Dominant Species
River Run

Josi ran back to the tent. She was thankful it was tucked next to the cliff overhang and shaded to protect them from the sun. The air filled with cries of pain from Britney and Bethany before she got there. Opening the tent screen, she saw Willow and Cheyenne tending to them, keeping their foreheads damp and the burns cool. “The guides went for help, and I got the first aid kit. How are they?”

Cheyenne looked distraught as she reported what they had found. “They both have first-degree burns over about half their body, with some of that being second-degree. We’re already seeing blisters forming on the bad areas.”

“Don’t pop those, and be careful not to touch them. We don’t need open sores getting infected.” Josi had done the most work in first aid, even taking wilderness first aid courses.

“We know. We’re keeping the affected areas cool, but it isn’t working well. Both girls are feverish, I think. They feel hot, even in places that didn’t burn.”

Josi touched the back of her hand gently on the back of their hips. They were hot, probably above 102. She could already see the swelling beginning on the hands and feet. “How about their eyes?”

“Bethany can’t see anything; she said it’s all black as midnight. Britney can still see, but it’s all fuzzy. She can’t make out anything.”

Josi opened the first aid kit and pulled out the ibuprofen packets. “Give them each two of these. It might take the edge off for a while.”

Cheyenne laughed as she opened the packets. “This is a fart in a hurricane. We need to get them to the hospital. They are in bad shape.” She looked back at them, they were trying not to move, but the pain was so bad they almost had to. “When will we get help?”

“Probably not until after sunset. Our guides made it up to the road, but they need to run eight miles back to the landing. Unless they get a ride, that’s hours from now.” She thought for a while. “Rose’s cellphone didn’t work, and mine didn’t either. Can anyone get their phone to work?”

Willow shook her head. “Nope, I checked all of them. They’re all bricks that won’t even turn on. It’s weird, you know? Why would all of our phones break at the same time?”

“Maybe that weird shit in the sky has something to do with it? I don’t know, Willow.”

The girls did what they could to keep the twins comfortable through the evening, but they were getting worse by the hour. Willow brought in the stew for dinner, but we girls had no appetite. The twins were having difficulty swallowing the bottled water Josi insisted they drink. Their throats were dry and scratchy, their lips chapped and turning black. The other girls were feeling weak and nauseous.

It was starting to get dark, and none of their flashlights worked.

They collected some driftwood and moved the fire pit closer to the tent. The flames could give them a bare minimum of light to allow them to keep treating their friends. It would also help a helicopter find them when the rescue came. Josi anxiously listened for the sound of someone, anyone, coming to help them.

All she heard was the river. Even the insects were quiet.

With sunset, the prospects of rescue dimmed with the fading light. Josi took charge of the group. “We need to get some sleep; we don’t know how long it will be until help arrives.” She didn’t want to say IF help would come, but she had a bad feeling. “Cheyenne, you take the first shift. Keep the fire going, monitor the twins, and do what you can. I’ll take the next shift, so wake me up in a few hours. Willow, you have the late shift until sunrise.” She looked at her friends; she had to stay composed. “I know this sucks, but our friends need us. All right?”

The other two girls agreed, and soon Willow and Josi were curled up in their sleeping bags, hoping to get some rest.

It was the coughing that woke Josi up. The violent, mucus-filled, hocking-up chunks of lung kind of coughing attack. She looked over to Bethany, who was starting to convulse. Quickly, she was out of her sleeping bag and next to Cheyenne.

“Shit, she’s coughing up blood.” Cheyenne used a cloth to wipe it from her face, but more was coming up, and she was starting to choke on it. “Quick, help me roll her onto her side.” Working together and trying hard to avoid the burned areas and blisters, they rolled her onto her left side and placed a rolled-up towel under her head. She continued to cough, and her breathing was becoming difficult.

Josi was running out of ideas. Her friends belonged in Intensive Care at a burn unit, not in a tent with no supplies and no lights. What they needed was help, and they needed it fast.

She didn’t want to say anything, but without treatment, her friends might not make it until morning.

Just past sundown, the men finally exited the North Fork pack shelter. While Marcus was gathering supplies and packing his things, a few men were trying to get a vehicle running.

None of them worked.

All modern cars and trucks had electronic engine controls and fuel injection, and every one of those wouldn’t run. The only thing they started was an old tractor, but that wasn’t making the trip.

After shifting and getting his leg and backpack on, the three wolves left the small town and turned for the road towards Salmon. Eric and Derek set a good, even pace. It wasn’t the speed they wanted, but it was slow enough that Marcus could keep up. The three wolves maintained the pace along the remote roads and trails leading through the mountains. They found dozens of abandoned vehicles and dead humans. Some bodies were still in their cars, while others lay in the road or the ditches. Marcus suspected the radiation killed them.

