Yay, the second chapter! I know it doesn't seem like it but this is pretty fast for me to get a chapter done! :) So this is the chapter to get the true action going. After this chapter things should start to get interesting and deeper into what will be happening for the rest of the story ;3 Thank you for reading and please give a comment if you like it <3 Enjoy

The sun was a mirage of colors, splayed out above me like a stained glass window. All swaying and squirming across my vision as if alive, bleeding into each other as they danced about one another. This dance of oranges, yellows, and reds was outlined by the crystalline blue of water. The coolness of the blue touched the heat of the red and together gave the feeling of summer.

            As I gazed up at this mixture of colors I felt my lungs begin to ache with the lack of oxygen and I knew my time was up. I kicked off the bottom and paddled up towards the sky.

            I broke the surface with a large intake of breath spraying water in all directions as I shook off my head back and forth. I tried to wipe the excess water out of my eyes with my large, clumsy paws but only succeeded in getting more water in them. I grunted in annoyance as my body bobbed in the water from its natural buoyancy keeping me afloat yet slightly off balanced. So after a few minutes of bobbing about I finally decided to just begin floating on my back with my head looking up into the clear blue sky.

            Today was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I was enjoying myself in my large natural swimming pool after a long week at school.

I had spent the better part of two years building the natural pool and I now enjoyed it practically seven days a week. At its deepest point it was 15 feet down for I enjoyed, more often than not, swimming in bear form as I was doing today. I have always enjoyed being on four legs instead of two and whenever I can you will often find me walking around on four paws.

The cool water was relaxing after a rough week of school.

After the incident with the bobcat and wolf there had been a large brawl in the cafeteria between wolves and cats. Apparently it had started with a couple snide comments from both sides about the previous fight that ended in an all-out war. The staff was forced to call a couple alphas and pride leaders to help break it up. It ended with a lot of patients for me to say the least and I was fairly busy at the end of it all mending bloody noses and broken bones.

And as if that wasn't enough every time I found myself alone for even a moment I would turn around and Tom would be there practically dry humping my leg. I would do my best to avoid him but it seemed he always knew where I was and would do his best to get on my 'good' side with his 'sexiness'.

Gross.

But thankfully the weekend came in the nick of time, or I would have probably neutered the horn dog and not with sterilized instruments either. But now I didn't have to worry about any of that. I was a free bear for two whole days to do as I wished.

I gazed up into the sky and watched as the thick cotton candy clouds leisurely floated across the sky. It was a calm and peaceful day with the birds singing in the trees and the small wildlife scurrying from one place to the other. I could have fallen asleep to the soft sounds of the woods as my lullaby if not for my head hitting the side of the pool unexpectedly.

I flinched badly and was dunked under the water and began to sink to the bottom only then did I begin frantically kicking to reach the top again. As my head broke the surface I spluttered and coughed sending out a spray of water from my nose and mouth. I paddled over to the edge and rested my paws on the side of the pool as I huffed and heaved, trying to clear my mouth and nose of water. The huffs and grunts soon turned to chortles of laughter as I realized how funny I must have looked. A giant polar bear flipping out in water in the middle of a forest.

I am so glad I live by myself with no neighbors for miles. I would have died of embarrassment.

With my little water freak out done I decided I was done with the pool for today. So I reached forward and pulled my large form out onto the crisp green grass that surrounded my pool. I shook myself off with little ticks and pulls of muscles and fur spraying water every which way and made my way to the back door of my cabin.

The cabin itself wasn't anything spectacular.

Just a simple abode with four walls and a roof. It had its own small flower garden flowing from the sides to the back where it spread out into a meadow where the pool was built. It was a large structure with high vaulted ceilings and large double doors in the back for when I was too lazy to shift back to two legs. The back double doors were connected to a patio type area next to the garden. The back patio doors led into my bedroom where I had large bookshelves, a king sized bed with a large quilt given to me by the Pack, and a large cabinet for my few assortments of clothes. Connected off to the side were two doors, the first leading out into the living room etc. and the second being the bathroom.

            The first door led out into the other half of the cabin which was a mixture of the living room and the kitchen. The living room had a large comfy couch and a large rug in front of a cozy fireplace. There was a medium sized flat screen and a pretty good stereo system for those nights I lazed around inside. Conjoined to the living room was a small nook where I had a small fridge, a two person table, and an oven with a row of cupboards above.

