Gathering and Hunting

Myranda felt almost helpless as she listened in on the plans of the trio that sat together on her left side. However, they were spewing so much intel without realizing it, and she wanted to stay a little longer.

Instead of jump into her plan right away, she played dumb and looked towards the right as though she hadn't noticed the blood suckers.

"I'm hungry - please let me hunt her."

"Shush. Let's wait until Silas brings more. I like it when they scatter."

"Why? This one is easy pickings. I'll eat this one, and you two can have the next ones..."

"What if there are no next ones?"

"Then we can share this one. It won't be much, but its better than starving. The Queen says she has a solution, though. We won't have to snack on these little morsels for much longer. The werewolf king is more than happy to join our cause for immunity."

"I'm hungry, I'm about to go into a frenzy if I don't taste that wolf's blood right now."

"Darius, shut up. You're not helping my hunger pangs, either."

"Seriously, your whining is making me want to eat you myself."

Myranda tried to catalogue what she had heard -- Silas was making an alliance with more than just the vampires. He was going to side with the ferals entirely. He was willing to sacrifice their pack for comfort and safety. Anyone with half a brain knew that dealing with the ferals was fool hearty. They always turned on each other when the food dwindled. To sacrifice their own kind for a temporary fix was far beyond unacceptable - it was just disgusting.

To continue her charade, she brought her paw up to her nose to 'scratch' it, but really she was just buying more time in hopes they'd keep talking.

"Is that one deaf or something?"

"Hey! Tsk tsk -- over here!"

"Shhhh, what is wrong with you?"

Myranda just ignored them as though she heard nothing and stood to shake her fur out as though she knew nothing of the world around her.

"Look - she's deaf. Gah. No fun. I wanted to scare it..."

"You still can, just... throw stuff at it?"

"You're an idiot, Darius."

So they were plotting on far more than just their kingdom? She wanted to hear more, but her time ran out as she heard the sharp nails of the trio if vampires start to claw at the wood they were perched on. Their breathing had picked up, and now their hearts had elevated beats that indicated they were ready to strike.

Myranda would get the head start, though and bolted off in the direction she had come from.

"She must have seen you - come on!" Myranda heard as they immediately followed her in the form of giant winged beasts. They looked like a mix of a hound and a bat, and their eyes were red, yellow, and white - all three of which glowed diabolically in the surrounding night.

They were fast.

...but she knew she could be faster if she put her hind legs into full force. Luckily it hadn't rained in a while, so it was easy for her paw pads to grip the earth as she pushed herself along the ground at lightning speeds.

She vastly underestimated their speed, though and they caught up to her faster than she'd like. Unlike the up-siders, the tunnel dwellers didn't know anything about the other cultures. How was she supposed to know they were going to form into giant...bat hounds...?

The spotted wolf would have to bow her head here and there to avoid dive-bombs from the trio - but it wasn't helpful in the slightest as they were able to scratch her skin open. Now they could track her scent if they lost her in the trees.

That wasn't good.

Her heart pounded against her chest so hard that it was starting to actually hurt as her adrenaline started to wear out. With all the training she and Metas had done earlier, she was so tired as it was, and now the energy she so desperately needed was depleting into nothing.

'Metas, Metas, Metas - please please please run to me' she thought desperately as she got closer to the small fire her group was sitting around. She could barely see the glowing in the distance, but it luckily gave her another boost of speed and vitality.

She ran closer and closer to the golden glow, and was running out of stamina the closer she got. Luckily, she didn't have to run alone anymore as Metas, Jyriah, Ajax, Veltar, and Lara came as a fierce force together up towards her.

"What is this!?" one of the vampires screeched out.

"Hunting time!" the deranged voice of who Myranda thought was Darius came dripping from the open maw of the large creature as he got so close to Myranda she could feel his cold body ice the air around her.

"Darius, you're an idiot! Don't-" the female was cut off as her compatriot seized Myranda for just a moment with his long, grossly muscular arms clutching her tight.

It only lasted one victorious second before Metas flew into the air and tackled the enemy that dared touch his Luna with such a force that it knocked the breath out of the vampyric creature when it hit the ground on its back.

The wheeze that left its lungs made Metas smile in cruel satisfaction. He went in for a bite at the monster's jugular, and was almost stopped by the female of the trio, but Lara took care of her quickly as her paws jetted her into the air and intercepted the descending bat before she could get her nasty little claws on her Alpha.

