Hi guys, long time no see. I could not get this thing uploaded for the longest time and just gave up for a while. I finally figured out that I was using the wrong browser. Thanks for the warning, Fanfic.

12 - Intervention

Had I been using my full strength I could have easily taken Wulfric out with one hit but that was not the point of this little exercise. The first swing had just been a tap, a warning of things to come, and so there was no real power behind it. This boy had picked up some skills through his meager years of existence. Despite being an aristocrat he recored from the surprise attack, and after only a bit of a stumble he quickly crouched down into a fighter's stance.

"What in God's name do you think you are doing?" His cultured accent made him sound more affronted than he needed to be - it was only a little punch. The temptation to respond with the same accent was strong but for now I needed to play the thug. This was not the time to show off how well I could mimic accents - a generally useful skill in my line of work. Right now he needed for me to be the hooligan that attacked him out of nowhere. Wulfric was a type of man who would probably get more affronted by an attack from someone he perceived to be "beneath his station". I had dealt with his kind before and no matter how enlightened they always seemed to lose their shit when a person of a lower class stood up to them.

Grunting in his direction I rolled my shoulder like I was preparing for another hit. The grumbles coming from my throat were not true words but more like the universal noise for "shut up and fight you coward". Cleary he was not stupid and swiftly realize I was not here to chat. In response to that knowledge he swiftly raised loose fists to protect his face, and it was interesting to note that he did not make the beginner's mistake of tightening his fist over his thumbs. So he had some practice at doing this in the past. I tried to jab from the other side, a slow motion move on my part, but it would look like a fast move from a human's perspective. I managed to only graze his side as he stepped back a little to avoid the hit - he was quick on his feet, at least by human standards. Regaining his footing at an even faster rate at the second hit he even attempted a sideways swing with his right fist before moving it back to protect his face. Wow, you certainly are keen on protecting that pretty nose of yours.

I was not about to tell him that there was none to protect his face, if I left too obvious marks on him I would run the risk of making Snow very angry. Theoretically I could easily take down Snow. The truth of it was both my mother and my father's people were made for war. My father had given me a body that was made to take damage and just keep on going. I was capable of going into a berserker rage where I felt no pain, weakness, or fatigue. From my mother I had the ability to predict the future, and when Aodh felt like it I could see the moves my enemy would make even before they chose to make the moves. I could take on Snow and survive, but everything came at a cost and after the rage receded I would pay for it. There was a reason humans felt pain, and that was to let them know that whatever the hell they were doing was not a good idea. Coming out of a rage was a jarring process, in a couple of heartbeats you go from feeling no pain to being hit by a wall of agony - even the best of us lose consciousness. Aodh exacted a price as well and it was not one I was always willing to pay.

The fact that Snow tended to hurl chunks of ice at people's head in a fight was another deterrent, and it was generally considered a faux pas to fight a member of the family for real. Sparring was all right, and often encouraged, but fighting for real was frowned upon. If I truly damaged her boy Wulfric it might lead to some trouble, since he was a guest of Snow on the island she was responsible for his behavior and his safety. Though if you were going to get all squeamish it could easily be argued that this was not a true attack. It was more like a test of his skills, and so far I cannot say I was displeased. He had a great deal of potential - for a human.

He continued to defend against my attacks but he was slowing down too quickly, even stumbling a little. Upon closer inspection I could see the deep shadows under his eyes indicating a recent lack of sleep. Bacterial sepsis is what the boy had died of, and that took some time to develop so Wulfric must have spent a sleepless night or so searching for the boy. For a moment I considered that Wulfric had been the one to do hurt the boy but that thought was swiftly dismissed - Snow would not have brought such a man to the sanctuary of the island. The criminals we collected, the ones that were too powerful for society to deal with, were relocated to a special prison planet where human scientists would study them. Sometimes I thought it would be more humanitarian to just put a bullet in their skulls, but it was not my call and those prisoners could contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of neurology. They were used as lab rats to figure out what went wrong in their brains. Not always ethical but you had to do what was best for the human race. Studying and preventing violence and crime was with the cost.

Bringing my focus back to Wulfric I got in a few hits that would cause some bruising but made sure to keep my hits light enough not to break a rib. This was not about causing him pain but more about testing to see if he was capable of adapting to a different fighting style, and because of that I did something that I knew was against the rules of gentleman boxers.

A swift kick to the side of his knee and this time he did go down with a grunt of pain. He got back to his feet a bit gingerly, that was going to leave a mark. I gave him a smile when he glared at me with disgust clearly written on his face.

"That was uncalled for," he told me and I was pleased to note he had not lost his cool. It pleased me that he still remained in control despite being in pain.

There was a small movement to my left, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Bee moving a little closer. She had better be watching because part of this was for her benefit. Her presence was a reminder that I had better hurry this along before Snow came back.

It was time for the final test, could I make him do something outside his comfort zone? Pushing at him harder this time, I made sure he realized how much stronger I was and that I could take him out anytime I wished to do so. I blurted out something about his questionable parentage, making sure my diction and pronunciation were that of a lower class individual in order to keep up the act, and then I moved a little closer before giving him a clear opening. I watched him hesitate only for a moment, and to further antagonize him I told him what I was going to do to the boy in the tank after I was done pulling Wulfric apart. That was the final push he needed as he tried a move that could never be considered a move of a gentleman.

