cleared, she looked stunned for a second. “Duncan? What are you doing?”

The large man sneered at her, but didn’t say anything. Just came forward, a wall of muscle. A ripping noise came to her ears, and Duncan’s skin began to ripple and split, falling off in chunks as fur started sprouting down his chest and arms.

“If this is about shooting you, I’m sorry, really. Come on, I was originally going to shoot your kneecap out. So you see, it could have been worse.”

“I’ve always hated you, Chance. You make Zoya weak. You make her care about those humans, because you care. But you and you’re lover are about to have an accident. Then Zoya will be free of you and your influence.”

“That’s messed up,” Chance murmured, and ducked a swipe of razor sharp claws. God she wished she had her gun and maybe a few more layers of clothes between her and a charging werewolf. Giving up bravery and valor, she turned to run back to the trailer, where her gun was. Only to be brought up short by the snarling, snapping jaws of a huge wolf. She quickly backpedaled, only to find another wolf that snapped at her with large teeth.

She was screwed, this thought lanced through her head as Duncan’s claws ripped through her back. She gasped and staggered away, trying to get away from those claws and teeth. She was picked up by great furred arms, which wrapped around her body, squeezing. Duncan’s voice, now horrible from the shift in his larynx from man to his half-form, stated, “Can’t shift, can you? The stink of humanity is too strong, binding you in this weak and paltry form.”

Chance cried out as her ribs cracked inside her chest. She struggled, surging forward then back, the back of her head smashing into his snout.

The werewolf howled out and tossed her, his great hands going to his nose.

Airborne for a moment, she crashed into Kehpri’s truck. They were on her, the wolves with their fangs and claws, and she cried out, trying to protect her face and neck.

Suddenly, they were gone and Duncan was there, looming over her. She blinked and tried to wipe blood out of her face, only to cry out in pain.

“You know if you shifted you’d heal, but you can’t, can you?” He laughed and then jabbed forward, one quick thrust of his claws into her gut.

He stood back up, looking at the ferals he had collected for this little venture. “Go get the other one.”

The wolves yipped and headed to the trailer.

“You’re lady friend has two hours, for you to find us and save her. If you can, that is. In two hours you’ll bleed to death, and to celebrate, I’ll start passing her around the boys so they can have a little full moon fun. Never say I didn’t give you a chance.” He stood up and raised a clawed hand to his muzzle, where his tongue snaked out and cleaned the blood off them.

"Chance?" the questioned call came from the door of the trailer, as Kehpri checked to see what the commotion outside was. It took her eyes longer than the agent’s to adjust to the dark, and she sincerely wished she hadn't opened the door when the first monster rushed towards her. She made it halfway to the bed and the shotgun under it before the beast caught her, screaming.

The crowded around became excited by her fear, yipping and hooting, incapable of vocalizing actual words.

She lashed out with her fists, doing little more than annoying the beasts around her. One of them, which more humanoid than the others, picked her up, screaming and kicking, and started to carry her back towards Duncan.

"Stop playing with it and bring her out here. We need to get going." He looked down at Chance. "How you doing there, Super Agent?"

Chance just concentrated on breathing and held her hands over the wounds on her stomach, trying to stem the flow of blood.

As they cleared the trailer and her eyes adjusted, Kehpri got her first good look at the scene from her position over the shoulder of the Were. Her kicking stopped mid kick when she saw Chance and the dark liquid seeping out through the fingers clenched over her stomach. "You fucking monsters! Let me go help her, you bastards!" She started pummeling the side of the Were's head with her elbow.

Duncan laughed. "If she shifts, she’ll live. Too bad she doesn't know how. Two hours, Chance, tic-tock…"

"Don't worry..." Chance grunted out. "I'll find you. But if you could figure out how to save yourself, that would be great too." She grimaced.

"You better fucking find me." Kehpri pounded on the back of the thing that was starting to carry her away. "There's a gun in the bedroom!" she yelled. "And the trauma kit!" she added.

Chance nodded and watched them leave, their mile-eating lope taking them into the night.

She looked up at the moon. "Shift, come on shift." She took a deep breath and focused on making her body change. "Oh fuck me, come on let’s get wolfie." Still nothing happened and she started crawling to the trailer.

She made her way inside; they'd been kind enough to leave the door wide open. "Oh God," she groaned. She fumbled with her bag, pulling out her cell phone at the same time she kicked open the trauma kit. She hit Zoya's number, listening to the phone ring. Lifting up her shirt, she groaned again and stuffed gauze into the holes in her gut.

“Full moon, kind of busy,” the distracted answer came from the other end.

"You're bully boys attacked me and stole my girlfriend. I think I'm dying again." Chance dropped the needle and cussed. "Fuck!"

This wasn't working, she needed to shift.

"What?" The voice was definitely more attentive this time. "Chance, is that you? Where the hell are you? What happened?"

"Yes, it’s me, who else has you're cell number! I'm at Kehpri's trailer. I know you know where that is. I didn't miss the girlfriend comment."

The voice on the phone got more distant as Zoya spoke to someone else. "Yeah, get everyone together; we're going for a run." Then the voice got stronger as she spoke into the phone. "I'll be right there. Don't move." The line went dead.

"Ha, ha…" The gauze was soaked through, and Chance felt weakness hit her legs and she sank down to the floor.

####################

Chance was running on all fours, her father and pack mother running ahead of her. Ivan and Zoya next to her to make sure she didn't fall behind.

It wasn't quite a half hour later by the time wolf calls sounded close enough that the woman bleeding to death inside the trailer could hear them. Only a few minutes later, Zoya appeared in the doorway, naked, since she'd come all the way here in her wolf form.

