TITLE:    WAR OF THE LEGENDS 3 
AUTHOR:   DONNILEE 
E-MAIL:   DONNILEE@SNET.NET 
RATING:   NC-17 
CATEGORY: MSR, O/O 
KEYWORDS: X-FILE 
SPOILERS: Duane Barry, 3 
TIMELINE: Near end of Season 7.  Requiem never happened.

SUMMARY:  War is about to erupt and allegiances change.  Can 
Mulder and Scully untangle the webs of deceit before it's too late?

WARNING:  Bizarre and rough sex between supernatural beings 
will be had in the course of this fic.  There are scenes between 
werewolves (in wolven form) and vampires. Some might interpret 
this as beastiality (I don't) but if that sort of thing might squick 
you, you are hereby forewarned.  There is also a short scene that 
involves werewolves devouring a human being.  Some might 
interpret this as cannibalism (I don't) but if that sort of thing might 
squick you, you are hereby forewarned.  It's not terribly graphic, 
but its in there.  There is one scene of "implied" rape between 
werewolves and humans (not described, merely intimated).  I don't 
want to receive flames or hear later that I surprised you with a 
gross situation that made you want to upchuck your lunch.  So you 
have been warned!

DISCLAIMER:  All characters used from the show, The X-Files 
are the property of Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions, and 
Fox Broadcasting.  No copyright infringement intended.  No 
money made here.

THANKS:   To my faithful beta readers, FatCat and XL who take 
so much time and care to help me with these endeavors.  I love you 
both.  Thanks for all your time and effort.  Any errors still in 
here are mine alone for sure!

XXXXXXXXXX

PART 1 (PG-13) 
ASHTON BOWER RESIDENCE 
BATON ROUGE, LA 
EARLY EVENING BEFORE THE FULL MOON

With the help of a little hacking genius by The Lone Gunmen, 
Mulder and Scully were able to get a hold of incriminating 
accounting documents that showed Ashton Bower's business was 
not all on the up and up.

Millions had been skimmed off the top and funneled into secret 
sideline whereby his companies used his merchant ships to 
transport cocaine and hashish into the country. Suddenly the IRS, 
ATF, and the Justice Department were interested in Ashton Bower 
and the county appellate judge was ordered to sign the arrest 
warrant.  'God Bless the Gunmen,' Scully thought.  She wondered 
why no one had ever tried to get into the Bower business records 
before until she remembered Kyle Winston's remarks on Bower's 
connections.  The incriminating private records were on his home 
computer that was not networked with the rest of his business 
computers.  He made the mistake, however, of connecting that 
computer to the Internet.

Deputy Rillington was speaking loudly over the roar of the crowd, 
and flashing of cameras.  This was a media event and every 
newsperson connected to television, radio or the newspapers from 
Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas was there.  "You have the 
right to remain silent.  Anything you say can and will be used 
against you in a court of law.  You have the right to an attorney.  If 
you cannot afford one, an attorney will be assigned to you by the 
State of Louisiana.  Do you understand these rights as I have 
explained them?"

"Do you know who you are dealing with, Deputy?" Ashton Bower 
spat.

"Sir, do you understand your rights?!" the Deputy growled, 
enjoying the media attention, and emboldened by it.

"Yes, now Fuck Off!" he hissed.

"Thank you," Deputy Rillington said with a falsely cheery voice.  
"Take him away!" he ordered.

"This is an outrage!" the man bellowed, as Mulder and Scully led 
him out of his front door, accompanied by three other policemen 
from the local Baton Rouge precinct.

"Watch your head," Mulder cautioned facetiously as they guided 
him into the backseat of the police car.

"You'll pay for this!" he hissed at Mulder.

Mulder bent into the car and put his face nose to nose with the 
man.  He kept his voice low so no one else would hear.  "What are 
you going to do?  Bite me?"

The man clenched his jaw and bared his teeth.

Just before he pulled away, Mulder whispered, "See you around ... 
Turlus."

The man's eyes widened in surprise and he sank back physically in 
the car, wincing as the handcuffs bit into his wrists.  Mulder held 
up his hand and taunted the man by waving cutely with just the end 
of his fingers.  Scully grabbed his hand and lowered it.

"Don't push it," she whispered.  "He could escape you know."

"Let's follow them.  I don't think he'd risk trying to break free at 
this point with all these witnesses but you never know.  He could 
probably snap those handcuffs in two if he wanted to."

They jogged to their rental car and slid inside.  Mulder put it in 
gear and pulled out behind the cop car.  They made it to the jail 
without incident.  As they walked him inside, the man twisted 
between the policemen that each had a hold of his arms.

Mulder and Scully both reached for their weapons, but then 
stopped when the man laughed arrogantly.  The cops stopped 
walking and let the man speak.  "I want to see my lawyer 
immediately!" he bellowed.

"You'll get your phone call, Bower.  Don't get your panties in a 
bunch," Drake answered him.   They led him to an eight by ten 
foot square cell.  Mulder and Scully stood guard as the deputies 
unlocked his handcuffs, exited the cell and closed the door.  The 
man immediately rushed the bars as the deputies left the hallway.  
He was the only one in the cells here.  This county jail was 
attached to the police department and was more of a holding pen 
where prisoners were kept while awaiting transfer to full facility 
prisons.

Mulder had hoped to get him to a more sophisticated facility, but 
this would have to do for now.  Once the deputies were out of sight 
and the door closed behind them, the man scowled at Mulder and 
Scully.  "Who the fuck do you think you are?" he asked.

Mulder looked at the man calmly.  "I'm your worst fucking 
nightmare, buddy," he answered.

"Why's that?" Bower asked.

Mulder stared at him a moment.  "I'm a human that believes in you, 
knows you exist for real.  I know you're not just a legend."

The man laughed.  "Thousands of superstitious people believe all 
kinds of things, Mr. Mulder.  You're not unique, especially here in 
Louisiana."

"Oh, but I am, because I'm not just superstitious.  That entails 
believing in something you can't see, but have been told about."

"And what makes you different?"

"I've seen," he said simply.  "You sent someone to kill us, didn't 
you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said coolly.

Mulder and Scully continued to stare at him, waiting for him to 
continue.

"I don't know what you think you KNOW about me, Mr. Mulder, 
but you've messed with the wrong man."

"Man?  Or the wrong lycanthrope?" he asked glibly.

The man's lips thinned in rage and he looked away.  "What the hell 
are you talking about?"

"Don't play games with me, Mr. Westow," Mulder said, 
deliberately using his real name. "I KNOW who you are or who 
you think you are.  More importantly though, I know WHAT you 
are.  Even better, I know what you're trying to do."

"And what's that?"

"Find a way to allow your Tribe to change at will."

The man swallowed.  "How would you know that?"

"Ah, so it's true," Mulder said calmly, although his heart was 
beating rapidly in his chest.

The man hung his head, pissed off that he'd been caught so easily 
with a play on words. He took a deep breath and looked up.  
"Look, if you leave me in here, you're going to regret it."

"Why's that?  I think I'm doing the public a big service."

Resigned that he couldn't bullshit the Agent in front of him, he 
decided to try and reason with him.  "If I change, I can't control 
myself.  You know I can bust out of here.  I might even be able to 
do it now.  Caging one of us is extremely dangerous.  Do you 
really want to have the blood of all those policeman out there on 
your hands?"

"Are you threatening the lives of the policemen?" Mulder asked.  
"Because I can add that to your list of charges."

"You FUCK!" he screamed suddenly and Scully covered her ears 
again as the decibels reached a painful level

She spoke for the first time.  "What is it with these creatures that 
they can't talk in a normal tone of voice?" she asked.  "I thought 
they all had such superior hearing."

His attention turned to her and she felt his malice roll over her in a 
wave.  "You're both going to be sorry.  We are the least of your 
worries.  There are things more dangerous than us out there."

"Really?" Scully asked.  "That's hard to believe."

"You say you believe in me, then maybe you'll believe me when I 
tell you that you're dipping your toe into the middle of a war 
between us and **vampires**," he emphasized.

Mulder pulled in a mock gasp.  "You don't say," he replied.

The man's face fell.  "You know about the vampires?"

Mulder smiled.  "How do you think we found out about you?"

"Impossible!  They'd never work with humans.  They'd kill you as 
soon as look at you!"

Mulder laughed and said, "And your kind wouldn't?"

Scully regarded him, trying not to show her fear and the creepy 
feeling she was getting just being this close to him.  "Even if we 
saved one their young?" she said quietly.

He snapped his head around to look at her.  "You saved a vampire 
child?" he asked in disbelief.  "Why on earth would you do that?"

Scully shrugged.  "I'm a doctor.  I can't stand to see children 
suffer."

"She's much more than a child, you idiot."

Scully stiffened under the insult.  "I'm not a fool, Mr. Bower.  I 
recognized what she was. Yes, I took a chance, we took a chance, 
and because of it we were given information about you.  With that 
information, we uncovered proof that will convict one of Baton 
Rouge's most prominent citizens of embezzlement, tax evasion, 
and drug smuggling. The fact that you are a werewolf is just icing 
on top of the cake.  Somehow, I don't regret my decision to save a 
life."

"You're naïve in the extreme, young lady.  I'll get out of here, and 
then there will be no place you can hide."

Scully lifted her chin.  "On the contrary, once people know what 
you are ... there will be nowhere YOU can hide."

With that, she turned and walked out.  Mulder gave the man a half 
smile.  "Never piss off a woman, especially a redhead with a gun.  
Haven't you learned anything?  I'll tell the deputy to bring you a 
phone for your one phone call."

He turned and followed her.  After they had completed the 
paperwork to hold Bower, they emerged from the jailhouse to a 
flurry of questions, flashbulbs and microphones being stuck in 
their face.

"How did you find out about Ashton Bower?"

"What drugs were being smuggled into Baton Rouge?"

"Do you know what drug cartel he was doing business with?"

"What are the charges against him exactly?"

"Why is the FBI involved in this investigation?"

Mulder held up his hands and the crowd quieted.  "I'll give a 
statement," he said.

XXXXXXXXXX

SPANISH MOON NIGHTCLUB 
BATON ROUGE, LA

The entire Clan Council of Elders, all twenty of them, sat in chairs, 
watching the TV mounted over the bar.  They had left as soon as 
dark fell, most of the young ones still slumbering.  Jeremy had 
hung a 'Closed Due to Family Emergency' sign on the door. 
Jeremy was their eyes and ears to the real world.  He sent regular 
reports to the Family on what was going on in current events.  He 
was an anomaly, the only one from the Baton Rouge Clan not 
living in the mansion in the Bayou.

He was too useful to the Clan, and so they didn't begrudge him his 
loner status. Carmella, his partner of over 400 years, had asked for 
a release from her vows just two weeks ago. She had met an older 
vampire from Boston several months earlier and had accepted his 
offer to move with him to San Francisco.  She and Jeremy had 
been partnered since they came of age and had fallen in and out of 
love many times over the years.

Jeremy knew in his heart that no matter how much he loved 
Carmella at various times during their life together, he would never 
be able to love her the way he loved Ridley.  It was with 
bittersweet sadness that he had let her go, and began the agonizing 
process of deciding on a new mate, knowing he could never have 
the one he really wanted now that Ridley had chosen Jakes.  Their 
timing really sucked.  Jeremy's new single status brought up 
possibilities that Ridley thought had been buried a long time ago.

They watched the repeated footage of Turlus Westow being 
brought out in handcuffs and stuffed into the rear seat of a police 
car hours ago.  Now they were watching live as Fox Mulder and 
Dana Scully emerged from the jailhouse and were nearly assaulted 
by the vultures of the press.

Parys commented, "He's a handsome man, isn't he?  Reminds me 
of Sawyer."

Jakes scowled at her and she dipped her head and looked away.

Agent Mulder started to speak and they all quieted.  "We were 
investigating another case and accidentally came across some 
suspicious evidence that allowed us to get a search warrant for Mr. 
Bower's personal business records.  This search uncovered clear 
evidence of embezzlement, tax evasion, and smuggling of cocaine 
and hashish into the country from South America.  We cannot 
divulge the drug organization he is working with as it might 
endanger our ongoing investigation.  Suffice it to say that Mr. 
Bower has been polluting your streets with drugs that have been 
sold to your children.  He has used his position of wealth and 
power to get away with murder."

All the Council members chuckled at his veiled reference to 
murder.  He continued.

"There is evidence that Mr. Bower runs an underground smuggling 
ring that not only involves his privately owned merchant vessels, 
but that once ashore, the transport of these drugs is done through 
the sewer system below the city streets."

Jakes nodded, "Very clever.  I was not entirely convinced that 
these two would help us, but you were right, Ridley.  He is a clever 
one.  That comment alone is going to have every reporter in the 
city down in the sewers filming the 'drug tunnels'.  That should 
disrupt things a bit, don't you think?"

The others chuckled but Ridley eyed him warily.  Her alliances 
were no longer clear.  She wanted to stop this war.  She wanted to 
stop the research of the Lycanthropes.  At the same time she 
burned with a desire to call Jakes on his misdeeds.  Had he traded 
something for Sawyer's death?  Had all his machinations been to 
free Ridley from her partnership with Sawyer so he could move in 
and have what he'd always wanted?  Was it more complex than 
that?  Had Sawyer discovered something corrupt about Jakes and 
Jakes knew it and so had him destroyed?  Had he ordered Sawyer 
into the sewers on his little scouting mission, the mission that had 
gotten him killed?

None of these questions would have been asked if she hadn't 
discovered the first lie.  He knew that Turlus Westow was Ashton 
Bower on the surface, out there in the human world.  He'd lied 
about it, saying he knew Turlus' alias on one occasion and later 
denying that he knew whom Ashton Bower was, thus, unwittingly 
contradicting himself.  One lie led the rest.  If he lied about that, 
what else had he lied about?  That question would still be dormant 
if she hadn't discovered the first one.  He'd tripped over his tongue 
and didn't even know it.

He'd kept true to his word on one thing though.  He'd promised that 
if she chose him for a partner when her mourning period was up, 
he wouldn't push her.  He would wait for her to be ready to have 
relations with him and finalize their commitment.  Now that she 
was questioning his basic honesty, even this decision smacked of 
betrayal to the Clan.

In the meantime, however, appearances would be kept up.  The 
Clan allowed about a month of mourning over the loss of a partner, 
but after that, you had to choose a new one.  If you didn't, one was 
chosen for you.  The women always had the right of first choice.  
Men had to choose partners as well, but the women they 
approached could refuse.  The reverse was not true.  A man could 
not refuse to partner a woman if asked. The only exception to this 
rule was if the woman was a relative by blood or if he were leader 
of the Clan.

Age gave you status in the Clan, however, only wisdom gave you 
respect.  Both she and Jakes had the age and the respect of their 
Clan.  Together they were the voice of the Clan.  While Jakes had 
the final word on decisions, Ridley was often deferred to in his 
absence.  Should anything happen to Jakes, or should he be away, 
Ridley would rule in his stead.  Everyone knew that and so took 
great care to stay in her favor.  While she was not known for 
selfish or rash decisions, Families were always a little fearful of 
power going to a Clan leader's head.  It could change them.  They'd 
seen it before, thus an elaborate system of protocols had been 
developed over the years.

Ridley was also uncommonly beautiful.  That engendered jealousy 
in some of the female Clan members.  However, they didn't want 
to be on her bad side should she ever be leader of the Clan.  If 
something ever happened to Jakes, she would be, if she accepted 
the responsibility, the automatic candidate for Clan leader.  
Therefore, they mostly kept their petty jealousies to themselves.

Appearances were important to Jakes and he claimed he wanted to 
present a united front, so that no one felt they could use one of 
them against the other to get their way in political decisions.  
Ridley understood that and so went along with most of his 
decisions. If she did need to disagree, she would suggest a private 
meeting, away from the prying eyes of other members of the 
Family or Clan.  Things were tense this past month.  The Family of 
twenty was dealing with having 180 others under their roof.  While 
the mansion was huge, it was now crowded, with multiple people 
sleeping in every bedroom.  Council members and their partners 
each had their own room.  The rest were forced to bunk together 
and this inevitably raised tempers.

Ridley sighed as she watched Fox Mulder work the press and 
couldn't help but be impressed.  He was an extraordinary man.  He 
not only believed in vampires and lycanthropes, he was not panic-
stricken when faced with them.  If she were ever to turn a human, 
something that hadn't been done in ages, he would be one she 
would choose.

His partner was extraordinary as well.  As she had said, they were 
renegades among their own kind.  Lucky for us, she thought.  They 
had done well.  The Council now knew about the attack on Ridley 
here at the bar.  Jeremy had reinforced her story and supported her 
claims that the two humans had helped to save both of their lives, 
standing their ground and using the weapons they'd been given to 
dispatch their enemies.  Yes, they were truly extraordinary.  The 
Clan now found itself in a position it had not been in for all the 
long centuries in recent memory.

