Okay so I'm very new to the whole posting stories online and I am really nervous about this because I don't know if you guys will like it or not but what the hell I'm going for it. So awhile ago I read a book called "The Midnight Hunt" by L.L. Raand and whilst reading it I kept thinking about how awesome this would be if someone did a spashley fanfic about it sooo here it is lol. BTW I also Incorporated other lesbian couples and other characters from multiple other shows since their are so many people in the book and not enough SON characters to match. Please someone out there review I know this is a slow start but Spencer will be introduced in the next chapter if you like this one I will post it tomorrow. Well thanx for listening to my rant haha.

PS. If you guys have never heard or read this book I highly recommend the series, I'm addicted to it now :)

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing about this story...the writing is all L.L. Raand's and the Characters are all from various television shows (South of Nowhere, The O.C., Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, The Fosters, and The L Word) Credit goes completely to all listed above.

Ashley hungered to free her wolf. After three days in the city, encased in a steel-and-glass building fifteen hours at a time with nothing but concrete under her feet at night, she needed to fill her lungs with the scent of warm earth, sweet pine, and rich, verdant life. She needed to run with her wolves and lead them on a kill. The insistent pressure between her thighs and the shimmer of pheromones coating her skin reminded her of another critical need, one not so readily satisfied. She'd gone too long without sexual release, but she couldn't risk even a rough-and-ready tangle with a willing female when her wolf seemed insistent on claiming a mate. That she would never do.

Never long on patience, she was edgy and amped on adrenaline and hormones, Even knowing she could be in her King High Mountain compound in thirty minutes didn't curb her temper while she sat at a desk in the California State Capitol Annex building listening to a politician patronize her. But she needed to do the job that had fallen to her when she had ascended to Alpha shortly after the Praetern species had stepped out of the shadows for the first time in millennia. As head of the Praetern Coalition representing the interests of the five Praetern species – Weres, Vampires, Mages, Fae, and Psi – she had been charged with convincing the senior senator from California to push PR-15, the new preternatural protection bill, through his committee.

"We'd like to bring the bill to a vote this session, Senator," Ashley said in to the phone, careful not to allow her frustration to bleed into her voice. She spun around to face the view of the Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park three blocks away. A breeze through the open windows of the second floor office carried a teasing hint of the river on a raft of summer heat, reminding her that imprisonment was only temporary. "The bill has been tabled for the past six months and the Coalition members are asking why."

"We all want the same thing, Councilor Davies," Senator Sam Healy said "but we have to remember, this is all very new for the human populace. We have to give the voters a chance to get used to the idea."

The senator's patrician tone grated, and Ashley growled softly, her right hand tightening on the leather arm of her desk chair. The wood creaked, protesting the crushing pressure, and she consciously relaxed her fingers. No one know better than she that for some humans, there would never be never be enough time to accept those who were other as equals. The nonhuman races had hidden their preternatural essence for centuries in order to survive in a world where they were greatly outnumbered. Eventually global culture expanded until isolation was impossible, and the praetern learned to hide in the light, forming uneasy coalitions while building a formidable economic power base. Ashley's father had finally convinced the Praetern leaders to make their presence known to the world, arguing that the benefits of visibility outweighed the dangers-their corporations could compete openly in international markets, their scientists and doctors would have access to greater research opportunities, those in politics who now had to work behind the scenes could actively advocate for their rights. And most importantly, they could demand protection under the law for further generations.

Shortly after Raife Davies had spearheaded the Exodus, he had died, leaving Ashley to assume the mantle of leadership. She had been twenty-six years old a year out of college. Her father had been her Alpha, her mentor, her friend, and her greatest champion. She'd had no time to mourn because the Pack needed a leader, especially in the midst of the chaos the Exodus had incited. His absence remained an agonizing void in her heart.

"Over a year now, Senator-and several million dollars in campaign donations. That's a long time to wait for basic protection from those who would destroy us for simply being different." Ashley couldn't help but think of her father's death and how little progress she'd made in achieving security for those whom she had been born to protect and defend. Anguish and fury frayed the last remnants of her temper and a low rumble resonated from deep beneath her breast. Her skin tingled with the ripple of pelt about to erupt and her claws sliced through her fingertips. Her wolf simmered so lose to the surface that her chocolate brown eyes, glinting back at her from her reflection in the window glass, sparked with wolf-gold. Her dusty brown hair took on the black glint of her pelt. Along the impending shift came an exhilarating surge of power and raw sensuality.

