Fergal was, by all means, a large man. Towering at six foot six inches, he had a tendency to dominate a room without much effort. Combined with his shock of red hair, muscular frame and the scarred left side of his face, he was a magnet for attention. It was why, as Sarif spoke, he stood in the back of the room. It was also why he was the first to notice Adam reenter the room. Alone.

The alpha had figured Frank would take the destruction of his clan hard. There was hardly a man that wouldn't. They had been self centered assholes, but they were still his pack. Fergal could understand that all too well. The thought made him scratch at his scars, remembering. He hadn't always been an alpha, after all.

It was, of course, Christophe who first noticed the werewolf's change in mood. The young man turned to look back at him. With his good eye, Fergal flicked a glance at Jensen. Christophe took the hint, his odd, blue and pink eyes taking in the vampire before looking back at the alpha. It would be hard for him to tell what the vampire was feeling; Christophe was a very powerful empath, but vampires had a natural resistance to being read.

So the black haired man none too gently elbowed his boyfriend in the side, causing the werejackal to start and look at him in surprise. The empath jerked his head back, and Cristian looked behind until he spotted Adam. With a frown, the man rose and left the room.

Christophe, while being an empath, was rather poor at dealing with other people's emotions. Just because he could sense them didn't mean he knew what to do to help them. Cristian, on the other hand, was very good at comforting and consoling. His problem was more along the lines of recognizing other people's feelings. It made the pair a very complimentary couple, all things considered.

And so it was Cristian that tracked down the hunter and found him much as Adam had left him. The werejackal entered the room quietly, shutting the door behind him. He walked over and sat down next to Frank, and slung an arm over his shoulder. He pulled the hunter against him gently, but didn't say anything. For once, Cristian wasn't smiling. He did, however, reflect upon some things.

He knew why Adam had left the room. He would feel like he was intruding on something. He also thought he was a poor hand at comforting people, regardless of the truth. That and his waning self control meant leaving the room was probably the best thing he could have done for the hunter at this point. Cristian sighed as Frank finally seemed to acknowledge his presence, and leaned back into him.

Meanwhile, Christophe began fidgeting in his seat. Without Cristian, he had no positive buffer against the rest of the room. He crossed his arms, willing himself to stay still. But, with a torrid of rising tempers and emotions, that was a difficult task.

"Faridah," Fergal said, softly. The youngest member of his pack quickly bounded to his side. The alpha indicated the now empty spot on the couch. "Go 'av a sate."

"Yes, sir," she said, softly, as not to disturb Sarif's lecture. She moved with a werewolf's natural lithe, and slid into the seat next to the empath. Christophe was surprised a moment, then let out a sigh of relief. The woman was full of positive energy, and while not as effective as Cristian, acted as a buffer just as well. The empath shot a grateful look back at Fergal, who nodded shortly.

Adam had been noting these small exchanges while he listened. If he wanted a relationship with the hunter, at some point, he would have to get to know his friends. Cristian he knew, and it had made sense to him that the werejackal had left. But he didn't know Christophe, or the werewolf alpha, Fergal. Or the shade that was in a corner of the ceiling. He knew there was also a fae princess on her way, and he wondered not for the first time how the little group had managed to meet.

While all this had been going on, Sarif had been sharing his knowledge about dragons.

"As dragons have become very rare these days, humor me as I share what I know about them. They live to great ages, and the larger their dragon form, the older and more powerful they are. They have an awesome command of magic, and it is their tongue that wizards, witches and all other magic users derived their spell languages from. Their scales are impervious to magical attack and highly resistant to physical force, and their fangs are strong enough to cut through steel.

Most dragons are relatively peaceful, and will only attack when sufficiently provoked. In this day and age, many dragons choose to live in human form, to more easily avoid detection. There are even theories that suggests human magic users only have the ability to use magic because of having dragon blood, but there is no way to prove this.