"Chance?" She stepped over the trail of blood and went over to the woman slumped up against a wall. "Chance?" she said louder.

Chance blinked and her head shook a little bit then she focused on Zoya's face. "Hey," she grinned. "I tried to stitch myself, but my hands were shaking very badly."

The sister knelt next to her, bending a bit to see the wound in her stomach and wincing. "Too late for that now, Chance, you have to change shape. The wound will heal if you do."

"I don't know how. Help me," she pleaded.

"Chance, of course you know how!" Zoya sounded exasperated. "You changed when you were younger. You must remember that, running along with all of us?"

"I do," Chance said dreamily. "I dream about it then the gunshots ruin my dreams."

"Chance…" When the other woman continued to fade out, Zoya grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Chance, you have to stay awake!" she stated, letting out sigh of annoyance. "Ok." This was annoying, she'd never had to explain how to shape shift before. "You have to find it inside you. There's a part of you that's the wolf. It's always with you. Do you feel it…your animal side?"

She grinned, remembering the first night she and Kehpri had sex, she'd felt it then. "Marked her," she murmured.

"Oh God, I don't need to know about you marking that thin girl." Zoya made a face. "But that's a start. Go with that feeling."

Chance made a face. "Don't start with me. I've seen some of those blondes that leave your room."

"Can we talk about this later? When you aren't bleeding to death?"

Chance’s eyes slid shut and she focused on the feeling she'd had in that moment when she'd marked Kehpri as hers. Her breathing became shallow, her chest rose and fell, then nothing for a moment, then it rose and fell again, and then it went still.

She found the animal part of her curled up, staring at her with dark, stormy eyes. "Where have you been?"

"I don't know, I dreamed I was human," she said.

The wolf snorted. "Silly, you are the best parts of both, noble and savage."

"I'm dying, can we hurry this up," she grumbled.

"Fine…" The wolf got up, shaking and stretching, dust came off its fur, and then sprang at Chance, falling inside of her.

Chance's eyes sprung open and she sucked in a lungful of air. She smiled at Zoya for a moment before her eyes went wide and her mouth opened in a scream. Her body was on fire, or was under attack by fire ants, which, she wasn't sure.

Prudently, Zoya stepped back, shoving one of the others who had decided to snoop inside out the door with a snarl. This was for family alone.

Skin split, bones lengthened, and blood streamed out of her mouth, Were teeth fell out, only to be replaced by fangs.

After a few minutes, a large, black wolf stood in the middle of the living room, and shook out its fur and sat looking at Zoya.

The blonde just smiled, happy to see her sister as she should be. "Now you are one of us. Welcome back, Chance." Her words were already starting to slur, as she started to change as well. "It always hurts a bit at first." Her own skin splitting opened, bone and muscle rearranging.

The black wolf rolled her eyes then started out the front door, sniffing the ground looking for Duncan's scent.

It was a different experience, the scents nearly overwhelming her. But she focused, sorting through everything quickly until she found the scent she wanted - Duncan's.

A half circle of wolves stood or sat outside the door to the trailer, a few of them getting up as Chance emerged, curious about this new wolf. Zoya padded along behind her, a black and white dappled wolf.

Instinctively, she raised her head and howled, calling out she'd found the scent.

As one, the pack roused from their positions, yipping excitedly as they bounded around. Zoya snarled at one of them who got too close to her, asserting her dominance as alpha.

Chance could care less about pack order, Duncan had taken her mate. Kehpri had been clearly marked. She bound into the night at a less than graceful run, until she figured out how to use her tail as a rudder.

####################

Duncan was back in his human form, to show is superiority to the other wolves. He could become man and wolf on a full moon night, something only an Alpha could do. He watched the ferals fight for pack status, and show off hunts. He used them when needed to do the dirty work that Zoya couldn't be associated with, and was fully prepared to kill them off if need be, which might be the case, especially once Chance died.

He winced as the human once again started singing.

Since her fists and kicking hadn't been able to do much, Kehpri had resorted to singing at the top of her lungs, even more off key than usual. There was a method to her madness. For starters, it really annoyed the wolves around her, they couldn't seem to bear being too close to her high-pitched warbles. Secondly, it would hopefully give Chance something else to home in on also.

"Shut up!" he snapped, seriously regretting giving her two hours to live.

He was also regretting his superior hearing. Her voice was like an ice pick stabbing into his brain. "No one is looking for you." Studying the moon, he grinned. "She's dead, you know. It’s been an hour and a half, and I got her good, one stab to the front and one to the back."

"Fuck you," Kehpri yelled back, taking a brief break in her rousing rendition to ‘She'll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain’. "She's stronger than you think. Besides, I'm sure that Zoya's looking for you too. She's going to rip you apart when she finds out you kil…hurt her sister."

He snorted. "Zoya doesn't know, and she won't know. I'm her second. I do all the horrible, repulsive things that are necessary to ruling. All the things her hands can't be stained with. I protect her to death."

"She won't know?" Kehpri laughed at that. "You're an idiot. You think she won't smell you all over my place?" Her grin turned nasty, "Or the markings that these ferals left behind?"

"These poor beasts, these things are disposable? Dozens of these wretched creatures exist in the Reservation. I'll come across the horrible accident at your trailer and track down the murderers and dispose of them, and Zoya will have her revenge."

Kehpri swallowed. That sounded entirely too plausible for her liking. "That's assuming that Chance died from her wounds, which she didn't. She'd find a way to overcome whatever block is in her mind."