The twins would sniff the bodies and move on. Marcus couldn’t help anyone, so they kept going.

Everything changed when they got to the paved road by the river landing.

Derek froze with his nose high in the air, sniffing frantically. Eric ran up to him and started doing the same. They took off down the driveway to the river outfitting company, barking and trying to trace the scents. Marcus was confused as they left him sitting alone in the middle of the road. What the hell was going on? That road went along the river, deep into the wilderness. There were human scents all over, but none were fresh. With no Pack link, he had to watch and wait until one of them would shift and explain.

The wolves circled the small shop building, paying particular attention to the area in front where the picnic tables sat. They followed the scents from the parking lot to the building, but they finally ended up in the sand at the river bank. Both were frantically sniffing footprints leading to the river, then howling in frustration as the trail went cold. Marcus trotted down, figuring that they were done looking and would explain themselves.

They didn’t.

The twins looked at each other, looked downstream on the river, and took off down the one-lane road. Marcus looked at them as they left, letting out a low howl of protest. The two wolves ignored it, continuing to run full speed up the hill.

Marcus waited a few minutes for them to return from their side trip. What should he do now? Go back and report to the Alpha they took off? Continue without them? Or follow the brothers on their detour?

Their excited yelps as they ran along the river convinced him to follow. He got up and followed, his artificial leg making a soft clacking noise as his other three paws worked almost soundlessly to carry him along the moonlit path. The moon was visible above the mountains through the trees. It was a few days from reaching full, plus the sky held an impressive Northern Lights display. With his wolf vision, he had no problems with the trail. His nose told him he was on the right track. He tried to sort through the lingering scents along the river but couldn’t figure out what it was that had set the boys on this path.

After fifteen minutes of running, he was suddenly upon Erik’s wolf. His head was looking down into a canyon by a curve in the road. Marcus moved next to him in time to see Derek coming back up, shaking his head. Moving to the edge, Marcus saw two humans smashed on the rocks below. He scented deeply; the blood was hours old, and he could already smell the decay.

Marcus moved along the road to the other side, his nose to the ground picking up the pair’s trail. He followed it as they walked straight, despite the curving road, until he reached the cliff edge. He could see the bloodstains where they had struck rocks on the way down. It was a bizarre double death; why would two healthy-looking humans walk right off a cliff without stopping?

Marcus shook his head and shoulders as the boys caught up to him. Derek shouldered him gently, pointing him to continue down the road. Eric’s nose led the group further downstream along the river canyon.

Soon the three wolves were back at a comfortable pace. The terrain was rugged, but their long strides let them eat up the miles quickly.

Eric’s wolf suddenly sniffed the air, followed by Derek. Eric raised his head and howled a joyous note. The two sprinted off into the distance, leaving Marcus behind again. Whatever human scent they were following was getting stronger. The wolves honed in on the source like the efficient predators they were.

The twins stopped at the top of the canyon wall and looked down. They could see a large tent near the canyon wall and a smaller one downriver. Their quarry was in the large one. With an excited yip, Derek walked along until he found a rockslide that would allow him to pick his way down to the riverbed fifty feet below them. Eric followed closely behind. Both had their ears straight up, tails high, and their senses attuned to their surroundings as they closed in on their prey. Once they had reached the sand, the pair sprinted along the canyon wall to the large tent shrouded in darkness.

Derek growled as he picked up the scent of fear and pain inside. Reaching up with his sizeable paw, he shredded the mosquito netting and pushed his way inside. He ignored the scream of one woman, which awakened two more. The girls saw him approach like a nightmare, backlit by the fire. The girls screamed in sheer terror.

Eric pushed into the tent next to his brother. The three girls backed as far away as the tent would allow as the two big wolves moved forward. In their terror, they could only watch and hold each other.

The wolves ignored the girls, only paying attention to the injured and unconscious twins lying naked on the sleeping bags. Derek started to whimper as they looked over the girls, smelling first their legs and licking their burns. They then stuck their cold, wet noses into their crotches, taking a long sniff and a few licks at the small area where the swimsuit had been. Finally, they moved up to their necks, sniffing and licking at the junction between their necks and shoulders. Through it all, the twin girls remained unmoving and unknowing of the danger. It was a small blessing, perhaps, as their injured bodies couldn’t defend themselves against the wolves.

Josi was the only one to break free of her fear. Grabbing one of their bags, she held it in front of her and screamed at the wolves to get out.

The wolves looked at her, then growled loudly. Eric lunged towards her, grabbing the bag in his teeth and ripping it from her hands. He shook his head and sent the bag flying out of the tent. Josi backed off when he stared at her. She rejoined the others in the corner.