The Clan owed two humans for the lives of three Family members, 
Lyndlay, Ridley, and Jeremy.  While Jeremy had held his own and 
probably turned the tide of the fight, he explained to the Council 
that the male Agent had fired on a lycanthrope that was planning to 
attack him from behind while he was busy dispatching one he had 
in a wrestling hold on the ground.  He'd told the Elders, "Had the 
man not fired and wounded him into submission, I would have 
been attacked by two of them and never would have made it.  I 
didn't see him coming.  Mulder may not know it, but I do.  He 
didn't have silver ammo anymore either, yet he didn't hesitate and 
nearly emptied a clip into the bastard, slowing him down till he 
dropped.  I'm strong, but even Ridley wouldn't be able to wrestle 
two at once.  He saved my life and I owe him a 'life debt'."

Life debt.  It was the term the Clan used to describe the situation 
whereby you owed your life to someone.  The Clan took life debts 
very seriously.  If someone saved your life, you were bound to 
them, and obligated to go to their aid whenever it was requested.  
The only way to be released from a life debt was to save the 
person's life in return.  So here they were.

Lyndlay owed her life to the agents.  Mulder had hidden her, and 
Scully had bound her wounds.  She felt, however, that the woman 
was the one that actually saved her life and prevented her from 
bleeding dry.  Jeremy had proclaimed a life debt to Agent Mulder. 
And now, she owed a life debt to Agent Scully who had killed the 
half transformed abomination that was close to killing her.

Ridley had felt panic very few times her life as vampire.  When 
she'd felt her grip on the beasts neck slipping, however, she'd felt 
real panic.  Gazing into the maw of his drooling jaws, she'd braced 
herself for the bite that would kill her.  She knew she only had 
seconds before her strength would fail her and the beast would 
win.

The surprise and relief that flooded her when she watched his neck 
and head explode with sprays of blood was still with her.  His 
weakened grip allowed her to roll him off her before he could bite, 
and had, in fact, stopped him in mid strike.  A second later and it 
would have been too late.  Looking up to find Agent Scully staring 
at her from the other end of a smoking pistol has not registered 
right away.

Afterwards though, she had felt kinship with the woman that at 
first had been wary of her. She seemed to have left her jealousy 
behind her.  Ridley realized she'd been wrong to flirt with the male 
agent.  Her anger over her own situation with Jakes had prompted 
her to push the envelope and needle him just a bit.  It had worked.  
Jakes had been angry, although he tried not to show it.  However, 
she shouldn't have used the man that way. She didn't have time to 
feel guilty about it.  He seemed to have forgotten all about it, but 
she vowed not to do it again.  He was the woman's partner, and not 
just at work in the FBI.  That much was clear.  Ridley respected 
their union.

She wistfully wished that the love she'd seen between them was 
something she could have again.  She'd had something like that 
with Sawyer.  Now, she felt empty inside. She'd hoped her feelings 
for Jakes would grow.  She had been fond of him to begin with. 
She'd told herself that she just needed time.  Now though, she was 
questioning his very motives and character.  The worst part was 
she had to do it in secret.

Ridley was a very forthright woman and hated secrets.  However, 
she had another secret, one she'd kept buried for a long time.  It 
was surfacing again now that she was questioning Jakes' character.  
She had been in the same position 250 years ago, forced to choose 
a partner.  It would have probably been Jakes, though she hadn't 
loved him even then.  He was not the man who had captured her 
heart.  There had been another who had innocently done that, but 
he was very young and had been partnered since his coming of 
age.  Sawyer's appearance had given her another option and she 
had locked her secret love away, never telling a soul, not her 
beloved, not Sawyer and especially not Jakes.

No one knew that.  She'd loved one other man besides Sawyer and 
that was her deep, dark secret.  Jakes had taken it for granted that 
she would've chosen him, that she was seduced by his power as 
Clan leader.  Ridley had never cared for power or politics. Jakes 
didn't know he would have not gotten what he wanted either way, 
and she never intended to tell him either.

Thinking about secrets reminded her that she hadn't talked to 
Lyndlay.  She'd heard the story Lyndlay had given Jakes when 
they had met privately.  She'd told Jakes that it was a crock of shit.  
She'd been at the Club, and if Lyndlay had been there, she would 
have known it.  If by some chance she'd escaped Ridley's notice, 
she wouldn't have escaped Jeremy's notice.  He saw everyone that 
came in the door and kept careful track of any kindred that entered 
his club.  That's how he'd know the three others were in the club 
when the clean up was necessary.  She'd told Jakes that she'd met 
with the humans upon 'their' request because they had wanted to 
tell her that they thought the lab tech was a werewolf.  Turned out 
he was and that very same werewolf had attacked them on the way 
out.

He bought it for a couple of reasons.  One, Ridley never lied.  That 
was her reputation and she was known for it.  She didn't like doing 
it now, but she realized she had to bend the rules for a while for the 
greater good, until she figured out what the hell was going on. 
Secondly, it was plausible.  He knew there had been attacks before 
when a werewolf thought their identity had been uncovered.  She 
hadn't wanted to bring up Ashton Bower a/k/a Turlus Westow.  If 
Jakes knew that she was aware of his identity then all hell would 
break lose.  He would know that she'd caught him in a lie.  She 
honestly didn't know what he would do.

She looked over at Jeremy and he smiled at her and winked.  He 
was a big man, slightly shorter than Jakes, standing six foot, four 
inches tall.  Unlike Jakes lean frame, however, Jeremy was bulging 
with muscle everywhere.  His shoulders filled a doorway and his 
muscular chest tapered into a washboard abdomen and thick legs.  
He had the frame of a body builder.  It was a benefit of immortality 
that you retained the figure you had when you were made and you 
never aged physically.  Only those born to vampires could 
experience a change in body shape or weight as they grew.  Once 
adult and fully matured physically, however, they didn't change 
anymore either.

Ridley noticed that the couples that were blessed with children, 
tended to be those born of vampires, rather than the old ones, who 
were made by another vampire.  Fate seemed to have bestowed 
fertility on them.  She put her hand over her stomach, wondering if 
she would ever have a child.  She was old.  She had been made.  
She was on her third partner, although she hadn't had relations with 
Jakes yet.  Not likely.  She'd wanted that research too, hoping it 
would lead to fertility for herself and Sawyer.

It was another reason to feel kinship with Agent Scully.  She'd 
hinted that she'd lost a child at some point in the past.  Cherishing 
children like all members of the Clan did, and always having 
wanted a child of her own, she couldn't imagine the anguish of 
losing a child.  She made a mental note to talk to Lyndlay in 
private and see if she could find out the real story.   Her hunting 
expedition with Bareslay had been a dismal failure.  They'd 
checked all the old haunts in Baton Rouge, sniffed around for her 
in the woods and come up with nothing.  Something was up with 
that kid and Ridley was determined to figure out what it was.

XXXXXXXXXX

PART 2 (PG-13) 
BATON ROUGE JAIL 
BATON ROUGE, LA

Turlus looked through the bars at Baker Santon, Esq.  "You have 
to get me out of here!"

"I don't know if I can.  I'm trying to get a judge to set a bond.  
They're holding you here without bond."

"They can't do that!"

"I'm afraid they can.  In matters of International law, they can hold 
someone for 24 hours without charging them of a thing if they 
want to, merely for questioning.  They know about your 
international dealings.  I'm trying to convince the judge that you 
can be released on your own recognizance, but it's not easy.

"We have no TIME!" he hissed.

"In case I can't get this done, I brought you something."  He 
hesitated and then reached into his briefcase.  He pulled his hand 
out and slid the pure silver nail file through the bars.  "Hide it."

Turlus met his gaze in understanding and swallowed.  He nodded 
and slid it up his sleeve.  He didn't want to have to use it.  It was 
painful in the extreme, but it looked like he wasn't going to have 
any choice.  "Thank you," he whispered.

"Can you do it?" Baker asked him solemnly.

Turlus nodded.  "I'll do what I have to do," he assured him.  "I 
need to send you out of here with some orders.  Without me, 
tonight could be a disaster."

"That's an understatement.  That FBI agent told them you used the 
sewers for drug transport.  He gave a damned statement to the 
press right outside these doors."

"We have to clear the sewers."

The man raised his eyebrows.  "That's impossible," he whispered.

"It MUST be done," Turlus said through clenched teeth.  "That 
fucking FBI agent knows more than he's saying if he mentioned 
the sewers.  You know what that means?"

The man didn't answer.

"It MEANS that every reporter in Baton Rouge is going to be 
taking a God damned field trip into the sewers.  We cannot be 
down there tonight.  Besides, I have a feeling tonight is the night 
the vampires were going to strike en masse.  Transformed we are 
even more vulnerable to silver."

"But much more deadly as well."

"Yes, but they'll weigh the odds.  There are still 75 of us at least."

"Do we know how many of them there are?"

"No.  They've surely put out a distress call and gathered the 
Families together.  No one's really ever known how many of them 
there are."

"We have to go somewhere.  With the hunger upon them, 
especially the new ones, it would be a slaughter if they go out on 
the streets."

"I know.  I have hundreds of pounds of meat in my freezers in the 
basement at my house. You have to get the word out to go to my 
house.  Patricia will put out the stores for a feeding.  Normally, I 
would fight those blood-sucking bastards tonight and end this once 
and for all.  That was the original plan.  With all this media 
attention and those two FBI agents out there, however, we can't 
risk it."

"Live to fight another day, eh?"

"Exactly.  What happened to the squad I sent out last night?  Kyle 
never reported back in. Obviously, they failed.  The agents were 
still alive this morning to come and arrest me."

Baker was silent a moment.  "You don't know?"

"What?" he asked menacingly.

"They attacked the agents them coming out of the Spanish Moon.  
They were slaughtered, Turlus.  All five of them, Kyle included."

"Five of them couldn't take out two fucking humans and retrieve a 
God damned picture?" he roared.

Benton cringed.  "It wasn't just the humans."

"What do you mean?"

"Ridley was with them.  Then that bar owner, I don't know his 
name, must have heard something or ... I don't know, but he came 
out too."

"Still, five against two vampires?"

"And the humans."

"They don't even count for Christ's sake."

"They did last night.  Ridley's working with them.  They had silver 
plated bullets in their weapons."

"How do you know that?"

"They were still embedded in their skin when we found the bodies.  
They dumped them down the sewer grate in a pile."

"That fucking BITCH!" he spat out.  "This is all her fault.  If Jakes 
didn't have such a hard on for her, none of this would have 
happened."

"What do you mean?"

"Shit.  Forget it.  Water under the bridge."

"The leader of the vampire Clan?  That Jakes?"

Turlus stared at him, giving him a dirty look.

"I think you better tell me what's really going on, Turlus."

XXXXXXXXXX 

ASHTON BOWER RESIDENCE 
BATON ROUGE, LA

Patricia Bower hung up the phone and frowned.  Baker had told 
her everything.  She wondered if Turlus would actually have the 
balls to stab himself if it came to it.  She was one of the few people 
that knew what a coward he was.  All that bluster was nothing but 
a cover.  He'd been an inadequate human, and he was an 
inadequate werewolf.

She'd seduced him with dreams of power and he'd taken the bait.  
She'd been the power behind the throne ever since.  She'd built an 
empire with him as the figurehead both in society and with the 
Lycanthropes.  Females couldn't rule the Lycanthropes.  It was 
some asinine ancient rule.  She was beginning to think that it was 
time for a change in tradition!

Of all the incompetent, bumbling things he could have done, this 
was the worst, bargaining with a vampire.  What kind of moron 
was he, anyway?  If she were truthful, what really made her angry 
was the fact that he had managed to do it without her knowing.  
That really galled her.  He'd told Baxter it was for money and 
vampire test subjects.  They had plenty of money and their 
research was with humans.

'What the hell was he thinking?  Joining with vampires?  Was he 
out of his mind?'  The very thought of it made her cringe in 
disgust.  'Had he really thought he could do experiments with 
vampires and she wouldn't find out about it?'  If he survived this 
night, she was going to have his balls in a vice over this.  Hell, she 
might kill him herself, she was so sick of his incompetence.

It galled her that they all bowed and scraped around him.  He was 
only a big man with his mouth, or if he had a gun in his hand.  She 
sighed, and went down to the finished basement.  She pushed on 
one of the bookshelves that lined the wall.

It swung open on silent, oiled gears, revealing a darkened passage.  
Her eyes swirled and her pupils expanded, using all available light.  
After a moment she could see through the darkness and descended.

XXXXXXXXXX

THE SEWERS BELOW 
BATON ROUGE, LA

Kimberly Nolton stood in front of the camera, and picked an 
imaginary piece of lint off her red, wool jacket.  She crinkled her 
nose.  "Jesus, it stinks down here," she commented.

"Maybe because it's a sewer," her cameraman replied.  "Shit does 
tend to stink.  Even yours, I'll wager."

"Cute, asshole, just get ready," she ordered pompously.  She 
flipped her blond, wavy hair behind her shoulder and then 
carefully pulled a single hank forward and placed it on her lapel.

The cameraman rolled his eyes behind the lens.  'What a bitch this 
little tart was.' Sometimes he wished she would just up and 
disappear.  Somebody needed to bring the hoity-toity bitch down a 
peg or two.  Right now though, he had a job to do.  He sighed and 
held up three fingers, flashed two, and then one.  He hit the button 
and his camera began to record.

"Hello.  I'm Kimberly Norton with KLEW, TV 3.  I'm here in the 
sewers of Baton Rouge, where billionaire businessman, Ashton 
Bower, reportedly smuggled drugs into this country from South 
America.  Earlier today, FBI agents confirmed that Mr. Bower is 
being held for questioning in connection with tax fraud, 
embezzlement and multiple violations of international law as well 
as U.S. law connected to drug smuggling.  Mr. Bower is a local 
celebrity here in Baton Rouge, known for his business empire of 
spice imports. Apparently, spices weren't the only thing he was 
importing!

"As you can see behind me, these sewers are designed with 
concrete walkways and bridges spanning the flowing refuse.  They 
are easy to traverse and provide easy access to virtually any part of 
the city.  Mr. Bower's associates reportedly passed through here 
unseen by local authorities for years.  The FBI confirmed that Mr. 
Bower is being held without bond on multiple charges, but refused 
to name the drug cartel that he was connected with."

Suddenly, an ear-splitting howl echoed and reverberated through 
the sewers. "OOOWWW, OOOWWW, OOOWWW!  
OOOWWW, OOOWWW, OOOWWW, OOOWWW!"

Kimberly shouted, "What the fuck is that?"

The cameraman felt his insides quake and he backed against the 
wall as he heard what sounded like thunder.  He looked left and 
then to his right and realized there was a small space between a 
metal pillar and the wall of the sewer.  He carefully backed his big 
frame into the three sided hidey-hole and braced his back against 
the wall.

"What are you doing?" Kimberly yelled.  Then she screamed, 
"AAAAAHHHHH, WHAT ARE ... OH MY GOD!  
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

He kept the camera rolling as he heard the thunder, and now 
recognized it as the clatter of many feet on concrete.  Kimberly 
whirled and began to run toward him, when she was suddenly 
swept away by a tide of men and beasts that thundered past his 
hiding space. Had any of them turned around and looked over their 
shoulder, they would have seen him, but they didn't.  His hands 
were shaking and he braced his arm against the wall to balance the 
camera and hold it steady.

The howls echoed through the sewers again.  "OOOWWW, 
OOOWWW, OOOWWW! OOOWWW, OOOWWW, 
OOOWWW, OOOWWW!"

As the thunder of hundreds of feet faded into the distance ahead of 
him, he carefully removed his eyes from the eyepiece of the 
camera and peered out into the walkway.  He blinked, searching 
the ground and carefully stepped out.  She was gone.  Kimberly 
was gone.  'Be careful what you wish for,' he thought.  Then he 
turned and ran toward the ladder that led up to the manhole cover 
and onto Siegen Street.

XXXXXXXXXX

PART 3 (R) 
COMFORT SUITES 
BATON ROUGE, LA

They returned to the hotel to eat and change their clothes again.  
They'd spoken to Ridley by phone and she'd praised them for their 
handling of Ashton Bower and of the press.  She confirmed that 
they intended to strike tonight and try to destroy the lab in the 
sewers, and as many of the Lycanthropes as possible.  Without 
Turlus, they hoped all would be confusion, making their job easier.  
She'd warned them to stay out of it.  "It's gonna be no place for 
humans," she'd warned.

They planned on returning to the jail at 11:00 PM and standing 
guard over Turlus Westow.  In the event that he did change, they 
planned to be waiting with silver bullets at the ready.

A frantic knock sounded at the door to their suite.  Mulder 
scrunched his brow and got up to answer it.

"Be careful, Mulder," Scully warned.

He nodded, picking up his weapon off the coffee table and holding 
it at his side.  When he was at the door, he put his back to the wall 
and reached over with his left hand.  He yanked the door open and 
brought his weapon up at the same time.

