Dylan groaned as he rolled over on the soft bed he’d been sleeping in for the past couple of days. A hotel, just about a mile from the mansion where the huge ball was to take place that night. He wished he could have stayed in his cave, but his partner had said it would make things too difficult. It was only seven that morning, but he couldn’t sleep anymore and got up. He walked out onto the balcony, looking towards the city. Civilization had definitely changed since the last time he had lived in it actively. This was becoming the Era of technology , and it was sad to see. It was like no one could do anything without it anymore. The day before he walked into a store and asked for a map and the young clerk had given him a funny look. Apparently now everyone navigated the world with GPS. It was a shame.

After a few minutes he headed back inside, having to duck to go in and out. That was getting extremely annoying too. He turned on the coffee pot in the room before he went into the bathroom and hopped in the shower. The water was never hot enough for him either. At least the small spring in his cave he could make boil when he wanted to. He didn’t spend much time in the shower before he got out and got dressed, looking at the clock. It was nearly 8:30 by the time he was dressed and began heading down stairs. He was supposed to be meeting up with his partner, Tabby, at 10 and he wanted to at least eat some breakfast before he headed out to meet her.

The best thing about this hotel was their breakfast bar, he had to give them that. They had plenty of fresh fruit and bacon and eggs and whatever else he could ever want just sitting there for him to take. He made his plate up before he sat down and began eating, looking around at the others there. There were a number of others who would be in attendance at the ball later that night, the males only being given away by the high maintenance females they had. Luckily, Dylan didn’t have to worry about that with Tabby. They would meet at the ball.

He had finished his breakfast relatively quickly before he headed back up to his room and grabbed a few things as he headed out into the town. He needed to pick up his suit by 9:30, but that was alright, as it was on the way to where he was supposed to meet Tabby. He was honestly surprised he found anyone with a suit large enough for him, being 6’7” tended to make wardrobe a bit harder to come by. He looked at his watch and let his strides shorten he had plenty of time, and what was the point of rushing. After tonight, nothing would be the same and he wanted to drink in all of what the chaos to come would devour.

--

Shayne sighed as she sat in the large window that overlooked the city. Very few had already been allowed in the mansion, but since it was her witch coven that offered to decorate and cast protective measures, Shayne had been there since the night before. She ran her fingers through her dark locks and then flipped the page in her book. It had been quite captivating. Dark secrets, hidden affairs, some very well written parts that made her blush every time she read them. Romance novels had definitely taken a more sensuous turn as she had found out from one of the elders in the coven.

“Shayne! Breakfast is ready!” a voice called, and she marked her page and headed down the stairs and saw a few more witches sitting at the table. She quietly made her plate and sat down and began eating. She had been extremely grateful that the coven took her in, but all the same, she hated how they always insisted on eating meals together.

“Shayne, will you still be helping me to place the protective enchantments?” the eldest woman asked her and Shayne nodded.

“Yes, elder Selma.” She answered, taking a bite of her food and she saw the woman smile.

“Thank you. I’m sure the host will greatly appreciate the efforts all of you are putting up, I know I do.” She said, a warmth radiating off of her.

Shayne just nodded and finished up her breakfast before heading up the stairs and getting dressed. At about 4 was when they were all supposed to start getting ready to attend the ball, but they all had their own things. A couple of the girls were going to pick up the dresses and masks as well as a few other errands, and Shayne was staying behind with elder Selma to prepare the mansion for that evening. Then she would go out into the city park and read until she had to come back to get ready.

Today was going to be a good day, she kept telling herself, it would be a good day.

--

This not being out in daylight thing was becoming annoying, Elise noted as she sat in the darkness of the room she was sharing with one of her vampire friends. With a sigh, she took a long sip of her blood – wine mix and closed her eyes. It was barely 8 in the morning and she was still drinking. She had to admit, she did love the tolerance that came with being a vampire.

“Elise, you still wearing that royal blue dress ?” her friend asked and she gave a nod.

“That I am why?” she asked and the girl let out a huff.

“I was hoping we could have traded. I don’t want to wear the red.” She said and Elise shook her head.

“I look horrible in red, so no.” Elise said before she got up and laid on the bed, pulling the covers over her and sighing. “Besides, you and I need beauty rest, so let’s just get some sleep and wait until we can do things without worrying about the sunlight.”

The girl groaned and flopped in the bed besides Elise’s. “this sucks!” she exclaimed and all Elise could do was nod in agreement. It had been the hardest adjustment she had had, and that’s including the fact she still had some issues with bloodlust.

“Go to bed, Jade, I don’t want to hear you all day,” she groaned ad she flopped on her back.

Nope this was definitely going to be a hard adjustment.

Today was going to be a lovely day, at the moment it was still rather early. However, it seemed like it would be bright and sunny. It was almost a shame they had chosen this day to have this stupid ball to prove that all races were weak. It was almost an insult that the witches were looked at in such a way that they were offered to help set up, and of course elder Selma and the others jumped at the chance. Because why not? Any chance to go to a fancy party, yes?

Oh well, its going to be a pretty day to work the last of things with Dylan. The short brunette thought to herself as she sat in the large window, her dark brown eyes looking out into the garden area that her room faced. It really was a shame that the coven couldn't have a mansion like this one, maybe after the war though. After all she had no doubt the witches would be the ones that won the war. Of course Dylan would likely disagree, but he really liked his cave.

She could hide him from the other witches, keep him safe. Tabitha sighed a little rolling her eyes at herself. When she had met her little dragon friend, her plan was simplely to use him for her own gain, but damn him, he had grown on her a bit. She was pulled from her thoughts however, as someone knocked on her door.

"Tabitha, breakfast is ready!" A voice called through the door, and Tabby ran a brush through her hair quickly before stepping out as the same witch yelled down the hall at Shayne, Tabby's eye lingered down the hall from her for only a moment as she headed down the stairs. Making her plate quickly she sat rather quietly listening to the conversations going on around her. The elders always insisted that they have meals together, and while it felt a bit taxing at times, growing up in the coven she barely even thought of it as anything but normal. After all, they were sort of a family. "That's fine dear, you can help Tabitha get the dresses."

She had honestly been listening the conversation about the protection spells, and the few others she thought could be useful, that she had barely even heard her name being said. Her eyes looked towards who had said it, to see one of the elders talking to Guinn whose miscasting of a spell a few days ago resulted in breaking an arm. For a moment she didn't answer, before giving a small smile. "Yes, you can take the closer store darling. They said t'would be ready by twelve." She answered, honestly it was a good thing, that would leave her more time to talk with her partner.

By the time Tabby had finished eating breakfast and gotten dressed, she glaced at the clock it was 8:25 and she sighed at how long the breakfast had taken as she slipped her heels on. She needed to get used to wearing heels both for the dance tonight seeing that she always wore flats. Though also there was the fact that she was only 5'2" and it made her feel less 'cute' having to stand next to that freaking giant. She stuffed a few papers into her bag before she left the mansion to get the dresses and meet Dylan.

It was about 9:45 when Tabby got to the park where she told him to meet her. Hopefully with it being an open spot they would draw less attention to themselves. Her eyes scanned the park a bit before she was sure he wasn't there, but she didn't pay much attention to it seeing that she was early. Sitting on one of the benches she crossed a leg over the other pulling a bit on her jean skirt and unbottoning the button down shirt she wore over her undershirt, before letting her head tilt back enjoying the sun.