Derek sat and howled to the stars, causing the girls to shriek again in fear. He stalked forward with his mouth open, sharp teeth exposed to the dim light, and before they could look away? He struck. His teeth bit deeply into Bethany’s shoulder and neck. He held her in his jaws tightly as her blood coated his teeth and muzzle.

Eric then lunged forward, deeply biting into Britney’s shoulder. The girls moved along the side of the tent, trying to take advantage of the wolves being distracted by using their friends as chew toys. Cheyenne made a move towards the entrance. A loud growl from outside stopped her in her tracks.

Cheyenne looked back at the invading animals. The two wolves finished licking the remains of the blood from the twin’s shoulders, and then they stretched out on their stomachs alongside them.

Josi was still backed into the far corner while Willow had moved with Cheyenne close to the torn entrance netting. The girls were too scared to move and too confused to do anything. The aggressive wolves that invaded their tent were licking and nuzzling the twins with a gentleness they had only seen from a well-trained dog.

The sound of Velcro got the girls to look outside the tent again. A giant wolf was sitting by the fire, his teeth pulling at something at his side. They heard the sound of Velcro just before then his back leg fell off. Cheyenne was biting her lip to avoid screaming but couldn’t stop shivering. The girls watched in fascination as the snap of bones breaking filled the air. A giant wolf fell to the ground, and a man got up in his place.

Stunned into silence, the two girls by the netting watched as he reached into his nearby backpack and took out an artificial leg. He pulled it on the stump of his leg below his knee and stepped into it. He then pulled an eye patch out and placed it over his left eye. They didn’t look away as he pulled out a pair of shorts from his pack and pulled them up. When he walked towards them, they snapped out of it. Cheyenne spoke first. “Josi. There’s a man out here. He was a wolf, and now he’s a man. He’s a wolfman.”

“He’s a werewolf,” Willow said.

“Good evening, ladies. I apologize for the fright we’ve given you. My name is Doctor Marcus Mendez, and I’m a werewolf. And so are Derek and Eric in there.”

“Boys, get out of the tent. We need to talk.” The two wolves looked at the unconscious women below them, then at each other. They lowered their heads and turned past the girls, pushing their way through the torn screen out of the tent. Marcus had retrieved the packs they had dropped at the top of the cliff face. He reached inside them to grab a couple of pairs of shorts. He tossed them to the wolves; the girls watched as they caught them, then ran behind a rock. A few moments later, the twins returned.

“Sorry, Doc. We smelled our mates, and our wolves took over.” Derek looked sheepish, then he continued. “We’ve talked to our Alpha, and he’s aware of the situation. He told us you are in charge of the situation, and we are to do whatever you say.”

“For now, I want you to stay away from the girls. Get that fire going so I have more light, and try not to scare the ladies any more than you already have.” Marcus turned and walked back to the tent. “As I said, I’m Doc Marcus. My friends Derek and Eric won’t harm you. When you’ve calmed down, I’d ask you to sit with them and let them explain what is going on. Meanwhile, I need one of you to give me the medical history for these girls.”

Cheyenne huffed. “A couple of big fucking WOLVES bit the shit out of their shoulders!” She looked down at the girls, then looked at their necks again. The bites had already healed, and the blood had been licked clean. If not for the shiny scar tissue, they wouldn’t have known anything had happened just a few minutes ago. “What the…”

Marcus looked at her, hoping he could calm her down. “The girls are fine. The bites did not hurt them at all. Those two wolves probably saved their lives. They will start to heal now.” The girls looked at him like he was crazy. “I know all this is difficult to handle. Are you feeling all right?” Cheyenne nodded and took a few deep breaths.

Willow grabbed her hand and led her out to the fire ring. They held each other tight as they looked back at the tent.

Marcus took a deep breath, happy that the scent of fear was dissipating in the tent.

Marcus knelt between the two comatose girls and felt for the pulses on their necks. Josi moved forward out of the corner as he started to examine her friends. “I’m Josi; I’ve been caring for them.”

Marcus shook her hand. “What happened?”

“Yesterday afternoon around four, we stopped to make camp. We pitched the tent before the girls went to get some tanning done. That was just before the sky got crazy.” She looked down at her friends. “They weren’t out there that long, maybe twenty minutes. I heard Britney scream in pain. They had turned lobster red before they noticed that they were sunburned. It was a bad burn, and these girls stay tan all winter long!” She took a breath to compose herself. “Then Bethany,” she pointed to her, “said she couldn’t see anything. It wasn’t long after that Britney’s vision got fuzzy.”

“What did you do for immediate treatment?”

“We got them in the tent and tried to cool them down with damp shirts, but we don’t have anything to treat these burns. Blisters started forming almost immediately. Thankfully, they passed out from the pain! After dark, they started running a high fever. Just before you arrived, Bethany started coughing up blood. They are in bad shape, Doc. I was worried they wouldn’t make it until help arrived.”

