Werewolf control 101

the Norwegian mountains this time of year were topped with snow but the weather was fine and try. Alistair stood on the lip of a valley, Nick somewhere behind or ahead of him. They had three reasons for being here, mainly for the remnants of the old pack led by the alpha that had turned him who lived near here. They were tough, but leaderless. Alistair planned to change that.

But he was also here because if anyone knew about Nick's second transformation, they would. Well, amesbury library might but He couldn't go there and prefered to avoid talking with Angel. He could imagine tension between them considering he was actively gather werewolves for a pack now. He also found her attractive. Given the success of his last few relationships, if outliving people you love could be classed as success, he'd decided to stay well away from her.

The third reason was to help Nick learn to control his impulses and instincts. He was a messed up puppy, but even Kai like him, and he got on well with Jun despite their last encounter. He fit with the coalition, but he needed help to learn to avoid killing people without a second thought. That, and that beastly second form needed to be conquered, if it was even possible.

Alistair looked back to see where the boy was, then continued walking down into the Valley.

Nick was still mumbling under his breath about that stupid racist blond! Well, maybe not racist, but damn it was borderlined harassment! "You know what he put in my locker before we left? Dog Kibble! And let's not forget he told the lunch ladies to give me a frick'in dog biscuit for desert! How the hell did you and Anders deal with that pest?! Everytime we meet he calls me Cujo numero 3 or something like that and goes on and on about the dog jokes...I would have thought he'd run out of steam, but NO! He's still at it!"

The purple-grey haired teen continued his rant about Jun, not being that far behind Alistair...actually, he had a small bone cord hooked into the elder man's jacket. Sorta like a leash. "I need some blackmail on him! I don't know him well enough to stand up to his damn antics! Do you know anything incriminating? Where are we going anyway? Is it far? I'm hungry, do you smell any deer or moose or something semi-close by?"

He would have been annoying if he didn't sound like an innocent little puppy that was a tad impatient. He really did seem cute and cuddly...

Alistair chuckled. "Well Anders stuffed him in a supply closet and locked the door once. That didn't hold him but he did get told off for breaking the door off its hinges." Alistair said. Ok so maybe Jun and Nick didn't get on. "Dirt.. I dont know. He practically cried when Serena kicked him in the nuts. You could use that. Dont kick him though. I dont need you two destroying the building with a fist fight. I'll get blamed."

Alistair just smiled at his questions. "We're going to meet a pack. I'm going to try take over them and bring them back to new york with us, or where ever Kai sends us to protect. Its not much father, they're an old pack, the live in this Valley." He pointed into it. Then he sniffed. "And Anders is back." He said. Indeed the 6'5" werewolf came into view behind them, jogging. He came to a stop near Nick, and though he eyed the boy warily he offered him a still live rabbit.

"Lunch?" He said, letting Nick take it if he wanted it. "Eat up and we can head down there." Alistair said.

Nick scoffed a little. "I've been trying to behave. Most people have avoided me...except him, you, and Anders. I occasionally catch sight of Kai's personal guard and him, but that's about it. The other officers are just too busy. That's not really what I was looking for...I would imagine anyone else would likewise be in tears after a hit like that...and its been established that blondie can beat me...so most we've done so far was glare at each other..."

He did find a little amusing that Anders shoved the guy in a supply closet. He bet the guy joked with Anders with it a bit. Speaking of whom, he came back with a rabbit. The tanned, yellow eyed boy brightened and hugged the giant. He didn't know why the guy was wary of him. But a little voice in his head spoke up, because you're an out of control animal that should be put down.

After thanking the man, he took the dead creature happily and scarfed it down raw. It didn't bother him at all, being a werewolf and all. They walked down to what looked like a quaint little town. The first person they saw, they're eyes widened and jogged up to Alistair. They seemed like old friends...he really didn't get involved, too busy cleaning his mouth and hands...

Anders smiled slightly and patted the boy on the head. Then they headed down into the remote village. It was big enough for a town secluded in the mountains, away from humans. Alistair was as surprised to see the woman who came running up to them as she looked to see him. He was actually stunned for a moment as the woman threw her arms around him. "Its been to long Druid. i didn't expect you to arrive so soon." The woman said to him. He nodded in agreement.

"It has. You look well for someone as old as me." He responded. Even without immortality werewolves aged slowly it seemed. "Nick, Anders this is Amira. She is the wife of the wolf who turned me years ago." He explained. "Its nice to meet you both. I know why your here, Its about the pack, isn't it? You've come to lead us." She said. Alistair nodded. "Ulric always said you'd be back to take the rest of us from him. Well, now he's dead. Some may resist Alistair, but I for one wish I'd gone with you when the pack split. I'm not the only one who agrees." She said.

"I led them to ruin though... And your daughter...." he said sadly. "No, hunters killed your pack, not you. If more of us had gone, they might all be alive." She said. "Or not. Hunters hit us hard too. And recently, a group's been harrassing us." She said. They started walking towards the village. "We'll decide what the fate of this pack tonight. I already know the outcome, but some would fight you. However these wolves are scared. They'll follow you in the end." She said..

Then she looked at Nick. "Alistair tells me your in a little bit of a bind, young one. I know something of your predicament, I too gained a second wolf form, after Alistair left. It can be controlled. Whats more, I am capable of helping you do that better than any other wolf around." She said. Alistair looked shocked. She'd said nothing of the first part to him over the phone. However she did have amazing talents in helping keep wolves in control. she'd been the one to help him learn in the beginning.

"Would you mind going with Amira to learn about your ability? I've got some things to take care of here. Anders will stay with you both if your worried, and also for a little added protection if those hunters Amira mentioned show up." He said. The large man grunted in agreement. If Nick was ok with it Alistair went off to meet with other wolves who'd outlived Ulric, and gain some useful information.

