Disclaimer: Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers. I was thinking of a Bon Jovi song when I wrote this story, in the way that it was at some point playing in the background at the community center. Fuzzy bunny points to Michelle for letting me know that the Bon Jovi song called "Shot Through The Heart" is not the Bon Jovi song that begins, "Shot through the heart". The latter song is in fact called "You Give Love A Bad Name" and that is the song I was thinking of.

"Change your shirt."

Cam frowned at the non sequitur. There was nothing wrong with his t-shirt, and they were just going to get something to eat. Hunter wouldn't tell him where, but he had specifically said that it was very casual. "Why?"

"Because I like that one," Hunter said impatiently. Like he was being deliberately obtuse about it. "Geez, could you just trust me for two seconds?"

He was trusting Hunter about a lot more than his wardrobe. He had spent the better part of a day trying to control the shift between wolf and human. Hunter had been incredibly patient, but Cam didn't have any illusions about his ability to remain human in anyone else's company. So he could only trust Hunter when he said that, wherever they were going, no one there would be alarmed if they suddenly found a wolf in their midst.

It helped that he was starving and there was nothing edible in Ninja Ops right now. At least nothing that he currently considered edible. He had tried to choke down a sandwich at lunchtime, but he had only managed a couple of bites before Hunter took pity on him and went out for burgers. On the condition that Cam didn't leave the kitchen until he got back.

At that point, Cam had been willing to agree to almost anything if it got him food that the wolf wouldn't sneer at. The implications were disturbing, to say the least--tofu, soy, and most fruits and vegetables were now completely unappealing to him, and that didn't bode well for his diet if this continued. He was trying very hard not to think long-term, though, and in that at least the wolf was useful. The future tense was apparently as foreign to wolves as the past.

So Cam found a shirt that Hunter didn't like, changed, and braced himself to leave Ninja Ops for the first time in two days.

Hunter stopped him at the bottom of the stairs. "Amulet," he said, glancing at Cam's chest. "Hide it."

He had actually meant to do that before. It was warm to the touch, but not glowing. He tucked it under his shirt anyway.

"Sunglasses," Hunter added, handing over a silver wraparound pair with red reflective lenses. Not exactly Cam's style, but his sunglasses had been forgotten at the library more than a month ago and he hadn't gotten around to replacing them. He put on Hunter's and he didn't miss the quickly suppressed smile he got in response.

"Can you make your eyes do that glowing thing?" Hunter asked, before he could say anything.

Cam shook his head. "I don't even know whether they're doing it or not unless I'm looking in a mirror," he muttered. "I can't do it on command."

"Try," Hunter urged. "I can tell you from experience, it's usually when you're mad. Or--" He broke off, then shrugged apologetically. "Or when you're about to kiss me," he added, obviously uncomfortable.

"Same thing," Cam grumbled under his breath, and that got a brief smirk from Hunter.

On the other hand, he'd seen Hunter wear these glasses before. He could never see his eyes at all. So he stared, feeling more than a little self-conscious as he took in every detail of the face in front of him. Surprisingly concerned expression, hair that went in every direction, blue eyes made deeper by the tint of the lenses...

He could kiss Hunter right now. He knew he could do it and Hunter would just push him off, figure it was the wolf, and tell him to focus. He didn't have total control over his actions, so he'd get a pass. It was disturbingly tempting to take advantage of it.

"Yeah, okay," Hunter said abruptly, and Cam stiffened. "Just so you know, those don't cover up the glowing at all. It won't matter tonight, but... maybe you should practice turning that off too."

Turning it off. Didn't he wish. Cam sighed, glancing toward the door. "Can we please just get some food now?"

"Right, yeah." Hunter led the way up the stairs without another word, glancing at him before he pushed the door open. Cam squinted in anticipation, but it wasn't enough. His eyes squeezed shut on their own when the evening sunshine hit his face.

"Cam?"

Hunter probably couldn't see his eyes through the sunglasses, but he knew Cam wasn't moving. He took an uncertain step forward, forcing his eyes open as he did so. He was not going to be stuck in Ninja Ops.

Determination wasn't enough. Neither were the sunglasses, although he flinched at the thought of losing them. He put his head down and took another step, trying to blink his eyes open just long enough to see where he was putting his feet. His eyes were watering under the assault, and even when they were open he couldn't see that much.

Then he felt Hunter's hand on his elbow. "You want to just close your eyes?" he asked quietly. "The sunglasses were enough inside, they'll be enough when we get there. I can get you to the truck."

"I can't see," Cam hissed. It was either bitch or whine, and he was really sick of whining. "I can't go anywhere with other people if I can't see."

"Blind people do it all the time," Hunter said dryly. "Besides, there aren't any other people between here and the truck. You'll be able to see when we get there, I promise. It's dark."

