Here we are at chapter 50! I may have said this before, but I did not anticipate this fic being so long. It's amazing how far it's come, and I owe a lot of that to your support, so thank you!

Enjoy!

Pyrrha snarled as dull steel bit into her arm, and spun around to kick at the legs of the Huntsman before her. He tripped, but quickly regained his footing, moving forward to bash her chest with his shield. With a sharp growl, she slashed at his arm, wincing as her nails scraped against metal. Deciding against trying her claws again, she moved back from his sword, darted around, and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back.

"Hrk!" Jaune yelped. "I hope everyone's paying attention," he called, his voice higher-pitched than usual.

The gathered Obsidian Huntsmen nodded, their eyes wide and their mouths open. Their weapons had been placed to the side, which helped curb their immediate instinct to kill the werewolf.

Jaune reached up with his free hand and yanked on Pyrrha's ear, causing her to yowl in pain and loosen her grip enough for him to wriggle out. She recovered quickly, though, and planted a firm foot on his back, causing him to fall forward, and positioned her jaws over his neck.

"Ugh… You win," Jaune groaned.

Pyrrha stepped back and held out a paw to help him up. She whuffed happily, unable to keep her tail from wagging.

"Yeah, yeah. No need to rub it in," Jaune laughed, ruffling her ears before turning back to the dumbstruck Huntsmen. "So, who wants to go next?"

After a moment's hesitation, a dark-skinned Hunter raised his hand and went to pick up a dull practice blade. It had been decided that there was too much of a danger in using regular weapons, even without Dust.

"Okay, you don't have any Dust, right?" Jaune checked the Hunter over. "What's your name?"

"Roy. I'm a member of Brawnz's hunting group."

"Okay, Roy. Go at it. Just remember: You're only sparring. Don't hurt her too much, and don't worry about her biting you." Jaune patted his shoulder. "Go ahead."

Jaune watched as Roy parried most of Pyrrha's blows without actually approaching her. "I told you she won't bite," he called. "Just go for it."

Roy bit his lip, then jumped forward, swinging wildly. Pyrrha, of course, swatted him away easily, pinning him to the ground. The Huntsman gasped and kicked at her hind feet, rolling to the side when she shifted. Eventually, however, Pyrrha managed to pin him completely, her claws positioned over his neck. She stepped back, sighing when he didn't accept her offered paw.

One step at a time, Pyrrha, she told herself. She looked across the field, where other groups were learning how to spar with werewolves. She knew that this was both a training and a trust exercise. There was a slight hint of unease in her stomach as she watched the pairs fight, however. What if the people of Obsidian returned to their old ways of thinking and used these lessons to be more efficient when hunting werewolves? It didn't seem likely, but it was hard to keep such worries from forming.

She looked toward the five newer werewolves, who she had exempted from sparring for the night. They were watching, eyes as wide as the observing Huntsmen as the human/werewolf pairs worked together without causing serious injury to each other. Perry was sitting near the two omegas, who he had apparently been friends with before his abrupt departure from Adam's pack.

Sun and Blake had hardly been apart since the pack reunited. Sun was quick to show off his battle wound from their fight with the vampires, and Blake was all too happy to gently lick the scar, though Pyrrha caught her rolling her eyes multiple times at how dramatic her companion was being.

Yang, of course, was thrilled to have her sister and best friend back where she could keep an eye on them. She was currently helping a group that was learning to spar with Ruby.

Out of all the werewolves, Weiss was the one the humans seemed to be the most wary of. With her giant, white form and scarred face, she definitely painted an intimidating picture. She had finally opened up about what had happened near the border of Vale.

Pyrrha was honestly surprised at how forgiving Weiss was, all things considered. She wasn't sure if it was because this Qrow person was Ruby's uncle, or because of Weiss's memories of her own recent prejudices. Either way, Pyrrha had to admire her. She just hoped that the humans in Obsidian would stop being so obviously fearful of her appearance.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when a Huntress named Dew stepped forward to challenge her. Flicking her ears, she got into a fighting stance once again.

An hour later, a long, piercing howl split the night air, causing everyone to freeze. It was Flynt, who was currently posted at the entrance to Obsidian closest to the mountain.

Seconds later, the church bells started to ring. The werewolves and Huntsmen were already running toward the mountain, ready for battle.

Pyrrha barked at Weiss and Ruby, directing them to stay with her and move to the front of the pack. This was their chance to test whether or not their alpha stares would work on the Grimm under the vampires' control.

Thanks to Flynt's warning, everyone was ready by the time the attack came. There were two vampires this time, along with several Nevermores, which started swooping over the town.

"It's a feeding run!" Nebula called. "Everyone stay at your posts! Protect the civilians!"

