MetaDeprivation - 28. MetaPrompts 622: News (MW9)

‘Are we almost home?’

Seb wanted to smile when he remembered this very spot, and his words. He felt he had uttered them only yesterday, like every child who wanted to get back to his holo-games as quickly as possible. His father, Forest, had shaken his head with gentle disbelief, but wouldn’t change direction. For hours they hiked through snow-covered forests up the hills of ShadowLands.

His smile – if he could have had a smile on his snout – froze in the very same second. He missed his father so much. It had only been 18 months ago that he had to cremate the White Wolf Pack Alpha; died too quickly for his age due to the insidious wolf cancer. He so hoped Forest would be one of the last victims of the plague.

His mother was slowly recovering from the loss of her mate, but she was no help to run the pack. And his Inner Circle was mostly empty. His CE, Alexander, was running next to him, big, fearsome and loyal as had been his father, but particularly his grandfather. Burt had actually been Alexander’s grandfather’s brother, but for the big enforcer, Burt was his granddad. His real granddad and his betrayal were buried deep in the Pack’s archives.

Another enforcer, the offspring of one of the last female survivors of the Winterfir pack, had joined them only weeks ago. Theo reminded him strangely of two of his uncles – the face of his Marine Colonel uncle with the body of the biggest wolf he had ever known next to Burt: Sam.

The rest of the wolves hunting with him were fighters. His father had kept a substantial amount of fighters when he had taken over the pack from Prime, the founder of the White Wolf Pack, knowing that good times could quickly turn into bad times. And unfortunately, he had been right.

Some odd blogs had appeared on the net some months ago listing the mysterious deaths and disappearances of young girls on the Western half of the North American continent, particularly in Idaho and Western Nevada. The police were hunting a serial killer, but Seb didn’t have to be the near-PhD in Western Philosophy to understand some serious vampire was feeding on girls. Based on how cunning the perpetrator was he had come to the conclusion an actual vampire queen was on the loose again.

He had listened to Prime’s stories often enough to get a feel for them; he had learned from the fighters how to fight them best, but mostly he had studied ‘Of Vampires and Wolves’ by L. Colt Parker so intensely the conclusion had been obvious.

And when several of his wolves had gotten itchy over the past days, and their alarm system had gone off for no apparent reasons three times, he had had to assume that very vampire queen was trying to get to them. Maybe for a revenge long due, though none of the wolves from the Big Battle Against the Vampires were alive anymore. But the statue celebrating their heroic fight and commemorating the sacrifices made was located in ShadowLands; the annual celebrations took place in ShadowLands; that made ShadowLands, and thereby his pack, the logical place for the vampire to sniff around.

He had to stop that, even if his IC was almost empty.

They ran. His CE to his right, his second enforcer, Theo, to his left. Two dozens of fighters spread out. But he knew he had more support than that. His father, and his mate, had made sure of that.

The net got tighter.

And then they spotted her.

Tall and blond. She looked surprised, but not scared. Even from a distance, Seb could appreciate the porcelain white skin, the slender figure, and the cunning eyes. Every red-blooded alpha wolf would have been interested in such a female, Seb too if he hadn’t been Seb, and the female not a vicious vampire queen.

Of course, she vanished, reappearing some 100 meters away, finding herself again surrounded by some of his wolves.

She transported again. She was tough and capable it seemed, as a vampire queen should be.

She quickly realized the gap the wolves had left and transported behind their backs, with a benevolent smile on her lips.

Seb smiled as well.

The moment she materialized, nodding to them like “Nice try, boys, see you later,” hundreds of arrows appeared from nowhere. The moon’s reflection created a piece of art of broken silver light, supported by a swoosh only a deadly weapon could make.

The arrows were so dense, only tiny birds would have been able to escape. Most disappeared somewhere in the distance in the snow; many got stuck in the thick-trunked pine trees of the forest, but three hit the target perfectly.

She was stunned. She stared at them in disbelief.

When she had recovered from the surprise of having been outwitted by a dog, she started to pull the first arrow out of her left upper arm. Examined it, nearly admiring the dagger-like shape. Wondering where they had come from.

When she tried to rid herself of the second arrow stuck in her thigh, the wolves had caught up with her.

Theo shifted mid-jump and tackled her, stopping her from removing the last arrow in her abdomen.