"Why do we have to drive?" Cam wanted to know. He was not whining. "I think the teleportation system is underused."

"Okay, on the list of things I told you not to mention," Hunter said. "Exactly where do you think any demonstration of Ranger technology falls?"

He was hungry. He was so hungry, he didn't think he could trust himself to stay in one room if Hunter were to get food and bring it back. "I really, really need to eat," Cam whispered.

Hunter's grip on his arm tightened. "Let's go."

Hunter was a decent guide. He didn't have any qualms about steering Cam in the appropriate direction, either, which was annoying in principle but practically speaking, anything that got them where they were going faster was good. The truck was something of a relief, in that all he had to do was sit there and try not to think about food.

It was a long drive. He opened his eyes as much and as often as he dared--it wasn't comfortable, but it distracted him from everything else. His stomach rumbled audibly, and a moment later he felt the truck slowing down.

"We're stopping on the way," Hunter informed him. "Snacks, courtesy of Mickey D's. What do you want?"

Cam really wasn't big on fast food, but ironically the wolf didn't seem to mind it at all. It was with some relief that he inhaled yet another burger, and only when they were back on the road did it occur to him what a risk Hunter had taken. "What if I had turned into a wolf at the drive-through?" he demanded.

"It's not against the law to have a dog in your truck," Hunter pointed out.

"A defense which would sound hollow and pathetic if someone actually saw me change," Cam shot back.

"But better than the defense I'd have to come up with if you tried to eat someone before we got to the community center," Hunter replied, not missing a beat. "Believe me, I weighed the risks and we came out ahead."

"You keep calling it that," Cam complained, choosing to focus on the least frightening part of that explanation. "Doesn't it have a name?"

"No." His answer was immediate and unexpected. "If it had a name, people would talk about it, and then someone somewhere would find out that it exists. That would be bad."

Cam frowned. That was mysterious and, he suspected, overly dramatic. "You know about it," he pointed out. Quite reasonably, he thought.

"Blake found one of them on the side of the road one night," Hunter said. He sounded completely matter of fact. "He thought it was a dog, so he stopped. It wasn't."

Cam's skin prickled. "One of them?" he repeated quietly.

"Human wolves," Hunter answered. "Like you."

Human wolves. What a strange way of putting it. But the most important question was obvious. "There are more?" The idea was disturbing for a lot of reasons.

"Yeah." Hunter paused. He felt the truck slow, and then they were turning, and Cam tried to squint through barely open eyes. Just another road. Not one he recognized, though. Where were they going?

"Most of the recent ones are from that thing with Shimazu," Hunter was saying. "You know when you were reading from that scroll about his Wolf Blades terrorizing local villages? Turns out that didn't just mean threatening people and eating their livestock."

Startled, Cam tried to remember exactly what he'd read. "You mean... the Wolf Blades turned people into wolves? How come we never heard about that? Why didn't everyone go back to normal when they were destroyed?"

"Shimazu was reanimated by Lothor's magic," Hunter said. "His Wolf Blades weren't. They're ancient. And we only destroyed three of them."

"But that's all there were!" Cam protested, a vague sense of dread starting to work its way into his brain. Had they missed something? Was there evil running around loose that the Rangers had completely overlooked?

"Three wolves is a pretty small pack," Hunter observed.

"If there are still Wolf Blades out there, we have to find them," Cam told him.

"No, we don't." Hunter sounded like he had been ready for that remark, which annoyed Cam. "We're ninjas. We fight evil ninjas. Our job is to stop Lothor. Let the wolves take care of the evil wolves."

"What wolves?" Cam demanded. "The ones the Wolf Blades created?"

"And the ones Lothor's been experimenting on. You and your dad aren't the first. Plus there's the real werewolves who've been flushed out by the fighting," Hunter added casually.

Now he knew he was being mocked. "Werewolves," he reminded Hunter, "aren't real."

There was a brief pause. "Did you seriously just say that?" Hunter wanted to know. "This from the guy with glowing eyes and an uncontrollable tendency to shapeshift?"

"This is a result of the dark ninja powers," Cam informed him, with as much dignity as he could manage. "They're not supernatural or occult. They can be rationally explained."

Hunter just snorted. "Yeah. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

By the time the truck finally came to a stop at what he assumed was their destination, Cam was willing to admit to himself that the line between the dark ninja powers and the "supernatural" was a thin one. The line did exist. But it was hard to say exactly where it fell.

"We're here," Hunter announced. He didn't make any move to get out of the truck. "The sun's getting lower. How are you doing with the light?"

Cam cracked his eyes open, then kept them that way when he realized they were in shadow. The truck was parked behind a massive warehouse--and the setting sun was on the other side. "Okay," he said, opening his eyes a little further. "It's not that bad."

