(Revised and edited: 6/30/2015)

Deceitful Things

Chapter IX: Discovery

One flew east, one flew west,

One flew over the cuckoo's nest

Purrsephone was worried.

No, scratch that, that was an understatement. She was nearly insane with worry.

It grabbed and took ahold of her like a giant hand, squeezing her insides. She wanted to kick down every door of every house of the neighborhood. She wanted to shred her clothes and tear her hair out and bang her head against the wall. But, in reality, all the werecat could do was pace back and forth, stopping every now and then to take a glance at the clock, only to see that a mere three agonizing minutes had passed.

Toralei was still not home.

The ginger kitty had said she was going for a walk, but it had been well over half an hour since she had last said that. The uneasy feeling in Purrsephone's stomach gnawed at her like a teething dog, and it was almost becoming unbearable to the point she was tempted to take her coat and look for her sister herself.

"Sister, please, calm yourself before you whip yourself into a mess," Meowlody asked as she came from the kitchen, juggling Rosabelle on her hip.

Purrsephone folded her arms as she sat on the couch without any resistance, crossing her legs and holding her feet as she rocked back and forth. Sweet Fang trotted over and hopped onto her lap, her forest green eyes wide as she purred into her sweater. Purrsephone scratched her ears, earning a satisfied purr from the sabertooth. She twisted the white streak of her hair with her finger, looking to the left as her twin sat down beside her, bouncing the little toddler calf on her leg.

"Do you think she's alright?" Purrsephone finally asked.

Meowlody looked at her, her golden eyes identical to her twin's, "I hope so."

Clawd was nearly berserk.

And it wasn't because of the Moon. He had tried to remain calm- his sister was always defiant at every turn- but when almost a full hour past without word from Howleen, the future alpha put his foot down and bolted out of the house, his pack mates hot on his heels. Sniffing the air wildly, he growled angrily as branches caught on his jacket and trees seemed to nearly grow right out in front of him.

"Clawd, slow down!" Romulus called from behind him, Deugi trailing next to him. The brown wolf ignored the two of them as he caught another whiff of Howleen's scent from the forest, his feet seeming to nearly glide him through the thick fog and gnarled tree branches. He snarled when he felt a low branch slap against his forehead and lightly cut above his eyebrow, but he braced the pain and ran deeper into the forest. Howleen was so going to pay for this later.

A sudden shift in the sound made him plant his feet firm on the soft ground, and his ears pricked up at the sound of flapping. Clawd raised his head. With great rustling, large quadrants of birds were flying off from the trees, seemingly startled by whatever commotion was happening in the woods. Another sound, similar to that of a cry, came from the direct heart of the trees. Clawd listened more closely.

A yelp.

Howleen!

Blood pumped through his veins like molten mercury, and Clawd's eyes were wide like a madman's. He felt nearly weightless as he pumped his legs and arms, ignoring the ongoing ache of stress that he put on them. Finally, his sister's scent got stronger, as did the smell of blood. Dashing through a pair of trees, the elder brown wolf came into a clearing, where the trees did not shelter the ground from the floodlight of the moon or the casting glow of the stars.

And right in the middle of the clearing, was Howleen.

At first, Clawd's initial plan was to find her sister and her boyfriend and get on her tail about being out so late without any signs they were safe (and also for the fact she had the nerve to hang up on her older brother, who of course only loved her and wanted to be safe in these dark times). However, the second he laid eyes on his sister, Clawd felt like somebody had sucker punched him. But that quickly melted away into hot boiling rage at the sight of the condition his cub sibling was in.

Howleen's clothes were torn and covered with dirt and grime. Several cuts and scratches marred her arms and legs. Her hair was disheveled, her curls nearly pulled out of their pigtails, which were now lopsided and nesting leaves and twigs. Her left cheek was bruised. She was looking in front of her, kneeling as she held a hand to her shoulder, blood leaking through her fingers as she tensed up, as if getting ready to pounce.

"Leena!" Clawd cried out as he made his way towards her. Howleen's ears perked up, but instead of relief- like Clawd would've expected- her orange eyes widened and bristled with fear when they landed on him.

