Happy new year everyone!
I'm back with an extra-long chapter! For those of you who are interested, I managed to win NaNoWriMo! It was a killer thing to do, but it is an experience worth doing and I can only say that, if you are a hobby writer or author, try it.
But, enough about me. I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and winter holiday!
Thank you for the reviews, thanks to everyone who has followed or favorited this story and a big hug to my beta! You all keep me encouraged to continue writing.
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
Last Chapter:
"Yugi…do you know other werehounds…who are teenagers?"
Yami lifted his gaze back to the young werehound, with an almost pleading look in his eyes.
He could live with the countless lives he had taken on the field of battle, the blood of both the young and old warriors on his hands, but children? They were a totally different matter.
Yami had only ever managed to sentence the two werehounds that were brought to his court to death, because he thought that would be a more merciful then slowly loosing oneself.
He had not raised the blade himself, but as a king, everything the executioners did, was his doing as well.
If that wasn't true, the information alone could destroy him.
He awaited the answer that could change everything, as the decisive word hung in the air like a lead weight…
"…Yes"
Chapter 7 – Bearing fangs
Dread and a pure, unprecedented sense of self-loathing took a hold of Yami. Looking down at his shaking hands, he could almost feel the stickiness of the innocent blood he had spilled in the past and smell the sweet aroma of it in the air.
Blood was supposed to be a wonderful and tantalizing sent to any vampire, but it just made the vampire king feel sick. Even without having tried it, he knew that the images of those who had died under his command or due to the fact that he hadn't done anything to save them would haunt him the second he closed his eyes.
He himself hadn't seen most of them, but the mirage of his faceless victims was already tormenting him in his minds eyes. The wails of innocent children were resounding in his ears, drowning out anything around him; even the tormented beating of his own heart, as it raced to escape the truth of what it had just heard.
Yami felt someone shake him, but he couldn't bring himself to react.
Just how many people had died, due to a simple prejudice? How was he ever going to look the parents, who had lost their children, in the eye, let alone the very werehound before him?
Yugi had already suffered unspeakable tortures and had probably been hunted and forced to run for his life.
Had Yami known what he was, when he was still injured and weak, the vampire would have killed him without remorse.
He had been so close to killing the young werehound and he never would have known just what terrible things he had let happen.
Even if he was loath to admit it, a small part of him wished he had never come across the tri-color-haired beauty, because then he could have continued to live on as the puppet king he was, none the wiser to what was truly going on.
Now he would have to act, there was no way that he could let this go on. His hands were already tainted, but he couldn't stand by and watch it continue now that he knew. He would have to change the laws regarding the way Yugi's kind was to be treated and to do that he would have to fact the council…
In all his time as a so called king, he had only ever truly stood up to them in regards to Joey. He knew they had probably only agreed to let the werewolf live among them to make Yami shut up and let them run the country again.
Most of the council was still made up of members from his father's time and they had way to much influence for Yami to openly confront them.
He would need a clever strategy to bend them to his will and get his way, but being ever the clever strategist he was, the vampire king already had a plan.
It was wicked, devious even and left a foul taste in his mouth, but if he played his cards right, he could get what he wanted. They would never see it coming…
Finally reacting to the blond wolf who was trying to get his attention, he ripped himself from his own little world and looked towards the small werehound in the room, who was giving him the look of a confused puppy.
"Yugi…you know that within this land and the werewolf territory your kind in supposed to be killed on sight?" he asked, carefully gouging the youngers reaction.
A hesitant nod was his only answer, as the now fearful silver wolf took a slight step backwards.
"I want to change that, but I will need your help to do it... Will you help me?"
Yugi had clearly heard the slight undertone in his voice, telling him that whatever the royal had planned would probably not be something he would like, but with a hesitant nod, he chose to agree with his alpha.
"Good…I will need you to…"
Meanwhile, with a certain spy…
The constant thought of the lovely vampire he had left back at his den kept him calm, as the white haired spy crept his way past the magical security around the enemy lands.