The door behind her opened and a husky alto voice inquired, "Alpha?"

Ashley swiveled to face Bo Dennis, her second and imperator- the head of Pack security. One of Ashley's centuri, her personal guards, Bo was also her best friend – they'd grown up together, tussled and played dominance games as adolescents, sparred together as adults. Tonight Bo wore her usual uniform – a formfitting black T-shirt, cargo pants, and laced-up military boots. Her compact muscular form looked hard and battle worthy, despite the soft swell of her full breasts and luscious fall of think auburn curls that touched the top of her shoulder blades. Bo had sensed the rise of Ashley's wolf, stirring Bo's instinctive need to guard her Alpha against any distress. Ashley didn't find Bo's sudden appearance in the office an intrusion on her privacy. Pack members had very few physical or emotional boundaries. In fact, Ashley hated having the century stand between her and the rest of the Pack, forcing her into even more isolation than her status as Alpha demanded. But since her father's death, the Pack would have it no other way. She was too important to them not to be under constant guard.

"I'm fine," she sotto-voiced, too low for Healy, who continued to try to placate her with platitudes, t her. Bo, though, could hear her Healy, and after one last searching look, backed out of the room and closed the door. Ashley reluctantly brought her wolf to heel, promising her freedom soon. Breaking in on Healy's monologue, she said, "Some of the coalition leaders are beginning to question if your friends in Washington are really friends at all."

"Now now, Councilor," Healy said almost jovially, "I'm sure you can explain things to the Coalition and your own…uh…followers." "Pack. My Pack," Ashley said softly. She wanted to point out, not for the first time, that the King High Timberwolf Pack was not a cult or a religion or a social organization. They were a community, connected physically and psychically. She was their Alpha, their leader, but she was part of them as well. But she was too weary and her wolf was too anxious to roam for her to repeat what she had been explaining publicly for months. "The Mage and the Fae have never been as solidly behind the Exodus as the Weres. I don't think I have to remind you how strong a force those two groups are in industry and international commerce. I don't think you want to lose their support."

"Of course not. Of course not. The committee plans to convene within the month, and I assure you this matter will have priority on our agenda."

Ashley could tell she'd gotten as far as she was going to get with him that night. Human politics were fueled by money, and until the money train carrying funds from the Praetern Coalition to Capitol Hill ground to a halt, the laws to protect them would be slow in coming. Hopefully, once humans began to appreciate that Praeterns had lived and worked among them for centuries, and not only performed many essential functions within society, but were their friends and neighbors and, sometimes, even relatives, popular opinion would swing in their direction.

"I look forward to hearing from you soon, Senator," Ashley lied, and put down the phone. Almost ten thirty. Traffic on the Northway would be light this time of night. She couldn't wait to shed her pale gray linen shirt and tailored black trousers, a necessary concession to her high-profile persona as the head of U.S. Were Affairs. If she and her centuri left now, they'd be home before full moonrise. Running under the moon was her favorite time to hunt—the forest took on a primeval glow and the very air seemed to glitter with moon dust. She preferred to run in moonlight whenever she could, even though most Weres had evolved to the point they no longer needed the pull of the moon to shift. She and her Pack could shift at any time, although she alone could shift instantaneously. Even her most dominant centuri needed a minute or more to accomplish the change. Her singular ability to call her wolf at any time, to shift partially or totally at will, was one of her greatest joys and helped balance the price she paid in loneliness for being the Alpha.

"Bo," she said quietly as she packed her briefcase. The door opened and her second slipped inside. Bo's forest green eyes took in the unfinished meal she had delivered earlier in the evening and narrowed in displeasure. Ashley ignored the look. "Have Clay bring the Rover around. Let's go home."

"You didn't eat."

"Do I look like I need a den mother?" Bo folded her arms beneath her breasts and spread her legs, an aggressive stance. She met Ashley's eyes for a second before looking away. "More like a mate. If you won't look after yourself—"

"Bo." Ashley gave a warning rumble. She knew many Pack members were anxious for her to take a mate, not because of pressure to produce an heir—she had decades for that—but because she would have more protection. The Pack Alpha could accept intimate care and safeguarding from a mate, whereas she couldn't from anyone else. She had her reasons for ignoring the not-so-subtle hints that Bo and those close to her had been making, especially the last six months. She did not want a mate. She had seen the desolation in her father's eyes after the death of her mother over a decade before. He had fought his desire—the innate drive—to join his mate in death until Ashley was old enough to take her mother's place, but he had been broken, an empty shell of who he had once been. Ashley had lost her mother, and in many ways, her father, all in a few moments of betrayal and blood. She would not allow herself to be that vulnerable. Ever. "We've had this discussion. I don't want to have it again."