And Alexander’s paw sliced her chest open turning her delicate t-shirt red in an instant.

A scream of unbelievable pain and unbelieving annoyance filled the forest.

Another fighter joined Theo, immobilizing her completely. Alexander’s wolf growled his hot breath into her face, keeping his razor-sharp paws ready to stop her from healing, and thereby from escaping.

They had caught a queen.

Seb shifted. He didn’t care he was naked. He had long stopped being annoyed by cold snow and preferring his warm room with stuff to read and games to play. That had been before he had shifted for the first time; since then he was a real wolf, who loved winter, forest, snow and the hunt. It didn’t matter that his bachelor was in philosophy.

When he had closed the gap to the queen, the moon highlighted her features. He nearly wanted to touch the skin, so oneiric it looked, stretched over perfect cheekbones.

But her perplexed look stopped him mid-tracks. “Prime?” she asked.

“Seb actually, Sebastian Prime Loope, Alpha of the White Wolf Pack,” he introduced himself politely. He didn’t know why.

“You look like him.”

“’Him?’”

“Prime,” she repeated numbly.

“Maybe. He is my grand uncle after all.”

“And they called you Seb – like my …” She didn’t continue.

“So who are you?” he asked, wondering why he made polite conversation like on a Sunday afternoon barbeque.

“The vampire queen of the West.”

Seb moved his hand to invite her to continue.

“Emma.”

And now it was Seb’s turn to be surprised.

Emma.

He remembered from Prime and Colt’s tales, from the documents of the pack. Emma, his grandmother. No wonder his grandfather had fallen for her. What a woman.

She smiled taking in the surprise of Seb. “So they called you after my Seb.”

He thought he heard pain and gentle love in the angelic words, but he also recalled his training. Never trust a vampire. “The Seb you had killed, if I recall correctly,” he challenged her.

“It wasn’t me. It was that mutt fucker …”

Seb laughed. “I didn’t believe Colt when he told me that was the vampires’ nickname for him … but obviously, he’s right. Which I should have never doubted in the first place.” He had separated himself from the impact of the woman’s beauty and closed in again.

And in just that moment, Alexander’s paw ripped her open again. She had gotten too close to healing, and his CE wouldn’t let her escape after they had planned this elaborate trap.

“So what do you want?”

“Nothing,” she answered. Lying.

“I see. Seeking revenge?”

She didn’t say anything.

“Or looking for something?”

He didn’t know why but something in her had changed.

“I noticed, you don’t have a full IC yet, you’re vulnerable …” she whispered.

“Not really,” he challenged her.

“And your father, my son, died of that horrific disease …”

“You made your son an orphan,” Seb shouted.

“But you know what it takes to keep wolves – your wolves – healthy.”

Seb smiled as if interested. “The presence of vampires?”

“See. We could come to an understanding …”

“You had my grandfather killed, you made my father and my uncle orphans, you had one of Prime’s Beta’s killed …”

She was puzzled.

“Leo!” he shouted. A replicate of the glass column was reminding them daily of the White Wolf Pack IC’s sacrifices.

She shrugged.

“And at least 20 girls in this country … and you want me to forget all of that for avoiding the cancer?”

She shrugged seductively.

“Well, I have news for you, my dear vampire queen.”

“You talk like him.” Her being puzzled made her look even more intriguing.

“Who?”

“Colt.” – And then she choked. Less because of her wounds, but because of the realization. “Fuck,” she lost her composure, “you’re like Prime and Colt in one.”

“That would be biologically impossible, but I take it as a compliment. – However, I can inform you your help regarding the cancer is not needed.” He turned his back to her, sending signals of disinterest, and continued: “Thanks to a German nerd we now have a preventive vaccine. He seems to have found something in Colt’s blood. Now, we cannot heal anyone, because it has to be injected before a pup shifts for the first time. But most of my pack’s wolves are safe. – So your assistance is not required.”

“But I could …”

“Alexander – kill that bitch!” he instructed coldly, swirling around to face that abysmal creature one more time.

And with two ferocious paw strikes she was gone. Her scream short and satisfying. Turning into dust, spoiling the white snow on the ground, before even the dirt disappeared as if there had never been evil in ShadowLands.

Alexander shifted, barking orders immediately. “Theo, make sure the fighters collect all the silver dagger-arrows, we will need them again. Then lead them home for big steaks and our special MaxBeer!”