"What are you doing here? You need to get out of here!"

"Not without you, I'm not!" He growled as he grabbed her by the arm. Howleen, though, had other plans, clearly resisting him as he held her to his chest.

"Let me go, Clawd! They need my help!"

A bit irritated by her behavior, it quickly diminished when he heard the sound of a struggle. Clawd held her tighter, mentally apologizing when he heard Howleen hiss in pain as her wounded shoulder made contact with his chest. "Who else is out here?"

"Me, Marcus, Toralei, and-"

She was cut off by the sudden sound of someone yelling in pain, a hate filled curse from another voice following it. Clawd ducked and pinned her to the ground as a curved blade came flying through the trees, nearly hitting him before it became stuck in the bark of a pine. Rustling of leaves made him crouch into position, his night vision keeping a steady on any movement, when-

-right in that second, Toralei Stripe and Howleen's boyfriend burst through the trees, collapsing on top of one another as. They were also beat up, their clothes reduced to near rags and covered in filth and blood. Particularly Toralei, who had a nasty looking scratch that went from her collarbone all the way down to the bottom of her stomach. They were both gasping like crazy. Marcus helped Toralei to her feet as she grasped her stomach, cringing at every movement she made.

"Toralei? Marcus? What the hell?"

Howleen took this chance to protest, kicking her legs and trying to loosen her arms through her brother's cement hold. "Clawd, let me go, goddammit! They need my help!"

Clawd ignored her, as more sounds of a struggle came from the one area. This time, however, they were loud enough to alert every living presence in the forest; the sounds of breaking branches, objects flying through the air, feet stomping the dirt floor, and someone swearing like a sailor was enough to yank her to her feet.

"Stay here," he commanded, shoving her behind him.

"But-"

THWAK!

A regular sized person came flying through the clearing as he smacked right into a tree, the force of impact so great that the tree itself cracked in half where he hit it. He crumpled to the ground, lifting his head up as he clutched a crossbow. Clawd realized the normie was heavily bleeding, his already scarred face now armed with more deep gashes and wounds. However, despite all the pain he appeared to be in, he was able to stand upright, his expression remaining stern and dangerous.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

A voice that sent chills down Clawd's spine emerged with the figure that calmly made itself present, and in an instant, he knew it was the same bastard who had been running the town rampant. The large lycan stared at him with hungry eyes, not seeming to mind the million little injuries that aligned his body like patches on a coat. Clawd charged him, ready to rip that stupid grin right off the lycan's face.

"Clawd, WAIT!" Howleen screamed, grabbing at his coat a little too late.

Luckily or unluckily, Clawd never touched the creature. Just as his feet got off the ground, something impaled the creature right through the back. Though he merely growled with anger, he stumbled back, turning to see Romulus standing there, the wolf's eyes nearly red. The creature grabbed the large, twisted branch and pulled, his blood running in torrents as he yanked the branch right from his body (earning a jaw drop from both Clawd and Howleen.)

"Oooh, we meet again," The blue eyed terror remarked as he locked eyes with the great wolf.

"I'm going to make you regret ever messing with my family, you son of a bitch," Romulus snarled, getting into position as his muscles flexed. The larger, more built wolf just laughed; he crushed the tree branch in his hands, and with amazing speed, caught the arrow that the normie had shot, breaking it like a toothpick.

"Oh, I'm so scared," he mocked, I'll make sure that pretty little bitch of yours knows that when I take my first bite out of her."

For both alphas, it was like the battle cry. They lunged at the large lycan, and the three of them tore into each other like wild dogs in the ring. Howleen cried after her brother, rooted to the spot she was standing in, too scared to move. She looked back at Eric, who was reloading his crossbow, but had difficulty trying to get a locked on target with the three males moving around constantly.