"Chance…" he made a face, "the naïve hero, striding out with only a six-shooter at her side to change the world. Making it safe for humans and monsters, so at night we can all fucking sit around the fire and sing camp songs."

"At least she tries," Kehpri sneered, "unlike you. What a big man you are, sneaking out after dark away from your Alpha, scrounging together these pathetic outcasts and trying to assassinate your alpha's sister, which you screw up. Well done, idiot."

"Chance is a liability to Zoya, she makes the Alpha weak." He looked up at the moon and grinned. "Not that it’s your concern anymore. You're two hours are up, and your lover is dead."

Shit. That was the first thought that crossed her mind. The second was that Chance had lied, she hadn't found her. "Go to hell!" she yelled, grabbing for a rock and tossing it at him.

Duncan growled as the rock bounced off his chest, "You first, human." He stood up and held out his arms, and the other wolves went silent, giving him their attention. "Two hours have come and gone. The human is up for grabs, who has gone too long without the taste of warm blood from the font of humanity?"

The pack gibbered, yipped and hooted. Some tore into others proving dominance.

Kehpri scrabbled for another rock, something…anything that she could use on the first thing that came near her. She was terrifyingly certain about what would ultimately happen, but she was damned if she wasn't going to fight going down.

"Chance, now's a good time to show up!" she yelled.

Then a single gunshot cracked through the chaos and a wolf fell, his head bursting like a rotted fruit, spraying those around him with bone, blood, and brain.

Chance staggered out of the night, holding her gut with one hand and a shotgun in the other. It was her fault they were late, she had remembered the shotgun and had gone back for it. Then had to change back to her human form for the hands to strap it to Zoya, and then turn around and run out here. Damn it, she was going to have to admit her sister had been right, but she'd spent too much time as a human, and she trusted the gun over her own inexperienced wolf self.

"She's mine, Duncan. My mark, my mate, mine! If anyone else touches her, it’s over my dead body."

The ferals whined and looked to their Alpha for guidance.

"Ha! Told you she wasn't dead, you stupid moron!" Kehpri yelled, backing towards Chance as fast as she could.

Duncan laughed a horrible roaring noise. "You should have just laid down and died, Chance. You're hurt, and no match for me and mine. I still remember the taste of your blood off my claws. Sweet was the flavor."

Chance swung the shotgun up and fired at another wolfen creature that was preparing to pounce on Kehpri.

Kehpri screamed as a splatter of blood from the thing's head coated her side. Giving up on the ordered backtracking, she sprinted towards Chance's side.

"You okay?" the agent asked, taking her eyes off the pack for a moment to check Kehpri over.

"Better now," was the short reply. Then she yelled a wordless warning as one of the wolves took the opportunity to pounce towards Chance from the side.

Chance lifted the gun without thought and fired then pulled them back two steps so the now lifeless body could sail past them.

"Duncan, you want my blood so bad, why don't you face me? Just you and me; none of your bullyboys. What do you say? You game?"

The large man laughed. "You've caught you're lover's madness."

"Chance..." Kehpri started, worriedly.

Chance pressed the shotgun into Kehpri's hands and looked at her, brushing the hair out of her face, smiling. Her eyes were moon bright, and her teeth unnaturally large. "Its okay, I'm not really all that hurt," she whispered only for Kehpri to hear.

"Glad you found the shotgun," Kehpri answered, nodding slightly to show that she understood. She worriedly stepped aside, reloading the gun as she went.

She turned away before she gave into a desire to mark Kehpri again. "What's the matter, Duncan, chicken?"

"Hardly," was all Duncan said, charging her.

Chance dropped her hand from her unbloodied side and stood up straight and opened herself to the moon. The sliver stream invaded her, sucking her human and wolf selves together and spiting them back out. Bones cracked and moved, rearranging her form. Skin fell away, crumbling into dust, making way for midnight colored fur. The great black Were took the thicker gray-tipped Were completely off guard. First blood went to Chance, as her claws sliced his muzzle open.

Zoya's pack flowed out of the night, catching the ferals by surprise as well.

One wolf, the one that had dragged her from the trailer, rushed towards Kehpri. With a grim grin, she raised the shotgun and pulled the trigger. "Down, doggie," the brunette whispered as the corpse tumbled past her.

Despite her nakedness, Zoya strode through the wolves and the Weres every bit a regal queen. She came to a stop next to Kehpri. "Sorry about this. If she would have let me handle this, Duncan would be muzzled, and in a kennel by now. But no, she wanted this elaborate plan. I swear she was dropped on her head as a kid."

Looking towards where the two Weres were slugging it out, nastily, Kehpri winced. "She's been building to this, I think. She probably needs it." Which was sad if she thought about it; which was why she wasn't going to.

"True. I've turned a blind eye to some of the things Duncan's done in my name, because honestly, they fit in with my world plan. But I never officially or unofficially sanctioned this. Please believe me."

She turned, growling at a feral that got too close, and with amazing control, only her arm shifted into wicked claws. And in the blink of an eye, the feral's throat was slit, and Zoya's arm was back to normal.

That was impressive enough to drag Kehpri's gaze from the two fighting. She hadn't known it was possible to only change a portion of the body. The fact was filed away to be thought about later. Reloading the gun, she wished Chance would get away far enough so that she could put a few silver shots into Duncan.

"You're seeing sights tonight that no human has been privy too. I'd beg for your silence, but considering Chance has chosen you as her mate, I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt her." The mark was annoyingly there, and a scent lingered in the air around the woman, which was strong, still proving the depth of commitment between them, even if the two sharing it had no idea.

