Author's Note: Thanks to Vic. Don't forget to put the silver pearls if you make doughnuts! I love silver pearls!

About Prescott, I used his name only, but not the character. Sorry ;)

Twenty-five

The Boy with the Dogs

"Eric..."

That last word came from his lips before he fell to the ground. His body that covered by blood was like an old leaf blown by the wind.

The werewolves moved some steps backward. Silver. His blood smelt of silver.

"Eric?" Sookie looked at him. "Don't you want to help him?"

"I can't," Eric said. "He gets silver poisoning. His blood will be like an acid to my skin and to the werewolves,"

Sookie came forward and knelt down. Her heart sank when she saw who the person was. Bill Compton. His blue eyes shone through his blood covered face. "Sukeh..." he said. "What a pleasure to see you, Ma'am."

"James!" Sookie called out. "James!!"

Nobody could help her lift Bill or even if they could they did not want to, except James. Where the hell was that boy? If Bill was left here, he would die. Either because of losing blood or killed by the sunlight.

Eric left and in less than a minute, he was back with James. Behind them were the Hounders.

"Yes, Momma?" asked James. He was frowned when he saw Bill. "Mr. Compton..." he knelt down in front of him.

"Help me lift him, James. He can't stay here,"

"Where are we taking him?"

"Take him to the storage room," Eric said. "He will be safe there,"

"A table, we need a table," Doc suddenly said. "We can put him on the table and carry him inside, Miss Sookie,"

One of the werewolves ran to inside and returned with a table. Sookie and James lifted Bill Compton and put him on it.

"You keep his body steady, Little Brother," Doc said. "We can carry the table. Don't let him touch us. He could kill us,"

Doc and Larry lifted the table and with James holding Bill's body they went inside. Sookie led them to the storage room. Carefully Sookie and James put him on the floor.

"True Blood, he needs True Blood," Sookie said.

James took some bottles from the shelf, opened one of them and gave it to Sookie.

"What happened, Bill?" asked Sookie as she poured the content of True Blood into his mouth. Bill's eyes blinked, but he did not say a word.

"André is coming," James looked at Sookie. "He was chased by some human and vampires and he is closer to this place. Eric should be prepared,"

"How do you know, Little Brother?" Doc asked him. In his head, he said. This boy starts to freak me out.

"I just do," James said. He stared at Doc and then at Larry. "You two will keep whatever I said between you and nobody else,"

To Sookie's surprise, those two big men nodded. "Yes, Little Brother," they said.

Sookie's skin crawled. James ordered them like a master ordered his dogs to sit or to jump and his dogs obey, without asking any question.

"What?" he whispered.

"Nothing," she said, smiling. "What else did he say?"

"We should leave him here, he will be all right. Eric will need my help," he said. "André, we have to help him," he stood up. "We'd better go, Mom,"

Sookie wanted to stay, but Bill said, "I will be fine, Sukeh. Go," Before they left, Sookie asked James to help her to put Bill in a better position. Doc took down a box of True Blood and put it beside Bill.

"You look like shit, Man," he said. "Make sure that you drink a lot. It will help you gain some liquid back,"

Sookie looked at Doc. Was that why they called him 'Doc'? He treated Bill as if he was his patient.

"I am a doctor, Miss Sookie," he said when Sookie asked him. "I don't practise, but I went to college, got myself a degree and could work as a doctor, if I wanted to,"

"And why not?"

"Will you let your children be treated by a man who can change himself into a wolf?" he smiled, but his eyes looked bitter.

"You have us, Doc. You have enough to do!" said Larry.

"What is your real name, then?"

"Caelestis," Doc murmured; and Larry snorted.

"Celeste?" Sookie looked at him. "That's a girl's name!"

"No, not Céleste. C-a-e-l-e-s-t-i-s,"

"What does your name mean? Your name has a meaning, doesn't it?" asked James.

"Heavenly," Doc's face was red.

Larry sneered, and James pressed his smile.