Years of careful and almost crippling training had made him into a careful and precise weapon in the hands of the supreme alpha. He had surpassed his peers long ago and was now the one training the next generation of spies, or as he liked to call them, the next people who would get their lives f****d up.
If he hadn't shown so much promise and lethal talent in his younger years, Atem would have never chosen him as his head spy, or felt the need to hold his loved one's lives over his head at every turn; but it was too late to regret that.
It was only due to his occupation after all, that he had met with his vampire mate in the first place…
He hated having to leave him in the main werewolf haven, but at least his other mate could protect him if anyone decided they couldn't stand the small vamps presence. He was part of the royal guard and would be more then able to take out a few disgruntled fur balls.
Now all he had to do was get back to them.
The white haired figure could already see the outline of the stone castle the blood suckers decided to reside in.
A foolish choice if ever there was one in the werewolf's mind. Caves were far better to defend and they held less chances for attack from someone like him, but they apparently loved their prissy lifestyle more than their lives, or they were just that stupid.
This would be the tenth time he jumped the stone walls and snuck in through the office windows of their supposed king.
It was no secret that the council was the real master behind the atrocities that happened on the battlefields and the raids that always managed to start the war up again. The vampire king just didn't seem to have the power to do anything or didn't want to and no one had the guts to overthrow him.
If the guy was so weak he couldn't rule his people, then he shouldn't be on the throne, in the spy's opinion.
If Atem were weak he would have been replaced long ago, but the royal blood suckers seemed to be content, as long as they weren't bothered by the lowly people's cares.
The way the spy was able to sneak past the unsuspecting guards and by the odd sleeping cat in the gardens was almost too easy.
The ease of it would have unnerved him, if it hadn't been so easy before.
How the little puppet king managed to stay alive so long was beyond him…
In a flash he was within the thick branches of an evergreen bush, which the vampires had cut into some needlessly fancy conical tree, giving him a clear view of the illuminated windows he had used to invade the castle so often.
Through the open glass panes he could see a bloody corpse, sprawled out on the tainted carpet, while three shadows were dancing across its lifeless form.
The sound of whispers drifted towards the concealed figure, who used his superior hearing to try and make sense of the jumbled tones and rustling in the room.
"Joey, I want you to get rid of the body. I don't care how you do it, but make sure that no one finds him. I can't risk the council finding out he was killed in here. They could use it against me and try and blame Yugi for it" he heard the voice of the vampiric leader.
"Wha?! How d'ya expect me ta get rid of a body covered in blood?! This place is full of vamps if ya haven't noticed" one of the shadows answered him.
The spy had to suppress a growl as he heard that particular voice.
Joey was the son of one of the more influential tribe's alphas. Most of the wolves had thought the vamps had kidnapped and tortured him for information before killing him, but apparently that hadn't been true.
Now it looked like he had defected to the blood sucker's side.
There was no way Atem was going to like this or the fact that this little piece of information had been missed for so long.
It explained how the enemy had managed to make such devastating blows to their defenses, after the kid had gone missing.
Due to the intelligence the kid had obviously given to the damn high brows, the werewolf side had ended up losing a good amount of soldiers and if there was one thing the alpha couldn't, or better, wouldn't handle, it was defeat.
A short silence followed as the one who had given the order seemingly thought over what the traitor was saying.
"Yugi…you wouldn't be able to get the rest of the blood off of him would you?" the voice came again, this time addressing the other shadow in the room.
The person in question didn't give any answer, but judging by the movement visible on the office wall, the person moved closer to the corpse.
As the concealed figure watched intently, he saw a hand come out from behind the safety of the beam, that was obscuring his view, and touch the cold flesh of the fallen vampire.
For the first few seconds nothing seemed to happen and the man crouching in the tree thought that the person would try and undress the figure to get rid of most of the blood, but then he saw something far more macabre play out before of him.
Dark strands seemed to lift themselves off of the soiled corpse and the formerly white carpet, like snakes that were being charmed by the tune of a flute.
The almost nonexistent heartbeat of the spy seemed to halt entirely as he watched the almost black tendrils dance and sway towards the pale flesh of the person he had yet to see.
