A/N: Here's the rewritten chapter one. As I said with the prologue, there's some changes I've recently thought up that will be more obvious later on and I felt I should update the previous chapters as a result. Plus, it adds more scenes in for more interactions and possible hints. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. That goes to the respective owner(s). I only claim my OCs. Also, be aware of the language/violence in this story.

Chapter One-The Werewolf Prince:

(Ren's POV)

I slid through the window, thankfully not catching the cloak on it this time. I quickly pulled it closed and threw the cloak off my shoulders. That was way too close this time. I had narrowly missed the wrong patrol that was going about the castle grounds. The king must have changed it up at the last minute while I was out, so there was no way for anyone to tell me of the change. He couldn't suspect anything this soon...could he? No, knowing him, he would have had guards burst in here while I was out to drag me for execution. Something else is up.

Planning had been slow and careful. Considering the losses already sustained, the werewolves weren't going to be ready for a straight up fight with the vampires for quite a while, but they didn't want to try and play the long game either like what Aly and Kalin attempted. This goes on any longer, who knows what could happen? However, I knew it had to be sooner rather than later if we had any hope at ending this. Kalin could tell I wanted to merely storm the throne room and take out the king, but he cautioned me not to. He knew my feelings on the matter as my sister had been a close friend of his. They already lost Aly who, until the day I came, was their first ever vampire ally in years. If they lost the last connection they had to the rebels, well...

As I got my clothes straightened out, I noticed something on the floor in front of the door. I picked it up, seeing that it was a note addressed to me. Looks like Sherry's handwriting...probably meant to warn about the guard shift. I opened it and quickly read it. My eyes widened before I shoved the note into my pocket and raced out of the room. Fuck! Don't tell me they actually got him!

(Yusei's POV)

I grunted as my face met the ground, looking back up from the corner of my eye with a growl. I knew my eyes had changed to the silver color that only the high alpha of the werewolf clans turn judging by the grin on the vampire king's face. "Well well, this changes things," he mused.

"So what now, sire?" the hunter holding me down asked.

"While it would be fitting to just kill him here and now to prove to the werewolf clan how futile their resistance is, I say we make a show of his death. Whatever is left of him after the arena fight should weaken the high alpha's resolve. Prepare a suitable opponent in the arena, or catch a new one if you have to. Maybe then any pesky 'rebels' will lose hope as well once they see what I do to the werewolf prince."

The hunter loosened his grip on me which was when I decided to attack. I managed to get my claws out and sliced him with a backhand. He howled in pain, gripping the marks I left on his face while I charged at the king. However, before I could even get to him, magic chains appeared on the collar around my neck and flung me to the wall. The collar tightened and caused me to lose focus, my claws retracting as I gasped for air.

"Should have been more careful there, Luc. You should never go soft on these dogs," the king stated.

"Urgh..." the hunter grunted, still clutching his face. He glared at me with his good eye on his way out. "Fucking son of a..."

Once they were gone, the collar loosened and the chains disappeared. I finally could catch my breath. I couldn't believe I had gotten caught alone on a hunt like that. Dad had been setting up extra patrols and having messengers sent out more often. There had been talk of another contact with the vampire clan's rebels, but the contact had yet to make it to the compound for some reason. Considering what had happened to Kalin, there wasn't a lot of positive talk of this new contact.

If we do have a new ally, it would be real nice for them to come through right about now, I thought, sitting against the wall. No use waiting. There's got to be a way out of here...and a way to get this collar off. Maybe if I could...

My thoughts got cut off when I heard a clatter at the window. I whipped my head up, trying to see who or what was there. I could make out a shadow and heard a few curses. I let out a low growl. "Who are you? What do you want?!"

(Ren's POV)

Shiiit shit shit shit, what do I do now?! How in the hell did they even catch him? Kalin said he hardly leaves the compound alone, I thought in a panic. I jumped a bit when I heard the werewolf prince yell, "Who are you? What do you want?!" Crap, do I answer? Do I leave? What do I do?! I inhaled and exhaled deeply. Fuck it.

"You the prince?" I asked, trying my best to alter my voice.

"Why, no, I'm a lowly soldier that happened to be caught." Well, you could have mentioned he had a sarcastic streak, Kalin. Guess it's a good as time as any.

"Look, I can't talk for long right now. I'm going to work on getting you out as soon as I can."

