by Sammy Girl

Alternate Universe - Two Blood ATF

Part 6

For a long time there was silence, the others just stared.

"Okay," Buck said. "I'll start, I'm not a werewolf, no full moons, a lead bullet will kill me just fine, no need for silver, I know who I am all the time." He looked up. "It's not a disease, or an infection, you can't catch it, not even if I bit you - which ain't gonna do," he added hastily.

"So," Chris began. "… what are you?"

Buck looked at his oldest friend, his alpha, his pack leader, and saw the hurt and betrayal. As close as they were, as closes as they had been, he hadn't been able to share this thing that was so much part of his life, with Chris.

"We call ourselves Two Blood."

JD looked at his friend, surrogate big brother and mentor. "How did you get it then, if we can't catch it?"

Buck shrugged and gave a half smile. "I was born this way, my daddy was a Two Blood, my mom was a One Blood."

"Is that us? Are we One Bloods?" Josiah asked.

Buck nodded. "Two Blood have always been around, as long as humans, maybe longer. We don't show ourselves to One Bloods, not ever, where do you think werewolf legends came from? People see a Two Blood change, they freak out - well, most do - the story is told and retold and added to, and changed."

"People demonise what they don't understand," Josiah commented philosophically.

"Yeah, so we - my people - learnt fast to stay out of sight, we learnt to blend in with the One Blood world."

"Can you do that anytime you want?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, well, so long as I don't have something attached to me that would stop the bones changing."

Now Nathan, and indeed the others, learnt why he wouldn't let a doctor place a permanent plate or screw in his arm.

"Does it hurt?" The medic wanted to know.

Buck all but laughed. "No, no, it feels wonderful, it's like an addiction, I just can't imagine not doing it, I need to be the wolf sometimes."

"My grandfather told stories about the Sunkmanitu Tanka Wanagi," Vin started.

"Wolf Spirits, yeah, that’s another name for Two Blood," Buck confirmed.

"But the way he told it, they lived with the People, not hiding from them."

"Well, living with Indians and living with white people is different, Indians were and still are more open to a different existence, a different world. And besides Two Blood are better hunters and trackers, so they were useful to have around."

"You reckon you can out track me, Bucklin?" Vin questioned with a laugh in his voice.

"I can see, hear and most of all smell better than you will ever be able to, Junior."

"Wait," JD interjected. "…you can smell as good a wolf can, that is so cool, and at the same time yuck! Oh man, my sneakers must nearly kill you!"

"Your sneakers kill everyone JD, we should class them as a chemical weapon!" Vin joked.

Even Buck had to laugh, then he tried to reassure JD. "Don't worry, kid, natural smells, human smells, bodies, that don't bother me, it's chemical smells that I sometimes have trouble with, remember that new soap Ezra got you from Italy?"

"Yeah, that was good stuff, smelled great - wait! It disappeared! Was that you?"

Buck nodded. "Sorry, JD, but it was making me wanna puke."

"You were sick as a dog - sorry wolf - at that bust in the paint factory," Chris remembered.

Buck shrugged, "Couldn't help it."

"That is something I should have known about, you could have endangered lives," Chris' anger was showing through now.

"Hell, Chris, he wasn't the only one having trouble with the smell that day, as I recall," Nathan reminded.

"If someone I am relying on, someone I place in a specific location, to do a specific job has a weakness I don't know about, it endangers lives. Why?" All pretence that what he now knew didn't bother him gone, Chris stood up and began pacing. "Why in the name of God didn't you tell me? It's been nearly fourteen years. We were as close as any brothers, you were my best man, you were Adam's God father …Oh Jesus, Adam…"

And right there Buck saw the look all Two Blood dread, the look that said 'You're a freak, you're not normal, I don't know what you are, but I don't want you anywhere near me or my family.'

"I would never have hurt him, I would never have let anyone hurt him …if …if I could have stopped it." Chris head snapped around, trying to work out how Buck knew what he was thinking. "I loved Adam, he was part of my pa… family." Only just in time did he change 'pack' to 'family'; he didn't think they were quite ready for that yet.

That the six of them were his pack he had no doubt, it wasn't one any Two Blood would recognise but it gave Buck the feeling of belonging that he so needed. He had submitted to Chris, way back when they were young cops together. To Chris it was just a bit of fun, fuck buddies having fun. But to Buck it was so much more, it was a bonding. Then Chris met Sarah, fell in love and married. Since Sarah and Chris were mated, that made her his alpha as much as Chris. Adam was a cub, automatically part of the pack. Now Chris was mated to Vin; that gave Vin equal standing with Chris and was himself mated - well at least bonded - to Ezra. The others were 'pack' by association.

"I'm not a monster, Chris, whatever you see, it's still me," Buck pleaded.

Chris stopped pacing. "But I don't know who you are - not any more."

"Why? Because I kept something about myself a secret? We all do it, believe me, I know." He tapped his nose. "I know where you have been and with who, I know what you have been doing and with who. I know what you ate, what you drank, all of it." He addressed his comments to Chris, his back to the others. "All of it, Chris, I know all of it." He glanced at Vin. "Don't lecture me about secrets, this is something that was drilled into me from birth, it isn't like 'truth or dare' here, you know?"

"I know." The voice was soft and quiet, but it made Buck spin around, this was the first thing Ezra had said since he changed back and got dressed. "You could no more stop hiding your true nature from the world than I can stop caring about appearances and money, we are what our mothers made us."

Buck turned back to face Ezra. "She was an amazing woman," he admitted to his lover.

"Of that I have no doubt. It can't have been easy for her."

Buck went on to tell them about his mother and their life together. That she had been a prostitute they all knew. It wasn't information he volunteered easily, but Chris had known for a long time and eventually he had gained the courage and confidence to share with his other friends.

"Guess the first she knew that something was different, that I was different, was when she went into labour after only six months."

"So you were a prem baby?" Nathan asked.

Buck laughed. "No way! Do I look like I was prem? Two Blood cubs are always born at six months."

"Cubs?" Josiah echoed, not entirely sure he wanted to know the truth.

Buck shrugged. "I was born human - luckily for Ma 'cause a cub would have been a shock - but it can be either way. Two Blood cubs have to be kept outta sight until they're two and a half to three, 'till they can control the change. Ma was lucky, I was an early developer."

He explained how she had kept on the move, that if anyone made any comment about her son being different or there was any rumours or stories about wolf cubs in the area or strange howling, they moved on.

"She was the best, I mean most people would have dumped a freak baby like me, or even killed it. But Ma, she was …"

"A saint," JD said softy, reminding Buck of his often used description of his beloved mother.

"Yeah, that’s right. She knew I needed help, someone to teach me. Somehow, and I never did find out how, she got in contact with an old, lone Two Blood called Sam. He taught me, about our laws, traditions, what I was capable of. He helped me come to terms with who and what I was. And he taught me how to hide it, how to live in the One Blood world."

"Wait, back up a bit?" Chris requested. "Your mom didn’t know what you were… I mean, while she was carrying you?"

"No. See, a Two Blood and a One Blood can make a baby - which will always be Two Blood - but it's rare, very rare. Guess my dad didn't think the risk was worth warning her about."

"Was he a client?" Chris enquired bluntly. Ezra suddenly glared at him, silently conveying his annoyance at Chris' whole attitude.

"No, she wouldn't have gotten pregnant if she had been working, she was a pro. The way she told it, he promised to marry her, promised her everything, and when she put out, he took off. She was a waitress at the time, no family, unmarried and pregnant. He didn't leave her many options."

The bitterness and anger at his father was there for all to hear, his head dropped, and his shoulders hunched. He had been sitting alone on the sofa, but now, and as one in perfect harmony, JD and Ezra rose from the floor and recliner respectively and crossed to the sofa, sitting down either side of Buck. JD put his arm across his shoulders and Ezra took his hand. That physical contact was what he needed, just having them close was helping to chase away the darkness the memories had raised.

"Can I ask something?" Nathan enquired, partly out of curiosity and partly to break the uneasy silence that had descended.

"I told you, Nate, you can ask anything," Buck assured, looking up.

"You got shot, year before last, you had blood transfusions, from human donors, I don't …"

"I am human, Nate, right now I am exactly what you see - a man. I have heightened senses, my bones heal better than most, my temperature is about a degree higher than yours and my immune system is a bit better than yours - but not much. What a DNA test would show, I don't know, but a blood test right now would show nice, healthy, ordinary, type O blood."

"And if we tested you when you were a wolf?"

"Not sure, wolf blood, I guess."

Nathan just shook his head, it was really almost too much for him to take in.