Only very few beings could draw on fluids that were incased in fabrics and the like and only two of them could use their vile magic on blood.
A blood sorcerer and a werehound…
Both were bad news. The one was a vampire or human who had given him or herself to dark rituals that demanded copious amounts of live sacrifices and the other was an insane abomination of nature that needed to be killed.
If this was a sorcerer, he needed to find out what he looked like so he could get one of the hidden assassins in the palace to get rid of him. They couldn't risk a dark sorcerer on the battlefield. The thing would just use its powers to devour the injured and fuel its power that way and use the blood to conjure up disfigured monsters to fight for it.
The vamps must be pretty desperate to be making pacts with such disgusting creatures.
With a foul taste in his mouth the concealed figure watched as the blood appeared to sink into the skin of the would-be sorcerer, before it released its hold on the dead body, leaving behind a pristinely clean corpse and white carpet. Not a drop of blood was left anywhere in sight.
"Yuck…tha's just grouse!" the traitor wolf said. That statement however didn't seem to get to good of a resonance, as he added "What? It is!"
"Just get rid of the body Joey" an exasperated voice said.
The shadow that had formerly been near the corpse moved towards the blood sucker in the room and seemed to curl up into the side of the crouching vampire, judging by what he could see on the wall.
'Just how sick are these people?!' the spy though disgusted.
Blood sorcerers always smelled like death and ground bones, he didn't even want to imagine what they smelled like up close and the vamp was cuddling it?!
The spy could already tell that the crawling feeling underneath his skin, at the mere thought of it, wouldn't be leaving him for a while…
The only shadow not currently snuggling up to another moved towards the corpse, finally coming into view.
The blond traitor stood with his hands on his hips, looking skeptically down at the body of the turquoise haired male.
"Well, here goes nuthin'" Joey sighed, as he dragged the cadaver right past the tree the spy was in.
It was only due to the magic the spy had stolen from a fey that the sandy haired werewolf didn't smell the scent of his own kind lurking in the greenery.
He knew he had to be careful and keep an eye on the traitor that was dragging the dead man around directly under him, but the black dressed figure knew that he couldn't risk not getting a glimpse of the sorcerer, so he focused back on the dancing shadows in the office.
Whispers could be heard from the direction of the two occupants, but they were too low for even his wolfen ears to pick up.
Only the words war, weapon and council could be distinguished among the unintelligible mess of sounds and the spy wasn't even sure if he heard those words right.
In the background he could hear the blond shift and the distinct sound of tearing flesh and bones being crushed could be heard in the otherwise almost silent garden. As far as he could guess the traitor was taking the body apart so he could dispose of the body parts separately.
It wasn't a bad idea. After all, who would really wonder too much about another dead body during a war, especially if the person looked like he had been mauled by the enemy? It would be a perfect reason to launch an attack on the werewolves again.
Just another thing the spy would have to warn his alpha about…
"I know you don't like it Yugi, but I don't really have another choice. It's the only way I can make it to where you and others of your kind aren't being hunted anymore… Will you do it?" the voice of the vampire king said, drawing back the attention of the hidden man in the garden.
He couldn't see what had happened, but apparently the sorcerer accepted as the next person to speak was the vamp again.
"Then I need you to change back for me"
The spy had no idea what the vamp meant. Sorcerers couldn't change their form, which was why they could always be distinguished by their corpse like appearance. Even if they had once been able to shapeshift they all lost that power once they give themselves to the back arts. So just what was he getting at?
Intrigued the spy silently shifted a little closer to the scene, only to almost give away his presence with the sharp intake of breath he just barely suppressed at the chilling thing he saw next.
The shadow of the smaller person convulsed and contorted in what to anyone not of shifter origin would have seemed excruciatingly painful and unsettlingly unnatural, but to the concealed figure, it was a sight he knew too well.
In moments the shadow of a small wolf was standing where the non-vampire had once stood.
He had told himself moments ago, that the being who had worked the blood magic couldn't be the one thing that was even worse than a blood sorcerer, but the proof was undeniably there and adding the words he had managed to hear earlier, it painted a gruesome picture…
The vampires were conspiring with werehounds and were probably planning to use them in the war against the wolves!