"Like, not that bad, it doesn't hurt when you have your eyes shut, or not that bad, you can open them and actually see things?" Hunter pressed.

"I can see," Cam said, turning his head to get a better look at where they were. There was nothing but an open field to one side, power lines running through the middle of it, and forested hills directly behind him. To the other side was a cracked and pitted parking lot, with weeds dotting the ancient asphalt. "What is this, the outskirts of nowhere?"

"Were you expecting a dance club downtown?" Hunter countered. "When you ask me out, you can pick. In the meantime, welcome to the community center."

Cam frowned, deciding to ignore the implied date-ish-ness. "It looks deserted," he said, focusing his attention on the building again. Except for the fact that there were cars scattered across the broken pavement and nowhere else for their drivers to be, he would have said they were completely alone out here.

"Yeah, well, that's kind of the point," Hunter said dryly. "Look, when we go inside, it's gonna be weird at first. You're new. They don't like new people."

"But they like you?" Cam inquired, as politely as he could.

"Not really," Hunter admitted. "I've only been here twice, both times with Blake. Mostly they tried to ignore us. I'm just guessing you're not gonna be so lucky."

He had been willing to go along with this as long as Hunter seemed determined to make it work. And that was kind of strange, now that he thought about it. Was he really only here because Hunter had told him to come?

Whatever the real reason, he didn't like seeing Hunter look uncertain about the whole thing. "I'm not sure this is such a good idea," Cam said, glancing sideways at him. His sudden hesitation made Cam nervous.

As quickly as that, it was gone. "I am," Hunter said firmly. "You need to see this. Let's go."

He felt capable again--probably because he could finally see--and he climbed out of the truck without another word. He followed Hunter across the parking lot, angling toward a door Cam wouldn't have picked as the correct entrance even if he'd been given multiple chances. They hadn't parked anywhere near it. Of course, neither had anyone else. The vehicles were distributed in an apparently random fashion... possibly to give the impression that there were fewer of them than there actually were?

The door was unlocked. It should be, obviously, but it didn't look like the sort of door that someone could just walk up to and pull open. Hunter did, though, and he strode inside without looking back. Cam followed.

They were in a nondescript hallway. A dimly lit, nondescript hallway. He didn't even realize how dark it was until Hunter reached out and plucked his sunglasses off. "Can you see?" he asked quietly.

Cam blinked. "Yes," he said, surprised.

"Good." Hunter handed the sunglasses back. "Then don't wear 'em. Eye contact is kind of important here--don't make it. Don't stare at anyone. If you aren't sure where to look, look at the floor."

He turned left and started down the hallway without waiting for a reply. Cam just stared after him. The other Rangers occasionally joked about Hunter's domineering attitude, but until now, Cam had only heard about it. Generally speaking, Hunter just didn't boss him around. It was novel and somewhat irritating.

Hunter disappeared through another door, and Cam hurried after him. He saw the sign, an unassuming white rectangle posted to the right of the door, only as he was passing by it to enter the room. Visitors, it said. Check in.

The light made him flinch. He slid the sunglasses back on hastily, because no matter what Hunter said he wasn't going to walk around blind. He kept his head down, but he took advantage of the reflective lenses to look around without turning his head.

Hunter was standing in front of a desk, talking to... a teenage boy. At least, Cam guessed he was a teenager. He didn't look any older than Dustin, and that put him easily in the "young" category. He didn't seem surprised to see Hunter, either, but Cam couldn't decide whether that was because he actually knew Hunter somehow or because he was used to "visitors" showing up at the door of a place no one was supposed to know about. Maybe it was just typical teenage apathy.

"You gotta sign this," the kid was saying, tossing a clipboard down in front of Hunter and rooting out a pen for him. "How new?"

"Two days." Hunter scribbled something and left the clipboard where it was. "That it?"

"Yeah. Second car's open, but Iza's in there. Might want to stick to first."

"Thanks." Hunter dropped the pen back on the desk and jerked his head in Cam's direction. "Let's go."

Cam's jaw clenched, but he followed Hunter out of the room before he hissed, "What was that about?"

"Liability," Hunter muttered. He paused outside the doorway and looked at Cam. "Mike keeps it brighter in there than most of them like it. You okay?"

Cam pulled the sunglasses off reluctantly. "I'm fine. Liability what? Waiver?"

Hunter grimaced. "Kind of the opposite, actually."

"What does that mean?" Cam demanded.

"It means if you hurt the wrong person, I take the fall for it," Hunter snapped. "Okay? Are you happy?"

Cam swallowed. "Who's the wrong person?" he wanted to know. He didn't bother to question the "hurting" part.

Hunter's voice softened. "Anyone who doesn't challenge you. Don't worry; you're not the type to bully people. It'll be fine."