"Mate?" Kehpri grinned a little. "I think she's just shacking up with me to get away from the world for a bit." She glanced sideways at the sister. "She was upset when she first showed up at my place." It was surreal having such a calm conversation when there was a fight for the death going on in front of them. Shock, Kehpri thought, I must be in shock.

"Please, this is Chance we're talking about. She hasn't had sex in years ‘cause she's been waiting for the right one. Plus, she marked you. That bite on your neck isn't just a hickey. It tells every Were near you to keep hands off. Then she made me promise not to interfere because she had to save you. But you're human. In the end, you'll break her heart." There was no malice in Zoya's voice.

"I'll break her heart?" Kehpri frowned. "She's probably going to break my heart." They both stepped back a few feet as the fight surged in their direction.

Zoya snorted. "Chance, break your heart? Please. She's a fucking boy scout." She stepped in front of a charging wolf, grabbed it by the ruff, and snapped its neck.

Kehpri grimaced and jerked aside as the dead thing dropped to the ground. This was getting stranger by the second. "She's probably just using me for sex, you know that, right?"

Zoya pulled a face. "I don't need to know that."

The ferals were all dead; in death most shifted back to human forms, others to wolves. Zoya's pack was intently watching the fight between Duncan and Chance.

"Zoya, I like you and all, but this is getting too strange a conversation, even for me." She stepped over one of the dead people, who used to be a wolf, she thought.

"I agree. And I'm only tolerant of you because of Chance." She held out her hand. "Give me the shotgun."

"Tolerant of me?" That earned her a look, even as Kehpri handed over the shotgun. "You really remind me of some army people I used to know."

Zoya shrugged, "I am sort of like a military dictator." Shotgun in hand, she walked toward the fighting Weres. Duncan and Chance were evenly matched, which was impressive, considering Chance was new to her form and what it was capable of. Both had flecks of foam on their muzzles, and their fur was coated with cuts and blood. Up to now, Zoya had been dampening her Alpha control. Now, she unleashed it and her presence washed over the patch of dirt they had fought on. The wolves of her pack crouched or rolled over, exposing their necks and bellies.

Duncan was affected and crouched down onto all fours, his tail ducked between his legs. Chance could have cared less about Zoya's status, and merely shrugged off whatever Zoya was doing and stepped forward to rip out Duncan's throat.

For a moment, Zoya instinctively wanted to raise the rifle and shoot her sister, not liking how her authority was ignored, but shook it off.

"Chance, back off. I know you want his blood for what he did to your...um...girlfriend, but I need to finish this." She wouldn't say please, not in front of her pack.

Kehpri stood off to the side, feeling as if she was watching a scene in which she had no part of. Despite being kidnapped and threatened with death, she had no part of this world. Most scientists in her field would have killed to be where she was.

Chance went still, her powerful legs tense with energy, her lips pulled back in a snarl exposing teeth.

"Chance!" Zoya barked, raising the rifle.

"Chance…" Kehpri stepped closer, getting closer to Zoya in case she had to shove the other woman aside.

The werewolf turned, her dark blue eyes focusing on Kephri.

"Please." She looked at the cowering thing on the floor. "He's Zoya's problem."

"Listen to her, Chance. Let me deal with Duncan." Her voice was icy.

Zoya walked forward, passing through her pack and past Chance, pausing for a moment. "I know your blood is hot and you want his death. I need to do this. I need to show my pack I will not tolerate such things. Go to your mate, we'll go running when we finish this."

Kehpri stood where she was, not quite brave enough to follow Zoya through the wolves that had parted to let her through. She had no idea if they would do so for her, in fact, she kind of doubted it.

"Please, Chance?" she called.

The Werewolf's tail wagged slightly then she made her way to Kehpri.

Zoya let out the breath she was holding then went to the bloody and battered form of Duncan. "My family, my pack, how could you?"

For a moment, it seemed as if the Were wouldn't or couldn't speak, then his bloody and torn muzzle opened and tried to form words. "Because you wouldn't, and she makes you weak with her defiance."

Zoya looked at him for a moment, sadly, then pressed the muzzle of the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

There was a ripple of sadness through the pack. Duncan had been family, but the Alpha had decided. As one, they lifted their muzzles to the sky and gave a cry of mourning.

From her position outside of the circle of wolves, and how very symbolic that was, Kehpri flinched, looking away from the remnants of the Were. What a silver loaded shotgun did to a face at that range wasn't something she cared to look at closely.

Chance stuck her cold nose against Kehpri's neck, sniffing her scent, making sure the woman was okay. She didn't smell any wounds or blood.

Tiredly, Kehpri brushed a hand along the wolf's fur and smiled. "You probably want to go running, right?"

Zoya didn't like how her sister seemed to beg for permission, but it was jealousy on her part, and she knew it. To have Chance back with her was a wonderful feeling, and if she had to tolerate the human, she would.

The brunette's lips twitched and she gave the wolf a shove in the shoulder. "Go on, you big goof. You've waited to be running ever since you were a kid. I'll be fine."

"Up through the scrub is a car. Jason, my medic, is waiting in case of any casualties. He'll take you home. I'll watch out for her, make sure she doesn't do anything stupid or get moon drunk," Zoya said, pointing up through the scrub and the rocks to the north.

Chance sighed at her sister's words then bumped her shaggy head into Kehpri's shoulder, rubbing her cheek.

"Thank you." She looked down to Chance and smiled. "I'll see you back at the trailer later. Have a fun run."

