Silver Moon #1- Family Matters

(Dream)

Coughing. That's all Sam could hear as she made her way through the burning house. She opened her mouth to call out but nothing came out. No words, not even a breath. Sam could hear others around her in the house calling out and screaming for help. She ran through the burning halls looking for the screaming children. But she passed a window and saw Pursuants running from the house and then she fell through the floor.

(End of dream)

Sam's eyes shot open as she finally woke up from the dream. She could feel the flames that surrounded her in the dream and that terrified her. Every time she had this dream, it felt more and more real. If it hadn't been for an unknown person, Sam probably would not have made out of the fire.

She looked over at her sleeping boyfriend of three years, Dallas, who lay in his side facing her. The smile on his face as he slept told Sam that whatever he was dreaming about was something that he liked. He was probably dreaming about the two of them and some memory they shared together. After trying for about twenty more minutes, Sam couldn't go back go back to sleep so she quietly got out of bed and walked outside where she sat down on the porch.

The moon shone bright over the town she lived in called Caliber. It was a town that was built up over night about ten decades ago. Unbeknownst to the inhabitants, Caliber was harboring the kind of creatures that make the werewolves in the movies look like dogs, the creatures that make up a child's nightmares; werecats. Nobody knows who they are or what the look like unless they've seen one. The worst part is, the scariest ones aren't always the biggest ones.

Sitting outside, the 16-year-old girl rubbed her wrist as she looked up at the sky from the porch belonging to her large, almost run down house that was surrounded by nothing but trees, just the way she liked it. No busy traffic, no nosey neighbors and definitely that fact that nobody would ever see or hear anything that happens.

Her home was surrounded by a forest, rightly called the Makrýs Forest that no human dared enter, for many of the humans fear the beasts that are said to inhabit the trees. The Makrýs Forest gets its name from the Greek word meaning "long", and that fact that the forest is incredibly thick; you have Hell on Earth.

Sam gently and carefully caressed her right wrist where several scars were visible, obtained from her ordeal with the hunters. It has been only a few months since she was rescued from the hunters by Dallas, and her pack that was ever so bonded to her. Just the memories of what she went through caused her normal blue colored eyes to flicker to the white color, the color of her lioness.

"What are you still doing out here?" A voice asked suddenly, not scaring her the slightest bit but, instead making her smile. Sam turned her head sideways to see Dallas close the door and sit down beside her.

"Just taking in all the smells." Sam answered as she sniffed the meat cooking at the butcher's shop in town. She always had a stronger sense of smell than her fellow werecats. Dallas looked down at Sam's arm and was immediately alarmed and concerned. There were still open cuts on her arm, but it looked like they weren't bleeding anymore.

"You're not healing." He looked worryingly at the wounds on Sam's arm and gently examined them. Dallas was growing more worried by the minute, always a sign of how much he truly loved her.

"It's hard to explain, but when you get distracted, wounds take a lot longer to heal. And a lot of things are going through my mind."

"Can you try not being distracted? I don't want to explain to the other three why they no longer have their hybrid leader."

"Don't worry, Dallas. I'm fine and not going anywhere. I'm just having trouble processing the torture I went through." The wounds slowly healed up, leaving small little scars on her arms. Her body was covered in scars of various sizes from all types of weapons used on werecats. Sam was one of those people who hide their pain very well and resented to feel weak.

"I would say that I know how you feel but I honest have no damn idea how you feel. I wish I could take it away." Sam smiled and grabbed Dallas's hand, rubbing it with her thumb. The two had been an item for a long time. There was also an age difference between the two. Sam was sixteen and Dallas was twenty, making him four years older. But werecats are half human and considered half immortal in a way. All werecats stop aging at certain ages but keep growing, just never getting older. In Sam's rare case, she stopped aging at sixteen, but was very mature and had her own pack.