He believed in his alpha, but even the spy had no idea how they were supposed to wage war against those monsters!
Right in that instant, he honestly wished it had been a sorcerer in the room. Heck, he'd even cuddle a group of them if it meant not facing the monster in the vampire kings office!
"I'll have one of the servants get the council. We should probably get to the council chamber first. I don't want them to gang up on you the second they see you" the vampire voiced.
With hesitation the cloaked man in the garden thought out his less than good options.
Even he couldn't get into the council rooms without prior preparation and trying to do it now would only serve to get him killed, yet if he didn't get as much information as he could, then Atem would probably be the one to kill him in a rage…
With a barely noticeable shift, he made his decision. He would be taking his chances with the enraged werewolf…
Back with Yami…
By the time the odd duo managed to make it to the council room, Yugi was reduced to a terrified mess, standing next to the vampire king, who at this point could have doubled as a wooden plank.
He so wanted out of this. If his conscience would allow him to back out even a fraction of an inch, he would turn tail and run. Facing the council was among the most terrifying thing he could think of outside of the battlefield.
Yugi was doing his best hide under the ornate, red plush throne that Yami was sitting on. The vampire king could feel the tremors of the young werehounds body coursing through the mahogany wood as he tried to get some semblance of calm from the cool feel of the gold encrusted gems that were littered along the armrests beneath his hands.
He had just managed to not look like the embodiment of a deer caught in in the scope of a hunter, when the heavily carved doors were unceremoniously thrown open.
In strode the most pompous vampires Yami had ever been unfortunate enough to have to deal with.
They all sat down around the banquet table before him as though they were the rulers of the place. Even if Yami had to begrudgingly admit to himself that they were just that, even if they didn't have the title to prove it.
The first to speak was an elderly vampire with flamboyantly colored robes that starkly contrasting his long, silver hair.
"Yami-boy! Why did you call us?" the silver haired vampire asked in an annoyingly joyful tone.
"Who cares? We have better things to do than listen to whatever he has to say. We have a country to run" another interjected.
"And where the hell is Noah?" one asked.
"Who gives a damn? He's probably drunk somewhere with one of his lovers. This can't be anything important anyway" yet another vampire answered.
"Exactly! Did you even look at the time?! It's near sunrise! Unlike you we actually work during the night and don't sit around waiting for the next time to wave around a sword!" one of the younger men yelled, accusingly.
This was how it always was. When they weren't talking about him as though he wasn't there, they were telling him what a lousy king he was. It was just another way to make it seem like they were doing him a favor, instead of hogging the power.
"I called you here for a reason" Yami said, not letting a flicker of fear lace through his voice. Inside his every muscle was constricting in his back, forming a painfully tight knot, while his arms were seconds away from visibly shaking.
"Get to the point! We have a war to wage!" a turquoise haired male yelled at him gruffly, unimpressed by the show of determination.
"If you would be silent for a minute, Dartz… you would know that I have a means to maybe end it" Yami almost hissed back. His anxiety and patience were being overtaken by years of annoyance and having to stomach the disdain he received from these men on an almost daily basis.
"Ha! The only thing you're good at is waking your sword around on a battle field. Leave the tactics to the people who actually know what they're doing"
"You forget your place!" Yami yelled, finally having enough from the arrogant man.
"My place!? My place!" Dartz fumed, standing up so fast that his chair hit the ground behind him, cracking on impact.
"If we left the kingdom to you we would all be dead or ruled by those barbaric heathens!" he screamed, while almost jumping up the steps towards Yami in a blind rage.
The white robes of the council man waved wildly as he advanced on his king, his hand raised to grab the monarch he was supposed to loyally serve.
His hand was only inches away from Yami's throat, when the warm breath of a ferocious, growling beast sprang forth from underneath the throne.
Sharp claws dug into the white fabric around Dartz's shoulders, while warm, hot breath streamed across the man's neck from in between razor sharp fangs that were ready to strike him down permanently.
A deep, threatening growl resounded though out the room. The skin raising power behind it made the very essence of just about anyone quiver in fear.