They attacked like true wolves, the feral side released and any human side they had deeply locked away. Danilo scratched Clawd in the eye as the young wolf tore into his collarbone, satisfied at the feel and sound of bone crunching. The creature responded by ripping his nails straight across his gut, swiftly kicking Clawd right through the air and sending him tumbling through the dirt. Romulus ripped at him mercilessly, their claws digging through tender vein and muscle, their jaws seeking for precious flesh to sink into. Romulus managed to get the creature's eye and bite him right on the Achilles tendon before Danilo grabbed him by the hair and shoved his head sideways, his head darting out and his jagged teeth sinking into the alpha's shoulder, earning a yell of pain as he threw Romulus right into Clawd.

He looked towards the mysterious redhead, who was still trying to aim the crossbow. He smiled, knowing the hunter had a hard time focusing with blood loss kicking in, the rich liquid spilled from the rips in his sides. "This sorry excuse for a pack is everyone? How pitiful."

Romulus, holding his bleeding shoulder, smirked dangerously, "Not everyone."

Surprisingly, they finally managed to get Danilo off guard as Deugi leaped from the trees, tackling the other male with tremendous force as his citrine colored eyes glowed bright, like stars in the moonlight. He wrapped his arms around the werewolf's waist and bent backward, slamming him into the ground, before he put one hand on the Danilo's temple, the other on his chin, twisting until he heard a rewarding SNAP! He dropped the body to the ground, watching it crumble like a puppet with cut strings.

"And that's why we love you," Clawd groaned out as Howleen tugged on his arm, trying his best to stand.

Deugi shrugged, "All in a day's work," he muttered making his way over.

Romulus glanced over at the normie, who looked like he was ready to pass out. "Hey kid, you okay?"

Eric, however, upon laying eyes on Deugi's direction, snapped out of his daze when he realized the giant shadow behind him.

"Watch out!"

Deugi stopped. "Huh? What are you-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Everyone's eyes went wide as Danilo pounced on Deugi from behind, his claws sinking into the grey wolf's collarbone and side as he bit down on the crook between his neck and his shoulder. This earned him a yell loud enough to wake all of Oregon. Deugi's eyes shrunk to the size of dimes as he suddenly felt paralyzed, as if his very life was leaving him. Danilo bit down harder as he felt the sugary, richer than chocolate blood run into his mouth, seeping out the edges and running down the wolf's neck. He sucked and sucked until he knew the werewolf was almost drained of life, letting go as he let the slower one fall to the ground.

As he tore his teeth away, blood covered his entire mouth and ran down his chin and chest, his entire mouth nearly scarlet. He looked at the others, smiling dangerously as he ran his tongue over his fangs.

"Delicious."

"Wha-w-why's he acting like a vampire?" Marcus asked incredulously, feeling like he was about wet himself when the black-furred killer looked straight at him. Danilo's eyes started to darken to purple when he smelled the blood that now rushed through the werewolf's veins as his heart pumped in fear. He looked back at the young Van Helsing, who glared at him between shallower breaths. He smirked arrogantly.

"Why don't you ask your friend over there?" He suggested, before turning and leaping far off into the trees.

Everyone just stood there, before Clawd realized that Deugi hadn't moved an inch since the beast fed off of him. He made his way over and turned the heavier wolf over, looking at his mouth, then at his chest, and then at his eyes. His own yellow orbs widened. He bent his head to Deugi's chest before looking in his eyes, a lump in his throat forming at the far off look Deugi had, his irises now starting to pale. His head shot up as he looked at Howleen.

"C-Clawd..."

"Call an ambulance!"

"W-Why?"

"He's not breathing! Deugi's not breathing!" He yelled as he put both of his hands on the the grey wolf's chest, pushing down as he attempted to hear a heart beat. "Come on, come on! Deug, don't you give up on me!"

Howleen felt tears come to her eyes as she whipped out her iCoffin, hands trembling so hard she had to redial 911 three times. Romulus made his way over to the fallen packmate, and the two of them worked hard to try and get life back into him.

Eric slumped up against a tree, his hand grasping his side as he started to feel lightheaded again, shapes now starting to become a blur. He took out a phone and flipped it open, listening to a voice on the other end as he wheezed the words out.

"Anya?...Yep...he's back all right."