Sam leaned her head on his shoulder and felt his arm come around her waist. She's had a few boyfriends before Dallas, but after meeting him, she knew she found her soul mate; the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She would protect him, and Dallas would return the loyalty and protection.

"Would you rip my head off if I asked what they did?"

Sam chuckled but her smile faded as the memories came back. Her lioness inside snarled at the memories as well.

"I was chained up to wall. It was covered in dirt, mud, and I'm pretty sure the wall was covered in blood from previous beatings. There were lot of hunters, and all of them asked a hundred different times where my pack was. When I refused to answer, they untied me and began beating the shit out of me." She felt Dallas cringe at her choice of words. "I was whipped, stabbed, and even shocked with electricity. I'm fairly certain I had broken quite a few ribs and almost snapped my spine. All the while, I kept thinking of how to get back to you guys. If you three hadn't shown up, I'd probably be dead by now." Sam shifted closer to Dallas as the pain from the scars seemed more imminent at the thought of the hunters. "When you guys appeared, I thought I was honestly dreaming until I felt your hand on my shoulder. The hunters just kept beating me senseless, telling me to give you guys up."

"But you didn't tell them."

"No, I refused to give you guys up. I knew that as soon as they had your location, you'd be dead.... There's an old saying."

"What saying?"

"Ein wahrer Führer wendet sich nie auf ihren Packs"

"What does that mean?" Dallas asked, sounding a little bit confused which made Sam smile.

"It's German. I was taught German at a young age in order to have private conversations. It means 'A true alpha never turns on their pack.'"

"And anybody who knows you knows that you'd die keeping us safe." Dallas mumbled into her hair, pulling her closer. Sam nodded and thought about what would have happened if she hadn't been rescued.

"I'd do anything to keep you and the pack safe." Sam looked up at Dallas and pressed a kiss to his lips. The kiss sent sparks shooting through their bodies as Dallas' hand gently grasped the side of her face. Sam forced herself to pull back from extremely tempting make out session. Dallas then turned his attention back to Sam's scarred body.

"How bad are the scars?" Dallas inquired after a long silence. Sam sighed as she stood up. She lifted the back of her shirt, revealing a group of large scars that were scattered over nearly every inch of her back. Dallas stood up and gently traced the scars with his fingers. Sam flinched slightly at his touch; some of the scars still extremely sensitive.

"The whip had silver and wolfs bane poured on it. The damn thing not only cut deep but it left the scars. It was their way of using me as an 'example'." Dallas's anger was rising as he traced the longest scar that went from her shoulder to right above her butt. Dallas's touch was ever so gentle because he knew the scars were sensitive. Even if people didn't know Sam or Dallas personally, they could tell that the two shared a deep connection and that they were truly in love with each other. Sam and Dallas would tiptoe around the other if they were having a horrible day and would comfort them as much as they could. Nothing could break the bond they shared.

The sound of a door opening brought them back to reality. Frank Blackburn, Garrett Nesbitt and Ty Stewart, all 17 years old, walked outside, closing the door behind them. There was a clear difference in status between the three boys. It was very obvious to the eye that Frank was higher up than the other two simply because of his built body and his head was always held high. Ty was obviously the lowest because of his size and the way he carried himself. That left Garrett as the middle man who had a different personality than both of his pack mates putting him in the middle.

Sam quickly pulled her shirt back down but not quick enough because all three of the teenage boys saw them. Sam turned to look at her boys but she knew something was going down.

"Did the Spearheads do this to you?" Frank asked looking at her, his eyes flicking to their golden color. Sam's eyes instantly locked with Frank's and the only thing she saw was the anger building up inside of him. His muscles slowly getting tense and she could hear his heart beat loudly as he felt it stirring inside of him. She knew exactly what was going to happen.

"All of the scars were from the hunters. The beating was just because I wouldn't give up the location of you guys and because I refused to join the Dreads." Sam's eyes bore into Frank's as a growl escaped his throat. Heat started to rise from his body as the anger and the shift took over. Letting out another very terrifying growl type sound, Frank sprung off the porch and landed in the form of his mountain lion, a very pissed off one.

