[IC] [High-Casual]Bitten: The Rivalry.

[iSuspect]

It has been two days. Two whole days to long since they have banded together.

She sat in her room with her hand against her forehead and a sigh escaping through her parted lips. She doesn't know if she could deal with the fact that her coven and the pack had to literally band together and fight against these human hunters. She lowered her head even further, thinking about the events that already transpired before her. Her best friend dying, the pack and coven arguing for literally every hour of every single day and worse, the alpha has already tried to kill her but good thing Nathaniel was there to save her. What would she do with him? She wanted Nathaniel to kill the alpha right where he stood but then that would've caused even more tension between the two factions.

Riley didn't know what to really do at this point. She was lost. And because she was lost, so was everyone else. Her eyes fluttered up at the sound of footsteps coming her way. She turned and saw that it was the alpha, who had came to apologize for almost killing her. "It's a little too late for apologies." She turned back to face the wall and he crept closer and sat on her bed. Her eyes widened as she turned a little to look at him. "I'll be careful if I were you. Nathaniel is very protective of me and I would hate to see him kill you." She spoke but still the alpha said nothing, other than he was extremely sorry. Riley rolled her eyes then looked at him while getting up from her bed. "Sing me another song because that one is getting old. How do you expect your pack to get along with my coven if you are trying to kill me? Hm?" She questioned towards him.

She shook her head. She walked closer to the window and wrapped her arms around herself. "You know, when I found out that a human killed my friend, I wanted to make the whole town pay for what they had transpired. It's an elite group of hunters out there and we have got to find them." Her eyes met with his once again as he nodded then left the room. "It's okay, Nathaniel, let him pass." She said while looking back out of the window but she could feel Nathaniel's presence through the other side of the wall.

A tear fell from his right eye as she quickly wiped it. She sniffled a little bit but didn't breakdown crying.

She remember them carrying her already dead friend into her home and showing them the wound but she didn't care about that. Her friend was dead and that was all she cared about. Riley sat back down on the bed, shaking her head. There has to be justice. The line has to be drawn at some point. She stood up and quickly fixed herself before going back down the stairs, all eyes were placed upon her as she reached the bottom step. "Uhmm, hey, first order of business..." She paused while walking closer to stand in front of everyone. "We have got to get along much better than we have been otherwise we will lose this war and those we care about. Deal?" She raised a delicate brow at those she was talking too then waited for them to respond before continuing. "Second, we have to be careful when we go out into their world because if we are not, then we could be the next ones to go, you never know." She said a little harsh but with a sincere tone.

Riley then looked at the alpha then back at their respective members. "And me and the alpha are the leaders of the charge, so what we say goes. Alright?" The alpha stood up and nodded his head then turned towards his pack, making sure that they understood. Riley looked at her coven members but knew that most of them still wasn't sure about trusting werewolves. Her eyes twitched when she heard something outside but knew that it was her second in command, who just walked right on in. "Latest report?" She questioned towards him. "Nothing. I guess they are waiting for us." He said, almost out of breath. She lowered her head again then lifted it back up. "Guess I would just have to give them a visit myself then." And with that said, her ears heard the mutters of the pack and coven members as she went upstairs to her room and immediately changed.

"Don't even try to stop me, Nathaniel." She said without looking at him. "I know it is your job to protect me but I am going alone." She knew that it would crush Nathaniel if she was to get hurt or killed. After all, he was in the coven longer than any of those other creeps downstairs. She looked at him then sighed while sitting down on the bed, bringing her knees to chest and wrapping her arms around them. Riley knew that Nathaniel had something to say and she was always willing to listen to his kind, or harsh words of wisdom.

[cerozer0]

This was stupid. Utterly idiotic.

"They don't deserve our help." Keller grumbled angrily as she clung close to the side of her pack's Alpha, amber eyes glaring daggers into the beautiful stairs they ascended to the Coven leader's den, "and we don't need theirs." Her comments were met with low growls, warnings to shut up or go back, and she quickly ceased her whining, turning her attention to the ceiling. Such an elegant home, so large and white and yet suffocating. How... Discomforting. It was different from the wide, wind filled forest just outside, and it left Keller with such a feeling of dread that she just couldn't stop shaking. The two eventually made it to the second floor, and her Alpha quickly made his way to a door and entered, instructing her to stay outside until he was finished speaking with the other leader. Her protests were met with an angry stare, and then she was alone, shivering within the confined walls of the hall.

There was slight chatter from downstairs, most it sounded like arguments or gossip, but Keller used it as something to keep her busy, playing a silent game she had made up only a few seconds before. Her back leaned against the wall, and her ears honed in on certain voices, and then those voices would be either distinguished or ignored. This game continued until an unfamiliar presence entered the hall, and she turned to see the leader's right hand man, Nat-something. Keller allowed her eyes to glare at the floor while her hands hooked into claws, prepared for any unwanted attack, but she seemed to be ignored, and he instead stood in front of the door where the Alpha had entered. Suddenly, the door opened, and the vampire didn't move, instead stood like a stone as her Alpha exited the room. There was a moment of thick silence, and Keller nearly jumped on the stupid man, but everything was cut short as a female voice called the Nat-guy off and allowed the Alpha to re-enter the hall. She approached the taller man, staring at him with deep-set eyes,

"How'd it go?" The situation was explained as they began the short trek back downstairs, and all she could do was nod and sigh. At the bottom of the steps, Keller was instructed to go off and re-join the Pack. Her job was to keep everyone calm, which wasn't exactly the best kind of work for someone so excitable, but she did her best until the Coven leader finally descended to stand on the bottom step as well.