+ + + + + + +

Buck felt Ezra's hand tighten around his. "Why don't you tell them all the secrets?" the southerner whispered.

Buck frowned at Standish; was he really saying what he thought he was?

"Are you sure?" he asked, seeking clarification.

Ezra had been trying to assimilate all he had heard and seen, trying to make sense of it all. As a boy he had once lived in New Orleans, the maid - who was acting as his nanny - used to tell him stories from the colourful city's past. One he remembered was about the Loup Garou. When Buck had pleaded with him to understand, to trust him, he had agreed, but instantly all kinds of scenarios went through his head, ranging from bizarre sexual practises to Buck being a spy or even a drug addict. But never in a million years would he have thought about Buck being a Loup Garou. Well, okay, technically he wasn't a werewolf, but it was very similar and many of the stories he had been told fitted what he now knew about Two Blood better than werewolves. JD was right about one thing, it was like something out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ezra was a closet Buffy fan, actually he was more an Angel fan these days, his main interest in Buffy being a certain tall dark vampire, though Xander wasn't bad either. Ezra had a pronounced weakness for tall and dark. Somehow the popular TV shows had made it easier to accept that supernatural stuff did happen - though to be fair the way Buck was describing it he wasn't a supernatural creature, just different.

Ezra knew about being different, and about hiding your true self. Yes, he was shocked, and amazed, and it seemed to him he should be freaked out - but he wasn't. All he had seen, in that cringing, cowering wolf, was the man he loved looking so scared and alone, terrified that he was about to be rejected; or worse that his friends would turn on him. He needed to make Buck feel if with no one else, his relationship with him was secure. He, Ezra P Standish, would embrace the wolf and hold it close. He could think of no better way to demonstrate his faith and love than to make it public - to the others at least.

"There are all together too many secrets, the fewer the better. I am sure, believe me. You asked me to trust you, but I had no idea what it was you were asking, just how much trust you were placing in me, how much faith you had placed in me. No one has ever trusted me that much - no one. Whatever comes, what ever the future holds, you will not face it alone."

Buck gazed into Ezra's eyes, seeking conformation, seeking permission.

"What's going on?" JD wanted to know.

"We," Buck began, not moving, looking only at Ezra. "…Ezra and I, we're a couple."

There was an almost surreal moment of total silence, everyone frozen, then JD exploded.

"What!" he spluttered into his whisky, all but choking on it. "No! No way - Buck is a wolf, okay, that I can except, Buck is gay? No way, uh uh, nope, can't be." He shook his head. "Ezra, yes - sorry Ez, but the clothes, the language, you never date, I just sorta figured - but not Buck!"

"JD," Buck said softly.

"No, Buck, it's a joke, it has to be I…"

"I'm sorry, kid, I didn't mean for you to find out this way, but I'm glad that there are no more secrets." Buck stared into the wide eyes of his young friend. "I've always been bi, it just wasn't something I explored much in recent years." He glanced at Chris. "But it was always there. Is it gonna be a problem?"

JD held his gaze for a long time, then he looked at Ezra. "If you hurt him I'll…" Words failed him at this point, too many emotions were flooding his mind to be able to speak coherently.

"Have no fear, my young friend, I would never hurt him and I am relying on you to help me look after him, for we both know he doesn't do a very good job of it himself - don't we?"

Buck glanced from lover to 'brother' and back. "Hello! I am here you know, I can look after myself."

"Yeah, right!" JD exclaimed. "As if!"

"I feel I must point out, that is an erroneous claim, lover."

"What about when you cut your hand on the beer bottle and bled all over the kitchen? Mr 'it's just a scratch', Mr 'ain't nothin' to worry about'?" JD reminded.

"Six stitches!" Ezra recalled.

"Don’t forget the concussion he got from the counter, when he fainted," Nathan added.

"Or the infection he got, when he pulled the stitches out playing football the next weekend." Josiah didn't want to be left out.

Vin decided to add his two-cent's worth. "Or puking his guts up, because he forgot he was allergic to that flufloxi…stuff - the antibiotics."

Chris laughed and somehow it was so unexpected and so out of character with his attitude all evening, that all conversation ceased. "You're out numbered, Big Dog."

Larabee had been watching his men, his team, his 'family', take on, assimilate, process and accept not one, startling revelation about one of there own, but two. To Vin of course the wolf bit wasn't news and neither was the gay thing to Ezra, but it was, all in all a lot to take onboard all in one go - but that was what they had done. And why not? In their work they did it all the time, busts, stings, undercover operations were very fluid things, everything could change and you and to go with it, think on your feet. Their ability to do this was what separated Team Seven from the rest. He was the leader, but they could all lead and all think for themselves, think for each other and even outsiders, more importantly they could 'think outside the box'. And if anything was ever, 'outside the box' - it was tonight's revelations!

He had been angry with his old friend; once he knew he was going to be alright, worry changed to anger, an anger that had been simmering and building while Wilmington healed. He felt betrayed, hurt that Buck hadn't trusted him, had kept something so totally central to who and what he was hidden. That look on Buck's face, when he all but implied that it hadn't been safe to leave his son with his 'Uncle Buck', now haunted Chris. Why had Buck hidden his true self from them, from him? Because he was afraid of being rejected, misunderstood, excluded. Which was just what Chris - and Chris alone - had done. He had ignored all he knew about Buck, his honesty, his loyalty, his love and friendship, his tenacity and bravery, and gave vent to his prejudice and anger. But watching how the others, who knew less going into the situation than him, had reacted to all they had discovered, shamed him. They, who had only know him a few short years, had simply added this new dynamic to his character, to what they already knew. They hadn't simply ignored what they knew of him; the way his oldest friend, the one person who knew him best, had know him the longest, had the most reason the trust him, the most reason to be grateful to call Buck Wilmington friend, had.

Part 7

They talked some more, though not about Two Bloods or Buck and Ezra, they just talked, like they always did. When it came time to go home, JD cornered Buck.

"So, I guess you're gonna go home with Ezra?"

Buck looked down, shifting uncomfortably. "I didn't want it to be this way. Things just happened, I …that is, I, sort of lost control of the situation."

"Well, that is kind of an understatement."

"I don't know if we will be moving in together yet, we haven't talked about it, but…"

"But you'd like to?" Dunne finished.

Buck nodded. "Yeah," he admitted softly.

JD gave a slight smile of reassurance. "I guess I always sort of knew you'd find someone one day. I know the others - well, except Ezra obviously - think you're just a Don Juan, but I've always sort of known you were looking for that special someone. I just never figured it'd be a man."

"Are you really okay with this?"

"With you being a wolf, sure, why not, like I said it's kinda cool."

Buck had deliberately not mentioned anything about bonding and pack law concerning One Bloods in a pack. Officially they weren't a pack, so there was no point scaring his friends. Half of him hoped there would be no reason to tell them, he might lose them. And yet half of him desperately wanted the closeness, the contact, the physical comfort that he imagined must come with pack life. Living in a pack was something he had fantasised about all his life. As a boy, he used to pretend his friends were his pack. An outgoing, fun loving boy, who was good at sport, precociously mature and good looking, he was never short of friends, but he was always leaving, moving on. Then he had to make new friends and start all over again. It was all pretend and fantasy, even in the police, until he met Chris. Chris was the first person who he felt close enough to call 'pack' and really mean it. Then he joined the team and six of them became a kind of family to him. He was as close now to his life long fantasy of living like a real Two Blood, in a pack of his own, as he ever thought he could get.

"Not the reaction I was expecting, but better than I was hoping for," Buck admitted. "And the other thing?"

"You and Ez?" Buck nodded. "I can't say, it isn't a lot to deal with, all at once, but I've always hoped you'd find someone, I just kinda expected I'd be the one moving out."

"You don’t have to leave the apartment, you know that, don't you, assuming I do leave…" He lifted his head and ran a hand over his face. "…I'm getting ahead of myself here, let's…let's take it one day at a time."

JD thought that was the best idea he'd heard in a long time.

+ + + + + + +

Buck and JD joined the others on the porch, as they got ready to head home.

"You coming?" Ezra asked the tall Two Blood quietly.

"If it's okay with you, I'll meet you at the end of the drive, it's been a long time since I stretched my legs," Buck explained.

For a second Standish didn’t understand what he was talking about, until Buck started to undo his shirt, and toed off his boots. The others watched with awed fascination, as once more their friend's form was replaced, by that of a truly huge shaggy wolf. The wolf turned his head toward the open country beyond the yard and sniffed, his tail waved back and forth in anticipation. He turned his head back to look at Ezra.