'Heavenly' would not be the word that she would choose to describe Doc. He was a big man; his body was covered with tattoos and he had a beer stomach that started to show. Sookie smiled. "Well, Doc. I think I will call you 'Doc'. It suits you better,"

"Thank you, Ma'am."

Doc asked Sookie and James to change their clothes and to wash out the blood off their bodies. If the human attacked them, which Doc did not hope so, but if they did, no werewolves would be able to help them. The blood would be like a razor blade on their skins and if the it went inside their bodies, it could kill them. Hastily, they went to upstairs, changed their clothes and removed the blood from their bodies. It was not as clean as Doc wanted to, but it was clean enough for both Sookie and James. They did not see any stain on their bodies any more, how could Doc say that there were still some blood stains left?

The werewolves were restless as Sookie and the others were back again. As beings with very fine smell sensory, they were still able to catch the rest of Bill's blood on their body. However, it was not just that. The smell of her blood, mixed with Bill's blood seemed to bother them, the mix between the sweetness of the faery's blood and the poisonous silver, just like any other drug, one side pulled them to taste it and made them feel stronger and better, and on the same time, dragged them to a misery and probably death.

Alcide went towards her and told her that it would be better for everybody if she was not there. Her wound was too much for them, he said. If vampires came and attacked them, it would be difficult for him and his men to protect her.

"I am fine, Alcide. Eric is here,"

Those green eyes flickered. "Of course," but his head said. You stink of him. "I just want you to know, I will feel much better if I am sure that you are safe,"

"Thank you," Sookie said. Alcide was jealous with Eric. He must have figured out what happened back there in Aude's room. Eric did not seem to care if anybody knew that they had just made love. He even opened the door widely when Alcide knocked the door as if he wanted to show Alcide how the room looked like, messy with her clothes scattered around and the smirk he gave her as Alcide left them was clear. He enjoyed seeing Alcide act awkwardly. "You are evil," she told him. "Really?" Eric smiled. "He tried to steal my woman, what would you call that? Or are you still considering his proposal?" For a moment, Sookie did not understand what he meant, then she realized. "You were there when Alcide asked me to marry him," she sighed. She had not imagined smelling his perfume, he had been there, floating somewhere up in the sky. "You heard everything," His smile was wider. "That you love me, yes I did. The rest, I didn't pay attention so much. Otherwise, Alcide would be dead by now. Nobody takes what is mine and survives,"

"I know that you mean well," finally Sookie after she could push away what Eric had said, "I can take care of myself, don't you worry about that,"

Alcide nodded. "Just stay close to him," he said.

He did not have to say that. Sookie went to Eric, who unfortunately stood in front of the werewolves. James was standing beside him; the Hounders were some steps away from him. They had asked him to go with them, but he refused it. The sheriff might need him, he said.

Time went by and nothing happened. The waning moon on the west seemed so far away; the weak lights that it gave did not give them enough light so that they could see what was happening beyond the gate. Everybody was waiting. Sookie did not hear any single thoughts coming out of the werewolves or James. They were concentrating with what will come. Eric was also like a statue. Standing tall and ready, he looked more menacing than she had ever seen. His gaze was cold; his arms were bent and his hands were forming claws. Eric was ready to kill, just like any other men surround her.

Suddenly Sookie felt that Alcide's idea had not been bad at all. They were standing some yards away from the gate; any kind of danger, which would come, it would come directly to her and Eric. She would not be able to run or to fight back. She did not have anything in her hand. Why hadn't she come with the idea of carrying a gun or a knife? She sighed. This was a stupid idea.

The sound of cracking bones suddenly filled the surrounding. The werewolves were transforming. Sookie narrowed her eyes and tried to see what was going on out there, but she did not see anything. They must have seen or smelt something.

Bum! Out of nowhere, somebody was thrown to the gate. He got up, grabbed the gate and started pushing it, but the gate was such a gate, made of solid iron. That man was able to shake the gate, but nothing happened.