"Don't shoot!" the man cried out.

"Who are you?" Mulder growled.

"I'm a cameraman for KLEW, TV 3.  If you're the FBI agents I saw 
earlier, I have something you might want to see."

Mulder carefully lowered his weapon and waved the man in.  As 
he stepped in, Mulder pulled a silver switchblade out of his back 
pocket that he'd picked up at a novelty shop downtown.  The entire 
thing was made of silver.

He hit the button as the blade snapped out with a quiet click.  He 
stabbed the man in the back of the arm.  He screamed and nearly 
dropped his camera.  He dropped to his knees instead and grabbed 
his arm.  "What the fuck did you do that for?"

"Sorry, man.  I had to be sure," Mulder apologized as he shut and 
locked the door again.

"Sure of what?  You're fucking crazy, man."

Scully regarded the young man for a moment.  "What's your 
name?" she asked.

"Gabriel Yves," he panted, holding his hand over the puncture 
wound that was leaking blood down the back of his upper arm.

"What've you got?" Mulder asked.

XXXXXXXXX

WALSHEFORD HOME 
LOUISIANA BAYOU

Ridley knocked on the bedroom door.  After a moment it opened.  
"Can I talk to you?" Ridley asked.

Lyndlay nodded and stepped back to let her enter.

"Close the door," Ridley said.

The girl swallowed hard and pushed it closed.  She tentatively 
walked to the dressing table and sat down on the bench, her hands 
gripping the seat tightly.

Ridley observed this and surmised that she was definitely hiding 
something.  She was waiting for the other shoe to drop.  After 
several moments of silence, Ridley said, "I have a secret that could 
get me killed."

The girl's eyebrows rose in surprise but she said nothing.

"You have a secret too, don't you?"

The girl swallowed harshly and then nodded jerkily.

"Could it get you killed?" Ridley asked calmly.

The girl nodded again, unable to lie to Ridley for some reason.

Ridley smiled.  "I'll tell you my secret, if you'll tell me yours."

XXXXXXXXXX

SPANISH MOON NIGHTCLUB
BATON ROUGE, LA

Ridley banged on the door of the empty club.  Jeremy had decided 
to leave it closed for the rest of the night.  He opened the door and 
retreated back behind the bar.  The Elders had adjourned to the 
mansion where there were no TVs.  Several of them did have cell 
phones though, the bills of which were sent to P.O. boxes under 
false names.

Jeremy looked up from behind the bar as he began polishing 
glasses and eyed the girl with Ridley.  "This must be the infamous, 
missing Lyndlay, of the New Orleans Family," he said.  She 
blushed and looked down.

"Jeremy, I need your help," Ridley said.

His face was stern as he regarded the woman who was second in 
command in his Family, the woman he'd loved for years.  There 
was nothing he wouldn't do for her, even though being around her 
could be torture at times.  He'd never told her that.  He had her 
trust and friendship.  A long time ago, he'd resigned himself to the 
fact that these would have to be enough.

It didn't stop his mind from thinking about her and when he'd 
fallen in love with her.  He had been in the search team that had 
found Ridley's first Partner's body.  The sun had been the only 
difficulty about travel back then.  All those years ago, a call had 
gone out for help to find a missing man.  He had lived with another 
Family but had volunteered to search for the Partner of the 
beautiful Ridley when he had gone missing.  When he found the 
body and had brought it back to their village, he had met and fallen 
in love with the widow.

Ridley had mourned her Partner's passing and he had felt a need to 
help her through her grief.  She'd suffered a tremendous loss and 
was faced with the difficult decision of choosing another Partner 
within the moon cycle.

He and Carmella had been going through one of their difficult 
periods.  They'd been together for 150 years at that point.  That 
was part of the reason he was willing to take the risk of exposure to 
the sun to find the missing man.  Ridley was a beautiful woman, 
but it was the lure of her pure heart and simple, straight-forward 
nature that had drawn him to her.  If he had been free, he would 
have declared his interest in her in a heartbeat.

However, he knew he didn't stand a chance with her, so he'd never 
even tried.  How could he compete with the likes of Sawyer and 
Jakes, dynamic, older men?  He was barely 200 years old.  
Although strong, there were many men much higher in status than 
he.

Sometimes his resolve wavered.  He'd been scared the other night.  
He'd thought he'd heard a sound as he went back into his office to 
retrieve the key to the safe and squirrel away some money from the 
cash registers.  He ignored it but then when he heard the second 
grunt and gunshots sound through the louvered window of his 
office, he'd gone to look outside.  What'd he'd seen had made his 
blood run cold.

Ridley had been locked in battle with what appeared to be a 
transformed Lycanthrope. He was shocked.  It wasn't a full moon.  
'How could that be?' he'd wondered.  He hadn't had time for 
questions, and had raced out to her rescue, only to find more of the 
smelly dogs and the two humans to boot.

When it was over, he'd wanted to grab her and hold her in his 
arms.  He hadn't dared, especially with the others looking on.  It 
would be akin to sacrilege to embrace the Clan leaders partner.

Now, here she was again, asking for his help.  "What do you 
need?" he said tilting his head to the left as a sign of esteem and 
respect.

"This is serious, Jeremy.  We've been betrayed; the whole Clan has 
been betrayed.  I'm sorry to get you involved, but you're the only 
one I can trust."

He came out from behind the bar and sat on a stool and she took 
one next to him and turned to face him.  "What's going on?  Who 
has betrayed us?" he asked softly.

Her face crumpled.  "Oh Jeremy!" she sobbed, her hand gripping 
the edge of the bar in a death grip.

His heart squeezed in his chest and he had to physically restrain 
himself from touching her.  Her distress was palpable.  He glanced 
at Lyndlay and she was crying silently.  "Tell me, Ridley.  I'll 
never betray you.  You know that.  Whatever it is, I'll take it to my 
grave."

She looked up at him, tears pooling in her eyes that didn't fall.  "It's 
Jakes.  Jakes has betrayed the whole Clan."

He gasped.  "What?  You must be mistaken, Ridley," he said 
automatically.

She shook her head.  "No, I'm not mistaken."

He met her eyes and held there.  "Tell me.  Tell me everything."

She nodded, swallowing and wiping her tears with her forearm.  
Then to his surprise she did something she'd never done in all their 
years of friendship.

She sat up straight and spread her legs.

He gasped and looked her in the eye again, to make sure he wasn't 
misunderstanding.

She nodded slightly.

He slid off his stool and stood, hesitating.

She flashed him a beautiful smile and blinked rapidly.

Jeremy stepped in between her legs and put his hands on her 
shoulders, in the universal show of respect and affection between 
Family members.  He sighed as her arms slid around his waist.  He 
didn't expect the next part.

Vampires that made blood alliances are bound for life.  He'd been 
there when she'd bonded with the twins, the precious children of 
the Clan.  To have her allegiance, respect and affection was 
enough, he told himself as he stood there, ashamed to discover his 
hands were shaking.  This was more than he had ever hoped for.  
He didn't deserve her allegiance.  She was their Queen, although 
they didn't call her that.

So his astonishment was evident when she laid her head to the left 
in the sign of allegiance to him.  When she reached up and pulled 
the collar of her vest away from her jugular, he couldn't breath.

All he could do was moan.  This wasn't happening.  This couldn't 
be real.  To offer esteem and respect, even allegiance and 
friendship was one thing. For her to offer a BLOOD allegiance to 
an adult male was akin to denouncing her Partner and taking a new 
partner.  For the Partner of the Clan Leader, it was treason.  
Children were different. Adults could bond with children, show 
allegiance without affecting their partnership.  He was no child.  
His mouth watered and he moaned again and croaked out, "Ridley 
... are you sure?"

Her eyes rolled sideways and met his.  "This first, then I tell you 
everything," she whispered.

He licked his lips and felt them curl back with intense desire.  
After this, he would be her chosen mate.  Even though a male 
normally couldn't refuse a female, they could refuse a Partnered 
one.  This would be treason for him as well, and he knew his life 
might be forfeit if he accepted.  His partner, Carmella, had asked 
for release from their bond and chosen another less than two weeks 
ago.  He was single and had two more weeks to choose.  He'd 
agonized over his decision, actually sympathizing with Jakes over 
his unrequited love for Ridley.

Her eyes flashed and she whispered, "Do it.  Take me, Jeremy."

He blinked rapidly, his thoughts raced as he panted and saliva 
filled his mouth.  He hissed, trying to hold back.

Then she clinched it.  "I haven't given blood allegiance to Jakes.  
We haven't consummated our partnership.  It's for show."

The news stunned him.  Technically, he wouldn't be committing 
treason if they hadn't consummated their partnership.  Was this 
going to be for show?  He didn't care.  The danger was very real, 
even so, but he could no longer resist as he watched the blood 
pulse in her vein below the skin.

He hissed again and struck, his teeth sinking deeply into her neck.  
She moaned as he sucked, her blood filling his mouth.  He 
swallowed and began to pull back.  Her hand came up to the back 
of his neck, sending shivers down his spine.

She whispered, "Again.  Drink."

He groaned loudly, feeling his cock rise like steel as her blood 
flooded his mouth again. He swallowed and let his tongue lick her 
neck below his fangs.

She moaned and then whimpered making his cock throb.  He 
ground his erection against her juncture and she repeated herself.

"Again."

He sucked, filled his mouth and swallowed.

"Again."

He sucked, filled his mouth and swallowed.

"Again."

He sucked, filled his mouth.  Her hands slid down to cup his 
muscular glutes and yanked him against her.

He swallowed, shook, and groaned.  She ground into him.

He pulled his fangs from her neck and threw his head back, his 
cock swelling further in the confines of his tight leather jeans.  He 
ejaculated in his pants, the cum backwashing down his cock.  He 
panted, looking at her sheepishly, her blood still coating his lips.  
He licked them and moaned.

She was smiling slyly at him.  She knew.

"Sorry," he croaked out.

Her sly look became a full-blown smile of affection.  "I'm 
flattered."

He cleared his throat, and stepped back, his knees feeling weak.  
He sat on the barstool behind him and felt her blood speed through 
his system making him dizzy.  He closed his eyes, ignoring the 
wetness in his pants.  One hand gripped the bar to steady himself 
and he moaned and twitched.  "Holy Jesus, Ridley.  You're so 
strong!" he said, his voice warbling out of him.  She hummed and 
stepped off her stool, looking at him expectantly.

Lyndlay watched them from across the room.  They seemed to 
have forgotten her presence and that suited her just fine.  She had 
broken down and told Ridley of her love for Lothian.  Although 
she could tell Ridley had been shocked, she hadn't condemned her 
outright.  The more she talked, the more she saw Ridley softening 
to the idea.  She'd never expected to find in ally in one of the Clan 
leaders.  They were charged with upholding order, protocol, peace 
and above all, traditions within the Family.  Consorting with 
another species was forbidden.  It was sacrilege.  It was treason.  It 
was the worst sin you could commit.

Yet, Ridley had not condemned her.  She had in turn told her of 
Jakes betrayal and how she believed he had arranged for Sawyer to 
be killed.  She'd told her what no one else in the Clan knew; Jakes 
and Ridley had not consummated their partnership.  They had not 
completed the ritual blood allegiance required by Partners, and 
they had not consummated.  This had stunned Lyndlay.  Jakes was 
giving Ridley more time to grieve than the Clan's protocol allowed 
and it was their secret.  Now, however, Ridley didn't want to 
consummate.  She had realized after their attack and victory the 
other night that despite still missing Sawyer, she was in love with 
Jeremy and had been for years.  If she couldn't have Sawyer, then 
she would have Jeremy, the man she had loved for centuries. Once 
their blood allegiance was made, there would be nothing Jakes 
could do.  She would step down as second Clan leader, rather than 
live with the man who she believed had betrayed the Clan.

If Lyndlay would help her, then she promised to help Lyndlay.  
They obviously hadn't worked out the details.  Lyndlay almost 
forgot what she was supposed to be doing as she watched the two 
of them bond.  It was so exciting to watch and rarely discussed, let 
alone witnessed.  She could feel the passion rolling off them.  It 
made her shiver and think of Lothian.

She returned the window, cloaking herself in the shadow of the 
curtain and watching out into the night for intruders or 
interruptions.  Better not screw this up, she thought.  She needed 
Ridley if she was going to survive.  She needed Ridley if her love 
for Lothian had any chance in hell of surviving.

She glanced one last time at them and then concentrated on the 
landscape outside the window.

Jeremy blinked and felt his equilibrium return as strength pumped 
through his veins and his body mass increased from the great 
infusion of her old blood.  He watched her standing there, waiting 
patiently.

Finally, she said, "We don't have much time."

He nodded and kept eye contact as he deliberately spread his legs 
wide.  She stepped between them without hesitation, putting her 
hands on his shoulders.  He slid his hands around her waist and 
tipped his head to the left.

She promised, "We'll do this properly, later, when we have time."

He nodded and smiled.  "Bite me, Ridley."

They both laughed and she struck, her mirth turning into a groan as 
his blood filled her mouth and she felt arousal flush through her 
veins.  Her nipples hardened painfully and she crushed them 
against his chest.  His big hands slid down to cup her bottom, 
nearly covering them completely.  She could feel his heat right 
through her pants.  She ground her narrow hips into his crotch and 
he hummed with contentment as she filled her mouth.

She had allowed him five mouthfuls of her blood, a King's ransom 
by any standards. Most blood allegiances only involved one to 
three, depending on the strength of the vampires.  She wanted him 
strong for what lie ahead.  She knew that had surprised him and 
was probably also the reason he'd been unable to hold back his 
climax.  The more blood you took at once, the more aroused and 
lustful you became.  He gave as much as he had taken and she 
pulled back, hissing.  His hands slid up quickly and cupped her 
breasts through the leather.  His fingers found her nipples, 
protruding out from the soft leather.  He pinched them hard and 
she cried out, "Jeremy!"

One arm slid around her back, anchoring her against him.  He 
continued to pinch her nipple viciously while the other hand held 
her as he pushed her arousal over the edge and she rode out her 
orgasm.  She'd been close, that little bit of extra stimulation had 
been all it took to make her body succumb.  "No fair," she 
whispered.

He smiled widely.  "It was perfectly fair.  I owed you one."  They 
separated and Ridley sat down on the stool to recover.  He said, "I 
have to change my pants.  I'll be right back."

She nodded.  He stood and leaned forward, his hand cupping her 
chin.  He bent down and kissed her lips softly, the tip of his tongue 
erotically fluttering over her top lip.  He whispered, "There's 
nothing I won't do for you, Ridley."

She smiled sadly.  "You just proved that.  Even if I hadn't told you 
Jakes and I were unconsummated, you would have done it anyway, 
wouldn't you?"

He nodded solemnly.  "I love you, Ridley.  I always have."

She blinked and smiled.  "I love you too, Jeremy."

He closed his eyes, swallowing.  "You don't need to say that," he 
offered.

"I'm not humoring you, Jeremy.  I'll tell you a secret."

"What?"

"Remember when I had to choose shortly after the first time we 
met?"

"I remember.  Everyone was sure you would choose Jakes, that is 
until Sawyer came along and took the wind out of his sails."

Ridley smiled again.  "I had made my decision, Jeremy, before 
Sawyer came."

"What's that got to do with anything?" he asked, slightly confused.

"I'd made my choice and it wasn't Jakes," she said softly.

"What?" he asked in surprise, as if he hadn't heard right.

"You heard me," she said, her voice still low.

"Who had you chosen?" he asked, his heart hammering in his 
chest.

She leaned forward and bit gently into his earlobe making him 
moan.  Her lips brushed his earlobe as she said one word, "You."

"I was Partnered," he said automatically.

"I know that's why I chose Sawyer when he came along.  I couldn't 
ask you to leave Carmella.  It didn't stop me from falling in love 
with you though."

He pulled back and his eyes glowed as he looked at her.  "We'll 
talk later.  Let me get changed.  It sounds like we have a lot of 
planning to do."

"Yes, we do."

XXXXXXXXXX

PART 4 (NC-17) 
ASHTON BOWER RESIDENCE 
BATON ROUGE, LA

If anyone had been on the property at 11:00 PM, they would have 
heard ear piercing howls and blood curdling screams as 70 
werewolves, hidden away in the enormous storm cellar that 
attached to the sewers, began to feel the pull of the full moon as it 
rose.


Kimberly Norton lay curled in a ball on the floor in the corner.  
She had been scooped up into the arms of one of these men and 
carried along on a tide of thundering feet and smelly pelts.  She 
was in a panic.  Her clothes were torn and her hair was matted with 
mud, tears and drool.  She wished she would die, or at least pass 
out and make this nightmare go away.

A tall woman with long, brown, tremendously thick hair down to 
her waist, stood naked, surrounded by the rest of these things.  Her 
breasts were generous and yet stood up proud and high on her 
chest.  A small triangle of hair was shaved neatly above her pubis. 
She stood on a small dais that raised her up a couple of feet above 
the rest of the howling crowd of men and women.

