In Which Sam learns to Hunt as a Wolf...

After his talk with Dean, Sam took some time to digest their discussion about him having to adapt to things the pack was asking him to do. He sighed, realizing that it was going to be something he was going to have to learn eventually. And Dean was right - his not liking it would remind him that he was human at the end of the day. He didn't have to like what he did... but it needed to be done.

A few days later, Sam waited on the window seat in the living room. Morgan was going to take him out that morning and start showing him how to track. Sam had to admit he was curious on how tracking as a wolf would be different than how he tracked on a hunt as a human.

Morgan actually liked teaching new pups, though from his stoic expression no one would ever know. He stood in the kitchen for a moment and studied Sam in the window. The boy was proving to be an asset to the pack if difficult at times. He hadn't been born wolf like many of them had. He would still need to be trained, like the rest of the pack. It was for survival.

"Let's go, Sam," he said, voice deep and serious. "We'll be gone all day if there is anything you need to do here, do it now."

"Already done," Sam stated, getting up. "Should I change here? Make sure I can do it and not worry about the clothing or something?"

Morgan shook his head. "We will change in the forest. We prefer to make things look human around the house. This protects us from hunters and other weres that might kill us simply because they see us as competition. We'll walk."

Sam sighed, but he would just strip before he changed then. He put on a ski hat and then shoved his hands deeper into his pockets as he followed Morgan out.

( . . . )

In Which Sam and Heather finally get the clues...

Ever since Sam started learning to hunt, he found that his nose was becoming more and more sensitive to smells even when he was in human form. It really hit him though the day he went to open his gym bag to find something and he was overwhelmed with the smell of smoke, salt, and dirt. He immediately ran all the things downstairs to the laundry and washed everything at least three times before he felt comfortable taking the things back to his room.

Since Butters worked with Heather to cook, Sam didn't want to break up that dynamic. Especially since he was pretty sure anything he cooked would end up killing the people who ate it. And he was still trying to get over the Butters issue, and decided that instead of pushing and trying, he would just ignore and avoid. So he just started to take up a habit of cleaning dishes and putting them away, then tossing the garbage at the end of the night. He felt like he was contributing past the babysitting and homework help, and it kept the tension between him and Butters at bearable levels.

After he finished the dishes, he grabbed the book he was currently reading off the side table and found a space on the floor near the fire to stretch out with a few pillows and read while keeping his feet warm.

With dinner done Heather had little else to do. She thought about going to play in the snow, or maybe going with Kirmani, Morgan and Murphy to hunt, but decided to stay inside. She went into the living room and peered over Sam's shoulder when she saw him reading something on the floor.

"What's that?" she asked, curious.

( . . . )

The Morning After...

ooc: follows after this

Feeling the warmth of the sun on his back, Sam made a happy noise in the back of his throat while he instinctively curled around the warmer body pressed against his chest. He didn't quite remember how they had moved from the rug in front of the fire to his room, but he remembered everything that happened in the hours that followed until they were exhausted and fell asleep in each others arms. He cracked his eyes open a bit to look at Heather as his leg wrapped around hers a bit more, pulling her closer.

Normally, Heather would be one of the first up in the house as she had to help make breakfast but after last night she was tired and frankly, she didn't want to get up at all. A bit of jostling from Sam got him a grumpy, groggy growl and then Heather snuggled into his warmth dozing.

During the night he had gotten in touch with his affectionate wolf side, and he responded to her growl with a soft whimper and pressed his cheek against the top of her head and welcoming her deeper into his arms as he closed his eyes again, more than happy to continue snuggling all day.

That was much better in Heather's opinion. She pressed a kiss against his shoulder to say she accepted his apology.

( . . . )