"We have got to get along much better than we have been otherwise we will lose this war and those we care about. Deal?" the vampire spoke, and Keller scoffed at her casualness, but quickly fixed her expression as a familiar growl and glare was turned towards her. The rest of the Pack listened rather leniently to the speech, faces showing their anger and annoyance, but other wise they were quiet and polite. The meeting ended with an interruption, the second in command of the Coven. Something about them being discovered. Instantly, the Packs and the members of the Coven began to murmur, glance at each other worriedly. Keller tried to calm them, but alas had lost her control in her group. The Alpha returned to her side and silenced the gossip with one loud bark.

Riley had returned upstairs, probably preparing for the 'meeting' that had been mentioned, and Keller turned to the Alpha, curiosity peaking,

"Who was expecting them?" She questioned quietly, to which he responded with a shrug and a wave of the hand, as if to brush her off, and with a snort she returned to the Pack and began to mingle and gossip as the rest did.

'I'm not useful for anything else, it seems.'

[Pathfinder]

These past several days had been hard, not only for the coven but for the leader more specifically. Riley had been crushed to see her friend dead and Nathan didn't know what to do. He had offered to look for the murderer but she had declined. That night Nathan got very, very drunk. Since then Nathan has tried his hardest to comfort Riley, without much success. If she needed something fetched or someone dead he could do that, but matters of the heart he had little experience with. There hadn't been a need for it until now and Nathan was becoming frustrated with his inability. He almost lost it when the pack leader of the beasts threatened her. He was just waiting for the signal to jump at this dog before Riley called him off.

That was awhile ago, now he was waiting for anything. He knew she could sense him but anybody else wouldn't. When the Alpha came in again Nathan was ready to pounce, all he needed was half a reason to attack and he would. The two greeted civilly if not harshly and Riley called Nathan out, telling him he needed to go. Not one to disobey, Nathan left taking his place in front of the entrance, with a pack just a couple yards ahead of him.

Nathan kept stoic, a brief flashback of his first coven clawed to the forefront before being beat down. They, along with us, were here for a higher purpose. So Nathan stood still and endured their stink until Riley came out and gave her little speech. When that was over Nathan entered the room after she did, he had some words to say to her.

Gaining his courage, Nathan was about to do something he had never done before. Give his own orders to his leader. With a difficulty Nathan said "I cannot allow you to go alone, its do dangerous. If anything were to happen to you the coven would be lost...I don't have the strength to see another fall because I wasn't there!" Nathan was loosing his composer and he felt embarrassment flood through him. This isn't like him at all. After his little outburst, Nathan fell into one of the chairs in the room and let his head fall into his hands. Trying desperately to regain some form of dignity.

[Lady Termott]

It was strange going into the home of their rivals, or rather, the home of their once rivals and now allies. Rylan still couldn’t wrap her head around the confusing matter. Nonetheless, she had to follow what Alpha said, along with the rest of the pack. She could feel the tension in the very air as everyone was on edge, ready to attack the other despite the commands of their leaders. Rylan stayed close to her pack, unsure if it would be too safe to try and socialize along with the vampires. Both Alpha as well Keller, the pack’s Beta, had gone upstairs. She wanted to go too, but the Alpha urged them to stay put. Of course his right hand would be able to go, probably in case something went wrong. Then of course the rest of them would go up there.

Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. And Alpha should be fine. He is the Alpha for a reason, Rylan thought, almost nodding to her own reassurance. She found a seat as she didn’t know how long this was going to take and looked around, looking at any art or other sorts of décor that was for display. She didn’t like sitting still for so long, especially in within the vicinity of many vampires.

She hadn’t been so close to so many before and it wasn’t the most comfortable situations. Rylan took to distracting herself by means of doodling in her “Conversation Pad” as she called the eleven by eight inch pad of paper she used for talking with. She had a phone, but not being tech savvy, it proved was a bit too difficult for her to use. She also doubted the majority of those around her knew sign, so Conversation Pad it was. In the margins, she doodled little cartoon versions of her pack, although she wasn’t an artist it was mostly stick figure looking canines. It was a fun way to spend her time as she waited for word about whatever they were talking about upstairs.

Rylan then perked, as did several others, pack or coven, at the sound of people coming down the stairs. Both leaders as well Keller and the Coven leader’s right hand had descended the stairs. Rylan halted her doodling, standing up with interest. She grouped along with the rest of the pack. The tension still didn’t waver, and if anything, spiked with the emergence of both leaders. Keller was doing her best to quiet down the pack but there were urgent questions being shot towards her by the others, and consisted of Rylan holding up her pad of paper over the heads of her pack mates, also asking what was going on.

They quickly quieted down, not that Rylan was making much noise in the first place, as the Coven leader called for their attention. She had explained they, pack and coven, will be working together. Safety was in numbers, so it made sense they worked together. Though, how well would they work together after being enemies for so long? She didn’t have any say in the matter as Alpha had also agreed to these matters as whatever he said usually went. She was a scout and her opinion hardly mattered.

In the end, she knew this conjoining of groups would be good for them. She hardly knew much about their greater enemy. Cacciatori? Was that it? It sounds sort of like some kind of pasta. No, no, I shouldn’t be thinking of food, this is important. Well, I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Maybe I can go hunting after this... Rylan lost track of the issue at hand when the idea of food came up. However, her train of thought ended with the shout of the Alpha when things got too loud on their side. The leader of the vampires went back upstairs not too long after she had come down.

With the little meeting session had ended, everyone began to talk amongst themselves once more. It didn’t seem their leader was answering much questions at the time, so Rylan had settled for Keller, who may know more than she did. The scout moseyed toward the Beta with an obvious curious look to her face. “Sooo, how long do you think this whole teaming together thing is going to work?” She asked with writing, giving a polite smile and stay a respectable couple feet away. Rylan then quickly added, “Also do you think Alpha will allow us to schedule in a little hunting session? Food sounds really good right now.”