Zoya rolled her eyes and walked up to Kehpri, handing her the shotgun, before turning and starting to run, flowing seamlessly into her wolf form. The pack stood, and with yips of joy, followed.

Chance took a step then looked back for a second before running after them, and she too flowed from her Were form into wolf.

Kehpri stood there, suddenly alone with the dead, and shivered. Hefting the shotgun, she turned and started walking towards where Zoya had said the car and medic were. She wanted to go home and get a shower.

####################

Dawn was coming, tendrils of light starting to streak the night sky from black to gray. A huge, black wolf sniffed around a pink flamingo that had broken away from the herd, and was lying still on the dirt ground.

Instinctively it knew something was going to happen soon, and had left the pack sleeping miles away to return to where she knew she would be safe. Chance's brain, however, was stuck in an animal level of thought, and couldn't conceptualize what the coming sun meant.

The door to the trailer was only slightly bent out of shape, compared to what it had been before the attack. It still closed, not completely, but it closed.

Kehpri got up from the window she'd been watching out of ever since she'd been dropped off by Jason, and wrenched open the door when she spotted the wolf. "Chance?" The shotgun was within reach, just in case she was wrong.

The wolf's ears perked up, and its head cocked to the side as it heard its name.

The sun was coming, and Kehpri had a good idea of what would happen soon after that. "Come on. Come inside, Chance. It's time to come home." She stepped aside, holding the door open.

Chance's tail tentatively wagged.

The woman in the trailer smiled. "Come on, Chance, come inside. You know you'll feel better changing in here than out there."

The wolf took a few steps then sprinted into the house, brushing past Kehpri.

She just laughed as she shut the door, the hours of being alone, worrying, pacing, gone in that instant. "Good to have you back too, Chance." She had to shove the door shut with her shoulder.

The wolf sat, her pink tongue lolling out in a doggie grin.

"When you change back, you owe me a new door," Kehpri grumbled, moving towards the small kitchen and getting a big bowl of water for said wolf.

The woman was hers in some odd way, odd because she walked on two legs instead four. She yipped playfully, and pranced a bit then butted her head into Kehpri's side.

Kehpri nearly dropped the bowl. As it was, she grumbled as water splashed everywhere. "When you change back, I am going to make fun of you for this like you cannot believe." But she rubbed the wolf's head regardless, grinning as she scratched behind the ears.

That action got a groan from the big animal, and her back leg to start twitching.

"You are really going to hate this when you change." She looked up to check how far along the sunrise was.

Chance huffed and walked over to the couch, hopping up onto it, and laid down. The sky was gray with the first blush of pink in the gray

Kehpri followed, sitting down on the edge of the couch and stroking the wolf's fur as soothingly as she could. She really wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but she wasn't going anywhere.

About fifteen minutes later, the sun broke the landscape and Chance tensed and whined.

"Shhh... it's okay. It's going to be okay." She really hoped she wasn't lying about that.

The change was rapid, the fur dropping off in great clumps, only to rapidly decompose into dust before it hit the floor. Her temperature skyrocketed, and bones broke and knitted themselves back together. A howl of pain turned into a scream as her vocal chords altered to human.

Between one moment and the next, Kehpri was holding a woman instead of a wolf. Cradling Chance’s form, she pressed a kiss to the new skin on her brow. "It's all right. See, it's all right." She petted fine dark hair slick with sweat.

Chance just laid still, panting harshly as she adapted to the change. "Zoya says it gets easier," she grunted out finally.

"I hope so. That looked painful. Are you all right?"

"Yeah…I'm good." Her hands hurt and she had little scars all over her body from her fight with Duncan, but somehow she knew that they'd be gone by the next full moon.

"Good." Kehpri kept up her slow brushing of hair as the tremors subsided in the lanky form draped over the small couch. "You should rest."

"Mmmhmm," Chance murmured out as her eyes closed, soothed by the feel of Kehpri's hands running through her hair.

"Sleep," she whispered, continuing her slow stroking as she yawned. Maybe she'd take a little nap also.

####################

Chance woke up when the afternoon sun can barreling through the window, and sat up with a yawn and a stretch. Her stomach rumbled and she slid out of Kehpri's arms and padded silently to the kitchen.

The woman on the couch grumbled and woke up enough to stretch out on the flat surface, yawning and flinging an arm over her eyes to shield them from the light so she could go back to sleep.

Chance chuckled at Kehpri and started rooting around in the coolers and the small fridge for food. She vaguely remembered catching a rabbit and eating it with the pack. Actually, a lot of her memories from last night were vague.

"You better be fixing some sort of food," the groan came from the couch.

"You betcha," Chance said, happily finding some steaks. For a moment she was tempted to nibble on it raw then made a face.

"Good." Kehpri flung her arm away to squint up at the other woman. "You do realize last night was insane, right?"

She looked up from the plate she was loading the steaks on. "Yeah, about that, are you okay? Duncan didn't...uh...you okay?"

"No, you got there in time. By the way, try not to cut it that close again? I was getting a little worried there."

"Sorry, we would have been there in plenty of time, but then I had the stupid idea to come back for the shotgun. That was stupid, but I was more comfortable with the idea of a gun than being able to take him as a Were. Zoya was right, as usual. She said it would take up time." Chance rubbed some rosemary and garlic into the steaks then went outside to start the small gas grill that was out there.

Grimacing at the light, Kehpri followed, sitting on the outside steps to watch. "You got there in time and everything worked out all right." She fingered the porch, trying to figure out how to tactfully bring up a question that had been bugging her. "Do you have to report your sister…for killing Duncan?"

That wasn't tactful, and she sighed. She really wasn't a people person.