"Well, you better go if you're going," the southerner encouraged.

With a glance at the others and a yip of pure joy the wolf trotted down of the porch and into the night.

"Damn!" Nathan swore.

"What?" the others asked.

"I meant to tell him to take it easy on his leg, oh well, too late now."

Vin and Chris watched the others leave, from the porch they could see the end of the drive and the lights of Ezra's Jag as it waited for its passenger. Eventually they saw the passenger side door open and a large form dart out of the trees and into the car, before the door closed and it pulled away.

"Think ol' Ez 'll kill him when he tries to get the hair out of the carpet and the dirt off the leather?" Vin asked as the lovers turned to go back into the house.

"You have a truly evil mind, Tanner," Chris commented as he put his arm over the Texan's shoulder.

+ + + + + + +

Josiah sat down in the booth next to JD and opposite Nathan. The three of them had agreed as they walked to their cars, to meet at an all night diner they always passed on the way to and from Chris'. Mugs of strong black coffee steamed before each man. Now was a time for clear thinking.

"Have you ever seen or heard anything like this before?" JD asked the man beside him.

"No, never. How are you doing, JD?"

The young man shrugged. "It's weird, I feel I should be freaked but I'm not, I don't know, but Buck as a wolf, it's not that hard to accept."

"Easier than Buck being gay?" Sanchez prompted.

"Yeah. That was …I don't know? I just can't seem to get my head around it. It's not like I have a problem with gays as such, but this is Buck…"

"If you think about it," Nathan started. "It's not that unexpected. Buck is such a sexual person, so uninhibited, why wouldn't he be bi?" The serious medic looked into the eyes of their young friend. "You know what they say about the difference between a straight man and a bisexual man?"

JD shook his head.

"Six pints of beer," Josiah supplied.

JD's eyes grew wide as saucers and for a moment the two older men thought they had gone too far, but then the young easterner's face split into a huge smile, and he began to laugh. Eventually the smile died.

"It's just…I don't… that is, I hadn't expected to be living alone - not for a while yet." JD's head hung as he avoided the eyes of the other two men, very aware he was sounding more like the kid they tended to see him as, instead of the independent young man he wanted them to see. Buck might not be sure if he was moving out - but JD was. Nathan had been right, Buck was a very passionate person, and there was no way he could be in love and not live with that person. Living with Buck had given him everything he had needed - everything he wanted, even if he didn't know he wanted it. Family - a big, over protective, older brother to take care of him, watch out for him, pick him up when he fell, listen to him when he was down, help him deal with the loss of his mother, an experience he had in common with the lanky agent. Most importantly, to teach him. Without Buck he would just be a nerdy little computer geek, barley tolerated by the rest of the ATF. Instead he was full member of the most successful federal tactical team in the country, a fully qualified agent, multi skilled, confident in the field and confident with the older and vastly more experienced men he worked with. Buck made it okay to mess up, so long as you learnt from your mistakes.

The other two looked at each other and almost as one gave a slight shake of the head. There was nothing they could say to make JD feel better. JD knew full well that if Buck did move out he would still be around and getting Buck to stop protecting JD - or indeed anyone - was like asking the sun not rise. Finally Josiah decided move to a new topic.

"What about the other two?"

+ + + + + + +

Buck had entered the car in wolf form, he didn't sit on the seat, where his clothes rested, but curled up on the floor under the dash, his head resting on the seat, gazing up at Ezra as he drove.

"Are you intending to stay like that?" Ezra asked. Buck thumped his tail up and down, Ezra couldn't see it but he could hear it. "What are you planning, to enter the apartment like that?" Buck yipped. "And how am I supposed to explain that?" Ezra was fully aware that it was very unlikely, in the quiet, up market building Ezra lived in, where he was by far the youngest resident, that between the basement parking garage and the apartment, they would meet anyone, especially considering it was now nearly two in the morning.

Buck did indeed intend to stay as a wolf until they were home. He didn't want to have to answer Ezra's questions yet, he didn't want to see the hurt and betrayal he believed he would face. In front of the guys Ezra had supported him, in private that might all change. He wanted to remind Ezra why they were together. If he entered the apartment as the wolf, then changed, he would be naked; hopefully that would distract Ezra long enough for him to seduce the undercover agent.

The parking garage was indeed deserted, as was the staircase and the corridor. Once the door was closed behind them and even before Ezra had dropped Buck's bundled up clothes, his lover was standing before him, tall, naked and beautiful. Reaching out his hand, he cupped Ezra's cheek, stroking his thumb over the well-defined cheekbone, gazing down with love into the jade green eyes he adored so much. He bent his head and captured Ezra's lips, kissing him long and hard and deep. He felt Ezra relax as he brought his arm up to caress the powerful back, through the soft fabric of his linen jacket.

"Need you," Buck breathed, and that was so true, never had Buck Wilmington needed another person's touch as much as he did at that moment, never had he needed the reassurance that he was still accepted and wanted, as now. He had bared his soul as he never had before, now he desperately needed to know it was not the end of his life as he had come to know it. His time in Denver was the longest time he had lived anywhere, Denver was the only place he had ever called home and he didn't want to leave it or the people he loved. Ezra had said they would stay together, but he needed proof, he needed the physical affirmation of that declaration.

"I know." Ezra relaxed into the caress as skilled hands began to undress him where he stood in the hallway. Once Ezra was bare chested and bare foot, Buck began to move them toward the bedroom, kissing, nibbling, nuzzling and stroking his lover as they moved. Claiming him, marking him with his scent - 'this is my man'.

Ezra made no resistance, he let Buck lead, knowing how much he needed this - actually Buck almost always led and that was the way Ezra liked it. Once in the bedroom, Buck sank gracefully to his knees in front of Ezra. Skilled and nimble fingers made short work of Ezra's pants and silk briefs. Ezra was already half hard, his smooth cock rising majestically from its bed if luxuriant chestnut curls, flushing darker and darker as it rose. Buck had no intention of letting Ezra become aroused without attention. He pressed his thumb to the tip, running it over he slit at the end. Ezra sighed, his hand instinctively coming to rest in Buck's thick hair.

Those skilled hands encircled Ezra's penis stroking, squeezing and pulling - gently. Suddenly Buck took Ezra into his mouth, causing the undercover agent to gasp and wave almost buckling at the knee as the incredibly capable, hot mouth worked its magic on him, sucking and massaging with an intoxicating mixture of expertise and strength. Buck sucked, licked and caressed, using his hands to stimulate the base of the shaft. Now barley able to stand Ezra tightened his grip on Buck's hair, swaying in time to Buck's oral thrusts.

"Oh sweet Jesus, love!" he cried. "I'm gonna …"

That was as far as he got, before he came, his warm, salty seed filling Buck's mouth, before the Two Blood swallowed it greedily.

Buck pulled back and stood just in time to catch Standish and ease the dazed man down onto the huge bed behind them.

"Ezra? Love? You okay?" he enquired.

"Mmm, never better," Ezra assured, finally opening his eyes, gazing dreamily up at the face of the man he loved.

That was all the assurance Buck needed, he began to rain kisses on Ezra all over again, sucking on the proud, erect nipples, his head bobbing back and forth as he lavished attention on both. Still slightly dazed from his recent orgasm, Ezra nevertheless was more than ready for more attention. The kisses began to move south, and without any conscious thought, Ezra spread his legs invitingly. Even before the kisses began to move down his torso, Buck's hands were already moving, cupping Ezra's ball sack, then moving further back to his sensitive spot just in front of his anus. Still floating and not really taking in the details Ezra was surprised that the finger caressing him became cool and slick with lube.

With a finger entering him, and another continuing to stoke his perineum, Ezra's apparently spent cock was already showing signs of renewed arousal. Already relaxed and very aroused, one finger was swiftly followed by two. He pushed his hips forward, needing more contact, and deeper penetration.

"More, more," Ezra murmured as he began to writhe under Wilmington's expert attention.

"Whatever you need," Buck assured. He removed his fingers and even before Ezra could protest their loss he placed the head of his fully erect and aching cock in the well stretched hole. He pressed home with one smooth, easy movement. Ezra's hips jerked off the bed as the burn came and passed.

"Yes, oh God, yes!" the southerner cried out, coming out of his post orgasmic haze. He needed to feel Buck inside him as much as Buck needed to be in him. No one filled him like Buck, no one made him feel loved and possessed the way Buck did. This was the final affirmation he needed that his lover was still the man he had fallen in love with.