In a whole it was a simple place, but I liked it that way.

After I shifted back, dried off, and put on some clothes I decided to spend the rest of my day watching movies in the living room while snacking on an assortment of junk food and fruits. It was an easy way to spend time simply dozing off while eating and watching comedies.

Later into the night it was going pretty well, I had made it through four movies, three pops, two bags of popcorn, and a bag of grapes when I received a call.

"Hello?"

"Hey there Avery."

It was Nate Collins. He was an enforcer of my old pack and one of the few members who I had talked to with more than just pleasantries. He was also one of the people who stood up for me when the fight between Logan and I my junior year went down. And then when the Alpha came to the decision to move me to a new home Nate helped with cutting the wood for my new cabin. We weren't what you might call friends but we certainly weren't just acquaintances.

"Hey Nate, what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" I looked over at the clock above the fireplace mantle and saw it was already after 9.

"Well, I just wanted you to know that I saw a couple of your students enter the Full Moon Saloon down here. Pretty positive they're minors."

My eyes widened at this as I sat up on the couch pausing my movie, "Are you sure? Did they have someone with them?"

"Not that I could see. It looked like it was a girl and two boys. I wasn't sure if I should call someone or not... then I thought of you."

I ran a hand down my face agitatedly, I knew exactly who they were, "Thank you Nate, I will be there as soon as I can." I was already at the door tugging on my coat as I heard Nate sighing and chuckling.

"Just be careful there's a lot of shifty characters down there."

As I hung up and rushed out to my Jeep I thought about what Nate had said about 'shifty characters'. By the time I had made it to the highway I had come to the conclusion that what he meant wasn't that there was bad people, but more along the lines of actual Shifters, and when there are a lot of shifters in one place things can get difficult.

***

The music was more along the lines of country as it pounded off the walls and bounced off the ceiling reverberating harshly in my ears. The place was pretty packed with bodies big and small, all of them moving against each other. I was standing just inside the door trying to use my sharp eyes to discern where exactly these three students were. But all I could see were shadowy forms as the oh so pungent scent of alcohol attacked my sensitive nose.

I moved forward into the bar, carefully trying to avoid touching the other bodies around me as my eyes scanned the groupings of people surrounding me. The further I went in the more I was pushed around, jostled, squished, and squeezed. There was one point where I felt a hand squeeze my butt and I turned slightly to growl menacingly at the offender. They immediately let go.

As I turned back to my search I found myself feeling quite lost in this sea of people and started thinking that maybe Nate had been mistaken or they had already left. This wasn't really my problem anyway, I could just call someone else to come deal with this.

But this thought was crushed when I heard drunk giggling over the speaker system and an introduction for a singer named Jessie.

I turned towards the stage to see Jessie McConnell, a Junior girl in my school standing awkwardly up on a rickety stage, giggling uncontrollably as she prepared to sing into a microphone whilst clinging to the microphone stand for balance. I moved towards the stage with a new purpose and pushed the bodies roughly out of my way. As I reached the front of the stage I watched as Jessie was a mixture between uncontrollable laughter and singing, looking around the crowd until her eyes met mine.

Her entire appearance changed in the blink of an eye as her eyes widened and her mouth went into the shape of a small 'o'.  She froze and didn't move as the people in the bar started to notice the stop of lyrics to the still playing song.

I moved forward hefting myself halfway on stage where I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down over my shoulder. This sudden movement seemed to push her into motion as she started squirming and squeaking out excuses and begs of mercy. I ignored her pleas and found a partly clear spot next to the bathrooms where I set her down and looked her in the eyes.

"Where are they?"

She looked shocked and then tried to cover it up with a slightly cracking, "Who?"

I shook my head looking back to the crowd then to her, "Come on Jessie I know you didn't come without them. Now where are they?"

She flinched at the tone of my voice and looked out into the crowd before slowly lifting her hand to point in the direction of very loud yelling in the center of a group of people. I took hold of her hand and dragged her behind me as we made our way to the group listening as the voices grew louder.

As we came into the circle of bodies I saw a small table set up with two people sitting down, facing each other with an assortment of shot glasses strewn in front of them.

