This is the sequel to The Wolf At My Door! I don't think you need to read that story to understand the plot here, but it might help. I do explain some aspects of the Wolf World there that I do not explain here. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask, they actually help me to define this AU better.

As usual, I don't own any character who has appeared on the show!

Detective Joss Carter entered the park, smiling in anticipation. The moon was full and her pack was already on the run, all she had to do was catch up to them. She'd had to work later than she'd wanted to on a Pack Night, but she and her partner Fusco had finally cracked one of their toughest cases, and despite missing the first hour of the run she was feeling good. Fusco had left a few minutes before she had; he had probably already caught up with the pack.

Wolf Packs were tight knit extended family/social units and Pack Nights were opportunities for the entire pack to come together, socialize, and run together in Wolf form. (There were non-Wolf members of a pack, usually significant others and non-wolf children of the Wolf members, they would usually go a nearby home or restaurant while the Wolves ran together for a few hours). Wolves tended to be social creatures and most of them eagerly looked forward to Pack Nights. Joss was no exception, it had been a long week and a good run with her mate and her friends was just what she needed.

After a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, Joss left the paved path and headed into the bushes, looking for the place where she and her mate, Alpha John Reese, normally left their clothes on Pack Nights. She found the spot easily enough and the gym bag containing John's clothing was right where it should be. Before she stripped off her clothes she took a minute to bury her nose in his shirt and inhale his intoxicating scent. Even before she joined the Wolf People and become the mate of the Alpha, she had found his scent extremely sensual, but with her heightened sense of smell she found it down right addicting, much more so than any drug.

Quickly, she removed her clothes and placed them neatly into the bag with John's. She willed herself to change and in just a few seconds she was a jet black wolf with large chocolate brown eyes and soft fur. She smiled to herself, the change got easier every time she did it. John had been a very good teacher and despite the fact that she had only been Wolf for a few months, she was capable of changing form much faster than many members of the pack who had been Wolf much longer than she. John had been extremely pleased with her progress, and told her recently that he felt she might be one of the rare wolves who were able to change form even when the moon was not full.

"Joss, I think you were born for this," he had teased her. "Are you sure there is no Wolf Blood in your background?"

She had laughed, "Mom says no, but like many Black families, there are a lot of holes in our genealogy, so who knows?" But she had been very pleased to know that she was shaping up to be an excellent Wolf. She loved John and wanted to be a good mate to him and a good Alpha Female to the pack.

She left the bushes, following her mate's scent. She broke into a fast trot, not wanting to tire herself out before she reached her pack, but wanting to catch up quickly. She could "feel" her mate, and she knew she was not as far behind as she had thought she might be. John must have kept the other wolves reined in until she and Fusco could join them. She could sense that Fusco was close by as well, not too far ahead of her.

Wolf Mates shared a very close bond that non-Wolves did not have, and Joss's connection to her mate was a marvel, even to those who had been born into the Wolf People. It was said that Wolf mates shared a soul; it was not unusual for Wolf People to feel a deep emotional connection with their mate, to know when they were close by, know their mood, even if they weren't in the same building. But Joss's abilities extended well beyond what was considered normal, even for Wolves. Her range was much greater than normal. She would know whenever John had been hurt, even if he was all the way on the other side of the city. She could feel his presence constantly, like his ghost was following her around.

John wasn't quite sure why their bond was so strong, but he speculated that the intense emotions he had been feeling when he turned her might have had something to do with it. "You were dying, Joss. I thought I was going to lose you, and I was frantic. I was willing you to live and not leave me." John paused and smiled, "I may have over done it."

Joss had been perplexed, "There's an emotional component? It's not just the bite?"

"How much do you remember about the night I turned you?"

"I don't remember much about being turned, John. I was sorta busy bleeding out."

"No one really knows the exact mechanics of how the turning works. The stronger the Wolf doing the turning, the faster the turn happens, that's why Alphas normally perform turnings. We're Alphas because we are supposed to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest Wolf around. I'm a Born Alpha, a stronger than normal Wolf, otherwise I would not have been able to turn you fast enough to save your life."

Joss brought her eyebrows together in a frown, "OK, I'm with you so far. What about the emotional component then?"

"Wolf lore says that the Wolf performing a turn should clear their mind of all emotions or the effect on the person being turned could be unpredictable. I didn't have time to clear my mind with you."

Joss pursed her lips, thinking, "I see, so the fact that you were letting it all hang out emotionally contributes to our bond."

"That's what the Old Wolves would say, yes. I happen to think they are right, at least in this case."