"Frank, don't!" Dallas yelled but went unheard as Frank sprinted away. Sam immediately followed suit and jumping after him. When she landed, white fur had replaced her skin and her eyes were completely covered with the icy white color.

The white lioness could hear Frank's heart beating fast as she bolted after him pushing off her back feet. The anger pulsing through his veins was clear as the emotion flew straight from his body to the lioness' body and she could feel every emotion he was going through. The mountain lion finally came back into view and with an incredible amount of force, the white lioness pivoted off the ground and landed in right front of Frank. He slid to a halt in front of the her as she stood there, almost a foot taller than him. Ever since Frank joined the pack, he's had certain feelings towards Sam. She was the first person he'd ever had these feelings for but he knew she loved Dallas and wouldn't do anything to sabotage that.

"Don't do this." Sam pleaded in her thoughts. The lioness had a calm expression on her face.

"But look at what they did to you." Frank thought back, stubborn as always and caring at the same time.

"I can't lose you or the pack. You guys are my family and if anything were to happen to you, I don't know what I would do." Sam's white lioness walked up to Frank's mountain lion and rubbed her head against him in a comforting manner. The mountain lion lowered his head, anger still pulsing through his veins. As a sign of compassion to ease his anger, the white lioness rubbed her head against his once again and licked his ear. The sound of a twig snapping spooked Sam and her body tensed up for a fight. The tension eased up when Dallas in his large lion form, Garrett in his black leopard form and Ty in his cheetah form came into view. Dallas's lion rubbed up against Sam's lioness. She calmed down as the entire pack shared a series of gentle head butts to reassure their devotion to each other.

Suddenly, the pack heard the sound of a girl screaming, and it wasn't a normal scream. It was a blood curdling scream, filled with horror, laced with an unsettling edge. Sam looked at Dallas, not quick enough to hide the flash of fear in her eyes. She ran in the direction the scream came from, her protective instincts kicking into overdrive. Her pack was right behind her as they always were, Sam and Dallas in the lead, Ty in the middle, Garrett and Frank side by side. What they didn't know was that they were headed right into a trap.

The white lion could sense the girl was running towards them but she could also sense that this girl was a normal human. She was running from something. The pack came out of the Makrýs Forest and their eyes locked on to a house where a mountain lion, bigger than Frank, was trying to break into the house. At first glance, Sam could see that this was just an Omega. The white lioness let out an ear piercing roar, getting the mountain lion's attention. It turned and looked at the lioness. He instantly knew she was a hybrid and high-tailed out of there.

"Be careful." Dallas warned with a stern yet caring look at Sam's white lion. Her lioness nodded and walked up to the house. She stalked over to the steps so slowly that you could barely hear her light footsteps. All of a sudden, everyone heard the blast of a shotgun and watched as Sam's lioness fell to the ground, a bullet hole in her chest. Ty fell to the ground shortly after with a bullet hole to his stomach.

"Ty!" Garrett yelled as he changed into human form and ran over to his buddy. Another bullet grazed his shoulder.

"Get him out of here, now!" Dallas shouted, letting out a roar in human form. He raced up to the porch where Sam's lifeless body was sprawled out. His fangs and eyes were clearly visible and the look on his face said it all. He was pissed. Dallas turned back to see Garrett and Frank grabbing Ty as they took off through the woods. He was about to pick Sam up when the door opened and a Pursuant stepped out holding a shotgun full of silver and wolfs bane, not only harmful to werewolves, but unfortunately to werecats as well.

Dallas looked up at the hunter and snarled at him. He protectively shielded Sam's body with his own and let out a deep growl, exposing his squeaky white teeth. The Pursuant just smirked and loaded his gun, ignoring Dallas's warning growl.

