AWOO! This is Solora coming at you from jolly old Ireland. I saw Knowth and Newgrange today, and they were freaking amazing. It's incredible how much passion went into the building of monuments and tombs in ancient times. I mean, it feels like nothing made nowadays is built to last like that. Me being in Ireland also means that you're going to be getting super early updates. I have a busy schedule during the day, and would rather post earlier than later. And there's the five hour time difference on top of that.

Anyway, enjoy!

"So, I'm going to be a werewolf." Fox's voice was calm, resigned, and slightly muzzy with lingering tiredness.

Coco sat next to him, holding his hands in hers, looking downward guiltily even though he couldn't actually look at her eyes. "I had to make a decision, and I didn't want you to die. You're not mad, are you Foxy?"

Fox shook his head. "No. Before, I would have been furious. After our time with the pack, however, I can definitely say that I'd rather be a werewolf than dead."

Sun snorted. "Wow, stop with the sentimental stuff. You're making me all teary-eyed."

Coco threw a roll of bandages at him, but ended up hitting Scarlet, who was sitting nearby. "Sorry, Scarlet. And shut up, Sun! You shouldn't even be in here with your magic wolf healing!"

"Hey, even with werewolf healing, I think I deserve a rest on this nice bed." Sun lay back on the mattress he was on to prove his point. "You humans may be backwards in some ways, but you have really comfy places to sleep."

"I guess this means we shouldn't be too physical for now," Fox continued, squeezing Coco's hands.

Coco looked at him, immediately becoming somber. "Yeah. I guess so." She scooted close and pecked his cheek. "I have no problem being a werewolf once this is all over. For now, we need to be careful."

Sun shrugged. "Hey, if Jaune and Pyrrha can do it, I'm sure you guys can."

"What they have is a little different from what we have," Fox muttered. "We've been married for two years."

"I mean, the emotions are still the same. Doesn't matter how long you've had them." Sun remarked.

Scarlet blinked, tilting his head. "Wait, what? Jaune and Pyrrha? Really?"

"Yep." Sun grinned. "It happened after the fight with Adam. They've got it bad."

"Well, you'd know all about having it bad, wouldn't you?" Scarlet teased, earning him a punch to the shoulder. "Ow! You should be nicer to me! I've been muzzled for this pack, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't go milking it." Sun ruffled his friend's hair.

Velvet and Yatsuhashi walked in at that moment. "Feeling better, Fox?" Velvet asked, walking over and touching a sisterly kiss to his cheek.

"Much," Fox replied. "Has a plan been made for attacking the vampires yet?"

"Eager to get back out there already, huh?" Coco asked.

"I have a score to settle." Fox rubbed his neck, grimacing at the memory of his near-death. "Also, where is Fennec? I never got to thank him."

"He's in the forest with most of the other werewolves," Velvet explained. "Pyrrha didn't want the pack muzzled, so they're going to live in the forest until the humans are less fearful."

"If I ever see one of those horrible leather things again, it'll be too soon," Scarlet muttered, rubbing his jaw.

"As for the plan," Velvet continued. "Nebula is going to have a meeting with the others to talk about what she knows about the vampires."

"I should probably be there too," Scarlet said. "Sage and I had to fight that one during the full moon, after all." He stood up. "Feel better, Fox. Try not to annoy anyone, Sun."

"Why don't you just ask me to stop breathing while you're at it?" Sun called after Scarlet, who laughed as he walked off.

The meeting was held near Roman's cart. Present were Nebula, Brawnz, a few of the other Obsidian Huntsmen, Roman, Neo, Jaune, Yang, Sage, Scarlet, and Pyrrha. Nebula was drawing a rough sketch on some cloth.

"So, there's a path leading toward the mines from here." She pointed to a spot on the map. "We think that the vampires made their lair in the cave systems further up." She drew an arrow to a higher part of the mountain. "They only attack at night, and usually only do so to feed or to whittle us down. When they're just feeding, they attack every four days. Lately, it's been more often. Probably because they're scared of the werewolves."

"Have you tried attacking their cave during the day?" Jaune asked.

"Of course we have," Brawnz said. "It was one of our first ideas. Sadly, the vampires were expecting that and made sure that every Grimm at their command was waiting. They have many, many Grimm."

"What if we attacked the leader in its cave while its minions attack the town?" Pyrrha suggested.

"They'd know what we were doing immediately," Nebula said. "Then, they and their Grimm would double back and trap the unfortunate patrol before it could get back."

"My question is how do we kill them?" Roman asked. "Jaune told me he managed to skewer the neck of one, and it was still able to run off."