Standing on top of the immobilized vampire was Yugi in all his werehound glory, bearing his deadly fangs, ready for the kill at a moment's notice.
No one threatened a wolf's alpha and got away with it!
The other men in the room stood; ready to defend their fellow member against the apparent werewolf threat, even if they would never raise a finger to save Yami.
"I wouldn't move if I were you" Yami said, with a certain amount of satisfaction clearly ringing in his voice as he looked down at Dartz.
The man was among the worst of the bunch.
He was always making him out to be an incompetent fool, who only cared about fighting, even if Yami hated every second he was forced to hold his father's blade.
Even when he had first tried to take the throne, they had told him he was doing everything wrong and would never get it right.
To say that seeing one of them on the ground before him didn't give him a slight thrill, would be a lie.
"Get this thing off of me!" the turquoise haired male screamed, trying to free his arms from under the silver wolf's claws.
His comrades continued to move forward, ready to attack the four legged assailant.
"He's not a thing" Yami snarled "He's a werehound".
With the simple utterance of those words, the once so determined councilmen had a sudden change of heart and froze in their tracks.
Even the pinned male was suddenly too terrified to retaliate.
Standing up himself and moving to where Dartz could see him, while he was laying unmoving upon the cold stone floor, Yami looked down at him and asked: "Are you ready to listen now?"
Even if his kind always prided themselves in being more civilized as the werewolves, they still felt the rush from dominating others and the thrill of power. Right now, both sang within Yami as they rushed through his very being.
It was a tantalizing thigh that had driven lesser men to do unspeakable things, but he wasn't going to be one of them, no matter how much he wanted this particular nuisance out of his and his people's lives.
An almost imperceptible nod was the only answer he was give, as the vampire seemed too afraid to do much more.
"Yugi…come here" Yami said.
The silver wolf however didn't listen.
He leaned in closer to the utterly terrified man, baring his lethally sharp fangs at the man's neck, while his hot breath promised pain to come.
The other men in the room tensed, fearing that the beast was out of control and would strike them all dead at any moment.
Just as even Yami was beginning to wonder if the young werehound had lost control, the small, claw tipped paws pushed against the councilman's shoulders, effectively making him jump off of the man.
The click of claws against the grey stones resounded in the otherwise silent room, as Yugi pawed over towards Yami.
"Come" the king said, before walking back towards his throne, in full confidence that the younger male would follow.
Once he was back in the gaudily decorated throne, he felt a shy lick on his hand, before soft fur was rubbed against it. It was a clear plead for praise, if ever there was one.
Ignoring the still shell shocked council; he turned his attention towards the silver werehound and scratched him behind his ears.
A smile threatened to concur Yami's face as he saw Yugi's tail wag in excitement at being petted. The younger's amethyst eyes closed in bliss, while a pleased, almost grunt like tone came from the werehound.
"You…you tamed him…" one of the council members whispered, sounding as if the fear, caused by Yugi's shier presence in the room was still having a hold on him.
"No, I didn't tame him" Yami answered.
"B-but…he listened to you"
"That's because I'm his alpha"
"But werehounds don't have alphas. They're uncivilized, insane beasts!" the silver haired councilman stated.
"And that is where you are wrong… That is where we have all been wrong" the king stated, as the heavy feeling on his heart settled in his throat, "Werehounds are just like werewolves when it comes to that…and they don't all go rogue as we have thought".
"What do you mean they don't go rogue?! Those things are mindless killers! You saw what he almost did to me!" the now standing Dartz yelled indignantly.
"Name one wolf that wouldn't attack someone threatening their pack" Yami countered calmly.
"We all have heard the stories Yami. How they go rogue at a young age and murder senselessly. Countless blood lines have been extinguished due to them. Just because he listens now doesn't mean he won't go rogue. They never last past their ninth year before they succumb to madness", the silver haired councilman interjected.
"Pegasus… even if I didn't correct you before, it is still 'your highness' for you. And, for your information, there is a way to keep them from going insane. We just didn't know that till now"
Yami himself didn't know how to keep them from turning into ruthless beasts, but the council didn't need to know that, now did they?
