Steelcode, who owns Sage, asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :)

Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Vamps belongs to guestsurprise. I only own Rachel, Vampiro, Megan, Tina, Chocolate, and Taco.

Call Of The Wolf

"Goodness, it's getting windy today," Rachel said as she started to gather some of the laundry she had hung out to dry. Mostly it was bed sheets and towels and the day had been very hot, which meant the clothes dried fast. The only problem was, the wind was picking up and Rachel was trying to gather the sheets and towels so that they didn't get carried off by the wind.

Suddenly, just as she got one of the sheets and a couple towels free, a gust of wind came up and snatched them from her hands. Letting out a cry of alarm, she ran after the escaped laundry.

Unknown to her, someone was watching and quickly jumped in to help.

Rachel managed to snag the bed sheet and brought it back to the basket and turned to get the towels, but jumped in surprise at seeing a large animal beside her and he had the towels, holding them in his mouth. Surprised, she noticed that he was all grey with a white underside and white socks on all four paws and he was large like a German Shepherd. "Hello," she said after a moment and gently grabbed the towels, which he released and she put in the basket. "Thank you for grabbing those towels."

The dog sat there and she held out her hand, to which he sniffed her hand and gently nudged her hand, letting her pet him. Rachel then tried using her ability to speak to animals, but for some reason, she couldn't get a response from him. Finding that unusual because usually she could speak to any animal, she gently felt around his neck for a collar. "Who do you belong to, boy?" She asked, but to her surprise, there was no collar or tags. "Well, maybe you lost your collar somewhere."

As she began to search the yard, she didn't see the dog head back into the woods, but when she turned around after about twenty minutes of searching, she didn't see him. "Hmm. Where'd he go?"

"Saber!"

Hearing a voice calling, Rachel turned to find a young man coming out of the woods beside her home. "Saber!" He called out.

She walked up to him. "Hi, can I help you?" She asked politely.

The young man turned to her and she noticed he couldn't be more than fourteen or fifteen years of age. "Hi, sorry. I'm looking for a dog with a camera around his neck," he said. "Have you seen him?"

"Is he large like a German Shepherd but all grey?" She asked.

"Same one," the boy said.

"He was here. He helped me catch some escaped laundry, but I guess he left afterwards," Rachel said before cocking her head to the side. "May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Sage," he replied, holding out his hand, which she took. "I'm fifteen and taking photography and other arts at the local college."

The young woman's eyes widened. "Fifteen and in college?" She asked. "That's impressive."

"Thank you," he said, looking a little bashful before checking his watch. "Well, I better go find Saber. Sorry for trespassing."

His politeness was impressing her. "Oh, it's no trouble," she said. "I hope you find your dog. Would you like help finding him?"

"Oh, no thank you, but thank you for offering," Sage said politely and headed out, leaving Rachel to go deep into thought.

There's something about that boy, she thought to herself. And it's not his good manners, but something else. Something I can't put my finger on.

While she was impressed by his good manners, there was something about him that she just couldn't name. It was mysterious, but yet…some underlying sadness maybe.

Shrugging, she turned her attention back to the laundry and took it inside.

Later on that day…

Of course the Forever Knights would have to try and ruin a good day.

Vampiro, Tina, Whampire, and Vamps all stood, shedding their disguises, and facing the Forever Knights who had surprised them and grabbed Megan, who was crying and trying to get free. "Now, Vladats, turn yourselves in and the child will be returned to Miss Jocklin unharmed," said the head Knight.

"Don't you dare threaten my daughter!" Whampire hissed angrily. Vampiro looked ready to take down a few Knights and Vamps looked the same. Tina had managed to get a call for help to the Mansion before things took a bad turn.

"Well, little Megan, looks like your family doesn't care if you live or not," said the lead Knight. "Tie her up."

Megan struggled, but one Knight slapped her, making her whimper before she was tied up and placed between the Knights and her family. "Since you refuse to surrender, the child shall pay," one said.

"Megan!" Whampire called out, feeling helpless to help his daughter.

"Daddy," she whimpered, tears running down her face.

"What do we do?" Tina whispered to her husband.

"I don't know," Vampiro said softly, feeling helpless as well. Vamps was debating whether to tackle the Knights, but knew it would mean Megan would get hurt either way.

"Forever Knights, fire!" The Head Knight said.

Megan screamed as the blast came towards her, but suddenly a shadow covered her and a young man grunted. She looked up to see a teenage boy standing over her and he looked angrily at the Knights. "You're not going to hurt this young girl," he growled and before everyone's eyes, transformed into a large wolf, howling eerily and a gust of wind came up, blowing the Knights back as the young man turned wolf howled loudly and jumped at the Forever Knights, taking a few down with some well-timed jumps and wrecking their weapons, forcing the Knights to retreat rapidly.

Seeing they were gone, Sage moved over to Megan, who was looking at him in awe. Giving her shoulder a gentle nudge with his nose, he went to work biting the ropes and breaking them, freeing her. "Daddy!" She cried out, running to her father, who scooped her up in his arms.