Marcus gripped her shoulder. “You did well with what you had available.” He finished examining both of them. “The problem isn’t just the sunburn, although that is pretty bad. The real issue is radiation exposure. They are both suffering from radiation sickness.”

“Radiation sickness? From what?” Josi looked shocked. “From the sky?”

“I think so. Something happened in the upper atmosphere this afternoon. The ozone layer is gone, and solar radiation is streaming down from the heavens. Since they were in direct sunlight, they got a high dose. Radiation affects growing cells the most, so the skin and the digestive system get hit hard. How much time did the rest of you spend in the sun after the sky changed?”

“Only a minute or two, just long enough to get them to the tents. Our tent was in the afternoon shade.”

Marcus looked at her face, eyes, and arm. “That was fortunate. The cliff walls shielded you from the worst of it.” Taking his stethoscope out, he checked the girls over. Josi noticed they seemed to be doing much better now. They weren’t wheezing, and they had stopped coughing up blood. “The healing has begun in earnest now. I think the worst is over.”

Josi looked at him. “How? You didn’t do anything!”

“Their mates did.” She looked at him like he had two heads. “Come on; we should all talk for a bit. The girls will be fine for a few minutes; I will hear if anything changes with them.” He led the way out to the fire, which the boys had stoked with fresh wood to provide more light and heat. He sat Josi on the log to his right and the other girls to his left while the twin boys sat across the fire. He could see the girls were checking them out, they were young and good-looking, but he and the twins didn’t return any interest. The girls kept looking back to the tent where the Killer B’s were resting.

Marcus looked at the group while trying to figure out the best way forward. They were no longer terrified, but they weren’t comfortable either. He settled on the direct method. “As I said, my name is Dr. Marcus Mendez. My pregnant wife and daughter are back at my home in Salmon. Let’s get the introductions out of the way, shall we?” They went around the circle, giving their names and where they lived. He learned the girls were all close friends from their Girl Scout troop. Eric and Derek introduced themselves; they both worked as lumberjacks in the summer and as ski instructors in the winter.

Willow was the first to ask questions. “Doc, what happened out there?”

“I was up at a clinic in North Fork, checking on a pregnant mom, when the lights went out. I’d seen TV shows on what an electromagnetic pulse attack could do, and that’s just what happened. Everything electronic got fried, and we lost our electric power. I told everyone to head underground when I saw the sky going nuts.”

“Why underground?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if the electromagnetic pulse was from a nuclear weapon exploding in space or a solar storm. Either one destroys the ozone layer. When that protective layer of our atmosphere gets stripped away, large amounts of solar radiation can reach Earth. The increase in ultraviolet light caused the girls to sunburn, plus it can burn the corneas in your eyes. Normally this would result in a permanent loss of vision.”

“What about the coughing?”

“The radiation effects were more extensive. Think of it as a high-powered X-ray. The solar radiation damaged the mucous lining of their stomach, esophagus, and lungs. The result was the bleeding you saw in their mouths and the fever. You guys did well, given what you had. They’d be dead already if they’d spent another minute in the sun. We passed a lot of dead humans on the way here.”

“Are we going to be all right, Doc?” Cheyenne had a look of panic on her face.

“You said you were in the shade, and that helps a lot. I don’t see you with any symptoms, but we’ll have to wait a few days to make sure. Your bodies can recover from a small to moderate radiation dose.” He looked at the fire. “Did you send anyone to get help?”

Josi nodded. “Our guides, they left in the late afternoon.”

Derek shook his head. “I’m sorry, but they didn’t make it. They walked off the road and fell down a cliff; we found them before we found you.” The girls didn’t take the news well. “Since they stayed in sunlight, they probably lost their vision and didn’t see where they were going. Anyone who stayed in the sunlight was in danger, even with clothes and sunglasses on.”

Josi started to cry. “I asked them to go! They are dead because of me.”

Marcus shook his head. “You had no way to know. You only did what you were trained to do. You treated the injured and sent for help.” She leaned into his shoulder and started to cry softly; he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “Sometimes, bad things happen. Trust me, I know.” Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ Find ɴøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

They all sat there for a few minutes before Josi sat up again. “So. This werewolf thing. Explain.”

Marcus sighed. “All right. You’ve seen that werewolves exist. There aren’t many of us, and we go to great lengths to keep our existence quiet. My Pack in Salmon has 21 members, while their Pack in North Fork has double that. We look like normal humans, except we can change into wolf form and back when we want.”

Cheyenne looked at the three. “So you carry the Wolf Spirit inside you?”