Buck gloried in the feel of Ezra encasing him in hot tightness, in the intimate contact, the coupling, the bonding. His heart soared as he watched the expression of pure joy and lust spread over Ezra's face. If he could make him feel like that, surly Ezra would stay with him? He concentrated on his movements, hitting the smaller man's prostate, increasing the depth and speed of his thrusts, his hand caressing the now more than half hard cock before him, while his grasped one of Ezra's thrusting hips with another. Ezra's whole body arched, his head thrown back as his whole body seemed to come off the bed, hands grasping at and balling in the bedding franticly. Buck grasped him on either side, just below his ribs and leaned forward, capturing the hard as rock nipples, pressing his long torso against Ezra's ridged, arching body, trapping Ezra's now all but full erection between their sweat drenched bodies. Now as he trust forward he also added a slight sideways movement that added to the friction on the trapped cock between them.

Despite Ezra's pleas of 'more' and 'faster', Buck kept his pace steady, working on stimulating Ezra's prostate and cock, determined he would have a second orgasm, before he let himself come. His body screamed at him for release, but he denied it, holding back for Ezra's sake. Steadily Buck increased the pace, adding kisses and terms of endearment as he did, soothing Ezra's desperate writhing and pleading.

"Oh please, Buck, more, I need more," Ezra begged. "Oh dear God!"

"Hush, lover, let Buck take care of you," Wilmington whispered in his ear, as he nuzzled Ezra's neck.

Buck didn't have to hold out much longer, the powerful muscle ring surrounding his engorged cock suddenly spasmed, a sure sign Ezra was about to come. A second later he felt his lover's seed shoot forth to coat both their stomachs, and in that moment let himself come. He threw his head back, arching his spine, literally howling in triumph and joy.

Ezra hadn't come that hard - how could he that soon after his first powerful orgasm? So he recovered almost instantly. Buck was still above him, supporting his weight on what were now very shaky arms, his head hanging down, eyes closed, breathing in great panting gasps.

Much as Ezra didn’t want to lose the feeling of having Buck inside him, he wanted him to relax.

"Come on, lie down," he encouraged, placing a hand on Wilmington's shoulder. There was the slightest of head nods and Buck began to slip out of him, to all but fall to the left, coming to rest beside Ezra.

Ezra gazed at his sated lover, delighting in the vision before him; the sheen of sweat made Buck's skin shine, his face was flushed and his expression one of bliss. Ezra ran a single finger across Buck's forehead, stroking damp locks out of his eyes, he then trailed the finger down until it came to rest on the slightly parted lips.

"Better?" he asked softly. Buck lifted glazed eyes to meet Ezra's. He frowned, unsure how to respond. "I'm still here, I'm not going anywhere, I told you that, and I meant it."

Buck lifted a hand, captured the hand and the finger that still rested on his lips and kissed it.

"I'll be right back," Ezra assured as he gently pulled his hand free and slipped of the bed.

He returned with a warm wash cloth, then with great care and slow methodical movements he cleaned the evidence of their love making from both their bodies. Then he lay down beside Buck and pulled up the quilt of them both.

"So…" he started.

"So…" Buck responded.

"You're a wolf."

"Yeah."

"You were right, I would never have guessed, and considering some of the things I was imagining, this is …"

"What?"

"This is so much better."

"Really?"

"Oh God, yes."

"So you're okay with this, with me, what I am?"

"I told you, and please believe me, I'm not going to betray your trust, I'm not going anywhere - no matter what."

"There's more."

"I suspected there might be."

Buck took a deep breath and stretched out a hand to take Ezra's. "But there is something else I need to talk about first. That night - God knows it sounds pathetic now - but I was gonna tell you, that was what I was doing, up on that mountain, trying to work out how to tell you, show you." His eyes had dropped but now he raised them, seeking desperately for understanding. "You do understand I had to show you, don't you? You can't just say to someone 'oh, by the way, I can turn myself into a wolf whenever I like' it just doesn’t work."

"Have you tried?"

"No, no, not ever, that's the thing, I never had anyone I felt I needed to share it with."

"Not even Chris?"

"No, not even him."

"Were you and he …?" Ezra asked, fairly sure he knew the answer.

"Yeah, we fucked." He wasn't going to call it 'lovers', they were never that. "Before Sarah, never after."

"And now he's fucking Vin?" He asked the question, but in truth he was fairly sure he knew truth.

"And vice versa," Buck confirmed.

"Often?"

"Daily, nightly, repeatedly," Buck confirmed with an evil grin.

"And you know this because?"

"I can smell it on them; them two fuck like rabbits."

Ezra suddenly had a vision of Chris in a bunny suit and burst out laughing. "JD is right, this is so cool. Oh dear Lord!"

"What?" Buck asked, suddenly panicked.

"Did I just say that? 'Cool'? I called something 'cool'? What have you done to me?"

Buck just grinned. "Vin's gonna wear him out, if you ask me," he added.

"Am I wearing you out?"

Buck lent forward and captured Ezra's lips for a long, slow, deep kiss. "Nah, I'm younger and fitter than him, besides we have quality not quantity," he confidently stated once the kiss was over.

"I'm a quality kind of guy."

"That you are, Ezra Standish, that you are, and you're - that is, I'd like you to be - my guy. I love you, Ezra Patrick Standish, and I want you to be my mate, forever."

He'd said it. He'd wanted to explain about mating and bonding first, but it just came out, now he awaited Ezra's reaction.

Part 8

Sheriff Joe Taylor pulled himself out of his patrol car in front of the weekend retreat of Judge Riker, with a sinking feeling. The silent alarm had been triggered at 4:10 a.m., it had taken forty minutes for the patrol car to reach the isolated property; they were too late. By the time he arrived, it was clear the house had been stripped, it was as if a plague of locusts had been through the place. Long phone calls to the judge in Helena established that, as well as the usual things missing - DVD player, CD player, computer - all the food in the house was gone, a whole larder of tinned and dried food, not to mention meat from the freezer and a cellar full of wine, beer and spirits. Tracks outside indicated that as well as a truck - possibly Ted Russell's, that had been stolen the night before - there had been a large number of motor bikes at the house. That was unusual, and he would make sure to mention it in his report.

+ + + + + + +

Even with the cast off, Buck was still confined to deskwork for at least another two weeks. He sat at his computer checking his messages. He had a special program on his computer, one not even JD knew about. It had taken several tries to get it working, following the online tutorial, but now it worked perfectly. The program would check through all the online reports sent to the ATF, as well as those from other agencies, various police forces, the Forestry Service, Wildlife and Fisheries, Park Rangers, even some conservation organisations and hunting groups, not to mention new reports, and look for certain key words. Now something caught his eye in the reports the program had flagged up. His brow furrowed as he searched through the reports with growing concern. Then he left his desk briefly only to return with a map of north west of the country. Finally he picked up the phone and made some calls.

His growing concern was first picked up by Ezra.

"Is something amiss?" he asked. "Does your arm hurt?"

Buck looked up at the man now standing beside his desk. "No it's nothing like that. I … I need to go out, I have to think, can you cover for me, with Chris?"

Midnight blue eyes searched jade green for understanding, imploring Standish not to ask any more questions. After a second Ezra gave him a slight smile, the hand he had resting on Buck's forearm gave a little squeeze.

"Sure. Call me?"

Buck picked up his jacket and, returning Ezra's smile, headed out of the office.

+ + + + + + +

Zac Miller sat astride his Harley and surveyed the vast vista before him. Behind him, sixteen other bikes roared up the winding mountain road and pulled into the same rest stop. A Norton with a sidecar, pulled up beside him. Kelly Downes pulled off her helmet and shook out her long black hair.

"Down there?" she asked, pointing down at the distant settlement, nestling in the valley bottom below them.

Zac nodded.

"Is that it?"

Zac looked past her and into the sidecar, where two small children slept, oblivious to the scenery around them. Kelly followed his gaze as he smiled at his offspring.

"Nah, just for a few days, get ourselves together, before we head for the forest."

"You sure about this babe?" Kelly pressed.

Zac lent over and gave her a gentle kiss. "Trust me hun, have I ever steered us wrong?"

She had to admit he hadn't, not once in all their years together.

+ + + + + + +

Buck drove out to the ranch and saddled up his horse. Once high in the mountains, he dismounted and sat atop a rock, from where he could see the whole valley. Below him, he could see Chris' ranch, the small road that went past it, in the distance to his left the reservoir and directly in front of him the city - his city. After a childhood of permanent movement, living out of suitcases, in trailers and motels, he had settled in Denver at the age of nineteen, and there he had been ever since. Denver was his home, his territory and he desperately didn't want to leave it. But if he wanted to keep it, he was going to have to take a huge risk. He was going to have to risk losing everything, not just Denver, but Ezra, Chris, JD, everyone important in his life.