"That's wishful thinking! There's no way you could have pulled something like that off" Dartz accused.
"I not only have managed it, but I have proof" Yami added with a clear self-satisfied smirk. He had them right where he wanted them and the council didn't even realize they had walked right into his trap.
"And where is this so called proof?!" he demanded, while still eyeing Yugi like a wild animal that was going to jump him any second.
The werehound in question however was too busy rubbing his face against the vampire rulers hand to even notice.
"The proof is right before you Dartz. The boy you see next to me is sixteen"
The only sound that was heard was the harsh intake of breath by the disbelieving men, before the shock rendered their voices useless.
Even Dartz, the most outspoken of the bunch was silent, while the color white took ahold of his already pale skin.
Taking advantage of his little moment of triumph Yami decided to make his fatal blow to any form of opposition they could come up with.
"We have been killing off innocent people, who were simply sick, just because we didn't understand what was wrong with them. And while we were doing that, we were also killing one of our greatest assets in the war"
"What do you mean?" Pegasus asked.
"You were terrified of just having one werehound in the room; now think how the werewolves will react faced with an army of them?"
One could almost see the little cogs in their heads turning, oiled by the thoughts of werewolf blood being spilled by the gallons.
"But we have been killing them off! There aren't enough left!" one of the other council members despaired.
"Do you really think so highly of yourself?" Yami asked "There is no way we have killed all of them. Any parent worth their blood would do just about anything to keep their child safe, no matter what they were. There are more of them, just in hiding. If we undo the order to kill them on sight and give them a place to run to, they will come to us and will willingly fight to keep their new home safe"
Wild whispers were passed between the older vampires. Skepticism was clear in the hasty glances they shot Yami's way.
Just as he had been unwilling to believe it before, they were now faced with the devastating truth about how they had killed so many innocent lives. But that wasn't what was on their mind.
This could win them the war. It would be an ultimate defeat of their arch enemy, but it also had a downside.
If they allowed this, they wouldn't be able to get rid of Yami at will. In a war, no one would be surprised if he were killed after all, but after a glorious defeat of their enemy?
That would raise more than a few eyebrows.
It was no mystery to him that he was only alive so the people had someone to blame if the council did something wrong.
He was their little scape goat and wasn't meant to have any power, let alone any opinion. Having an opinion could make him a pain in their side and make his life that much shorter.
But they couldn't deny him now. The apprehensive looks towards Yugi were enough of a clue to the fact that they were afraid of him. As evil as they themselves were, they probably thought he was going to sic him on them.
It took a while for them to finally come to a conclusion; all the while Yugi was watching them, while Yami was trying to inconspicuously read their lips.
Clear reluctance was in their body language as Dartz stepped forward to speak for them.
"It seems that you have for once done something useful. We agree to repeal the law regarding killing the…werehound" he stated, while almost spitting the name of Yugi's kind, " we will start beginning to plan using this boy in our next campaign"
"I object" Yami said, while keeping his demeaned as level as he possibly could.
He knew this was coming, but he had to prevent them from using Yugi as a weapon, even if he himself had proposed to do it. The boy had been able to survive this long under horrible circumstances. He wasn't going to let him suffer through more, if he could help it.
"What?! You insolent little child! You were the one to suggest it in the first place and now you want us to just let him sit there instead of using him?!" Dartz yelled outraged.
"Do you honestly think that parents will take their children here, if they know that they will be used as mindless weapons? I am simply proposing to have him be a symbol for now. If we keep him in the palace we can make the other werehounds believe that they can gain rank with us"
"You want to keep that thing here!" the turquoise haired councilman yelled and took another step towards his king, only to stop in his tracks, as another ominous growl came from next to Yami.
"Yes Dartz. I want to keep him as my guard. You know that it's a high position and it would protect me from more assassination attempts. You know how often they have tried and since I have no heir, it would be devastating for the kingdom if I died…"
That statement was a gamble, but it was one he was determined to win. Having Yugi as his guard would force the boy to be near him at all times, thusly keeping him out of the grasp of the council, but it was also dangerous.