"You've been working twenty hours a day for six months and ignoring your needs. It's not going to help the Pack if you're too weak to stand a challenge." Bo was a dominant Were at the top of the Pack hierarchy, and one of the few who would dare incite Ashley's ire in order to protect her.

Ashley cleared the desk so quickly Bo barely had time to put her back against the door before Ashley towered over her. Ashley didn't touch her. She didn't have to. Bo dropped her chin and turned her face away. Ashley brought her lips close to Bo's ear, and when she spoke, even the Weres outside in the hall, who could hear a mouse in the walls three floors below them, did not hear her. As their Alpha, she could speak to them mind-to-mind as effortlessly as she could with words. Do you question my ability to lead, Imperator?

Bo shivered and tilted her head, further exposing her neck. A Were as powerful as Ashley could crush the windpipe or tear open the great vessels in seconds. "No, Alpha, I do not doubt you. But I am responsible for keeping the Pack safe, and for that, we need you."

Am I not always here for you?

"Yes, Alpha," Bo whispered, her eyes nearly closed, her gaze still averted. "But many in the Pack fear what will happen if the humans decide to hunt us. You give them the strength to fight the fear."

Ashley sighed and pressed her mouth to Bo's neck, grazing the bounding pulse with her fully erupted canines. Ashley's caress was possessive, not sexual. Bo was her wolf, as were all the wolves in the Pack, and Bo needed Ashley's touch, her heat, her strength. Isolation was a form of death for a Were. Bo arched subtly against her, taking comfort from Ashley's reassurance. Ashley growled and bit down gently until Bo whined, her shiver of fear turning to pleasure. Gradually, Bo relaxed against Ashley's body, at ease and content. Only then did Ashley release her.

"Do not worry, my wolf," Ashley whispered aloud. "The Pack will always come before all else in my life."

"I know," Bo murmured, grateful and saddened at the same time.

"Come on." Ashley squeezed Bo's shoulder. "Keep me company tonight on a run?"

"With pleasure, Alpha." Bo reached for the door and then abruptly stepped in front of Ashley. "Wait."

Ashley felt it too. Waves of tension streaming toward her from the guards outside the door, but she could sense no immediate threat. No scent of enemies. "Open it."

Bo did, but continued to shield Ashley's body with her own. "What is it, Aiden?"

Aiden, a barrel-chested male easily six inches taller than Ashley's own five-ten, filled the doorway, his grizzled face tight with strain. "We have a problem. Several of the young slipped our perimeters and left the Compound. We just found out."

"Where are they?" Heat flared in Ashley's eyes. The eastern extent of Pack land bordered the Catamount Clan territory in Nevada. The cat Weres were mostly feral and as territorial as the wolves. They would not give safe passage within their territory, even to foolish wolf pups.

"Here, in the city," Aiden replied.

"Who?"

"Sean, Clay, and Kyla."

Three teenagers, two brothers and a dominant young female, all in military training at the Compound—Ashley's home and Pack headquarters. The adolescents had strict curfews, not only because they were still too immature to control their shifts in the face of rampant hormonal changes, but because like all young wild animals, they craved excitement and had no sense of their own mortality. Ashley cursed.

"That's not all," Aiden said grimly.

"What else?" Ashley fixed him with a hard stare and he dropped his gaze to her shoulder.

"Clay was the one who called us. They're at Sierra Vista Hospital. We don't know what happened, but Kyla's injured."

Ashley shouldered him aside and was halfway down the hall before he even finished speaking. Bo, Aiden, and the third guard, Dyson, ran to keep up. Ashley didn't bother with the elevator but loped into the stairwell, grasped the metal railing, and vaulted over the side and onto the landing one floor below. She leapt down, floor by floor, until she reached ground level seconds later. When she went through the door into the dark, she was racing on all fours. The others couldn't shift while moving, and she didn't wait for them. She was the Pack Alpha, and one of hers was in danger.

Ashley ran alone through the night.