"Dallas Price." The hunter said holding his gun to Dallas's face. "It's a shame to kill one of the last Price members." Dallas tilted his head in confusion.

"How do you know me?" Dallas questioned, changing his eyes back to their normal, captivating hue. The Pursuant smirked once again and Dallas felt the gun press into his neck

"I was the one who helped killed your family." The Pursuant's face read pride as he recalled the memory of his defeat of one of the strongest werecat packs. Dallas help back another snarl, looking down at the barrel of the assault rifle, waiting for the trigger to be pulled. As the Pursuant slowly started to squeeze the trigger, Dallas suddenly got a whiff of three more werecats.

"I wouldn't make that move if I were you." A different voice barked, causing the hunter to let go of the trigger. The Pursuant lifted his head to see behind Dallas's broad shoulders. The look on the Pursuant's face was of rage, but a hint of fear. Dallas turned his body to see. When the recognition hit, Dallas smiled a toothy grin. There stood Sam's two older identical twin brothers, Casey and Elijah, both of which had their claws out and their teeth exposed; ready to do whatever they had to. The two brothers' golden eyes glimmered with excitement and triumph since they found their youngest sister.

The Pursuant raised his rifle, but a strong arm immediately stopped it. The rifle was pulled forcefully out of the Pursuant's hand and snapped right in two. Sam's sister, Callie, stepped from the shadows, exposing her position and smiled a toothy grin. She threw a kick into the hunter, forcing him against the wall with tremendous force, instantly killing him. Dallas flared with excitement inside since the person responsible for his previous pack's demise is now dead. But before he could react, the door was kicked open as more Pursuants came out. Callie quickly tossed Dallas some shorts and pulled Sam away. Dallas, Callie, Casey, and Elijah all recognized the leader of the Pursuants, Trenton Smart.

"Don't kill these ones." Trenton ordered, lowering one man's gun. His men looked at him as if they had been betrayed.

"But they killed Rob." One of the men snapped, looking at Trent with the look of disloyalty on his face. "We can't just let them go!"