Kimberly's shocked brain failed to understand why some of them 
looked like man/beasts and other like regular men and women.  If 
she hadn't seen them with her own eyes, she never would have 
believed.  They were werewolves!  Her grandmother had always 
blathered on about the Loupe Garou that hunted the backwoods of 
Louisiana.  She'd always laughed at her grandmother and her 
overly active imagination and superstitions. Now she wished she'd 
listened more carefully.  She couldn't remember anything valuable.  
What she did remember was that they supposedly were 
transformed by the light of the full moon and tonight was a full 
moon.  So why were some already hairy?

The woman's voice rang out over the chamber, on the edge of too 
loud to bear.  "Tonight we celebrate our lineage in a new way.  
Turlus is not here to guide us and we pray that he finds a way to 
prevent his own transformation.  Ours, however, will not be 
stopped.  I am leading this ceremony in his stead.

"Many of you know of the research we have been doing.  It has 
been largely unsuccessful thus far in regards to changing at will.  
Some of you are stuck in mid- transformation and and we believe 
that the full moon will free you from that state and allow you to 
return to your normal cycle.  The second half of the research, 
however, has been more successful.  When we are transformed, 
with the help of our research and the new serum, we can control 
the rage long enough to procreate with humans and with each 
other."

'Oh dear, God!' Kimberly screamed in her mind.  She'd rather they 
just killed her.

"Think of it.  Most of us are Homids.  With this new formula that 
curbs our rage, we can begin a new race of thoroughbreds.  From 
our mixed offspring, we can breed hybrid Lupines that are faster, 
stronger, and more dangerous than we have ever been before. They 
will always be wolven, never changing to human form yet equal 
with humans in intelligence and cunning.  A new race!  We will 
evolve.  Then the world will be ours for the taking.  No one will be 
able to stand against us.

"Until this research, we didn't know that we are at our most fertile, 
both male and female when we are transformed.  Our wombs are 
fertile and our semen is extra potent. Unfortunately, the rage and 
the hunger have prevented us from copulating during this time.  
Wolves mating will produce wolven offspring, rather than Homids.  
That is our hope.  Always before, we mated as humans and so our 
children were like us.

"I have a small amount of this new potion to give each of you.  It 
will not weaken you or your rage, but allow you to control it long 
enough to mate.  Tonight is an experiment.  I have already chosen 
five of you, the oldest and strongest men to mate with humans.  
The rest of you will pair off and mate with a partner of your choice 
and see if we gain results. Now, line up for your share of our new 
immortality!"

They peeled off the wall and formed a line, each taking a small test 
tube like vial from the woman who stood there with a rack of vials.  
Each took the precious liquid and retreated to their place on their 
wall.

"Obviously, this chamber alone is not big enough for all of us.  
There are many rooms upstairs and some leading off from this one, 
but I have sealed the entrance to the sewers.  I have also sealed the 
entrances to my home and boarded all windows.  When you feel 
the first wave of transformation, drink your vial.  Good luck, 
everyone.  You have less than a half hour to choose a mate."

They filed up the stairs, spreading out throughout the house.  Six 
men had been chosen to stay behind.  They were all tall, handsome 
and most of them appeared to be about 30 years old.

The woman turned to one man that looked a bit older, closer to her 
age.  "Baker, you and I will retire to my chambers upstairs.  The 
rest of you, my pets get a special treat tonight. I have laid out fresh 
meat upstairs to satisfy the hunger of the rest of the Pack.  Satiation 
will help them maintain control for mating as well.  You however, 
get the cream of the crop."

Kimberly was lying with her arms over her head, curled into a fetal 
position so she didn't see the woman point to her.  Wolfish smiles 
spread on all their faces in anticipation. "Your females are behind 
that door.  She pointed to another door on the far side of the 
chamber, adjacent to the staircase up into the house and opposite 
the entrance to the sewers.  "Remember, kill the hunger, control 
the rage, mate with the woman."  She paused.  "Don't kill or turn 
the women.  Do I make myself clear?"

They all nodded, panting heavily.

"Leave them in that room when you are done with them."

She began to sweat, feeling the pull of moon more strongly and 
glanced at her watch. Fifteen minutes to show time.  "Baker, let's 
go."

XXXXXXXXXX

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

A cacophony of roars split through the night as the moon rose to its 
zenith, bright and clear.  The transformations had begun.  Potions 
were drank quickly and then the screaming began as snouts 
protruded and muscles bulged and hair sprouted on the bodies of 
70 werewolves.

Several minutes later, jaws were tearing into the raw, thawed meat 
that was lying in hunks on paper plates all over the hard wood 
floors.  Haunches of beef, venison and antelope were devoured 
with inhuman speed as they sated the awful hunger for blood that 
gnawed at their insides until meat and blood were ingested.

Sated on fresh meat, saliva and blood dripping from their snouts, 
they felt the rage well up in them.  However, this time was 
different.  Upon seeing their chosen mates, rage subsided and was 
funneled into lust.  Bitches went into heat instantly, spraying the 
air with their potent scent.  Penises swelled to mammoth 
proportions after one whiff of the pheromones.

Females braced themselves against walls and window sills as they 
were mounted from behind by their mates and impaled on raging 
cocks, burgeoning with rage that had become lust.

Howling that would curdle your blood and freeze you in your 
tracks floated out over the barren property of Ashton Bower as the 
never before attempted ritual was underway.

XXXXXXXXXX

ASHTON BOWER RESIDENCE 
ROOT CELLAR BELOW THE BASEMENT

Kimberly Norton screamed her last as five werewolves tore the last 
of her clothes off and began to rip chunks of her skin away with 
their canine teeth.  Human flesh and blood was much more 
sustaining than animal meat and blood, and therefore, less was 
required to satisfy the hunger of the five.  Since they had long lived 
by not attracting attention to themselves, actually having human 
flesh for dinner was a rare delicacy.  All five thoroughly enjoyed 
themselves.

When they were finished, nothing but bones and slime were left 
behind and they hummed with satisfaction.  One of them opened 
the door to the antechamber after unlatching the lock.

Five terrified females stared up at the monstrosities staring at them 
from the doorway. One of the girls whimpered, "Oh God, we're 
gonna die."

One of the beasts replied in a tangled snarl.  "Nooo, but yoush will 
wishhhl you haddd."

Then he barreled in the door, feeling his rage wash through him 
and turn to lust, blood rushing to his penis.  It swelled so fast it was 
painful and he howled as it rose up to its full eleven inches and 
slapped into his stomach.

The woman screamed, the werewolves howled, and the door was 
kicked shut behind them.

XXXXXXXXXX

BATON ROUGE JAILHOUSE 
BATON ROUGE, LA 
MIDNIGHT

They were too late.  He'd found a way to prevent his 
transformation.  They stared at him through bars, panting as he lay 
on his cot, sweating profusely.

"How did he do it?" Scully whispered to Mulder.

"I don't know.  No safe way to find out either."  He glanced up to 
make sure the security camera was operational.  He'd adjusted it to 
view the entire inside of the cell before they came down here.

"Your fancy lawyer helped you out, Turlus?" he asked.

Ashton Bower snarled but otherwise stayed curled up on his cot, 
the thin wool blanket covering his shivering form.

"What was that?" Mulder goaded him.

He roared in pain and rolled onto the floor landing on all fours.  He 
wore only his pants with no shoes or socks and no shirt.  He 
panted, snarled and came up on his knees, wailing again with his 
head thrown back.

Mulder and Scully exchanged glances.  Maybe they weren't too 
late after all.  They drew their weapons and backed up to the wall.  
He leaped to his feet and turned to face them, hunched over, his 
arms hanging away from his sides.

Sweat ran down his face and his brown hair hung in strings.  His 
jaw tensed and he bared clenched teeth, screaming through them.  
He lunged forward his hands grabbing the bars and he shook them 
violently trying to move them back and forth, actually bending 
them.

Mulder and Scully gasped, bracing themselves.  That's when 
Mulder spotted it and said, "His shoulder."

Scully's eyes darted to one shoulder, then the other.  She saw it too 
and her eyes widened.  There was a nail file embedded in his 
muscle over his rotator cuff.  They could only assume it was silver.

His body convulsed and he went down on his knees, grabbing the 
bars again as his body began to quake against the gut wrenching 
pain as his body felt the pull of the moon, but couldn't transform.  
Muscles bulged and expanded, only to snap back into place, 
causing him to wail in pain again.

His head snapped up, his eyes full of rage.  He began rocking his 
body violently against the bars as his frame contorted as though he 
were having the grand mal seizure of all grand mal seizures.

Hair sprouted on his chest and face only to recede a moment later, 
leaving him howling in pain.  Mulder and Scully stood mute, 
watching this happen as though watching a morphing program 
work on a computer.

He heaved himself to his feet and shouted, "I SAID YOU WOULD 
PAY!  IT'S TIME!"

He reached up, ripping the file out of his arm.  He roared again.   
Now the changes were fast and furious as his face protruded 
quickly and grotesquely, forming a large snout.  He snarled, 
showing his teeth, as his eyes swirled and changed color, becoming 
nearly black.

He jerked as his muscles bulged on his arms and his legs 
thickened, ripping his pants. This was followed quickly by 
sprouting hair that soon formed a pelt on his body.

This time when he opened his mouth, it was not a human wail of 
pain.  It was ear- piercing, animalistic howl.  He stood with his 
head thrown back as his ears grew long and pointed.

"Jesus Christ," Scully muttered.

"If he bends those bars, Scully, shoot," Mulder ordered.

"No problem," she whispered, licking her lips nervously.

Mulder hoped all this was being captured by the camera in the 
security office.  He'd left Rillington and Drake in charge of it up 
there and told them not to let anyone come in and turn it off under 
any circumstances.

Turlus roared and leaped, scampering up the wall of his cell and 
coming back down onto the floor.  His grotesque head swung back 
and forth as if seeing the cell for the first time. He spotted Mulder 
and Scully and lunged full force into the bars.  His snout slipped 
through the bars, snarling and snapping his jaws.

With one gigantic sway and shoulder butt he slammed into the 
door of the cell, bending the lock and tumblers right out of the 
metal jamb.  He leaped at them.  They both fired.

Mulder's bullet passed through his arm and ricocheted off the cell 
wall.  He knew he'd missed his blood stream.  Damn, he thought.  
Scully's bullet grazed his temple and he bellowed and swiped at 
her with his claws.  She fell to the floor and rolled away.  At that 
precise moment, the door at the end of the hall swung open and 
Rillington and Drake appeared in the doorway.

Mulder lay on the floor, having fallen on his ass as he'd dodged the 
swinging arm that had almost clobbered Scully.  He screamed, 
"Nooo, deputies.  Get back!"

Too late.  Turlus' attention swung to the new prey and he leaped up 
onto the wall, and scampered across the sheetrock, leaving claw 
marks and punctures as he went.  The deputies fired, but their 
bullets had no effect.  He sprang at them, crashing into them and 
knocking them out of the doorway.  Scully aimed to squeeze off 
another shot at his wildly swinging torso, hoping she didn't hit the 
deputies.

Damn, she couldn't risk it.  She and Mulder scrambled to their feet 
and ran to the door, only to find Drakes lying in a puddle of blood, 
where the swipe from Turlus' claws had nearly severed his head.

Rillington was on his back, holding his stomach.  Scully went 
down on her knees and scrambled over to him, ripping his shirt 
open to assess the damage.

Mulder turned back to the raging werewolf as he tore through the 
squad room, tipping over desks and breaking lamps as he cleared a 
path to the front door.  Mulder was behind him and to the left.  He 
spread his legs and took aim, waiting for a clear shot. policemen 
scrambled up from fallen chairs and grabbed for their weapons.  
"Turlus, STOP!"  Mulder shouted at the panicking policemen, 
"Your bullets won't hurt him! Anybody got any silver?"

The last cop was flung out of the path, pushed back as a desk 
collided with his mid- section.  Turlus whirled around and faced 
Mulder.  The beast leaped, hitting Mulder in the solar plexus and 
sending him flying backwards through the air.  Mulder hit the wall 
and fell to the floor with a grunt.  He still had his gun and he 
dizzily pulled his arms up trying to take aim but couldn't get a clear 
shot that didn't endanger one of the other policemen from his place 
on the floor.  He fumbled and extracted the switchblade from his 
pants pocket and opened it up.  He threw it at the beast and it 
lodged in his throat.  The beast roared and Mulder realized it 
wouldn't be in his bloodstream.  He used both hands to steady the 
gun as the beast crouched, ready to strike at Mulder's throat.  
Before Mulder could squeeze off a shot, three bodies crashed 
through the plate glass window at the front of the barracks.

His mind reeled as everything slowed down.  He watched them fly 
through the air, car coats fluttering out behind them.  Shards of 
shattered glass flew out around them like crystals floating in slow 
motion.  They landed; one, two three, bending their knees to 
absorb the impact and straightening up as they raised their hands 
into a firing stance. Each of them had two pistols each.  The man 
roared, "He's MINE!" and he began firing, the other two holding 
their fire.

POW. POW. POW. POW. POW. POW. POW. POW. POW. POW.

The werewolf danced in a macabre fashion as the bullets punched 
into his body.  He swayed to the side and then staggered backward; 
falling onto his back, smoke trailing from multiple silver bullet 
wounds.

Mulder shouted, "Ridley!"  It sounded as if his voice came from 
far away and echoed in a tunnel as he heaved himself to his feet.

She turned to him in slow motion and said, "Take your partner 
home.  Stay out of this." Her gaze swept the barracks as she eyed 
the cops.  She addressed them.  "Unless you all want to die, stay 
out of this!"

Mulder's mind clicked into focus and he recognized the other two.  
The young blonde was Lyndlay, the girl they had saved.  She 
certainly looked different now.  Not a scratch on her.  Her sunken 
cheeks were now puffy and full and her hair lustrous as it swung 
around her shoulders as she spun on her heel to leave with the two 
older vampires.

The third one was Jeremy, the vampire from the bar.  They had 
turned to leave when Jeremy stopped and turned back to Mulder.  
He said cryptically, "My life debt is paid." They leapt out of the 
broken window and dashed off into the night.  Time sped up and 
Mulder staggered, grabbing the edge of a desk to keep his balance.  
Cops were standing and brushing themselves off.

He turned to find Scully still hunched over Deputy Rillington.  She 
was now wearing latex gloves she must have had in her pocket.  
She was putting pressure on his abdominal wound.  She called out 
to the room at large.  "Is there a first aid kit in this place?  I need 
bandages, tape, BP cuff if you have one!  Someone call 911.  
Officer down!"

That mobilized everyone.  Confusion turned to purpose as they 
scrambled for every first aid supply they could find.  They did 
whatever they could in order to avoid looking at the beast laying 
on the floor.

An officer Mulder didn't recognize approached him shakily.  
"What is that?"

"What does it look like?" Mulder asked dully.

"Holy shit on a shingle, man," the officer whispered.  "A real Loup 
Garou.  I never thought they really existed."

"We'll need to get the coroner to pick up this body, as well as 
Deputy Drake's and have them taken to the county morgue."

"Right, I'll call the coroner.  He's not going to fucking believe 
this."

"You do that," Mulder said, still a little dazed from the events of 
the last few minutes.

The man swallowed and waved towards the shattered window.  
"Who were they?" he asked.  He paused and when Mulder didn't 
answer, he asked, "O.K., WHAT were they?"

Mulder cleared his throat.  "You wouldn't believe me if I told you.  
Let's report that Agent Scully and I killed this ... thing," he 
answered finally.

"You got it," the man said.  "I ain't messin' with anybody that's got 
friends like that."  He turned on his heel and walked away.

Mulder watched him find a phone cord on the floor, pick it up and 
start following it back to the source.  It looked like a bomb had 
gone off in the station house.  He could hear sirens in the distance 
as all units on call were summoned back to the barracks.

Mulder looked down and stared at the beast, seeing the vague 
impression of the face of the man he used to be.  He almost felt 
sorry for him, but pushed that sentiment aside. Whether or not he'd 
chosen to be a werewolf, he'd been a cold-blooded killer.  
Vampires were dangerous, but at least he'd found them to be 
reasonable.  Now, one of them had surely just saved his life.  They 
weren't cold-blooded killers.  At least, not the ones he'd met so far.

He didn't think about what a bizarre thought that was, as though 
people met vampires every day.

The deputy returned and said, "Calls are made."  Mulder finally 
noticed the name tag on his uniform shirt.  It said, T. Yves.

"You know a reporter named Gabriel Yves?"

The man's face showed surprise.  "Yeah, he's my little brother," the 
deputy replied.

"Call him.  Tell him Agent Mulder said to get down here and take 
a picture of this.  Then I want him to give that footage he has to the 
Associated Press and have it run everywhere it possibly can run."

"What footage?" the confused deputy asked.