"Um..." Chance frowned, thinking. "I should, but I'd have to explain myself being out there, and then there’s the fact Zoya's probably cleaned it up and not left a shred of evidence, other than the shotgun she gave back to you, so it has your prints all over it. You still want me to call that in?"

She hit the igniter on the grill and the flame popped a deep blue, and she waited, letting it warm up the grills.

"Hey, I didn't want you to call it in at all. I was just kind of wondering what sort of position that might put you in."

"An awkward one… If I decide to remain a federal officer, I'll have to transfer. Zoya owns me now, in a manner of speaking. I don't think I can be subjective.”

"Oh." Kehpri fiddled with the edge of the step, frowning. This was getting towards dangerous territory. Any talk about a future that they probably weren't going to share was pointless. Proving that she was masochistic though, she found herself asking, "What do you want to do about that? Transfer, stick around here?"

Chance didn't answer right away, just threw the steaks on then looked back up at Kehpri. "I don't know. Ask me in a couple of days, when this all processes." She had wanted to say she wanted to be with Kehpri, but that would have sounded creepy and clingy.

"Sounds good… Forget I asked about what you wanted to do."

She closed the lid on the grill and walked back over to Kehpri, strutting in her naked glory. "How are you? You saw a lot of things last night…that were probably mind blowing."

Kehpri shrugged, flicking a piece of sand off the edge of the fake stone step, pretending she wasn’t watching the statuesque naked woman walk closer. "I'm all right. I guess it probably hasn't hit me yet though." True, last night had been fairly bad, but it wasn't as traumatizing as it would have been in her prior life.

Chance crouched down, took one of Kehpri's hands, raised the knuckles to her lips, and kissed them softly. "Well, I'm glad you haven't run away screaming. Not everyone would be as understanding of a gang fight between Werewolves."

It was really hard to focus on anything else when Chance's breasts were hanging right there in front of Kehpri's face. "Huh?" She blinked and looked up. "Oh. Well, you see a lot of shit on the road, you know?" That was kind of close to the truth.

Chance cocked an eyebrow and stared at Kephri, her lips slightly pursed. It was a vague, flippant answer that set off her bullshit detector. For a moment she almost went with her instinct to push for answers, but then reminded herself of the redheaded woman in the photo she had found. She was only temporary, the rebound girl, until Kephri sorted herself out.

"Well, I'm glad you’re okay." She got up and went back to the steaks. She opened the grill top and quickly flipped them. "How cooked did you want yours?"

The look she was getting made Kehpri squirm a bit. No wonder Chance had those awards in her file; she was definitely good at interrogating. "Medium would be great." The brunette had to hide a sigh of relief when those devastating eyes were turned away.

"You, umm, want some clothes? Not that I’m objecting to the view or anything."

"Not yet, my skin feels..." She huffed, looking for words to describe what she felt. "It feels a little sensitive yet for clothes. If you're bothered by my au natural look, I'll go put some clothes on though."

"No, no, please, go right ahead with what you were doing, was just wondering if you'd forgotten about clothes after last night." She gave a grin to show she was teasing.

Chance grinned. "It is rather freeing. You could try it yourself."

She took her steak off the grill in the mood for more rare than cooked, and closed the lid for Kehpri's steak to get more cook time.

Kehpri laughed. "What would the neighbors say?"

"Considering your nearest neighbor is miles away, I'm not sure, but we can go ask after lunch." The agent grinned then turned off the grill and put Kephri's steak onto a plate.

"I have neighbors that close by?" The woman on the steps huffed and got up, dusting off her threadbare pants. "I'm going to have to talk to my realtor. I asked for privacy."

Chance snickered and handed Kehpri a plate of food. She sat down on the next step from Kephri’s, tearing into her food. "God…how many calories does shifting burn?" she mused between bites.

"A lot…" Kehpri started in on her food, half wincing as she realized what she'd just said. "I would guess," she finished as smoothly as she could while tearing into the steak.

"Yeah, probably… Is it gross or creepy? Sorry, I'm just curious. It’s not like I can see myself, and it’s forbidden to be taped. Zoya doesn't want it to be used by the government or end up on YouTube."

It was amazing, Kehpri thought while she took her time chewing on her current mouthful, how a nice conversation could get into dangerous territory so quickly. "It looks…” she paused, not sure how to answer, "…painful. It's over pretty quickly, and I wasn't really grossed out by it, but it really looked like it hurt."

"Um, yeah, I think I'll finish off my unused vacation then turn in my notice. I just can't lie like that and go back to work when..." She trailed off. "Zoya's right, I am a fucking boy scout."

It was hard, but somehow Kehpri managed to avoid laughing out loud at that. Instead, she reached over and patted a well-toned arm, not quite managing to stop herself before she stroked the sun-warmed skin. "You have time to think about it first."

"Well, how can I enforce rules, if I'm not willing to follow them?" She had a full tirade in her head, but it derailed somewhat at the touch of Kehpri's hand on her skin. Her blue eyes darkened, but she controlled her urges. She swallowed and started cutting another piece of steak.

Setting aside the half eaten steak, the other woman shifted closer so that she could run her hand up and down the naked back that was so nicely presented to her. "Of course, you could probably do a lot of good there too."

Chance swallowed, and set down her plate, her hands shaking slightly. "Right now I want to be inside making love to you. If you don't want that, please stop touching me. My skin seems to be one big oversensitive nerve bundle."

"Who said I didn't want that?" Kehpri continued her leisurely kissing across the exposed skin, trailing down well-muscled shoulders and upper back.

