3.
Walking down the main long passage way of the caves, Giles and Jenny looked into various side rooms in search of their son or any of his friends, it was very uncommon to see any of the nine of them separated for too long. Turning into a side hall the two parents looked in to the teenager’s favorite hang-out spot, and sure enough, there they found the nine of them sprawled out amongst an array of couches, watching a movie that was playing on TV. To no one’s surprise, Faith was curled up into Spike’s arms, lazily relaxing against him. Spike had started courting Angel’s younger sister a year ago, after the relationship between the two of them had changed.
“Hey you guys, watcha watching?” asked Jenny as she walked into the room, Giles right on her heals.
“Jenny, hi!” answered Willow for the entire group. “How’s that girl? Is she going to okay?”
“Oh of course. She only had a few serious cuts and I just bandaged her up. She’s going to be fine. In fact, she’s probably going to be waking up soon so I just thought…”
Jenny wasn’t able to finish her sentence as every person in the room had gotten up and quickly exited the door, headed backs towards the front entrance of the cave where they hoped to finally solve the mystery Angel’s mysterious guest. Smiling slightly to herself, Jenny grabbed her mate’s hand and followed at a much slower pace.
Upon reaching the room currently housing the uncounsious girl, all nine teenagers slowed down and approached the door with caution. Peeking in, they saw her still lying on the couch, although this time there were white bandages wrapped around various parts of her body. As Angel gazed upon her he couldn’t help but think about how helpless she looked, how broken, and he felt his heart grip to think about the two wolves that did that to her. He made a promise to himself right then, he would find those two and make them pay for their crime.
“Wow, she can’t be any older than us,” whispered Fred as she moved closer to the couch, gazing down upon the petite blond.
Of the four girls of the group, both Willow and Fred were fourteen, Cordelia was fifteen and Faith was sixteen. The boys, on the other hand, were all a bit older. Spike and Angel had been born just two weeks apart and were currently both 18, along with Gunn who was a few months younger. Xander and Oz were both 17.
“Man, those are some nasty looking cuts!” declared Xander, taking not of the slightly blood soaked bandages.
“Yeah, I would not want to be in her position right now,” agreed Faith.
“From what I saw it looked like she put up quite a fight before I got there. The two guys had some cuts on them and she was still standing when I arrived. She must have…” leaving his sentence hanging, Angel focused his attention on the girl who had just started to stir.
“Man, I think she’s waking up!” exclaimed Spike, moving closer. “Should we get your parent’s in here?” he questioned Faith who was once again in his arms.
“Oh, yeah! Hey, mom, dad, get in here!” she yelled. “I think that our new friend’s waking up!”
Five seconds later, now with all eleven people gathered around her bed side table, Buffy blinked and then opened her eyes. She felt pain shoot through her entire body and groaned as she was brought back to full consciousness. Looking around her, she spotted eleven pairs of eyes, peering at her curiously and she immediately jolted up.
“Whoa there, why don’t you stay lying down for a little while. You’ve gotten some pretty nasty injuries and I think you should rest for a little while,” said Jenny, smiling at the now awake and very confused girl.
Choosing to completely disregard the suggestion, Buffy sat up fully, ignoring the throbbing pain she could feel in both of her legs, her arm and around her neck and shoulders. She had no idea how she had gotten here, or where here was for that matter, and it was starting to freak her out. Looking down at her lap she tried to think about what had happened. The last thing that she could remember was fighting for her life against Parker and Riley, and then someone else had arrived, but that was all she could remember.
Chancing another look at her surroundings she noticed that most of the people around her were around her age, still teenagers and it relaxed her a bit to notice the reassuring smiles that they all wore. Looking around she also spotted the two adults the room, they looked to be mates as they were holding each other’s hands. Gathering up her strength, Buffy took a deep breath before speaking.
“Where am I?” she questioned, looking expectantly at the people around her.
“Oh my gosh, sorry,” blustered Giles, stepping forward and assuming the role of informant on behalf of the entire group. “You are currently in the home of the Raiselk pack. I am the leader of our pack and so let me graciously welcome you to our home.”
“The Raiselk pack?” squeaked Buffy. She hadn’t ever heard of that pack but in her situation you couldn’t trust just anybody and she was very wary of meeting strangers at this time. “Are you going to hurt me?” It never hurt to be blunt.
“What?” exclaimed Angel, completely taken aback by her question.
“Good heavens, no!” declared Giles, appalled at the very suggestion. “We only mean to help you. We would never of hurting you!”
“My son found you in the woods,” offered Jenny, deciding to step in to the conversation. “He said he saw you being attacked by two males so he drove them off and brought you back here when he saw that you had passed out. Did you want to tell us what happened?”
Looking around at all the teenagers present before her, Buffy’s gaze finally settled on a young man with dark brown hair and dreamy chocolate eyes that you could just drown in. Upon seeing her looking at him Angel smiled back at her, twitching his lips up into a sexy smirk.
“Y-yo-you saved me from them?” she asked, her voice coming out shakily. Upon seeing his nod she continued. “Th-thank you, really, I’m very grateful. I thought that I was a goner for sure.”
“It was no problem,” Angel replied. “I was just out walking when I heard you guys fighting. Why were they after you anyways?”
“Well, they’ve been after me for a while. I guess they finally just got an opportunity to get me on my own after all these years.”
“They’ve been after you for years!” asked Angel in disbelief.
Not realizing what she had said, Buffy assumed a sheepish expression as she refused to meet the gaze of her hosts.
“Well, yeah, they have been after me for years,” she admitted. “But it hasn’t ever been this bad before. This was the first time that they’ve ever gotten me alone and I was so tired from running for so many days I guess it was easier for them to attack me.”
All of the occupants of the room were silent. They all gazed with open mouths at the young girl who had just been dropped into their lives. She did look exhausted. If you stared hard enough you could make out the bags under her eyes, darkening her otherwise seemingly light complexion.
Embarrassed and not knowing what to do, Buffy slowly struggled to stand up and make her way to the door. She didn’t get too far though as the injuries in her legs caused them to give out from underneath her. Before her body could slam against the floor a pair of large, strong arms wrapped around her middle and stopped her downward descent. Leading her back to the couch, Angel gently helped her to sit back down.
“Th-thanks again. For saving me, I mean,” said Buffy, her cheeks turning red from embarrassment.
“No big, but I don’t think that you should be up and walking just yet. Why don’t you just stay sitting down for a little while,” replied Angel, grinning all the while.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She grinned right back at him. “But,” she hastened to add, “I really should be going. You guys have already done enough for me, I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”
“Nonsense,” declared Giles. “We would be more than happy to have you stay here with us, for as long as you need to fully recuperate your strength. You are obviously in no shape to be traveling.”
“Of course my mate is right,” agreed Jenny. “But now, before we get to those details, why don’t you tell us what was going on.” Seeing the girl’s hesitation, she rushed to reassure her. “You can just start with your name if want dear.”
Knowing that these kind people did deserve an explanation she just sighed an then began her story.
“Well, my name is Buffy, and I’m part of the Yulli pack.”
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