In any case, we know this dragon is not peaceful, and on the offensive. This gives us only one real advantage. That is, we are not fighting a dragon in its lair.

When I say this is our only advantage, I mean it wholeheartedly. You heard my explanation of their defenses; I was by no means exaggerating. Older dragons have been known to destroy entire armies before being taken down themselves. If, indeed, they were killed at all. Many will live through such an encounter, and simply move to a less crowded home. Taking down a dragon requires no small amount of skill and cunning, which is why we have such a group as this involved.

What I propose as our plan is an ambush. Adam helped kill one of his group, and his progeny helped kill the other. He'll want revenge for that. We can use them to lead the dragon into a trap of our own design. We need it to be a small space, somewhere the dragon can't maneuver easily in its true form. In this case, it may chose to take human form. That will make him vulnerable.

While in human form, the dragon will still be a master of magic, so don't underestimate him. Fergal, my hope is that your pack will be on hand to harass him, acting as a distraction during the fight. I don't want anyone to take him head on; that would be suicide. We also shouldn't assume he's going to take on the van Bruggens.

He claims his plan is to stir up another preternatural war. In that case, he'll need to attack both sides. I have no doubt he could masquerade as a hunter to suit his own needs. The largest hub of preternaturals here is St. Josephine's Church. Since it's full of transients, clanless and homeless, it would have the biggest impact on the pret population. Everyone knows at least one person that lives at the Church.

I'd suggest having Adam and his progeny watch both locations with one of the werewolves; that way, when the dragon does appear, they can lead him away while the werewolf comes to alert us. Any questions?"

"I have one."

Everyone in the room turned to look at the owner of the unfamiliar voice. It was a tall, willowy woman with white blonde hair falling down to her ankles. She was so pale as to almost glow, with silver eyes and nails. She was beautiful to the point that is was painful. She smiled, walking up to the vampire.

"Nice av yer ter show up, Jedidah," Fergal said, yawning. She nearly matched him in height, and so towered over Sarif. She leaned against the mantle, smiling.

"I don't really like playing hide and seek," she said. "It's so awful and boring. Couldn't I just take the dragon on myself?"

"What d'ya think that'll do?" Orion drawled. The fae princess glared at xem. The fae and demons had a long standing antagonism for each other, though no one was really sure why. "It don' matter how much you power up those limp arms a' yours if the beast's scales are impervious to majick."

"Oh-ho? You think you could do better, trollop?" Jedidah asked. Dabbler of dark magic or not, she was still a proud fae.

"None av dat, nigh," Fergal said, stepping between the two's line of sight. "We're on de seem side 'ere, mind?"

"Tell tha' ta her," Orion said, draping xemself on xyr mate's shoulders. Wayne sighed, not really sure how to help in this situation.

"Ha! As if a demon can be civil," Jedidah replied, holding up her hands. "I don't even know why I'm bothering with all of you. I should just go after the thing myself."

"Then do," Orion said. "I wouldn' mourn ya."

"Perhaps I will," the fae replied. "Perhaps-"

"That's enough," Adam said, moving from the back of the room. Sarif let his progeny have the floor. The vampire looked up at the princess, who gave him a mocking smile. "You're under my roof, and by law you owe me the courtesy of not antagonizing my guests."

"Tch, he started it," Jedidah replied.

"You're not my guest," Adam shot back, crossing his arms. Jedidah opened her mouth to speak, then closed it with a cold smile.

"True, it did slip my mind to ask for permission to enter," she said. "Very well. You win this round, vampire."

"Good," Adam said. He turned to face his audience. "Now, does anyone have anything constructive to say?"

"Thar's an auld quarry a couple ton kilos from 'ere," Fergal said. "Oi reckon de tunnels wud be wee enoof ter force de dragon ter change."

"Sounds like a plan," Adam said, nodding. Then he looked at the fae princess. "Once he's changed, he'll still be a formidable magic user. Think you can handle him?"

"Should be a piece of cake," Jedidah replied, smiling.