Chance shivered and made a noise that sounded kind of like a whine. She cleared her throat. "Okay, let me know when you're ready to go inside." She took a breath and let it out, enjoying Kehpri's exploring, and determined to let Kehpri set the pace. The woman deserved a little control after last night.

A sound that might have been an evil laugh came from behind Chance, as Kehpri widened her exploration. Fingers slowly spiraled out from the other woman's back, to lightly start grazing her side. "When I want to go inside? So I get to decide?"

Chance's stomach muscles tightened in response, but she didn't do anything else. "Yeah, I figure it’s fair. I've been kind of a control freak since the start."
           
"That isn't a bad thing," Kehpri whispered, sighing with pleasure as she slid her hands around to cup full breasts.

"Now, how long do you think, that you're going to avoid asking to go inside?" Kehpri wondered out loud, her fingers teasing erect nipples and grinning as she felt the other woman tense.

“Until you want to go inside,” she responded.

"Really? So you won't ask until I do?" Kehpri purred, pushing closer so that she could feel the suddenly hot skin against hers. While one hand stayed where it was, the other slid southwards. The smaller woman groaned in pleasure as she slid fingers into wetness.

Chance really, really hadn't expected that. Kephri had been, for the most part, sort of in the passive roll in their lovemaking. She had sort of subconsciously sensed Kephri's need for someone to free her of the responsibility, of the control. Although as their time together continued, that had shifted.

Her eyes rolled up into her head and she moaned as her hands scrambled for anything to hold onto.

Kehpri grinned against the skin of the other woman's back, enjoying the surprised sound. "What was that?" she asked, managing to capture an earlobe with her teeth and lightly biting it.

Chance bit her lip, and her back arched slightly, whimpering. "I have...no... idea. Anything, you want. Just don’t stop."

"No stopping," she agreed, enjoying the control she felt over the situation. This was a reversal from their previous times together. "What else do you want?" she whispered, sliding her fingers through the wetness she'd found, but avoiding doing more than just tease.

There was a tingle at the base of her spine, but it wasn't going anywhere. It just pulsed, teasing her with the pleasure yet to come. "Fuck, do something, anything," she begged.

A lone digit slid deeper inside, and they both shared a breath as they gasped in tandem. "Like that?" Kephri whispered, wishing she could free a hand long enough to somehow manage to shed her own clothes.

Chance nodded, sweat beading on her skin. "Yes, oh, yes." Her voice had become huskier, and she would have been shocked to hear it. As it was, she had other things on her mind.

It was surprisingly hard to resist trying to get Chance into the trailer and onto the bed. Leaning more, she pushed another finger into the welcoming wetness, shuddering as Chance thrust up to meet her. "You want to go inside?" She hoped, prayed, that Chance would break.

"Go inside?" She was tempted, but that would mean stopping.

"Yes?" Kehpri hissed, pressing her hips up into Chance's backside, even as she curled her fingers deeper.

Chance whimpered as her senses overloaded. "Shit," she moaned eloquently. "No. That would mean stopping."

Fuck. Kehpri had to bite her lip from whimpering in disappointment. Instead, she concentrated on what her hands and lips were doing. The angle was interesting, and she set about seeing how far she could push the agent.

Chance had no idea how long they had been at this, her body dripped with sweat and she had been sitting on the edge for what seem forever, unable to tip over the edge. Finally, she growled and grabbed Kehpri's wrist, stilling it. She pulled all arms that weren't hers from her body and turned, picking up the woman and carrying her inside.

"Inside now!" she barked out in frustration.

Kehpri's laughter was cut off as the door slammed shut behind them on their short trip to the bedroom. The laughter was brief, and instantly replaced by moans and pleading.

####################

The small convoy kicked up a storm of dust as it traveled down the seldom-used roads. Three black SUVs led the way, followed by two large tractor-trailer trucks with nondescript silver trailers hooked up to them. They blew past the small sign that denoted the southern most edge of the Were Reservation without slowing. They continued onwards, driving deeper into the flat, deserted land that was this part of the Reservation.

They hadn’t chosen the day after the full moon to arrive by chance. It was the perfect time to arrive without being seen by more prying eyes than they could manage to avoid. Most of the Weres would still be recovering from the night before.

The low, squat looking building was surrounded on all sides by rusting barbwire. The front SUV slid to a stop next to the falling over gate, and two men dressed in pressed blue jeans and plaid shirts got out. The gate opened with a squeal of protest on rusted hinges.

Once it was open, the rest of the convoy drove into the packed earth area in front of the one story building. The two trucks pulled around to the sides.

Colonel Stetler stepped out of the second SUV, an annoyed look on his face.

“Garret!”

A balding man with a nervous twitch jumped down out of one of the two-tractor trailers.

“Sir?”

“How long to get the facility up and running?”

“We’ll have communications up within the hour. The rest will take a while, depending on how bad things are inside.”

He grunted, looking around with satisfaction, as his people quickly started carrying large cases into the building.

“Let me know how it goes.”

He nodded in satisfaction, and motioned to the two men who were standing near him.

“All right boys. Let’s go find the FBI and see if they’ll be of any use.”

Leaving his underlings to their work, he got back into the SUV. He didn’t have much hope of finding anybody competent out here, but it was worth a shot at least.

####################

Chance's week following the full moon was going much like her week before.

Sure, she felt a little different, but mostly she was the same person she was before. Zoya had been annoyingly accurate. She was still the annoyingly, control freaking, boy scout that she was before. Kehpri had been gone all morning doing something. The moment she had returned Chance had meant to be nosey, but had been distracted by how good Kehpri had smelled. And in typical style, they'd had sex most of the afternoon. Currently they were tangled into a sweaty mass on the couch.