[Robeatics]

Everything was happening all at once, and had been for nearly two days now. Too many scents, too different, neither human nor lycan, alien yet so familiar, dangerous. It set Mehmet on edge, teetering in the wind, prepared to strike with everything he had at the first sign of danger. And he did, upon facing the coven leader woman and sensing in his bones her cunning, her years of experience likely murdering his kinsmen. The scent threw him off, a vampire standing so close to a werewolf, so close to his pack, that can anyone really blame him that he would strike out in instinctive defense? Her little pet, that Nathaniel man, had taken the brunt of his strikes, and given him a few of his own. Right away Mehmet had stopped, snarling regardless, muscles stinging where Nathaniel had struck. A formidable underling, a man he should not come to blows with lightly. But also a man he will destroy if they should ever fight again.

The situation had been smoothened over, at least, with a few words, barks, and flurry of scents, though a marked segregation of the vampires and werewolves sprung up, physically and socially. He ignored it. That was safer, for the moment. He climbed the steps to wherever Riley lurked, pressing past vampires whom begrudgingly pushed their backs against the wall to get out of his way. Filling out the doorway, he stared at Riley on her bed, and in a low, moderate accent said, "The Cacciatori are the real threat. If we are to work together, we must not fight amongst each other. I apologize for not following our oath of alliance." He bowed his head once, even if her response was unyielding. He understood her indignance, and found a startling amount of himself in it. Of course she would be furious. He left after a few more words, now understanding the flow of things, of authority. He would not be under this woman.

He found the stairs and entered the room in which both groups were congregated, muttering and growling, whispers that hissed gratingly in his ears. Riley arrived, spoke, and he did his best to quietly urge his pack into listening. Many eyes turned to him when she was finished, and above their heads he called out, "Listen to your betters, pups! We are still a pack. I do not expect you to treat these vampires as our own, but keep watch over them and they shall keep watch over us." His eyes shone through the dimness, a sea of mahogany set under thick brows, wide nose flaring with the amalgam of scents. His words dripped with immense inflexibility, a command. "Stay away from the humans. They are weak, but cry out like rabbits when struck, to call out the lions. If any of you are gone for longer than a day without prompting, coven or pack, I will search for you. Trust your senses, and trust no human." His mind swam with worry at the idea of any more of his pack being lost. A hole remained in his heart for the ones he failed to protect. Losing his pack would kill him, undoubtedly, kill his soul, his resolve, his will. That cannot happen.

A scent outside. His head darted towards its source, breathing in sharply, eyes locking on Riley. Before he could say anything, a scout had come back, sharing no news, yet that lack of information piqued his worry even more harshly. Rumors ran wild, and the noise was deafening to him. He lifted his head and barked, veins popping in his neck as he did so, louder than anything else in the room, echoing into the newfound silence. It jarred the vampires and quieted the werewolves, enough to make them both shut up. His beta, Keller, turned to him from where she was at his side. "Who was expecting them?"

He sighed and waved his hand. "I am sorry, Keller. You will know soon, I promise." By now things were quieting down and Riley went upstairs. He watched Keller and Rylan converge to discuss something, turned to follow Riley upstairs, and found her already gone, the scent trail followed by Nathaniel's. He growled quietly and returned to his pack, given up on speaking with the coven leader just yet. It seemed 'soon' was coming sooner than he'd liked. "I am loathe to interrupt you, Rylan, but I must." He shifted irritably, old scars coming to the surface and sending pinpricks along his back. "The Cacciatori are waiting for us. They are the humans I speak of when I tell you of my capture." His tone was filled with held-back fury, wanting nothing more than to howl and speed all the way over to wherever the Cacciatori were hiding and tear them apart. He skimmed over what Rylan had written and sighed. "I will lead a hunt later, but we have more pressing matters than your stomach." His words were stern, scolding. He gave them a softer edge, however, just a little forgiving. He didn't expect his pack to know exactly what was happening. Many of them had only heard of the Cacciatori in legends, or as some far-off monster from his sickening tales best forgotten.

[iSuspect]

Riley couldn't believe that the Alpha actually came to her and apologized and accepted their alliance with open arms. She sighed softly to herself while turning around, seeing Nathaniel enter as she stood there, arms folded over her ample chest. Her ears twitched at his words then she raised a delicate brow at the display that he had just presented. Something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones. This wasn't Nathaniel's usual way of acting and she may not have known him for that long but she knew him long enough to know how he acted. She dropped her arms by his side then walked closer to Nathaniel and knelt down beside him, comforting him, somewhat. "Hey. What's wrong?" She asked him with another raised brow. "If you don't want me to go, I won't go. I honestly didn't expect you to breakdown." She said softly while standing back upright.

"I'll give you some alone time for a moment, just don't destroy my room." She said while walking out of her room and back down the stairs.

Her eyes went from the pack to her coven members then back at the pack. No one was really interacting with the other. Her lip quirked up as she rolled her eyes. Everything seemed like it was happening all too fast. Her friend dying, the pack moving into her home a few days later and now they were being hunted and for what reason. Riley held her hand up to her forehead and shook her head, letting another sigh escape through her parted lips. She started her walk towards the Alpha but then a knock came over the door.

'Human.' She thought. She could smell them from a mile away. Riley wasn't in a mood to fight really and she would call Nathaniel down the stairs but that seemed like a bad idea at the moment. She eyed everyone the made her way to the door as her second in command shortly followed her, along with a few others. She slightly opened the door and stuck her head out of the door. "Hello there. Can I help you?" Riley said in a greeting manner as the male and female couple present held up a flyer. "Hello! We're going door to door and handing out these flyers for our annual barbeque and we would love it if you could make it." Riley took the flyer then smiled while giving them her thanks and closed the door. 'Cacciatori.' She thought again. 'They know that we're here.' She continued thinking to herself but she didn't want to shake up the pack or the coven just yet.