"Now that that's settled, excuse me," Christophe said, and rose, leaving the room. It was then that Daryl sunk to the floor, rising up in the front of the room.

~I could let you know when the dragon is getting close,~ it signed. Adam nodded again, and the shade slunk out of the room.

"We'll go prepare ourselves. Better ter 'unt nigh, an' scrap on a full gut," Fergal said, and his pack followed him out.

"See you later, Adam," Faridah said, waving. Orion wordlessly towed Wayne out of the room, dragging his mate back to the guest room. That left Sarif, Adam and Jedidah in the room.

"I'll go let the founder know what's going on," Sarif said, and waved over his shoulder as he left.

"What I'd like to know is where Frank is," the fae queen said. Adam sighed, but none the less led the way back to the small room off to the side. He knocked before cautiously opening the door.

The hunter was in better shape, off the floor and sitting in a chair. Cristian sat on a nearby settee, with Christophe in his lap. Jedidah rushed past the vampire to embrace the hunter, which caused Pritchard to sigh in resignation.

"Hello, Jedie," he said, putting up with the attention remarkable well.

"Oh, my darling boy! How are you? Are you alright? Has anyone mistreated you?" the fae princess replied, pulling back to pat the hunter down, stroke his hair, much like a worried mother. Frank rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine, Jedie," he said, then hissed as she accidentally touched one of his wounds. She frowned, putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh, fine, is it?" she asked. "Here I fly halfway across the world because Ola contacts me saying you're hurt and have a dragon after you, and now you're fine?"

"I'm handling it," Frank said, slouching over the opposite side of the chair. Cristian was holding back a laugh, and Adam moved to lean against the wall next to the door. "I'm a hunter, this is what I do."

"Horse shit," Jedidah replied. "You're just a rebellious teenager, is what you are, making your mother and me worry over you with all this acting out."

"I'm already a hundred three, I don't think that qualifies as a teenager," the hunter replied. Adam blinked in surprise. There was something new.

"I have great grandchildren older than you, mister," Jedidah said. "And they're still teenagers as far as I'm concerned."

"Uh huh, then why don't you give them this little routine?" Frank asked. Jedidah huffed, standing and crossing her arms.

"Fine. Go and fight a dragon, see if I care," she said, and stormed out of the room. After a few minutes, she popped her head back in. "But, if you need me, I'll be nearby. Ta!"

"... what was that?" Adam asked. Cristian grinned, and Frank sighed.

"Jedidah was something of a second mother to me growing up," the hunter said, fixing his hair. "Since mine couldn't leave her pool in the woods and all. Sometimes she likes to take the role a little too seriously."

"So I see," Adam said. Then he looked over at Cristian and Christophe. "So, are you two…"

"Dating, yes," Cristian said, snuggling the smaller man in his lap. Christophe gave him a wry smile.

"It's actually been almost two years now," the empath said. "And yet people are still surprised… not that I blame them."

"Hey! That's mean," Cristian said. Christophe pushed him, albeit gently.

"It's not my fault you're a notorious playboy," he said. Cristian stuck his tongue out at the empath, then stood suddenly, picking him up. Christophe frowned. "I wish you would stop doing that…"

"Hey, Adam, mind if we crash here?" the werejackal said, ignoring him. The vampire shook his head. The man really hadn't changed.

"Go ahead. I have plenty of room, after all," he said. Grinning, Cristian carried the weakly protesting Christophe from the room. Which left the vampire and the hunter alone. Very carefully, Adam walked across the room, and sat in another chair. This one happened to face the hunter. "Feeling better?"

"Not really," Pritchard said, leaning his head against his hand. "Just… tired."

"Understandable," Adam replied. The hunter sighed, then leaned forward.

"So, what's the plan?" he asked. Adam considered, and decided that it would be impossible to keep the hunter from being included. Especially after he'd learned about the fall of his clan.