Vamps and Vampiro moved closer to the wolf and Vampiro's eyes widened. "The boy…is a shape-shifter," he said.

"A shape-shifter?" Vamps asked in surprise. "But…I didn't know humans could do that."

"Maybe only a few can," Tina said before going up to the wolf. "Can you change back, little one?"

Sage closed his eyes and was soon back in human form. Megan, seeing this, reached for him. Surprised, he accepted her and she hugged him hard. "You saved my daughter," Whampire said in a grateful voice. "Who are you, young man?"

"My name is Sage," he said. "And…I'm a shape-shifter."

"The wolf is your animal form?" Vamps asked curiously.

Sage nodded. "I can change my size so I appear the size of a normal dog too," he said. "But…hardly anyone has ever seen me shift into my wolf form."

Vampiro looked at him. "There's more," he said softly. "You've had a hard past."

The boy nodded. "Come," the Vladat King said, gesturing to the boy. "I think we should all head back for the Mansion."

They all nodded and teleported there.

Rachel was surprised to see the young man again and was shocked when she heard he could transform into a wolf and had saved Megan's life. "So that's why I got no response from you earlier," she said, a smile on her face. "You weren't just a wolf and if you had spoken, it would have blown your cover."

"Yeah," Sage said before looking away.

"Sage?" Whampire asked softly.

He looked at them. "Not everyone's been nice to me like you all have," he said. "And Megan…reminded me of me when I was younger. And the fact that I hate people like the Forever Knights hurting someone so young…I couldn't not help her."

"There's something in that statement I'm sensing," Tina said gently. "Did someone…try to hurt you?"

Sage took a deep breath. "Worse," he said. "For most of my life, I've had my wolf-shifting powers and my…dad used me in dog fights to win money."

That shocked them. "How could a father do that to his own child?" Vampiro asked.

"It happens more often than you think," Rachel said softly, recalling her own birth father abusing her.

Sage nodded. "Finally, when I was thirteen, I escaped and worked to turn my life around," he said. "I take on odd jobs here and there for money and got interested in photography. I was asked to photograph people for family pictures and weddings and it paid good money. I used that money to go to school, graduate, and then worked to pay my way through college. I've still got a few years of college left, but I've had many people ask me to do pictures for them and the money helps with college expenses and food."

He then gently tugged a couple of leather bracelets he wore on his wrists. "I hope he won't find me again," he said.

Having a feeling the bracelets hid marks of abuse, Rachel stood up. "Sage," she said. "There is a judge in town who is a very good friend of my family. If he sees enough evidence of child abuse, he can put that creep in jail and I could talk to him about having someone here be a guardian for you."

"Or better yet," Whampire said, standing up. "Someone here could adopt you."

Sage looked at them. "But…who'd want me?" He asked.

"Whammy and I would."

Hearing a new voice, they looked to see Rachel's sister Sasha standing there and beside her were Chocolate, the brown Labrador, and Taco, the little Chihuahua. The two dogs went up to Sage and sat by him. Smiling, he pet them and Chocolate lay beside him while Taco jumped up in his lap and settled down. Rachel smiled. "They sense you are a good person," she said. "I'm surprised you're…not afraid of them."

Sage shook his head. "I love dogs," he said with a smile before looking up at Sasha, who smiled at him.

"Megan found me and told me you saved her," she said. "She thinks of you as a big brother."

He was surprised. "But…we just met," he said.

Whampire smiled. "If our daughter sees you as a brother, then I believe that should be made official," he said.

"You mean…you would take me in?" Sage asked.

"Not just take you in," Sasha said. "Adopt you as our son."

The boy was in shock, but looked at them and took a deep breath. "Can…Can that be done?"

A few days later…

The judge had seen the evidence of the rope marks on Sage's wrists and the teeth and claw marks on the boy's back and upper body and it was enough to convict the boy's birth father and terminate his parental rights and the same day, the judge granted the adoption papers too and once Whampire and Sasha had signed him, it was official.

Megan was so excited that she couldn't stop jumping up and down that she now had a big brother and the Vladats pitched in to create Sage's new room and welcome him to the family. He even asked if he would still be allowed to go to college.

"Of course," Sasha said. "We're not going to deny you of your dreams to be a photographer."

"And I've been looking for a photographer too," Rachel said. "You see, there is a huge wedding coming up and there are over fifty couples getting married here at the Mansion."

Sage's eyes widened. "Over fifty couples?" He asked in shock.

Rachel chuckled. "We have a big family," she said. "If you'd like, you can be the photographer for the wedding."

"That way, we can show our real forms too and not have to worry about someone exposing us," Whampire said.

"That way, everyone can have pictures," Sasha said.

Sage blinked and then smiled. "I'd be honored to be the wedding photographer," he said.

Everyone smiled at that and Sage felt the wolf inside him settle down, making him realize that he was with a good family. But if his wolf form was ever needed, he'd be ready.

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GoldGuardian2418