Alcide told his men to open the gate. Two of them ran and opened it. With one leap, that man was standing in front of Eric. Like Bill, blood ran down from every part of his body. His clothes were wet and sticky. André Paul. His face looked pale under the moonlight and he was shaking. If he had been able to breathe, he would have been out of breath by now.

"Eric, I need your help," he said. "Siegbert and Weybert are chasing me. They are sent to kill me,"

"It's against the highest law to kill a vampire," Eric said.

"Not if it's The Queen's decree," André fell on his knees.

Eric became quiet. His eyes were narrowing. Sookie could see that he was thinking hard. To help André meant to act against the Queen, but not to help him meant to give him to those bodyguards and it would be the death of André Paul.

"I can't fight them," André said. "Her order to me is clear. I may not harm them. She is my maker, Eric. I cannot do anything else. I beg you, Eric. She is not herself for there is no other explanation why she ordered Siegbert and Weybert to kill me,"

Eric helped André standing on his feet. "Go inside, I'll hold them,"

"Merçi, Eric," he said. "I owe you one," Then, he ran to the house.

"Don't do anything unless I say so." Eric said to the werewolves. "This matter is mine, I don't want any of you involve in this," Then, Eric asked James. "How is your German?"

James looked at him. "I don't speak German, Sheriff."

"Pity," he said. "Those two are more understandable when they speak German,"

For a moment Sookie did not understand what Eric meant until she heard what he said to the Hounders. "Colin, take him away, please. He is not needed here," Eric wanted him listen to what those bodyguards were thinking. Their English were heavily German accented; Sookie had no doubt if they were thinking in German.

James opened his mouth to protest and stared at Colin the way Sookie had seen back there in the storage room, but before he had a chance to say anything, a loud noise was heard. A car in a high speed was humping against the gate, trying to breakthrough.

Alcide's men moved quickly. Except Alcide, all of them transform into wolves. The Hounders, on the other hand, stayed in their human forms. They were standing next to each other, forming a circle with James in the middle of them. Those eyes were yellowish.

The car stopped humping. Everything was quiet. Now everybody could see that there were other cars behind the blue car. The Hounders took the chance to move further away with James, who was protesting. He wanted to stay, but they did not listen to him. Sookie heard Colin hissed, "Trust me, Little Brother,"

Eric said something in a foreign language, which Sookie believed to be German. His voice sounded harsh and angry. Was he angry, or was it the way the German language was spoken?

The door was opened. Two huge pale men came out. Alcide came to the gate and opened it.

Then, the three of them involved in a conversation, which nobody could understand. They could hear how harsh they spoke and the gestures that they were making could be easily interpreted as hostile gestures. Siegbert put his hands on his hips and whilst he was talking, his hand was raised and pointed at Eric's face. Weybert, on the other hand, stared at Eric. He crossed his hands; his jaw was clenched and most of the time he was quiet. When he said something; it was loud and roaring.

"Eric, Bitte," said Siegbert. "Wir bitten Euch, gebt uns André!"

Eric turned around. Then, he said in English. "André Paul is under my protection. I will bring him to Her Majesty myself."

"Ihr könnt das uns nicht antun!" Siegbert spread his arm. "Tut mir Leid, Eric. But we have our orders,"

"Then I am the one who is sorry, Siegbert," suddenly Eric grabbed her and with one leap they were landed inside the house. Sookie stood with her legs shaking.

"Stay here," he said. "No matter what happens, the vampires can not enter this house. Prepare yourself for the human companions."

"Human companions?"

"Yes, the ones who attacked Bill are definitely human. They are the only ones who can carry silver," then, he grinned. His eyes flickered with madness. He seemed to enjoy the night, as if he had been waiting for the moment for a long time. Was it because of the blood or the fight itself?

Eric kissed her passionately and then he left.

Sookie ran to her room, where she stored her guns and took the shotgun. She cursed herself for not having silver bullets with her. She had to ask Jason to make some for her. She grabbed a box of magazines and went down.