"We're going to lead the dragon to a quarry a couple of miles away," the vampire said. "The goal is to lead him into the tunnels. He'll be more vulnerable in human form."

"I see," Pritchard said. They were both quiet for some time, each considering their own thoughts.

Frank, for his part, was trying to see what was going to happen. It was his way of making plans; playing the action in his head to account for variables and possibilities. But, knowing how many people would be helping, especially many that he didn't know, it was difficult to see everything that could possibly go wrong. That, and after his earlier episode, he was worn out.

Adam was trying to think of what to say next. Cristian had a point; he was running out of time. Perhaps he should just tell the hunter what was going on, and see what happened from there. Before the fighting started and made things more complicated. But how would the hunter react? Cristian had said he was more open minded than Adam thought, but sometimes the werejackal could be completely wrong about people.

"I should probably be going," the hunter said at length, standing. He felt even more tired when he stood. At least all he had to do was return to his apartment. Now that they had a plan in place, he was sure someone would be monitoring the van Bruggen estate. Adam remained seated, but looked up at the hunter.

"I… I'll contact you if anything comes up," the vampire said. Pritchard nodded, putting his hands in his pockets as he started walking away. He had to pause at the door, swaying in exhaustion. Adam stood, walking over to him. "Are you alright?"

"Just tired," the hunter replied, shaking himself and standing up. Adam regarded him, then mentally berated himself even as he spoke.

"If you're that tired, you can stay here," he said. Frank blinked at him, and the vampire crossed his arms. "Like I said before, I have plenty of room. And you look about ready to collapse."

"I…" the hunter started, then paused. He leaned against the wall without thinking about it. He really was tired. He sighed, forcing himself to stand up again. "I think I might have to take you up on that."

"I can go get your gear for you, if you want," Adam offered. It was more an excuse to leave than anything else, but he figured it was probably a good idea as well. The hunter nodded.

"I'd appreciate that," he said. Adam opened the door.

"Bedrooms are all upstairs," he said, heading to the front door. Frank followed after, since the stairway was in the same direction.

"Thanks," he said, and the vampire watched as he made his way up the stairs. With a sigh, Adam left his manor, heading for the hunter's apartment.

"I figured as much," Sarif said, joining him about a block away. Adam sighed.

"What do you mean, boss?" he asked, although he knew damn well. His sire smiled, keeping pace with him.

"That if the hunter got in your space, you'd find a way to keep him there," Sarif said, putting his hands behind his head. Adam frowned.

"It's not like that," he said. "He was just so tired he could barely walk straight."

"Uh huh, so why not offer to walk him back, then?" his sire countered. Adam ground his teeth, then sighed.

"Listen, boss, I… appreciate what it is you're trying to do," he said, forcing himself to remain calm. "But I can handle this myself."

"Mm, I see," Sarif said. "Like how you've been gorging yourself on blood?"

"I'm not-" Adam started, then stopped. He sighed again. "It's just a precaution."

"If you were handling things, you wouldn't need precautions," Sarif said. "Adam, you need to say something before things get out of hand."

"I will," his progeny replied.

"When?" Sarif asked.

"When bringing it up isn't going to make me sound like an ass," Adam replied. Sarif made a noise of frustration, stepping in front of the younger vampire and poking him in the chest.

"You don't. Have. Time," he said. He looked up at his progeny over the rim of his glasses. "I've seen him around you now. You don't even trust yourself to stay in the same room alone with him. You're gorging yourself on blood and being territorial, subconscious or not. I understand that you're trying to be considerate, but there isn't time for it, Adam. You need to do something about this situation before you can't control yourself."

"... I'll talk to him tomorrow," Adam conceded, walking around his sire. Sarif sighed, but let him go.

"You'd better," he said. Then, more quietly, to himself. "For both of your sakes."

Meanwhile, there was a knock on the door to the room Frank had commandeered for himself. The hunter had taken a brief shower, and had just put on some light clothes. With a guess at who it was, he none the less cautiously opened the door.