"I think my phone rang a couple of times while you were doing that thing that makes my head explode," Chance murmured into Kehpri's sweaty curls, although she wasn't really motivated to go check.

"So?" the other woman mumbled, shifting a little so that she could rest an arm across a well-toned stomach, and smiled. "Aren't you on vacation still? It's probably some marketing firm trying to sell you insurance or something."

"Yeah, but it was my work phone. And well, the Supervisor was trying to get me back as soon as possible. Or it could be Gibbons just checking on me. I probably should have called him after the full moon." She snuggled closer to Kehpri, kissing the skin near her mouth. "So, what were you doing this morning?"

"Went to apply for a job…" That was actually the truth, which was a refreshing way to answer a question for Kehpri. "Figured if I was staying around for a while, I'd need some money." That wasn't so much the truth, but at least she'd given a half-truth. That was better than a full lie, right?

"Really?" Chance couldn't keep the smile off her lips. "How long you thinking on sticking around?"

"A while," Kehpri answered, knowing it was a bit vague, and hurried on with the first thing she could think of to distract Chance. "They seemed keen to have me, not a lot of people willing to work nights at the hospital I guess."

Chance shook her head and chuckled. "Then they must not remember you from the first time we met there."

The brunette snorted. "I didn't see nurse nightingale or your favorite doctor, if that's what you mean."

Chance rolled her eyes. "You want to have another fight? No more talking about Dr. Miller."

It was on the tip of Kehpri's tongue to warn Chance again, but she didn't want to ruin the moment. Instead, she let out the breath she'd taken to argue and nodded. "Fine, not now, anyway." The night janitor job was perfect. She'd be able to snoop around to her heart’s content. They hadn't even asked for a background check, they'd been so desperate for people.

"They want you more for the fact you’re human. They have a lot of trouble staffing things at night during the full moon. They need non-shifters, especially at the hospital."

"Hmmm," was the noncommittal answer as the woman slowly trailed her fingers up and down the agent's side, enjoying watching the goosebumps that rose as she did so. "I guess. They have me starting in two days. I wasn't sure when to tell them, since I didn't really know when you were going back to work." She was loath to give up this illusion of happiness.

Chance pouted, "I suppose I'll live. I'll be a stay at home trophy wife or something." She was saved from a potentially stupid statement, thankfully, by her phone ringing again. She moaned in annoyance, but untangled herself from Kehpri. "Be right back. Stay naked." She pointed a finger at the naked woman.

"Since I don't even know where you threw my clothes…that's not going to be hard."

Chance looked at the number on the cell and grumbled. "This better be good, or I’ll start telling you about my sex life you're ruining," she barked into the phone. "Uh huh…yeah, we could meet for...wait, let me be a good girlfriend and ask."

Chance looked over at Kehpri, tempted to tell Gibbons to go to hell. "Gibbons wants to know if we want to go over to his place for dinner. You game?"

"Gibbons…your partner Gibbons?" Kehpri propped herself up on one elbow, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, he's married to a Blackwater, of the "Blackwater Beef and Ranch" Weres. He's a trophy FBI agent husband." She laughed at his outraged squawk.

"Sure," Kehpri shrugged, laying back down and ignoring the uneasy feeling that agreeing to go see another FBI agent brought, "why not?" Another home cooked meal could be fun.

Chance beamed. "Cool. You hear that, we'll be over. What time?" She waited as Gibbons checked with his wife. "7:30ish, it is. Yes, I'm an FBI agent, I can find things."

"She's really good at finding things," Kehpri yelled from her position, grinning evilly, "especially naked things!"

She closed the phone, not waiting for his witty comeback. "You are in for a treat, Ms..." She frowned. "All this sex and I don't even know you're last name."

Kehpri went still for a moment, opening her mouth then trying to smoothly cover over the surprise and brief instant of terror that innocent question brought. "Wyland…" She used the fake last name she'd given at the hospital.

Chance paused, feeling the syllables of Kehpri's last name. It felt wrong, not fitting the woman. "Well, Ms. Wyland, you are in for a treat. Gibbon's wife is a Blackwater, of Blackwater Ranch. They raise the best beef in the US."

"Mmm…" Kehpri could imagine the dinner to come. "What time do we have to be there?"

"Whenever, 7ish." She stretched and looked around. "I really want to take a real shower. Can we head to my apartment?"

A real shower, as always, sounded like a good idea to Kehpri, and she bounced on her feet, "Great idea. Let me see what sort of clothes I can bring. It's not formal, is it?" If it was, her one sole pair of unholy jeans wouldn't cut it.

"It’s a working ranch. Probably not that fancy. I'm just wearing jeans and nice shirt."

"Good, that's all I have." Actually, she didn't have a nice shirt. But she had a clean one, so that would have to do.

"Tree probably wants some water and conversation anyways." She slipped on a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Tree?" Kehpri stepped out, wearing a black t-shirt and a clean pair of washed-out jeans.

"Tree, he's my plant. I really didn't have a lifestyle for a pet." She tied the drawstring and looked over at Kehpri. "Two days, ‘til you start work" She grinned. "Well, we can relax and have a nice time until then."

Two days then. That would be how long she would have to enjoy this thing between them. After that, there were no guarantees. "Shall we?"

"Let’s…" Chance held out her arm.

Taking the offered arm, Kehpri laughed. "You do have a gallant side, no matter what you do."

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Part 6

Back to the Halloween Invitational

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