"Don't touch my king," Lara roared and brought her teeth down on the wing of the flailing bat-hound.

"Who? Your king was the one who let us hunt here!" the female vampire argued.

"Silas is no king. Metas is the true king," Jyriah grunted as he came to his sister's side protectively.

"What are you talking about!? He let our Queen into the mountain and everything. I don't see you in the king's chair" she snarled and snapped at Lara's face who easily had been able to pull her snout away.

"He did what!?" the collection of wolves growled out in near-perfect unison.

"Hahaha, you don't know? How can you call yourself a king?" the female taunted and turned her yellow eyes to Metas' golden ones that weren't even paying attention to the woman.

"This is how," he replied with a thunderous growl in his words as his jaws clasped onto the throat of Darius who had still not been able to fill his lungs entirely in the first place.

"What are you doing!? Let him go!" The female let out in terror.

"Huh. I didn't know you could feel anything other than the cold kiss of death," Ajax said with no pity in his words.

"Of course we do, you idiots! Don't kill him - don't! Please. We'll leave. Darius and I have been together for centuries. He's my brother - I beg you, don't kill him! I'll go back and tell the Queen everything. I'll even tell her to confront Silas. Just let him go!" she pleaded as the wheezes of her brother could be heard beneath Metas' teeth.

"Metas....let him go..." Myranda pleaded from behind him, still trying to catch her breath.

The female vampire pulled back the beast she could become back into her body and put her hands up in surrender beneath Lara's beautiful snow-white coat. "Just let my brother go."

The third beast had gone somewhere - but no one cared where, since the stench of the trio had lessened with him gone.

"Metas. Let him go," Jyriah echoed his sister, and sounded pitiful as he did.

The alpha glared at the orange eyes of the beast underneath him, but did not letup from his position.

"Darius, transform into your mortal form...just - we can find something else to eat..." the female pleaded as she looked to her brother underneath Metas' weight.

The male did as instructed and shrank down into his 'human' shape as he stayed as still as possible as to not cause alarm.

"Metas, please - its almost not their fault. Don't make her live without her brother, please" Myranda called out again. Maybe it was pity, maybe it was empathy from having lost her sister - but whatever the reason, it wasn't sitting right in her stomach to execute those that thought they had permission to hunt here.

The alpha waited just a bit longer as he thought about the ramifications of killing him vs letting him go. It made more sense to let him go, and have he and his sister go validate Metas' authority. His glare softened on Darius' neck and he pulled away gently and slowly, keeping his eyes locked with the vampire below him as he backed off.

"Th..thank you," the female breathed out in relief.

"You're just lucky is all. Thank my sister for the mercy. Thanks to Silas, she's dead - and the last thing she'd want is for me to punish someone over not knowing the truth of the matter. You can repay us by telling your leader she's being tricked into war. When Metas regains his position, I have a feeling it would be best to be on his good side," Myranda replied coolly, and far more evenly than she though she could since her whole body shook from the pursuit.

"Done. I can't control her response, but I'll tell her. I'll tell her everything you want me to," the female offered.

Darius had become silent as his wounds healed slowly.

"Tell her that the real Alpha and his Luna will not tolerate you hunting here anymore. Should she have an issue, she can take it up with the usurper. His authority will dwindle soon, trust me" the alpha replied with a deep growl of warning.

"He said you were dead. I'm happy to report otherwise. Can we go now? We're done here," the female hissed more angrily than she realized.

"Go. Don't come back. If I see you again, I'll rip your wings off without a second thought" Metas warned.

"Okay, okay - we get it. Let him go" she said one more time.

Metas and Lara shared a nod and stepped off of both of the intruders so that they could get up.

"Sorry Alpha, Luna" the female said and shakily bowed to Metas and then Lara.

"Hah. I'm not the Luna. She is," Lara said and stepped back so that Myranda could limp forward to sit at Metas' side.

"Oh hell. I'm sorry," the female repeated and gave a soft bow to Myranda.

"Just go. Now." Myranda said pointedly and leaned against her strong alpha male.

Without a word the two siblings left the pack of wolves with haste. They certainly sent a message, and what they didn't know is they had also sewn a small favor with the mysterious vampire whose brother they spared.