Amira would then lead Nick away from the town and up into the forest. They walked for about half an hour before the reached a clearing in the forest where a stone circle stood. The circle of stones had a large arena like area in the middle of it and the ground was of hard packed dirt. Amira led them into it. "This is the pack's training ground. Because of the danger of hunters right now, no one comes up here. But none of us are normal werewolves and I for one am not worried about hunters. However if you wouldn't mind keeping watch Mr Anders while I talk to nick, i would appreciate it." She asked. The large werewolf practically towered over her, but he didn't argue. He climbed up onto a stone pillar on the edge of the circle and kept watch. "So Nick, tell me everything about your transformation." She said. If she felt he was nervous, he would feel a calming sensation eminate from her, not unlike the alpha influance but also very different.

He stopped cleaning himself when he heard of the hunters and bristled. He lost his parents because of hunters...if they hadn't had killed them, would he still turn out like this? Either way, he really wanted to kill them now. But a new shock was on him when the woman mentioned her own second wolf form. He listened to Alistair and retracted his little bone chain/leash and put it on her instead. But he also tugged on Anders's sleeve.

She led them away. As the she told the man where to keep watch, he took in the surroundings. It was odd to him. She then asked him about his transformation. That was when his nerviousness began...but was soon soothed. He liked the new feeling. He took off his jacket, sweater, button up shirt, and T-shirt so that he was shirtless. Showing her two massive scars, one in his chest, and another where his sternum/ribcage ended. They still looked pretty narly.

Pointing the top one, he spoke. "It was this one that caused it. The other one finished the fight. I was fighting a Coalition officer that I'd met before...we really didn't get on. My...previous Alpha wasn't on good terms with them, and I myself was on questionable terms with them. A fight happened and he had a shotgun sword hybrid thing. With different types of munitions. One of them went through my bone shield like a hot knife through butter and into my chest, as you can see.

It was then the change started. I resisted as best I could, but it was inevitable. I could see, hear, and smell everything, but I wasn't in control. I saw my previous Alpha be defeated, not by Alistair, mind you. Somehow, the new form seperated the shotgun hybrid from the boy, forcing him to start using his powers, kido I think some of it was called, and some form of martial arts.

It was still winning...until the guy had a massive power boost. *points to the lower scar* His fist, consumed in lightning and fire, did this one. He threw everything into it. I turned back not long after. It's been years since I last had no control...I think when I was seven or eight was the last time. Normally, I'm a black werewolf, but this one was more silver, with bone plates. The plates make sense, since I can manipulate my bone structure, the color confuses me..." He started getting redressed.

~

There was talk about the hunters in what was labelled as the Den. Yuri and Connor were there, offering their assitance, for free, to them. The silverrette was in his normal appearance. He went out just to get out of the debate and get some air. It was there he noticed a familiar face walking towards him. "What do you know...the Coalition's Wolf...fancy meeting you here. And I thought only the Amesbury Pack really knew about these guys. Angel's pack is hardcore, and larger, but these guys are whole other level...what brings you here?"

He wanted to make sure the man knew what he was getting into. It was odd to see him here...this pack is relatively peaceful. Aside from their Hunter Problem...

Amira nodded. "I see, most likely brought around by the injury. Has Alistair told you how this form manifests?" She asked. If he didn't she explained. "We were born Alphas, you and I. but because you never had a proper alpha, and no pack to teach you, and I was forced into submission by my husband, our alpha powers found new ways to manifest. Given how rare it is for an alpha wolf to be born, this form is even rarer with our kind. The form also has no official name but I like to refere to it as the Dire State." She explained.

"My normal form is brown but when I go Dire I'm much larger, and for me my fur turns red and I grow sharp spikes all over my back and arms. The first time it happened was about three years after Alistair took half of Ulric's old pack across the ocean. We were attacked by hunters and I was seriously wounded. And then I just lost control. I tore through the hunters and nearly killed Ulric and a few other members. However now, I'm the main force that stands between hunters and this pack since it has no Alpha, and with no danger of me hurting anyone I don't intend to." She said.

She stepped back from Nick. "Focus, and will is the key to control." She said to him. "I want you to transform into the Dire state. When you do, focus on the thought of not hurting me, or anders. I will link with your mind and help you, and if it goes wrong, I can make help you turn back to normal. One of my two abilities is to manipulate a persons emotional state, to make them calm or fearless or angry. Its a little like what Alistair can do but it cant force you to obay me. The other is to force a wolf back into normal state, as long as our minds our linked I can do it. Part of learning to control this is to not fear it. When you think your ready to try and take that form again, you may do so."


Alistair looked up as someone spoke to him. "Mage. I could ask you the same thing. I know about them becuase their deceased alpha is the one who turned me. I lived here, once upon a time. With whats been going on, I've come to take over this pack. It has no Alpha and is lead by Amira who is more than happy to let me take over. I just need to convince the others." He said. "What about you? Here because of the hunters?"

The boy shook his head and let her explain. Again, he bristled at the mention of Hunters. He looked away from her to think. After about five minutes, he made a decision. "I don't think I'll be able to focus properly with Hunters around. Once they're taken care of, then let's try it. Sorry to have wasted so much time coming up here...Hunters...make me nervious...and really hateful..." He growled. He was ready to stain this area with their blood.

He soon calmed down though, and gave the woman an apologetic look.

~

Yuri rose an eyebrow. "Yes and no. We're allies with another pack that's on friendly terms with these guys, but not allies. They're every bit as nervious about them as these guys are. More than that, they're not very strong. I'm not even getting paid to do this. With you here, at least I can take a backseat and just make sure my charge doesn't do anything stupid."