“You might say that. Our wolf is a part of us; more primal, more instinctual, but still us.”

“So you don’t lose control of your wolf and start attacking people? What was that shit back there?” Willow was staring at the twins.

Derek looked down at his feet. “No, we don’t.” He looked up again. “We found our mates, and they were hurt and in pain. Our wolves acted to help them. We could never hurt our girls; they are our everything.” The girls were unconvinced. “You know wolves mate for life, right?” The girls nodded. “Well, we believe we have one other person out there who is our other half, our soulmate. When we hit puberty, her scent comes into our minds. The search for our mate is more important than anything else. We have to find her and claim her to be complete. When we left last night, we weren’t thinking of our mates; we were making sure Doc got home safe. We caught their scents when we reached the landing where you started this trip. It was faint, but it was there. Our mates were on the water, and we knew it wasn’t safe. We… uh… “

Eric picked up the story. “We left Doc behind when we raced off to find them.” He looked directly at the three girls. “We didn’t mean to scare you. We didn’t notice anything except the smell of our mates. We were so happy to find them, but not to find them in such bad shape. Our wolves took over and did what they could to help.”

Josi looked at Doc. “How did biting them help?”

Marcus looked at the fire. “When a werewolf bites like that, it works like an infection, but a good one. The saliva causes the human to change into a werewolf. It is hard on them, but the change regenerates and heals along the way. You saw how quickly the bites healed.”

“Does it hurt?”

“When my mate bit me, it was like getting a bad case of the flu. You get high fevers, aches, and pains. It took me three days before I shifted into wolf form. After that, everything was great. Werewolves are stronger, live longer, and have better immune systems. As a werewolf doctor, most of what I do deals with babies, broken bones, bad cuts, and bullets. Smaller things, like sunburns and small cuts, heal far more quickly than for humans.”

Josi looked at him. “Wait a minute; you weren’t born a werewolf?”

Marcus nodded. “Unlike these two, I spent the first twenty-four years of my life as a human. I found my mate when she was in wolf form, badly injured by a deer. She recognized me as her mate. When she healed up, she found me and claimed me. I’ve never been happier.”

Eric looked over. “Some of us find mates among humans. We fall in love before we tell them what we are. If they consent, we change them. What we did, biting them without their permission, is only done for the most extreme conditions. Those two are our mates, and they would not have survived without the bite.” The girls all looked at Doc, who nodded. “We will explain it to them when they recover. They can take the time they need to get used to us and their new life. We only want the best for them.”

Willow snorted. “Yeah, until you get divorced. Mom talked like that right up to the point when Dad came home with his new woman and divorce papers.”

Marcus looked into her eyes. “Werewolves don’t get divorced. Your mate is your other half. When a mate is lost, the survivor loses the will to live. They prefer to join their mate in the next life rather than continue without them. There is no other; no other person even interests us.”

Derek smiled. “It’s true; I’ve never even kissed another girl. I wanted my mate to be my first in everything. Nothing else mattered except finding her and making her love me like I already love her.” It got quiet around the fire.

Marcus finally broke the silence. “It’s getting late, and it isn’t safe to stay in the open after sunrise. We need to get you back to the North Fork pack shelter, where it’s underground and safe. There we can get the supplies I need to take care of Britney and Bethany, and you can get some rest.”

Willow looked at them. “What if we don’t want to go with you?”

Marcus shook his head. “You’ll be dead by sundown. This stuff?” He pointed to the heavens where the aurora borealis displays lit the entire sky. “This isn’t going away. No one else is coming, either. None of the cars work, there are no more helicopters or aircraft, and there is no way to call or radio for help. Your friends are hurt. That makes them my responsibility, but they are also the mates of my friends. That makes them family to the North Fork Pack and makes you our friends. Please, accept our hospitality.”

Josi looked at the other two. “Give us a minute to talk it over?” Marcus nodded and moved off with the boys. When she called them back, both had shifted into their wolves, and Marcus was carrying their backpacks. “OK, we’ll go with you, but I warn you- if you hurt our friends, we’ll hurt you.”

“We won’t hurt you.” He took out a pair of T-shirts. “These should be loose enough that they don’t hurt them, and the boys will feel better if they are covered in their scent when they return. Let’s get them loaded. Willow, you’ll ride behind Bethany on Derek while Cheyenne will do the same on Eric with Britney. Josi, you can ride on me.”

“Wait a minute,” Josi said. “Why do we have to ride?”

“Can you see in the dark well enough to run ten miles?” She shook her head, no. “Come on, let’s go get the girls and get going. We don’t have much time until sunrise, and we need to be underground by then.”