He sat there, staring out over the city, oblivious to the passing of time, remembering all that had happened to him in Denver, pack found, pack lost, home, permanence, comfort. He remembered the time before as well, always careful, always moving. He remembered how many times they had reached a new place, and he had secretly pleaded that this would be the last place, this would be home. In the end it was Steele, becoming restless as his feed time approached and was passed, that snapped him out of his reverie. By the time he got back to the ranch the Ram was outside the house, though Larabee didn't appear immediately. He was feeding and bedding Steele down, by the time Chris came into the barn. He leaned on the door to Steele's box, watching Buck methodically brushing his horse down. Three strokes of the brush, one on the curry comb, never varying his routine. Steele was enjoying the attention, as Buck moved to his right, the big grey bent his head around to do some grooming of his own, nibbling and lipping at Wilmington's old flannel shirt.

"I hope this was worth it?" Chris finally asked, as Buck finished. There was no accusation in his voice; if anything, the only discernible emotion was concern.

Once he had placed the feed in the loose box and given Steele one last pat, Buck stepped out of the stable, looked Chris in the eye and nodded. "Thanks for not getting all heavy about it, I have to talk to Ez, then …" he looked away from Steele to meet the forest green eyes of his Alpha. "I'll need to talk to everyone else."

There was something ominous about that statement.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Chris asked

Buck took a deep breath. "Probably not. Tomorrow, I'll talk to you guys tomorrow, we're all gonna be here anyway." They had arranged a trail ride and barbecue weeks ago, it was meant to be a celebration of Buck's return to full fitness.

Chris had a nasty, queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, but this whole situation was so alien, he tended to feel like that whenever he thought about it. He didn't know what to expect, maybe it wouldn't be that bad … maybe? But as he watched Buck walk away to his truck, there was no jovial banter, no jokes, no ready smile. Buck normally moved with such an easy fluidity, that as he walked away now, the tension was all to plain. Riding out for hours had always been his friend's way to think through personal problems, make decisions, or just find his equilibrium. Though now he wondered, had those long solo rides just been a way for Buck to get away so he could change? And if they were? Could he blame him? He and Vin had spent many nights since that fateful day talking over the whole situation. Trying and failing to imagine what life for a lone Two Blood was like. There were days when Larabee thought or hoped or even prayed that he would wake up and find it was all a dream. He was living in his own personal episode of the Twilight Zone, and try as he might, he couldn’t change the channel or find the off switch.

+ + + + + + +

Ezra was waiting for Buck.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he greeted his tall lover with a kiss.

"Yeah, I'm fine - hungry."

Ezra beamed, if Buck was hungry that was at least something he could fix. "I have a Stroganoff in the oven, we can eat whenever you like."

"Well let's eat, 'cause I'm starved and we have a lot to talk about," Buck announced.

Up until that moment he had still been undecided, now his mind was made up, he would fight to keep what was his, he would risk everything to keep everything.

Ezra knew not to push, when he was ready Wilmington would explain it to him, so they ate, drank a good, smooth red wine and Ezra waited. After the Stroganoff there was a light lemon mousse which Buck polished off quickly. Ezra cleared the dishes and returned with brandy and coffee.

"My kind," Buck began, "…we live in packs, well most of us do." Ezra didn't say anything, he just smiled. "In the old days it was easier, packs were nomadic there was lost of space, not too many people, but things changed. There was less space, more people, more control, paperwork. Two Blood cubs didn't go to school, lots of Two Blood were illiterate, things got very difficult around the time of the First World War." Ezra could well imagine how much more difficult it must have been to stay anonymous in the rapidly changing world of the twentieth century. "There aren't that many of us, you know, every cub is precious, and they were dying, while One Blood babies lived."

Ezra frowned. "Was there some pestilence?" he enquired.

"No, no, on the whole Two Blood cubs are very resilient with excellent immune systems, no, we had no doctors. I mean you can't have a doctor attending a birth, when the baby might not be a 'baby' if you get me, or come to a sick child, who might turn into a wolf while he's examining it."

"Yes, that would course something of a stir in the medical community," Ezra commented.

"Yeah, so some of the packs in the east got smart, started sending their brightest kids to school then college."

"To medical school?"

"Right, they got a real culture shock."

"Fitting in with One Bloods?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, no the real problem was that in Two Blood packs women are equal, always have been, sure the alpha is usually a male, but that’s because he has to fight to become alpha and stay on top. But it never occurred to them that people would think it odd for a woman to go to medical school. And of course the whole sex thing, they weren't used to a world where people didn't touch or embrace much, let alone sleep together just to confirm a bond of friendship. Well, anyway, as soon as it became known that one pack had a doctor other packs started to ask for the chance to see him or her."

"Aren’t packs territorial?"

"Very, and there are some packs that keep their independence. But it was for the good of all Two Blood that cubs and mothers live, so alliances were made. Over the years these became more permanent arrangements, several packs would band together to form Clans. The Clan Packs realised they needed a safe place to raise their young, keep them out of sight, so they started to buy land, some place secluded, and heavily wooded, it's called the 'Home Ground'. They started to educate all the cubs, in their own school, until they were about ten or eleven, teaching them how to live with One Blood, so they could go to school, get jobs, live in the twentieth century."

"Are you saying Two Blood aren’t nomadic anymore?"

"Well kinda, but within their own territory for the most part, but the young have to go to college, and things like that. Clan Packs are the majority these days. There is one dominant pack, and between six to twelve sub packs, the alpha of the dominant pack is the alpha of the whole clan, he - it's usually a he - is very powerful, he makes the rules, judge, jury…"

"Executioner?"

Buck nodded. "If necessary, Two Blood don't live by One Blood law, a Two Blood in jail, unable to make the change, cut off from his or her pack, is a dead Two Blood. You have to remember Two Blood don't live in a democracy, a pack is a dictatorship, if you don't like it you can't vote out the leader, you have to challenge him and fight, usually to the death. The members of a sub pack have to ask permission to cross into another pack's territory, but the clan pack, the pack of the clan alpha, can go anywhere within the clan lands."

"So how many clans or packs are there?"

"Who knows? There are Two Blood all over the world, wherever wolves are indigenous, including most parts of the US, a clan territory can cover hundreds of square miles, all full of One Bloods who have no idea they are in a clan territory."

"I'm guessing Denver isn't in a clan territory?"

"No. But clans aren’t the only packs, there are still traditional packs living the old way, totally nomadic, living mostly off the land."

Ezra was incredulous. "Where?"

Buck shrugged. "Canada, Alaska, Siberia, on the margins really. And …"

Here it comes, Ezra thought, hearing the hesitancy in Buck's voice. "And?" he prompted.

"There are Rogue packs."

Ezra got the feeling he wasn't going to like, what he was about to hear.

+ + + + + + +

Kelly sat astride her bike in one of the seedier areas of Billings and watched as Zac made his way back to her, he was smiling.

"How did we do?" she asked.

Zac bent down to capture her lips before he answered. "We did good." He pulled a huge wedge of money from inside his jacket pocket, to show her.

"How much do we have now?" she asked, running a finger over the wedge of money.

"With this year's money and all the rest we have stashed, enough to get us some land, build a cabin and support all of us through the first winter."

+ + + + + + +

Buck lay in bed and waited. He had finished explaining everything to Ezra, some four hours ago. Ezra had listened and understood, or at least he hoped he had understood, then he had said he needed time to think. Stripping off, even as he walked, he had headed for the small dressing room beyond the bedroom, which Ezra had converted into a gym. After clearing up the dinner things and starting the dishwasher, Buck had showered and climbed into bed, to wait. He could hear the 'whoosh-clank' of the multi gym, it sounded like Ezra was working on his legs, raising and lowering the weights with powerful thrusts and controlled releases on the large footboard.

The Two Blood inhaled deeply; with each passing minute the comforting, deep, musky smell of Ezra's sweat increased. In his mind's eye he could see Ezra's powerfully muscled body, he could see the sweat running down his chest to pool on his hard, erect nipple's dropping every now and again in big, heavy, teardrops of salty liquid. Rivers of sweat would be running freely down his face, making him blink, and highlighting his fine cheekbones. Fine chestnut hair would be plastered down on his scalp, heavy with perspiration. A fine line of moisture would be running down his back, between those powerful shoulder blades.

The imaginings served a purpose, it helped him take his mind off the fact that Ezra had been in there for hours, working - not on his physique - but on his decision. Without Ezra's decision, there was no point taking the situation to the others. There was a side effect to his mental images - he was as hard as a rock.