He wasn't sure he agreed. It wasn't really his call, though, so he let it go. Hunter was walking again, heading down the hallway, and this time there was someone in his way. A tall, odd-looking person--with glowing eyes. The way he was standing just screamed "bouncer." But who was there to bounce? Cam still hadn't seen anyone but the two of them, the kid at desk, and this guy.

Hunter didn't even look at him until the man stepped in front of him. "Hold it, Ninja." His voice was higher than Cam expected, and rasped in a strange way. "Got a new toy?"

"Fuck off," Hunter snarled. He could look the man in the eye, and that kind of surprised Cam because he didn't usually think about the fact that Hunter had several inches on him.

"Starting to think pretty well of yourself, aren't you?" the man taunted. "You're only here on your brother's goodwill."

Hunter stared at him, and those glowing eyes stared right back. Cam wondered if the "don't look at anyone" rule was only supposed to apply to him. Then he heard Hunter say softly, "Hit me."

Cam didn't even see what happened. The guy must have tried. But Hunter moved and the other guy was the one who fell back, gasping for breath. Hunter gave his right hand a single shake--for effect, Cam thought--and this time when he glared at the other man he looked away.

"Doesn't matter why I'm here," Hunter said quietly. The man kept his gaze averted as he warned, "Don't fuck with us, and it won't matter why you're here either."

Hunter continued down the hall without looking back. "Cam," he snapped over his shoulder.

Cam bristled. He was already following, and he didn't appreciate the summons. Or part of him didn't. Another part was oddly comforted by it. And that bothered him as much as Hunter's attitude.

He didn't have time to say anything before Hunter turned another corner. Cam caught up just as Hunter paused outside doors with glass windows and nodded at them. "This is where we eat," he said simply.

Through the windows, Cam could see an eerily familiar sight. A sports bar, with the central bar area surrounded by tables and TVs and people. It exuded normalcy, the sound of people talking spilling out into the hall and the smell of food and a strange half-light that didn't bother his eyes.

"This is the secret wolf hangout?" he blurted out.

Hunter shot him an amused glance without turning from the doors. "You think they all gather around a fresh kill under the full moon?"

"I don't know," Cam snapped. "It's not like you gave me any idea what to expect."

"Yeah, well. Don't get too comfortable."

With that, Hunter pushed open the nearest door and went in. Cam could feel the awareness of everyone in the room suddenly shift in their direction. Very few gazes swung their way, though. Everyone knew they were there, but only a handful of people actually looked at them.

Don't make eye contact, Hunter had said. His instincts said otherwise. Cam gritted his teeth and ignored them, following Hunter toward a table in the corner.

He saw someone coming, shuffled a little out of the way without thinking about it, and was startled when the guy bumped into him anyway. Intentionally. It wasn't just a lack of balance, a minor jostle, this was a full blown shove to his shoulder and Cam's head swung around indignantly.

"Watch where you're going," he muttered, deliberately loud enough to be overheard.

The guy wheeled around like he had expected that. "What did you just say?"

"I said," Cam repeated, raising his voice. "Watch where you're going."

"Oh yeah?" The guy stared at him in what was clearly supposed to be a menacing way. "You think you can take me, Ninja?"

Only then did it occur to him to look around for Hunter. He was standing behind Cam, arms folded across his chest, several steps away. He just raised an eyebrow at Cam, and the silent question was obvious. Well?

Cam never saw the blow coming. He felt it as it tore the air above his head when he ducked, turned to lunge out of his crouch directly at the man who'd tried to hit him, and he felt the satisfying impact of a fist that had landed on a pressure point. The man yelped in surprise, and Cam didn't wait. A fast uppercut knocked his head back, and the man stumbled away, whining.

Whining. He wasn't... really whining. But that was an awfully wolf-like noise. Cam tried to catch his breath in the wake of the adrenaline coursing through him, and when he was sure the man wasn't coming back he glanced around nervously, wondering what the penalty was for fighting. Surely it would be obvious that he hadn't started it. His reaction had been pure instinct, a response to a punch already thrown.

No one looked upset. In fact, most of the people around him were turning back to their tables or their partners like this kind of thing was nothing out of the ordinary. He caught Hunter's eye, saw the corner of his mouth quirk upward before he turned away. Hunter continued on toward an empty table like nothing had happened. After a moment, Cam followed.

He slid into a chair across from Hunter and muttered, "I wouldn't have hit him if he hadn't gone for me first."

"You're such a dom," Hunter murmured in return. He lifted his gaze to Cam's and just looked at him, a familiar smirk lurking behind those blue eyes. "Can't keep your head down to save your life."

"He challenged me," Cam hissed, stung by the reprimand, no matter how teasingly it was delivered. That guy had to fall into the category of "people he was allowed to hurt." Didn't he?

"Yeah," Hunter agreed soothingly. And that was a whole other realm of strange, the thought that Hunter was actively humoring him. "He did."