"Hard to trust a vampire's word nowadays."

Here goes... "I'm working with Kalin on a plan."

That got his attention. "How do you..?"

"Just...trust me, okay? We'll get you back in one piece." Inferno let out a chirp, alerting me. "Look, I've got to go. I'll be back!"

"Wait-!" I darted off before he could finish.

It took me a bit longer than I wanted to get back to the castle without being spotted. Once clear of any patrols or other vampires seeing me, I shed the cloak and threw it under the bed. No sooner had I done that when a knock came at the door. I quickly unlocked the door. "Yea?"

"Prince Ren, your father requests your presence," the guard replied.

"All right, I'll be there in a minute. I've got to stop by the kitchen."

I brushed past the guard, heading down the hallways. I knew what he was calling me for. I had been skipping the "royal lessons" for quite a while. Pff, yeah, sure. The lessons were more reminding me to be a good little puppet and continue his little war for decades to come once he steps down. How in the hells did you even stand those lessons, sis? I wondered as I got to the kitchen.

I didn't want to have one of the cooks fix something, so I grabbed a piece of fruit from the bowls. I had only taken a few bites out of it when I heard an obnoxious voice. Fuck me.

"Well there you are, Ren!" my cousin Gareth called. "Uncle's been having a tear, wondering where you were! You missed your lessons, after all."

"Why should my missing lessons be any of your damned concern, Gareth? Last I checked, you were getting some high guard position, not heir," I retorted.

"Oh please, why should I serve a king who is more absent to important meetings than here? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were making the King mad enough to kill you."

"Maybe you should pay more attention to your lessons instead of mine. I think a bee could parry swords better than you, considering how easily you get knocked on your ass every time. Seems to me I wouldn't like a guard that got his ass handed to him every fight." I started walking past him. That was, until...

"At least my siblings aren't traitors like your sis-" That did it. I didn't let him finish as I connected my fist with his face.

He got back up and started throwing punches at me. I returned them, sending the both of us to the ground. I was about to start wailing on him when I was ripped off of him with a roar of, "What is going on here?!"

Fucking great. The king let go of my tunic once I was off Gareth who slowly got back up, blood coming from his nose and fangs descended. "He attacked me!" Gareth screeched.

"You asked for it," I muttered in reply.

"You'd rather spend your time attacking others of your clan than attending mandatory lessons, son? For shame," the king scolded. He turned to Gareth. "Gareth, go back to your station."

"Fine." Gareth headed out, giving a glare to me on his way out.

"This is the fifth time I've caught you and your cousin fighting. Do you have any idea how this will look on me if other family heads find out about this? If the Rey family finds out about your knack for violence, it will cost this kingdom much needed blood!"

"Well gee, wonder where I got a knack for violence, Dad," I snarled back. Immediately, my head was snapped to the side with the sound of a slap. The taste of blood filled my mouth.

"I suggest watching that tongue of yours. My patience with you wears very thin. You should be lucky that you're the prince."

"Didn't stop you last time." Just as that left my mouth, I felt my head get pinned to the wall. I grimaced at that.

"As I said, be thankful that you're the prince. You bring this on yourself. I only discipline you because I care. Now, I have some matters to attend to, so your lessons will have to wait. I suggest being on your best behavior. You know what happens when you aren't, right?"

I gritted my teeth. "Yes sir..."

"Good." He released me. "Make sure to start going to your lessons, or your punishments will be worse. We wouldn't want that, would we?"

"No, sir."

"That is good to hear." He headed out.

I gnashed my teeth, fangs coming out. I'm sick of having to bow down to that bastard. I've got to send a message and get to planning. First and foremost, getting the right key for the collar.

(Next Day)

Seemed like the king really did have other matters as no lessons were taking up my time. Good, that meant I could check in with Allen and figure out more about the collar they put on the werewolf prince. Once we had an idea, I could get one of the others to slip in and grab it, or even make a copy of it. Well, if it wasn't a complicated rune design.

Thankfully, Allen was on schedule to be patrolling the cells at the time I went to check in on the prince. I sent Inferno out earlier to give a message to Kalin and his pack. I wasn't sure what our time crunch would look like until I heard the news, but I was working as fast as I could on my end with the information I had currently. This time, I came in to the door while Allen kept watch.

"Psst, it's me. The contact," I whispered to the hole in the door.