---

"Are you sure that we shouldn't just blow up the mansion? It will kill a lot of them. Less to have to hunt." The question got a lot of dirty looks, and Oliver was really happy about that. It was one of the stupidest suggestions being thrown around at this meeting. Which was saying a lot, seeing that there had been one to gather up all the humans in town and hold them against their will.

"Okay, lets say we do that." The attention in the room turned toward him, the others in shock. "What do we tell the familes of the humans that we kill along with them? Your plan makes you sound as much a monster as the ones we hunt." The sound of hushed mutters filled the room as the woman across the long table glared at him.

"At least I don't want to go eat and dance with those monsters. How can you call yourself a hunter if you want peace with those things?" The mutters only seemed to get louder as Oliver actually let a small chuckle out.

"Oh no. Peace is such a horrible thing. Let's murder the people we are trying to protect instead."

"And who the hell are you trying to protect?!"

"The innocent people you are trying to kill!"

"Enough!" The leader shouted over Helen and Oliver's, now shouting match. His head in his hand for a moment as the whole room quieted. "First off, we are not going to blow up the mansion. Even if that was a good idea, which it isn't." Oliver shot a look towards Helen. "All that would do is bring the creatures to peace long enough to come down on us. Hunters and humans both."

Helen opened her mouth to speak but was completely cut off as their leader turned his attention to Oliver. "Secondly, of all the moronic ideas, Oliver's seems more intelligent. He and a small group will go to the party and if anything gets out of hand, they will handle it."

---

A knock on the door was what woke the brunette male, and his blue eyes looked at the clock before he sniffed the air and stretched. It was just past 8 in the morning and he already regretted agreeing to go to this ball tonight. He loved his peace and quiet, hell he even managed to stay out of any of this stupid fighting by staying out of the way in his quiet little cabin far in the woods. He could give less of a fuck about this.

The knocking on his door turned into a pouding, and Chris growled a little at the noise before getting up off the floor. Where he passed out on the floor after his run last night. He rubbed a hand down his face as he answered the door, getting a welcoming smile from the woman on the other side before she gasped and covered her eyes. "Oh my god, dude put on some pants!" She shouted and a slight smirk came to Chris's lips.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't pound on my door Shela." He said fighting a laugh as he headed into his room and got dressed.

"Sorry I forgot that you're a ass that can't get dressed before you open the door!" She said getting a laugh from Chris as he came back into the living room. "Did you get your mask yesterday?" She asked sitting a box of doughnuts on the counter. Chris took one of the doughnuts as he hopped up to sit on the counter and pointed to the box on the table. Watching as his friend opened the box looking at it before giving him a look. "You bought a wolf mask?"

Chris nods a bit. "It looks pretty awesome right?" He said with a bit of a proud smile. He had looked for the last week for a mask he liked before finding this one that he actually liked.

"Yeah its cool but, the point of this being a masked ball is that we all hide who and what we are."

Chris let an annoyed growl out. "Yeah, but I like that one. I looked for a fucking week. And what does it matter? If a vampire, shifter, or dragon smells me they'll know."

Shela growled back at him. "You might as well wear a collar that says "Werewolf" on it Chris."

"Actually, I was thinking Lassie would look better." He shot back before getting a look between dirty and worrying he was seriously going to wear a collar that said Lassie on it. "So we going for a run or what?" Chris asked before stuffing the rest of the doughnut in his mouth. Watching as Shela sighed and went into his room to shift.

Dylan remembered once again why he hated human establishments. They were too slow for other humans, so why did he expect them to at least seem faster to him? Of course not, the seemed slower. He had even gotten to the shop a little early in case it was done. The old man had gone into the back about five minutes ago. "You said Eriks?"

"Erikson." He corrected the old man impatiently. Dylan was sure his suit was the only one meant for a giant in that store. Hell, the next tallest person he had seen was still at least a head shorter than him. He stood at the counter and when the man came back, he signed the papers and headed out. He lookes to his watch. It was now 9:45 and he knew it would be at least a ten minute walk.

He brought the bag with his suit over his shoulder and walked, his long strides working to his advantage. Hed be to the park in no time and he would be able to help finalize the plan for the night. The details shouldn't be too hard to figure out, but he hoped it would take a little while because it was such a beautiful day... So beautiful in fact he was still fantasizing about his cave. And a nice dip in the spring. That would be divine.

He for into the park, he still had a few minutes before he was supposed to meet Tabby, but he spotted her quickly and he smirked a little. Such a fearless little ball of fury she was. If she hadn't shown a complete lack of , he would have tried to burn her alive, but she damn near off his dragon form. He for over to her and sat on the bench before he spoke. "Enjoying the sun, little bit?"

He didnt know why he called her little bit, but he did. It wasn't just because of her height either. He looked at her and sighed. "A beautiful day isnt it?"

--

Shayne was relieved once breakfast was over and everyone started heading out to complete their tasks before the ball. It wasn't that she didn't like them, but they tended to put her in edge. Especially Tabitha. She liked Tabitha well enough, but something had always seemed a bit off about her. She sighed a bit and smoothed out her t-shirt before she met elder Selma in the main ballroom where plenty of people were scurrying around to set up.

"There you are, dear." Selma spoke, waving Shayne over to the cwnter of the room. Shayne quickly walked over, having to pull up her jeans a bit when she stopped walking, and she looked to elser Selma. "Alright, as we've practiced."

Shayne nodded and she took elder Selma's hands as they began chanting. The spell took about thirty minutes to properly cast and then they tested its integrity before Shayne was dismissed until it was time to recast it just before they were to start getting ready for the ball.

She sighed and headed up to get her book before she went to the park. When she got there, she sat on one of the benches and opened her book, losing herself in the reality of it. She had her watch set so she knew when to head back, and a small smile came over her face as she read.

It seemed like she had only been sitting on the bench for a few moments. Enjoying the warm sunshine, the sounds of the birds around her. Before something large blocked the sun just a bit. She smiled a little to herself, knowing what had blocked the warmth. She didn't even bother opening her eyes. Though she frowned slightly hearing Dylan beside her, he seemed to really enjoy calling her “little bit”. It was...like a nickname. She was getting used to it still. Tabby nodded her head slightly. “I am, t’is so nice and warm compared to the mansion. You would hate it.” She said before letting out a soft relaxed sigh.

Tabitha rolled her head as she opened her eyes and looked at Dylan, hearing his sigh. She gave him a smile and nodded again. “T’is, such a shame t’is going to be ruined. But I say once we finish our planning we sit and enjoy it a bit more. Yes?” She could tell just by his stiff body that he was still missing his cave though it had been only a few days. Poor dear, it was a little sad to see him so homesick. He hadn't wanted to leave in the first place. His cave was pretty nice. She understood, she wanted to go home too.

Tabby reached out, her hand barely covering his muscular upper arm. “T’will not be much longer darling. As soon as we make our attack, the witches along with the other races left alive will flee to prepare for war. We can go home and you can have your cave back.” She squeezed his arm slightly offering a smile. Her hand staying put on on his arm as she stared off thinking for a moment. Tabby had never tried blood magic herself but this wouldn't be purely blood magic. She had made sure. Shaking her head of her thoughts, she glanced at her hand and smirked patting his arm before removing it. “Anyway, the rest of the plan can be taken care of without you having to stray far hopefully.”