"Mehmet..." She paused and by the tone of her voice, you could hear that something was wrong. "Could you follow me to the kitchen please?" She eyed his pack members then looked back up at him. "Alone?" She then walked towards the kitchen and leaned against the counter, waiting for him to enter. When or if, Mehmet entered the kitchen, she would slam the flyer down on the counter and pointed towards the name. She paced back and forth while running her hand through her blonde locks of hair. "They spotted us. What are we going to do now? Where are we going to go?" She threw her hands up in the air while still pacing.

"They probably got the place surrounded. We're doomed." She said while opening up the curtains to the window then quickly closing them.

"What are we going to do, Mehmet?" Riley wasn't good at making decisions like this, especially since she was a little scared. Her mind drifted off a little then looked back towards Mehmet, sighing while leaning against the counter, waiting to hear what he had to say about all of this.

[Pathfinder]

As Riley left, Nathan burned with embarrassment. That outburst of personal emotion was unprofessional and non important to the crisis at hand. But that didn't invalidate his feelings, with how things were going it was more dangerous than ever for his leader to leave the confines of the mansion and with the disaster of his old coven fresh in his mind Nathan couldn't couldn't help but feel that it was somehow his fault. As long as he could remember he was trained to protect the leader from anything, from how to quickly kill another vampire to the best way to knock out a werewolf. Nathan was for all intents and purposes, the perfect weapon. However every weapon has its limitations, and his was that he still felt. No matter the conditioning he still held sympathy for the humans and would still think like them. The one thing they couldn't take from him was his humanity

Dragging his hand across his hair, putting it back in place, Nathan composed himself and went down stairs. The pack and the coven were uneasy, more so than when he left. Something must have happened while he was gone. Asking one of the lower coven members, Nathan learned that some couple had asked if they could go to their barbecue. Normally the coven would have just blown it off, but in light of recent events it was highly suspicious.

With nothing left to do, Nathan strode up to the kitchen and waited outside the door. Straining his hearing abilities, Nathan was able to make out that Riley was upset, something about the Cacciatori finding them. If that was the case than they needed to leave, Pack and Coven both. While he still held a grudge against the wolfs, if Riley said he had to protect them then so be it. Sighing, Nathan folded his arms against his chest and leaned against the wall. Waiting for his next orders and a chance to explain himself.

[drallinix]

Dante briskly walked up to Nathan and quickly nodded his head in respect. Dante had sweat on his brow and a shotgun in his hands. Taking a position opposite Nathan next to the door he then started tapping his finger on the trigger guard. "twelve gauge slugs made of silver just in case" he said quickly to Nathan. He had an ominous feeling and he didn't know whether it was due to the meeting or something else. He quickly did an inventory of what was on him in case he had to fight he had his shotgun with about 15 extra shells, a silver dagger strapped to his back under his jacket, and a small knife hidden inside his boot. The shotgun was the most logical choice to him and it had the added benefit of him having handled one before. Dante said nervously to Nathaniel "I've got a bad feeling about this" then stopped tapping his finger and exhaled. Noticing he didn't see any weapons on Nathaniel he pulled out his dagger and tossed it over to him saying "that might come in handy".

Dante hadn't seen Nathan like this before the man was usually cool and collected and it was making him even more nervous himself. His throat was burning with thirst and he started coughing every once in a while. Speaking quietly to himself "damn I need to feed again so soon......". Dante hated feeding he was only recently turned himself and it bothered him greatly. The only thing that calmed him was the simple fact the wolves seemed almost as nervous as them.

[Lady Termott]

Rylan bowed her head, nodding as acknowledgement to her scolding, signing a quick apology. This certainly wasn’t time for games, she had realized. She thought to the stories Mehmet had told the pack often, of the horrible people who could even hurt their Alpha. It was unimaginable that those very people actually exist and are ready for them here and now. Rylan finally understood the tension wasn’t just for the closeness of old rivals but the calm before the storm.

She was startled from the sudden rapping, and it took all of her control to not shift then and there. She could smell the scent of human and all this talk of Cacciatori had started putting her on edge. She wasn’t surely the only one, including those in her pack even members of the coven seemed unsettled. Rylan watched Riley open the door, and almost expected the humans to flood in. They didn’t, thankfully, and she could hear them speak about something of a barbeque. She shook her head at the thought of food once more, waiting for any sign of what they should do next.

Rylan watched as both leaders went into the kitchen, and strained her ears to try and hear whatever they were talking about. She, however, couldn’t hear over the noises of the others, and simply waited. She took to doodling once more, but couldn’t continue as she couldn’t stand sitting around any longer. They were certainly sitting ducks by staying all in the same place, no matter how far away they were. Maybe they had enough time to escape before they were surrounded?

Would the vampires work with us if we had to fight? She wondered, knowing her pack would work together to fend off whatever enemy. Rylan wasn’t sure if the coven worked the way they did by means of combat strategy. In her opinion, they didn’t seem very team work oriented, but then again, she knew almost the same about the vampire ways as she did about the Cacciatori. She looked over towards the vampires then back to her pack, and realized they were only mingling and conversing with their own kind. This could be her chance to break the ice.

She spotted a coven member who seemed friendly enough; then again, Rylan thought everyone looked friendly enough. With a smile, she walked over to him, holding up her Conversation Pad that had read “Hello, friend! Name’s Rylan!” She hoped the other werewolves would do the same and interact with their hopefully new buddies.

[Pathfinder]

While waiting for his leader to exit the kitchen Nathan noticed that Dante had walked over and placed himself on the other side of the door, armed to the teeth with silver. With a low sigh, Nathan looked towards him and said, "It was a mistake to bring such weapons here fledgling, this is supposed to be a peaceful place. Bringing enough silver to kill an entire pack would give all of them the opposite feeling." with no short amount of disapproval.