Even though the werewolf reinforcements weren't as large as people had hoped, there were still enough wolves and extra Huntsmen to guard different parts within the town. A few werewolves sat at the tops of the sturdier buildings, allowing them to leap into the air and snap up any Nevermores that ventured too close.

At the front of the town, Pyrrha fixed her gaze on the first wave of Grimm while the betas and omegas flanking her ran at the vampires, using their fangs as much as possible.

As Jaune had predicted, the vampires dodged every bite. Also, the brawny one from the forest was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, the giggling scorpion-tailed one was.

Jaune raised his shield against the poisonous barb as it shot toward him, slashing with his sword while Sun pounced from behind, swiping at the tail with his claws. He felt a thump behind him as another Nevermore fell from the sky.

The scorpion-tailed vampire shrieked, spinning around to scratch at Sun, who snapped at his hand, prompting a quick retreat.

Sage, upon recognizing the mustached vampire, ran forward with a roar of anger. The vampire hissed, grabbing for his neck, only to be stabbed in the side by Ren.

Pyrrha, meanwhile, had managed to get some of the Ursai to stop, though she felt a marked resistance to her alpha stare, and set them on their fellows. This started an all-out Grimm brawl, with the ranged Huntsmen easily picking the stronger ones off as they fought amongst themselves.

Then, just as suddenly as they came, the vampires and Grimm withdrew. At the same time, there was a scream from the town as a Nevermore grabbed something from a nearby building and took to the skies.

Jaune's heart dropped. He looked around frantically before looking at the werewolves' large paws and muscular arms. Then, his gaze settled on Nora, the smallest person there.

"Pyrrha, Sage, throw Nora at that Nevermore!" he shouted.

Nora quickly jumped into the arms of the two large werewolves. Just as the Grimm neared, they each put their paws under one of her feet and pushed off as hard as they could, sending the small Huntress flying.

Nora raised her large mallet as she flew upward, bringing it down hard on the Nevermore's back. The bird screeched, letting go of its prey as it started to fade into shadows.

The woman's screams stopped when she fell into the outstretched arms of Sage, who placed her carefully on the ground, rumbling softly with concern. Pyrrha, meanwhile, caught Nora.

"Whoo-hoo!" Nora shouted, hugging Pyrrha around the neck. "Let's do that again sometime! You could totally throw me higher than the trees!"

"Nora, no!" Ren groaned.

"Nora, yes!"

Jaune knelt next to the shaking woman, who was staring wide-eyed at Sage. "You okay, ma'am?"

She nodded shakily. "Y-Yes. Thank you." She smiled in Sage's direction, though she was obviously terrified of being surrounded by so many werewolves.

"Here, I'll escort you back into town," Jaune offered. As they walked down the path, he noticed that several people and wolves were already working to re-fortify areas that the Grimm had pierced. Even if the humans looked a little pale and skittish, they were willing enough to work alongside the wolves. Jaune smiled. This was definitely a start.

….

"You want us to create a nightly patrol along the base of the mountain?" Nebula asked during a meeting the following morning.

"Yeah. Have at least three groups, each led by a beta. Leave at least one beta in town, and reinforce the rooftop guards," Jaune said, pointing at a sketch of the town and the mountain. "You were right about it being a feeding run, and we stopped them from taking someone. That means they're going to be hungry. If we don't let them off that mountain, they'll start to starve. Then, when they're at their weakest, we'll go after them in their lairs."

Nebula frowned skeptically. "Starving them will take a lot of time and energy."

"We'll rotate the guards. We have enough beta wolves to do that now." He counted on his fingers. "We have Sun, Flynt, Neon, Blake, Fennec, Corsac, Ilia, Tukson, and Ferron. That's nine overall, so enough to rotate patrols and rotate who keeps an eye on the town."

"That won't do any good." Everyone looked up as Flynt entered the room. He nodded respectfully at Pyrrha. "Sorry. I heard you were having a meeting."

"Yes. Why don't you think the patrols will work?" Pyrrha asked.

"The patrols might work, but the betas will be useless," Flynt replied. "We can't sense the vampires."

There was silence as everyone looked at each other. "But…you warned us of the attack last night," Nebula said.

"Only because I sensed the Grimm." Flynt looked at Pyrrha. "I didn't say anything after the attack in the forest, since so much was happening. Also, there was a possibility that the vampires were so similar to the Grimm, I couldn't distinguish between them. But no. I had my beta powers on until they entered the town. Even when they were right in front of me, they didn't appear in my radius." He shook his head helplessly. "They're immune to every werewolf power, even those of the betas."

Jaune sighed. "Well, that's a problem. Still, I think each patrol should have a beta. The vampires usually attack with the Grimm, so being able to sense them will at least give us some help. And you still have your noses. From what you guys have been telling me, those vampires smell really bad to werewolves."