Tabby dug through her bag for a moment before pulling a few papers out and placing them into his hands. “I do not if those will do you any good much longer. But you were complaining about maps.” She said before digging through her bag a bit more, before looking around and sitting on the ground infront of Dylan. She pulled out the two crystals she took from his cave and a knife. “This it a very important part of the plan so we will do this first. Give me your hand Dylan. I need your blood to make sure my spell won't effect you.”

Her voice had been something he had grown accustomed to over the last while. He was glad to hear that she was enjoying the sun and he made a face when she said he'd not enjoy the mansion. Well there was no doubt about that, it would probably be much too crammed like the rest of civilization. No one had ever heard of large doorways, which was annoying as hell. Still he was brought back when she brought up enjoying it a bit more once they finished finalizing everything. "Sounds like a good plan."

He felt her hand on his arm and he looked to her. Her words brought a small bit of comfort and he just gave a barely there smile. After tonight everything would be better. This war was going to definitely start up the anarchy he craved, and he wasn't at all surprised any more by the thirst in the small witch beside him. Despite it all... Whether she wanted chaos or power... That hunger was in her. He could feel it. "Good." he finally said, "Human civilization is much too cramped." he muttered the last bit.

The pages placed in his hands were definitely more helpful than the ones he had seen previously, and when she asked for his hand, he simply moved out his arm for her and continued on looking at what he needed to. The simplicity of these didn't make it hard on his eyes and were actually much easier for him to understand. When they started putting in stupid "point of interest" crap, he couldn't navigate the map anymore. "Thank you, I appreciate this." he said, not even looking at her.

After a moment of looking he looked down towards her and looked at his hand. "Oh. I didn't realize you were done." he said, taking back his hand and putting two of the pages he had side by side. "So..." he said, pulling up what she had for the mansion. "Here and here are where you're setting up?" he asked, pointing to the spots he remembered her bringing up.

It was strange, how even with the slight amount of time she had known him, she could catch that small smile that most people would miss. She didn't saying anything about what he mumbled, after all growing up in a coven that insisted on doing everything together. It wasn't quite as crowded in the town as he seemed to find it to be. Perhaps it was just a dragon thing. It wasn't going to be that long though, with any luck the war would start back up strong by the end of the ball. Those left alive of her coven would see the unlessness of these peace talks. If she could use the chaos to get rid of Selma, that would really be a plus.

Tabby couldn't help the smile spreading on her lips as he thanked her for the maps. She shrugged slightly as she wiped it away digging through her pack. "T'was no big deal darling." She said before pulling the crystals from his cave out. Once he gave her his hand, she took a knife out of her bag and cut across the palm of his hand. Muttering a spell as she placed the crystal against the cut and watching the blood color the inside. With a small spell she healed the cut on his hand, before slincing into her own. She couldn't help but make a small painful noise, not quite as used to be cut as clearly Dylan was.

Healing her own hand, she sat beside Dylan as he took his hand back, putting the knife and crystals back. "Yes, well I tried to make it as painless as possible." She said, wiping her eyes a bit before turning to look at the map he held out to her and nodding a bit. "Yes, that's right. The only issue is that they are both entrances. So I will have to get everything ready ahead of time so I can do my spell quickly." She pointed to another piece on the map. "This will be the way out away from the fighting. Or for you, the way to get out once the fighting starts getting under control. Knowing our host it probably won't last long."

Dylan couldn't deny that he had enjoyed the day out with Tabby. It was a truly beautiful day, and he was glad he didn't have to be cooped up inside for too long, but now he was back at his motel room and getting ready for this ball. He was still surprised at how well his suit fit. He wasn't used to finding formal clothing that fit him this well, but he supposed times had changed since the last time he had to wear something so formal. His Suit was mainly black with a blue shirt and a nice tie. He sighed, sitting on the bed and tying his shoes before he picked up his bag and started heading out.

The air outside was cool, and while he knew he was heading out a little early, he could see others doing the same. The only ones who would probably still be waiting were the vampires who couldn't walk in the day. The sun wasn't quite set yet, so they still had some time before they'd be able to come out anyway. He took a few longer strides to get ahead of the crowd he was near, hearing some chatter and hearing a few people whisper about him. It wasn't anything he wasn't used to. Most people talked about him because of his size alone, but he didn't really care. He was a dragon, most of his species were tall.

As he approached the mansion, he looked to his watch. In just under an hour the ball would be starting, and that's when the real fun would begin.

--

Shayne sighed as her hair got pulled at by one of the other girls in the coven. She really didn't much mind the primping since she was already in her dress. She liked how the top had a slight lace overlay and sleeves, and the black was definitely enough to hopefully keep her out of the eyes of others. She didn't much like the attention, and she really hated have her hair pulled at just to get it up into the hairstyle she was told would look best on her. "Can you not pull so hard? That hurts, and I keep losing my place." Shayne said as she read the same line once again.

"Well, quit reading and you won't lose your spot." she said, and Shayne sighed.

"You told me to get comfortable, so I did just that. I got comfortable. I'd love it if I could be in jeans and a t-shirt, but I have to attend this ball." Shayne said, quietly, and the girl laughed.

"I forget that you're not into big parties and stuff like that sometimes. Sorry." she said, and while she pulled at her hair, she did it much more gently. Shayne let out a relieved sigh and began reading again, feeling the heat of the curling iron near her neck as her hair continued to get curled. After about twenty more minutes, her hair was done, and she sighed, putting her book down before she tied on her plain mask. She was glad her hair was up and off her neck, but she hated that she had to have it curled before it went up, but she still went with it.

She walked out of the room and began on her way down the stairs into the main hall where Elder Selma was waiting for her. "Ready for the last bit of the spell, Shayne?"

She nodded and followed her into the main ballroom again. Everyone cleared out as soon as they saw them, and they began doing the last bit of their spell.

Oliver sighed a little as he looked down at the small protection mark that was on his wrist slightly covered by both the sleeve of his dark blue suit and black under shirt. The mark hadn’t really been his choice as much as the leader of his and the other groups. Both a stipulation of going with his “crazy” plan, and a way to keep the track of the humans. A message that had been sent out to the humans on the guest list, along with a temporary version of the mark. Claiming they had been given the special chance to win a prize after the party. With the rule they weren’t to tell the other party guests. Intel had told them the other races that couldn’t tell through smell had systems in place.

Still it didn’t make him feel it was an less ridiculous. Oliver shook his head a little bit as he looked down at the silver, black, and blue mask, maybe that was the best thing about having a mask. If it looked as stupid as he thought, not everyone could tell who he was. Tying the mask on, he strapped his gun to his ankle before getting the rest of the way dressed and heading to the mansion. A few other hunters slowly started to catch and soon there was a small group walking with him. “So Oliver, since you’re in charge of this whole idea. What is our escape with our fellow humans if shit goes south?” The blonde huntress ask who took her place keeping pace with him.

Oliver looked at her and smiled. “Didn’t realize you were going to join us Cammie.” Only to get a small nod in return.