I blocked it and took a few steps back. "Not bad, all it took was threatening the boy." My pronunciation rivaled his for proper English. That alone seemed to stop him in his tracks.

Wulfric's is face was combination of shame and wariness. I on the other hand was happy to learn that he was capable of breaking his rules when pressed. He was probably not too pleased to realize he had just tried to kick me in the nuts. That was something of a no-no when it came to the proper rules of a gentleman.

"Was that truly necessary?" Bee asked in a bored tone, but I could hear the approval underneath. Wulfric seemed a little confused but I was not sure if it was due to the fact that I stopped attacking, that my language suddenly became as cultured as his, or how calm Bee was about the sudden fight that had broken out in the middle of the sickroom.

"I needed to know if he was capable of stepping outside of his comfort zone." I shrugged and turned my back on Wulfric. He no longer held my interest now that I had finished with my test.

Wulfric started spluttering about something, but Bee interrupted. "There were other ways of ascertaining that fact."

I laughed a little at her words. "Of course but they are not half as fun and I really do not have the time for them. This method was simple and direct."

"Why are you so interested in testing this boy?" Suspicion filled her words but it was the softer steel edge in the undercurrent of her tone that prevented my escape from the room.

"I am not going to say." At least not in front of the human. He would not be able to shield his thoughts from Snow and I did not want her to know that according to Aodh Wulfric would be joining the family. Bee gave a look and narrowed her eyes at me and followed me out of the room. I could have changed to a different language, one which was not spoken on Earth so the human would not understand, but then I would not have the pleasure of irritating my grandmother. I might not be able to walk away from her when she demanded an answer but that did not mean I could not make her work for it.

"You never told me what she was like?" Her sudden change in topics did not fool me. She was starting to strongly suspect the reason I needed to prove Wulfric's compatibility with the family. There went my plans to annoy Bee.

For a moment I considered playing dumb, but the look in her eyes said that would be foolish right now. So I told her the truth, who was I to protest if she wanted to know about my girl? I was willing to speak about her to anyone that would listen. "Young, impetuous, and stubborn. She is far too impulsive but that could be partially due to the wolf instincts as well as her age. Loyal to her people despite of the fact that they have essentially abandoned her to grieve alone." I was starting to get angry at her mother and the rest of the tribe. How could they let her mourn in insolation? Did they not see how lonely she was? Did they not care how close she was to losing all hope? I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts.

"You are to keep the family secrets," Bee warned me as she walked down the hall with me. The steel was back in her voice, and this time it had fully surfaced despite the softly she had spoken the words.

As we walked together the wall adjacent to us flicked from dull metal to a display closely following Bee's movements. Aurora being the perfect AI made sure that the wall next to Bee would be the one that displayed the results of the scans of the boy. The walls might look like dull metal but with the proper application of an electrical current they could become see through or turned into a monitor. This metal of course was technology stolen from the gods but further refined by my family.

"Trust me, I had considered disobeying your edict but know better," I heaved a sigh just thinking about my princess all alone. She was supposed to be helping her mother today so that should keep Sam off of her back for a while. Hopefully he would be concentrating on me and would leave her alone. Aurora had still not finished with her projections as to when the boy would come knocking at my door, she needed a great deal of time to go through all the scenarios when humans were involved - this was especially complicated because he was genetically modified so that variable would have to be taken into account. If the way things had been going was any indication I knew it would have to be soon. "Unfortunately I am too old to use youth as an excuse for disobedience. I have lived long enough to understand that keeping the family safe is more important than my individual wishes. However, despite all this sage wisdom if I did not have an exact end date for this gag order I would be actively be looking for a way around your order. I want her to know the truth about me."

"The whole truth?" she smiled, the large dimples spoke of innocence but it was belied by the mischievous look in her eyes.

"Well part of it," I smiled back fully, probably flashing my own set of dimples.

"Sassy had mentioned something about it happening in January, has there been anything to confirm that or are we relying only on a vision?" Bee as always was looking for more data. Knowledge was power and the more data she had the better prepared we could be for the event.

"I have not seen anything but I was going to ask Uncle Mickey since he is the one that is currently monitoring Volturi activity." I lowered my voice now, wanting to make sure that the human in the room we had left behind did not hear me give out vital information. Not that he would know what we were talking about but the need for secrecy had been hammered into me at an early age.

"There is no need for that, I will speak with my son." She paused as we got to the stairs. "You will promptly and I mean immediately tell me if you see anything at all in regards to the Volturi coming."

"Of course, I am very interested in what their plans are. Sassy seems to believe they are bringing their entire guard as well as a large group of witnesses." That was the part that was really bothering me. "Under normal circumstances the witnesses don't really matter as their presence is to give the Volturi an audience, but that was when they went after other vampires. The wolves will of course be supporting the Cullens or at least be in the vicinity if such a large group of blood drinkers shows up in their backyard. It will be hard to predict how the witnesses will react to a large group of wolves. The Volturi have learned to twist every situation to their advantage and could easily manipulate the crowd into thinking they are werewolves. I am afraid if that were the case it would be a kill first and ask questions later moment."