The house seemed so quiet. The kitchen, which had been always filled with people, was now empty. Its amber light was deeming at the corner, made the room somehow lonely. She needed to do something with it. Put more colour or flower or some...for crying out loud. Outside people might be fighting for their lives and she was thinking about decorating a kitchen! Sookie, Sookie!

A sound of bottle being opened made her cocking the gun. André; he was standing beside the stove, drinking True Blood. He turned around as he heard the sound of the gun. His face was clean now; obviously, he had washed his face.

Slowly Sookie stepped down. She did not lower her gun; she did not intend to. André Paul was one of those people (or vampires) whom she was never able to trust completely. Even in his vulnerable moments like now, he still looked dangerous to her. There was something in him that she could lay her hands on, she did not know what, and she just did not like what she felt when she was around him. She felt like she was standing on a grave. This man was cold and surrounded by walls.

"Low your gun, Sookie. Unless you intend to use it,"

"You're in my house, André. Don't tempt me to throw you out,"

He smiled. "Will you?"

"Why don't you try and find out," Sookie said.

"Are you afraid of me, Sookie?" he asked.

"Yes," Sookie said. Moreover, I don't trust you.

André moved closer. "You and I have something in common, Sookie..." he said. "We have problems to solve. Probably your problems are connected to mine and probably not, but I believe they are,"

"How do you come with the idea?"

"Let's just say, I've lived long enough to know and to sense when something is going wrong. What is happening in Her Majesty's court is not normal, to say the least. She might have not loved me any more, but she would have never ordered any body to kill me. I would be gladly to die for her; and she is aware with that fact.

Something has changed her, Sookie. Something in her True Blood has clouded her judgement over me and over my decision how to run her palace. Bill and I had reached an agreement; to avoid any unwanted incidents between us – vampires and werewolves, we have to stop the killing among them. You must have known – or somebody might have informed you already, that some werewolves were turned into half-lifes. Have you ever checked their bodies or had a chance to ask any of them, whether they were bitten or attacked? Have you also asked them, when were they attacked or bitten?"

Sookie forced herself to remember. Simon had something about it, but she did not remember now. Had he been bitten or attacked? "What do you mean with 'attacked'?"

"Attacked...with weapons, and not being sucked dry. We don't like werewolves' blood, Sookie. I can assure you that. It tastes like the water from le grand ègout," The expression on his face showed clearly what he thought about the werewolf blood. He looked so disgusted by it that Sookie was afraid he might puke. "The half life that was killed by Eric at the palace was mine," he said.

"You turned Tom Rodney?"

"Was that his name?" André drank his True Blood. "I found him dying beside the river. He told me some bizarre stories about a factory, which produced True Blood somewhere in Shreveport area. He said that True Blood would be a weapon against the vampires and the werewolves, I should be very careful with its consumption. The less would be the better for me. As a gift, I gave him immortality,"

"But it didn't work the way it was supposed to be," Sookie said.

"No," André smiled. "I should have known. Some werewolves' blood is old; and the one I had was a very old one, it was able to fight mine," he stared at her. "We have to work together, Sookie. Otherwise we will have no chance against them,"

Sookie heard so many times the word 'them', but nobody could tell her exactly whom they meant. She looked through the window. She did not see or hear anything from the kitchen. Were they fighting now, or was Eric able to convince Siegbert and Weybert to leave the ground? Where was James? What were the Hounders doing to or with him now?

"You are thinking about your son, aren't you, Sookie?"

Sookie looked at André.

"You know what they will do if they find out who father is?"

Sookie's heart missed a beat. What did he mean by that? Did he know...from where? No, he did not know, he was just guessing.

Their eyes met. His pale grey eyes were calculating.

"He is a special boy," he said with a smile on his face. "I can sense it since the first time I saw him. I should have told you that, but I think you already know it. Every vampire can sense that he is not just a boy. You would need a stronger protection for your son, Sookie. Much more stronger than what Eric or the werewolves can offer,"

"I am listening," Sookie said.