Flynt wrinkled his nose as he remembered that awful stench. "That's an understatement."

"It would be beneficial to have at least one alpha with the rooftop patrols," Pyrrha said. "The Grimm still respond to the alpha stare, and we can use it if a Nevermore tries to steal anyone else."

"Good idea," Nebula murmured, taking some notes. "Okay. I'll let the Huntsmen here know and ask for patrol volunteers. I'll trust you to let your people know." She rolled up the map sketch with a grin. "You know, I actually am starting to believe we have a chance!"

As they departed the meeting, Pyrrha moved to stand next to Jaune and slip her hand into his. "You're very good with strategy," she remarked. "I can see why you're in charge of the Huntsmen."

Jaune shrugged, a flattered smile on his face. "It was better when Ruby and I worked together. I was the strategist while she was the actual leader."

"When this is all over, perhaps that can happen again," Pyrrha suggested. "You could have a combined group of Huntsmen and werewolves fighting the Grimm. That would certainly be a sight to see."

"It would. Especially if we could ride them into battle at night." He grinned at the memory of riding on Pyrrha's back during his run with the pack. "Though, you guys toss people around more than a wild horse would."

Pyrrha laughed. "Well, werewolves weren't made to be riding animals."

"You know, I've read stories about ancient warriors riding dire wolves into battle."

"That sounds fascinating."

The two chatted as they walked past the newly-repaired buildings. With the arrival of the werewolves, the people of Obsidian had more manpower available, allowing them to fix some of their more important dwellings during the periods of respite between attacks.

"Hey, Pyrrha?"

"Yes?"

"What kind of werewolf do you think I'd be?" Jaune felt his cheeks warming at the question, though he wasn't sure why.

Pyrrha's own face reddened. "Why do you ask?" she replied, keeping her voice casual.

Jaune shrugged. "I'm just curious. The other day, I was thinking about what werewolf Fox will end up being. I'm pretty sure he'll be a beta. I hope he will, anyway." With Fox's blindness, beta powers would probably be a huge asset.

Pyrrha thought for a moment. "I think you'd also be a beta," she finally said. "You have the analytical mind of one. Though, you're a good leader, so you could be an alpha."

Jaune smiled at the thought of being a strong alpha wolf. "What about the others?"

"Ren would likely be a beta," Pyrrha said. "Nora is very emotional, so I can see her as an omega. Yang is difficult. She's forceful enough to be an alpha, but submissive enough to authority to perhaps be a beta. Then again, she could be an incredibly emotional, spirited omega."

"Roman would be an omega, I think," Jaune said. "A really strong, rogue omega."

"Hm. He'd be more of a beta. I could see Velvet as an omega, which is interesting since she and Coco seem to take turns leading their smaller group. Then again, it could be because the other two people in the group are their mates."

"Coco is a total alpha."

"Oh, definitely," Pyrrha chuckled before looking hesitantly at Jaune. "What would you think about being a werewolf?" She was hyper-aware of his warm, slightly-sweaty hand in hers.

Jaune looked at the ground as they walked. He had expected that question, though it made his heart pound just the same. "I wouldn't be against it," he said. "If I knew my family wouldn't hate me, I think I might enjoy it."

"I see." Pyrrha nodded slowly. "I suppose that's just more of an incentive to be successful in our plans, then." She paused before continuing. "Because…this has been nice," She squeezed his hand to emphasize what "this" was. "However…lately, I've been wanting…" She looked away, blushing deeply. "To kiss you for real."

Jaune felt his face growing hotter as he nodded. "Y-Yeah. Me too."

Pyrrha's smile widened a little at that. "I'm not sure if a kiss would be worth becoming a werewolf, though."

Jaune swallowed loudly. "I'm pretty sure a kiss from you would be worth a lot."

Pyrrha gave him a sideways glance, her expression turning into a playful smirk. "Is this how humans flirt?"

Jaune laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand. "It's how humans flirt badly."

With a soft giggle, Pyrrha moved close to peck his cheek. "Well, I think it's cute."

Jaune smiled at the quick, soft touch. "So, how do werewolves flirt?"

Pyrrha's smirk turned to a very, for lack of a better term, wolfish grin. "I'd show you, but there are children in this town and I don't think Nebula would appreciate it."

Jaune was positive that his face was redder than a beet as they approached Roman's cart. This was confirmed when the trader winked at him from over the cover of one of those infamous books.

…..

"Ooh, how about this one?" Ruby held up a scrap of pale blue cloth. "This kinda matches your good eye."

Weiss looked at it for a moment, nodding slowly. "I suppose that could work."

Ruby smiled, handing the cloth to the tailor. "Thanks again for this."