"I had forgotten how much Marcus hated the werewolves. The shifters being easily mistaken for werewolves might work in our favor?" She had a slight frown that marred her features as she thought things through. The Volturi were not the only ones able to take advantage of any situation, my grandmother could teach them a trick or two.

"How so? Werewolves are pretty much regarded as the enemy and all vampires are supposed to kill them on sight." Again another complication to add to my growing list of fears. "I don't think the blood drinkers will stop to ask what kind of wolves they are in the middle of a witch hunt."

"Yes but the Volturi might be pushed into mistaking them for werewolves, and this would be used as another bit of proof of their incompetence." She stared at the monitor at her side for a few moments before making some adjustments. The boy's DNA had been analyzed and Aurora was ready to begin the process of growing new organs for him. Bee was making sure that his age was taken into account when making the new organs. A different set of interleukins would have to be used to make sure that the organs would continue to grow once placed inside of the boy. It would not do to place the child sized heart into him only to have it stay child sized as he matured. That would be a death sentence especially if the were going to send the boy back to the 19th century. Though perhaps in light of the fact that he was going to be one of us he would be kept by the family.

"Sassy had mentioned that the Volturi would come accusing the Cullens of making an immortal child?" "Yes this is in reference to the hybrid on of Carlisle's sons fathered on his then human wife." I gave a little laugh at the thought. According to Kendrick they had not known it was possible and so the boy had not used any form of birth control on his honeymoon. "They did not know it could happen, since usually the vampires tend to eat their human lovers so the women don't survive long enough to know they became pregnant. The existence of human-vampire hybrids is not common knowledge but I would think that the Volturi would know about such things."

"Ah yes, I remember there is someone who plays at doing that somewhere on Earth." She was looking at a panel on the wall with far too much focus. Clearly she was refining her plan.

"Now that you mention it Phila and I ran into such rumors when we were in South America but we never encountered the creature. He has not been doing it enough to garner much attention so we left him be." This was sometime in the 1960s so who knew if he was still alive. Calling vampires immortal was a little bit of a misnomer because while technically they never died of old age more often than not they tended to be killed within five years of being changed. The naturally heightened paranoia of vampires meant they did not often tolerate others of their kind. The Volturi managed to overcome this natural aversion to others of their kind through fear, and the Cullens had managed it through love and mutual respect. "He is probably dead by now but I will be happy to ask around to see if he still exists."

"Do that, I want up-to-date information about the pawns on the chessboard, especially if we are going to intervene."

"Are we going to intervene?" Was the family going to support the Cullens openly? or as openly as we allowed ourselves when dealing with the Volturi? I was afraid to ask and seem to eager.

"Yes I was talking to Mari and I think it is time to bring the Volturi down a few notches." She gave a small grimace, "I really dislike playing the cadaver. It is not the decaying looks or even the ill-fitting clothing that is far too frou-frou for my tasted that bothers me, but that smell. That chemical we use to disguise our scent remains with you for weeks afterwards no matter what you bathe in."

Thousands of years ago Bee, Mari, and Peter had manipulated the vampire wars in order to make sure the Volturi were the ones that came into power. It had taken a great deal of planning on their part because our interactions with vampires took extra effort. Normally if outsiders saw our faces there was a natural glamour we projected that would make them forget the details, and in this way they would soon forget what we looked like. Occasionally a human would appear that would be immune to this power but so long as we avoided them for the rest of their short lifetime things were usually fine. The problem with vampires was that they had picture perfect recall and unlike human memories theirs did not fade with time. Coupled with the fact that they were immortal it could potentially lead to problems down the road. Once again it was about keeping the secret but we had to go about it in a more convoluted fashion than usual. The Volturi knew about the existence of Bee and Mari, but they thought the two were powerful beings who manipulated corpses. Little did they know that the "corpses" they manipulated were members of the family in disguise - covered with cloth as well as chemicals to disguise their scents. They thought that while Bee and Mari had managed to stay alive they could not stop the ravages of time on their bodies. It would not be a good day if they ever figured out just what type of power we actually possessed. They were not They tended to covet power and would stop at nothing to "collect" my family members if they knew the truth about us.

"Find out what you can about the hybrids in South America, or if that one vampire is still actively making them. Michael will tell me if the Volturi know about his existence." Bee's voice pulled me away from thoughts of the Volturi trying to capture my family members, " and double make sure you are not seen. I need your human disguise to be perfect. Aro can harvest the entirety of a person's thoughts with a mere touch, I don't want him putting together any patterns and noticing you."

"I know how to deal with vampires." I scoffed at her, this was something I had been doing for a long time.

"The binding process will mess with your mind and can make you careless." She emphasized her next words with pokes to my chest. "So…keep… the….secret."

"I understand grandmother," I tried to keep my voice even and calm. What did she think I was a two hundred year old youth?

"I am sure you want to grab the girl and bring her back here to the safety of the island," she gave me a stern look. "Restrain yourself."

I opened my mouth to deny the statement but she stopped me with a raised eyebrow. It was all I could do not to blush at how transparent my feelings were.