He sighed before continuing. "The other reason pertains to Amira. I guess it was her that helped my childhood friend control his second form, I only really seen him use it twice. Connor is like that too. It happened during training. Thankfully, Angel and I were able to calm him down before he did anything terrible, but he's still a bit spooked.

From what I can tell, you're gonna need all the luck you can get. But if you have history with them, it could be in your favor. But that's just from my observations so far, I could be very wrong. They're debating about the Hunter Problem. I don't know...to me it really shouldn't be a debate. Good luck. I'll stay out here a bit longer...inside is stifling..."

~

Connor was bored to death. He didn't understand why there was this debate. Amira was in control here...surely she had her mind made up. The door opened to reveal a familiar wolf. The teenager rose an eyebrow at him as the place went silent. Looking around, he saw mixed expressions, mostly shock. Some had anger...others looked like they hero-worshipped him.

Amira didn't seem annoyed or anything, she smiled at him. "It's ok Nick. We can wait till the hunters have been dealt with. You'll pick it up more easily, I didn't know the hunters would have you on edge. Besides, the walk up here was a good way for you to get used to me. Now, lets head back down into the town and find Alistair." She said, and offered him a hand if he wanted to hold it.


Alistair nodded. "Atleast someone's looking out for them. I never even got told about hunters when I called Amira." He said. Had he known he'd have been here allot sooner. He despised hunters, something he probably shared with allot of werewolves. "I also came here for Amira. Some things went down near new york involving our captive sinner, who is now a reformed member of society, and her bitch mother. Remember Nick? He's here. Also has access to this second form. I though Amira could help because of her ability to revert werewolves who's mind's she'd linked with, but she can use that transformation too. Even better, right?"

Alistair nodded. "Hunters first, pack issues second. And your right, but remember, not everyone respects Amira as much as they should. The ones who would follow me follow her, the rest want power for themselves. Hunters or no, this might get bloody. Hopefully not deadly though..." Alistair left the mage outside and headed in. His arrival was met with shock, awe anger. and confusion. Some of the member didn't know him mainly because they were born way after he'd gone. Not everyone in this town was Ancient, just most of them. He could hear someone growling and a familiar face smiled up at him.

The growling was coming from an elder wolf who stood at the podium. Alistair recognized him instantly. One of Ulric's seconds, he hate Alistair as much as Ulric had. He would be trouble. He probably seen himself as this packs leader, though If Alistair was correct Amira was the closest thing to an Alpha they had right now. Alistair shot him a growling smile, and sat down next to Connor. The debate continued.


There was a crack, and a bullet hit Amira in the shoulder. She cursed as she spun and hit the ground. As another shot rang out, Anders twisted so his massive form blocked Nick and he was shot in the back. A hunter with a rifle dashed down the hill and fired another shot. Another two followed. The Beta began growling and transformed into a werewolf that outstripped even Alistair in height. "Warn the town. I will deal with him." He told Nick. Amira was back on her feet but looked like she was in pain. "Silver." She said as Anders barrelled across the forest floor and took the hunter out with a shoulder. Claws ripped through flesh and the man died. The other two fired more shots but the Beta was faster, moving towards them. They fell back, and Anders went after them.

Amira started towards the town. "Come on Nick we need to get Alistair. They might attack the town." If he said anything about Anders she would look at the mangled body of the hunter. "He knows what he's doing I think."

Yuri rose an eyebrow at that. He didn't know how long they've been a problem either. "I don't know how long they've been a problem either. Conman and I have only been here two days, so they've been a problem for at least four. At least one lingering issue has been settled. Hope you can set that puppy straight. I wouldn't know, but definitely sounds good to me. Do what you gotta do, man. Remember who you're talking to." With that, he nodded his temporary goodbye. The guy should remember who Yuri was after all...

He stayed out and just sighed, trying to relax a little. He did not like the intentions he was getting from the Den. Then he heard it thirty-five minutes later. It was faint, and he wasn't sure if he heard right. But then there it was again. Gunshots. As faint as they were, he doubted the idiots inside heard it, even with their enhanced hearing. The young man blurred away as fast as he could.

~

Connor really didn't like how Yakov reacted to Alistair. But it was a lovely mix of reactions. He was surprised when the guy sat next to him though to just watch. "Gotta say...never seen someone whose very presence riled everyone up as much as you have. Well, except Uncle Yuri of course. I already have a feeling it's one of those packs...please tell me it ain't so?"

The happy go lucky teen hoped the man caught his drift and understood what he meant. At the answer, he groaned. "One of the first things Ziggy and Angel did was cull those types...it was drilled into our heads that 'a united pack is a strong pack, a fractured pack, no matter how strong the individuals, is a weak pack.' I may not know the entire situation, but it seems like not all of them support Amira...I hope for their sakes you're not here to create more fractures..."

Despite his happy go lucky attitude, Connor was a smart guy and can figure things out quickly enough. He may not be very old, but he was told plenty of stories. He kept the elder wolf company though as the debate raged...

~

Nick returned a sheepish small with a small blush. He took her hand and raised his other one towards Anders. Only for a crack to sound out. Anders blocked another bullet for him, making his eyes widen. He bit his lip as he questioned what he should do. He decided to go with Amira. But first...

"Don't die you jackass!" He yelled at Anders as he took Amira by the hand and left. Only to see a flash of silver run completely past them without giving them a second throught. He didn't know what to make of it, but oh well.

~

Derek watched the transmitters. It seemed one of his boys were taken out. The other two running away to their assigned location. It was a team of eight, now seven. His second was with another three person team on the other side of his outcropping. Next to him was a woman. Their medic, but heaven forbid if you crossed her...she was as good of a shot as she was with a scalpel. But for medical and not so medical applications.