“Only for the night, I’m wanting to see how well this plan of peace goes seeing that there are going to be witches there.” She said making a disgusted look on her face as she said the word witches. “Have to head North in the morning though. Anyway the plan?”

Oliver nodded a bit not even bothering to to ask why she and her group where heading North, it would just get him a dirty look. “If shit hits the fan, we have the marks so that we can gather the humans quickly and protect them as a group. If we are attacked we fight back.” He sighed slightly. “If not, then let the other races protect themselves. It’s not our job.”

“And if all the humans die because of your beyond stupid plan doesn’t work?” The annoyed voice came from the raven haired woman behind him.

Oliver rolled his eyes as he looked straight again. “Then you can fucking shot me Helen. Better?”

“Oh, my apologies. I didn’t realize your name was Cammie too.” Camilla shot out as she looked back at Helen, who opened her mouth to answer before being cut off. “Oh it isn’t? Then bud out of our conversion, cause that’s rude yeah. That’s sweetie.”

The group started laughing quietly as Helen closed her mouth, and though it was quiet, it drew some attention to the small group and Oliver sighed. “We’ll talk about this more at the party, we’re drawing too much attention.” He said and got a small nod from the others. Slowly the group started to separate as they got to the mansion.

---

“I don’t know how you could manage to do your hair so well by yourself. It’s so pretty.” The redhead said to Tabitha as she looked in the mirror. Her long black hair in a elegant braided ponytail, purple flowers waved through in certain spots. The flowers the same color of her black and purple dress.

Tabby smiled slightly as she continued working on the red heads hair. “Why thank you, t’is something you learn when you dislike most people messing with your hair.”

Ember nodded a bit still smiling a bit. “I’ll have to teach me some time. When my arm isn’t broken.” She said, getting a hum of agreement from Tabby. “I really appreciate your help because of my arm, hopefully I will be able to find someone to still dance with me.”

“T’is no problem, after all you helped me so much today. And if you can’t doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the party.”

Ember nodded. “You you plan on dancing tonight?”

“I do, will a very tall friend of mine.”

“Is that why you’re wearing stilettos?” Ember asked with a chuckle before looking back as her hair was pulled roughly. “Ouch!”

“Oh sorry darling, tangle. And yes.” Tabby said before letting go of the girls hair. Which the girl thanked her again she nodded, and once the girl left the room Tabby wrapped the strand of hair she had pulled out around a small ring in her desk muttering a spell. Slipping the ring in her bra she straightened up her hair up a little bit before slighting and taking up her butterfly mask, which went from black to a light purple, and tying it on before heading downstairs. Once she was downstairs she was tasked with helping set up the food and drinks. Like a servant. Until they had to clear out of the main ballroom so that Selma and Shayne could set the protection spells. And they could finish decorating the rest of the bottom floor. Her eyes lingering for a few moments to watch where the spells were being placed.

---

Shortly after the word had been sent that the protection spells had been placed on the mansion floors Kiara made her way down to talk to Elder Selma, that was she believed her name was after all. Witches really had so many elders it was hard to remember which one was in change. As she made her way down the steps she feel the stares she was receiving. After all it wasn’t hard when it wasn’t suddenly so quiet that her older yet still beautiful dress was making sound as she made her way down the stairs. Truthfully though, it wasn’t something she was unused to, and it didn’t bother her any. Though even she could feel the tenseness of the red head walking behind her. Glancing back to see the uncomfortable look on her face. “Are you alright dear?” She questioned, only getting a tense nod in return.

Once they were in the still mostly empty ballroom though she could feel the angel relax slightly and smiled at the elder and other witch she didn’t know as they walked towards them. “Elder Selma. I really must thank you and your coven for how wonder my mansion looks. I apologize that I couldn’t be more help. Gathering people is quite tiring.” She said with a small chuckle before her pale blue eyes looked at Shay. The cooper and gold mask made to take the most attention. Her hair in a neat bun, other than the two strands of white hair the hung down in contrast to the brown.

When Selma introduced her as Shayne, Kiara smiled, giving a small curtsy before offering a hand. “A pleasure Shayne, I’m Kiara Marcia. I hope you have enjoyed your stay at my home. This is Dawn Hassinger, our angel guest of honor.” She said, and when there was no response she glanced back to see the red head frowning as she pulled at the one long sleeve of her dress. Her hair in a simple ponytail, her mask her and black to match the dress, with red beads hanging down from it. “I apologize, she’s more the fighter than the fancy dresser.” She said before clearing her throat, and hearing Dawn mutter in Scottish. Sighing she turned and pushing Dawn’s hand away, before adjusting the sleeve. “You’re going to rip it and being rude.” Kiara said her tone going a touch whiny.

Dawn sighed softly, before looking at the two witches. “Sorry, it’s nice to meet you, I’m just not used to dresses.” She said, offering her hand. Her voice a bit rough but still kind, a slight Scottish accent peeking through. “This place looks very nice."

Christian groaned a bit as he finally woke up. It wasn't as if he was an early riser by any means, though being out drinking with his new little friend until almost sunrise was making him get a late start even for him. Not to mention a massive hangover. Though the fact he ate half of a pizza cake before getting drunk should have stopped that. Shaking his slowly as he sat up, thankful that he was actually in his bed this morning, he felt something smack softly against his chest.

"No, no that's funny. You should have done it. It would have matched your mask!" The girl slurred slightly before laughing, Chris laughing along with her.

"I know, that's what I said. My friend didn't find it funny." Chris replied before the girl got up and started walking off. "Wait, where are you going?"

"We're going to get you a Lassie collar."

Chris reached up and found the clasp and took the collar off to look at it. It was a bright pink collar with a copper tag on it, that in bold letters said Lessery. He couldn't help but close his eyes and laugh at it. Well it was still pretty close for drunk people. He would just put this with his….

"The two of them walked down the road, or well stumbled. Her more leading him than him walking her home. To be fair though he never went into the city. Usually his friend brought him anything he couldn't get from the woods. "Alright, if you had to choose between never getting to get cake again. Or…" He laughed a little when she said she wanted cake. "..yeah but I didn't even finish." He protested watching as she took the mask he had in his other hand. Before she put it on saying that she was taking it. "Alright, I guess I don't really need it anymore." He said with a laugh, he might be an asshole but he was still a gentleman. And as they stopped at her house he smiled at her. "This was fun, we'll have to do it again sometime." When she agreed and hesitated, hand on the knob, he smiled once more and kissed her cheek before leaving.

…..mask. Well hell, he really liked that mask. Christian shook his head a bit, he would just see if he could find another one. If she really wanted it then… Fuck did he even catch the vampires name? Damn it, he really was an asshole. With a bit of a groan he got up and walked around his house a little bit, getting some food and popping some headache pills. When that didn't seem to help, he did the next best thing. Turning and going for a run.

--

Her home was a total wreck, and yet she couldn't find it in her to clean it at this moment. Everything had started out so well! Everyone had been getting along. Dancing together. Though the discussions hadn't been….the best. It had been a huge improvement. There only being hash words thrown, instead of fists and spells. All to be ruined by that redheaded witch. Kiara sighed and shook her head slightly as she leaned on the banister. She was lucky that she hadn't lost support of all the races. The largest wolf group had agreed to see her on their own turf. As well as two of the vampire covens. The dragon and the shifter meetings had gone extremely well at least. Maybe there still was some hope. Kiara sighed once more looking at Dawn, she was definitely more at peace in her normal clothes now.

