"I wasn't able to find the creature I fought, what about Alejandro?" Hamish came walking into the vault where Vera had asked to meet him. She was already piling a bunch of books on the table and searching through them for any trace of the jaguars.
"I know I saw it in here once." Vera was talking more to herself than to Hamish.
"Vera, you found Alejandro?"
She continued looking through the books, flipping through pages and tossing it aside before going to the next one. "Yes, he went down the mine shaft. I had to guide him back to the barn. He said he fell through at the first blast. He's fine now but we both agree we were set up."
"Happy he agrees about something." Hamish walked up beside her picking up one of the books she had thumbed through quickly. "You said you had something to tell me when we got back?"
Holding up a finger she said nothing else, just a silent way to tell him to wait. Stopping she finally found the page and flipped it around to him pointing at the image of the humanoid jaguar. "I knew I saw it somewhere."
"Great talk Vera, very informative." Hamish took the book and looked the page over. "That's the guy...or girl." He started reading it over stopping for a minute. "Why did it attack you?"
"I'm a magic user? The jaguarmen were virtually the South American version of werewolves, attacking and killing magic practitioners to avoid the end times. They were feared warriors but all were destroyed by what is now our Brazillian chapter."
Hamish paused a moment. "You don't think…" He didn't even need to finish that sentence.
"That is exactly what I think actually, funny you bring that up. Might the Brazillian chapter have a jaguar like we have wolves? Perhaps. Might they be using one to attack me for the gain of the Brazilian chapter? Well there is only one way to find out. I've been set up once before, time to turn the tables." She looked up at Hamish with a little smile, that look in her eye told him the wolves were going to love this plan.
"Tell us when and where Vera and we will be more than happy." Hamish pushed the book aside. "Now, are you going to tell me?"
They had been enjoying this little plotting session so much that Vera didn't really want to ruin it now by worrying him. She just looked back at the book and picked it up, shutting it and running it through her hands. "Hmmm? Oh, nothing." Vera set the book down and tried walking away when Hamish grabbed her elbow to stop her.
"Vera please. If you keep me in the dark about things then I'm going to do nothing but worry."
"Our baby…" She saw the look on his face, he was about to panic. Vera had to put her hands up and calm him down. Resting her palms against his chest she felt like she was practically holding him up. "Is fine." Hamish needed to learn how to control his own emotions otherwise working with him would get sloppy and eventually Vera would have to push him to the sidelines. Right now her only decent option was Randal since he hadn't actually tried to kill her yet. "It's just, their powers are perhaps just a bit concerning. Hamish, if the council finds out about them…" Vera took her hands off his chest a moment. "We really need to figure out how to handle this situation."
"One thing at a time Vera. First we need to keep you from being killed, then we can worry about Fluffy." That's what she liked to hear, Hamish wasn't on the verge of a breakdown right now.
"Good, call in the wolves, all of them." Was it risky? Perhaps but this wasn't a task for just Hamish and Randal.
"Thank you for meeting me here Mr. Oliveira." Vera turned around wearing her black knee length coat and donning her black sunhat. A pair of large sunglasses covered her eyes as she stood there with hands in her pockets. It was impossible to read her expression behind her sunglasses but all the better for intimidation.
"What's the situation?" Alejandro asked, resting a hand lightly against her lower back and making Vera turn around to look at it before moving her expression towards him. He couldn't see her eyes but he could see the disapproving curl of her lip. "Sorry Grand Magus."
"Not yet you aren't." Vera moved ahead of him from the large empty concrete lot to the abandoned building. "The last stronghold of Praxus. My intel on this location tells me they have the hide box of alpha. We need to recover it at any cost."
"Where are your werewolves on this job Vera?"
She stood there looking at him, her expression unchanged as she flicked her hand and nearly blew the side door off the building. "I don't need my wolves for everything." She maintained that unwavering gaze, her lips not giving anything away. "You aren't afraid are you?"
Alejandro was trying to have a masquline aura about him as he took lead towards the steps. Vera followed close behind entering the building and looking around the long hall. "Pretty quiet for a stronghold."
Vera pushed ahead of him, "Don't let it fool you." Her heels clicked over the tile concrete floor as she walked on stopping for a moment and putting her hand up. Someone was running in the distance, down one of the side halls. Instantly Vera picked up her pace , moving like she was now on a warpath. Alejandro followed behind her while keeping up. Surprisingly difficult for a woman shorter than him and in heels. Vera was an impressive specimen indeed, a great choice for Grand Magus.
Following the sounds of the footsteps Vera walked into an open room that looked like an old cafeteria. Tables were stacked up against either wall with chairs piled and stacked into one corner and a few tables with various books and artifacts covering them. At the far end of the room Vera spotted the old wooden chest. She waved her arm back at Alejandro. "Stay sharp."