Just then a woman appeared at their table, hair pulled back in a neat blonde ponytail and a little pad of paper in her hand. "Boys," she greeted them crisply. "Can I get you something to eat?"

Her tank top was low and short and a little too comfortable looking. She was wearing low-rider jeans that displayed a decorated band of pink underwear all the way around--on purpose, Cam thought. Like the jeans were meant to slide down, except that he was pretty sure they were too tight to go anywhere.

Hunter kicked him under the table, and the glare he gave Cam was definitely a warning. "Beef or venison?" he asked, in a tone that implied he was repeating something the waitress had already asked.

"Beef," Cam said distractedly.

"For both of us," Hunter told the waitress.

"Accessories?" she asked, keeping her eyes on her pad. She didn't look like she was paying the slightest bit of attention to either of them.

"Vegetarian," Hunter said. "For both of us. Thanks."

Cam thought that was an odd thing to say, having just placed an order for beef, but the waitress just nodded. "Back in a few." She lowered her pad and turned away, never once having looked at either of them.

As soon as she was gone, Hunter leaned forward and snapped his fingers in front of Cam's face. Cam stopped watching the waitress and shot him an irritated look. "What?"

"Don't tick off the girls," Hunter warned, keeping his voice low. "It's not pretty."

"You're just jealous," Cam muttered. As soon as he said it he wished he could clap his hands over Hunter's ears to keep him from hearing. Where had that come from?

Hunter actually laughed, a chuckle that was quickly smothered as he looked down and pretended he was clearing his throat. "Yeah, well, regardless. Don't you wonder how they can wear shit like that and get away with it?"

Cam's eyes flicked to his. "Dress code?"

Hunter snorted. "You see her bracelet? Clunky plastic thing on her left wrist?"

He hadn't been looking at her wrists, but he nodded anyway.

"It's only got one button," Hunter told him. "You so much as touch her and she'll push it. I can't hear it, but I'm told the noise is pretty painful. Everyone in the place will instantly have it in for you--you'll be damn lucky if you get a chance to do it twice."

Cam put his hands on the table carefully, one after the other. "Don't touch the girls," he repeated. "Got it."

Hunter's lips quirked, and this time he came awfully close to a genuine smile. Instead, he just nodded toward the bar and asked, "You want a drink?"

Cam glanced in the direction he'd indicated automatically. "Do they even have a permit for that?"

"They're not alcoholic." Hunter sounded amused. "It's just water and juice and soda--anything that comes in a bottle. Plus a few more disgusting things that it's better not to ask about."

"Well, with an endorsement like that," Cam muttered. "Who wouldn't want one?"

"Come with me," Hunter ordered, getting to his feet. "Better to stick together."

He couldn't really argue with that, but he wanted to. Hunter's condescending attitude rankled. He stood up and followed him to the bar without a word, the annoyance simmering just beneath the surface.

They found a couple of empty stools, but Hunter didn't sit down and Cam followed his example. There was another girl behind the bar, her hair twisted into a knot at the back of her head. She was wearing a sleeveless vest over top of a sports bra, and Cam wondered how girls this hot ended up working at a wolf hideout on the edge of town. How did they advertise job openings, anyway? He couldn't quite imagine the classifieds paying off for a place like this.

"Soda," Hunter was saying. "Coke, if you have it. Cam?"

"Water," he told the girl, ignoring Hunter. She caught his eye and smiled at him, and he smiled back. See? There were normal people here.

He saw Hunter glance at him, and the other Ranger whispered, "Careful."

Cam rolled his eyes and turned away. There was a guy at one of the nearby tables staring at him, and Cam frowned. It was a disturbingly assessing look, and it reminded him of the shove he'd gotten on the way in. He glared back, and the guy flicked his gaze up and down him once before shrugging slightly and turning away.

Cam had started toward him before he knew what he was doing. He was met by a flash of metal and he froze in horror as he found a switchblade pressed up against his chin. The shorter man gazed steadily up at him. There was deadly intent in those eyes, and Cam knew with utter certainty that this was no idle threat.

Slowly, he held his hands out to the sides, palm up.

The knife stayed where it was for a long moment. There was utter silence from the surrounding tables, but Cam could hear normal chatter and the clink of glasses and silverware from farther away. The scene wasn't drawing any more than superficial attention.

The man raised his eyebrows, just a little, and for a split second Cam was reminded intensely of Hunter. Then the knife dropped, spinning in a controlled circle before it disappeared altogether. The man stared at him until he turned away. Burning with embarrassment, he made his way back to the bar without looking at anyone.

Hunter was waiting, arms folded, just the way he had been last time. "What was that?" he inquired. He sounded like he cared about as much as if Cam had stopped to pick up something on the sidewalk.