Yugi could be used as just another tool to get rid of him. He would be a perfect victim to pin the vampire kings murder on if the council so desired it.
Yami was always in danger of being deposed or being 'taken care of' by the council. It was part of the reason he had refused to seek a mate. After all, any mate would just be another person who would potentially kill him and if he did have a child, that child would be the perfect puppet for just about anyone.
Dartz was almost fuming inside, judging by the red color that was mixing with his still unusually pale skin, painting him in an overall dusty pink.
"But you can have anyone as a guard. Why take someone who is probably inexperienced? Besides, we don't know how loyal he is. He could be working for the enemy!"
"I've known him long enough to know where his loyalties are Dartz and besides, any regular guard can be taken down by a good assassin, but how many assassins do you think it would take to kill a werehound? He would be a perfect guard and as your king, I deserve the best guard we have do offer, don't I?" Yami asked, though it came out more like a snide comment than a real question.
A slight twitching took a hold of the older vampires jaw. He was trapped and he obviously knew it.
Denying Yami the werehound-guard now would show that he didn't care about the monarch's safety. It was something that could get dangerous for him.
"Well…if put that way, we could use him as a guard…it would look good and the people would be more at ease" he tried to back paddle in an almost laughable attempt, while he looked at the other members of the vampire council. His face looked caught half way in between a scowl and the most fake smile Yami had ever laid his eyes upon.
The other men in the room hesitantly nodded as Dartz started throwing them nasty looks.
"As that seems to be settled, I'll let you get back to work. Have a restful day" Yami said before standing from his ornate throne and walking down the multiple steps that raised it above the rest of the floor.
"Come Yugi" he called before leaving behind a dumb struck council, with a smile on his face.
But then again, he had every right to it, his plan had worked out perfectly and the council had never seen it coming…
Back in the werewolf caves…
Atem was pacing back and forth inside his rooms, impatiently awaiting the return of his spy. The man had been gone for the better part of the night and the sun had already risen past the tree tops of the forest surrounding the haven.
'What is taking him so long?!' the alpha thought, raking his clawed hand through his unruly hair.
The man usually never took this long and he was the most reliable one Atem had at his disposal.
If the man couldn't find out what was going on, then nobody could.
It would be even worse, if he got captured. The guy was mated to his captain of the guard and if he died, the guy would need to be replaced, since he would most likely be too grief stricken to do his job.
The supreme alpha was ready to start breaking something in his own frustration, when he finally smelled a familiar scent outside his chamber door.
"Come in" he called , wearing an angered look upon his face that told anyone who saw it to get straight to the point of whatever business they had with him, or suffer the consequences.
In seconds a black clocked male was kneeling before him, his head tilted to the side in submission. The freely flowing fabric around the werewolf gave way under the power of gravity, revealing a pale, stern faced male, with sharp brown eyes.
This was anything but a good sign. Atem knew the man was proud and though he was loyal, he wouldn't show submission unless it was absolutely necessary. If the white haired male was doing it now, it could only mean one thing…bad news.
"What did you find Bakura?" the dominant wolf asked with a growl.
"The vampires are going through drastic changes within their ruling circle. One of their council has been killed tonight by the hand of their king as it seems…"
"What else?"
Atem could clearly tell that the otherwise confrontational spy was trying to avoid telling him something.
The spy visibly swallowed and crouched down lower towards the floor, looking as if he would bolt at an instants notice.
"They have a new weapon…" he stated, before he went quiet again.
His usually tentative patience already gone, Atem decided he had waited long enough and grabbed the man by his collar, lifting the man of the ground like he was nothing more than a ragdoll.
"Tell me" was all he growled at the apprehensive male.
"They-they have a werehound" he breathed out, under the almost suffocating feeling of his own cloak constricting around his neck.
The words had barely left Bakura's mouth, before he felt the grip at the base of his neck tighten in warning.
"Tell me you killed the thing" the tri-colored male ground out.
All Atem could feel was the pure fury coursing through his veins, at the mere mention of such a vile creature even existing.