“Yes, Sir! – Guys, you’ve heard the boss …”

Seb slowly walked away from the commotion, his CE catching up with him quickly.

“How do …”

Seb shook his head. “I’m fine. She could have lied.”

“But you believed her.”

“Colt had always suspected the reason she did what she did and how she died was because she expected to come back as a queen …”

“I was always a bit scared of him …”

“We were small pups … they were big … well, not Colt, but something in his eyes told us he wasn’t just a weirdo.”

“I know what you mean. – But what was she looking for?” Alexander lifted his face, so his button nose could take in the winter forest scents. The scruffy facial hair made him look as dangerous as he was to his enemies.

“The feeling I had was she really hated Colt, so …”

“But he’s dead, for nearly ten years …”

“Maybe.”

“What maybe?” Alexander asked. “Sir, I’m not a beta, but I feel you need to talk about something.”

“Who was Colt?”

“The White Wolf.”

“Really? My father told me he could transport.”

“Well, he also was a vampire …”

“Those can only transport a couple of hundreds of meters max,” Seb challenged. “We saw that today again.”

“But …”

“They never found their bodies in the rift the Big One opened.”

“Well, they were old …

“Nor the columns …”

“Glass breaks …”

“No clothes, …”

“Are you suggesting they escaped? They were old!”

“Didn’t look old. – I have the feeling Colt hasn’t told us everything.”

“So, you’re saying she was looking for Colt?”

“Yes. Obviously, he isn’t here, but she was sneaking around for info …”

“So where is he?”

Seb giggled. “The better question would be: ‘Who is he?’”

Alexander rolled his eyes. “Of course, Alpha.”

“The where is easy,” Seb put his hand on the big guy's shoulder. Alexander was taller than him, bigger, hairier, dark brown, nearly black hair and big brown eyes. He reminded him of a scruffier Burt.

“I miss them,” his CE suddenly whined.

“Me, too.”

“But we have a job to do.”

“Yes, and you guys did well, Alexander.”

“Good.” They stopped to look over the cliff, the valley of ShadowLands, lit by the moon’s light reflecting on the snow, presenting itself in its full glory. “This pack deserves it. This land needs it.”

“They trained us well. We will prevail.”

“Good, now let’s get home, our mates are already itchy.”

Seb smiled gently. Alexander had met his mate only some months ago, one of Jett’s youngest daughters, with hair as black as a raven’s, and a smile as sweet as the cakes he loved to eat.

His mate on the other side was a different story. “You’re right. Casper is so pissed he has to stay at home and man the drones.”

“Well, you chose a drone-piloting air force officer,” Alexander challenged good-heartedly as if that was the last he could think of as a mate.

“Came in handy today …”

“Yep. Let’s hope we fill the IC soon so we can do it the traditional way,” Alexander suggested.

“Don’t tell Casper; he hates to be the girl …” Seb elbowed the big guy.

“Doesn’t hurt,” Alexander answered.

And both laughed.

“Let’s shift and run home,” Seb ordered.

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

And then Seb stopped, turned around to look down the valley again, and then zooming in on a certain spot, which featured a prominent rock ledge. He thought he had felt something, smelled something. But his wolf senses couldn’t spot anything, so he shifted and joined Alexander to run home. He needed steak, beer, and a rough military fuck.

Colt took Prime’s trembling hand. He knew the pack could not see, hear, smell or notice them in any way, but Prime’s quivering lips suggested he was under stress. “They did well,” Colt repeated.

Prime nodded. “Good strategy, good execution. – He needs a Beta though, quickly.”

“He will find one, we made sure of that.”

“I miss this place.”

Colt nodded.

“And Seb’s a dog tag chaser.” Prime shook his head, pretending to be disappointed, knowing Colt wasn’t innocent.

Colt smiled. “Are we surprised? Quality prevails.”

“You were right, Emma was looking for us.”

The nerd nodded. “She always wanted revenge. Now it’s finally over for her.”

“Good idea from Brian to write that blog.”

Colt nodded. “Let’s go home, Prime. I also want a steak.”

Prime nodded. He turned around to let his eyes skim over the valley once more before he nodded to Colt. He was ready for Fate to transport him home.

He just felt Colt knew bad times were ahead of the young third generation of the White Wolf Pack.