"Ay, are we going to go do this meeting or no? Cause I would like to get back before Michael makes up his mind." Dawn spoke as she leaned against the banister as well. She had only been given the two days before reporting in. Though she would like to say that what happened last night wouldn't get back to him. Even she knew that was useless to hope for. Her best bet was to prove there was still a chance for peace. Giving Kiara a small nudge with a soft smile. "Come on, I'm sure you'll be able to figure somethin' out. The first two meetings went well."

Kiara nodded her head a bit straightening herself up a bit. Before she started her way down the stairs. "Did you hear anything about the hunter that got hurt?" She asked, it had been a bit of a surprise to find a small puddle of blood outside this morning. Especially seeing the magic didn't affect anyone that was outside. There was a small stifled laugh to her side, and she glanced at Dawn.

" 'Kay so I guess one of the hunters shot the other in the leg last night." She shook her head. "He limped away, from what the other angels told me. Humans are so petty."

"True, but we still need them on our side Dawn." Kiara said which got a small huff and eye roll, but she couldn't even argue.

It took a little bit longer than to get to the set of woods outside of town. Of course Kiara had only been here once before. The light through the trees was starting to dim but not enough that it was quite dark yet. It was still enough to make Dawn slightly on edge, though she had yet to even meet with this Alpha that Kiara respected so dearly. Not to mention that though it had healed, that bitten spot in her leg was still a little sore. She had bashed that wolf pretty hard. There was a slight movement ahead of them that pulled her attention. Kiara had stopped ahead of her, a wolf blocking their way. "Is that one from the pack?" She whispered.

The wolf answered her question though, not seeming to take the question very kindly. Showing its teeth as it growled at them. Dawn slowly put her hand on the hilt of one of her blades. Only making the situation worse as the wolf's ears flattened, growl getting louder as it took a step towards them. "We're deeply sorry." Kiara said calmly as she stepped between Dawn and the wolf, making the wolf stop. "We were looking for the large pack around here. They are waiting for us." The wolf's ears slowly went back to normal, rolling his eyes the wolf huffed before pointing its nose to the right. Turning to the left, he looked at them and growled again. Kiara nodded a bit before taking Dawn's hand, pulling her towards the right path. "Thank you."

---

She wasn't familiar with these woods, she wasn't even sure if she was running the right way. Normally she took the wolves woods. However, she had taken this wood thinking it was the routine that was going to get her killed. She was wrong. Thus Emily had tried to stay in human form, this vision she had been in monkey form, and she hoped it would be enough to help. Though as the third bullet had flown past her, close enough to graze her shoulder and cause a flesh wound. She questioned if this choice of path was really the best. So as soon as she had the chance to get far enough away from the hunter, she had climbed into a tree.

Now she was trying to get her heart rate down, just enough. She just needed to get it down enough that she could get herself to shift without it being extremely painful. Taking a slow calm breath, she closed her eyes and started the change. "Where the fuck did you go bitch?!" The loud man called out, him and his friend got closer. Stupid hunters. Always announcing themselves. Still it was enough to make her body jerk and shift violently, the flesh wound not making it any better. Emily bit her tongue to keep herself quiet as she finished shifting. They were right under her, thank god they didn't have as good of ears as her. Now in monkey form she stayed still and quiet. They would pass, they would pass, they….Emily's eyes wiped a bit, as a drip of blood dropped on the hunters hand and they both stopped. Looking up slowly at her and their eyes locked for a moment before Emily took off again, hearing a gunshot behind her. Up ahead of her she saw the downed tree and almost fell out of the tree as she took a sharp turn. She knew that marker.

She heard one of the hunters trip over the down tree as she kept running. It was a good thing, that meant there was only one left after her. She could hear him cursing the other for not helping him. She didn't know exactly how far she had continued to run before she ran out of close trees. She could jump to the next one, but it left an opening. With nowhere to go, and the hunter not in sight, she took the jump.

It seemed to happen in slow motion, it always did. She was almost to the tree when the noise echoed and the pain in her stomach took her breath. She missed the tree falling to the ground. Body jerking and shifting until she was curled in a naked ball. Hand on her bleeding stomach. The footsteps of the hunter getting closer, before feeling his boot kick her on her back. A twisted smile on his face as he put the gun to her head, and…..she woke up."

The monkey took a swallow breath as she continued running. She wanted nothing but to shake that vision from her head. They were always so real. She was so in her own head so much she almost missed the man that was walking beneath her. Glancing down she saw his eyes watching her pass. Oh...oh no. This poor guy. He had no idea that she was being chased by hunters. She was going to cause someone else to die because of her. Coming to a stop, her climbed down the tree sitting on a low branch a few feet in front of him.

"You need to run. There are hunters chasing me and you're going to get hurt." Of course her words came out as loud squeaky chittering. When he spoke, Emily stopped for a moment tilting her head looking at him. No, you have to run...run...you have to..they have guns damn it!" More chittering, though this time there were hand motions and she placed her hand on her wet bloody fur showing it to him. Getting even more annoyed she grabbed his face with the nonbloody hand and forced him to look at the hunter who was pointing his gun at them.

"What the hell happened to you last night?" Jade's voice came, and Elise just rolled her eyes and groaned.

"I ducked out of that lame ass party early. Had a few drinks with this guy I met there, and the rest is really fuzzy after that." she said, pushing a hand through her hair as she reached for the vial of blood she had on her bedside table. After she sank it's contents, she got up and went for a shower. Luckily she didn't have too bad of a hangover, which was surprising, but what she saw on the bathroom sink was a mask. She picked it up and smiled a little. She barely remembered taking it from... Chris? Yeah, it had to be close to that. "Hell, I wonder if he'll still find Lassie as funny sober."

She laughed to herself and after taking a nice hot shower, she got dressed and looked to Jade. They had to make another blood run to last the daylight hours for the next week or two. At least until they could get themselves a better supply going. With things being the way they were, she knew it would be hard. Especially after what she could hear Jade telling he through the door of the bathroom. She was kind of glad that she and that werewolf had ducked out early now. That attack would not have been good for her. She was getting better at controlling her bloodlust, but all the blood likely would have sent her on a rage.

"So are you going to see that guy again?" Jade asked, and immediately Elise touched her cheek. The last thing she actually remembered was him kissing her cheek. She smiled a little.

"If I can help it, I am." she said. She had had a lot of fun with him, and she would love to have more fun.

--

Arik sighed a bit as he sat with the other betas and their alpha, Beau. Beau had agreed to have a meeting with Kiara, which Arik was glad for. While he had never actually met her until the night before, he could tell that she was for peace like he was. Like the vast majority of the pack was. So many of them had seen hard times from the wars that they were ready for a longer period of peace. He ran his hand through his hair as he half listened to the meeting. He had a few bruises and a nice gash just under his eye from one of the dragons, but he understood why. Things weren't meant to go the way they did, and even he could tell it. But it was all too late before everything was figured out and now even the witch coven was suffering some loss.

"Arik!" Beau's voice came, and Arik looked to him.