"Yeah, thought as much," Cristian said, smiling and scratching the back of his head. "Mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Frank said, moving aside to let him in the room. The hunter yawned, moving to sit on the bed as the werejackal closed the door behind him. "What is it?"

"So… well, I guess, this is kind of weird to explain," Cristian said, leaning on the bedside table. "Christophe said he already let you know Adam likes you, right?"

"Right," Frank said, stifling another yawn. He hoped the werejackal came to his point soon, so he could go to bed. Cristian sighed.

"Well, here's the thing," he said. "Have you ever heard of a vampire's blood stirring?"

"No, what's that?" the hunter asked. Cristian nodded, then smiled kind of sheepishly.

"I suppose hunter's call it bloodlust, but it's a bit more complicated than that," he said. "See, it's this sensation vampire's experience where they feel… more alive, I guess? Sorry, I'm just going off of what I've heard. Anyways, it always happens with a person, and they also crave that person's blood."

"What's your point?" Frank asked. He was just so tired, he couldn't connect whatever dots Cristian was trying to make him see. The werejackal sighed.

"My point is that you have Adam's blood stirring," he said. It took the hunter a full minute to really catch the implications of that.

"I what?" he asked, feeling more awake. Cristian scratched the back of his head.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Adam's a good guy," he said. "But he can't control the way he's attracted to you. In fact, I'm kind of surprised he's lasted this long."

"What do you mean?" Frank asked, crossing his arms. He could feel another yawn coming on, but he needed to hear this.

"He's really straining to control himself around you," Cristian said. "He's gorging himself on blood to make sure he's too full to feed. I doubt he can even stay in a room with you for long without your scent driving him crazy."

"Well, you're wrong on that count," Frank said. "Yesterday-"

"Did he seem anxious to leave?" Cristian asked. "How long has he stayed in a room with you, alone, since then?"

"I… ugh, I'm too tired for this," the hunter said, covering his eyes with a hand. "Why are you bringing this up?"

"Because Adam tests his limits," Cristian said, and Frank looked up at him through his fingers. "He thinks he can stay in control of himself, but it won't last forever. I'm pretty sure if he gets the scent of your blood in his nose, it's going to snap his self control completely."

"He already has," Frank replied, letting his hand drop. "I got injured fighting a necromancer."

"Oh for fuck's sake," the werejackal said, face palming. "That idiot."

"What?" Frank asked, raising a brow. The werejackal looked up, giving the hunter a wry smile.

"No wonder he's already gorging himself," he said. "You wouldn't happen to know if he tasted any of your blood, would you?"

"Why?" the hunter asked, feeling very uncomfortable.

"Because if he has, than he's pushing himself even more than I thought," Cristian said. Frank frowned, glaring.

"And why would he do that?" he asked. If this was all just some kind of game, he was going to kill him. Cristian sighed.

"Because he doesn't want to force you into anything," he said. Frank blinked at him.

"Huh?" he asked. Cristian rolled his eyes.

"I already told you, he isn't a bad guy," he said. "The reason I'm telling you this instead of him is probably that he thinks if you know, you'll feel obligated to oblige him, or force yourself to let him suck your blood. He'd rather it was your choice, without that kind of influence."

"You're kidding," Frank said, crossing his arms. Cristian smiled wanly.

"I wish," he said. "Otherwise, he would have already told you. You're only the second person to make his blood stir, as far as I know."

"What happened to the first?" Frank asked. Cristian shrugged, walking away.

"You'd have to ask Adam, I wasn't there at the time," he said, and left the room. With a sigh, Frank climbed into bed. He wasn't sure what to make of the werejackal's speech, or how much of it was true. He didn't think the man was lying, but he also knew that sometimes Cristian could bend the truth to suit his own ends. This, however, didn't seem like one of those times.

Cursing the stupid werejackal, Frank got out of bed and dressed to wait for the vampire downstairs.