"Marry me," he said. "Join me as my wife under the old rule, I guarantee you, nobody would dare to touch your son, not even His Majesty the king,"

"Well, that is not an everyday offer," Sookie said. "How can you be so sure that you will be able to protect me and my son, if you can't even protect yourself from your queen's wrath?"

"As soon as I can find the cure, Her Majesty will be herself again. She has the power to order you to marry me, just in case you didn't know. You work for her; you are – under the vampiric rules, her subject,"

"Tell me, André. Why are you so sure that I would not toss you to the werewolves, right now?"

"Because you know, you don't want to start a war between vampires and werewolves; after all, I am The Secretary of Queen of Louisiana. What do you think would happen, if the kings and the queens found out that I was killed by the werewolves who work for Sheriff Area 5?"

He was a slimy lying scum!

André was getting nearer. His hand was reaching out, when a weak voice filled the room. "I would not touch her, if I were you,"

Sitting on the floor with blood all over his body, Bill Compton looked like a shadow of his old self. He held the doorframe, as if he wanted to make sure that he would not fell down. "Eric would not be pleased if somebody touched his woman. If he was offended, you would not have to worry about the werewolves any more because he would make sure that you'd never forget what you have done. Then you would know what the word 'problem' means,"

Sookie looked at Bill with gratitude. He must have heard the conversation. He must have crawled on the floor, dragging himself to reach the place where he was now and stopped what André was about to do.

The smile did not leave André's face. "Your concern on me is very noble, Bill, as always," he moved away from her and then he said, "Consider what I said, Sookie. It is the best that can happen to your son because if I want to, I can just take you, here and now. I am not sure if Eric would like to keep you, if you became a vampire. Besides, there is only a vampire woman in his life and she would not let you take her place,"

Sookie held her gun tightly, so tight that her fingers hurt. She kept on telling herself to remember who André Paul was. He was the Queen's secretary. He may not be harmed. Otherwise, she would have blown his head off already! And seeing that cold grey eyes, Sookie was certain, André might do what he had just said. This place was not safe any more; she had to leave. Slowly Sookie walked down. Her gun was high and aimed at André's head. "Are you all right, Bill?"

"I've been better, Sookie, but I'll be all right,"

Sookie was walking to the door. She could not see Bill, she hoped Bill was not as bad as his voice, which sounded weak and trembling.

"You are not leaving us, are you, Sookie?" asked André.

Sookie opened the door. "Yes, I am," she said. As André was moving, she said. "One step, André and you are out of this house, forever. You can bet your life on it," she went out and closed the door.

The hot wind of July touched her face, but Sookie was shaking. Even if André did not say it, he had told her his intention clearly. He wanted James and he would do whatever it took to get what he wanted; even when it meant to turn her into a vampire and faced Eric. Had he known what James was able to? Had he known about Eric? Her breath was short and her chest was painful. James. She had to find James.

She felt her cheek hot as she was running to the darkness. There was no time for crying now, but as if they had the will of their own; her eyes were wet and burning.

******

"We have to know what kind of situation we are dealing with, James," Colin said. "Staying here would not help us at all,"

Slowly they moved backwards. The Long Tooth were transforming. The sound of their bones cracking made James' skin crawl.

"Follow me," Doc said. "I know the way,"

James wanted to stay there, but the voice inside Papa's head told him to leave. He would be more useful somewhere else, Papa said. Siegbert and Weybert spoke only German in his head, possibly even an ancient one.

Doc had found a way to leave without being noticed. It was a small hole at the corner of the ground, which was covered by leaves. He said, that was where he had seen the fox. Victoria's face flashed in front of his eyes. He wondered where she was right now, if she was in his room or somewhere down town, in her own room, alone, he hoped. James rubbed his nose. The idea that Victoria might be with somebody else – a man, made him dizzy. He did not like it. If Victoria had to be with somebody, then it had to be him and nobody else.