Harold Finch, John's reclusive employer, had been fascinated by the connection John and Joss shared when he found out about it. Finch was not Wolf himself, but he immediately recognized the usefulness of their Wolf abilities to the mission. He had them perform several experiments, having them hide in various places in the city and having the other try to find them. Joss was able to track John from Manhattan to JFK. John was quite proud of her, but a bit miffed as well that she was better at finding him than he was at finding her. Like all Alphas he was fiercely protective of his mate, and the thought that she was superior at tracking him stung his pride just a bit.

Unlike most other Wolves, Joss could turn down the intensity of the mating connection when she needed to. John's job could be very dark and dangerous, often requiring his complete concentration, and there were times when the abnormally strong connection between the two of them could be a deadly distraction for him, not to mention what his frequent brushes with death did to her emotional state. She had slowly learned to think of it like a volume control on a TV set, and she could dial it down to almost zero when she needed to preserve their sanity.

That was not the only ability Joss gained when she had been turned. Joss had always been intuitive and able to read people quickly and accurately, but since John had turned her, she was becoming downright psychic. Even in her human form, she was amazed to discover her intuition and ability to understand people had grown by tenfold. This turned out to be very handy for a cop.

As John had explained it, "The Wolf makes you more of what you were before. You were always intuitive and now your intuition has been placed on steroids. It took your abilities and magnified them; I have seen this phenomenon before, but never to this degree."

Joss also had her own theory. She noticed that Fusco, whom John had also turned, was a very strong Wolf as well for someone who had been turned rather than born into it. She was pretty sure that her mate was a stronger Wolf than even he acknowledged. She suspected that if she looked into his family background, it would show a long line of Born Alphas. Born Alphas, the offspring of an Alpha couple, were the strongest Wolves around since they, according to Wolf traditions, inherited the strength of both parents in preparation for leading their own pack someday. Being turned by such an extremely strong Wolf had to have given her a big boost. Whatever the reason, Joss had more and stronger abilities than most other Wolves.

Joss recently discovered an unfortunate side effect of her abilities, she often would "broadcast" her emotions to those close to her. It was especially true during times of high stress or other intense emotion. All Wolves did some broadcasting, the phenomenon was related to the ability to feel their mates after all, but some Wolves where more prone to it than others. Joss, with her abnormally strong feeling ability, was one of the loudest broadcasters around.

During a recent shootout with a suspect, Fusco claimed he'd felt Joss throughout the whole thing. "We're spending too much time together, Carter," he grumbled. "That freaked me the fuck out."

John had been highly amused by the incident and could not resist teasing his friend. "You do spend all day with her. You're very attuned to my mate, Lionel. Should I be jealous?"

"You can keep her," Fusco had snarled. "I don't need her constantly in my head. That's just WEIRD." John had just laughed.

Even her son Taylor, though he was not Wolf yet, could feel it at times when she was angry or upset. One recent evening he'd come home while Joss was taking a hot bath after having to work on a particularly upsetting child murder and he instantly felt how upset she was. Taylor had startled John by asking, "What's wrong with Mom?"

"You feel that?" John asked, surprised. Of course John, as her mate, could feel it but he certainly hadn't expected a non-Wolf, no matter how close they were to Joss, to be able to pick up on it.

"Yeah, as soon as I walked in the door I knew Mom was upset."

So Joss had to learn to dial down the broadcasting as well or it could hamper her in any of her investigations where there happened to be a Wolf involved. She was getting there, but she still had a lot to learn.

Carter's reverie was interrupted by the appearance of three unfamiliar wolves blocking her path. She slid to an abrupt stop and sniffed the air and she knew immediately that they were up to no good. They were not members of her pack and though there were wolves in the area that chose not to be members of any pack, they usually avoided the packs and they surely would not challenge the mate of the Alpha. Challenging her meant challenging the entire pack, and no lone wolf in its right mind would do that.

The largest of the three advanced on her growling, snarling, hackles up and she suddenly realized that they intended to kill her. Joss snarled back, she might not get out of this alive, but she would not go quietly. She got ready to defend herself.

Just then a stocky red-brown wolf appeared at her shoulder. Fusco! She was grateful to her partner but she was afraid he would get hurt as well. It was two against three and this was not going to end well for them but she prepared herself to give as good as she got.

The three wolves fanned out and surrounded them. Joss spun so she was covering Fusco's back and he was covering hers. Joss sensed that she specifically was their target but she was confused as to why. But she did not have time to worry about it right then. Her survival and that of her partner was at stake.