They were almost there. His second was technically the strongest of them, but lacked the leadership skills he did. The duo jumped up and slid on the hill down. Derek and his medic readied their rifles. When the wolf came out, they fired. Only to hit some sort of barrier. Derek looked confused.

What sounded like a hand cannon sounded and blood splattered his face. He saw a blue magic circle appear below his two lads down below and witness their being split in half and skulls crushed by two white orbs.

"Long time no see...what do you say we show this initial force whose boss?" A silver haired man with a pistol walked out of the woods. A mage? He gulped. This was supposed to be an easy scout, trap, and torture routine...

Alistair nodded to Connor. "This was my first pack. Before My alpha powers developed, and half of them followed me across the sea. Some of them remember me, and you can clearly see, some don't like me. They know why I'm here, but no one's going to say it. It's business best left until after this thing with the hunters is done." He said. He didn't answer about what he intended to do. It was obvious.

The debate continued, until the doors suddenly burst open and Nick and Amira came in. Alistair sprung to his feet as Yakov was cut off, and all eyes were on Amira and Nick. The Red head was bleeding, and Alistair went to her concerned. "The hunters are here. Enough of this silly argument. Anyone not able to fight needs to get underground now." She said. Yakov growled. Was he making his move. "I am sick of taking orders from a bitch! I should be in control of this pack, not you, and not your userper Druid!" He shouted.

Voices rose as werewolves sided with either Yakov or Amira. Amira shouted for quiet, but everyone seemed to ignore her. She looked at Alistair, face filled with dismay. This was getting out of hand. And then Yakov lunged across the room at Amira. Every wolf in the room backed off, even Amira cringed away from him as claws went for her throat. Alistair snarled and moved faster than the other wolf could comprehend, slamming him into the ground by the throat so hard he broke the floor boards. His face inches from Yakov's, Alistair growled at him. And the Elder wolf bared his throat.

Silence fell over the room. Alistair stood up, and Yakov went limp on the floor. Next, Amira went to her Knees and bared her throat to Alistair too. Both potential Leaders had submitted to him. He was surprised actually. He'd only meant to stop Yakov, but this changed things. The rest of the pack went down onto their knees, baring their throat to him in submission. Alistair offered Amira his hand and helped her up, and in doing so named her second.

"Stand, all of you. Do as Amira says, get the young and those unable to fight underground." Alistair said. people sprang to life and Amira started shouting orders. "Nick where is Anders?" He asked. He nodded. The Beta could handle himself. He'd survived allot worse. Alistair walked out the door and realised Yuri was gone. Good, if he was with Anders, Alistair had even less to worry about. Alistair looked at Connor. "What do you intend to do? Fight or stay with the others? Yuri's gone to where ever " he said. "Their near the training ground." She said off handedly.


Anders was relieved when the bullets were blocked. He smelled yuri before he seen him and was pleased to see him. A trio of hunters jumped out, two taking cover and firing and the third charging straight for Yuri. Anders tackled the man and they rolled, and next thing he knew he was sent flying through the air. He couldn't even comprehend how. The man was strong. He reached Yuri and pulled a knife, driving it forward, but roots shot up and blocked the knife.

Anders's claws were dug into a tree, and now the roots of that tree were alive and lashing the man. They wrapped around his legs and one slapped him in the face. Another root sprang up under one of the hunters who'd come from behind the ridge and speared him, the other shot and clipped Anders in the shoulder and forced him away from the tree.

Connor stayed sitting when the two burst through the doors. He saw the squirt move to protect Amira, only for Alistair to get the bastard. He and the squirt were the only ones that didn't kneel, but the kid did bear his throat and smiled happily at the man. Interesting...probably already was made pack. He saw the kid take notice of her and the fact the bullet didn't go straight through.

Bone encased the younger teen's fingers as he dug the bullet out as she barked orders. The teen known as Nick answered. "After the hunters that attacked, he got one right away." The kid firmly latched himself at Alistair's side. When he was addressed, Connor stood up.

"It would be in bad form if I didn't help. I was sent here with Uncle to tear them a new one after all. And if he's gone, chances are he heard the gunshots and went to them." The lad planted himself next to the hunting party. It wasn't long when they set out...

~

Yuri took out his knife, ready to meet one of the ones that jumped out, only for Anders to tackle the guy...who promptly flung him up. Wonderful. He used his shine spell to block a bullet and fired his own, netting him another kill. His opponent got to him, but was stalled and slapped as Yuri kicked him and put a bullet in his shoulder joint.

Using acrobatics, he flipped and twirled to avoid getting shot. He saw the man on the ridge next to his dead companion jump from it avoid a root. The guy fired a grappling hook onto the cliff to catch himself. Only for the mage to burn it off with an Eruption spell, that was also aimed at the strong guy. The five of them seemed to be doing the same dance...the two hunters supporting the one and keeping him and Anders on their toes while he dealt with the two of them.

But he looked to be slowly wearing down. Next thing he knew, the other hunter exploded, the other one that was about to stab Anders got a bone spike in the arm followed by a couple of tackles, and the last one backing away from several wolves.

He seemed to be the smart one and dropped his gun...and unstrapped his other weapons and raising his arms in surrender. Connor and Nick showed up with the cavalry. "What? You didn't finish up all these bastards?"

"I wanted at least one alive to interrogate. At least one of them was smart and knew when to quit." He gave a pointed look at the guy, who spoke.

"I wasn't team captain for no reason. Let the last one go without further injury and you won't have to work for information."

The mage looked at Alistair. "Your call. Personally, I wouldn't mind having two people to drill into, but it's not my ball game." He just hoped the other wolves didn't tear him apart before he could work his magic...