As he finished his little lecture, one of the pack members walked up and greeted Dante with a notepad. Either she was shy or she couldn't talk, either way Nathan didn't care. Settling himself back into his sentinel like guard, Nathan noticed a certain vampire giving all the wrong body cues. Unlike most of the other members who settled for a tense casualness, this one was angry. His fangs were out, his eyes were silver, and he pulled out a knife, not just any knife mind you but one that was designed specifically for use against werewolves. With a snarl the fledgling tensed and tried to leap over his coven mates. Tried being the key word.

The fledgling didn't even get three feet off the ground before he was tackled by Nathan, fangs out and eyes a bright silver. Lifting the fool off of his feet, Nathan gave him a right hoot that shattered his fangs and most of his other teeth. Grabbing him by the throat, Nathan raised his voice for all to hear and said "Members, look at me now and heed my warning! The werewolves are under our protection as we are under theirs. Those who try to harm them shall be dealt with accordingly. Take this fledgling as an example." With that, Nathan reared his fist back and plunged it into the fledgling's chest, pulling out his heart before crushing it in his fist. Looking at the shocked faces of both coven and pack, Nathan shoved the now lifeless body to a lesser member, "I will do the same to anyone who tries to break this truce." Looking back at the shocked member he had thrown the body at, he said "Now pick this mess up."

With that, Nathan went back to his spot beside the kitchen door and stood vigil again. He didn't even stop to wipe the blood off his hand.

[drallinix]

Dante bowed his head at the lecture and muttered "sorry". Suddenly a wolf girl walked up with a notepad that had a greeting on it. Dante smiled and let the shotgun fall into the cradle of its sling as he took the notepad and wrote "Hello my name is Dante." on it. Then he handed it back to her and inspected the girl. Looking at her he wondered why they had been at war for so long. In all honesty she was a beautiful girl and the notepad thing was pretty cute as well. As much as he wanted to fit in he didn't quite understand why everyone was being this way.

Dante decided to continue the conversation vocally and said "So come here often?" with a sarcastic grin. He had a good feeling about this girl Rylan she seemed nice. Suddenly Nathan leaped up and killed another fledgling as he tried to attack the wolves. Dante immediately stepped between Rylan and the rest of the vamps putting his back towards her and shielding her. As Nathan walked back Dante returned to his post as well and said in a slightly strained voice "Nice job boss.". Looking to Rylan he said in a very sincere voice "im extremely sorry you had to see that miss you have my deepest apologies".

[Robeatics]

The knock threw him off, and he turned to watch the door. Riley was downstairs now, and answered it with an incredible lack of fanfare, despite the stench of human that seeped out and made his nose scrunch bitterly. He pressed a hand to Rylan's shoulder, urging her closer to a few more physically powerful werewolves. "Stay together, all of you. Kuzucuğum, keep the pack alert. I want you to use your senses." He nodded to Rylan briefly to check she understood, further emphasizing his trust in her responsibility to lead this little group for the moment. Alright, it seemed that Riley had yet to be staked. She closed the door, Mehmet sensed her panic, and came quickly at her call, slipping into the kitchen behind her. He closed the door behind himself, placed two broad hands on the counter Riley had tossed the flyer atop, and tilted his head, reading it. Muttering a few curses in his mother tongue while Riley proclaimed her fears --something he'd never expect a vampire to do-- he shook his head and jabbed a finger at the flyer. "We are not going. We fight them, simple."

The wind outside howled in his ears like the wind of his prison a century ago. He shuddered and, with a ragged, hurried growl, the growl of a cornered animal, approached the window without pulling back the curtain. His heart hammered in his chest, every muscle pulsing and urging him to fight something. "I have a scout. She is quiet, not fast, not strong, but good for tracking, and closely connected with the pack. She will come with me and herd the humans, if they are here, into a small glade near us. It is surrounded by rock, a good ambushing spot, hard to climb out of for humans. You hide there with four of the coven and the pack each, kill them all."

He spat into the sink and turned to face her, brown eyes flashing, briefly, golden. "I will pick who of the pack goes to ambush. You must choose well, only the fighters. The humans are weak, but know much of how to kill us." Contemplative of his plan, he mulled it over and added, "Perhaps leave a few alive, to question them. They would not send their entire force stationed here. There must be more."

Riley looked up at Mehmet as he began to speak. 'Fight?' She thought while leaning against the couch, her arms folded over her chest. She was scared for herself, she was scared of her coven members numbers decreasing and losing another dear friend. She lowered her head then looked back up at him as he growled. Riley eyed him as he came her way but he was going to the window beside her. "I have my second in command and Nathaniel. That's about it." She sighed while walking closer to him and looking at him directly in the eyes. "So, we're sneaking out?" She asked him while breaking the eye contact and walking towards the kitchen door.

"I am getting sick and tired of running, Mehmet. I really am." She said while looking at him. "But immortals gotta do what immortals gotta do." She couldn't help but laugh at what she had just said. "But where are we going to go?" She asked him but then thought about it. "I guess we could to our old coven home, if it's still there but it's also on the other side of the town." Another sigh escaped her lips then ran her hands through her blonde locks of hair again. "Maybe I can compel a few humans to drive us there and get answers from them that way." She shrugged her shoulders at her suggestion then looked at Mehmet to get his opinion.

His face was hard, jaw muscles clenching and unclenching as he very briefly mulled over Riley's suggestion. "No. If we let the coven and the pack know how frightened we are of the Cacciatori, then they will be frightened as well. No running. We must fight." He turned and stared her straight in the eye, standing uncomfortably close to a vampire, looking in their eye longer than he ever had before without killing them. Their history was a long, spiteful, bloody one. She was meant to be his enemy, yet here they were, working together to survive, eating together, sleeping alongside each other. Well, perhaps not sleeping. He wasn't entirely sure if vampires actually needed sleep.