"All the legends say that fire will kill them," Yang commented. "Though, we can't exactly go by those."

"I noticed something when we were fighting them," Jaune said. "Fox being cured made me think of it again. I think the vampires are afraid of the werewolves' fangs."

"Why do you say that, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"Didn't you notice? They got slashed by your claws a bunch of times, but always jumped back and sent out more Grimm when someone tried to bite them. Fennec told me he scared one of them away from Coco when he almost bit it. And that one freaked out when Perry bit its ankle."

"What could that mean?" Nebula wondered.

"Could our bites hurt them more, somehow?" Sage wondered.

"We can't rely on that possibility," Nebula said. "What we need is the most efficient way to kill them, a way that anyone can use if they get one where we want it."

"The werewolves could always just rip them to pieces," Roman suggested. "Isn't that what you basically did to that Adam freak?"

"We can't hope to do anything like that until Ruby arrives with the others," Pyrrha said. "All of us were barely able to handle just two of them. Also," she thought back to the fight. "I think they may be resistant to us in some ways."

"Did you try using your alpha stare on that one you were fighting?" Jaune asked.

"Yes, and it resisted it immediately. It didn't feel like I was going against a stronger alpha, though. It was more like the stare wasn't even touching it."

"Alpha stare?" Nebula asked for clarification. Once the powers of the werewolves were fully explained, she nodded. "The vampires have something similar. They can go into your mind and make you go crazy while they're staring at you. It's how they got away from us during the few times we had them cornered."

"That's what that was?" Sage spoke for the first time. "Do their eyes glow?" When Nebula nodded, he smiled. "It seems that we're also immune to their powers, then. I remember when I fought that one vampire, its eyes glowed as it looked at me. I felt its gaze, but it didn't do anything to me."

"Why didn't you mention that sooner?" Brawnz asked.

"No one told us anything specific about the vampires!" Scarlet pointed out. "They just slapped muzzles on us at night and ignored us during the day."

Nebula coughed. "Point taken. For the time being, I think it would be best to keep the werewolves close to town. I know we spoke of a single beta acting as a sentry, but that doesn't feel like enough, considering how fast these vampires move. I've given the matter some thought, but I think it would be best to abandon comfort and allow the werewolves free rein of the town."

When several Huntsmen started to protest, Nebula raised a hand. "We can't get any worse than we are now. These werewolves could pick us clean if they chose to, regardless of where we let them stay. All I care about at this point is killing those bloodsucking bastards."

"Thank you," Pyrrha said. "I'll tell my pack." She paused before asking: "Why don't you all leave Obsidian? I know it's your home, but…"

"We've tried," Brawnz sighed. "After a certain number of people fled, the vampires started hunting down people who ran. Even if we ran throughout the day, the vampires could track us down and catch up to us at night. One of our patrols went into the woods and found several drained corpses. If we stay in Obsidian, we have a slight advantage due to the protection of the buildings and what remains of our supplies."

"Once the rest of your pack gets here, we should be fine," Nebula said. "If it's going to be as big as you say it's gonna be, those vampires won't stand a chance."

When the meeting ended, the werewolves headed back toward the woods with Jaune following. "I'm glad Nebula's the one in charge," he commented. "She's pretty reasonable, all things considered."

"She certainly is," Pyrrha said. "I hope she remains in charge, even after all this is over." She looked up at Jaune. "I was thinking: Since we'll be going into battle, it might be a good idea to hone our claws, so to speak. What if those of us not patrolling sparred at night in our wolf forms with the Huntsmen?"

"Sounds like a good idea, as long as no one gets bitten and we put away the Dust vials." Jaune grinned. "Though, don't expect us to go easy on you."

Pyrrha elbowed him in the side with a smirk. "Good. You'd be shredded to ribbons otherwise."

…

Corsac was using his beta powers as they drew close to Obsidian a few days later. "I can sense our leader," he told Ruby. "She is within the town, along with the others."

The other former members of Adam's pack shifted nervously, unsure of how to present themselves before this new leader they had only been told about. Sandy's ears were twitching and Deery looked like she wanted to hide behind something.

Neptune was quick to comfort his fellow omegas. "Don't worry. Pyrrha's really nice. I've been her friend for years."

The idea of an omega being friends with an alpha was yet another strange idea. Though, after their experiences with Ruby and Weiss, it was becoming clearer and clearer that Adam was not necessarily the prime example of an alpha. When they approached the town, a yellow-haired figure rushed down the path toward them.