"Sorry." he said, "I'll go check and see what's going on. He quickly left the meeting and he saw Kiara and the red-headed angel... Dawn he was sure her name was... coming down the path. He was glad that they found the path, but this was one reason he missed his brother being around. He would have known they were there already, but he knew that Eros had his own things to hand. Plus, he was glad he wasn't there after everything that happened last night. Eros was a hell of lot stronger than most and likely would have been a big target, but he also might have been able to catch what happened earlier. "Good to see you found us." Arik said to Kiara and Dawn.

He could sense the hostility coming from the wolf that passed him and he sighed. "Forgive us, everything is still very fresh. Beau will be glad to see you both made it with little trouble though. We are just over this way. I'll have to poke my head in first to see if they're ready for you." he said. He led them to where he just came from, and when he saw Beau waiting for them he sighed. "Just a moment."

Beau looked to Arik and whispered, "You were there, I trust your judgement on this, just remember that going into this meeting." he said.

Arik gave a gentle nod and held the door for everyone as they went into their meeting. This is one thing he was glad that Beau wasn't sore over, and another reason that while he wished his brother was there, he was glad he wasn't. They would have been butting heads and it could have made things worse. Much worse.

--

The brunette took a deep breath as he walked through the woods, enjoying the smells. Since he had been on earth, he could now understand why people enjoyed it. Minus the humans. They were a huge lot of idiots. He knew that from how Silas had spoke of them, but Zephaniah couldn't believe they were this stupid. He kept amusing the idea that they were stupider than Michael and it made him chuckle to himself a little.

Something caught his attention after a bit though, and his eyes followed the form of a monkey. "I didn't think they were native to this area of the world. A least that's what the books said." he muttered to himself before he saw the monkey come before him. He tilted his head curiously at it when it began furiously chittering at him. "What's going on?" He watched the monkey chitter some more and touch some blood. He sighed a bit and once it had turned his head to face a hunter, an involuntary smirk came over his face.

"Is this what you are so worried about?" he asked, and he looked over the monkey again. "Don't worry, I got this... But if you're not exactly looking to see some blood, I'd close your eyes."

He watched the monkey hesitate only a moment before getting into the tree. He set is pack down and saw the hunter step forward. Z crossed his arms over his chest. "Why are you bugging that creature?" he asked, and the hunter seemed dumbfounded. "Mind lowering your gun too? I'm trying to be some form of civil."

"That creature is an abomination. She should not be here. She is dangerous." the hunter said, and Z let out a haughty chuckle.

He clicked his tongue against his teeth and noticed the hunter kept his gun up. "If you want to see dangerous I promise to change your definition of it." Z heard the gunshot before he flicked his hand and heard the bullet explode between him and the hunter. He threw a white fireball at the hunter and saw him duck. He ran at the hunter and grabbed the hand that had the gun in it and slammed the hunter's arm against a tree. The gun flew out of his hand and Z twisted the hunter's arm up behind his back and slammed him into the tree before releasing him. The hunter managed to tackle him to the ground and hit him in the side before being thrown off of him. Z managed to pick up the gun and he shot the hunter between the eyes. Then one more time through the temple. He had read so many zombie stories in the cells that he firmly believed in a double tap.

He rummaged the hunter's body and took what ammo he had and the gun. He tucked it in his pack before he looked up for the monkey. "You can come on down now." he told her. He had to remember the hunter identified her as a female. He felt something warm on his side. He sighed when he saw the blood and he lifted his shirt to see the wound was already almost closed. That was a plus at least. Once the monkey was before him again, he rummaged through his pack again and showed it some bandages. "I have these if you need them. I could get them on you and you could stick with me a while if you wanted. I promise you won't have to deal with anyone like that with me."

"I can't promise I know where the hell I'm going though." he added. He knew he would eventually need to track down Billie and Alex. But he hadn't the slightest idea where exactly to start, and while he was a damn good tracker, he did need a trail to pick up on them from, so for now, he would wander.

It hadn't taken them very long to reach the clearing that the wolf pack was in, after they had been pointed the right direction. The fact the path was cleared out pretty well helped a lot too. Kiara gave a polite smile when Arik met them at the clearing, nodding a bit when he said something about being able to find them. "Honestly, if not for the wolf that made it clear he wasn't with your pack. I'm afraid I would have gotten lost." She answered back. Only to frown a bit as one of the others passed them, she didn't even have to be one of them to feel the hostility coming from them. Dawn tensing a bit out of instinct. "We understand, I'm thankful that Beau is still willing to meet with us." She said before giving a small nod when he said he would peek his head in first.

She waited patiently when Arik said to wait a moment, taking the chance to glance around her from where she stood. Once he opened the tent for them, Kiara took a deep breath, smoothing her dress before heading in. Dawn following her in. Nervous was probably not the best thing to feel right now, nervous and desperation as she looked at the four people at the table. "Firstly I apologize for last night and thank you for seeing me."



Dawn and Kiara sat on the small log that Arik asked them to wait on while the Alpha and Beta talked things through. Kiara picked at the lint on her dress nervously absentmindedly. "I think it went fine, they seemed to like the answers you gave them." Dawn said, trying to be reassuring as she watched Kiara. "Plus the one is cute so that makes it harder." That got her a confused look before a chuckle.

"I'm sure that I did fine, it's just that I don't feel that my answers were enough." Kiara answered. Before looking up as the woman from the tent walked towards them. Her bruises looked wrong in the light. However, she smiled a little at Kiara before walking past.

---

The black haired tattooed beta, sat listening to the two other betas argue lightly back and forth. One arguing that it was too soon to trust Kiara again. While the other argued that they should continue supporting her. Beau listening to both points. With a sigh she pulled off her glasses and rubbed her temples, careful to touch the bruise along the side of her face. Even with quick healing she enjoyed, the concussion from last night still had healed up to the point she wasn't dizzy and throwing up. Her head was killing her. Not that it had been the first time thrown around by a vampire, but she hadn't seen it coming. Other than that she only had a few bruises and a black eye.

The sound of the voices molded slowly into a muffled blurry as she toned out the arguing. It was only when she felt someone nudging her that she looked up to the soundless Beau saying something to her, looking annoyed. "Oh sorry. I wasn't meaning too." She said before the sound returned to the tent. She nodded a bit when asked if she was alright, before listening to Arik and the other beta discuss.

"Not to mention that she won't even tell what her full breed is. For all we know she was the witch that did this."

"First of all she isn't a witch. Even if witch succumbi hybrids weren't an extremely rare thing. A witch would have waaay less trouble answering your questions." Autumn said, that got the other three looking at her, and she cleared her throat looking at the other beta, before looking at Beau. "Granted that I don't know anything about blood magic, even I could smell it. Though……" She made a small motion with her hand unable to remember the name. "...she seems smart, everyone knows you don't do that shit in your own home without protecting yourself. I saw her taking a hell of a beating before she froze everyone." She glanced at Arik as he nodded a bit as she said Kiara took a beating. "I think we should at least give her a chance."

Once everyone had said their piece and Beau had decided what they would do, she excused herself while Beau and Arik were talking privately. She just really needed to get away from that tent and all of the talking. The headache was getting worse and worse in this form. Autumn smiled a touch at their guests as she passed them, once away from their eyes she was able to shift.

The white wolf sighed in relief as the pain subsided to just a deep ache. Shaking out her fur a bit, her light blue eyes looked around her. Everything might have been in complete black and white, but it was so much better. With a slight wag of her tail, she started her round around the area.