He realized he was still staring at her, very slightly doubled over her in an intensely instinctive stance, and straightened up, sighing. "If the Cacciatori believe they win over us tonight, they will win over us forever." He glanced out the window and looked back at her. "Perhaps we should move to your little coven home after we kill and capture these humans. We throw off the scent that way." His broken English, embarassingly, came out slightly then, and he went to looking at the window again, leaning against the counter and crossing his vast arms as he waited for an answer.

Riley loved the way Mehmet talked when it came to battle. She wanted to step out of the way and just let him handle everything since this was his plan. She was really tired of running every time humans have found them but this time, she was going to fight and protect her coven. Her eyes looked at him when he talked as she couldn't help but nod her head. "Okay. You guys fight and I'll compel a few humans to drive us the other coven and give us some answers. Sounds good?" She waited for his approval, or wanted to hear what he had to say before continuing on.

He nodded thoughtfuly and scratched at his stubble. A beard was beginning to grow there again, what with him not having enough free time to shave as he typically did. "Wait for the fight to be over and for us to have the captured humans. Drive them to this coven and use whatever you can to make them talk." He rose up and stretched, now readying himself for the first real fight since the vampires and werewolves joined together. "The wolves with you will know when it is time to come to the glade. Follow their tracks and remain quiet." He scowls. "And tell that foolish little fledgling with the gun to get rid of it. The young ones are easily frightened." He smelled the pungent odor of spilled vampiric blood in the room adjacent, and, instantly horrified that a werewolf has killed a vampire, turned and burst into the main room in the form of the beast. Even on all fours, the clay-colored wolf's shoulder reached the ribcages of the shorter members of the congregation. Mehmet snarled and, seeing nothing but a dead vampire on the floor, advanced upon his pack, fearing the murderer one of them. He barked and a telepathic roar ripped through their ears like the bullet from a gun. "WHO DID THIS!"

[Lady Termott]

Rylan was confused for a moment when boy grabbed her notepad, but grinned when she realized he put down his own greeting. She quickly wrote down an explanation for said notepad, “I can’t speak so I usually talk through writing!” Awesome! She thought, I’m sure we all could get along fine! Dante seems like a cool person! She found herself lucky she picked a nice vampire, rather than the ones she was once warned about, the ones who weren’t, well, not so nice. She shook her head, writing down, “Nope! This is my first time here!” and showed him her notepad briefly.

Rylan noticed Mehmet wanting her to stay closer to the pack, and he appeared rather on edge. Rylan signed a confirmation of understanding. Ears perk, and eyes attentive, she tried her best to be ready for anything. She held up a finger to Dante, excusing herself for a moment. She wrote down, “Careful, guys! Be on your toes!” And held it up, making sure her pack mates were able to read it. Rylan held up a thumb up once everyone had read her message and turned back the nice vampire guy.

Ironically, however, Rylan was caught off guard herself. There was a sudden flash of movement, and in the corner of her eye, she had just noticed a vampire in the air, weapon poised for the kill. Out of fear and instinct, she couldn’t help but become her wolf form, her darkly furred self on her haunches as she readied to launch herself at the attacker. Although she wasn’t quick enough as someone beat her to it, the coven leader’s right hand. Nathaniel, or something like that? That didn’t matter, but what did matter would be he had not only saved them, but also had brutally killed one of his own.

Rylan shook her head, trying to get rid of the image of the events that had just happened, feeling rather sick of the sight that was once someone. She wasn’t sure how to feel, as whoever that was was going to kill them and maybe killing him was the best choice. Rylan stepped back a few steps, staying her in beast form as she no longer felt safe in this place, despite the apologies given to her by Dante. She shook her once more as a response, feeling trapped.

“We have to get out of here.” Rylan said telepathically, sending the message to the other wolves as she obviously couldn’t use her notepad at the moment. This joining of both groups wouldn’t work, especially if everyone is so eager to attack each other. She noticed some of her pack had followed her lead and changed their forms. It probably wasn’t the best move, and she should have controlled her instinct, but now Rylan was much more alert than when she was human.

There was then the sound of a door slamming open, and the ferocious sounds of their Alpha noticing what had transpired. Rylan flinched, becoming submissive as to not further anger Mehmet. It grew quiet fast as he expected an answer then and there. As Rylan was put in charge of the pack for that short while, she figured it was her responsibility.

“It wasn’t anyone of us!” Rylan said quickly “He was going to attack us, but then that Nathaniel guy saved us! He used that fledgling as an example of those who break this treaty!” Rylan explained further with her telepathy, sounding rather panicked over the situation. She still couldn’t believe what had happened. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if one of their own had tried to attack, but could she really kill a member of her pack? A member of her family?

[Pathfinder]

Nathan kept on his toes, scanning the area for any more dissenter among the coven. As his gaze crept along the members of the coven they shied away, fearful of the wrath of the right hand. Satisfied with the outcome he switched his gaze toward the pack, some of which had changed into their wolf forms. As he looked around the younger ones avoided looking him in the eye while the older members did not, as an act of defiance or some sort. Nathan didn't really care as long as his point was made and the coven fallowed the rules.

With that the door flung open revealing a wolf bigger than even the alphas that attacked his old coven. It seems Mehmet is as big as a wolf as he is a man. The wolves all shied from his roar as she burst through the kitchen door and many of the coven members flinched or screamed, "Fledglings Nathan thought with a amusement. As Mehmet calmed somewhat, Nathan stood his vigil at the door and waited for Riley to give him more orders. This truce was on rocky ground as is and maybe a little bonding activity was in order. Perhaps killing those Cacciatori agents would suffice?

With a shake of his head Nathan took out a handkerchief he keeps on his person and started to wipe off the blood on his arm, scrubbing as much stink as he could off of him. After discarding the no soiled handkerchief Nathan settled in his position and waited, noting that the fledgling had disposed of the body and was now working on cleaning the blood. Satisfied with the example, Nathan waited for the inevitable rant he would get from Riley.