Cooper patted his shoulder. "Come, Little Brother," he said. "There is a place and a time for everything," he said, as if he understood what he was thinking.

"How do you know what I was thinking, Coop?" he finally asked.

"We – werewolves have fine noses to sense what the body produces, Little Brother. Yours is producing what we call 'passion glands'. If you continue producing that, every female Hounders will jump on you,"

"Really? How to stop that?" He did not want that. He wanted only Victoria.

"Just stop nuzzling, whimpering and sighing," said Cooper. "It would stop on its own. And stop thinking about Luna. She will come to you, believe me. She doesn't want to anger your mother for the moment. I believe she has already enough problem of her own; she would not want to deal with your mother too,"

Yeah, Mom was very angry seeing him and Victoria rolling in the bushes. He had been worried when he kissed Victoria behind Mom's back that she would have turned around and scolded at him in front of Victoria, but thank God, she had not. Victoria had such soft lips, a warm wet tongue, smooth skin like silk, and two round firm ass he loved to squeeze. He wondered how it felt to touch her breasts...they were beautiful...he sighed....so beautiful...two hands full of joy...

"Stop that, will you?" Larry said. "You make me nervous,"

Colin patted his shoulder. "You have a lot to learn, young man. A lot to learn. She is a fox, she will come to you at her own will. If she doesn't come to you, we will make her come. Trust this old wolf, and now concentrate on the problem that we are dealing at the moment!"

"Yes, Colin,"

Colin pulled him into his arm and messed his hair. "That's better!"

The Hounders took off their clothes and shoes; and asked James to take them with him. They transformed themselves into wolves and went inside the hole. James was the last one and frankly, the hole was too small for him. No wonder that The Hounders had transformed themselves. As he was crawling out of the hole, a strong hand pulled him out.

"Ssstt," Doc put the finger on his lips.

James looked around. There was nothing, but darkness. The light of the waning moon was not strong enough to light the ground. He took out the clothes and the shoes from the hole one by one. After putting their clothes on, they continued moving, crawling on the wet ground among the tree. But suddenly, the Hounders stopped. Cooper jumped on his feet and stretched out his hands ready to blow. Behind them, there was a man standing, clad in green. His pale blond hair glowed in the darkness. He had pointed ears. A faery.

"Keeper of The Nish' Secret," that man bowed.

"You," Cooper said.

"I am called Prescott," he said.

"What do you want?" Cooper asked, whilst Doc and Colin looked at each other; and maybe it was only James' eyes, but why were they smiling?

"I was returning to my house, when I saw the cars passing by the woods. I sensed the Undeads and human at the same time. It is not usual to see them together, especially when the human covered themselves with silver. I wanted to continue doing my own business, but then I saw them shooting at two Undeads. One of them tried to hold the vampires with their human companions; the other one was running to this direction," the faery moved closer to Cooper. "I thought, I might make myself useful and warn you about them, but it seems you already knew,"

"Thank you," Cooper bowed a little.

"You won't be able to fight them in your wolf-shape," he said; but then his eyes met James. "But you can distract their dogs,"

"I beg your pardon?" asked James. "Distract their dogs...? How?"

"All dogs came from wolves, and you are one among the oldest. Come with me, I'll show you how,"

James looked at Colin. He was not sure about it. He did not know anything about this faery. The last time he had met faeries, they tried to attack him.

"Go," Colin said. "Cooper, you go with them,"

"No, he stays," said Prescott. "The dogs will be able to smell you,"

"He will not go alone, I promised his mother," said Cooper.

The faery took something off his neck. A necklace with two round pendant. "Kiss my necklace and call my name when you need me," he said. "I'll come," he took James' hand and with a blink of an eye, they were leaving the spot.