"We're letting them go, Paul. Now, back off!" Trenton turned his head back to Callie and nodded to her. Callie nodded back in respect and carefully handed Sam to Casey. The four hurried back to the house, none of them bothering to look back.

~~~

Back at the house, Frank could smell Dallas coming, along with three others whose scent he didn't recognized. Frank had never met any of Sam's family before he was turned which meant he didn't know what Sam's family members looked like. He opened the door to see Elijah coming in, Sam in his arms unconscious. Casey followed him inside, then Callie, and then Dallas was last to come in. Frank was furious when he then realized the scents smelled like Sam. It was at the moment he realized that they were her siblings. Frank's claws came out but he felt Dallas pulling him towards the front of the house.

"What are they doing here?" Frank snapped as Dallas walked into the cold air and closed the door.

"If they hadn't shown up, you'd be two Alphas short, Frank." Dallas answered, looking directly in his eyes. "They're here to help, but if you'd rather Sam died, let the cat take over." Frank groaned, despising the idea as he followed Dallas back into the hallway. Dallas could feel Frank's anger radiating off his body, but he knew that Casey, Elijah, and Callie could and will help Sam. He looked at Frank who returned the look. "You have to learn to trust sooner or later."

"Dallas, get in here!" Elijah yelled from the dining room. Dallas put his hand on Frank's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze before walking into the dining room. Callie had Sam dressed in a tank top and sweatpants on the dining room table.

"Garrett, where's Ty?" Dallas questioned as Garrett jumped down the stairs with blood on his hand. The first thing that shot around in Dallas's mind was that something was wrong with Ty.

"Upstairs, he's healing now." Garrett replied. He then panned over to Sam who still wasn't healing. "Why isn't she healing?"

"She told me that she wasn't healing because she had a lot on her mind." He looked at Elijah who was observing the wound. By the expression on his face, Dallas was slowly starting to worry and his anger was about to show.

"Sam's not healing because of our family's bad past." Elijah replied, cleaning the wound. "She was part of the reason most of our family and pack was killed. Sam blames everything on herself." The bullet wound looked like it was getting worse. Dallas rubbed his chin anxiously.

"How is she going to heal?" Frank inquired, his feelings for Sam clouding his mind, as he stood next to Dallas. Elijah glanced at his brother, giving him a knowing look. Casey knew a way that worked when he was hurt. He wrapped his hand around Sam's and the entire room full of people watched as the veins from both Casey's and Sam's arms started to bulge out. Casey winced as he felt a twinge of pain and then the familiar vertigo feeling clouded his mind. Elijah steadied his twin brother, holding him place until Sam gasped for air.

"What did you do?" Dallas asked, forcing back tears.

"By the touch of anyone she has a bond with," Casey started to say, "she can be healed because the strength of the person can be shared. It's kind of a spiritual thing. Hard to explain." They heard Sam groan as her vision began to clear and she studied the faces surrounding her. A smile spread across her face the minute she saw them. She wrapped her arms around Casey and buried her face in his neck, almost throwing him to the ground

"I thought you guys were gone." Sam said, looking lovingly up at her brother. Casey hugged back and smiled wide.

"You can't kill the Pierce siblings." Elijah snickered as he wiped blood off her back. Sam immediately thought of her parents, who she hadn't seen in a long time. But deep down in her mind, she was only slightly worried. After all, they never rescued her.

"Are Mom and Dad still alive?" She questioned as she let go of Casey.

"Yeah, they are." Casey replied. "Just them and us. Everybody else is gone." Sam's mind instantly filled with anger and remorse at the thought of all her family. Gone. Just like that. The family that was once sixty strong is now gone.

"I have to ask you something, and I'm not meaning to be rude when I ask it. Why did you guys come back? I know it wasn't because you missed me."

"Dad says we need to get the pack back together, Sam." Callie chimed in, not really giving a damn. "All of us, like you, have gotten a pack. The twins and I are staying with Mom and Dad since they have no pack. They said they want the packs to join to keep us safe." Unlike normal sisters, Sam and Callie's relationship is very strained. In their past, the two have had very bad differences that have led to them fighting each other and almost killed each other. Sam knew Callie had a bit of jealousy in her.

"Why do I always find out I'm right?" Sam questioned rhetorically, anger and frustration clearly spelled out in her voice. She stood there, in between Frank and Dallas, trying to keep Frank from ripping her family's heads off. "Plus I'm doing fine right now without the help of anyone."

"So 'doing fine right now' is almost getting yourself killed?" Callie inquired with a bit of a snotty attitude, piercing through a container of steak blood with her claw for emphasis. Sam could automatically sense that Frank was about to burst. She grabbed his wrist to calm him down before he could react.

"I'll tell you what, I'll give it some thought and then decide if I really want to come back home." Elijah nodded because knowing Sam was stubborn. It would take her a while before she decided anything if it meant facing her worst fear – home. Elijah, Casey, and Callie all walked out which seemed to settle the energy in the room. Frank calmed himself down but still wanted to rip her brothers and sister to shreds. Casey gave Sam one more pleading look before he closed the door behind him. Sam walked over to the staircase and sat down on the bottom step.

Ty walked down the stairs several minutes later and tore the bandage off his fully healed stomach. He sighed and plopped down next to Sam. Ty was the one in the pack who tried to keep everyone else from killing each other, who tried to make everyone laugh. Sam and Dallas often considered Ty the comedian and the therapist of the pack because of Ty's good listening skills.

"I'm sorry I almost got you killed." Sam apologized glancing at Ty. He nodded and gave her a half smile.

"You thought you were going to save that girl." Ty retorted. "It's understandable. Plus, I trust you not to purposely get me killed." Sam smiled hearing the tease in his voice.

"Are you going to the gathering?" Dallas suddenly asked as he leaned on the railing. Sam put her face in her hands and rubbed her eyes. She didn't want to go because she hadn't seen her family in so long, but she knew her dad would find her if she didn't go.

"I don't know. I haven't seen my family in almost six years ever since I thought I got them killed. Now that I know they're still alive, my lioness is telling me to join up with my family again. It's a strong urge that nobody can resist, not even me."

"Don't listen to the lioness, listen to you. What do you want?" Sam looked up at Dallas. He stood in front of her and Ty, leaning against the wall with his arm crossed against his chest.

"I want both. You understand what it's like to lose a family. My family was the only people at one time that I could count on. Callie and I hated each other all the time but she always had my back and I always had hers."

"Do what your heart says and not what the lioness says." Frank chimed in again. "I'm not going anywhere. I don't particularly like your brothers...nope, I hate them." Sam couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. "But they're family. I'd give anything to have my family back right now. But if you go back to your family, I'm coming with because I have nobody else... and neither does Garrett." Sam sighed, taking in everything that Frank was saying. He was right. Frank was on the verge of death and Garrett was the last living member of the Nesbitt family. She would never leave them. They were there for her when she had thought her family was dead. Dallas, Garrett, Ty, and Frank were all family, even if not by blood.

Sam turned her head to look at Ty. He had tears brimming in his eyes and Ty was never good at not crying. She put her arm around him, knowing he was in just as much pain as everyone else was. Ty had to leave his family and all of his friends because of an accident, a scratch obtained by Garret in an effort to protect him, that is what took him from his family.

"I'm not leaving you guys." Sam spoke, pulling Ty even closer to her. "You guys are my family even if we don't share the same blood. We've been through so much together that I am not letting any of you guys slip through my fingers. Not again, not after what happened with my family."

"So are you going home?" Garrett questioned, having an idea as to what she was thinking. Sam chewed on the inside of her cheek and looked up at Dallas. He nodded, knowing that she had already chosen what she wanted to do.

"I'm not going home yet. I need to talk to my dad first." Sam stood up and walked up the stairs and into her bedroom. She pulled out her phone and looked at it. She knew her father had the same number. She dialed that number. As soon as she heard someone answer the phone, she knew exactly who it was. "Meet me at the pier so we can talk."

"You got it." The voice answered.