Once they were out of the canyon and back on the road, the three wolves and their five riders made good time. Willow and Cheyenne were so focused on keeping themselves and the unconscious girls upright that they didn’t get to enjoy most of the ride. Josi was having a blast, though. She had ridden a horse, but being on Marcus’ back, even with the artificial leg, was more fun. Josi told him that he was more of a sports car than a truck- lower to the ground, smaller, but more powerful and agile. As the three wolves ran together, she felt freedom in a way she never had before.

She wanted to be free like this forever. Looking over at her friends Britney and Bethany, she was jealous. They got to be werewolves! They had found hot men who would love them like no other. Her? School and a crap job at the canning plant. No future. No hot man in love with her. No fun. She looked at them again, swallowed her jealousy, and tried to put it behind her. With everything else going on, it wasn’t important right now. Her friends needed her, and she would be there for them. They all would.

Leaning forward, she held lightly to the long fur on his chest and got her head down near his. Her feet were crossed just above his tail, with her knees gripping him just behind his chest to not interfere with his breathing. She looked at the trees bathed in the moonlight, the river valley to the left, and the light show above. Josi lost herself in the sensation of the run. She was getting into it when Cheyenne screamed. “STOP! Something’s wrong with Britney!”

Eric immediately stopped and lowered himself to the ground. He felt it as well; his mate was fading on him, and her heart was racing. As soon as Cheyenne pulled her off his back and laid her down, he was shifting. Derek stopped and looked back; Willow looked at them with concern as she held Bethany upright. Meanwhile, Josi had jumped off and had run over to Britney’s side. She was checking her airway when Marcus crawled over and pushed her aside. “Get the medical kit out of my backpack.” He checked her airway, breathing, and circulation, putting his ear down to her chest to verify what he expected. “She’s in cardiac arrest, ventricular tachycardia. Do you guys know CPR?”

Cheyenne nodded while Josi slid back in with the bag in her hand. Josi took up a position by her chest, using her fingers to locate her left hand just above the bottom of her sternum while beginning compressions. “I’ll do two sets; then we’ll switch.” Cheyenne nodded as she got ready to do the rescue breaths at the end of Josi’s set. Meanwhile, Marcus withdrew a long needle and a vial out of his bag and drew it up.

At the end of the second set, Marcus ordered them to stop compressions. Moving his fingers over her chest to find the spot, he inserted the needle through her chest and directly into her heart. “It’s epinephrine. Normally I’d try to shock her into a normal rhythm, but none of the electronics work.” When done, he listened carefully. When her heart restarted, he smiled. “That it, Britney. You’re not dead yet.”

Eric collapsed onto the ground, shaking with emotion. His hand gripped hers, and he started smiling as he heard her heart beating strongly again. “That’s it, my love. Keep fighting.”

The girls looked around and realized they were next to two hot naked guys. Giggling, they looked over to where Willow was still sitting on Derek. Josi broke the silence. “Doctor Marcus, is she going to be all right?”

He sighed as he put everything back in his bag. “They aren’t out of the woods quite yet. The damage they received from the sun was extensive, and the change from the bite will hurt more than help at first.” He moved over to examine Bethany on top of Derek. “She is doing better already; her heart and lungs are stronger. We need to get them back to the clinic where I can get some IVs into them.”

Eric stood up. “Time to load up?” When Doc nodded, he smoothly changed into his wolf and yipped at Cheyenne when he was ready. She helped Josi get Bethany back on, then moved behind her to hold her in place as the wolf rose to his feet. While this was happening, Marcus shifted back to wolf form and yipped for Josi to help him put his leg back on. Once she was done and had the backpack on, she hopped up and took her position. Derek let out a low howl before heading off, soon reaching a good pace. It was time to get home; they could see the first signs of dawn to the east.

Miles to their south, another werewolf was watching the dawn approach with much more apprehension. Rachel was walking along the front porch of their house outside Salmon, her eyes to the north where Marcus would be coming. She knew he wasn’t close as he hadn’t contacted her via their mate bond. She started to cry as the realization came that he wouldn’t be home before daylight, and she had no idea if he was all right.

Her brother Reggie picked up on her distress. He was two years older, and they had always been close. “Hey, sis, Marcus knows what he is doing. He’ll be fine. They probably needed him up at North Fork.”

Rachel dropped her arms to her side and turned to him. “I know that up here, but here,” she pointed to her heart, “in here, I’m worried.”

Reggie took her into his arms and held her as she cried into his T-shirt. “I know you want to watch, but we have things to do before we close up for the day. Did you go through your house and move everything to the safe room as Dad ordered?”

She nodded. “All the canned food and dry food, bottled water, and medicine are down there. We did what we could to make things more comfortable. I talked to Mary, and we will use their shelter for storage while our families stay in my shelter. Are you settled?”

