The tribe and the pack

A storm was gathering when Kayla and her family arrived at the port in Forks town. The rain was already coming down in light drizzles as they got on the ferry to cross the lake and arrive at the country house of the leader of the wolf pack, where the quarterly ceremony was held every year.

They met a number of witches from the tribe as they got on the boat. They all greeted excitedly, as most of them had not seen for most part of the year. Most of them only met during the quarterly meetings like this, which was one of the reasons why the ceremony was enacted in the first place.

The alliance between the witches and the werewolves had been formed for over hundreds of years, when they had one common enemy to overcome. The tribe and the pack had to form an alliance because their enemy wasn't just the vampires, as it usually was. But this time, it was a combination of the vampires, an army of werewolves who had gone rogue, and a number of very powerful dark witches, who possessed powers beyond imagination.

Before the attack, both the tribe and the pack had lived in the same land, but they were never really allies, even though they were not necessarily enemies either. But when they heard that the 'great army of evil' was matching towards their land, they knew better than to try and fight alone. Thus, the alliance was formed.

After defeating their enemies, the werewolves and the witches remained in the alliance, strengthening it even more. But when the new world came, and people who didn't understand their ways and their powers began to fill up the land, the alliance had to adjust their ways to fit into the continuously changing world.

The quarterly ceremony had become necessary when the rapid development and growth of the new city that the modern men had built, forced the werewolves and the witch tribe to move further into the city and spread farther apart in order to keep up with their new lifestyle. When the leader of the wolf pack at that time, saw that the alliance was slowly loosing touch and that the distance was making their bond weak, he proposed a plan to the head of the witch tribe. A plan which would solve the problem of the bond that was slowly diminishing among the tribe and the pack.

The leader suggested that a quarterly ceremony be held every year, where the wolves and witches would come together to bond and keep the alliance alive.

The head of the witch tribe accepted this suggestion, and since then, the ceremony had been held every year for over a hundred years now. And by that effort, the alliance remained strong.

For over a hundred years, the witches and werewolves had converged at the home of the leader of the wolf pack, at the end of every quarter in the year to celebrate and reaffirm their loyalty to themselves. During this ceremony, the older generation got to meet up and catch up on old times, while the younger generation were introduced to themselves, setting the foundation for the next line of both the tribe and pack to bond and maintain the alliance. It was an opportunity for members of the tribe and pack who lived far apart in the city and even beyond, to meet up and catch up. The alpha's suggestion had kept the alliance alive and thriving over the years, just as he had hoped.

Kayla looked up at the grey mansion as they made their way into the large compound. She felt a pang of pain anew, just as she had felt every time she had to come here.

"Another night of pure torture." She muttered to herself. "Why am I even here?" She wondered.

Kayla wished she didn't have to go in. She wished she could turn around and walkaway without being noticed. But she knew better. Her grandmother's keen eyes was sure to catch her if she dared to go away. Now that she was here, she wished that the sky hadn't been clear. She wished that a storm would have come. A typhoon infact, and then she wouldn't have to attend. But then, she knew that was impossible, as they had powerful elders in the tribe who could easily contain the weather if a typhoon did come.

"Kayla." Kate called to her. She looked up at her sister and realized that she had zoned out for a while, and had just stood there staring brainlessly. "Are you coming or what?" Kate asked, eyeing her curiously.

Kayla sighed and braced herself as she moved at last, walking sluggishly as they all began to make their way up the cobbled yard to the entrance of the mansion.

"Kayla!" A shrill voice called out to her and Kayla knew who it was even before she turned around. It was Tiana, her best friend. Or better put, her formal best friend.

The two of them had grown up together in Kirkland and they had been best of friends as kids until Tiana had moved to California a few years back, to become a movie star. Now, Kayla only got to see Tiana on her television screen and during the quarterly ceremonies, because even though Tiana was now a big star in the movie world, she never missed any of the quarterly meetings. She would rather cancel all of her official engagements to attend the meeting than miss out on it. Unlike the other young girls, Tiana did not attend the meeting for the 'hot wolf boys'. She attended purely out of love, devotion and loyalty to the alliance.

"Tiana." Kayla cried as she opened her arms to receive Tiana's embrace. The latter ran into Kayla and they held on to each other for a moment, jumping around in a circle, like gay little girls.

"Hey, let's stop jumping now. My extension might come off. I had a very difficult time getting this on." Tiana said as she let go of Kayla and adjusted her hair.

"Okay." Kayla giggled.

"I missed you so much!" Tiana said, reaching out again to hug Kayla close as she couldn't hold herself back.

"I missed you too." Kayla replied, returning the hug.

Kate came up to them to greet Tiana too. They had all been very close as little girls.

"Hey, Tiana." Kate said, reaching out to embrace the girl.

"Kate!" Tiana screamed as she held Kate in an embrace. "You look as lovely as ever." She said when she pulled away from the embrace to look Kate up.

"Thank you!" Kate blushed. "You too." She complimented Tiana in return.

"Thank you." Tiana smiled. "I see your little sister is wearing the same dress from last time. I wonder, is it that she has decided to make this dress into some kind of a uniform for the ceremony or is she trying to get noticed for having only one dress?" Tiana asked Kate directly as if she had forgotten that Kayla was still standing there with them.

"I'm standing right here, you know." Kayla said.

"She's hopeless." Kate said, putting her hand over her mouth to whisper at Tiana as the two of them continued to ignore Kayla.

"Hey, I'm still here!" Kayla cried.

"I know right?." Tiana said as she took Kate's hand and they began to move towards the mansion, leaving Kayla behind. "She is out of touch with the present. I bet she is still stuck in the past with our ancestors." Tiana said and the two of them laughed.

"In the time before the great war, I tell you." Kate said and they giggled again.

"Hey! I said I am here!" Kayla cried as she began to run towards them, but then she tripped on the skirt of her dress and almost crashed to the floor. But she was caught midway as she fell into the arm of someone.

She looked up and the most impossible person was staring into her face, holding her from crashing onto the ground.

It was Ralph, the alpha and leader of the wolf pack.