"Ruby!" Yang called, her eyes shining. She skidded to a halt and pulled her sister into a rib-crushing hug. "Look at you! All grown up and leading a bunch of wolves." She paused, looking over Ruby's. "Uh…where are the others? Pyrrha said you'd be bringing a huge pack with you."

"Hn! Urk…" Ruby groaned.

"There are no others," Weiss answered. "The rest of the pack was absorbed by Cinder. Corsac was barely able to leave with the ones you see before you."

Yang dropped Ruby when she saw Weiss's scarred face and the hole where her left eye had been. "I…Woah. Weiss, what…?"

"I'll tell you later," Weiss said shortly. "Where's Pyrrha? Also," She glanced around. "Could you speak a little louder? I don't think some of the townsfolk heard you mention wolves," she hissed.

"Oh, they know," Yang said, part of her grin returning. "We kinda struck a deal with them. Hope you're up for fighting some vampires."

Sandy's ears shot up and his pupils became pinpricks. "V-V-Vampires?!"

Yang led them into town and toward Roman's cart, where Pyrrha was talking to Neo. She looked over, her face brightening when she saw Ruby's group. "Hello, Ruby. I'm glad you're okay." She faltered when she saw Weiss. "Weiss, are you-?"

"I'm fine," Weiss said impatiently. "Pyrrha, these are the wolves we could gather from Adam's pack. This is Ilia, Tukson, Ferron, Deery, and Sandy."

Corsac bowed his head. "Forgive me, Leader. Cinder absorbed most of Adam's pack before I got back. She tried to attack me, and…" He shivered. "These are the only ones who would come."

Pyrrha touched his shoulder, glad to see that he barely winced this time. Ruby must have been working on him. "Don't apologize. You did very well."

She turned to the five new werewolves and smiled warmly. "Welcome. I know things have probably been very hectic for you. My name is Pyrrha. You can call me that, or Leader if that makes you more comfortable." She paused before adding. "Circumstances have changed since I parted with Ruby's group. Let's sit down somewhere, so I can explain."

They ended up in the hospital area, where Fox was almost fully recovered. Corsac found Fennec on the way, and the two brothers reunited joyfully. They sat close together as Pyrrha explained their situation.

"It's true that I wanted more werewolves in order to make a stronger case against Cinder," she finished. "However, fighting vampires is something entirely different." She looked at Fennec, Corsac, and the five other wolves. "I will not hold you to the promise I made to the humans of this town. If you don't wish to fight these vampires, and I won't blame you at all if you don't, you are free to leave. If you do, make sure to leave at night and run as fast as you can in your wolf forms, so the vampires don't end up following you. If they try, we'll cover your escape."

The wolves looked at each other before Ferron cleared his throat. "Seems that we have three choices: rough it on our own, go back to Cinder, or stick around here." He looked at the others. "I know I don't want to go back to Cinder, and I've been in a pack for too long to want anything less." He looked at Pyrrha. "In just a few minutes, you've shown more concern for us than Adam ever did."

"There is one thing," Corsac cut in. "I…I don't want to be under Cinder's rule. She is cold and cruel, based on what I saw. I don't know if she was always like that, but it's how she is now. I now know what it's like to not have a cruel leader, and I don't want that to change."

He looked at Pyrrha, still a little nervous about meeting her gaze. "I will stay if Leader Pyrrha remains my leader, even after we leave this place."

Fennec nodded in agreement. "I will follow Leader Pyrrha, as will the others. I do not want to follow Cinder."

The five new werewolves nodded in agreement. "I don't want to change leaders again," Deery murmured. "I don't mind fighting. It's better than starving when Adam forgot to send out a patrol." Her cheeks flushed as she realized that she had just insulted her former leader.

Pyrrha's heart sank. Ever since the pack left Vale, she had adamantly told herself that she was only a temporary leader, that Cinder would take over once they returned. Looking at these wolves now and thinking about just how loyal the others were, she realized just how foolish that had been.

I suppose my parents were right, she thought bitterly. I really was destined to lead.

Out loud, she said: "Very well. I will remain your leader. After we leave Obsidian and make peace in Vale, we will find our own territory elsewhere."

But not too far, she told herself. Though she didn't want to start a territorial war with Cinder, she also knew that she would absolutely not allow herself to be too far away from her Huntsmen friends. Most of all, she had no intention of being separated from Jaune.

So, our girl finally accepted her destiny. And this destiny won't end with an arrow in the heart! (Well, not a physical one. A metaphorical Cupid one, maybe. Though, that already happened.) The next few chapters are where things get good. I had a lot of fun typing what's coming. Brace yourselves!

If you like what you see and want to show extra support in exchange for rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.

Peace out!