[iSuspect]

Riley left the kitchen shortly after Mehmet then the smell of another vampire crept across her nose. She immediately ran out and wanted to confront the wolves but then turned towards Nathaniel as he was covered in the scent of the blood that she had smelt. "Nathaniel, you did this?" Her hand waved towards the body as her glance went back up towards him. "I can't deal with the humans and this right now. Damn it, Nathaniel." She said while running another hand through her head but turned her attention towards Dante. "Look, all that silver is really not necessary. Get rid of it or I get rid of you." She scolded, something she really hated doing. Her eyes locked back with Nathaniel as she did nothing but shake her head.

"Okay, we're planning on fighting these humans head on. Capture some and I'll compel a few to give us some answers. I think that is the plan." She bit her bottom lip then waved for Nathaniel to follow her towards the area where the rest of her coven members and the werewolves resided. She ran her fingers through her hair again and cleared her throat before speaking. "Mehmet, did you tell them the plan?" She asked. It didn't really bother her to see most of the werewolves were already bursting with their beast form. She often found it kind of cute. Her shook the thoughts away then looked back out towards everyone.

"Well, basically our best fighters are going to fight, or at least hold off the humans. Now keep in mind that we will need to capture a few for questioning so please..." Her eyes bounced between the pack and coven members before speaking the next words from her lips. "Do not kill every human in sight." She said firmly then placed her hands upon her hips, glancing towards Mehmet. "Anything special you would like to add?" She asked towards him while still wanting to scold Nathaniel for killing a member of the coven without her permission.

[drallinix]

Dropping the silver shells and pumping the last few out of the twelve gauge Dante apologized to his mistress. Speaking up he said " I would like to join in the battle against the humans!" falling to one knee and placing his fist on his heart he continued "allow me to prove my loyalty and valor". Dante continued with his head bowed " If I am granted permission I would like a little time to prepare myself for the coming fight. Also I wish to stay close to the wolf pack and help protect them. I believe that I am best suited for this task since I am a newborn and harbor no ill feelings towards the wolves."

After he said all of this he remained kneeling waiting for recognition from his leader. He was silent and still though he burned with desire to fight. Finally speaking again Dante said "Allow me to carry a sword and armor bearing the symbol of our coven into this fight so the humans may know that it is we who fight back." Looking to the leader of wolves he also said "I would bear a visage of your pack as well so that our alliance will be known." Having said his piece Dante remained kneeling and waited for a reply.

[Robeatics]

A few of his kin were already in their wolf forms, and he feared the absolute worst. Little Rylan calmed him, somewhat, and he turned to stare her down as she explained, quickly, what had transpired. "I...believe you, Kuzucuğum." The mighty animal straightened up, hackles lowering, and he turned his gaze over to the vampires. He looked down at the dead fledgling, gave it a sniff, and closed his eyes, shifting back into his human form and standing up. Normally, he could come back from his wolf form generally neatly, but with the speed with which he had transformed in the first place, his cheap white t-shirt was in tatters, torn too quickly to be seamlessly assimilated into his form like the rest of his clothing usually did. In the split second it took to shift, his upper body always changed first. He chuckled a little at what might have occurred had the pattern gone the other way, eyeing his shirt good-naturedly. He nodded to his pack, "My apologies for thinking any of the pack could be disloyal," and returned to the vampires.

"Nathaniel. I am glad to see you protecting our own. I will do the same." He knit his brows together. Were the coven so distant of a family that they would kill their own without a second thought? Would strike out against someone their mother has called friend? Riley was no mother, however, and they not her children. They did not act like they had such ties, symbolically or literally. Mehmet had, of course, biologically fathered a few members of the pack, and they were some of his most loyal members. But that had been more out of business as the alpha than a desire to raise children with someone. His pack was dwindling when he'd first taken over as leader, and it was his duty to make it strong again. A woman of the elder circle had been open to it, but Mehmet had to request that she never tell her children who their father was, for fear of them expecting, and likely receiving, favoritism. But that was years ago. He crossed his arms at Riley and turned to his pack. "Some of us will be fighting very soon. I will choose, and the others must stay back. Horatia, you will stay here to keep the pack safe while I take Rylan, Michael, Andre, Francisca and Kate to go with me." He stared Rylan in the eye. "You stay at my side. You, others, come with the four vampires to hide in the lounging glade for an ambush. You will hear humans approaching, cowering in the bowl of rock. Strike when you hear my howl."

Determined to keep his pack at its utmost safest, he swept his gaze to lock onto Riley, before the trigger-happy whelp from before was kneeling and proclaiming his fitness for combat. Mehmet listened to his words and growled deeply. "You are a newborn to me, and nearly more human than Immortal. How important you must believe you are to claim your place as so worthy a warrior." The ruined fabric of his shirt strained against the intimidating span of his chest as he breathed in and out slowly. "Ill will or nigh, I demand only the strongest to fight. A great warrior may hate werewolves, but only when the truce is finished. A great warrior is no greater than a suicidal infant when he strikes against us when he needs our help." He waved a hand at him. "Aptal çocuk."

Finally, he turned his attention to the more pressing matter of speaking with Riley. "Nothing to add, except to watch their hands, even when captured. They are tricky and hide many weapons." He extended his arm, and displayed a long, arching scar along his bicep. The thin wound there was mangled, as if the cut were made during a great, thrashing struggle. "A human hid a tiny silver blade in a ring. Barely an inch was all it took to do this."

