SNAFU: Wolves at the Door

Allison Lassiter bit her lip and moaned as she arched her back; another contraction and this one was apparently worse than most of the others.

“I’ve called for an ambulance, Mr Lassiter. I have to be honest, the chances aren’t very good for one getting here any time soon.”

Lassiter looked at him again, this time his anger showing clearly through the confusion and worry. The man stood and walked away from his wife, bristling with the need to do something about her situation and his own growing fury.

“She shouldn’t be here, mister. She should be at home, or in a hospital.”

“I agree.” He shook his head. “I am truly sorry for this, Mr Lassiter. I can’t apologize enough.”

“No, you can’t.” He moved closer, looking up into Roland’s eyes. “There’s no way you can apologize enough. Especially if my wife or my child dies because of this.”

That hurt. That hurt a lot. He wasn’t much of one to feel guilt very often, but the situation was entirely his fault. If he’d gotten the facts from Loman instead of getting dramatic, he could have spared them all a great deal of trouble. Instead, he’d dragged the woman in the bed and the man in front of him into this nonsense.

Lassiter jammed a finger into his chest with enough force to actually sting. “What makes you any better than my friends if they die? Tell me that.”

Roland leaned down, his teeth bared, his nostrils flaring and his blood pressure rising. “I’m trying to make amends for my actions, Lassiter. They never did.”

“How can you make amends for this, you son of a bitch?” It wasn’t often that anyone, man or wolf man, stood up to him.

Roland looked around the room and then walked over to the window. The snow was falling harder than ever and didn’t look like it intended to stop in the next few hours.

He looked to Susan, his wife and one of the women attending to Lassiter’s wife and she looked back, communicating that the chances for the baby were not good without a medical team.

Roland nodded his understanding and began taking off his clothes.

“What are you doing?” Lassiter was looking at him like he’d lost his mind somewhere along the way.

“I’m going to keep your wife and son safe, Mr Lassiter.”

The transformation was as painful as ever, but he stifled the urge to howl. Lassiter, who’d only seen John earlier in the diner, had apparently forgotten exactly what he was dealing with. The change left him stunned for a moment.

Roland stepped past him and moved to the bed. Allison Lassiter stared at him in complete horror, and he leaned in closer. “I’m going to take you to the hospital,” He spoke as clearly as he could, moving his lips in ways that felt completely wrong when he was in his hybrid state. “Do not panic and do not struggle. I will not hurt you.”

She stared at him for several seconds. They’d met and spoken a few times and while she’d been upset with being taken, she had never been stupid about it. Finally she nodded her head and waited.

Lassiter moved to intercept and both Susan and her sister Laura blocked him.

Without another word — there were several coming from Scott Lassiter — Roland picked the woman up and carried her from the room. The hallway and living room were full of his brethren, and he made his intentions known. John came with him and called for another member of the pack to join them. John changed without bothering to strip down. This wasn’t a time for decorum and it wasn’t a time to worry about a pair of jeans. The other started disrobing and changed his mind when he saw John split out of his skin and then impatiently tear away the remains of his old flesh and his wardrobe.

The woman in his arms cried out in pain again and Roland left the building, starting to run the second he was outside.

The hospital was only a few miles away if they chose to take the roads. Roland cut through the back yard of the house and started through the woods, already knowing better ways to handle the obstacles nature put before them.

* * *

Eric set his sons down and hugged Sarah to him, incapable of speaking for several moments. Through all of his time in the Middle East, through every combat situation he’d gone into and survived, the main reason he longed to come back home was now in front of him. He wasn’t stupid enough to think he was invincible. He never once went into a combat situation with delusions of being a hero and saving the world. He went in thinking about his wife, his sons and their lives together.

When he thought they might be dead, a part of his mind shut down like a child holding his breath to get what he wants.

For the first time in a week, he could feel his mind breathe.

“Did they hurt you?” He asked the question because he had to. Sarah looked fine and so did the children, but he had to know. Looks could be deceiving, after all.

“No. They just… took us. They haven’t been anything but kind aside from keeping us here.” She looked into his eyes and tried to read whatever he might have stored behind them. “Eric, what’s going on here?”