"He'll know," Mulder said simply.  "Tell him to hurry.  He has to 
get here before the coroner does."  He walked away without 
looking back.

The deputy shook his head.  "Strange beasts, strange men, strange 
fucking night," he muttered as he dialed his brother's cell number.

XXXXXXXXXX

COMFORT SUITES 
BATON ROUGE, LA

An hour later, the mutant beast and Deputy Drake were in morgue 
freezers awaiting autopsy.  That would have to wait until 
tomorrow.  Deputy Rillington was on his way to the hospital, 
having narrowly escaped being completely eviscerated.  Scully 
released him to EMTs after giving strict orders that he be placed on 
the strongest antibiotics and anti- virals they could find.  He didn't 
appear to have been bitten, but she wasn't taking any chances that 
the virus had entered his blood stream somehow.

They were both exhausted when they stumbled back into their 
hotel room and collapsed on the couch.  Scully stretched out on top 
of Mulder's torso and he sighed, rubbing her back gently.  "I feel 
like I ought to be out there Scully."

"I know, Mulder.  Ridley's right though.  We aren't equipped to 
join in this war.  We'd get ourselves killed.  We're fortunate we've 
survived this far."

"Wanna take our minds off it?" he asked teasingly.

She lifted her head and grinned at him.  "You're insatiable," she 
retorted.

He grinned and sat up, dragging her with him.  "Are you too sore?" 
he asked, not sounding remorseful at all.

"You're proud of that, aren't you?" she jabbed.

He smiled wider and shrugged.  "Oh come on, Scully.  What guy 
wouldn't be a little tickled that they fucked their girlfriend until she 
had trouble walking?  What guy wouldn't feel good that his 
equipment is big enough to make her sore?  Sorry, but it's a guy 
thing," he said defensively.

She laughed.  "You're incorrigible."

"First I'm insatiable, then I'm incorrigible.  Which is it?"

"Both."

"Sounds like a good combination to me," he quipped, standing and 
tugging her to her feet behind him.

PART 5 (NC-17) 
COMFORT SUITES 
BATON ROUGE, LA

XXXXXXXXXX NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXX

It didn't take long for them to get showered and climb naked into 
the bed.  He pinned her underneath him, taking his weight on his 
elbows, but letting his lower body sink down onto her.

He kissed her, rubbing the fat head of his cock against her moist 
lips and feeling them part like a kiss. "God, you're already so wet 
and ready for me."

"Yeah," she said as she kissed him everywhere she could reach.  
"Doesn't take much with you."

He chuckled, nudging her entrance, asking permission to come in.

"Mmmmmm.  Yeah, do it.  I'm ready."

He grunted softly and pushed the head of his cock inside.  He 
began kissing her neck and nibbling on her earlobe, loving the taste 
of her.  He pushed a little further inside and her soft moaning 
turned to panting.  "God, your cock is so thick," she muttered.

He smiled into her hair.  "Yeah, tell me how it feels, baby.  It turns 
me on."  He arched his back and moved his head down to suckle 
her nipple.  He heard her soft moan and sucked harder.

She whimpered, "Ohhhhwhhooaa, ohhhhwhhhoooaaa!"

He took that as approval and moved to the other peaked nipple and 
did the same.  That lovely whimpering sound emerged again and 
he felt his cock throb in response.

He pushed again, burying about half of himself inside.  "Awww, 
like a hot, snug glove, Scully.  Feels so good."

"Quit teasing," she panted.

He chuckled and rolled onto his shoulder, letting his hands slide 
down to her ass.  He cupped her firmly and, at the same time, 
snapped his hips, burying himself deep in her body.    Her soft 
walls parted and then contracted as if trying to hold him inside and 
he moaned.  He leaned down and kissed her again.

Scully gasped and moaned into his mouth.  He broke the kiss and 
began feathering kisses on her cheeks, her eyelids, her brows, as he 
waited for her to adjust to his size.

Her voice was low and sultry as it floated into his ears.  "Oh 
Mulder, I never imagined sensations like these existed."

He began to pump.  She groaned, feeling the hairs on her body 
stand on end.  He kept his pace steady while feeding her long 
strokes that let her feel his entire length as he dipped into her over 
and over again.  She felt her orgasm rising from somewhere deep 
inside her.    Her toes and her fingers began to tingle and she 
whimpered, "Oh geez, oh God, oh fuck, Mulder.   Here it comes.  
Yeah, yeah, right there.  Christ! You're so damn thick.  It's gonna 
make me come already!  I'm so full!  It's good!"

He groaned and pumped harder, her words exciting him beyond 
reason.  She loved to hear dirty talk in the throes of sex.  She'd 
revealed that yesterday.  This was his first clue that she liked to 
talk the talk as well.   He whispered, "That's it, Scully.  Talk dirty. 
Oh that's such a turn on."  He pressed his lips to her ear and ground 
out.  "Your tight, little pussy is making me THROB."

She moaned, arching her back.  "OhmyGod!  ChristAlmighty, 
Mulder!  I'm cccooommmiiinnnggg!"

Her walls squeezed him like a vice and he slid in deep and held it, 
enjoying the delicious sensations of her muscles waving over his 
shaft.  He was excited but pleased to find that he was nowhere near 
coming.

As she came down, he moved his arms back up.  He licked her 
shoulders and began pumping again.  He reached down and 
hooked one elbow under her left knee and raised her leg higher.

She gurgled in ecstasy as new sensations hit her, his cock sliding 
over her clitoris, his fat cock head massaging her G-spot.  She 
began to shake.  Tears started pouring down her face as he thrust 
up into her, but he knew they were not tears of sadness or pain.  
They were tears of love and ecstasy.  As his cock explored the 
depths of her small, grasping pussy, she became slicker and he slid 
in with less resistance.

He sped up again, putting his weight behind his thrusts and felt that 
nearly unbearable sensation again.  Her cervix was stretched over 
the top of his glans as he pressed deep, feeling a tiny pinch and 
squeeze with every stroke.

He grunted with his efforts, sweat leaving a sheen on his body.  
"My Scully, oh my Scully. Love making love to you.  Jesus, I 
barely fit in here!  Baby, it feels so good!

She clung to him and felt her body suspend motionless at the 
bottom of his hard stroke. Her stretched cervix muscle burned.  
She screamed.  It felt like she exploded with heat from the inside 
out as she felt a wash of pleasure so intense she nearly passed out.  
She couldn't move, pinned as she was, so she vibrated against him 
as her engorged pussy climaxed around him.

She shrieked, "AAAAHHHHAAAAWWWW!  So deep!  Oh God, 
its so inntteennssee!  Oh Mulder, its heaven!"

Her tight pussy milked him continuously.  He was in heaven and 
didn't want it to end, but he knew he would have to move soon.

She tried to buck under him but he had her pinned.  He loosened 
his hold on her leg and it lowered, changing the angle.  "Oh shit, 
Scully!"

She was trembling as her climax abated.  Her insides throbbed with 
a bone deep ache. She panted, "Move, please move."

"You're so small inside.  I've never felt anything like it."

She reached down and cupped his buttocks, pulling him flush 
against her.  "Finish it. Come for me, Mulder."

He moaned and began thrusting gently into her.

She met his thrusts with of her own.  She was urging him on, 
whispering in his ear and he pumped.  "Go for it, Mulder.  Yeah, I 
wanna feel it, feel your cock emptying inside me."

"Oh shit!" he cried and began bucking into her harder.

She gritted her teeth against the impact, as he hit her sore cervix 
with the blunt end of his cock.  "Come on, Mulder.  Cum for me 
baby," she coaxed.  Her fingernails scraped lightly over his ass and 
he was all done.

He hunched up, ramming into her and burying himself to the hilt.  
He wasn't holding back and let go as soon as he felt his balls tingle.  
He shouted, "Here it comes!"

"Oh yeah, baby.  Love you!" Scully gasped out.

He clamped his eyes shut and moaned through his climax, 
collapsing on top of her.

XXXXXXXXXX END OF NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXX

They laid there for a long time, panting and not saying anything, 
letting their kisses and touches speak for themselves.

"That was incredible," Scully eventually said, her voice raspy from 
screaming.  She moved her leg and winced.

Mulder didn't miss it.  "I hurt you, didn't I?  I'm so sorry, Scully."

She began to chuckle. "I love you, Mulder."

"I love you too.  I never want to hurt you, Scully.  I knew you were 
sore.  I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it, but I don't want everyone we meet from now 
on asking me if I've had a rough night."

He burst out laughing and hugged her tightly to him.  He rolled 
onto his back, his now flaccid penis sliding out of her and causing 
another minor flood.

"Ugg," she grunted and slid off him to stand by the bed.  "I'll be the 
clean up crew, this time."

He nodded.  "Thanks.  You sure you're all right?"

She took a step and winced.  "Yeah, nothing a little hot water and a 
few days won't cure."

He closed his eyes.  "I'm really sorry.  I'll be more careful."

"Stop apologizing.  I enjoyed it.  It's just that we can't be rough 
every time.  It would be a little much for everyday wear, is all," she 
countered.

He nodded, feeling guilty.  "Slow and gentle only when you're sore 
from now on.  I promise.  Or I could try to be a real gentleman and 
abstain."

She grinned and said cheekily, "Or, you'll just have to fuck my ass 
instead!"

He barked out a guffaw and slapped the bed.  "Jesus, you're too 
much," he choked out.

"If you can't handle the heat ..."

"I'll show you heat, you little vixen," he shot back.

She laughed, turning on her heel and went into the bathroom.

XXXXXXXXXX

SEWERS BELOW 
BATON ROUGE, LA

They fanned out, scanning from side to side as they marched 
through the sewers, going from one section to another.  There was 
nothing down here.  He wasn't terribly upset about that.  He hated 
to battle.  It had been a long time.  If they did find them down here, 
he planned on letting his soldiers take the brunt of the attack.  He'd 
put his least favorite Family members at the front lines.  His letter 
had told Turlus any vampires taken alive during the battle could be 
his for his stupid experiments, as long as he didn't take the children 
or Ridley.  Now though, he had no idea if his letter had been 
received.

Jakes was fuming.  He didn't know where Ridley had gone.  She 
had slipped out and apparently taken Lyndlay with her.  
Unfortunately, he hadn't had time to send people out looking for 
them.  They were scheduled to attack the belly of the beast this 
night and he couldn't cancel.  All the soldiers were ready.  He had 
to show them that he put his leadership of the Clan above his 
personal concerns.

The war would serve his purposes in the end.  Every day that went 
by without these things dead, he was in danger of being exposed.  
He knew Turlus was not the only werewolf that knew they had 
met.  He had to have a confidante other than Dalton.

He cursed internally.  He never should have given Ridley time.  He 
should have demanded they consummate their partnership 
immediately.  What could she have done but submit to him?  She 
knew the rules.  Then she would have been honor bound to follow 
him into this battle.  Now, he had to pretend that he'd sent Ridley 
somewhere on another mission.  Otherwise, he would look like an 
idiot.  His life had become lies on top of lies.  What did she know 
anyway?  She'd been acting weird lately.

This whole thing had gotten out of hand.  It was never supposed to 
happen this way. He'd sent Sawyer down here alone, playing on his 
one weakness, Ridley, saying he didn't want her in danger.  The 
sap had agreed and set off by himself, believing that Turlus had 
double crossed Jakes, giving him a disk full of crap when he'd 
promised to share his research on fertility.

In return for killing Sawyer, all Jakes was supposed to have to do 
was provide a few vampires for their experiments.  He'd planned 
on trumping up some charges against a few people he hated and 
then throwing them to the wolves, literally.

Ridley had messed everything up.  Turlus wanted to get rid of his 
hot head protégé and knew he would go off half-cocked.  He'd sent 
him to the lab to retrieve some message at the proper time.  Instead 
of finding Dr. Abirwick, he'd found Sawyer and killed him, just 
like they'd planned.  That gave Turlus his excuse to eliminate 
Dalton.

Ridley had insisted on avenging Sawyer's death and demanded that 
soldiers be sent to exact retribution.  He couldn't deny her without 
revealing his duplicity, so he'd agreed to let a small contingency 
go, six soldiers.  He'd tried to get word to Turlus that they were 
going down there, but had been unable to reach him.

He hadn't been lying.  Turlus did think he'd double-crossed him, 
but not because of Sawyer's actions.  He thought the Clan's soldiers 
were Jakes answer to holding up his end of the bargain.  After 
repeated calls that went unanswered, he'd sent a letter to Turlus.  
He had no idea if it had arrived.

Damn her.  Then Ridley had bargained consummation for 
partnership.  Asking for more time, making all kinds of promises 
for the future that had never been fulfilled.  She'd said that if he 
allowed her to avenge Sawyer, and would give her a couple more 
weeks, she would consummate and hold nothing back.  The deal 
was she would kill at least one high level lycanthrope.  She was to 
take two or three others with her.  He'd agreed, seeing no other 
way.  Instead, she took nearly twenty vampires and killed at least 
ten lycanthropes. They were enraged and rightly so.  He had 
figured he could explain one death away as Ridley being on a 
rogue witch hunt.  This was a whole other matter.    For centuries, 
he'd burned for her with a lust that nothing but consummation 
would extinguish.

He'd fantasize about Ridley while fucking Brianna raw night after 
night, even calling out her name when he climaxed a few times.  
Brianna took it all stoically for years, until one day; she calmly 
announced that she was going to the Elders.  She wanted to take 
the long sleep.

Jakes had initially thought it was the answer to his prayers.  He'd 
originally had plans to bump her off too as soon as Sawyer was 
taken care of.  She'd spared him the trouble. He'd had nothing 
against Brianna really.  She just wasn't the one that made his cock 
rise.

In addition to her incredible beauty, Ridley was the second oldest 
and strongest in Louisiana.  He wanted her under his control too.  
He'd felt sure he could break her spirit once she was his partner.

Now he was without Brianna, without Ridley, without his alliance 
to Turlus, who was now rotting in a jail cell.  Turlus would either 
escape or die tonight.  Of that, he was certain. He was crawling 
around in these fetid sewers looking to destroy research he really 
didn't give a damn about.

They came upon a four-way intersection and one of the soldiers in 
the lead team called a halt with his fist in the air.  Everyone 
stopped and listened, hearing the faint echo of howling.  It took a 
minute to determine which direction it was coming from.  The 
sewer walls echoed and sound ricocheted badly down here.

Jakes had one plan now.  Get out of this cluster fuck alive.

Then he intended to find Ridley and demand consummation.  He 
would fuck her into next week.  He would lock her up if he had to.  
He was so mad at her.  He knew he would take it out on her once 
he had her underneath him.  He would punish her with his prick 
and love every minute of it, fucking her raw until it took her an 
entire day to heal.  He'd loved doing that to Brianna.  It would be 
even better with Ridley.  He hated her for her rejection. It had 
fueled his raging libido with Brianna.  He would fuck every last 
ounce of resistance out of her.   This was all her fault anyway.

His lead soldier pointed down to the left and they all began jogging 
two on each side of the canal toward the echoing howls.

The howls became louder and the sound sent chills down their 
spines.  It was an eerie sound, even to a vampire.  They reached the 
end of the tunnel.  There was a single door.

Trying to open it proved futile.  Finally, using the butt ends of 
weapons and fists, his soldiers broke away the door and found ... 
concrete.

The mother fuckers had sealed the doorway.  This had to be the 
entrance to their precious labs.  One of his soldiers said, "Shit!  Do 
we have anything that can break through concrete?  Even I'm not 
that strong."

Several people chuckled in response.  "We don't have to," Jakes 
said.  Everyone turned to look at him.  "We go back out to the 
intersection and take the manhole up to the street. We're right on 
the edge of Turlus Westow's property.  I'll bet anything they are all 
in his house somewhere.  He probably has tunnels dug under his 
house and thirty acres of land.

Melryk stepped forward and said, "How do you know that, Jakes?"

He startled a little and licked his lips.  "I've done some 
investigating on my own.  Never hurts to have information on your 
enemies."

"Or your potential allies," Melryk added.

Several gasps were heard as Melryk made his insinuation.  Jakes 
glared at him.  "I was going to bargain for his research, but 
Sawyer's death changed all that.  Everyone knows it.  I never kept 
it a secret.  You all knew I was meeting with him.  What is this 
about, Melryk?"

He swallowed.  "I'm sorry, Jakes.  My daughter is missing again 
and I'm on edge.  I'm seeing ghosts where there are none," he 
backpedaled.  The crowd relaxed.

Jakes said, "Lyndlay is with Ridley."

"What?" he nearly shouted.

"Just what I said.  I needed Ridley to do some reconnaissance and 
check out the situation at the jail.  She asked for Lyndlay to 
accompany her.  I didn't see any reason to refuse.  At least if she's 
with Ridley, she won't be sneaking off somewhere, will she?"

"You could have told me, Jakes!" Melryk chastised.

Jakes nodded.  "You're right.  I should have told you.  I'm sorry.  I 
got distracted with all this planning for the attack tonight."