"I have seen a number of my children and even some grandchildren go through the process so please don't bother lying." She patted my arm in a consoling manner. "But this visit from the Volturi is too good an opportunity to miss. Your Leah, the rest of her pack, and the Cullens need to learn what they are willing to sacrifice in order to protect their family."

"Yes grandmother." I agreed with her on a logical level but also knew that as soon as I saw how much Leah was suffering it would take everything in me not to grab her and make a run for the island.

"Be a good boy, and obey orders." She told me probably knowing exactly how much I hated being a good boy and obeying.

By the time I got back to the cabin it was past noon, and there were several errands I would have to run if I was going to be ready in time to go hiking with Leah tomorrow morning. The pantry was running low on everything since I had emptied it to make dinner for Leah last night. Had it been less than twenty four hours since I had last seen her? It seemed like much longer than that but then a great deal had happened since then.

Regardless of how much I missed my princess I did not have the time to find her. Phila had sent me a message not so politely demanding a couple of casseroles - now that I had moved closer to her she was expecting me to cook for her. I did not mind, especially since I had nothing better to do. Normally I tended to travel a little more when I took time off but I could not leave my princess unattended. Come to think of it Sassy would not like me leaving Seth alone either.

It was when I was driving the truck to the grocery store that Aurora finally gave me her report. "After running through 817 scenarios my prediction is that there is a 43% chance that Sam will come to the door within the next 24 hours, but there is an 88% chance that he will be there in the next 48 hours."

"I really hope he is not thinking about coming tomorrow because I will have Leah with me." I mumbled under my breath as I pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store.

The market ended up having a surprisingly large variety of fresh seafood, but not much else. The selection of fresh fruits and vegetables was pitiful but at least they had cauliflower. My last grocery store run had been to a nice chain near Phila's place, but if I was going to be here for the next four months I would need to find a store that was a little closer. Maybe Port Angeles would offer a little more variety. Though if I was going to be honest if I was looking for the place with the largest selection of canned chili, this would be the place to come.

What should have been a fifteen minute dash through the place ended up taking twice that long. It was not indecision over what to buy that took so long, because honestly often times there was only one choice if I was lucky enough to find what I was looking for. Neither was it the huge number of shoppers I had to wade through, because honestly other than one more man who was seriously contemplating the perviously mentioned canned chilis. No the reason it took so freaking long was due to the slowest checkout woman on the planet. Of course she was the only cashier open so it was not like I had another choice.

I would have been more annoyed by her lack of speed if I had not been so amused by her uncanny resemblance to Madam Hooch. Her spiky silver hair, drawn on dark eyebrows, and thinly pursed lips tempted me to ask where she put her broomstick and if she was still giving flying lessons at Hogwarts. I resisted the urge, barely, but I did not want to interrupt and slow her down even more. Plus I did not want to have he mental picture of where she did put the broomstick, but clearly she did not put it there enough times if her sour expression was anything to go by.

Oh good, only seven more things for her to scan. I held my breath waiting and hoping that nothing would interrupt. Oh shit was is she doing?

She paused to stare at the parsnips turning them over in her hands almost like she had never seen a parsnip before. Fuck!

"They are parsnips," I told her after I could not stand it any longer. How does she not know what they are? It is not like they are that exotic of a thing.

"I know what they are, I am just looking for the code." He lips thinned with displeasure at my interruption, and for a few seconds completely disappeared from her face.

Well pardon me for trying to be helpful. There was no need to be catty about it. "I can go find the code for you while you check out the rest my things."

"Oh no, that is against policy. A customer cannot leave the line once the checkout process begins."

"Oh really?" I looked at her skeptically wondering which nitwit came up with such a brilliant policy. Madam Hooch was no longer amusing. Barely managing not to tap my foot with impatience I stood there and watched while she paged the assistant manager to cashier 3. She repeated the line making sure to emphasize the cashier number almost like she was not the only one open. Must be another policy assistant manager ambled over at a snails pace and managed to help the cashier find the right code for the parsnips right in front of her in that book all cashiers had. Hallelujah!

"Have a good day," the assistant manager had been just another boring mortal that held little interest until she flashed me that saccharine smile. I had not recognized her before, probably because I had forgotten about her completely, but those words and smile brought forth memories of what had occurred this past Monday. This was the woman who had been rude to my princess, she had been the one who had practically called my girl a liar. I narrowed my eyes at her and focused a bit of my anger in her direction. The heel of her high heel shoes snapped causing her to trip and slam into a display. Oh that knee was going to hurt tomorrow. It was beneath me to pull such petty stunts, but I had come to accept the fact that this binding had brought out my more juvenile attributes. Would it be possible to find the others as well, the ones who had hurt my girl when she was searching for a job? It was not that I had expected them to give her a job but they could have been a little kinder about telling her no. I really wanted to find that one woman who told her she was too tall. Maybe she was just one of those vertically challenged woman who were a bitch to anyone who was taller, and since they were usually so short that meant they were a bitch to everyone.

It was a cold enough day that I did not need to worry about my food spoiling, so I spent the next couple of hours running "errands". Every store that Aodh had shown me rejecting Leah in a rude manner got my attention, doling out a bit of bad karma really made me feel better. I was at the hardware store contemplating whether I wanted to destabilize that display of power tools or do something more personal to the owner when I was hit with another vision of Leah's current circumstances. I had been sure she was safe at work but unfortunately that was not the case. She was shopping for clothes, an activity that should have made her happy, but clearly from the look on her face it had the opposite effect on my princess.