One of them was a mountain lion, thick, scruffy, and drunk off his ass. His eyes were a golden brown as he stared challengingly at the other participant. He was flanked by two other big cats who were smacking his shoulders and cheering him on in a mix between profanities and growls. The other participant of this drinking game sat across the small table from the big cat.

Jess McConnell, the twin to Jessie and an arrogant young wolf who looked like the shots were starting to affect him if his half hooded eyes and slow, jerking swaying her any sign. Behind Jess was his best friend Taylor Trickler who looked unsure of what was conspiring in front of him as he glanced around the group of onlookers with a look that read plainly, 'We shouldn't be here.'

"You givin' up li'l wolfy?" the mountain lion was heavily drunk yet better off than Jess for his eyes were fully open with that sharp glint in his golden irises. His breath was laced with alcohol as he spoke and my sensitive nose scrunched up even from where I stood.

His little gang chuckled and encouraged him to continue his insults with rough pats and slurred curse words.

Jess looked like he might barf as his face turned a sickly green but he shot back drunkenly with a obnoxious burp, "I ain't givin'... notin' up li'l PUSSY!"

There were murmurs of encouragement all around at this as a waitress moved forward with a new tray of drinks.

I had seen enough.

I moved forward and grabbed ahold of Jess's arm before he could lift the drink to his lips. I took the alcohol from his shaking fingers and set it back down on the wet table. For a moment it seemed Jess didn't realize what was happening as he looked up into my face confused. It took an extra moment before his eyes grew large and his mouth hung open like a caught trout.

I pulled roughly on his hand so he would stand and said with as much clarity as possible in this pounding bar, "We. Are. Leaving."

He seemed dumbfounded as his friend Taylor just seemed relieved. Seeing as I had finally rounded them all up I was ready to leave but as I was taking my first steps the mountain lion just had to open his trap.

"Where da fuck... do ya t'ink yur goin'?"

I let out a slow, drawn out breath trying to stay calm. This just wasn't turning out to be my night. I turned slightly to catch the cat's stare and said calmly and matter of factly, "Home. These kids are out long past their curfew."

There was a hissing growl, "He ain't goin' nowhere! I 'aven't won 'et!"

This brought Jess out of his confused, drunken stupor as he rounded on the cat, "You aren't goin' ta win!"

I tried yanking him back but his wrist was wet with either sweat or liquor or both. He charged at the mountain lion who had a wicked smirk as I tried to catch him. Jess drunkenly swung as the big cat dodged easily and pounced bringing them both to the floor.

I pushed Jessie into Taylor who held her unsurely as she squirmed and cried out for her twin and I moved forward, grabbing onto the mountain lion's waist and hefting him back off of Jess who already had a bloody nose and was growling crazily trying to find his feet.

The mountain lion hissed as I caught his flailing swing and flipped him over making him land on his back on the table top. The shot glasses went flying, shattering every which way as the cat grunted in pain, now lying stiffly on his back. He tried to get back up as his buddies came forward to defend him but I grabbed his neck and brought him forward where I let out a deep guttural growl.

The growl reverberated off the walls of the small bar and deep inside everyone's marrow. It was the growl of a large carnivore who would not lose, a large carnivore who was bigger, stronger, and much angrier than you. Everyone in the bar paused as the faint echoes of the roar left a feeling of fear in everyone. Slowly, just as if in the forest the human inhabitants moved about once again and sound returned as they went back to what they were doing before.

But every single shifter in the room kept their eyes on me, some in defense and some in fear. Once the fear that was palpable in the bar registered within me I slowly let go of the mountain lion who quivered and lowered his gaze as I stood up straight. I turned to his buddies who were frozen where they stood watching me with wary eyes.

I shook out my shoulders and moved to Jess who was wavering on his feet with blood dripping down his face. He looked at me unsurely as I easily grabbed him and threw him over my shoulder. He squirmed slightly but not enough to do anything. I turned back to Jessie and Taylor who were looking at me with the same look of fear as everyone else.

"Let's go."

This seemed to shake them out of their frozen stupors as they shook themselves and followed me out of the group of onlookers and towards the front door.