Alistair took Nick, Amira, cannor and a few other strong wolves with him, leaving the rest to keep an eye out for a second attack, and they raced through the woods until the arrived at the site of the battle. Their arrival forced the remaining hunter to surrender. He asked for mercy for his remaining man. Amira growled. "Let him go? You monsters trapped and killed an eleven year old boy! As if we'd show mercy where mercy is not due!" She shouted. Alistair put a hand on her shoulder.

"Take them both. You'll talk if you dont want to watch your freind ripped to pieces by a pack of angry werewolves. Besides if we let him go, he'll just come back with the rest of your freinds." Alistair said. Anders grabbed the injured one and threw him over his shoulder, and someone else grabbed their team leader. They headed back to the village.

When they got back, Alistair stopped Nick. "Join the rest of the wolves and keep watch, Anders you stay with him. These wolves are your pack now so its best to get to know them. Amira bring a few of the higher ranking beta's. Yuri's going to get some information, then we're going to figure out our next move." he looked at Connor. "Not giving you orders, but we could use an extra pair of eyes watching the woods, if you and Yuri agree."

Amira showed them to a place where they could question their captives. Then she went off to gather other members of the pack. Alistair watched both men carefully. He had allot of things to ask them and he didn't think they would be so keen to answer. "Ok this is how it's going to work. I'm going to ask you questions. Answer me, or my friend here will do something not so pleasent to you. First, how many are you." He said, and waited.

Derek responded right away to that. "That wasn't my team, after the first time, I stay away from pups." He argued slightly. They didn't take his deal. He was a bit nervious. The mage was going through their stuff, and them. He found their transmitters and destroyed them. Bastard.

Then they went back to the village. Their alpha stopped the youngest of them and told him to keep an eye out with the others. The boy looked at the huge monster carrying his second and was starting to crawl on him, fingers encased in bone? Puppy or not, he searched the guy for wounds and silver that was still in him. He knew that look when he snarled at him before leaving. Yellow eyes, purple grey hair, tanned skin...he looked vaguely familiar. But the kid was wanting to murder him in the worst ways possible.

They were sat down. He heard the one that talked to the mage earlier speak as the man, Yuri, left to get something. "Yuri may be my primary boss, but you can order me around too. I'm here to help after all." The lanky teen also left. Soon, it was him, Shane, the alpha, and the mage. The huge cases, cart, and table worried him.

The alpha started first, but Derek's eyes were on the mage. He took out viles, needles, and other various things. Including...was that a sex toy? What a freak...wait, wasn't he a holy mage? He was pretty sure those were holy spells...

Shane scoffed and stayed quiet. The mage came by with a vial and a needle. He stuck it into Shane after a finding a vain, and did the same to him. At first nothing happened. Then the mage came back with a set of needles, and a jar of clear liquid. With gloves, he dipped a needle into it, then went over to Shane's strapped feet.

Derek was horrified when the mage shoved the needle underneath Shane's pinky toenail. The man screamed and was in tears, face in anguish. "That medication I gave you both? It enhanced your sensitivity to pain. I usually strip you down butt naked, but whatever...something tells me you guys will crack sooner than that. Answer the questions...or I will dip each of these needles into this acid and shove them underneath your nails. Starting with your toes."

The mage looked giddy. But stopped, for the moment. "And you call us monsters..." The mage laughed.

"My dear hunter...humans are the worst monsters of all...Sinners are bad, but they derive from humans. Hollow and arrancar are bad...but they derive from humans...everything leads back to us. As bad as werewolves, vampires, and other supernaturals can be...we humans are so much worse...so before calling them monsters...look in the mirror and analyze our history. And see how wrong you are..."

The mage dipped another needle into the acid. Shane looked at Derek with horror and a pleading look. He never saw him like that before. "There are eight teams, seven now. One has a group of five, the others of eight. Do the math." Shane relaxed a little when the mage moved his acid tipped needle away from his toes.

Derek was ashamed a little...but he wasn't going to let his closest friend be tortured by that sadistic mage! Yuri smiled at the alpha and nodded to him.

~

Nick was pacing back and forth. He really wanted in on torturing those bastards. "I don't know Alpha enough to know how good he is at interrogation...intimdation don't work well on them...but what about that mage?"

Connor answered him. "Yuri was trained in that art by his older brother. Possibly the worst dark sorceror in the world...even when compared to Amarius. Trust me when I say that you do not want to be in there."

"Oh, I think I do..." Connor looked at the younger alpha and shook his head.

"No...you really don't. I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard stories. Yuri has never been able to not crack someone. The end result...is someone more broken and shattered than you are..."

Nick snarled at him and was about to attack him, but stopped himself. Huffing, he went back to Anders, leaning a little at his side, if he wasn't in pain. Connor smiled a little and kept watch. Amira was with them too.

Alistair watched with a face of stone as Yuri went to work. He didn't care what the man did to them. He hated hunters. He hated them even more now that he'd known they'd taken lives Already. They claimed to stay away from pups. When he found the one who did, he'd leave him to the worst fate he could think of, which at the moment would be to let Nick have him. Yuri got him answers."Good. So the 5 man team, is that your leader? And does your leader have a name? Answer quickly before my friend loses his patience."


Anders and Amira listened to the two boys conversation silently. Connor made a derisive comment about Nick's mentality and Anders actually growled at him. "I was tortured by mages for five days. My entire pack was killed one by one for their sick games. Its taken a hell of a lot to pull myself back together. Nick is only a boy, seperated from his parents when he wasn't even old enough to comprehend what had happened to them. Its a miracle he's not worse. Do not dare to pick on him, when you can't possibly know what its like to be shattered inside. In fact, both of you please stop talking about torture. I'm glad I'm not in there watching that."

Amira watched in silence but would be quick to shut them all up if they started misbehaving. She looked between Anders and Nick... Alistair's first pack member in years.. Both were broken inside. It was exactly like the Druid to go out of his way to save them.