Ignoring the hardware store owner and the drizzle that hit me as soon as I stepped outside the store I headed for my truck with a great deal of determination. Concern for my girl's mental being warred with happiness at the knowledge that I was going to see her again soon. Knowing her general direction I headed a few blocks down to the outdoor supplies store.

"Hello may I help..." the boy at the checkout of the outdoor store did not finish his sentence because I just walked past him. Grabbing a bag of socks and another of underwear to give myself a reason to be here I walked towards the back of the store. Ad was being extra cooperative today in, but I think it just liked being around Leah almost as much as I did.

Rounding the corner to the men's section I was met with a sight that took my breath away. Naked Leah ass had been perfection itself but when encased in jeans well…..let us just say I have never realized it was possible to be jealous of fabric. I wanted to replace that denim and - and it would be best not to dwell too much on those thoughts.

The jeans covered those long, long legs as well as cupped her small but curvy behind in all the right place. She really had the most perfect ass I had ever seen in a woman, and I had seen a lot of behinds. I could say with absolute certainty with that never had I seen such an amazing ass, this was not something you could achieve with implants. I wonder if she would be willing to….nope I was not going to think about that. There was no need to torture myself in that way. It was her heavy sigh that brought me back from my fantasies.

"I think those jeans make your ass look big," what would I give for a bit of time alone with those delicate curves? My hands were so desperate to touch that they practically itched with need. Stop that and focus on her! Though technically speaking I am…shut up.

"What, are you stalking me now?" She sounded angry and suspicious but there was also a tinge of hurt underneath the bluster.

"Yeah you figured me out." You have no idea how much I have been stalking you. "I already found and killed my first target and now I have moved onto my second choice of prey." As far as Leah was concerned she was my first, second, and third choice.

"What are you doing here?" The girl had no problem jumping on the back of a bike with a stranger but meet me in a tore and suddenly she gets suspicious?

I tried my best not to laugh at her wary expression. "Hmmm well hanging out in the men's section of a store? Yeah it looks very suspicious." Unable to resist I leaned closer before continuing. "If you must know I am doing secret ninja stuff." She smelled a little bit like fish and of course her own unique scent. Again my mind started wondering what her skin would taste like, all it would take was another step and for me to lean down and I could lick that spot behind the delicate curve of her ear. Would she really notice if I did that? I could always pretend to be clumsy. Though if I was going to use that excuse I might as well pick a better spot. Her chest perhaps? I could always put my hands on that ass to help "stabilize" myself. I pulled myself together before I did something stupid like acting on my fantasies. Well it looked like I was going to have to take matters into my own hands tonight, especially if I was going to be around her all day tomorrow.

"Yeah I guess ninjas need clean underwear." She laughed as she finally noticed my props.

After that it was easy enough to continue with the joke until her mood improved, and as much as I would have liked to continue our banter I knew I could not spend too much more time with her or she would truly start getting suspicious about my motives. Only the knowledge that I would see her early tomorrow morning gave me the strength to leave her.

It was late afternoon when I got home. It took me a while to put the groceries away because I was also trying to rearrange the kitchen. Kendrick was going to kill me when he got back but this was my place now and while I would not touch the rest of the house the kitchen would be my domain. I needed to have something to do especially since the alternate was to harass more shop owners or go shadow every one of Leah's movements. Either act was beneath me so instead I took everything out of the pantry.

I had was in the middle of digging pulling out the flours, which Kendrick had a great many of, off the shelves when Aurora's voice came over the house speakers. "The wolf from yesterday has just entered the security grid."

My excitement level rose, "is he coming this way?" The words were not fully out of my mouth before Aodh stepped up to the plate and showed me that Sam was indeed going to come knock on my door. This was clearly going to be my day for getting things done.

"Aurora send Tiffany a message and tell her I will need her help in the next hour if she is available." The pantry with half its contents disgorged onto the counter would help reinforce the impression I wanted to make. I had just moved in, why would I not be doing a quick inventory of what was in the house? According to Aodh I had around ten minutes or so to get ready. I had run through several scenarios in my mind as to how to best surprise a wolf without giving away the fact that I was not human. The plan I was implementing now was perfect because not only would I be able to take out my aggression on Sam but this would allow me to make it appear like he was the bad guy.

Aodh not only approved but showed me how successful the plan would be. Things usually went more smoothly when Aodh was in agreement. I ran upstairs and swiftly pulled the sheets off a bed I had slept in once. Normally I was not this fastidious but I needed to was it before Leah came by and smelled Phila on my sheets, and it would be a good excuse as to why I would be in the laundry room when Sam came in.

The dirty sheets I tossed into the middle of the downstairs bathroom/laundry room. Heading back into the kitchen turned on the oven and pulled out a casserole from the deepfreeze. Aurora had said there was only a fifty percent chance he would show up today, and usually she was correct about such predictions. Maybe she had a hard time taking into account the fact that he was a wolf and therefore more willing to take risk. Since Sam thought he was the stronger of the two of us he might be more willing to confront me - this misconception would lead to his downfall in the end. Bee had always told us to study our enemy before we attach, and Sam had clearly not done enough reconnaissance but he did not know that.