As we walked I felt an itch build up on my back. At first I thought it was just Jess but the itch grew into a sort of lump inside my chest as it grew stronger. I inhaled sharply, noticing a scent that seemed to overpower the stench of alcohol and sweat in the bar.

My senses exploded and my pupils expanded suddenly making everything inside the bar turn painfully bright. Now that I had noticed the scent it was all that I could smell. The scent was like a musk with an underlying tone of apples. I turned quickly to try to find the source of this scent but all I could see as I looked back into the bar were the bodies of the bar's inhabitants shadowed over by the dim lighting. Then, as my pupils focused further and my lungs dragged the scent deeper, I saw them.

It was as if they were floating in mid-air, two large orbs the color of warm honey filled my vision. They were filled with an emotion I couldn't quite comprehend. My nostrils flared as a gust of wind from the door being opened brought the scent deeper into my lungs as those eyes stared into me. I felt the overbearing need to go to them, to meet them, to understand why they were staring at me. Yet at the same time there was the feeling that I didn't want to, that I shouldn't.

The war inside tore at me and burned deep in my veins. The twitches of muscles and pumping of hot blood through my veins waged war inside as I tried to decide what to do. It was when I felt the pressing weight of Jess on my shoulder as he began to squirm again at my lack of movement that I blinked for the first time and ripped my eyes from the unflinching gaze.

I rushed out the front door and practically ran to my Jeep which was parked across the street. I threw Jess into the passenger seat as the other two hurriedly crawled into the back two seats, sensing my urgency without needing me to say a thing. They barely had any time to buckle up before I revved the engine and pealed out of the parking spot to then fly out of the small town.

My heart felt pained and bruised yet I didn't understand why. As I breathed deeply, sitting there, driving the three kids back to their families, I couldn't help but to reflect on my actions.

Why did I run?

My hands felt numb as I pulled into the long driveway leading to their pack house. I had already called ahead to notify the Alpha about my 'packages' who then notified their families of their impending arrival. The lights inside the pack house were bright in contrast to the surrounding darkness and we couldn't miss them as we turned the last corner. As we pulled up you could almost feel the aura of anger and worry like a physical presence, soaking into the car.

I parked outside the front door, letting the engine idle as everyone in the car stayed still. As if we were all pretending that this wasn't happening.

To tell the truth this wasn't the first time I had grabbed these three in a place they were not meant to be. The twins had a knack for looking for trouble and they dragged along their poor friend Taylor because he was the only one who wouldn't tell them no.

I turned to them and saw the twins holding looks of drunken defiance, Taylor held a look that was a mixture between, 'happy to be home' and 'dreading to be home'. I let out a sigh as I looked up into the doorway of the large pack house that was practically a mansion. In the doorway stood a large, dominant figure from which power exuded which could be felt even from inside the Jeep.

It was the Alpha.

"You better head inside and get it over with."

They all looked tired and slightly drunk. Jess was a mixture of pissed off and plain drunk as he huffed indignantly and stomped his foot against the dash before slamming his door open and stumbling out. Taylor looked worn out as he reached for his handle and opened the door slowly. Jessie looked angry as she punched the door before she jumped down to the ground stomping her way to the other side of the vehicle to meet with her brother as they both angrily went to the front door shoving past the Alpha who growled softly at their retreating forms. Taylor paused for a moment and then looked up at me.

He bit his lip unsurely, "They may never say it but... Thank you."

I turned to him and gave him a kind smile. He was a good kid. He was loyal to the end which is the main reason he followed behind the twins in the first place. He was a born second in command and I saw great things in him for the future. Any Alpha worth his status could give him one look and know he was the real deal for a Beta.

"Look after them Taylor. They don't know it yet but they are lucky to have you."

He seemed shocked for a moment then slowly and bashfully, he smiled. He jumped out of the Jeep and carefully made his way to the front door. The Alpha nodded to him moving aside to allow him to enter. As Taylor's form disappeared the Alpha turned back to me, gave a thankful nod and a slight wave before going in and shutting the door behind them all.

I put the car into drive and started on my long journey back to my cabin. My eye lids felt heavy and my body numb. As I got inside my warm home I slunk to my bed and buried myself under the covers. It didn't take long at all for me to fall into a deep sleep. But before I completely blacked out I remember seeing two floating orbs fill my vision. The color of warm honey.