“Yes, I’m staying with Mom and Dad at their shelter. We did good tonight; we got a patrol out, collected what we needed, and had one hell of a barbecue.” Pack members fired up every propane and charcoal grill and smoker they had. They spent the night cooking and drying the meat before it could spoil. They were all full. “Are you going to be all right? I have to get back; we’ll have a leadership meeting over the bond soon. We’re discussing what we saw out there on the road.”

“What is going on?” Reggie had blocked his link from the Pack most of the night as he and Louis were on patrol around their compound.

“Things are bad out there, Rachel.” He looked out at the road. “Nothing is moving or making noise. The humans are in bad shape. The ones on the road are either dead or blinded and about to be dead. We checked some houses. Unless they remain underground, they aren’t going to make it. A few more days like this and humans will be gone.” She shuddered in his arms, thinking of all the people in the town they knew who were gone or facing death. “The worst part is, I don’t think we can do anything about it.”

She stayed for a moment longer, taking comfort in his familiar scent. “You should be going then. I’m going to check on the pups.”

He went to where he had dropped his backpack and pulled out a half dozen boxes. “Here, for your shelter. Don’t worry about it. A delivery truck broke down a few miles outside of town.”

She looked at the boxes of Twinkies, Cupcakes, and Ho Hos. “Thanks, bro. You know this isn’t Zombieland, right?”

He shook his head. “Not yet, but soon.” He turned and walked away as she took one last look at the horizon.

Marcus led the group back to the small mountain town of North Fork. Alpha Calvin and Beta Donald met them outside. Behind them, Marcus could see a makeshift triage center. He sniffed and identified the patients as humans.

Lowering himself to the ground, he let Josi off, and she removed his artificial wolf leg before he shifted. Josi kept her back turned as she dug through his bag, handing him his artificial leg. When Marcus stood on two legs, he reached past her to get a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. While he was dressing, the women of the Pack had taken Britney and Bethany and carried them over to waiting blankets on the grass.

Marcus looked around. There were a dozen humans here, and all looked in bad shape. “Friends of yours?”

Alpha Calvin nodded. “Our Pack has been in this town for a long time, Marcus. We were about a fifth of the population. The humans here are our friends, coworkers, and neighbors.” He looked around with a look of great loss. “While we were underground, they were dying. Tonight, we went through the town and brought the survivors back here. These thirteen are the only ones left.” Tears started to flow down his face. “The rest, well, that is what the pyre is about.”

Josi’s voice caught as she did the math with what Marcus said about their pack size. “So, out of a hundred and fifty or so humans left in your town, only thirteen are still alive?”

Beta Donald nodded and pointed to the other side of town, where a big fire was burning. “Yes. We couldn’t leave their bodies to rot. We piled them up, and we’re burning them now. We can’t stop that, but now that Marcus is here, he can look at those who are left.”

Marcus grabbed his pack and went to the line of humans. “I’ll need help and supplies from the clinic.”

Josi looked at him. “I’ll help. Just tell me what to do.”

“Can you take blood pressure?”

“Yes, they taught me in EMT training.” Marcus raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t taken the certification tests yet, but I completed the training last week.”

Marcus looked at her. “Congratulations, you’re the End Of The World qualified. Take their pulse, BP, and respiratory rate. Write that down as you go down the line ahead of me. Willow, Cheyenne, come with me.” He knew better than to ask Eric and Derek; they were taking their mates down to the shelter with the rest of the Pack as dawn approached.

Marcus walked into the room they used as the Pack clinic. Looking around in the near darkness, he found some cardboard boxes and started emptying cabinets into them. “Take this outside for me. Tell the men they are to go down into the safe room.” They left as he finished restocking his travel kit.

When he returned to the humans, Josi was halfway down the row. The first step in a mass casualty event was triage. Marcus had to quickly evaluate each person’s injuries and their chance of survival. With that information, he’d make decisions about who got treatment and who he couldn’t help. The lack of power and assistance meant fewer would survive.

Their fate was determined in about thirty seconds, recorded at the bottom of the paper tag Josi had attached to their toe. Marcus hated it, but he was realistic; he was very limited in what treatment he could give. Injuries like Britney’s and Bethany’s should be treated in a hospital burn unit, not by the side of a building lit dimly by torches.

Marcus was at a young girl, maybe five years old, halfway through the line. As he opened her eyes to check for blindness, she screamed. “Who are you? Where’s Mommy?”

Marcus smiled at her. “I’m Doctor Marcus; I’m here to help you. Can you tell me your name?”

“Maggie. Where’s Mom?”

“I don’t know; I just got here a few minutes ago. Can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up?”

“Three.” Marcus smiled. “It’s a little fuzzy, but I can see it better now.”