"Aurora, turn on the music. Industrial genre, loud please." We liked to use that type of music to disguise our movements when it came to experiments with excellent hearing abilities. The music was filled with random sounds and so even stray noises sounded like they were part of the music. He would not be able to detect my footsteps or my heartbeat as I stalked him. It would explain how I, an ordinary human, was able to sneak up on someone with wolf hearing.

The phone in my pocket vibrated signaling an incoming message. On my way, this is going to be so much fun. It appeared that I had back up for this mission. This did not come as a surprise as Tiffany was always ready to be helpful, especially if it involved a joke.

Make sure that you stay in the attic until I get him unconscious so that you don't give the game away. I wrote her back before going to check on the preheating oven, I might as well get started on dinner for real. The casserole could bake while I took care of Sam. "Aurora reset the clocks in the house for thirty minutes behind the actual time."

Once I finish dealing with this Sam, I would have to start preparing for my hike with Leah. As a girl with the appetite of a wolf she would be fun to feed - I really hated these modern girls who had such a messed up relationship with food. Maybe I will make a jambalaya for her tomorrow, it tasted really good when cooked in the slow cooker, and that way dinner would be ready by the time we got here. I had consulted some maps of the region and realized it was not a bad hike to go from her house to the cabin. It would be a bit much for a regular human but my hiking ability could easily be explained by the fact that I am in good shape. If I was going to make her enough food I would have to run by another grocery store later tonight to gather up some odds and ends I had not been able to find today. I would just go to the one I had found in Seattle, since I did not have the time or the energy to find one closer. I am sure they had the andouille and the specialized spices I would need for the meal.

Sam was still circling the property so I started to pull out the ingredients to make granola. That was always a good think to have while hiking. In the middle of chopping up some of the almonds when I heard footsteps on the stairs. The loud music and soundproofing of the house had prevented me from hearing her

Glaring at Tiffany as she came around the corner I made shooing gestures at her. "Does it look like I have an unconscious shifter here?"

"Not yet but I need to see what equipment you have just in case I have to pop back to the island to pick something extra up." She came over to my cutting board and scooped up a handful of almonds to shove into her mouth.

"At least you did not take the ones I had already chopped up." I had to remind myself that she was doing me the favor. "The tools are in a green satchel in the attic. Everything you need should be there."

"Good, good. Aurora how long before the boy comes to the door?" Tiffany asked as she started heading upstairs again. The music was loud enough that I did not hear Aurora's reply. As an added precaution the attic was insulated so Tiffany's movements would not be detected even by the acute hearing of a shifter.

"Aurora make this song 5% louder please." It was a great song, the base was so loud I could feel the beat vibrating within me. The wall panel behind me looked like an ordinary wall to humans but was actually made of the same metal as our houses on the island. Aurora was using it to show me Sam's current position.

I really did not need to see his naked ass when he changed into human form. Fortunately he quickly pulled on some torn looking jeans so I did not have to see him sans clothes for too long. "Aurora increase the opacity of the windows 10%." The thick cloud cover combined with the trees that surrounded the cabin made it a little dark in the cabin. Since I had not turned on the lights even a small increase int he opacity of the windows would make it impossible to see inside.

The oven beeped behind me and I moved to put in the casserole that had been thawing on the counter. In the meantime I continued to stir together the ingredients for granola in my large mixing bowl. I pretended not to hear the pounding on the front door, and watched on the monitors as Sam waited impatiently for me to answer the door. It was when I started seeing him circle the house towards the back door that I made my move. Since he was determined to speak with me today who was I to deny him that? Honestly I was not adverse to him stepping into my trap.

His close proximity and heightened emotions meant that I was being bombarded with his angry thoughts. He vacillated between a plan to demand that I leave the area and never come back and a more physical confrontation. I laughed at the thought of being intimidated by such a weak creature. It was the curse of my family that we could never show our enemies our true nature - well not until it was too late and we were sent to kill them.

I fantasized about showing Sam who he was facing today. What would his reaction be? Would he run out of here with his tails between his legs like the dog he was?

"Hello," he asked as he came around the porch. I was already hiding in the laundry room/bathroom next to the kitchen. I could hear him at the back door but could not see him since the monitors were turned off. It was time to pretend to be a normal house, and a normal human.

The door to the bathroom was half open, but I was hiding behind it so he would walk right past me without seeing where I was. The baseball bat that I had placed there earlier was a normal thing found in most American homes and many people used bats for self defense.

He did not hesitate for long before opening the back door and stepping inside of my house. His thoughts indicated that this small infraction, this tiny bending of the law, was a price he was willing to pay to take care of Leah. I nearly growled as I dwelled deeper into his thoughts, apparently he was doing all this because he was "responsible" for Leah and he was supposed to be the chief and therefore he knew best. He saw Leah as a younger weaker being that needed to be controlled before she did something else foolish.

My hands tightened around the baseball bat in anticipation of breaking his skull open. His thoughts told me exactly when he went past the bathroom door, sparing little thought to what might be hiding behind it. Instead of checking for danger the fool was looking around in awe at the furnishings. He did not even notice as I stepped out of the bathroom nor when I started stalking him across the dining area.