Yuri gave Derek a menacing smile. "Alistair, give me some credit...I'm quite patient...and meticulous..."

The hunter gulped. "What you say is fair enough. It was the five man team that took the kid. He's the leader of the group. He burns even me...I sincerely hope that young boy from earlier gets a hold of him. His name is Dean Heartnet." He saw the mage froze, frown, then groaned. He'd obviously heard of him.

"I've heard of this guy. Anti-magic and anti-werewolf...he's a predator. As in child predator...I'd take a thank you note to take him out."

"That's why he burns even me, I'm a father for god's sakes. His greatest weapon is called harpnet...it's a sound based weapon. He's bragged about it, but didn't give details other than that. His second is Bane Loophole. Just as bad as Dean is. Aiden and Felix Surma are murderious punks, not as deadly, but even Shane here has problems dealing with one of them. Their best marksman is Kyle Smith. He's an enigma. Don't give him an opening to fire...it's always been a kill shot.

That team isn't one to go out and attack a trenched in pack though. He'll use the other six to do it. The other leaders aren't very good...they rely too much on ambush and surprise and sheer volume of fire. Effective, but not very efficient they're known to take heavy casualties. But there's a psychopath in there to worry about. Leader of Team 3. Nagisa. It's well known he has his men rigged with explosives for him to sacrifice. It wouldn't surprise me if he did the same to himself."

Yuri looked at Alistair. "He's awfully cooperative. And my Hyper Intuition haven't told me he's lied once. Not even about the pup comment from earlier. I hope you can understand that my HI is arguably better at detecting lies than your hearing and smell..." Derek could tell there was a question the mage wanted to know. And he really didn't want to answer it.

~

Connor rolled his eyes. "Yes, thank you for that reminder...I was there too, you know. As was Yuri. Difference being you and the squirt have someone there to pick up the pieces. If I were ever put in a similar situation, I would too. Difference with Yuri is that there isn't any pieces to pick up after he's done. That's why I wouldn't want anyone to witness him doing his thing. Not even your Alpha, truthfully." The teen walked away a bit, signifying he was done.

He pulled out an elongated hair that turned stiff. The tip burst up like a sparkler. With it, he started playing in the snow a bit. Even if he didn't say it, but he at least partially knew their pain. But instead of hunters, it was the Coalition. He wondered if they knew that...

Alistair listened to what the man had to say. He nodded as the man spoke, and as Yuri said, he also sensed the man wasn't lying. Alistair looked at yuri. "He reeks of fear. Less tight lipped then most hunters. He probably doesn't want to die... This Dean hartnet... Your going to have to take care of him. I could try but even I can't fight sound that well. " Alistair. Then he looked back at the two men. "You shot my second, helped hunters attack and kill members of this pack, children no less. You might not have been involved, but your still here, hurting my pack. Answer the rest of my and yuri's questions truthfully and I'll consider letting you go, when the rest of the hunters are dealt with. You'll be getting of lucky. A long time ago, I'd have broken your legs and ripped your intestines out with my teeth and left you to die slowly." Alistair said with a slight snarl.

"Now. Last question, then answer what ever Yuri has to ask you and you'll be contained for your own safety. Why do you hate my kind so much? Both of you answer." He asked. If one or both said it was for the money, he would rip one or both of their throats out. Money was the worst reason. If they had a real reason, like a wolf actually hurting one of them in the past, he'd leave it at that.


Anders let out a sigh as Connor walked away. He might have been a bit harsh. However Nick was part of his pack now, and though he'd been slightly wary of the boy at first, they shared something in common. However he didn't know what had happened to Connon. Amira on the other hand joined connor who was playing in the snow, kneeling down beside him. She could smell his sadness and soothed it without thinking.

"Do not be to mad at them. I doubt its easy for either of them to trust anyone besides Alistair and each other... Or see others pain." She said. She had heard of what the coalition had done to his pack. "However iff there's anything you'd like to talk to me about, you can. Maybe after we've gotten rid of the hunters of course."

"Fine. Makes sense, because of your advanced hearing. I would also like to know why you're here and working with Mr. Heartnet." Yuri also questioned.

Derek gave a sad smile and answered first. "I have a feeling it's not your kind that I hate. What I hate are others of your kind that takes their beastly forms way too serious...and act on them, targeting innocent people. Self-defense, I can understand. The closest human town from here is missing fifteen people. Three were found...torn to pieces exactly like a werewolf would. In my experience, even an unarmed hunter walking into a relatively peaceful pack's territory often don't net good results for the hunter. Hence my snatch and grab operation that the mage messed up.

One of those people missing is my daughter. She's a reporter. This is my first hunting operation in a full year...since it seemed like most of the packs that I would gladly take on have been eliminated. I was thinking of retiring. Do me a favor and find out what happened to those people..." With that, he went silent.

Shane spoke up next. "Family tradition. We were always hunters. Like Derek though, we only really targeted certain kinds of packs." Yuri pulled out the bone spike still in the man's arm after giving each a different medication, which not only got rid of any sensitivity to pain, but also accelerated their healing. He motioned for Alistair to come out with him.

"Again, truth. Fear may be a slight motivation...but I don't think that was all. They're legitly good hunters...taking out the packs that give the rest a bad name and reputation. I think we should question everyone after we deal with the rest of them...see if they know anything about those missing people...or if a rogue wondered through here. Thoughts?"

~

Nick shuddered at those words. Alright, maybe he had a point. He curled up next to the giant and kept an eye out.

Connor shrugged. "Like I said, I wouldn't want anyone to be a victim of Yuri's. That squirt was too eager to be in on it...I wanted to make sure he knew that there are some things no one should see. I hope we can get along as playmates, though. And I'm fine...it happened a long time ago...did Yuri mentioned the other reason we're here?"

