THE LEADER OF THE PACK
Chapter Nine After meeting Rose at the chippie and having some lunch, they took a bus that went near the woods and got off at a stop near the forest. They walked the rest of the way and walked into the woods. The day was sunny and warm and the forest didn't look creepy in daylight. When they reached the rocks, they went behind them and Rose saw the others sitting on blankets and sleeping bags. She stopped and she and the others took a good look at each other. Britney and Veronica were Caucasian. Veronica had long black hair and Britney was a bleach blonde. Rachael looked Middle Eastern with light brown skin and long black hair. Ian was Caucasian with brown hair cut in a crew cut and John was Indian with short tousled black hair and dark brown skin. Max chuckled when everyone examined each other for a moment. "Yup, now we all know what we look like, eh?" he said to Rose. "Sit down and chat with us awhile." Victoria made a place on her blanket and Rose and Max sat down. Max lay on his side and Rose sat beside them while everyone chatted. Meanwhile, the Doctor was still looking for Rose. He agreed to meet George and his friends outside the pub just after dark but in the meantime, he was determined to find Rose. He kept showing his photo to everyone he saw but everyone shook their heads and the Doctor moved on. Finally, he came to a book shop and walked in. The bells above the door tinkled and the male working behind the counter looked up and smiled at him. "Good day, can I help you find something?" "Not something, someone, I'm looking for this woman, have you seen her?" The man glanced at the photo and the Doctor was thrilled when he nodded. "Yeah, came in yesterday," he said, pointing to Rose in the photo. "Shorter hair but that's her." "What did she do? Did you speak with her?" the Doctor said. "Well, yeah, a bit. She was purchasing one of those ordinance survey maps for the area and I asked her about it since I'm a bit of a hiker and she told me she was going to go into the countryside and explore. I wished her luck and she left." "Any idea where she might have gone after that?" "Not a clue. She turned right when she went out the door but that's all I know. Sorry." The Doctor thanked him and the man wished him luck in finding her as he left the shop. He stopped a woman and asked where the nearest hotel or bed and breakfast was. The woman gave him direction to Maggie's bed and breakfast and he thanked her before heading towards it. Twenty minutes later he found Maggie's house and walked up to the front door. Maggie smiled at him when he answered the door. "Good afternoon, needing a room for the night?" she said to him. "Actually, I'm looking for a friend of mine," he said, showing her the photo. "Have you seen…" "Rose!" The Doctor smiled when she cried out Rose's name upon seeing the photo. "She's here?" the Doctor asked her. "No, just left this morning. Spent the night though," Maggie said. "Do you have any idea where she was heading?" the Doctor said. "Well, she was heading to the forest near Felthorpe. Wanted to do some hiking." The Doctor's hearts begin to sink. "Felthorpe? You're sure?" he said. "Yes. Woods near Felthorpe. Bless her heart; I hope she'll be alright by herself. Why are you looking for her, is she in trouble?" "Not from me," the Doctor said. "But I need to see and speak with her. It's urgent." "Well, she left several hours ago. She might be there by now." "Thank you, good day." "Good luck," Maggie said while the Doctor jumped off the porch and hurried away. After a couple of hours, Rose and Max volunteered to go into town and get some supper for everyone. While the walked through the forest, Rose glanced at him. "How'd ya have money?" she asked. "I have a job, believe it or not. I work at Marks and Sparks in town during the day and I have a bank card. Just take myself to the cashpoint and I'm good to go." "And you just live behind those rocks?" Rose asked. "No, we have a house deeper in the woods. An old abandoned house that's been there for ages, we use that but when it's a full moon, we prefer to sleep outdoors and today's such a nice sunny day that we wanted to sit out by our usual hang out spot. We'll show you the house later on tonight when we change." Rose nodded. Max glanced at her and smiled when she looked up at him. "I'm going to ask the pack if they'll accept you as an alpha female," he said. "I know you're the newbie but there's just something about you. An inner strength that says you need to be heading the pack with me. How about it?" "I'm flattered but what would my duties be?" "Just help look after the pack and be one of the leaders. Do what we're doing now and get food for everyone and protect everyone from danger. Would you like to be the alpha female?" "Will anyone object?" "I don't think so. If they do, we'll fight to the death, wolf style," he said with a wink. He smiled when Rose laughed at that. "God, I love your laugh," he said. He stopped her and Rose gazed into his eyes for a moment. Then Max lowered his face to hers and kissed her. Rose hesitated for a moment and then kissed him back. Max kissed her for several seconds and then leaned his head back up. "You'll always have a home with us," he said, fingering her hair. "Even if no one else accepts you, we will. We all look after each other in every way." Rose nodded. Max gave her a peck on the cheek and put his arm around her when they resumed walking. Meanwhile, the Doctor was walking beside David and speaking with him. He was heading for Felthorpe when David saw him and called him over. The Doctor tried to tell him he was busy but the man was out for his afternoon walk and wanted the Doctor to join him. "I've been thinking about what you said before, about being a paranormal investigator," he said to the Doctor while they walked. "Have you ever seen any werewolves?" The Doctor debated whether or not to tell him the truth and then decided it couldn't hurt if he fudged the facts a bit. The Doctor nodded and David's interest was peaked. "Really, where?" he said. "Scotland, I was up there on holiday with a friend and we saw him on the moors. We observed him from a distance but only for several seconds, after that he ran off and we lost sight of him." "So, you've never shot one then?" David said. "I don't believe in shooting things if I can help it," the Doctor said. "Shooting accomplishes nothing." "So, you want to reason with the werewolves? They're beasts." "They're beasts that are also human and shooting humans is murder," the Doctor said. "I prefer to try to get through to an adversary and speak to them and then use physical force. For all we know, these werewolves might be sentient enough to talk to us. Maybe you lot are misunderstanding them and they're just as fearful of you as you are of them. Besides, why would you want to kill them? They're werewolves and they have a right to live not to mention they're a legendary species. It's difficult to learn about something when you shoot it and chuck it towards a taxidermist to be stuffed and mounted. Wouldn't you agree?" "Perhaps, but I still want to bring a gun, just for protection," he said when the Doctor let out an angry sigh. "Mate, what if you're wrong and these…humans tear us limb from limb. Talking won't do ya much good when you're head's jerked off your body. Am I right?" "I s'pose but don't shoot unless it's a last resort. I won't go in there with a bunch of trigger happy men who don't care about anything except having a werewolf hide decorating their floor. Not to mention I might get shot in the process. So will you consider that and keep the guns out of sight until there's no other recourse?" David nodded and the Doctor thanked him. He then politely excused himself and told David he would see him later before he resumed his hurried pace towards Felthorpe.
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