The journey was better than what James expected. They sprung from one branches to another like a squirrel. Then, they stopped. Under them, on the street there were six cars. Around the cars were around twenty men dressed up in some kind of silver overall. They even had helmets on. All of them carried guns and now their guns were being pointed at Papa and the others. Papa was already involved in a fight with two vampires. They were moving so fast, that James could not follow with his eyes. Only their mind he still could hear. Two voices in a foreign language – German, possibly; and Papa's in Old Norse. Jeez, Papa could really curse and swear when he wanted to. The men in silver suit were standing on guard; their dogs were sitting beside them, snarling. The dogs smelt their presence. They had to get out of there.

As if Prescott knew what he was thinking, he grabbed James' hip and jumped to another branch. Then, still with his hand on James' hip, he jumped down.

"There are...there are so many men out there," James said.

"And those men have silver with them, which can harm the werewolves and vampires,"

"What shall I do?"

"Call the dogs,"

"How?"

"Think about dogs, wolves,"

"Foxes?" Victoria's face flashed in front of his eyes. Her green eyes...black hair....long soft neck...her lips...

"Foxes are not wolves. You have no power upon them. Yes, they are drawn to you, but they will not obey you. They might fear you, or love you, but it is only because they give themselves to you willingly and freely,"

James felt his heart light. Victoria liked him not because of his wolf blood! He did not know why she liked him, but at least now he knew that when she kissed him it was not because he wanted her to – well, he wanted her to, true, but not because he ordered her to. He smiled. Victoria, the next time they met, it would be a better time for him. He was going to find out why she liked him. If she said it was because of his wolf blood, he could tell her that she was lying.

"Sookie's son..." the faery's voice pulled him out of his thought. "Whatever you are thinking about right now, be haste with it!"

"Sorry," James murmured. Okay, dogs...dogs...James closed his eyes....the collie...the one which followed him around when he had been staying at the old house and sometimes accompanied him walking around in the forest. Dean, that was how Mom called him. Yes, Dean. He liked that dog, he wondered where he was now. "Dean....come here, boy...." he whispered. "Come here..."

Then he waited. He heard people yelling, calling 'come back here, boy!', barking, noises rustling...but he kept his eyes close. Suddenly he felt something soft rubbing his legs, and there were whimpering sounds. He opened his eyes. Around him were dogs...Doberman...some were sitting, two of them rubbed their bodies against his legs, the rest were standing, looking at him. Their mouths were opened and their tongues were stuck out.

"Easy..." he said, more to himself than to the dogs.

"Don't be nervous," the faery said. He was sitting on the branch.

"Easy for you to say!" James said.

"They can feel you," he said. "You have to relax. Imagine you were surrounded by your brothers,"

"What the fuck?!" two men in silver suit were suddenly standing in front of James and the dogs. They cocked their guns and wanted to shoot James, when a fast wind hit their heads; but it was too late, one of the men had pulled the trigger already. The sound of the gun blasted as the men fell. Stone dead. Prescott had cracked their helmets open and his hits went straight to their skulls.

The dogs were barking. For a moment James thought that he lost his control over them, but then he realized, the Hounders were standing not so far from him. "Easy, boys. Easy," he said with a firmer voice than before. "They are my brothers," he said to the dogs. "Your brothers,"

Doc spat. He did not seem to appreciate hearing what James had said. "They will never be my brothers,"

The dogs stood and looked at James as if they were waiting for his order. The Hounders looked at him with fear that they had never known before. Colin sniffed. What Alcide said was correct. Despite the fact that James Stackhouse was still very young, he had power over dogs. What happened if he grew older, would he turn all werewolves into dogs? He should have listened to Alcide more carefully and not taken his story as a sign of cowardice. Cooper closed his eyes and sighed. Bless all spirit that ever walked on this earth. For I, Matt Cooper will serve the son of the first táhsah until the wind of the Great Plain calls me. Ayanat Caddi be my witness, or my blood shall be spilled. Doc felt cold sweat rolling down on his back. That son of a bitch had turned him into a puppy back there in the storage room, if he could control him and the dogs, what else he could control?