Suddenly there was silence. Buck held his breath, waiting for a new sound to give him some clue as to what Ezra would do next. What equipment would he use now? But instead he heard and saw the door catch move and the door opened. Ezra stood there, just as Buck had imagined him. He hadn't bothered to put on sweats, what was the point? The low bedroom lighting enhanced the perspiration covered body, highlighting the contours. For a second or two, Buck didn't even register that Ezra was as hard as he was. Standish strode toward the bed as Buck sat up.

"I'm not giving you up, whatever happens, but let's give it a go, what's the worst that can happen?" he announced.

"They say no, we have to leave Denver forever?"

"The key word being 'together'."

By now Ezra had reached the bed, and was pulling Buck's all too eager body to him. Frantic hands explored and held on as lips were joined. Buck was all but drunk on the heady odour of his lover, seeking ever closer contact with the hot, sweat drenched body, covering himself with his partner's scent. There was no time for lube and preparation, hands found aching erections, stroking, pulling and caressing in mutual need and hunger. Bodies pressed close, adding to the friction as they brought each other off; creamy, sticky seed coating their torsos and hands, mixing together in the confined space between the tightly pressed bodies. While all the time hungry mouths devoured each other, hands roaming freely, running over backs and asses, carding through sweat drenched hair.

+ + + + + + +

Buck and Ezra arrived at the ranch the next day together. Chris already had the beer chilled and waiting. As soon as everyone had a beer they settled down under the shade of the big tree in Chris' yard, on benches, chairs, fallen logs or the porch steps. Buck took a long pull on his beer, and then turned to the others. He looked once at Ezra, sitting behind him, received a reassuring smile and started to tell them all he had told Ezra the night before about Two Blood society.

"So there are these clans all over the place?" Vin asked.

"Yup," Buck confirmed. "Hey!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Chris, you remember that survivalist group we had to check, out over in Nebraska, last year, you were gonna send Josiah, but I made you send me?"

Larabee nodded, he vaguely remembered. "Well, they're a pack, right on the edge of a clan territory."

"Shit! They're everywhere," Chris commented good-naturedly.

"Well, not quite. The thing is," he hesitated. "…there is one other kind of pack, apart from clan packs and traditional packs there are rogue packs."

"Rogue?" Nathan asked, not liking the sound of it.

"Yeah. See Two Blood society, it's quite ridged, in it's own way, and some of the young rebel. Most just want to see the world, see what's beyond the clan territory."

"Can't they see that when they go to college?" Josiah asked.

"Well, not everyone gets to go to college, sending the young away goes against everything pack hold dear, if possible they will attend a local school, even if it means passing up a better school. So basically they only send the brightest and best to college."

"And some of the other youngsters want to spread their wings?" It wasn't really a question, Josiah understood the problem, other 'closed' groups like the Amish had the same difficulties.

Buck shrugged. "The modern world is mighty tempting. And there is the dominance thing. Young male Two Blood, pumped up on hormones and testosterone, sometimes try to assert dominance over older and stronger members of the pack. If they stay in the pack they are likely to end up dead, so it's better if they get out for a few years, work off some energy, gain some self-control. A few go it alone, but not many, Two Blood don't really know how to function alone."

"You do," Chris pointed out.

Buck looked up and gave a sad smile. "I wasn't raised in a pack, I'm used to being alone."

"You aren’t alone anymore," Ezra assured from behind him.

"Yeah, you got us now," JD chimed in.

Buck knew that, they had been his pack for more then two years, even if they didn't know it. "I know, guys, believe me I know, and it means more to me than I can tell you."

"Buck?" Chris voice was strangely soft and hesitant.

"Yeah?"

"Why weren't you raised in a pack?"

Buck seemed to freeze; he had been on his feet the whole time as he explained Two Blood society to his friends, some of the time he had paced; now he was totally still.

"It's …complicated," he finally admitted. Before anyone could ask him more he pressed on with his explanation of rogue packs. "See these young ones, the ones that don't go it alone, they form their own packs."

"Rogue packs," Vin supplied, seeing how much Buck didn't want to be pressed on his past.

"They're nomadic, travel mostly on bikes. To the outside world they look like any other biker gang. But they still act like a pack, there's still an alpha, the trouble is, it's very volatile, lots of challenges. People join a pack for a few years, find a mate and go back to their pack, or their mate's pack. Things are always changing."

"How do they live, pay for gas and stuff?" asked JD.

"Same way other bike gangs do."

"Casual work, thieving, extortion?" Chris offered.

"Among other things, yes," Buck admitted.

"Interesting as this is, why are you telling us all this now?" Chris asked.

Buck turned to face him; dark blue eyes held forest green for a long time. "Because there is a rogue pack heading this way and there is a good chance this pack is looking to settle down."

Part 9

The pack needed to rest up and lick their wounds, figuratively and literally. They pulled off the road and headed up into the forest, below Blad Mountain. Taking the bikes as far as they could then they quickly and effectively, hid them before they made the change, the babies changed instinctively into cubs, as they subconsciously sensed the charged atmosphere the changing of the rest of the pack created all around them. Now free and unencumbered the pack roamed deep into the forest, seeking game and a safe place to rest, mourn, and play with the cubs. It had been a rare defeat, the deaths a hard lesson well learned.

Zac lead his pack with confidence despite the disaster, his strategy had been sound, his luck was bad, no one could control their luck. The pack wanted to settle down and had their eye on an abandoned territory in the Custer national forest. The plan was to settle next to an existing clan and hopefully be accepted into the clan. The local Clan however, took exception to a new pack so close to its territory. The Big Horn Clan was one of the biggest and most powerful, and despite a brave stand, the small rogue pack had no chance.

Zac stood on a fallen tree, looking down on his pack as they played with the cubs in the natural clearing he had found for them. Playing with the young always helped to heal the pack, and would serve to keep them focused on their goal. Travelling with young was difficult, his eldest was now nearly a year old. Keeping them hidden from prying One Blood eyes was increasingly becoming a problem, in a few years the cubs would need to start school, he wanted a territory and a home ground safely established long before that. Some of the pack, the youngest mostly, hadn't agreed to the change from rogue pack to settled pack, and had left. The pack that were left were loyal to Zac, he was a big wolf, at least 200 pounds, and he'd been the alpha for more than three years, this - compared to the average tenure of a rogue pack alpha of nine to twelve months - was testament to his strength, intelligence and ruthlessness. The alpha of the Big Horn clan had known this, there was no way such a powerful alpha would be content to submit to another, sooner or later he would challenge for dominance, this was the main reason they had been attacked and run out of the area by the other packs in the clan.

+ + + + + + +

Chris took a moment to digest this statement, before he spoke. "Why do you think that?"

"I think we need to go inside so I can show you," Buck responded, already heading for the house.

The others, more than a little curious, followed him. Once inside he had Chris boot up his computer, into which he inserted a disk. The others gathered around, with Ezra standing behind him, hands resting on his lover's shoulders.

"Ok this is a map of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, you see these red dots here?" he pointed to a cluster of dots near Butte. "These are all ski lodges that have been ransacked, they were all hit on the same night, all the food was taken as well as valuables; motorbike tracks were found outside the houses. Here," he pointed to a red dot near Helena. "…was a weekend house belonging to a judge, also ransacked."

"So?" was Chris' response.

"See these dots? Fights between biker gangs."

Buck circled a large area on the Montana/Wyoming boarder encompassing the Crow reservation and Little Big Horn forest. "This is all clan territory," he explained.

The others leaned closer to see what he was pointing at. "All of it?" Josiah asked.

Buck shrugged. "Far as I know. See the line?"

The line of red dots led south.

"How do you know this is a pack and not just a regular biker gang?" Chris asked.

"These." Buck pulled up the police reports; he had highlighted sections of two reports. "The police reports mention that witnesses saw babies with one of the gangs. "I know some biker gangs do travel with small children. But how many?"

"Not many," Vin confirmed.

"But in this report, three witnesses who saw the gang pass through the town, reported a woman carrying a baby while a puppy followed behind her. But, one of the witnesses was a forest ranger, who says it wasn't a puppy, it was a wolf cub, a very young wolf cub that couldn't possibly have been weaned." He looked around to check that the others understood the significance of the report before he continued. "Rogue pack don’t have cubs and Two Blood don't produce cubs by accident, so this pack is looking to settle. Normally if you're in a rogue pack and you want to settle, you go home, back to your pack, where you will be welcomed with open arms. My guess is that the alpha of this pack has no intention of going back and submit to another alpha, he's tried to settle next to a clan but they won't have it, chased them off. No, he's looking to settle his pack some where in a vacant territory."