Melryk receded.  "All right.  From now on, please tell me if you 
send my children somewhere."

"Sure, Melryk.  Of course," he said, humoring him.  "Let's move 
out!" he shouted.

Jakes made up his mind right then that Melryk was going to be one 
of the first ones to die tonight.  One way or another.  He wasn't 
even from this Family and he was asking way too many questions.

XXXXXXXXXX

PART 6 (NC-17) 
ASHTON BOWER RESIDENCE 
ROOT CELLAR BELOW THE BASEMENT

Sabastian was the oldest and the biggest werewolf of the chosen 
five.  They let him take his pick.  He chose the smallest girl.  In all 
his years, he'd never fucked a pure human, only other she-wolves 
when they were in human form.  The beds were lined up against 
the wall.  She was on the end, the last one he looked at.

She was exquisite, no more than 18 years old, with long, blonde 
hair and a tiny, little waist.  Her full rounded boobs were like 
perfect circles lying on her chest.  He leaped onto the bed, 
straddling her on all fours.

The young girl screamed, making Sebastian's blood sing with lust.  
He felt his cock throb and grow, slapping him in the stomach.  He 
glanced over at his compatriots.  They were all in similar positions, 
ripping clothes from the women's bodies.  A quick glance told him 
all the girls were young.  Madelaine had outdone herself this time.  
He looked down at the girl and ripped her shirt and panties off.  
That's all she was wearing.  She screamed again as he wrapped his 
paws around her waist, his long claws nearly touching.  My God, 
her waist wasn't more than 20 inches around.

He howled and she quaked beneath him, her hands covering her 
mouth.  He left her waist, pulled her hands away from her mouth 
and pinned them above her head, easily holding her wrists with one 
hand.  Her perky little tits rose up as if in offering and he drooled 
onto her chest, snarling.  His free hand reached down and forced 
her legs apart. She was hot and dry.

He didn't care.  He used his fingers to spread her tight, dry lips and 
slid his lower body down between her spread legs.  She was 
whimpering, "Oh, please don't do this.  Oh God, please don't do 
this.  I won't be able to take it!  You'll kill me!  You're too big!"

He looked down and growled at the sight of his enormous cock 
between her legs.  He felt another surge in his groin and cock 
hardened even further.

He looked into her eyes and spit as he said, "Yourrsss minesss."

He put the head of his engorged monster cock against her tight 
cunt.  She wailed, "Please!  I'm a virgin!"

He lost all control and rammed his towering cock into her with all 
his might, feeling her tear and bleed as he embedded himself 
deeply in her tight sheath.

Upstairs, a few heads lifted to listen.  Her screams could be heard 
two floors above.

XXXXXXXXXX

ASHTON BOWER'S PROPERTY 
THE SURROUNDING WOODS

Lothian ran, feeling his heart pound in his chest.  He hoped no one 
had seen him.  They were all busy fucking right now.  As soon as 
he felt the change begin, he'd raced up to the second floor and 
pulled down the ladder from the hallway ceiling and had crawled 
up into attic.  All the windows were boarded up and he couldn't get 
out without attracting attention.  That was the only plan he'd come 
up with so far.

As the howling of the Pack grew, he'd easily punched out the 
louver in the gable end of the attic, facing the back lawn.  He'd 
squeezed himself through and jumped from the roof, two and half 
stories down, landing on the lawn.

He'd been running ever since.  He hoped he would make it on time.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ridley and Jeremy slowed down slightly to let Lyndlay catch up.  
Due to her youth she was not as fast as they were and didn't have 
their stamina.  Jeremy was a little surprised at his own stamina, 
himself.  He knew it was Ridley's strong blood now flowing in his 
veins that was giving him the ability to run this far and this long 
and not run out of energy. He didn't even feel winded.  Contrary to 
common belief, vampires did have limits.

Lyndlay was winded as she finally caught up to them.  Ridley 
slowed to a walk.  They were nearly to the south end of town 
where they could enter the sewers.

"I'm sorry," Lyndlay huffed out.  "I'm holding you back," she 
panted.

Ridley looked at the girl with sympathy.  "We can rest a few 
moments.  Can you make it to the park?"

"Yes," she said.

They took off running again, but at a slightly slower pace so 
Lyndlay could keep up.  They halted at the edge of the road.  "Let's 
get over here in the tree line," Ridley said.

They jogged across the street and into the park, finding a row of 
dense maples and climbed up into the branches to rest out of sight.

"Where to now?" Jeremy asked.

"Since we haven't gotten any messages, I was thinking the sewers.  
We have to find them."

"Jakes and the rest of the army will be in the sewers."

"I know, but what else can we do?"

"Let them fight the war," Jeremy said quietly.

"I'm already in deep shit for disappearing, I'm sure."

"I know but we have to survive in order to expose Jakes."

She swallowed.  "I know."  She turned to Lyndlay.  "Do you think 
your message got through?"

"I have no idea."  She had left a note in the tree at the edge of 
Ashton Bower's property. It was where she always left her notes 
for him.  There was a tree where he left his communications for her 
on Cicadas Road.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lothian came to a halt at 'his tree'.  That's how he'd come to think 
of it.  He reached into the knothole and swished his paw around.  
His heart lurched when he felt the piece of paper.  He drew it out 
and opened it quickly, his eyes focused hard on the words.  When 
transformed, it was difficult for him to concentrate and read.

He felt a rush of rage and threw his head back, choking on his 
desire to howl.  It receded but then sent a rush of lust through him 
and his loins surged.  He growled and snarled. Jesus, he had to 
keep control.  He focused again on the paper and read it again, 
slowly allowing the words to sink into his consciousness.

He grunted, tearing it into to bits, digging a small hole and burying 
the pieces.  He stood looking around and took a deep breath.  
"Keeppth goingggth, Lothhh," he whispered. "This isth foorrr 
Lynnddly."

He grunted and took off at a ground-covering lope.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ridley glanced at her watch.  It was 2:00 AM already.  She sighed.  
"We can't wait any longer."

"Damn it," Lyndlay said through clenched teeth.

Ridley put her hand on her arm.  "I'm sorry, Lyndlay.  I hoped he 
would come."

"Me too.  I knew he used me, Ridley.  He was upfront about 
needing me to complete his orders.  I didn't care because I thought 
he cared for me."  She turned to face the older woman and there 
were tears streaming down her face.  "I didn't think it would hurt 
this bad."  She paused, swallowing her tears.  "He said he loved 
me," she sobbed.

Ridley wrapped her arms around the girl and let her cry for a 
moment a longer.  Jeremy averted his eyes, uncomfortable with 
this whole this scenario.  The girls had assured them that this 
Lothian was an ally.  He wasn't so sure.  His inbred hatred of 
Lycanthropes wouldn't let him take it at face value that one of 
them could have any emotion other than rage, let alone love.  He 
knew now was not the time to point that out, however.

He touched Ridley's shoulder.  "We really have to get going."

"I know," she whispered.  "Lyndlay, are you coming with us?  You 
don't have to, you know?.  You can go back to the mansion.  No 
one will hold it against you."

"No," she said, wiping her tears with her arm.  "I was foolish, 
wasn't I?"  She paused.  "I really thought he loved me," she 
repeated.

"IIII dooothh, Lyndlay," a voice sounded from below them.

"Christ!" Ridley cried in surprise, jumping up to squat on the 
branch.

"Wolf!" Jeremy hissed at the same time, doing the same.  He 
figured they must be upwind of him not to have smelled him.

Lyndlay dropped from the tree to the ground and cried out, "Oh, 
thank God you came!"

She was in his arms in an instant.  Ridley and Jeremy raised their 
eyebrows at one another, and then dropped together from the tree, 
landing behind the couple.

They watched as the wolf jerked his head up from where he had 
buried his nose in her hair and growled low in his chest.

Lyndlay reached up and petted his forehead, smoothing the hair 
back.  "It's all right, Lothian.  They are friends."

He eyed them warily but did not remove his massive arms from 
around her tiny waist. "You didn'ttthhh thay therree wasss 
frenssss," he lisped around his long tongue.

She stepped back from him and he let her go, poised on the balls of 
his back feet, still alert.  "I knew you wouldn't come if I did," she 
admitted.

He bobbed his large head.  "Whatthhh arrree yourth planthhhh?" 
he asked.

"We need to know what is going on, Lothian.  Did the vampires 
attack?"

He shook his head, managing to look confused despite his 
protruding snout and dark eyes.

Ridley and Jeremy were surprised at how much facial expression 
he had.  Neither one of them had ever seen one of these beings this 
close that wasn't in a rage and attacking.

He said, "Trithaa thealled the labs and the houthhh windowthhs for 
the rittuuuthal."

"What ritual?" Ridley asked.

He glanced nervously at Lyndlay.

She nodded sharply.  "Tell them," she said.

He lifted his eyes to theirs and panted a bit.  "Theyyy hafff done 
rethearch."

"We know," Ridley replied.  "Jakes was going bargain for the 
fertility research, hoping it would help us as well."

"Nothh jusss fertilithy rethearch," he garbled.

Ridley frowned.  "What do you mean?"

"Breedthing new racth."

"A new race?" Jeremy said incredulously.

He nodded.  He went on to explain in his lisping, slurring voice 
that they had found a way to channel their rage into lust.  The 
chemicals released during rage were now modified to attack the 
reproductive system instead and make them crazy with lust while 
they were still transformed.  He explained that this was desirable 
because that was when they were at their most fertile time, both 
male and female.

If they coupled when they were humans, they gave birth to Homid 
Lycanthropes, just like themselves that only transformed on the 
full moon.  The theory was that if they coupled when they were 
transformed, they would produce offspring that were more canine 
and more akin to the Lupine strain of werewolfism, which was 
stronger in every way than the Homids.  The Lupine strain were 
nearly extinct.  Could be extinct for all they knew.  No one had met 
up with one for years.  The ultimate goal was to produce a stronger 
lineage that didn't transform, that stayed in wolven form all the 
time but maintained the intelligence of a human.

The vampires were already in shock.  When he went on to say that 
they were also experimenting with cross breeding humans, Ridley 
and Jeremy nearly choked.  "Jesus," Jeremy whispered.

Lyndlay said, "So they are trying it both ways.  If they can't 
produce Lupines through their own coupling, then they are hoping 
coupling with humans while they are transformed will produce, not 
Lupines, but a still stronger race of Lycanthropes."

He nodded his head.  "They have to be stopped!" Jeremy bit out.

The wolf eyed him warily.  "I don'thh knowww if they canth be," 
Lothian answered.  "Trith went aheadth withhhhouttthhh 
Turrlusss."

Ridley shook her head.  "So the Clan is down in the sewers looking 
for Lycanthropes that aren't there.  Even if they find the lab, they 
won't be able to get in."

Lothian nodded in confirmation.  "I dontth agree withhh whathh 
theyyy arrreee ddoingth," he forced out.  Talking was getting 
harder.  It was a struggle any time he transformed, and he'd just 
talked more in wolf form than he ever had.

Jeremy eyed him suspiciously, his hand holding his gun concealed 
by a fold in his coat. He wasn't taking any chances.  "You haven't 
taken this potion?" he asked incredulously.

He watched as the wolf hung his head.  "Yethhh, I hafffthth."

Jeremy sneered.  "Then how can you say you don't agree with this.  
If you hadn't taken it, you wouldn't be here now, would you?"

Lothian looked away.  "Cannth talthhh muccchhh morth," he 
gulped out.  He looked at Lyndlay, "Exthplaaaiin for meeth."

Lyndlay scratched behind his ear and he threw his head back with 
an obvious expression of pleasure.

His head came down toward her breast and Jeremy flinched, his 
hand coming forward. Ridley grabbed his arm and pushed it back 
behind his back, hiding the gun.  She gave him a look of warning.

They looked back at the couple to discover the wolf had laid his 
head against her breast, nothing more.  She looked at them.  
"Talking is hard for him when he's transformed," she explained.

"He told me that they picked the youngest ones for experiments.  
Lothian has only been a Lycanthrope for about five years.  Others 
were even younger.  Failed potions produced what we have seen, 
the half-transformed werewolves that can't change back to human 
form and can't fully transform until it happens on the next full 
moon.  They are still trying to reverse the process, but those 
Lycanthropes may be doomed to spend their lives half transformed 
after tonight.

"That's barbaric," Ridley said quietly.

"If you were commanded to participate in an experiment and 
refused, you were killed," Lyndlay said.  "Lothian didn't have a 
choice.  He's just lucky there were a lot of younger ones.  They 
used them first.  By the time they got to him, the potion was nearly 
perfected but not quite.

"What do you mean, nearly?" Jeremy asked.

Lyndlay said, "The potion is designed to funnel their lust when 
they are already transformed.  There were separate experiments to 
help them transform at will.  Those are the failed experiments that 
produced the half transformed men you saw.  They still haven't 
perfected that."

"Why do I sense a 'but' here?" Ridley asked.

Lyndlay swallowed.  "They had only tried the potion that was to 
curb their rage on a very few, Lothian included.  He was instructed 
to take it when he began to transform on the full moon."

"But?" Ridley coaxed.

"But he took it while he was still human, when there wasn't a full 
moon in sight."

"Why?" Ridley asked.

"He was afraid.  He didn't want to go nuts and rape some innocent 
victim.  He figured if he was human and became lustful he could 
hire a prostitute or something and burn it off without really hurting 
her.  As a human, he could still control his urges somewhat.  As a 
wolf, he knew it would be next to impossible to fight the instinct."

"There's more to this story, isn't there?" Jeremy surmised.

She nodded.  "Lothian didn't tell them that he took it as a human.  
He just reported that it worked.  He was able to control his rage 
long enough to copulate.  They thought he'd taken a human."

"But he didn't," Jeremy concluded.

"No, he took me.  That's when we discovered something that even 
the leaders of the experiments don't know."

"What's that?" Ridley asked cautiously.

Lyndlay looked at the ground and then back at Lothian.  He 
nodded, urging her to tell it all.

"Two things.  The potion did harness the rage and create lust in 
him as a human."

"And?"

"The fly in the ointment is that as soon as he was stimulated or 
touched in an effort to satisfy that lust," she said, breaking off.

"Lyndlay?" Ridley coaxed impatiently.

"Once stimulated it triggers the transformation."

They looked at her in silence trying to absorb what she was saying.  
She watched them both frown.  "I don't get why that is special," 
Jeremy said finally.

Lyndlay met his gaze.  "Because it wasn't a full moon."

"Oh my God!" Ridley said.  "I didn't even catch that!  I thought 
you meant he took it when he was still a human but before 
transforming on the night of the full moon, meaning the day 
preceding the full moon."

Lothian took his head off Lyndlay's breast, seeming to be revived 
somewhat from his rest after the effort of talking.  He said, "Noo.  I 
tookth it a full weekth beforeth the full mooonth, and met-th 
Lyndlaythh thatth nighth."

Lyndlay continued.  "He said he was lustful but in total control.  
He was even able to wait to meet me.  He hadn't needed a 
substitute beforehand.  He was able to control it."

"Until he met you?" Jeremy clarified.

Lyndlay nodded.  "More precisely, until I touched him.  As soon as 
I began to touch him, he started to transform."  She paused.  
"Scared the shit out of me."

"I'll bet," Ridley said without humor.

Lothian's lips pulled back from his sharp canine's in a parody of a 
smile.  "Scaredthh thee thhiiiittt out of mee-th too!" he spit out.

They all chuckled then.  The whole situation was so absurd, none 
of them were able to process it properly at that moment.

Ridley quickly got her shocked mirth under control.  "So they don't 
know that it can do this.  They think it can only be used as they are 
about to transform before a full moon."

Lyndlay answered, "Yes.  Because of all the failed transformation 
experiments, they didn't dare try it other than on the full moon.  
They didn't dare combine the sets of research.  It never occurred to 
them that lust would trigger the transformation itself.  It makes 
sense actually.  If the Lycanthropes are most fertile when they are 
transformed, then the rage hormones they've captured that are now 
directed to the lust, would also be connected to their Lycanthrope 
state of being."

"Sounds complicated to me," Jeremy said.

"I don't understand it fully myself," Lyndlay admitted.  "I'm no 
scientist and I suppose you'd have to be to get it all straight in your 
head.  The point is that they never thought of triggering the lust in 
human form because they were stuck on the idea that they wanted 
to mate while transformed.  Since transforming experiments had 
been a dismal failure, they didn't dare mix the potions and try to do 
both at once.  Little do they know, serendipity has stepped in for 
them.  The very thing they were trying to do with the 
transformation experiments by aggravating the virus in their 
system, was accomplished with the rage/lust potion.  Essentially 
making the transformation experiments obsolete."

"How were they 'aggravating the virus'?" Ridley asked.

"With adrenaline and magnetic substances.  The Lycanthrope virus 
produces rage, which produces adrenaline.   The lycanthrope virus 
is stimulated by the moon, or its pull on the virus in their system."