~~~

Leaving the pack at their house, Sam drove her black Camaro to the pier that was at the beach. She ordered something to eat and waited. Finally, she saw him walking up to her. Her father, Ryker, sat across from her, and there was a bit of an awkward silence.

"You look good, Sam." Ryker said as the two stared at each other.

"I guess I could say the same for you, considering I haven't seen you in what? 3-4 years?" Sam retorted, taking another bite out of her food. Ryker thanked the waiter for bringing him his food and looked back at his daughter.

"Hey, you know what happened after you got kidnapped? Hunters managed to find us and killed off almost the entire pack, your family, Sam. They're all gone. All except for us and Britt."

"I would've tried to help, but I was chained to the wall, Dad. I had no way of escaping. I was saved by Dallas and my pack. It should've been you or mom or even Casey, Elijah, or Callie. But it was Dallas who risked his life to get me out."

"I didn't know if you were dead or alive. How was I supposed to know, Sam? I had just watched my pack be slaughtered by hunters. I'm sorry if my mind was elsewhere." Sam glared at her father.

"Now I know why I didn't even bother to attempt to see if my family was alive." Sam tipped the waiter and then walked back to her car. She stood by her car with her hands on the hood of the car. Her claws began to come out but they quickly retracted as she shot around to see a 9-year-old girl standing there. "Are you alone?"

"What happened to your hands?" The little girl asked and Sam quickly shoved her hands into her pockets. A smirk played on her face.

"A very unique and cool trick." The girl smiled and hurried back to where her parents were. Sam turned around to see Ryker getting into his large Suburban and she found her anger quickly returning. Sam speedily got into her Camaro and sped back to her house.