Cam shifted uncomfortably, aware of the childishness of his reply even as he said it. "I didn't like the way he was looking at me," he muttered.

Hunter let out an amused breath. He just shook his head as he turned back to the bar, and for some reason that infuriated Cam. He was being treated like a two-year-old. He narrowed his eyes at Hunter's back, fuming, kept from saying anything only by the return of the girl serving the drinks.

"Here you go," she said, in an oddly perky voice. "One water," she added, setting it down on the bar, "and a coke for the alpha."

Cam's eyes widened. She smiled at Hunter this time, and he winked at her. Cam's fists clenched. "Alpha?" he repeated, very quietly.

She moved off, and Hunter turned away from the bar. "Let's go," he told Cam. It was impossible to tell whether he'd heard or not.

So he said it louder. "Alpha?"

"Shut up," Hunter warned in a low voice. And yeah, he'd definitely heard him the first time. "This isn't a good time for a vote."

"Who said anything about voting," Cam hissed. "You don't get to speak for me."

Hunter grabbed his arm and tried to steer him back toward their table. Cam threw him off, bracing himself right where he was. "Don't touch me," he snarled. "I'm sick of this."

Hunter held very still. Then, carefully, he turned and set his drink back down. "Look," he said quietly. "Cam." He lifted his gaze, blue eyes going straight through him. "I didn't put me in charge. You did."

"I never put you in charge of me," Cam retorted furiously. The wolf wanted to lash out, angry, howling inside of him, and it took everything he had to hold his ground.

"Yeah," Hunter told him. "You did." He leaned back against the bar, elbows propping him up as he studied Cam intently. "But if you think you can take me, you can change your mind any time."

Hunter was trying to provoke him. His easy posture, his offhanded challenge, it was all calculated to draw a specific response, and for the life of him Cam couldn't figure out why. He couldn't fight it, either. The wolf swelled inside him, threatening to erase the last vestiges of his control as he heard himself growl, "I could take you."

"Could you?" Hunter gave every impression of pouncing, despite the fact that he barely moved. He was standing up straighter now, gaze locked with Cam's. "Could you pin me down, tear me apart, press your jaw to my neck with every intention of slicing me open if I didn't submit?

"Could you do that, Cam?" Hunter leaned forward, mocking him, daring him. "Because if you can't, then you're wasting my time."

The blood was pounding in his ears. He couldn't look away. If Hunter was trying to scare him then it wasn't working. The images twisted in his mind, becoming stronger, harder, and a single silent word echoed between them. He knew Hunter heard it too, saw it in his eyes.

Yes.

He could do it. He needed to do it. He wanted to slam Hunter back against the bar, to scrape his teeth across that skin and tear his clothes off while Hunter begged for mercy... for more. For a rush only he could give.

He wanted it with a desperation that could only be rooted in the wolf. He had to have it, had to do it, his breathing was harsh and his hands were shaking so badly that he clenched his fingers to hide their tremors. He yanked his gaze away, staring at the floor like he could somehow put it between him and this thing that he wanted with terrifying intensity.

From a distance, he could hear Hunter's voice saying, "Take your drink and go sit down."

He couldn't move. He felt Hunter's hand on his arm, the cold glass pressed against his fingers, and he accepted it mechanically. It took both his hands to hold it steady. Hunter's hand was on his shoulder now, turning him around, urging him away from the bar and back toward the table in the corner.

The long walk across the room was torture. The wolf in him was screaming for release, for a fight, for sex, for anything at all that would take away this agonizing ache inside. He was overcome with shame for his reaction, for the scene that had played out in full view of everyone in the room. It wasn't Hunter's fault. He had tried to keep it between them--he had tried, but Cam hadn't been able to let it go.

It was with something like relief that he finally sank into his chair. Hunter didn't move, just stood behind him for a long moment with his hand on Cam's shoulder. Finally he murmured, "You want to hit me, or fuck me?"

Cam shuddered involuntarily, fingers white where he gripped the glass.

"Yeah," Hunter said quietly. "That's what I thought." He squeezed Cam's shoulder briefly before letting go, moving away to put the table between them again.

Once he sat down, Cam could feel his eyes on him, watching him studying him. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and comforting. "Look, Cam." Cam didn't look up. "We both know you could take me," Hunter told him. "But for whatever reason, you won't."

He would. He'd take Hunter any time, fiercely, gladly, without a single regret. He just wouldn't kill him. Cam stared at his water, trying to think of anything else.

"Half the time," Hunter was saying, "in a fair fight, you'd probably win. But you won't fight me. That's why I'm here in the first place, remember? 'Cause your wolf lets me push him around."

The wolf would let him do a lot more than that if he would just stop talking. Cam gritted his teeth, trying to remember where he was. He was still human. He didn't know why, the turmoil inside him was more than enough to have sent him into wolf form--except that, as a wolf, he wouldn't be able to do half the things his body was telling him to do to Hunter.