Nick was the first to hear it. An engine. No, five engines. Standing up, bone spikes came out of his body...

"Good answer. If one of the wolves in this pack did something to those humans I'll find out and when I do, I'll punish them. But I don't think it was. More likely it was a rogue, or possibly a hollow or sinner. A rogue wolf might attack a town situated near a pack, because they'd know the hunters will go after the pack." He said. "However I cannot say I agree with your methods. The coalition exists for a reason. You should have notified them, not joined up with Dean Hartnet." Alistair said.. He crossed his arms and glowered at them.

"I have decided what to do with you two. You can go home, as soon as this is over. However i strongly advise you to think before you attack a pack in the future. You might be trying to do some good, but there are others who can find out all the facts before they attack any old pack. Rogue werewolves are a problem but I will point out that the person behind those disappearances could have been an arrancar, hollow, sinner or any other type of werebeast in existance. If you want to do good, consider joining the coalition. "

He looked at Yuri. "Dean Hartnet and his team are considered to dangerous to be left alive. Kill them if needs be. The rest, we'll try and spare, except Nagisa he's also a major threat. We can question the survivors and if decide what to do with them after." Alistair said. He suddenly spun, looking towards the door. It appeared they were on their way.


Amira smiled. "I'm sure you both will. Yes Yuri mentioned why you were here. Nick is also here for the same thing. So you'll both have plenty of time together. Its uncommon to be training a single Alpha with the Dire State, so this should be interesting. But We'll manage." Amira said. Then her head snapped up. Nick had already reacted. The hunters were coming. A hail of gunshots broke the silence as one of the cars they could hear came tearing into the street, a 50 cal mounted on top.

A werewolf was gun down and the weapon turned on them. Before it could fire amira let out a roar as she began to change into a large red wolf with massive spikes protruding from its back, and though she was shot a few times she barreled into the jeep and flipped it like a pancake.

"No arguements there. While you do have a point, not everyone likes a lot of the Coalition's policies, but agree with their existance. They like having freedom to move. After we repel this attack, we should brief the pack." Yuri got outside first, summoning a holy energy blade. In one fell swoop, he cut part of the engine, the tires, and some people's legs.

On the slippery snow, losing both tires was not a good thing. Yuri barked at the group of wolves pouncing at the vehicle. "Capture them if possible! If not, do your worst!" Yuri jumped up to avoid another car. A jeep got flipped over by Amira. "Get away from the jeep!"

Connor was right above the downed jeep, firing an explosive hair. Right at the gas tank. It exploded, hopefully not harming any wolf nearby. Upon landing, the lanky man got hit by a motorcyle. The driver got his head torn off in the process, but did knock Connor down. Then the body exploded, but it didn't harm him any.

Nick had two hunters split in half, and fired two spikes over at a truck, killing the driver. The second one missed entirely. He didn't mind, he leapt, turning into a six foot tall, muscle bound, black beast, landing on the guy on the gun turret and the back.

Soon, there was another explosion as three wolves attacked another hunter. Yuri sped past them. Someone was detonating them. Only for a blade to pop out from under the snow. He didn't even detect them. The man was camoflauged, making it hard for him to see him. Taking out his knife, the two guys dueled.

Nick and Connor sped past them, both in wolf forms. Bone and explosive hairs made short work for the groups as two more explosions rocked. Connor stopped Nick when they say a command vehicle. The blond wolf went in, tearing the side open. A crazed looking Japanese man with a detonator. The explosion took out two buildings nearby, and knocked Nick on his ass.

Connor walked out of there mostly unscathed, he had a few cuts here and there. Shifting back to his human state, he explained to the confused werewolf. "While the explosions do make me partially deaf for a little bit, I'm practically fire resistant and concussive force resistant. In other words, explosion resistant." But he did fall to his knees after that and was panting. He'd need a day to fully heal up again.

After dealing with the ninja, it seemed the pack had caught six hunters still alive. The others, not so much. Yuri went over to the six men and looked around to see if Alistair was around. Or Amira. Or Yakov. Actually, Yakov was there, holding a seventh. Good. Overall, better than he expected. At least on captures. But what about casualties?

Amira backflipped away from the truck, impressive for a large creature, and it exploded. She ran down a man who tried to shoot her in the face, and snapped his weapon in half. She sent him flying with a back hand, knocking him out cold. Anders charged after Nick and Connor keeping an eye on them and at the same time tearing several hunters in half. Vines burst from the earth and trapped more, taking their guns and holding them fast.

Alistair walked out and his head was nearly taken off by a sniper rifle round. The Alpha produced a red spear and threw it with such force it shot back along the path the bullet had taken and pierced the sniper through the chest, killing him. Alistair called the spear back as Amira was side swiped by a massive blast of sound that sent her flying into a building. She crawled back out, then fell unconcious as another hunter ran at her with a large sword.

Alistair cut his hand and threw his spear, and lightning blasted the hunter before he could bring the sword down on her. The other one, most definately Dean Hartnet, looked at Alistair, then turned and Ran. Where was Yuri? Alistair took his partial transformation and went charging after the man, who lead him into the forest. He wasn't going to let that bastard escape.

The six foot tall man ran for the rally point. He didn't think Nagisa or Derek would fail to get results. He also wasn't expecting Smith to go out like that...this wolf was different to others. It partially transformed, chasing after him. What an idiot...he was only using part of Harpnet...the real deal was stronger. He popped some silver laced smoke bombs to slow the guy down as he was catching up.

Dean got into position, out in the open with snow banks all around. Waiting for the wolf. If he followed him out and charged him, a four way sound burst would happen, restricting the wolf's movements severely and damaging him...