"That's one of them isn't it. A hide locker?" Vera nodded. "Do you think one is inside?"
"For our sakes I hope so, that last thing we want is for our enemies to have a werewolf."
Alejandro stepped ahead of Vera again. "I'll go first, just in case." He walked ahead of Vera up towards the locker, his eyes scanning the old wood. The cast iron was bent and rusting, the wood looked stained from water or blood, perhaps even both. When he got closer to it he furrowed his brow reading some words scratched into its lid. Cocking his head to the side Alejandro spoke out loud. "Lilith?" Behind him came a rough huffing sound mixed with a growl. Claws clicked over the ground as a large dark colored wolf with a greying beard stepped in front of the doorway behind them.
"Mr. Oliveira, you have some answering to do." Vera's voice rose up over the sound of the snarling wolf. Alejandro spun around looking at Vera and then to her wolf. He smiled and laughed taking a step closer to her.
"One wolf, Vera, I thought you were smart."
"And I thought you were loyal."
"I guess we both misjudged each other." Vera smirked at him. "You are awfully strong Vera but you should have brought more backup than the pup." Vera started to look back at Randal when his voice made her pause. "Not that pup." Alejandro pulled off his shirt almost instantly starting to shift. He ran at Vera on all fours going in for the attack while Greybeard tried catching up behind him. He wasn't close enough to get to Vera in time before Alejandro would reach her.
Ducking down Vera reacted by putting her hand up and shouting out. "Te Repello." Alejandro was pulled off his feet and tossed back into the wall. A large indent was left behind where he had landed but even after being tossed the jaguar recovered quickly. He launched forward trying to go for Vera again but this time Greybeard was already on him. Biting down into his shoulder Greybeard tried tossing him to the side but Alejandro threw his claws back into the werewolves shoulders and threw him onto his back. The large werebeast snarled in the werewolves face, slapping his claws into Greybeards face and leaving behind four claw marks before jumping free and running for the doorway.
Vera ran up to Greybeard watching him get back up to his feet as Alejandro ran through the doorway on all fours. "He's much faster than you." Vera stopped short of the werewolf who was shaking himself off before letting out a haunting hollow howl. As Alejandro galloped towards his freedom another wolf blocked his path, a pure black Midnight snarling and pushing him down another hall. He continued to gallop, jumping up at Greybeard as he tried to cut him off. The werecat climbed up the steps to the next floor, claws scraping against the floor as he chuffed.
From one of the side rooms Tundra threw itself into action, the grey wolf grabbing hold of Alejandro's leg. Standing back up he threw the cat into the wall sending tiles falling to the floor. Pinning her ears back she snarled at the big cat, stepping back into its path so it couldn't try and escape again. Behind it Greybeard was heading up the steps slowly, his shadow cast over the wall and blocking out the light behind the cat. Alejandro hissed, his attention going between the two wolves. Slowly he backed up towards Greybeard only to have the darker wolf slash at him and make him spin with his back facing Tundra.
Vera walked up behind the darker wolf seeing the cat's green eyes focus on her. Its muscles tensed up as it dashed for her, Tundra jumping on his back and sinking her teeth down into the cats shoulder. The cat stopped short, nearly slamming Tundra down into Vera. She backed up falling into Greybeard who snarled at her, ears pinned before he realized it had been Vera touching him. Again Alejandro made a dash for it, aiming for the window. "Debilietur." Alejandro was knocked to the ground, roaring in pain, muscles twitching as he tried to get back up. His back legs were trembling, lifting his weight and fighting against the spell. "You just won't stay down." She flicked her hand again "Dormi." The cat went down again, a loud purr escaping it's chest as it fell into slumber.
"That was eventful." Midnight came up on the steps behind her as Alejandro shifted back into his human form. "So who's carrying him back to my car?" Vera looked between the wolves behind her. Alejandro started groaning, shifting his shoulders as he tried to get back up. "Dormi." Vera hit him with the sleep spell again putting him down once more. "Quickly." She snapped at the wolves. As Greybeard walked forward to grab the human Alejandro Tundra approached Vera sniffing her.
"I'm fine." She told the lighter grey wolf. Tundra flattened her ears against her head and nuzzled her nose into Vera's side. Midnight huffed and turned following Greybeard back down the stairs with their captive while Tundra attempted to cuddle with Vera. Patting the wolf on the head she felt a little uncomfortable. Still Tundra wasn't standing down or walking away and as long as she awkwardly stood there Tundra wasn't going to move. Vera pet the wolf on the top of the head and smiled at her a moment. "Come on, you're riding back with me." She finally managed to slip away from the wolf turning around only to see it following her.