"Like Denver," Nathan confirmed.

"Yeah, like Denver. Here," Buck pointed to a red dot on the northern boarder of Colorado. "… a lone hiker reported hearing wolves. There are no wild wolves in that area."

"None of this proves they are going to settle here, they could go anywhere - couldn't they?" JD asked.

"A pack needs cover to raise the young, forest, they need running water and privacy, the Home Ground - the land they actually own - will be somewhere very remote, surrounded by public land, no power, no drainage, not much more than a single track access. But not so remote they can't get to a town or even a city. There are parcels of land, just like that, up for sale in this area - right now."

Buck stood up, leaving the map on the screen, the ominous line of red dots leading toward Denver. He paced the length of the large living room and then turned back to face them, running a hand over his face and back through his thick hair.

"The thing is, if they settle here, I can't stay - because there is no way I'm submitting to another Two Blood."

"And if he goes, I go," Ezra confirmed.

Suddenly a cacophony of voices erupted in protest.

"Guys, guys!" Chris finally cut through the conflicting voices. "No one wants you guys to leave. Besides how the hell are they going to know you're even here? I mean, you're just one man - right?"

Buck shifted uncomfortably. "Scent," he finally admitted.

"Scent? Oh come on Buck, a whole army of blood hounds couldn't pick out one person in a whole city," Vin protested.

"Um, well, see they're likely to go past this area." He waved his arm around to indicate the general area around the house. "Aren’t they?"

"Well ,I guess," Tanner admitted.

"Well, I sort of think of this place as mine, so … I … marked it," he finally admitted.

"Marked it?" Chris wasn't sure he wanted to know what was coming next.

"Um, well … scent marked."

"Wilmington, have you been pissing all over my land?"

"Well, yeah, and beyond, up into the forest and well, and …"

"Yes?"

"Um, well, around the fed building, and the condo and Ez's place." He could see they were both incredulous and amused. "Look I was just marking out my territory, did you even notice, any of you?" He defended his actions.

"You pissed on the condo?" JD asked.

"Well, around the building - late at night, very late at night," Buck admitted sheepishly.

"Anywhere else?" Chris asked. "Come on," he pushed, seeing more hesitation.

"The Saloon."

"Okay, I have a word of advice."

"Yeah?"

"Do not tell Inez you’ve been pissing on her bar."

"Around her bar," Buck corrected.

"Is that it?" Chris prompted.

The Two Blood shifted uncomfortably, looking at the floor.

"Buck?" Chris growled.

"Coors Field," he finally admitted.

"Mighty ambitious, ain't it, Bucklin?" Vin asked, barely hiding his amusement.

"I see it as the ultimate act of support for the Rockies," Buck explained proudly.

"I'm surprised you didn't claim the Broncos while you were at it." Josiah grinned at him.

Buck returned the grin. "It was next on my list."

"Whatever, the point is this pack is gonna know you're around," Chris cut in, wanting to get back to the matter at hand.

"Yeah, I can't live in their territory and not be part of the pack."

"I'm getting the feeling there is a way out of this," Josiah ventured.

Buck nodded hesitantly. "If this wasn't vacant territory, if there was a pack here already, then no pack could even pass through the territory, without asking permission, if they try to stay, their alpha would have to challenge for dominate. There are One Bloods in packs, it's happened before."

Chris was now on his feet and approaching his oldest friend. "Tell me you're not saying, what I think you're saying."

"We could be a pack, a real pack. You guys gotta understand, if this pack comes here, and I'd bet the farm they will, and I don't leave, they will find me, and I either fight or submit. If I submit, I'm part of that pack from then on. What we have now, me and Ez, hanging out together, it's all gone."

"And if you fight?" JD asked.

Buck took a deep breath. "Dominance fights are usually to the death, I don't wanna die and I don't wanna kill anyone. I would have to challenge him, so he gets to choose how we fight, that means as humans with knives or as wolves. Two Blood don't use guns on each other - ever - only knives, they equate to claws and teeth. I have never fought as a wolf, and that is probably what he would choose."

"Well I say do it, let's be a pack," JD announced enthusiastically.

"JD," Ezra warned.

"What?"

"There's a bit more to it than just say 'hey, we're a pack'," Buck explained.

+ + + + + + +

They moved to the living room, where Chris, at Ezra's suggestion, broke out the whisky.

Buck explained a bit about being pack, about the honesty, the openness, the closeness of pack, before he moved to the more sensitive issue of submission.

"If we become pack, Chris becomes the alpha," he stated, looking at Chris. "You’re the boss, pal, we all know that, ain't no one else could be the alpha." Chris nodded his agreement, he had questions but they could wait, hopefully Buck would answer some of them. "And an alpha's mate is also an alpha." With that Buck very deliberately moved his gaze to Vin. There was a long silence.

"What are you insinuating?" Chris asked with that edge to his voice that said 'back off'.

"That you and Vin are as much a couple as Buck and Ezra," Josiah said simply. "And before you get all heavy, we - the three of us," he indicated himself, Nathan and JD. "… figured it out on our own."

"And it's cool," JD chimed in, "…we're happy for you."

Chris wanted to ask how and when they had found out, but it all seemed a bit pointless, they knew, they didn't mind, what else was important? He looked over at Vin, who was looking somewhat unsure. The shy Texan had been very unsure about having a relationship with his boss. Actually Vin had hard job believing anyone would want to have a long term relationship with him at all. He had confessed to Larabee early in their relationship, that he had never slept with anyone, male or female, more than twice. Why this was, Chris hadn't yet worked out. The Lord knew there must have been hundreds of people, falling over themselves to bed him. Maybe that was the problem, he was so beautiful, no one was ever interested enough to get to know the man, rather than just lust after the Adonis? On instinct he stood up, crossed the room and sat next to his lover, taking his hand in public for the first time.

"So what does that mean - if Vin is also the alpha?" Chris asked.

Buck took a deep breath. "That I have to submit to him as well as you. Actually I need to show some form of submission to all of you." He looked over at Ezra, who gave him a smile of encouragement.

"What does this submission actually entail?" Chris asked, getting the feeling he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Well, basically - look, you got to understand how tactile Two Blood are and scent, scent is really how we read people."

"You explained that brother, go on," Josiah encouraged.

"Yeah, well, Chris, that is Chris and Vin, you guys, you … you gotta fuck me."

"What!" Vin spluttered.

"They have to what ?" JD whispered in horror.

"Fuck me, first Chris then Vin, and …"

"There's more?" Chris asked, still trying to come to terms with what he had just been told.

"It has to be natural - no protection."

"Now wait a moment," Nathan cut in. "That it not okay, not smart at all."

"Has to be Nate, the scent has to be strong." Buck explained. "Me and Ez have been tested and we're fine. How fast can they get tested?"

"Well, these days, 24 hours," Jackson confirmed.

He looked over at Chris and Vin. Larabee had a vice like grip on his young lover's arm, giving him strength and support.

"It's okay, we've been tested as well," Chris confirmed.

Nathan smiled with almost paternal pride, maybe these men did listen to him after all.

Buck continued. "Me and Ezra talked about it, and we're okay, it's up to you guys," he looked from Chris and Vin to the other three, "… and you lot as well because this time I reckon it only has to be them, but …"

"Oh shit, I hate it when he says 'but'." JD commented.

"If we become a pack and we come up against a strong Clan pack, and we are challenged, if any of you are ever challenged or - God forbid - you challenge someone; I can only fight for you if I've submitted to you, individually or the pack as a whole. You understand?"

"You're saying that there may come a time when we all have to fuck you?" Nathan asked somewhat aghast.

"Yeah, becoming a pack is an all or nothing deal - I don't need you to it this time, I don't think. There's another way around it, but you have to agree to it in principal. I know this a lot to deal with and a big decision, so I - that is we - have a proposal."

Ezra pulled ten marbles from his pocket, five red and five blue. Buck went to the mantle and picked up a small wooden box and placed it on the coffee table, having removed the spare window keys that it normally held and left them on the mantle.

"Let's say midnight, you put the marble in the box, blue means yes, red means no. This is not gonna be a by majority vote, universal or nothing. No one knows how the others voted. Fair? I'm gonna stay here, you got any questions, you ask, whatever it is - okay?"

The other five nodded, picking up two marbles each. Buck and Ezra withdrew to the porch to give them some privacy. They sat side by side on the porch swing, not speaking just sitting, taking strength from the other's presence. The first person to leave the house was Vin. He strode out and across the yard toward the barn, never looking in their direction once, followed - predictably - a few moments later by Chris.