"So they figured the opposite would be true.  The magnetic 
substances in the potion mixed with adrenaline would duplicate the 
effect of the moon on the virus."

"That was the idea."

"But it didn't work."

"No, you saw the results.  You said that Lycanthrope that attacked 
you was half- transformed."

"Yes, and I wondered about it since it wasn't a full moon.  The 
other four with him were not.  It was all very strange."

"He was made to drink the potion for sure," Lyndlay said.  "He 
was one of the casualties of their experiments.

Jeremy was shaking his head.  "This is all very interesting.  I still 
don't know what we are going to do.  Ridley, we have to bring this 
information to Jakes.  We can't attack them by ourselves."

"If youth hurryyth, you cannth."

"What?" Ridley said.

"The otherth thide effecth of the potion is thath onceth the lust is 
satisthfied, we fall asleepth."

"They don't know that?" Ridley said.

"Nooo.  I didn'th tell them thath either," he slurred.

Ridley actually smiled at him.  "You know what, Lothian?"

"Whath?" he asked, sounding defeated.

"You're not half bad for a wolf."

He snorted and growled in another parody, this time of laughter.  
They all smiled.  Ridley looked at her watch.  "It's 2:30.  They 
started at midnight, right?"

"Righth."

"Won't they be done a while ago by now?" Jeremy asked.

Lyndlay smiled, displaying a sly look on her face.  "No.  It's a good 
two hour ride, two hour sleep, another two hour ride.  They don't 
need to sleep a second time, so once they are up, our window of 
opportunity is lost."

"Jesus Christ!" Ridley exclaimed.

Jeremy deadpanned, "I don't think I can compete."

Ridley smiled.  "I wouldn't worry about it.  So if they sleep for 
approximately two hours, we have an hour and half before they 
wake up again, right?"

"Righth," he confirmed.

"Let's go," Ridley said.

Jeremy put his hand on her bicep.  She looked at him, frowning.  
"Are you sure we want to risk this?" he asked.

Her jaw clenched.  "I have to."

"It's suicide to go in there alone," Jeremy reasoned.  "I just got you 
Ridley.  I don't want to lose you already," he admitted softly.

"You won't lose me," Ridley said as her face softened.

"You can't promise me that," he said stoically.

"No, I can't, but we have to try, Jeremy.  This is our one chance."

His lips pressed together in frustration.  "You know I'll follow you 
anywhere, but I don't want to go in there alone."

They all whirled at the sound of a breaking twig.  Mulder stood 
there with his hands in the air.  "You won't have to go in alone."

They turned back to Lyndlay and searched the area, but didn't say 
anything.  Lothian was gone.

XXXXXXXXXX

PART 7 (R) ASHTON BOWER RESIDENCE 
SECOND FLOOR 
2:45 AM

Patricia Bower a/k/a Madelaine Westow purred in contentment as 
she lounged on her bed with Baxter.  She felt her eyelids grow 
heavy.  Turlus had never fucked her as well as Baxter just had.  
She knew it was the potion but she was still impressed.  She was 
also glad she hadn't had to do this with Turlus.

She and Baxter had been the last to climb the stairs and make their 
way to her bedroom. Seeing the others already in the throes of 
passion had made her surge with lust.  Now she realized an 
unwanted side effect.  She shook her head and rolled out of bed 
onto the floor onto all fours.  "Baxthter!" she bit out.

"Hmmm?" he growled deep in his chest.

"We can'th fall asleeppth," she forced out.

"Tho kayy," he slurred.

"Nooo!" she said, pulling herself up onto the bed and laying down 
again.

"Windowth boarddth up."

Her head swam with tired dizziness.  She knew the windows were 
closed and boarded. She knew the entrances were sealed.  She was 
still paranoid, knowing the vampires were out there looking for 
them.

With supreme effort she lurched to her feet, stooped over and 
swaying with fatigue. "Baxth ..."

That's all she got out when she heard the first gunshots.

XXXXXXXXXX

ASHTON BOWER RESIDENCE 
FIRST FLOOR 
2:46 AM

Ridley, Jeremy, and Lyndlay arrived at the Bower residence with 
75 cops and 30 fireman, and 10 ambulances, and two FBI agents at 
their back.  They stayed well ahead of the cops so they couldn't get 
a good look at them.  News footage of the men in the sewers and 
pictures of Turlus storming through the police department on the 
surveillance tape were playing on every TV Channel in the State.  
Soon the entire country would see the footage.

The cops were now all believers.  They all wanted revenge for the 
death of Deputy Drake.  Mulder convinced them easily that they 
should help raid the Ashton Bower property, not telling them 
Ridley, Jeremy and Lyndlay were vampires.  He told them they 
were werewolf hunters from out of state, and no one questioned 
him.  They were eager to do something.

Gunshots were already popping off inside and they feared the 
vampires had already found a way in, despite appearances to the 
contrary.

The fireman rushed the house, using axes on the boarded up 
windows, smashing them out.  Others were using a battering ram 
to break down the doors.  Once the door gave way, they retreated 
quickly from the porch, not wanting to be caught in any cross fire.

They told the cops to surround the place and stand by.  To shoot to 
kill anything that wasn't human that came out of the house.

Once the cops were in place, ringing the house, Ridley, Jeremy, 
Lyndlay, Mulder and Scully stormed through the front door, 
fanning out.  They were the only ones that had silver plated bullets 
in their weapons.

Mulder and Scully found out that regular bullets could slow them 
down and even incapacitate them temporarily though, so they 
figured the cops would be good back up. No one questioned 
Mulder when he'd stormed the police station and said to gather 
every available cop they could reach.

The men on the night shift had witnessed the werewolf transform 
on their security cameras.  Then they'd watched it as it killed one 
of their own, wounded another and nearly killed the Agent, before 
being shot down by the mysterious trio that had stormed the station 
in the nick of time.  They were all still shaken and too confused to 
argue with any orders, even though he wasn't their boss.

They'd been glad for the direction, having felt lost up to that point, 
not knowing what was going on.

The five spread out, walking into the foyer and then into the living 
room, looking in surprise and confusion at the carnage on the floor.  
Werewolves lay everywhere, wisps of smoke rising from their 
bodies where'd they'd been pierced by silver bullets.

"What the hell happened here?" Scully asked in a voice barely 
above a whisper. Somehow a normal volume of voice seemed like 
it would disturb something unwittingly.

Jeremy looked over his shoulder at her from the other side of the 
room.  "Somebody beat us to the punch."

"But who?" Ridley asked.

They all stood mute for a couple of seconds, looking around.  Then 
a snarl was heard and they spun and followed the sound back into 
the foyer.  They heard it again and without a word, charged up the 
stairs.  Reaching the balcony hallway, they split up. Jeremy 
motioned that he would go left with Mulder and Scully.  Ridley 
should go right with Lyndlay.

They nodded and crept quietly down the hallway, listening.  
Suddenly, Lyndlay's scream reverberated off the walls.  They 
whirled around and raced after Ridley and Lyndlay.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lyndlay felt her heart stop beating as Ridley threw open the door 
to a large bedroom to find two werewolves inside.  The 
werewolves weren't what made her heart stop.

One was on the bed, dead or dying.

No, what made her heart stop was the other one.  It was a large 
she-wolf.  She was squatting over the body of a man.  She was 
obviously weak with sated lust but still awake and still strong 
enough to do plenty of damage.

Still strong enough to overpower a 16 year old vampire.

Her head reared back to strike, almost in slow motion due to her 
weakness and Lyndlay screamed, opening fire on the bitch.

POW. POW. POW. POW. POW. POW. POW. POW.

She emptied half her clip into the beast's torso, neck and head until 
she was literally blown sideways off the body she had been 
hovering over.  A weak howl erupted from her throat as she 
collapsed in a heap, smoking pouring out of her body.

Lyndlay raced into the room, oblivious to anything else but the 
man on the floor.  She dropped to her knees and placed her 
weapons on the floor.  She grabbed his head between her hands 
and shook him.  "Bareslay!" she cried, tears streaming down her 
face.  "Oh God, Nooooooooooo!" she sobbed, her head going 
down on his chest.

He appeared dead but her ear on his chest told her different.  She 
could hear his heartbeat faintly under her ear.  She jolted upright 
and turned to look over her shoulder. Seeing the rest of them 
watching her.  Mulder and Scully scanning the hallway for other 
attackers.

Ridley's face was a mask of grief.  Lyndlay hissed, "He's alive!  
Agent Scully!"

Scully turned to look into the room.  She questioned the girl with 
her eyes.  "Please try to save him."

Scully sighed, her eyes filled with tears as she walked into the 
room slowly.  She turned to Mulder, "Get supplies from the 
ambulances.  Tell them I need pressure dressings, sutures, tape and 
a BP cuff."

He nodded and took off down the hallway, taking the stairs two at 
a time.   Scully kneeled next to the boy and Lyndlay moved out of 
the way, her eyes darting back and forth as she stroked his head.  
Scully looked at her.  "I can't make you any promises," she 
whispered.

The boy was torn to shreds.  His shirt was torn away eight different 
deep lacerations marred his chest and abdomen.  The she-wolf had 
clawed him severely, probably reveling in his pain before striking 
her deathblow.  That need to enjoy his pain had probably allowed 
them to reach him in time.  Scully wasn't sure, however, if they 
had been soon enough.

Lyndlay said, "I already owe you a life debt, Dana Scully."

Scully furrowed her brow, not really understanding.  Ridley said, 
"You saved her life.  She is bound to come to your aid whenever 
you request it for the rest of your life unless she repays you by 
saving your life in return."

Scully's jaw dropped.

Mulder burst into the room as Jeremy and Ridley moved out into 
the hallway to let them through.  Mulder asked, "Is that what you 
meant when you said your life debt was paid?" he asked, having 
just overheard Ridley's explanation.

Jeremy nodded.  Mulder smiled.  "Thank you."

Jeremy nodded.  "We're even."

"Yes, we are."

He dropped to his knees, dropping a pile of packaged pressure 
dressings, sutures and tape in front of Scully.  "What can I do?"

"Hand me things.  Gloves first."

For the next half hour, Scully sewed and bandaged, bandaged and 
sewed.  Fortunately, the ambulance had dissolvable sutures that 
usually were only found in hospitals.  She stitched together some 
severed organs, hoping for the best.  Then she closed each 
laceration carefully, piecing his ragged skin back together and 
sewing it closed.

Meanwhile, Lyndlay bit her own wrist and fed her blood into her 
brother's open mouth, trying to replace some of what he had lost.  
Lyndlay had explained that if Scully could sew him up, slow or 
stop the bleeding, he would heal.  However, he could not be 
allowed to bleed out or he would die.

While Scully worked, Ridley and Jeremy checked every other 
room in the house for stragglers.  They checked closets and under 
furniture, everywhere.  There didn't seem to be a werewolf left 
alive.

Mulder went outside and instructed the fireman to start hauling the 
bodies outside.  It was gruesome task and there were many 
exclamations of shock and disbelief.  They were professionals 
though and they dredged up their courage and began picking them 
up, one man at the head, one at the feet and carrying them outside 
and laying them in rows on the lawn.  They were surprised at how 
heavy they were.  Most of them weighed over 200 pounds.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lothian hid in the woods.  He could see the mob and flashing 
lights outside the house from his vantage point but knew they 
couldn't see him, hiding about ten feet back into the tree line.

He jerked off furiously as he leaned his back against a tree.  It was 
a full moon so he didn't know if it would work.  In the past, history 
showed that he didn't need to sleep after his second round of 
ejaculations but he would lose his transformation.  With the full 
moon, he didn't know if it would work the same way, but he was 
going to try and find out.

He growled low in his throat, trying to be as quiet as possible until 
he felt his loins surge in orgasm, spraying his semen into the air.  It 
plopped soundlessly to the bed of leaves in front of him in long 
ropey strings.  When he was spent, he was still hard, but that 
wasn't unusual.  He always had to empty himself twice.  He eyed 
the change of clothes on the ground at his feet.  Then he began 
jerking himself off again.  Once more and he would find out if he 
was as lucky as he hoped he was.

He'd only taken half the potion, hoping it would be enough to curb 
his rage but not send him out of control with lust.  It had curbed his 
rage, long enough for him to meet with Lyndlay and her allies.  
Once he was away from her though and the nervousness of being 
around the others faded, he could smell her scent on his skin and 
his lust flared. This time, though, she wasn't there to appease it.

XXXXXXXXXX

ROOT CELLAR BELOW THE BASEMENT

The girl grunted, rolling the heavy body off of her.  He snorted but 
otherwise continued to snore like a chainsaw.  The others were 
snoring too, seemingly not just sleeping, but in a stupor of satiated 
lust.

She cried out involuntarily as she moved to the edge of the bed and 
tried to stand.  The pain in her groin sent her to her knees.  She 
crawled to the next cot and shook the girls arm.  "Cathy!" she 
hissed.

The girl's eyes opened and her head flopped to the side to look at 
the face next to her. "Cathy, we have to get out of here now!  
While they're sleeping."

The girl's eyes looked dead and she blinked slowly.  She was in 
shock.

"Come on!  We'll help each other.  We have to try."

"I'm not dead?" she asked softly in surprise.

"No!  I don't know why they didn't kill us.  I don't intend to stick 
around and find out either.

With lots of nervous grunting and groaning they managed to get 
the other girls awake, helping them extricate themselves from a 
tangle of hairy limbs and twisted bed sheets. They found their torn 
shirts and put them on.  They didn't cover much in most cases, but 
they made them feel better than being stark naked.

A couple of dizzy moments on their feet, and they were able to 
walk, very slowly, like old women toward the door.  They held 
hands to their stomachs and braced on the wall as they walked to 
the door.  It took three of them to pull it open.  They were all weak 
and nearly sobbing in pain and exhaustion.  They glanced 
nervously over their shoulders but the beasts didn't stir.

Finally, they were out the door and they pushed it shut, seeing the 
lock and turning it, not knowing if the beasts could break through 
it or not.  They eyed the stairs with trepidation, knowing it was 
their only way out.  They'd sat, tied hand and foot, when first 
brought here while they watched men pour concrete that blocked 
the entrance to the sewers.  Then they'd been unceremoniously 
tossed into the room in nothing but shirts and panties to await their 
fate.

They crawled on their hands and knees up the stairs, panting and 
crying.  Finally they reached the door.  They turned the knob to 
find it locked and the girl in the lead let out a mournful wail of 
despair, knowing she was about to pass out and didn't have the 
energy to try anymore.

The others looked up, knowing what the problem was and slumped 
on the staircase.  The little brunette said, "We're doomed."

They heard the pounding of feet on the wooden floor from the 
other side of the door and cringed, waiting for the beasts to open 
the door and end their misery.

The door was yanked open.  A man stood there.  He was about six 
feet tall with brown curly hair and dark brown eyes.  He had full 
lips and high cheekbones.  He was very handsome.  He looked 
shocked and said, "Sit tight.  Don't move!"

He turned and fled.  The girls exchanged glances, wondering who 
he was.  A spark of hope flared in their eyes.  He hadn't been a 
beast.

XXXXXXXXX

Mulder and Jeremy had moved the she-wolf and her dead mate out 
of the bedroom into the hall for the firemen to carry outside.  They 
stripped the bed and put clean sheets from the linen closet on it and 
laid Bareslay on the bed.  The windows were left boarded in this 
room, hoping to block any sunlight should they still be here when 
the sun rose.

It was now 4:30 AM and all the bodies had been removed.  
Mulder, Ridley and Jeremy were sitting on chairs they'd found 
downstairs and hauled up into the room.

Scully and Lyndlay sat on the bed, holding vigil over their patient.

Mulder watched as Ridley and Jeremy sprang to their feet, whirled 
toward the door and drew their weapons, almost faster than his 
eyes could track.  He leaped to his feet, turning to see what had 
alarmed them.

A man stood in the doorway, his hands held in the air in 
submission.

Jeremy growled, "Don't move, wolf!"

Mulder drew his weapon, believing the vampires.

The young man opened his mouth to speak and Ridley said, "Don't 
deny it.  I can smell it on you.  Smelled you coming," she spit out 
in a threatening voice.

Lyndlay looked up and said, "It worked!"

The young man smiled.  "Yeah."

Ridley glanced at Lyndlay.   "What are you talking about?"

Lyndlay smiled.  "Ridley, it's Lothian," she said with a bubble 
laughter in her voice.

They all let out sighs of relief and lowered their weapons.  "Why 
didn't you say so!" Ridley scolded.

"I was afraid you'd shoot if I spoke or moved."

"How did you lose your transformation?" Jeremy asked.

He answered, "Long story.  Can I tell you another time?  Right 
now, I need your help."

Jeremy nodded his agreement that he could wait for the story.  
"Help?" he asked, instead.

Lothian said, "There are five girls on the stairs leading to the 
basement.  They need help. They're so weak they can't even walk.  
They were crawling up the stairs."