He did not hear my soft footfalls across the bare wood floors, he did not hear my double heartbeats, and he most certainly did not hear the sound of the baseball bat swinging towards the back of his head. There was a satisfying thud as the bat connected with the back of his head followed by a second thud as he hit the floor face first.

"Pause the music," I told Aurora as I circled the body to make sure he was not waking up, the bat in my hand ready for another swing just in case he was waking up.

"For this to work you cannot beat him to a pulp." Tiffany's quite observation pulled me back to reality. With much regret I leaned the baseball bat against the counter. It took far too much willpower to lay down my weapon and not hit him a few more times. I watched as Tiffany injected him with a strong sedative and placed a sensor on him to monitor his level of consciousness. Due to the quick healing effects of the wolf we would have to tightly monitor him to make sure he did not wake up before we wanted him to.

"What do you need me to do?" I asked her as she turned Sam around so he was lying on his back. He was only wearing a pair of cut off jeans, his chest and feet were bare due to the fact that he had come this way as a wolf.

"Why is he practically naked?" She asked as she unzipped his shorts and pulled them off. "Oh going commando with a zipper, he is really a brave boy."

"He came here as a wolf," I told her all the while attempting to look anywhere but at his junk.

"So?" She did not waste much time as she put on some sterile gloves and pointed towards the metal box that contained the surgical tools. I opened up the case and then put on my own set of gloves.

"When they shift they do not have the magical pocket where they can store their clothes and such." The wolves really had none of the mental powers we did.

"So what happens to their clothes?" She asked as I draped the area where she was going to make the incision. I was happy that I no longer had to look at his dick.

"Well since their wolf bodies are much larger than their human bodies they kind of rip through them. Some of course get naked first but if there is no time for that they kind of burst through their clothes." It was really an inefficient way to change.

"Well they certainly got screwed in that regard when it comes to genetic modification. I am glad we did not get the shaft in that regard." After double checking to make sure he was really out she swiftly made her incision. "Now the tricky part is finding this little guy."

"If you need me to…" I started to offer to find it myself having looked at the anatomy books this morning to make sure I knew what I was doing.

"Oh please stop talking," Tiffany having the spirit herself knew what I was about to say before I had even finished my sentence.

I sighed, sometimes it was annoying to be around psychics but at least I had the decency to allow people to finish their sentences even when I knew what they were going to say. Biting my tongue in order to not say another word I watched as she quickly located the right nerve. I handed her the appropriate tools so as to make this procedure go more smoothly. In less than ten minutes the deed was done.

"Remind me never to piss you off." Tiffany told me with laugh as she finished up.

"This is not me being pissed off, this the consequence for pushing around my girl." He was lucky I had the wisdom and patience of nearly two thousand years.

"Did he hurt her?" Tiffany asked as she quickly closed the surgical wound and cleaned the area of the disinfectant.

"Yes and no. I think she hurt herself more than anyone else, but he most certainly did not help. He made Leah doubt herself. Essentially right after her father died he imprinted on her cousin and dumped Leah like a hot potato. Which could have been forgiven but since he is the alpha and Leah can shift he seems to think that he gets to rule her life now. He tried to use his little alpha command to push his will on her. Fortunately she is not a member of his pack so she was able to resist."

"Are you sure you don't want me to just cut it off?" She pointed at his dick as she cleaned off the blood and pulled his pants back on.

"Don't tempt me," I pushed him back onto his face and smashed it down again onto the floor to recreate the injuries from his earlier fall. His wolf healing had already fixed the broken nose. "The problem is that Leah seems to think she still loves this idiot, so she would be pissed if I truly broke him."

The sensor detecting his level of consciousness altered me to the fact that he was waking up. "Time for me to leave," Tiffany commented as she removed said sensor. "It must suck having to love a girl who has no clue what you are." She laughed as she gathered up all of her tools and said goodbye.

"I cannot wait for this to happen to you, then we will see who is laughing." I told her as she disappeared around the corner. I could hear her going up the stairs and into the attic. "Aurora, switch the clocks back to actual time. Set off the security system, the police should be notified by the system."

There was some duct tape in the laundry room and I used it to secure Sam's hands behind his back. I made sure to add enough layers that it covered half his forearm. His brain was starting to work as I could hear some barely coherent thoughts coming from him. Rolling my shoulders back to help me relax I picked up my baseball bat and used it to poke him in the chest.

"Wha…" his eyes were unfocused, but he was trying to sit up. It was amazing how quickly the wolf metabolism could throw off the anesthesia we had given him. He would of course think it was due to the baseball bat to the back of the head, and I was not about to correct him.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I asked, allowing anger and a bit of fear to leak into my voice.

"Um..." He sounded a little dazed and it please me to not that his eyes did not seem to be able to focus.

"The police have been called you punk, now stop moving or I will hit you again." I brandished my bat in the air to show him I meant business. Ten minutes later the sound of sirens alerted me to the fact that the police were on their way. Sam was still messed up from the anesthesia so he had not put up much of a fight.

The speed with which the police got to my door did not surprise me but the fact that it was Chief Swan of Forks who actually answered my distress call did. I should have expected it considering Forks was such a small town that even the Chief of police patrolled the area.