+ + + + + + +

Zac folded his cell phone and stowed it back in his pocket. He'd found three parcels of land in Gilpin county, the last three in a long winding line leading deep into public and state forest. They had no power, no drainage and only a rough dirt track for access - perfect. The pack's communal savings would just about cover the purchase - this kind of land with no services, no agricultural value and, so deep in the forest not even a good view were relatively cheap, and these had been discounted after not selling after many months on the market. It was more than they would have spent in Montana, but they would just have to work hard and fast to make the money to set up a home. There were ways to make fast money - not ransacking lonely houses - not so close to the Home Ground, but there were bears on the forest, and he had contacts who would pay good money for bear liver, bile, claws and fur. There were butchers only too keen to buy cheap beef, fresh from the high mountain pastures, where they grazed all alone, and, much as he disliked the idea personally, there were legitimate jobs to be had as well. In fact, the more he thought about it, Denver was a better option than Billings.

+ + + + + + +

JD sat in unnatural silence staring at Josiah, desperate for someone - anyone - to tell him what to do. Sanchez rolled the two spheres in his hand, slipped one in his pocket and, lifting the box lit a fraction, place the marble in his hand inside.

"You already decided?" JD asked in a low whisper.

"I did, John Dunne."

Sanchez had been a Marine, he'd been around, seen stuff, done stuff, he had assessed the situation, considered the options and made a decision.

"What was it?"

"I can't tell you that, you must make up your own mind."

JD looked over at Nathan. "What about you, Nate, what yer gonna do?"

Jackson took a deep breath. "I can't rightly say, I have to think on it." With that he stood up and crossed the room. "I mean, it may never happen, we might never meet one of these Clan Packs. Right?"

"But we might," Josiah reminded.

"I'm gonna take a walk."

JD watched Jackson leave before he turned back to Josiah. "I'm scared," he finally admitted.

"Me too."

"But you already made your mind up, you said yes."

"You don't know what I said."

JD gave him a wane smile. "Yeah, I do, I know you, you'd never break up the team."

"What scares you?"

"All of it, everything Buck said about openness, touching, but it's the sex really - I don't wanna let Buck down, I just don't know if I could. What if I say yes and then when it comes to it - if it comes to it - I can't, what would happen to Buck, to us?"

Josiah regarded the young man before him, hazel eyes looking so wide eyed and innocent and so scared.

"Well, I think there is a chance we could lose him, probably Ezra as well."

"See! That’s what I'm afraid of."

"JD, we will lose him anyway, if you don't go along."

JD through his head back and pulled in a long breath. "I know, God help me, I know." He pulled his head forward to look at the older man again. "Buck's my brother - you know?"

"I know."

"I mean we may not be related by blood, we may have only met a few years ago, but that doesn’t mean anything. He gave me a home - not a place to stay, a home. He makes me feel safe - when I first came here I was so …so …lost, alone, just going to work used to tie my guts in knots and then Buck decided to be my friend and it all changed. He made me feel safe, he made it okay to fuck up, I didn't need to be perfect. I can't see my life without him around, but …"

"But you're scared."

"Yeah."

"JD, are you a virgin?" Sanchez asked softly.

"No! Hell preacher I'm young, I'm not that young!"

"But you've never slept with a man?"

JD shook his head. "Never, never even thought about it, never felt attracted to a man. I just don't think I can - with anyone, but especially Buck, it would feel like incest."

"It might feel like it, but it wouldn't be, not really, it's just a mind set. This is just another way to show how you feel about him, to show how much you care." Josiah was well aware he wasn't being impartial, but he was sure what JD wanted to do, he just needed someone to tell him he was doing the right thing.

"I guess, but what if I can't - you know? Perform, when it comes to it, if it comes to it."

"JD, none of us can know the future or how we will react in any given new situation. We can only look so far ahead and hope that we will do the right thing, in any given situation. Life is a calculated risk, you have to weigh up the odds and take your best shot - there is nothing more anyone can do, that is all Buck is asking you to do."

+ + + + + + +

Chris found Vin, not, as he had expected, talking to Peso, instead he was up in the hay loft, looking out over distant mountains from the hayloft doors.

"Hello, can I come up?" Chris asked from the top of the ladder.

Vin didn't respond, so Chris just pressed on up. Quietly and being careful not to make any sudden moves he sat down next to his lover.

"So - we're 'mated'," he started.

"Yeah."

"Interesting concept."

"Yeah."

"It's a big ask."

Vin didn't respond. In truth it wasn't the sex that worried him. It was sharing Chris that was the issue. He knew that Buck and Chris had had a 'casual sex' relationship before Sarah. He accepted that. Chris had assured him that there had been no sex after he met Sarah. Now there would be. In all his life, thirty odd years, only two people had loved Vin, his mother, who died when he was five, and Chris - he hoped. The relationship was still new, and he was very insecure in Chris' professed love. So far he had been blissfully happy, the sex was fantastic, he did occasionally worry that he was wearing Chris out, but the other side, the emotional side, the just being together, that was something he wanted and cherished. It had come as a bit of a surprise to him how much he was enjoying it, how much it was coming to mean to him. In truth, Vin hadn't ever understood why couples stayed together after sex was no longer a major part of their joint life. In his world sex was the only reason you had a relationship with someone, however brief that relationship was. Now he was happy just to spend an evening with Chris, watching TV, talking, taking care of the stock. It felt good to wake up with someone beside him, and know that person would be there the next morning and the next. And now Buck was asking to renew his and Chris past relationship. What if Chris decided he loved Buck and not him? Logically he knew Buck and Ezra were together and seemed very committed, but at the back of his mind the nagging fear that something he cared about, someone he cared about, was going to be snatched away - again.

"You and Buck?" Vin started. "What you does he mean to you?"

Chris regarded his lover, unsure what Vin was asking, nevertheless he decided to give him as honest an answer as he could manage.

"Buck has been my friend of nearly a third of my life, every important event in my life in those years has involved him - except one. The first time I was shot in the line of duty he was there at my bedside - course I'd been shot in the butt by some over eager rookie!" Vin smiled in spite of himself, he had seen the scar, a nice little dimple in the side of the left cheek. "He was there when I secured my first solo conviction, he introduced me to Sarah, he was my best man, he was there the night Adam was born, he was his Godfather. It was Buck taught Adam to ride and hit a baseball, not me. He was with me when I found out about the bomb, he was with me in the hospital the whole time until Adam died. He arranged the funeral, he dealt with the paper work and the DPD. When I was trying to follow my family via a whisky bottle, he kept me alive, he covered for me at work, he kept this place running - and all that time he was grieving himself. I was … well, lets just say I treated him badly, pushed him away, vented my anger on him, blamed him, but he never left, he stuck by me when others would have turned tail and run. When I did finally get myself together and joined the ATF, he was the first one I recruited."

All this Vin knew already, but having it all listed like that somehow brought it home to him, just how important Buck was to the man he loved.

"The only important event he wasn't there for," Chris continued, "was you and me. Yes, we fooled about when we were young. That was all it was, fun, fuck buddies. I love that man, but I'm in love with you."

Piercing blue eyes turned on him, Chris always felt Vin could speak just by looking at you. It was all there, the fear, the love, desire, confusion.

Vin wasn't so sure it was just fun for Buck. He might not know much about Two Blood behaviour, but he knew about wolves. That Buck stuck by Chris the way he did meant Chris had always been his alpha. He didn't ask, but he was fairly sure Buck had bottomed to Chris. He had submitted and once Chris was his pack, that bond could not be broken, so what ever happened, what ever Chris did, Buck wouldn't leave him. When Vin found Chris, his life had changed, he was happy, for the first time in is life he was truly happy. Then everything changed. Part of him was angry that Buck's problems and revelations had put his happiness at risk. But it wasn't Buck's fault he was what he was. He had only revealed his true self to them to save his life, no one could be blamed for saving their own life. Buck wasn't demanding anything, he was presenting them with a problem and giving them options. And for all his fears and insecurities, Vin cared about Buck and Ezra, he didn't want them to leave, he didn't want to be the one that destroyed the team. The team were his extended family, they were a big part of why he was so content.

Chris was trying to read those eyes. And what he read there was insecurity. There was one possible solution to that, but they would need to talk to Buck. As he tried to work out how to word his proposal, they saw Nathan coming toward the barn form the corrals. He had probably walked a circuit and was now returning, whether that was because his mind was made up or just because it was getting dark it was hard to tell.

"Come with me, I wanna ask Buck something," Chris suddenly announced, getting up.

Vin looked up, thought for a moment, then joined him.

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