"Any of you can use this?" the faery's voice broke the spell. The Hounders looked at him who was holding one of the guns. Its silver handle was glimmering under the moon.

"No," Colin said. "They covered their guns with silver too. What about you, James? Can you handle the gun?"

"Yes," James said. "But what about the dogs? What should I do with them?"

Colin smiled. "Let their masters taste their own medicine,"

The night went ugly. The men in silver suits started firing the werewolves, who were not able to do anything but to avoid the shot line. The bullets that went through their body, unlike the normal bullets, pierced their flesh and opened their body. Normally, the bullets would have wounded them, but the flesh closed in and stopped them from bleeding; but not this time. The silver bullet and its silver powder prevented their flesh from regrowing and poisoned their blood at the same time. Eric and the vampires continued fighting and seemed not being bothered by the sound of the blasting guns and of the werewolves' screams.

From a high tree branch, Prescott used sticks as boomerangs and hit the guns. The Hounders followed his examples attacked the men in silver with branches and small pieces of wood they could find. The dogs, following James' instruction, ran and attacked the men in silver and torn apart their suits. "Shoot the boy with the dogs!" James heard somebody yelling many times, but as soon as the gun was aimed at him, a stick flew and hit the holders of the guns. James stood still under a tree, watching the dogs moved and did whatever his mind was telling them. Somehow, it was cool, he smiled. If he was able to do that to the dogs, he wondered whether he was able to do the same thing to the werewolves or not. Papa said, he could, but he wanted to find out.

The Long Tooth members, seeing what The Hounders did, ran under the gunfire, look for pieces of wood, stick or any kind of thing that they could grab and started throwing them at the men in silver suits. "Retreat!! Retreat!!" somebody screamed; and the men in silver suits were like the grass eating animals in the prairie, surrounded by packs of wolves. Any direction they took, they were stopped either by the dogs or by the wolves. The night, which was started by a gunshot, was ended by a scream.

Eric had defeated the two vampires. His clothes were torn apart, but there were no traces of wounds or scratches. His rivals were lying on the ground. Their appearances were similar like Eric, but everybody could see that they suffered a lot.

"Return to Baton Rouge, Siegbert," Eric said. "I promise to deliver André Paul myself,"

"It won't be pretty, Eric. Her Majesty would not be amazed,"

"I know," Eric said. "Now, leave, before I change my mind,"

The two vampires stood on their feet, shaking. Then, they went to one of the cars and left the ground.

Alcide threw one of the men in silver who was still alive in front of Eric. "He can't tell us anything," he said. "It was an order from his boss, he said, but he doesn't know who his boss is,"

"Then he is useless," said Eric. His fangs were out.

"What are you doing..." that man moved away from Eric, but it was too late. The last thing he ever saw was a face with a pair of piercing cold blue eyes came near; he heard the sound of a hiss, and that was it. In the warm night in the middle of Summer, under the waning moon, a man whose name was unbeknownst, was sucked dry by Sheriff of Area 5.

James watched how Papa finished three men, two of which begged for mercy. He knew that his father was a vampire; and as a vampire, he drank human blood, but seeing him killing his prey like a child sucking a lollipop turned his blood cold. Goose bumps were all over his skin. In his mind, Papa said nothing. Inside, he was as cold as his face. Those men, the ones he had sucked, meant nothing for Papa. No word of mercy, not even a comment of how the blood tasted. His heart sank. His father was a cold heartless murder.

As if they understood his feeling, the dogs started howling.

The werewolves turned around to see the source of the sounds. As wolves, they understood the meaning of the howl. It was the song of sadness and anguish; and they saw, in the middle of the circle of dogs, James Stackhouse standing with tears running on his face.

In the next scene, which was blurred by tears, James saw his father went towards his mother who was standing speechless. He bowed to her, whispered something in her ears. James was not able to hear what his father was whispering, but in his mind, he was speaking, directed at him. His voice sounded cold and merciless. You are a son of a vampire. Deal with it.

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