---

Emily was hesitant to leave the man by himself to deal with the hunter. There was something so sure in his tone though. So she climbed up into the tree covering her eyes, listening to the two of them talk. Being called an abomination was a little harsh. It wasn't like she was a tiger roaming around. Not even the wolves saw her as a threat. When she heard the shot she uncovered her eyes to see the two men fighting, before the one man shot the hunter twice.

Her hands covered her mouth as she stared down at the scene, the man rummaging the body of the hunter. He had said that he would handle it….but she wasn't expecting him to actually kill the hunter. Even if it wasn't her first time seeing one dead, it was her first time...actually seeing it happen. When he said she could come back down, she stared at him for a moment before slowly coming down. Emily looked back and forth between the man and hunter with wide eyes and he started digging through his pack. Her mind was still trying to figure out if she should just keep running. This stranger just fucking doubled tapped a person that she lead her. His death was her fault.

The bandages shown to her pulled her attention back to the man again. Her brain stalling completely as she stared unblinking at the bandages in his hand. Wait…….she could stick with him? He would protect her? She made a soft chittering sound looking up at him. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have someone that would protect her around, his aura was weird but not in a dangerous way. She peeked around him at the hunter making another soft chittering sound. She glanced back at him when he said he didn't know where he was going. It was then that she saw the blood on his shirt and she chittered at him before tugging a bit on his shirt while patting her side.

Once he reassures her that he was okay she held her paws out to tell him to stay before running out to shift. It was times like this that she was thankful that she had Aren make her, her necklace. The charm kept her clothes in tack when she shifted. The wounds on her shoulder was painful as fuck and has soon as she was back to human form is started bleeding again. Emily peeked around the tree for a moment before coming out holding the large gash on her shoulder. "Hello, um….thank you for helping me. I'll definitely take you up on your offer to help bandage." She said with a soft unsure smile moving a bit slowly towards him.

When he started wrapping her shoulder she sighed. The pressure definitely helped with the pain. "I'm Emily." She said looking at him. "Do you….usually kill people? Cause your aura isn't that dark." She asked, biting her lip a bit. She needed to at least know that going with this guy didn't mean she would be surrounded with unnecessary death.

---

This whole mourning thing was tiresome. Everyone in the house was so distraught over the loss of Elder Selma. It was….saddening that she was no longer with them. She had been a powerful witch, even if she was a pain in the ass. However, this was a time they should be getting ready to protect from the "threat" of the other covens as well as the other groups. She didn't put all this work into this for nothing!!! Once Elder Lyle was back, he would agree with her!

Tabatha sighed, at least that annoying Ember girl was gone. She had been the one who cast the blood magic after all, Tabby made sure of that. Sneaking out of the house had been a little harder now though. They were all on "unofficial lockdown" but she would stop at the store on the way back just in case. What she really wanted was to see Dylan again though. They needed to figure out their next move. His cave was a pain to get up to though. She wiped her hands off on her skirt as she got to the opening, before going inside.

"He needs lights in here." She muttered to herself softly before muttering a spell to give herself some light. "Dylan." She called as she walked a little father in. "Where the hell are you?"

Arik couldn't help but to get frustrated in their talks after speaking with Kiara. Sure, he could tell tensions were still high, she had yet to actually give them a reason not to trust her. She offered her home for the event. She left herself exposed to it. And she was still very much against the idea of this grand war that had been brewing in the area. Arik about snapped when their other beta mentioned her not giving them their full breed, but Autumn had spoke up at that point, and soon Beau sighed.

"I've heard enough." he said, and Arik looked at him. "I feel like giving her our support still is the best option. Shit happens, we all know that, we've all seen that... I feel like giving support is still for the best."

With that they were all dismissed, but Arik hung back as had Beau. It was an unspoken sort of thing, they always talked privately after things like this. "You're heated." Beau said and Arik nodded.

"Bringing up that we don't know her full breed struck a nerve. It wasn't until I had been with the pack for at least a decade that anyone knew what I was. And that only came out because my wings did." Arik said. "Some people have others to protect or themselves and can't give that disclosure."

"I know, believe me." Beau said. "Not why I wanted you to stay behind though. I want someone I can trust to stick around with them. You are my best option aside from Autumn. I need Autumn here still, you'll still give reports and everything, but it also shows our willingness to work with her. Might be helpful in picking up others along the way too."

Arik nodded. "I can do that. That's no problem." Beau nodded.

"Good. Mind getting our guests?" he asked and Arik nodded. He made his way out and approached Kiara and Dawn.

"Please follow me." he said, and he watched them enter before he did and Beau greeted them with a smile.

"We have decided to still offer our support. In fact, if it is okay with you, I will be sending Arik back with you as well. It not only shows that you have our support, but he has a way with people too. He could help get more support. We are here whatever you need. I am sorry that things played out the way they did. I do ask if I can get a full guest list though. I know people who are good at figuring things out and they might be able to pinpoint where the shit started." Beau said.

--

Z couldn't deny the fact that trying to figure out what she was trying to communicate would have been easier had be been a mind demon, from what he had picked up on between the cells and being around, his family lineage had them tossed around in there. He saw her tug at his shirt and pat her side and he nodded a bit. "I'm fine. Already healed, I promise." he said to her. Soon she held her hands up to tell him to stay, he assumed anyway, and soon she came back. She was pretty, that was for sure. Emily. Her name was Emily.

"I'm Zephaniah, but you can call me Z. Makes things easier." he said, and soon he began wrapping her shoulder. He looked at her when she asked her question and chuckled. "That only half surprises me that my aura isn't that dark. Good to know the angel does balance out the demon." he said, "But not entirely. If necessary sure, this one felt necessary. I will warn you though, I do have some angels that may be attempting to hunt me. I say attempt because they have yet to find me so far. Those I will kill on sight, I don't need them reporting back my whereabouts." He finished wrapping her shoulder. "But other than that, if it bothers, I won't kill unless absolute necessity. Still trying to figure out what exactly is acceptable down here."

Things quieted for a moment and he sighed. "I need to take care of this body, so you can either stay here or come with. I won't be long, but I got to go somewhere where it won't smell so bad, and then we can talk more."

--

Things had gone as expected, at least that was what Dylan though. He was a little disappointed that the death toll wasn't higher, but then again, that was what they got for not being 100% sure that they thought of everything. He huffed a bit, before hearing a voice in his cave. He shifted back into his human form and pulled on some clothes as fast as he could before he breathed some fire to light his path before finding Tabetha coming his way. "I took a nap while waiting for you. I know you warned me of what could happen, so I decided a nap was necessary. Plus that wolf got a good hit on me and my side is still healing." he said, motioning to his left side.

"Please take a seat." he said, getting himself something to drink before setting something down in front of her. If there was one annoying thing about being a dragon was that certain things were engrained into him, even if he didn't want them to be. Being a good host was apparently one of them. "So, how are things going on your end? As expected?"

Kiara gave a small hopeful smile toward Arik as he came over, she had seen the other two alphas leave. One had given her a kind look, while the other gave her the stink eye. Then the only two she had actually met before had taken longer and she was starting to get nervous. The fact they were in such an attack-able area was starting to make Dawn nervous as well. As soon as he told them to follow him they did, though the fact he sent them in first raised her alarms again before she saw Beau actually smiling at them.