"Maybe to the rest of the world," Hunter continued, "that just means I'm your friend." His tone was still calm and soothing, which was doing no good at all. "But here it means I'm the boss. Do you get that?"

Cam couldn't answer. He didn't dare move, not to lift his head, or even to say a single word. He couldn't deal with this. He felt like he was suspended, balanced precariously between human and wolf, and the slightest change would push him over the edge.

"Still with me?" Hunter asked warily. "Cam?"

He managed to look up at Hunter without raising his head. Their eyes met, and he had no idea what Hunter saw. But the other Ranger nodded once and didn't ask again. "Just checking."

Plates appeared in front of them, along with silverware wrapped in paper napkins, and Cam stared at the table while food was set out. "Try eating something," Hunter suggested, setting his own example. "Maybe it'll help."

He seriously doubted it. He must have looked as skeptical as he felt, because Hunter added, "Look, I'm not too thrilled about this either. For one thing, if you hadn't noticed, anyone you piss off is automatically my problem. And no offense, but you're not the easiest person to get along with."

Cam drew in a deep breath, listening, and he wondered how Hunter babbling could possibly relax him. Somehow, all expectation to the contrary, the panic inside him was just slightly less than it had been a few minutes ago. He didn't know what to think about that. Except that no one could stay balanced forever... it was just a question of which side he fell off on.

"Luckily," Hunter was muttering, apparently unfazed that he was talking mostly to himself, "I like you more than I like any of them."

He didn't know he was going to speak until he did it, and his voice rasped as he stared down at the table. "How much more?"

He felt Hunter's sharp look heating up his skin. "Enough to not let you do what you were thinking about back there," Hunter said at last.

He was sure Hunter didn't have a clue what he'd been thinking about until he added gently, "Sex is just another way to dominate someone, Cam. It won't make you feel any better."

He swallowed hard, torn between horror and despair. Horror because Hunter had read his mind, and despair because he was the one calling the shots. If he said no, Cam didn't think he'd be able to change his mind. "Not much of a romantic, are you," he managed hoarsely.

Hunter snorted at that. "Not around here," he agreed. "No."

He was eating. How could he eat? Cam just stared at him, watching him put food in his mouth until Hunter glanced up. The moment their eyes met, Cam looked away. It was natural, it was instinctive--and it made him want to cry. Hunter really was in charge. The wolf knew it, even if he wasn't convinced.

He was only peripherally aware of someone approaching the table, and he didn't look up until they stopped. A young man, maybe a little older than he was, stood there with two girls and an older man at his back. He didn't looking at Cam. He was staring down at Hunter.

"Hey," the guy said. When this prompted no reaction, he added, "You're sitting at my table."

Hunter flipped him off without looking up.

The guy reached out and grabbed Hunter's plate. Cam bristled. Hunter just considered the table for a moment, as though expecting his food to reappear as mysteriously as it had vanished. It didn't. He looked up, slowly, raking his gaze over the guy holding his plate.

"You," the guy repeated, very clearly. "Are sitting at my table."

Hunter just looked at him. Finally, his lip curled the slightest bit. It was the only expression on his face, but it made the other guy stiffen.

"Don't make me laugh," Hunter said softly.

The guy grabbed the front of his shirt and Cam shoved his chair back, hindquarters gathering beneath him as he sprang at the other man without a single thought. He leapt at a man and slammed into a wolf, but the change didn't bother him at all. His snarl of rage would be all the more clear to wolf ears.

He caught the other animal off balance, sinking his teeth into the wolf's neck as they crashed to the ground. The wolf beneath him jerked violently, scrabbling for leverage. He hung on as a black muzzle snapped against the floor, trying to reach him, and he felt his hackles standing on end as he growled around a mouthful of fur and muscle.

The wolf froze. The sudden stillness was followed by a series of pathetic yelps that prompted him to loosen his grip. The black wolf shook him off, struggling frantically to find his feet as he propelled himself away, and when he'd achieved a short distance he flashed back into human form. Covering his neck with one hand, he carefully avoided Cam's gaze.

Cam's head swung around, looking for Hunter. He expected to find him leaning against the table, arms folded, a knowing smile on his face. Instead a snarl erupted from him when he saw Hunter facing off against the older man, and he braced himself to lunge.

Hunter's voice stopped him. "Stay out of it," he snapped, not taking his eyes off of the other guy. Even when the man disappeared, replaced by a mean-looking lupine shape, he didn't revoke his command.