"You seem to really like popping in unexpectedly," the prince replied in a dry tone.

"Listen, is there any way you can check the collar around your neck? I've got to know the rune design on it."

There was a pause. Then, "I'm feeling a lot of smooth lines around, and it feels like there's some sort of diamond in the middle of it."

Smooth lines...diamonds...shit, sounds like the Monarch Jewel design. I hadn't heard much of it, only that, while simple looking, was quite complicated to mold magic into it. It affected high level shifters and magic users. Should have known. "Okay, got it."

"So you going to tell me who you are or..?"

"You'll...see me when the time's right. I gotta go. I'll be back with more news."

"Well damn, and here I was hoping to head out on a nice vacation before you got back."

"I could deal without the sarcasm, if you please." Yep, could have at least warned me a bit about his snap backs, Kalin. I walked off to where Allen was at.

"So...?" Allen said with a raised brow.

"I'm going to do some very dangerous stunts here."

"More so than what we're already doing?"

"Heh, well...I'm about to add breaking into my dad's office to the list of dangerous shit."

"Ah...yeah, I don't think my bro and I are going to help with that."

"Not asking you to. What's the point of leading a rebellion if you don't do some of the hard stuff yourself?"

(In The Castle)

It wasn't uncommon for me to go through this part of the castle, thankfully. No one would question why the prince was heading for the king's office. He could have forgotten something for a lesson, or even was expecting him to be meeting him there. They'd rather keep their heads than ask questions. At least, that was what I figured as I made my way down the halls. I nodded at the guards as I walked in.

All right, then. If I was an evil king hellbent on killing off the prince of the werewolves, where would I hide the key to his collar? I wondered as I closed the door behind me. I headed for the desk, opening the drawers and tried to memorize how things looked so it wasn't obvious that something was missing.

After a bit of rummaging, a thought hit me. I tested one of the drawers, finding one had a false bottom. I gently wiggled it free, finding the case. Yes! I just managed to get it open and get the key when I heard footsteps coming for the office. Fuck shit fuck shit! I immediately put everything back to normal and closed the drawer, stepping around to stand in front of the desk.

The door opened to reveal none other than the king. "Ren? What are you doing here? I didn't call for you yet," he said, raising a brow.

"I...well, since I've been missing so many lessons, I thought to come here for some of the books. To catch up," I lied. Definitely not the most creative lie I could have done, but it was the only thing I could think of that would immediately get his approval.

"Ah, good. Finally taking responsibility for your inaction." Ergh, if only I could wipe that smirk off the bastard's face...just gotta be patient. "Let's see here." He went over to one of the bookshelves, picking up several different books. "I expect these will be able to aid in catching up, though only by a slight margin." He plopped the books on the desk, sending dust up into my nose. I coughed a bit, waving my hand in front of my face. "I shall put off your lessons for a little bit longer, especially given the spectacle we will be hosting."

"Uh, spectacle?" I finally managed to catch my breath. "What are you-"

"The beast hunters caught a most interesting creature that will put a great show for the clan in dealing with the werewolf clan's precious prince. A chimera. Granted, this isn't one with a dragon's head, unfortunately, but I'm sure it will be more than enough to take care of him."

What?! How did I not hear of this?! I felt the panic rise in my throat, but I had to swallow it back to make sure I didn't give any suspicions away. "And uh...when will this take place?"

"Later this week. You will need to attend, of course, so be sure to catch up until then."

Later this week...shit, that's three days! I've gotta send Inferno out stat! "Okay. I'll, uh, be there. Don't want to miss that."

"Yes, I'm sure it'll be an eye-opening time."

I left the office with the books. As soon as I managed to get to my room, I threw the books onto the floor and hurried to Inferno's perch. He gave a little shriek, having been woken up by me grabbing him.

"Sorry, bud, but we don't have enough time." I went to my small desk, setting him on it. I pulled out paper and pen, hastily writing the letter. "You've gotta be fast and make sure no one spots where you're going. I'll put a small cloaking spell on you, but once it runs out, duck out of sight!"

He squeaked. I bit my finger, applying the seal on his back and sliding the letter into the container. "Fly fast, pal." I went to the window, cradling him in my hands. I released him as the seal took effect, making him vanish. Gotta go tell Allen, fast! I turned around, pausing a bit when things felt like they were spinning, and then kept hurrying off once my head cleared.