When he declared that they were still going to offer their support both of the girls let out the breath they weren't even aware they were holding. This was amazing news, they were making so much headway despite what had happened. Kiara kind of side-eye glanced towards Arik quickly, to gauge a reaction, before nodding to Beau as he said they were going with them. Which she absolutely had no problem with, the more help she could get the better honestly. "Thank you, I appreciate such a large gesture."

Dawn wasn't so subtle about looking at Arik when he was offered in such a manner. She had only meant him at the party, he was tense then and seemed more relaxed now. It was easier to see his aura now. She let her eyes wash over him before giving him a small smile and turning her attention back to Beau. Too bad he wasn't going with them, he was cuter. The request for a full guest list made her frown though. That was a huge request even if he possibly didn't realize.

"Oh…" Kiara said, blinking in surprise before a thoughtfully look crossed her face.

Dawn knew this look, it was the same look she had gotten when she was sent to Kiara. "If anyone gets hurt cause you give them that list. It will be seen as your fault." Dawn warned Kiara in angelic. She wasn't against it pre say, but she knew Michael would one hundred percent put Kiara to blame so he wasn't the one doing wrong.

Kiara side eyed Dawn before sighing. "I'm sure you realize how big of a request this is. The reason I called for masks was to protect the innocent people in packs, etc, from if something happened. Even if it didn't go as planned." She explained to Beau. "However, I do want to know who all was part of this. I need your word one no innocent will get hurt." She added. Once he gave his word, she nodded a bit. "Alright, I do have a copy of the list on me at the moment because I wasn't expecting this. Do you have a phone I can send a picture to? I can send pictures when I get home. Or I can bring you a copy once I get out of the rest of my meetings."

Once the meeting was over, Kiara and Dawn waited for Arik to gather whatever he needed just outside the entrance to the wolf pack's ground. After a moment of silence Kiara frowned at Dawn. "If you can't trust me to handle things without someone getting hurt you shouldn't have come to me." She said, though her voice was low so that there wouldn't be eavesdroppers on their conversation.

Dawn frowned. "I ne'er said that I didn't trust you. I was just' letting' you know that Michael will use you as a scapegoat. What with what you are."

Kiara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm well aware that I'm a scapegoat, I don't need to be reminded while I'm trying my best to get everything to work."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to seem like that. I'm trying to look out for you." Dawn said before Arik started back and Kiara lowered her hand at the sight of him headed towards them too. But even still Dawn felt kind of bad, she wasn't the best at the social parts of her job. She kind of wished that Miles would have been sent with her but Michael insisted he had a different job for him.

"Are you all set?" Kiara asked Arik as he got to them and when he answered she smiled. "Good, you're welcome to stay in my house. I have plenty of room." She offered as they turned to the woods and started back towards town.

"Just mind her little ghost friend." Dawn said with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah…Ruth came with the house." Kiara said with a slight sigh. "Feels rather rude to make her leave. Plus she cleans." She shook her head before looking at Arik. "I just wanted to let you know that my next meeting is with one of the vampire covens."

–

"Zephaniah is a nice name though." Emily said with a smile, she could see why people would call him Z though. It was a long name, she had heard longer and weird but still. He began wrapping her shoulder for her and she asked if he usually killed people and commented about his aura. The chuckle about such a question was a little concerning, but it was about the aura not the killing. What he said made sense though. "Ah okay that makes sense, I've met both races but not together." She couldn't help but nod a bit when he said the hunters were a necessary kill, even if she didn't want to admit it, they were going to kill her. This shoulder wound was meant to be a death shot not a flesh wound. She looked at him when he talked about the angels hunting him. "I mean that sounds necessary too." She said with a frown.

"Killing isn't really acceptable to most people here at all….but I won't judge you for it. Please just don't do it when I can see. I'm not really used to seeing it outside of dreams." She said softly, looking at her shoulder. She couldn't help but to feel kind of drained, even if it wasn't a bad wound. Between running and shifting, she had lost a good bit of blood and now her adrenaline started to go away. "Thank you for helping me, Z." Emily said.

After a moment of quiet he said he needed to take care of the hunters body and she started to move to follow him, but instantly felt dizzy. "Um…I actually think I am gonna stay here. I'm sorry. I'm kind of super dizzy now." She said with a frown sitting down to wait for him. "If you go towards the clearing that way." she pointed back the way she came "please be careful, though he's dead it still might not be safe. There might be another hunter by the downed tree." She said, and once he took the body she sighed against the tree closing her eyes to try and get the dizziness to stop.

It didn't seem to take long before she heard a twig snap and her eyes opened quickly as she quickly stood. It was starting to get darker, and there was a possibility that she had drifted off a bit. Emily was kind of thankful that it was dreamless. She looked at where she heard another snap to see Z coming back. He kind of smelt like fire, and she started to ask why before deciding against it. "Hi…." She greeted him with a small wave. "Um…I was thinking and I have a rental just outside of town. If you want, I can make you something to eat. If you are still cool with me coming with you though, I would like that."

–

When Dylan brought up his side still being his side still healing, Tabitha reached into her pocket and pulled out a little vile. "I brought you this for that t'is a healing cream they gave the ones that got hurt. Should help speed it up." She said, before sitting down and taking the drink he offered. This had seemed a bit weird to her the first time but she guessed he just liked playing host. "Thank you darling." She said with a little smile before he asked if things had gone as expected on her end. "No…" she answered with annoyance, clear in her tone.

"It did not, now I'm surrounded by idiots mourning Selma. Which can I just point out is the only one they are mourning. Hated her." She ranted before taking a drink of what he had given her. "Now the coven is split between the war and no war because" her voice turned mocking "what would Selma want." Tabby shook her head a little trying to calm herself, Dylan likely hadn't asked just to hear her rant angrily. But honestly she just wanted to hit something or someone. "Selma's brother is supposed to be coming back and will act as both of their votes. I hear he took her death pretty hard."

–

Chris swore under his breath as he looked at the GPS of his phone trying to figure it out. He was still pretty new to this phone and though he knew how to work it, it was so rare he used it or even came into town. Usually Shela was the one that brought him stuff from town, she had kind of adopted him as a brother in the short while he tried to be in Beau's pack. However, she didn't stop by today and he assumed that she must have stayed with the dragon she was talking to last night. So now he was trying to find the grocery store.

As he walked down the street looking down he wasn't keeping an eye on where he was going until he heard his name. He looked up and looked around until he saw Fredric, one of the bird shifters that he often ran into in the woods. He sighed, putting his phone in his pocket and gave a wave. "Hey Fred, you wouldn't happen to know where they moved the grocery store? Been five years since I've been in town during the day. Damn humans keep moving things."

Fred laughed a bit. "What happened, Shela get tired of running for you."

"Actually, I haven't seen her since I checked out of that lame party last night." Chris said with a laugh, before Fred got a weird look on his face and started telling him what had happened at the party last night after he left. Apparently there were a good bit of wolf casualties. "I'm sure she is fine, she's a good fighter, I'll have to go to the pack and check on her later." He said, as he followed Fred to the store. He was sure that Shela was fine. She wasn't the type to go down with a fight.