Chapter Three – Dilemma of the Pack
Each day became something new for Molly. She learned that the pack of wolves Gavin and Tom led were different from ordinary wolves. They weren’t werewolves, like the two alphas, but they were far more intelligent than other animals. They understood specific howls, barks, and growls that Tom and Gavin gave and could even recognize them when the alphas were in human form.
There were times where either Tom or Gavin would take her out to the forest, but only to the edges where the mansion was still in sight, so she could meet with the members of the pack. Tom later explained that each pack had its own hierarchy and that priorities were given to those highest on the ladder.
However, Tom and Gavin also explained that the common notion of a wolf pack is wrong. There are no real alpha wolves in a pack. They are simply parents and the rest of the pack are their cubs. When the cubs are old enough, they branch of, mate, and form a pack of their own. Strength and dominance doesn’t make a wolf the leader of his pack – being a parent does.
Their pack was a little different since both Tom and Gavin were males. They couldn’t mate and so the members of their pack aren’t their children. Instead, these wolves are “adopted” animals. They were the weakling siblings of different packs and Tom and Gavin brought them in and took care of them. In essence, they became the parents of these stray wolves and trained them to become a powerful unit.
First she met the wolf that ranked the highest, Helen. During an attack, Tom and Gavin would split the team into two: there was a diversion team and an assault team. Helen was often tasked as the striker because she was the largest and strongest of her foster siblings. She also got the largest share of the meat once Tom and Gavin had their fill.
Then there were Kyle and Rick. These two wolves were often tasked as den guards. Many animals lived in the forest and some were scavengers that would steal the food the pack had worked hard to get. These two wolves would keep the food safe. When it came to assaults, they were the ones that attacked from the sides. Their bites wouldn’t instantly kill but that’s never their purpose anyway – they have to keep biting so that a large animal, like the bear, would weaken from excessive bleeding.
Last was Sheila. She wasn’t the weakest per se but she was the most docile. Gavin told me she was born in captivity. The zoo that kept her couldn’t handle another wolf so they had to let her free in the wild. She would have died out there alone but Tom found her and took her in.
Molly would spend time with them, petting them and feeding them, and soon they warmed up to her as much as they did to their alphas. Sometimes she wished they could speak to; they would have a lot to say, she figured. Perhaps Kyle and Rick would please her too if they could transform into a human. She even imagined what it would be like if she was with Rick, Kyle, Tom, and Gavin all at the same time in one bed. The thought brought a wicked smile to her face.
Sleeping with four men… sleeping with four wolf-men. She would laugh at herself and wonder how she had grown so wild these past few weeks but all it took was a glance at Tom and Gavin to figure out her answers.
She wished it could be like this forever. Yet Molly quickly learned to never become complacent – that was when the worst things in the world could happen.
One morning Molly was on top of Gavin’s lap, sharing a passionate kiss with him when Tom stormed into the bedroom with a worried look sprawled all over his face. His shirt was torn and he was covered in sweat.
“Tom!” Molly exclaimed when she saw him. She immediately hopped off Gavin and stood with her hands to her mouth.
“What happened?” Gavin asked as he too rose to his feet.
Tom immediately came forward and kissed both on the lips before he answered, “My loves… I am sorry. I-I did my best but… but…”
“Tom, what is it?” Molly asked again as she hugged him close to her.
Tom began to shudder as tears flowed from his eyes,
“I-it’s Sheila… she was taken.”
Gavin held Tom by the shoulder and demanded, “What do you mean, she was taken?”
Tom looked back and met Gavin in the eye, “The bear. That bear we killed, it had a mate; female, large, and angry and it even had an adult pair of children with it. We couldn’t handle three large bears, Gavin. We just couldn’t!”
Gavin rubbed Tom’s back and tried his best to comfort him, “We’ll get her back.”
“I’ll come too. I can bring Jared’s gun with me.” Molly said.
Both Tom and Gavin spun to look at her and exclaimed simultaneously, “No!”
“Our job is to protect you,” Gavin told her. “We will not deliberately bring you closer to harm’s way.”
Molly pushed herself away from the two men and told them directly with a firm tone, “You’re supposed to protect me, so if I go out there to help Sheila the only way you’ll be able to do your job is to come with me.”
Tom and Gavin looked at each other as they both knew that at this point there was no way to dissuade Molly from her decision.
“Get your gun,” Gavin told her, “and get dressed.”
The large back doors of the mansion flung open as Molly walked out in a tight pair of denim shorts and a loose white tank top. She had Jared’s shotgun strapped to her shoulder and a long hunting knife holstered to her waist.
As she strode out, Tom and Gavin ran past her. In a blink of an eye she saw them shed their clothes on the ground and transform into a pair of large, hulking gray wolves. Tom stayed by her side while Gavin scouted out ahead.
They entered the forest and almost immediately were greeted by the rest of the pack. Helen, Kyle and Rick were darting to and fro as they waited for Molly, Tom, and Gavin to catch up. As soon as they did Helen darted out, indicating which way the bears had taken Sheila.
What Molly couldn’t understand was why the bears would even take Sheila instead of killing her. Bears weren’t the types of animals to keep prisoners. They mostly ate fish and small animals. Attacking and kidnapping a wolf was not natural to a bear, let alone to three of them.
They crossed a small creek and past a small glade. Molly could see the pathway beyond a small bend which led to the wolves’ den. Helen didn’t stop for home though, and just ran past all that to make sure she wouldn’t lose Sheila’s scent.
Gavin once explained that a wolf pack’s territory normally stretched for a 30-mile radius. That would be a long run if the bears were beyond their hold, which was most likely since wolves and bears never get along.
Crash.
All of a sudden Helen crashed through a hole in the ground. Her yelp and howl pierced the sky.
Molly rushed in and found Helen lying in a deep hole. Her left hind leg seemed sprained and she couldn’t get up.
Gavin transformed into his human form the moment he saw Helen’s predicament. He stood there, naked as the day he was born, and said, “We need to get her out of there. She’ll die if she stays there too long. Other animals will find her or maybe even humans. This trap looks like it was made by humans.”
That didn’t make any sense to Molly. “But our home is the only place here for miles on end,” she said. “That’s why Jared likes it here. That’s why we live here. We’re supposed to be isolated.”
That’s when Tom noticed what was wrong. He too transformed into his human form and signaled both Kyle and Rick to guard their perimeters.
“Gav, look,” Tom pointed to one of the nearby trees. Molly and Gavin looked closely and found claw marks on the tree trunks.
“You think the bears made this trap?” Molly asked.
Gavin spat in anger, “These aren’t bears. They’re shifters too, like us.”
“Were-bears?” Molly asked.
Tom shook his head, “Don’t call them that. It sounds disgusting darling.”
“Well, can they be killed?” Molly again asked.
“In their bear form, we wouldn’t stand a chance,” Gavin answered. “And besides, we need to get Helen out of there first.”
Tom took some twigs from the ground, “We’ll have to come back for her. We can cover the hole for the mean time. That will stop other animals from finding her. Maybe these shifters have some equipment we can use to get her out of there. After all, they made this trap, right? That means they should have some way of retrieving what they caught.”
“You’re assuming we can kill them,” Gavin said. “Tom, I love you but we’re dealing with three bears here. One bear is already a day’s work for a pack of wolves and we’re down to just four instead of six. There are at least three shifters out there. It’s too much for us to handle.”
“Too much for you to handle,” Molly corrected. “I have a plan boys.”
“This doesn’t sound good,” Tom exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Molly replied. “You’re still going to do it anyway. So… here’s how it goes…”