"We are over here in the back," I called out as I went to open the front door for him after he knocked and identified himself.

"What is the problem?" The Chief asked looking into the house. I had left the baseball bat next to the door.

"Some punk kid broke into my house, and I knocked him unconscious with my bat. Don't worry I have him restrained."

"Show me where he is." Chief Swan was all business now. I noticed that he had not taking his hand off his service weapon the entire time we were talking.

"He is right back here," I told him as I lead him through the living room. I paused for a second and pretended to look around. Sam of course had regained enough brain power to get our of the duct tape restraints. He had been looking at them, probably trying to figure out how to remove the tape without taking off several layers of skin as well.

"Police, hands up." Chief Swan did not mess around and immediately went to Sam. I don't know which of the two were more surprised when they finally recognized each other.

"Sam?" Chief Swan was the first to speak, but he was also the one without the brain injury.

"What you know him?" My voice was filled with disbelief, "so he has broken into other houses as well. He is a known criminal."

"No!" Sam finally found his voice. It was amusing to see him try to explain what he was doing in my cabin. Chief Swan let him take a seat while he explained what the hell he had been doing in my cabin.

Sam had a few false starts before he finally wrapped self-righteousness around himself. "I was just coming to make sure that the guy Leah has started hanging around with was all right."

"Wait? You are the one, the kid with Leah?" I did pull off the surprised human tone well, even if I did say so myself.

"Yes we had met before, why did you hit me?" He asked glaring at me.

I had no problem glaring right back at him. "Well first off you were entering my home without being invited." I paused and looked at Chief Swan, "normally a woman lives here alone and it scares me to think that someone like him could just walk in on her."

"Normally people knock on door, they don't just walk in Sam." Chief Swan looked a little pissed.

"Plus I would have probably hit you twice had I actually recognized you. I don't know who taught you how to treat women, but they did a piss poor job." I gave Sam an angry look.

"What do you mean?" Chief Swan asked suddenly looking very curious.

"The first time I met this idiot he was manhandling Leah Clearwater. He offered her a ride home and she declined. She was walking away when this moron physically tired to restrain her." I shook my head at him. "Let me make this very clear to you, when a girl says no and walks away that means leave her alone. That does not mean you follow her home and harass her some more."

Chief Swan looked pissed, just like I intended him to be. I knew he had a daughter so in his mind this really hit home.

I had every right to be offended by the boy in my kitchen so I did not spend any effort trying to hide my disdain for the boy as I continued my explanation. "So what you are telling me is that you broke into a house to do what? Ask me what my intentions are? Threaten me with bodily harm? I know you are capable of that considering you don't seem to have any trouble doing that to a girl. How do I know that you were not looking for the woman who normally lives here? I should warn you she has a great alarm system because of creeps like you."

I slowly but surely made the case against Sam, and unfortunately for him the Chief of police was agreeing with me. This was an addd bonus for today's activities, not only was I going to mess with Sam's relationship but I was also going to reduce his standing in the community.

In the end after declining an offer for coffee but accepting a piece of the casserole that had finished cooking for the road Chief Swan managed to convince me not to file charges against the Sam. After getting an apology out of Sam and a promise from Chief Swan that he would keep an eye on the boy they left in the police cruiser.

Emily, Sam's fiancee, was in the magazine section of the grocery store. She was concentrating on a magazine with "Ten tricks to make yourself look more sexy" written in hot pink across the front. The magazine already in her basket promised to reveal the secrets to a better sex life.

I smiled at the vision Aodh had shown me - mission successful. After picking up my kitchen and wrapping up my casserole for travel I jumped to Phila's apartment. She was in the middle of grading what looked like quizes but was happy to take a break in order to eat dinner with me.

"What the hell have you been doing? I heard Tiffany was helping you with something?" She asked as we ate the food.

"Just making sure that Sam stops harassing my girl." I told her with a smug smile.

"What did you do and are you sure it is going to work?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Tiffany partially blocked the cavernous nerves in his groin." At her confused look I continued to explain, "these nerves help to start and maintain an erection. It is only a partial block so he should still be able to get an erection but the signal is reduced."

"So you made him impotent?" She laughed out loud at the thought. "That is truly mean."

"No what I did was make him not be able to maintain an erection." It was almost worse than if he could not get it up. "I needed him to concentrate on something other than Leah. He cares about two things: the safety of his tribe and Emily. If I made him doubt the safety of the tribe he could easily drag Leah into this. But if I mess with his sex life it will make Emily doubt that he is still attracted to her, she does already have a complex about the scar on her face, and it will take a great deal of time and effort on his part to convince Emily that he still is attracted to her. So he will not have as much time to stalk my girl."

"So Leah will have more time to devote to you, especially without the constant interference of her ex."

"I am not going to say no spending more time with my Princess."

"I have one important question for you?" She leaned in close looking very serious, I was instantly suspicious. "Is he bigger than you? and how is Leah going to console herself with the knowledge that she has to downgrade to your size?" She was looking at my groin so I had no doubt what she was referring to.

I did not bother answering her, and instead threw a piece of bread at her head. Of course I was bigger than Sam, plus I was not a virgin and thus knew exactly what to do with a woman.