“Do you hurt anywhere other than your head, arms, and legs?” He had checked, she had minor burns in those areas but nothing worse than a bad sunburn.

“No.”

“All right then.” He waved Willow over. “Can you give her water and some ibuprofen, then ask around for her mom?” When she took her, he moved on. When done, he sought out Alpha Calvin again.

The Alpha was having men move supplies from the stores and houses in town to the building they were using as a shelter. Marcus could see he focused on food, medical supplies, and bedding, which made a lot of sense. He looked up as Doc approached. “What’s the verdict, Doc?”

Marcus leaned against the doorway. “It’s not good. Two, including Maggie, are minor cases and should be fine with some rest. Another three won’t make it to lunch, and the rest won’t last a week. Unless…”

“What? What do you need?”

“Unless you change them.” Beta Donald walked up as they talked. “Look, I know what our laws are. They can’t give consent. They aren’t mates like the two girls were, but the same need applies. If you want them to live, you have to turn them. Not all will survive the transition, but if you don’t bite them? You’d save eight a long, painful death if you shoot them now.”

“What about the ones who aren’t as bad?”

“That’s up to you. Those people will probably survive but may have permanent scarring and blindness. Changing them now, with consent if possible, would kick start the recovery and reverse some of the damage. It would give them a chance at a normal life.”

Beta Donald looked around. “Alpha, like it or not, this is now a werewolf town. There’s no hiding what we are from them, nor should we. If they are to know of us, the Law says they must be one of us.”

Alpha Calvin sighed. “Marcus, how long will we have to be underground during the day?”

“I don’t know. Weeks for sure, probably months until the ozone layer recovers enough to allow people to be outside during the day for an extended period. I can’t measure radiation, so I’m just guessing on that. I’d stay in the bunker and sleep during the day until further notice. If you leave these people above ground, they are dead by tomorrow night.”

“And humans won’t be able to function in the dark without electricity. They don’t have our wolf vision to rely on.” He walked towards the group of humans. “Let me talk to those who can, then I’ll decide.”

Only two adults and Maggie were awake. The Alpha explained what they were and what changing would involve. Marcus told them what would happen if they declined. In the end, the adults agreed on what to do, and Alpha Calvin decided the fate of the rest. Maggie wasn’t injured enough to need it, so she would be left alone until she was old enough to understand what it meant.

“My decision, my responsibility.” Alpha Calvin had linked to the Pack what he was going to do; if there were any blowback from the Alpha Council, the punishment would fall on him and him alone. He shifted to his black wolf and walked to the line of his friends and neighbors. Moving the blanket aside with his teeth, the wolf bit deeply into a man’s shoulder, then licked the wound clean. He did the same for the six women and three men who couldn’t consent before reaching the two women he had permission to change. “Last chance to change your mind.”

The women looked at each other, then nodded. “It’s almost dawn. Please. Change us.” He bit each of them. They screamed in pain, but it quickly faded as he licked the wound.

Maggie came up and started to pet the huge wolf. “You’re pwetty.” Calvin chuffed, then licked her face. “Is Mommy going to look like you?”

Marcus picked her up and walked towards the shelter while Calvin changed. “I guess we’ll find out in the next few days. She won’t shift into a wolf until her body has healed enough to handle the change.”

Maggie held tight to his neck. “Mommy will get better?”

“Yes, Mommy will get better. Now, let’s get you fed and find a place to sleep.” Marcus was dead tired, but a long night awaited him. He would get naps in when he could.

The shelter was crowded but quiet. The younger Pack members had organized and cleaned while the adults were out all night getting supplies. Instead of bunks, they had filled one end of the shelter with wall-to-wall mattresses and blankets. The underground shelter stayed cool, and staying warm was easier in fur form. Most of the Pack shifted and joined the rapidly forming puppy pile, sharing warmth and comfort as they slept together. Marcus, the human girls, and the injured were at the other end. Oil lamps and a propane camp lantern provided minimal illumination. An old-fashioned wind-up alarm clock sat in the corner; it had the old-style glow-in-the-dark hands.

Marcus looked at the three human girls and Eric and Derek. “All right, we need to set a watch schedule. Take two-hour shifts, each changing at the top of the hour. You are to wake me if any of the patients are having trouble or wake up. Can you all take pulses and respirations?” They nodded. “Write those and the time down every hour on their tag. When their IV bags run out, close the valve here,” he showed them how to use it, “and wake me up at noon regardless. Everyone good?”

Josi took the first watch as Marcus collapsed into the cot he set up nearby. His last thoughts before falling asleep were of his Rachel and Raven. Were they all right? Would he make it back to them?

Josi hummed a lullaby as her friends and the Pack drifted off to a well-deserved sleep.

Sᴇarch the FindNovel.net website on G𝘰𝘰gle to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.