[Lady Termott]

Rylan relaxed upon hearing Mehmet believing her word, giving off a cute little wag of her tail and smiling as best she could in her wolf form. She was glad the pack had some self-control and didn’t counterattack or anything of the sort. She felt a sense of pride knowing she could trust them, and even some of the vampires since only one had tried to attack them. She felt she definitely owed Nathan one, despite the commotion and rather horrific event given she should have watched more closely for any signs of a sudden attack. Nonetheless, she was glad no one in the pack was hurt.

Rylan listened closely to the plan. Fighting wasn’t her forte and she was confused as well surprised Mehmet picked her along with some of the strongest of the pack. As excited Rylan felt for being picked, she also believed she would slow down the others given her lack of speed and strength. She waited until he was done explaining before announcing her objections. “Are you sure you want me to come along, Metmet?” She asked, using one of his common nicknames, but then remembered she should be more formal at this gathering, “ Er, Alpha? I mean wouldn’t it be better if you choose someone with more combat experience?”

She realized she was still in her beast form and felt rather rude for staying so. Some of the coven may believe it was an act of breaking the truce or something like that. Even if it were easier for communicating as a wolf, Rylan shifted into her human form. She never had trouble with ruining her clothes when changing forms as she often wore clothes that were bigger than her just in case. It wasn’t like she didn’t have enough clothes, it was just she didn’t like ruining perfectly good ones. Now in the place of a black wolf was now Rylan as a human. On the floor she noticed she dropped her Conversation Pad and picked it up and tucked it beneath her arm. Like clothes, she had plenty of notepads that she also didn’t like to waste.

She grew interested when that same vampire, Dante, had dropped the silver weapons, something she didn’t notice when she had talked to him. That mad her wonder how many others were carrying silver on them. She doubted any of the pack had garlic or stakes in them. Wait, do either of those work? Or was that one of those myths? I guess a stake through the heart would kill anyone either way. Dante then surprised her once more when he then kneeled and bowed his head. Without all the silver, he’s totally defenseless now, and if either leader wanted, could harm him. She realized perhaps that was his way to show he was loyal to either party.

Either way, his cute little performance was denied immediately by Mehmet. Rylan was certainly feeling bold, as once again she gave her objections. “Why don’t we give him a chance?” She asked in sign language, “Even if he isn’t the strongest, it could be a chance to, well, develop our alliance. And like he said, he has no hatred towards us, so there would be no reason for him to turn against us!”

[Pathfinder]

Nathan would be amused if the little show Dante had wasn't so annoying. Hadn't the fledgling learned anything from him? Nathan gazed at the Dante like he was trying to burn a hole through his head. With a firm but condescending tone, Nathan said "Armor has no place in this world Dante, you would be singled out and shot before you could even step on the grounds. Swords are to unwieldy for where we are going and there is no need to have crests and shows of badges. The humans know were we are, not who we are. If they did they would be able to take out all of our outside businesses." With a dismissive sideways glance Nathan concluded with "Besides, you are still a fledgling. Your powers haven't fully surfaced yet, if at all a crueler leader would have just used you for cannon fodder."

Ignoring Dante for now, Nathan dismissed himself from the group and went to his room. While there he used his speed to get what he needed, gloves, balaclava, sunglasses, paint, bullet insurance, and finally his trusty gun, a desert eagle by the name of Rosa and all of it in lovely summer colors that just so happen to match the landscape. As he put his gear on Nathan took a second to look at his old dog tags, not the real ones that Heinrich said were destroyed but the ones he was given as a gift from Kathrine. With a little sigh, Nathan put them on underneath his shirt then pulled the bullet proof vest, had to stay with the times.

Within a minute Nathan had put on enough gear that would take at least five for a human, satisfied with his time Nathan ran back down stairs, ready for whatever he had to do but not before sharing a word with Riley. Looking her in the eyes, Nathan said "I'm sorry for the mess but the fledgling was going to jeopardize everything. If I didn't make an example than others may have tried to join in and the truce would have been for nothing." With a solemn look Nathan concluded with "I did what had to be done." Nathan didn't want to do it, but for the good of the coven he would do anything. Just like a good soldier.

[Wraithblade6]

Not far from all of this, that very same night, a rogue vampire was sitting among the living, gathering information. The problem with being a vampire who hunted vampires was finding them. It wasn't as easy as tracking game, which for the average human was difficult to say the least, because vampires, and other such supernatural anomalies, didn't leave much for scent or tracks or even make much sound where they went. They all however, did keep involved with their hosts, humans. Mithias was almost terrible at blending in. The best he had yet to come up with was to mimic an old man. Most people didn't want to look at an old or perhaps diseased face, and they could forgive his pale skin for sickness. He could disguise himself with heavy robes and had learned to walk very, so very slowly. all of his movements had to be comfortable to the human eye, predictable, so as not to cause alarm. Occasionally, his efforts paid with a lead to some sadistic and arrogant immortal that he was capable of slaying. More often than not, it would at least lead to a quick drink of the staple, mortal vitae. But oh, how much more satisfying it was to drink from his own wretched kind. There was power in that blood too, and Mithias would admit to the development of a small addiction. Perhaps there was some natural or divine approval of his efforts.

Mithias pretended to take his time with a small slice of food and drink in the back of the tavern. His heart rate jumped slightly when two hunters came in. It wasn't how they looked that gave them away, but their talk. Of course they were unusually fit compared to the typical crowd. That was just supportive evidence. The moment they stopped talking, Mithias noticed. Yes... he caught them quickly looking away from him. A tirade of curses shot through the vampire's mind, as he knew his guise was foiled. Immediately, he got up, ever so slowly faking his way toward the exit like an unfortunate leper. He deliberately did not expose the flesh of his fingers as he pretended to push on a chair for support. Quickly... if he left, they might not decide to give chase. He heard the distinct slide of a chair against the wood floor as one of them got up behind him.

Coughing loudly, the way cleared in front of him quickly, and Mithias left the building. Now began the wild goose chase down the street. Surely they had something better to do tonight...