~

Yuri found Amira. She seemed ok, but had a wolf take her to the medical ward. Looking at the tracks, the silverette followed them. And soon found a dead body of a sniper. Huh...guess they decided to change things up and forgot to tell Derek. The mage followed the footprints, slowly.

He'd had the prisoners bound and thrown in the jail. Connor was fine, but needing a day to rest. Nick was fine too.

Alistair ran right into the trap. The harpnet blasted him and damn it hurt, brought him down to his knees. The hunter wasn't likely to see him direct magic circles towards the places the sounds were coming from, but he did, and blasted them all with a bolt of lightning. Carmine fell from the sky, imbedding in the earth next to him and he snatched it up, leaping forward out of the attack before it could go off again.

Alistair spotted the man and cut his hand, launching a ball of fire 5ft across at the hunter, then before could react he cast his earth spell, launching up 100 long spikes of earth from beneath him. If he was still alive, Alistair got in close to avoid him using that gun again, and stabbed at him with his spear, trying to take one or both of his legs out. If he managed that, he tried to disable the man's arm's next.

Bastard can use magic when not in wolf form? Interesting...he'll be fun to take down. The lightning interrupted his weapon and the man charged him with a spear and a seal forming underneath him. From Dean, a smoke screen appeared, scattering the magic seal and the reiatsu in the flames, completely negating both. The smoke didn't last long though.

But he was also much closer. The killer flipped over the spear, aiming a kick to the head before landing. Wires from underneath the snow also appeared, trying tangle up with the spear. If successful, it would electrocute the man. Two others came at him from the front, wielding blades. Just as they were about to strike, a gunshot rang out. Both combatants fell to the ground with half of their skulls missing.

A second shot rang out, hitting the guy in the snow. If the wires got him, they would turn slack and the electricity would stop. Dean didn't know what hit him when he got into a sleeper hold of some sort. One that took only seconds to work.

"You know...it's not often I meet a couple of people that can circumvent my Hyper Intuition...but there were three in this group, and the third messed up enough for me to get him." The silverette started stripping off the knocked out man's equipement. After shoveling it all in a pile, he did a pair of Judgement spells to destroy most of it. The Harpnet weapon was still in working order. "You got that?"

Yuri did use the man's own handcuffs and other similar equipment to tie him up. The mage also punched him a few times and would offer Alistair that chance, suggesting to leave him alive only for Nick to finish him off to set an example of what would happen if their prisoners didn't cooperate. If it happened, he would make his way back to the village.

The mage asked Alistair if he could get the prisoners out here. If so, he would speak to the seven people, surrounded by wolves. Nick was near by, curious. Dean was also awake by this point too. "This is Dean. *points to Nick* That is a very pissed off werewolf pup. This is what will happen if you do not cooperate. *looks at Nick* Sick'em."

The pup grinned as wide as he could, turned, and left nothing but a red paste on the ground. Blood splattered on Yuri's clothes and face and on some of the hunters and wolves there. Some of them even whistled at the brutality of it all while a couple of the hunters threw up. He nodded at defered to Alistair for orders on what to do with them. He also mentioned going to the medical ward to help out.

~1 Day later~

Yuri wanted to see Alistair to give him his report. "Good news...only seven fatalities. Bad news, there were fatalities. With a force this large and everything, I'd expected more. Three are in critical condition...would've been lost if I didn't do surgery on all three at the same time. I'm still keeping a close eye on them. Most others got minor to moderate injuries, nothing some rest and medical fluid can't help with. One got a severe case of silver poisoning...he's resting over there, but he's out of the woods for now...give him a good week before letting him move out of here. Connor should be good to go when he wakes up...oh you gotta see this..."

Walking over to where the lanky teen was, he pulled back the curtain to show Nick curled up on the boy's lap and chest, snuggling and both of them sleeping. "If that don't tug at your heartstrings, then you're a heartless man." He took a picture of the scene. He was not gonna live this down.

Closing the curtain and sitting back down, Yuri spoke up again. "Once I'm sure those three are out of the woods and on the way to recovery, which may help if you use your Alpha healling on them, I'll go to town to see what I can find on those missing people. Anything interesting cropped up?"

Alistair cursed as the guy nearly got him, almost kicking him and trapping him with wires. Alistair dropped the spear as the two other hunters came at him and ripped one's heart out as a gunshot took the other's head off. then it took the heartless fella's head off too. Yuri caught the guy, knocking him out. Alistair didn't oblige punching him, he'd have beaten the guy's head to mush if he started. They headed back to the town.

When they got there, Yuri brought out the prisoners. they were questioned, and then Nick was set on Dean. Alistair felt a good deal of satisfaction watching the man scream. He deserved every bit of it. The others, the one's who hadn't actually managed to kill a werewolf were set free, under the condition that they did not do something like this again. Their guns were taken and destroyed, and Alistair sent Anders and a few others to escort them back. Regardless of what the others felt, the Beta was more than enough to keep them in line and make sure the men made it back to the human town safely.

-Next Day-

Alistair was in the medical area helping out with his ability to heal. He didn't shirk his duties when it came to that. Yuri appeared and explained somethings, including the casualties and how most people were recovering. Alistair kind of wished Serena was here, she could help out in the healing. Yuri showed him where Nick had gotten to, the young werewolf was curled up next to Connor. He smiled. "Its good to see him doing so well." Alistair said.

Alistair nodded. "I'll get to them next. I've been helping a few of the less badly injured heal. Also getting to know the ones in the pack I've never met. I asked around, talked with Yakov a bit. He's heard some rumors of a werebear being in the area. I'm hoping thats not true, as solitary as they tend to be their very dangerous. It would make sense considering the condition a few of those people were found in."