"How did you know they were there?" Ridley asked, already 
heading for the door.

"I heard one of them cry out."

Mulder and Jeremy followed them as they descended the stairs and 
swung into the living room, heading for the kitchen.  Ridley and 
Jeremy had checked the door and knew which one he meant.  
They'd seen nothing and closed and relocked it.

Jeremy said, "That door is three inches of steel!  How did you hear 
anything through it?" he asked suspiciously.

Lothian looked at him and pointed to his ears.  "Don't you know 
we canines have hearing a hundred times better than humans."  
Jeremy grunted.  Lothian added, "And at least ten times better than 
yours."

Jeremy gave him a dirty look that was met with a falsely innocent 
smile.  It was the wolf's turn to get back at Jeremy for his earlier 
shaky reception.

Mulder pressed his lips together to keep from smiling.  He'd seen 
the wolf with Lyndlay earlier when he had first approached them 
in the park.  Their eyes had met.  None of them had seen him let go 
of the girl and slip away into the darkness, except Mulder, and 
Lyndlay, of course.

They marched into the kitchen and saw the door hanging open.  
Two of the girls had passed out.  They each took turns stepping 
onto the stairs, carefully picking up a girl and stepping back out 
into the kitchen.  They hurried out the front door and were met by 
EMTs in pairs of two, that ran up to meet them half way when they 
saw them coming. Ridley shouted, "One more!"

They nodded, signaling to a fifth team and Ridley returned for the 
last girl.

Lothian tapped one of the EMTs on the shoulder.  He turned to 
regard him warily. Lothian said, "Be gentle with them.  They've all 
been raped by the werewolves."

The female EMT met his gaze then and nodded solemnly.  
"Bastards."

"Yes, we can be," he replied without thinking and turned to return 
inside the house.

The EMT said, "I didn't mean regular men."

He kept walking as if he hadn't heard her, but he had.  He realized 
his blunder, and cursed himself for such a stupid slip up.  He had to 
be careful.  Spending even a small amount of time among humans 
and vampires that didn't want to kill him had allowed his guard to 
come down.  He had to be careful.  No one here except those inside 
knew what he was.

He entered the house on Mulder's heel and suddenly gasped.  
Ridley and Jeremy entered the foyer to hear it.  They all turned to 
him and he said, "How could I be so STUPID!"

"What?" Mulder asked.

He was already striding toward the basement.  They followed.  
"They were raped!" he spit out.

"How do you know?" Jeremy asked.

Lothian stopped and whirled around, pointing to his nose this time.  
"Didn't you know?  I could smell it on them."

Jeremy rolled his eyes.  "All right.  What's your point?"

"Where are the rapists?" he said like he was teacher asking a class 
and waiting for an answer.

Realization dawned on all their faces.  "Not up here?" Ridley 
asked.

He shook his head and pointed toward the kitchen.  "Downstairs in 
a separate room. There's a room off the basement down there.  I 
forgot all about it in all the confusion and my haste to get out of 
here and warn Lyndlay what was happening here."

"The werewolf/human experiment," Ridley said, slapping her 
forehead.  "Shit!"

They continued walking until they reached the door.  Lothian 
turned.  "What time is it?"

"Almost 5:00 AM," Ridley replied, after looking at her watch.

"They were the last to join in the ceremony, but you still don't have 
much time.  They'll probably wake up soon."

Ridley and Jeremy drew their weapons and checked their ammo, 
each inserting a fresh cartridge into their modified automatic pistol.  
Lothian backed up until his back hit the wall.  Mulder looked back 
and forth between them.  "You need my help?" he asked.

Ridley nodded.  "Wouldn't hurt.  You have ammo?"

He nodded and drew his weapon.  "Almost a full cartridge."

Ridley nodded.  "Let's do it."

She turned and the three of them headed down the stairs.  Ridley 
and Mulder hit the bottom and Jeremy turned to see Lothian still at 
the top of the stairs.  He said, "You want a weapon?"

Lothian shook his head, tears forming in his eyes.  "I'm sorry.  I 
can't watch you do it."

This time when Jeremy smiled at him, it was neither arrogant nor 
snide.  It was a half smile of understanding.  "Go check on Scully 
and Lyndlay," he said.

He nodded.  "I'm sorry," he whispered again.

"Don't worry about it," Jeremy said.  He turned to face Ridley and 
Mulder.  Ridley smiled at him.  "You felt sorry for him," she stated 
but there was no accusation in her voice.

He grunted.  "Don't let it get around.  I don't want to ruin my 
reputation."

Ridley beamed a smile at him and rolled her eyes at Mulder as he 
brushed past them, finding a switch on the wall and flooding the 
basement with light.  With the light on, the door was apparent and 
Ridley and Jeremy both exchanged a look acknowledging that they 
had fucked up.  They hadn't turned on a light.  They'd relied on 
their night vision to spot check the basement from the stairs.  They 
hadn't even come all the way down the stairs.  It could have been a 
serious error.

XXXXXXXXXX

PART 8 (PG-13) 
ASHTON BOWER RESIDENCE 
SECOND FLOOR

Lothian returned upstairs and quietly entered the bedroom.  
Lyndlay knew he was there instantly and looked up.  Scully, 
however, startled when he asked, "How's he doing?"

Lyndlay said, "He's doing good.  He's going to make it."

Lothian smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Scully asked.

Lyndlay had been focused on her twin, but now she peered at 
Lothian and saw the unease on his face.  "What is it?" she asked.

He swallowed.  "The five that were chosen to do the experiment 
with the humans," he began.

"Yes?" Lyndlay said.

"They're still down there in the basement in a room off to the side.  
I forgot about that. Stupid," he said, shrugging as if it were nothing 
new.

Lyndlay got off the bed and went to stand in front of him.  She 
embraced him and he wrapped his arms around her in return.

Scully said, "I don't get it."  Just then multiple gunshots 
reverberated through the house. The sound was soft but 
unmistakable.  They were killing the men, the ones that had raped 
the women.  Understanding dawned on Scully's face.  "Oh God."

She looked down.  It had never occurred to her that Lothian would 
be upset by this slaughter.  It should have.  He was a werewolf 
after all.  These men/wolves had been members of his Pack, this 
Tribe, whatever they called it.  How easily they had been lulled 
into a false sense of security.  She really looked at him for the first 
time.  He was handsome man of about 30, she guessed.  Lyndlay 
had told her they could smell a werewolf, but she couldn't.  He 
looked like a normal man.  Then again, Turlus Westow had looked 
like an ordinary man too.  It was disconcerting that they could 
walk among the population and never be known for what they 
were.

"I'm sorry," she said gently.

Lothian looked at her over Lyndlay's shoulder.  "I'm sorry any of 
this happened," he said. "I hate what we've become," he whispered.

Lyndlay squeezed him tighter and said, "Don't blame yourself, 
Lothian.  You've done the best you could.  More than anyone had a 
right to expect.  You took huge risks to come to me.  You took 
huge risks to talk to Ridley and Jeremy.  It took such courage.  
Don't think I don't recognize that and appreciate it.  I understand 
that you were betraying everything you stand for.  Were the 
positions reversed, I don't know if I could do the same."  She 
paused.  "If it's any consolation though, I love you for it.  Plus, I 
just plain love you," she added.

Tears slid silently down his cheeks and he swallowed harshly.  He 
lowered his head to rest it next to hers.  "Thank you.  I love you 
too.  You're all I have left now."

Lyndlay said, "They know how much you risked too, Lothian."

"Do they?" he asked.

"Yes, they do," Jeremy answered, appearing in the doorway.  "I 
never thought I'd respect a Lycanthrope, but you're a brave man, 
Lothian."  He stuck out his hand and added, "You're a brave wolf 
too."

Lothian smiled through his tears and took his hand, shaking it 
firmly.  They nodded at each other in a manly fashion and the 
women all smiled at each other.  Lothian said, "Not so brave just a 
minute ago."

Jeremy said, "That wasn't about bravery.  That was about losing 
Family.  No one, even me, could blame you for not watching that."

Lothian looked at the ground.  "I knew you had to do it, but I 
couldn't ..." he broke off.

Lyndlay said, "You couldn't watch and you couldn't help.  We 
understand and it's all right. Stop beating yourself up."

He opened his mouth to respond when Scully said softly, "Lothian, 
give yourself a break." She paused.  "You're reaction was very 
normal."

"Normal for whom?" he said, slightly sarcastically.

She smiled.  "Hey, you're only human," she quipped.

They all chuckled without mirth at the irony of her statement.  
When they quieted down, Jeremy said, "I hate to break up the 
party, but the sun is going to be up in a half an hour. We need to 
figure out what we're doing here."

Ridley said.  "Are you staying here, Lyndlay?"

"I don't think you should," Lothian interjected.  Everyone looked at 
him.  "How many were killed?"

Mulder shrugged.  "Did anyone do a head count on the lawn?" 
They all shook their heads.  He said, "Be right back."

Lyndlay looked over at her brother.  "I can't believe he killed them 
all.  How did he know? How did he get in here?" she asked aloud.

No one had an answer for her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Mulder returned and as he came through the door, he announced, 
"Fifty-six."

Ridley said, "Add Turlus and the five downstairs."

Jeremy said, "That's sixty-two, plus Lothian.  That accounts for 
sixty-three."  He looked at Lothian.  "How many of you were there 
total?"

He hesitated, but then said, "Seventy."

"That leaves seven unaccounted for.  Any ideas?" Jeremy asked.

Lothian looked at the floor.  "Not all of us agreed with what was 
going on here.  Others didn't like it but were too afraid to resist."

There was silence for a couple seconds and then Ridley inquired, 
"Are you saying there are some werewolves like you that don't 
want this new race?  That don't want to war with the vampires."

He nodded.

"And you think these seven are those renegades," she concluded.

He nodded again, still not saying anything.

Jeremy said, "I don't like it.  Lothian may know who they are, but 
we don't.  These renegades could have been killed here and seven 
power hungry wolves could be on the run."

Lothian looked up.  "They planned to try and get away if they 
could and hide out somewhere until this blew over and they saw 
where the chips landed."

Mulder said, "I know this is asking a lot, Lothian, but it may be the 
only way to know for sure."

"What?"

"If you looked at the bodies outside, would you be able to tell who 
they were?  Do you recognize the wolves on sight like you do as a 
human."

"You can't ask him to do that!" Lyndlay cried out.

He held up a hand.  "When I'm transformed, I recognize the others 
by their scent. There's some sight involved.  We do have keen 
eyesight as well.  Mostly though, we go by scent."

"When you're human?" Jeremy asked.

"We use both sight and smell."  He paused.  "I would know them," 
he said finally.

"You don't have to do this, Lothian," Lyndlay said in a worried 
tone.

He nodded.  "Yeah, I do."

"Lothian!" she said, totally distressed now.

He looked down at her and kissed her forehead gently.  "I have to 
know for myself, love. I have to."

He dropped his arms from her and nodded at Mulder.  Mulder 
turned to lead the way and Lothian followed him out the door.

Lyndlay looked angry as she said, "Do you have any idea what 
you're asking him to do?"

Jeremy said, "Yes, and I'm sorry."

"You're sorry!" she spat.

"Lyndlay!" Ridley barked.  "He made his own choice, nobody 
forced him to do it."

"He feels like he was a coward because he didn't go down there 
with you.  Now he feels like he has to do this to redeem himself."

"That's not the case," Jeremy said.  "He didn't fail us."

"I know that.  You know that, but HE doesn't know that.  This is 
just cruel!"

Ridley sighed.  "I'm sorry, Lyndlay.  I am.  But you're assuming a 
lot of things, assuming you know how he feels."

She grimaced, "I can see it on his face!"

"I'm sorry," Ridley said.  "We have to get out of here.  Are we 
bringing Bareslay?"

Jeremy said, "Depends on what Lothian says."

When he returned, Lothian's face was ashen but his eyes were dry.  
"My friends are not there.  They somehow found a way to slip 
away.  Maybe the same way I did through the attic.  Please, let me 
try to find them and talk to them.  Find out what they plan to do."

Jeremy turned to Ridley.  "We have to take his word for it.  We're 
running out of time. Plus, we have no idea where the rest of the 
Family is at this point."

"We'll have to deal with them tomorrow night," Ridley said.  She 
asked Jeremy, "Can you carry Bareslay?"

He nodded.  "Sure."

"We'll switch off if we need to.  We're going to need to run."

"All the way back to the mansion?" Lyndlay asked.

"No.  To the bar," Jeremy said.  "We can sleep there and figure out 
what to do in the morning.  By then, Bareslay should be revived 
and healed enough to tell us what went on here.  Let's go."

He strode to the bed and carefully picked him up.  He was 
surprised at how light he felt. He loved this new found strength.

"What's wrong with this picture?  Bareslay can't take that kind of 
abuse in his condition. Let us drive you back to the club on our 
way back to the motel."

Mulder said, "Contact us tomorrow night and let us know what's 
going on."

"We will," Ridley promised.

"After we get some sleep, we'll follow up on those girls.  Maybe 
they saw something or heard something during their captivity that 
will be helpful," Scully said.

As they reached the head of the stairs, Jeremy turned again to 
regard Lothian.  "Are you coming?"

Lothian's face showed surprise.  "Are you asking me into your 
home?" he asked.

Jeremy looked him in the eye.  "If you promise to do us no harm, 
you're welcome in my home."

The young man nodded, and clasped Lyndlay's hand.  "Thank 
you."

Without another word, they turned and walked down the stairs.  
Mulder and Scully heard wood creaking as they ripped it off the 
wall, so they could exit through the back door. The cops were now 
all leaving except a few that would stay until the undertakers 
arrived. They'd summoned them to come to the property and dig a 
mass grave.  The house was no longer surrounded.  Although 
Ridley and Jeremy had been careful not to reveal what they were, 
they were uneasy about leaving by the front door with Bareslay 
unconscious. Too many questions could be asked.

They snuck out the back door after Mulder and Scully pulled the 
car around back on the lawn.  They loaded Bareslay into the back 
seat across their laps.  Lyndlay sat in front between Mulder and 
Scully.  They drove out, avoiding direct eye contact with those few 
that were left.  None of them saw Bareslay laying across Ridley's 
and Jeremy's lap.

XXXXXXXXXX

SPANISH MOON NIGHTCLUB
JEREMY'S HOME

They entered the basement under the bar.  Lothian and Lyndlay 
were surprised to find a spacious home underneath his business.  It 
had three bedrooms, a sizeable living room, kitchen and bathroom.  
A small dining area separated the living room from the kitchen. He 
also had another office down here that was more of a den.

He directed Lyndlay and Lothian to one of the spare bedrooms.  
They disappeared inside and closed the door behind them.  They 
put Bareslay in the other bedroom and left a note next to him 
explaining where he was and to wake them if he got up before they 
did. It wasn't likely, but they wanted to cover all their bases.

Finally, Jeremy and Ridley retired to Jeremy's bedroom, which was 
the largest of the three.  It boasted a California King Size bed with 
a wooden canopy, suspending mirrors over the bed.  There was a 
walk-in closet and a dresser, along with an overstuffed chair and a 
bedside table on either side.

Ridley looked around.  She'd never been in his bedroom before 
although she'd been in the apartment he'd fashioned here years ago 
along with Sawyer and a group of the others.

He smiled.  "Alone at last," he murmured.

She smiled.  "What will tomorrow bring?"

"I have no idea.  I'm a little concerned that we didn't run into any 
of our own brethren tonight."

"Me too.  I can't believe they would have called off the attack."

"But we know they wouldn't have been able to reach the house 
through the sewers."

Ridley looked at him and frowned.  "Jakes knew where Turlus 
lived.  He knew who he was all along."

"So you said, but that doesn't mean he'd want to divulge that 
information."

Ridley nodded.  "We can't do anything about it tonight."

"No we can't, and as strong as you've made me, I can feel dawn 
coming."

"Even underground, we feel it," she said wistfully.

"He smiled.  Let's sleep."

"Just sleep?" she teased.

He smiled.  "We don't have time for anything else, unfortunately."

She stepped into him wrapped her arms around his neck.  
"Tomorrow, we consummate properly."

He sucked in a deep breath, returning her embrace, burying his 
nose in her neck.  He lifted and let his breath brush her ear.  "I burn 
for you, Ridley.  I've been in love with you for so long."

She hummed.  "We don't leave this room until we've 
consummated."

"Our blood allegiance will hold."

She shook her head slightly.  "I don't want there to be any question, 
Jeremy.  You know we'll waken before the others.  As soon as we 
waken, you are mine."

He smiled, his eyelids drooping.  "Okay.  As soon as we waken, I'll 
make love to you."

She hummed and began undressing herself.  He did the same.  
They stared at one another once naked and then crawled into bed 
after mapping each other with their eyes. He spooned up behind 
her, feeling dawn tug at his mind.  He couldn't fight it any longer.


They drifted off to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

TO BE CONTINUED IN "WAR OF THE LEGENDS 4".