He could sense his fury pool into his eyes, as they turned into a deeper shade of purple and how the golden lines that appeared within them seemed to be forged by the very rage inside of him.
"I couldn't he was with the vampires ruler and a traitor" the other werewolf said.
"You let that thing live?!" he yelled, completely overhearing the mention of a traitor. He was too focused on the desire to destroy the perceived threat to his kind to even notice anything else.
"I wouldn't have been able to kill it! I would have only gotten killed myself"
"So you place your life above the life of your pack? Is that it you coward?! You should have given your life without a second thought to save the rest! Who knows if we'll ever get another chance to attack that thing outside of a battlefield!"
"If I would have died I wouldn't have been able to warn you and we wouldn't be able to do something about it you idiot!" the other male hissed back, apparently deciding that the submissive act was only going to get him into more trouble.
It was a terrible misjudgment.
Blinded by anger, Atem slammed him into the hard floor underneath them, making Bakura spit up blood that poured out of the side of his mouth.
Within less than the blink of an eye, the alphas fist impacted next to the spies head. The collision of flesh and carved out stone was so harsh, that cracks scarred the grey material.
Atem panted hard as he visibly saw his entire world shatter around him.
The vampires had a werehound, a beast that was almost impossible to kill and they were going to probably use it to wipe out his kind!
If he didn't find a way to get rid of it, losing his title would be the least of his worries.
But what did he have that could face such a beast?
Nothing.
His entire pack was facing extinction and there was nothing he could do!
Horrified by the realization he stayed frozen above the white haired male, who was watching him as if he was waiting for another attack.
Atem's breath became labored as he saw everything he held dear dwindling away, all because the damn blood suckers had made a pact with a monster.
There had to be a way around this. There just had to be.
"Do you know what it looks like?" he asked, in the most calm voice he could manage, considering the circumstances.
"I couldn't make out his face…but it has pale skin and the thing was very close to the vamps ruler. The thing was cuddling with him. He'll probably be around him the whole time. So we just need to look for someone we don't know close to the guy" Bakura was quick to add.
Glaring at his dismal chances, Atem stood, dragging the spy with him, before he almost threw him in the direction of the door.
"Get out" he growled, in a demanding voice that would have lesser men running to rescue their very souls.
Without a moment of hesitation the spy left the room, closing the doors behind him, before he started to cuss out his alpha in such a colorful language that even Atem didn't know the man could muster.
Something like that wouldn't be tolerated under normal circumstances, but right now he had other problems to deal with.
Atem ran his hand down his face, trying to get a grip on his own racing thoughts that were chaotically rushing around in his mind, though he would never admit it.
He was the alpha, he was supposed to be the strongest and protect his pack against anything, no matter the cost, but now it seemed, it was going to cost him his life and his death would be in vein.
No one else stood a chance against such a beast and he knew that he would die in a direct fight with it. He couldn't even try and go after it with a group of warrior. The only thing he could trust anyone else to do was run from the thing as if the hounds of the underworld were after them, which in this case they might as well be…
But what other choices were there?
Pacing the now cracked floor yet again that day, he mauled over his own coming demise and countless war strategies he had either learned or been forced to invent on the battlefield.
None of them promised a happy ending.
All of them ended in death and immanent destruction.
He was close to resigning himself to his early grave, when the fates seemed to have pity on him.
Just as the sun had reached its highest peak, a sudden idea struck him.
It was underhanded, disgusting and downright atrocious.
The slightest thought of it made him want to gag, but he forced himself to think about it as he felt his own body want to recoil every single moment that he was even considering the idea.
As frantic as his mind tried to find a way out of the path that would undoubtable lead to his own damnation, there was no other alternative.
Determined and with the taste of bile on his tongue, Atem sat down and started to set his plan in action. He needed to do this despicable deed, for his people, if for nothing else.
Even though he would most likely spend the rest of his days trying to wash away the irreversible taint it would cause on the very core of his being…
Next time: What could Atem be planning? Devious plots and more characters await in the next few chapters!
Yay! Finally done. I had a small bout of writers block but I got over it now. Hope you enjoyed and please R&R!
-LGK