The largest of the three was radiating hate, it rolled off him and slammed into Joss's senses like a tidal wave. She focused on him, she knew he would be the one to move first, the other two were clearly followers. He was going to come for her hard and fast and leave Fusco to the other two. Joss met his eyes with a steely glare that she'd perfected over years of army interrogations and police work.

The hateful Wolf was astonished when he saw no fear; this was not what he was expecting. He had been looking forward to toying with his prey, to savoring the fear of a creature about to die; but Jocelyn Carter, Alpha Bitch, was not about to give him that satisfaction. John Reese, the toughest Alpha Male in New York City had chosen her for his mate for a reason, and this son-of-a-bitch was about to discover that reason. She snarled defiantly at the stranger, daring him to make a move.

Joss's fearless and defiant reaction confused the hate-filled stranger. He had expected her to roll over and show her belly, begging for her life. He had not expected such defiance and the Wolfly equivalent of the middle finger. He hesitated instead of moving in for the kill immediately.

That hesitation proved to be the strange Wolf's undoing. Just as he was about to strike, a large, familiar wolf materialized next to her. JOHN! He must have felt her danger.

Now the odds were in their favor. It was three to three, but John counted for far more than one ordinary wolf. Joss had seen a lot of wolves in her job; even before she'd become one herself and he was the most magnificent specimen she'd ever seen. Even normal humans who saw him in wolf form recognized that he was a cut above a regular Wolf. As he did in human form, he towered over Joss. He was taller than any other wolf in their pack. His fur was black, starting to turn salt and pepper and he retained his beautiful silver blue eyes from his human form. He never made a sound when he moved and Joss could tell that his sudden appearance had caught her adversaries off guard.

Outwardly John was calm and calculating, but Joss could feel his rage. His mate had been threatened and he would not allow any Wolf who was a threat to her to survive long. He was only waiting for them to make the first move and then he would strike.

However, instead of attacking, the strange wolves suddenly melted into the night and were gone. Obviously dealing with a pissed off Alpha Wolf of John's strength was more than they had bargained for that night.

As soon as he knew the strangers were gone, John changed back into his human form and cupped her face in his hands, "Joss are you alright? What the hell just happened?"

Joss morphed back to human form to answer him, "I'm fine and honestly, I have no idea what just happened. I was just running along trying to catch up to you and these guys came out of nowhere. It felt like they wanted to kill me, but I swear I've never seen them before."

"I've never seen them before either and I thought I knew every wolf in New York by now. Maybe you tangled with them in human form."

"I don't know, maybe. But I didn't get a vibe off them like I should know them. That big one was broadcasting some serious hate, though."

John nodded, "I felt it too. Fusco?"

Joss and John looked over at the other wolf and Joss had to stifle a laugh. Fusco was sitting with his back to them, refusing to look. He had not yet developed the typical casual Wolf attitude towards nudity. Of course Joss had to admit that he didn't exactly have the same physique that John had.

John rolled his eyes and sighed, "I know this makes you uncomfortable, Lionel, but I need you to tell me what happened."

Fusco groaned, got up and walked behind a bush into the shadows. A minute later they heard his voice, "I don't know any more than Joss. I was just a little bit ahead of her when she started broadcasting that she was in trouble, so I came running to find those three looking like they were going to rip her apart."

"You felt that?" Joss said, surprised.

"You were broadcasting pretty loudly, Joss," John said.

Joss did not have a chance to answer; the rest of the pack chose that moment to catch up to them. John quickly explained the situation and sent the pack to look for the strangers. "Fan out in groups of four, stay tight with your group; I don't want anyone to be caught alone by these Wolves. Call for me if you find them, but do not hurt them, understood? I want to find out what's going on here."

The pack disappeared into the brush.

Joss sighed and rested her head against John's chest. The adrenaline rush of the ambush had worn off and she was starting to shake. John put his arms around her, holding her so tightly she almost could not breathe. He kissed the top of her head. "I almost lost you tonight."

Joss looked up into the sliver blue eyes of her mate. "But I'm fine thanks to you, John. You have saved my life yet again."

"When I find those wolves…" he snarled, his Wolf evident though he was in human form.

Joss almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

John held her for several more minutes. Finally he pulled back, "Run with me, I need to get back to our bag and use my phone. I need to talk to Finch."

Joss smiled and morphed to wolf form. John called over to the bush Fusco had taken refuge behind, "You coming, Lionel?" and was answered with sharp bark. John smiled and morphed into the Alpha Wolf. He took off down the path followed closely by his beloved mate and his friend.