Cam tensed, growling under his breath. He almost launched himself into the fight when the other wolf leapt forward, knowing with utter certainty that no punch Hunter could throw would protect him from the jaws of a wolf that meant it. Heavy paws slammed into Hunter's chest and he staggered, bringing one hand up in a futile effort to block as he fell backward--

Electricity crackled in the air, sizzling, the sound and the smell making his fur stand on end as the other wolf howled. Cam watched in awe as it slid to the ground, twitching uncontrollably. Hunter stood over the wolf-shape, right fist clenched in the midst of snapping sparks that didn't dissipate until the wolf reverted to human form.

The older man stumbled to his feet, giving Hunter's hands a nervous glance as he backed away. He kept his head down, flinching when Hunter hissed, "Keep your pack away from me and mine."

Cam flowed over to his side, certain and for once untroubled that Hunter's "mine" included him. He watched silently as the group drifted away, sticking close to each other and keeping their gazes carefully covert. A recently defeated wolf was an easy target, he guessed.

He heard the change in Hunter's breathing before he registered the smell of blood. He looked up in concern as Hunter made his way back to the table, carefully righting both their chairs before sitting down again, and the way he moved wasn't natural. Cam padded after him, nudging Hunter's knee with his muzzle in mute question.

"You'll be all right," Hunter muttered under his breath. "Just relax."

He growled softly. It wasn't him he was worried about. He put one paw on Hunter's leg, waited a moment, then pushed himself up when Hunter didn't object. He sniffed Hunter's face quickly, reassuring himself, then dropped his head in search of the source of the blood smell.

It wasn't hard to find. Hunter's t-shirt was torn open at the top and ripped all the way down the left side, and he jerked when Cam pressed his nose against the bloody gashes underneath. He couldn't help licking them, the urge to comfort, to clean, to stop the flow of blood was too instinctive to fight.

Hunter inhaled sharply. He was rigid, utterly still as Cam nosed his head up to investigate the claw marks that had bloodied his collarbone. A moment later, though, he felt Hunter shift, and a tentative hand buried itself in the fur behind his ear, rubbing the back of his head gently.

The bleeding wouldn't stop. Cam whined softly, anxious, and Hunter's fingers dug deeper into the back of his neck. It was oddly reassuring.

"I'm fine," Hunter said under his breath. "Just leave it alone."

He backed off reluctantly, putting his front paws back on the floor and resting his head on Hunter's leg. Hunter smoothed the fur on top of his head, fingers lingering at the back of his skull for a long moment. He lowered his ears to encourage the caress, nosing the air a little and then drawing back to bump Hunter's hand with his muzzle when he didn't seem inclined to continue the petting.

He could hear Hunter's smile when he took the hint, stroking the top of his head again and murmuring, "Thanks, buddy."

He sighed, and then his cheek was pressed against Hunter's thigh and Hunter's hand was tangled in his hair. He didn't move at first, but Hunter's fingers lifted from his head and he heard the other Ranger clear his throat. He straightened up, kneeling on the floor as he stared up at Hunter, trying to gauge his expression.

Hunter just looked back at him, and finally Cam looked down and pushed himself to his feet. His wrist twinged where his front leg had hit the floor, and the blood smell from Hunter was still making him nervous, but otherwise he felt all right. He took a seat, shooting another quick glance at Hunter as he did so.

"Why didn't you let me help?" Cam muttered, relieved when the words came out just the way he expected.

Hunter raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn't paying any attention to his dramatically shredded shirt, or the blood that was staining it from the inside out. He was wearing the right color for it, Cam thought, dismayed.

"Same reason I didn't help you before," he answered, as if it should have been obvious. "You didn't need it."

"Even against Knife Man?" Cam demanded. He decided that the only thing he could do was not to look at Hunter's chest at all. How could he just sit there like he didn't even feel it?

Hunter looked vaguely amused by that. "Served you right," he told Cam. "You shouldn't have messed with him. To him, you were that guy that pushed you on the way in."

Cam frowned. He wasn't any more clear on who he was supposed to take on and who he wasn't, but ignoring Hunter's injuries wasn't working for him. "Can we go before you bleed all over that chair?" he asked bluntly.

Hunter actually grinned at that. "Nope," he said with perfect nonchalance. "We came here to get you some real food, and I'm not leaving till you eat something."

Cam looked down, considering the plate in front of him and the disturbingly appealing steak that was still sitting on it. Untouched. And probably cold by now. Why didn't that bother him, he wondered? Shouldn't his wolfish tendencies come and go with the shape?

Obviously not. He didn't understand it, and it was starting to make him curious.

Cam made a show of grudging acceptance as he unwrapped his silverware. "If it will make you happy," he muttered. He wished he hadn't changed back quite so quickly. He would have been able to clear his plate a lot faster as a wolf.

He could hear Hunter's smirk in his voice. "You know," he said conversationally, "you have blood on your face."

Cam fixed his gaze on his food, trying not to look as embarrassed as he felt.