"My pleasure," the old woman replied, glancing at the two. "Never thought I'd be making accessories for werewolves. Times are certainly changing."

"It's surprising how accepting the people here are," Weiss remarked.

"Desperation does that," the woman said bluntly. "Though for me, I'm not one to question when the Maidens send something my way. If they saw fit to send a bunch of miraculously-friendly werewolves to kill those bloodsuckers, I'm certainly not going to go up to Heaven to ask for something else. That'll happen soon enough on its own." She chuckled dryly.

"Don't say that! You don't look a day over twenty five!" Ruby immediately declared.

The woman barked a laugh. "Hah! There's flattery, and then there's boldfaced lying." She lightly swatted Ruby's shoulder. "Get on with you both. I'm sure you have important work to do."

"Yes, ma'am!" Ruby giggled as she led Weiss out of the shop.

Perry, who was looking around, jumped when he saw them and ran over. "Hey. Ruby, Pyrrha wanted me to tell you you're in charge of rooftop patrols. We're going to starve the vampires, and you'll be up there to take care of Nevermores.

Ruby nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to Nebula before tonight.

Weiss cleared her throat. "Where does Pyrrha want me?"

"She didn't say, but probably at the entrance to the village," Perry said. "Pyrrha wants to help with the patrols by the mountains, so you being by the border makes sense."

Weiss sighed. "Very well."

Perry blinked, then smiled gently as he sensed what Weiss was feeling. "You're frustrated. You don't need to be. Pyrrha doesn't think you're weaker because of your eye. She just thinks Ruby would be a better choice for using the stare on the roof."

Weiss's back stiffened. "I will never get used to that…"

Perry's rabbit ears twitched. "Sorry. It's up to the omegas to make sure everyone's okay emotionally."

"I know." Weiss smiled despite herself. "No need to apologize."

After Perry walked off, Ruby hugged her fiancé. "Don't worry. You'll get plenty of action."

"I won't be able to protect you, though," Weiss muttered, glancing to the side.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Come on. I'm not that delicate."

"I don't want to lose you again," Weiss admitted, her voice hushed. "These vampires are even more dangerous than Adam, and…"

Ruby silenced her with a kiss. "We. Will. Be. Fine. Okay?" She grinned, not showing a hint of doubt. "Do I need to get all the omegas to fill you with happy thoughts."

Weiss gently kissed her cheek. "You're already doing a good job of that."

"Oh, stop," Ruby giggled, her face flushing.

Weiss smirked and touched another peck to Ruby's blushing cheek. "Am I not allowed to praise my fiancé?" Her smile widened when this caused Ruby to blush even deeper. They shared another kiss, and Weiss desperately hoped that there would be many more after this business in Obsidian finally ended.

…..

Tyrian and Watts were on their knees before their Lady. Tyrian was shaking and whimpering while Watts was completely silent.

"We will be successful tonight, Mistress," Tyrian sniveled. "Yes, my Lady. You will feed well tonight."

Salem glared at the two, her red eyes not blinking. "First, you let Hazel get bitten. Then, you fail to bring him back to me. Now, you can't even fetch me a half-starved human." She shook her head slowly. "You disappoint me, Tyrian."

Tyrian's shoulders began to tremble violently. "M-M-My Lady…"

"Get out of my sight."

Tyrian looked up, his yellow eyes wide and his mouth open. Then, like an abused dog, he scampered from the cave. Seconds later, Watts and Salem could hear the sound of manic shrieking followed by the slashing of blades and the howls of terrified Grimm.

Watts grimaced with disgust, but kept his head bowed, waiting for his Lady to give him a new order.

"We may have to flee this place, Watts," Salem murmured.

"My Lady?"

"Without a larger coven, we cannot engage in an ongoing war with a werewolf pack this big." Salem folded her hands. "On the other hand, we cannot let the people of Obsidian live. If more places learn that werewolves can ally themselves with humans, it will become nearly impossible for us to find a place to feed."

"What shall we do then, my Lady?" Watts wondered.

Salem waved him off. "Bring me a mountain goat if you can find one. It will have to hold me for now." As Watts retreated, Salem gazed out of her cave at the evening sky.

Then, turning resolutely away, she walked deeper into the caverns of the mountain, away from even the slightest hint of starlight. Only the eerie glow of her red eyes lit the way. She smiled as a familiar, creaking gasp greeted her. Two sets of reddish-orange eyes blinked in her direction. A bony equine muzzle peeked out of the gloom, and she patted it gently. The red stripes on its face pulsed with a hellish light.

"Mistress…touch…" The horse let out a long, rattling sigh.

"There, now," she cooed. "I know you've been getting bored."

The second face leaned closer, revealing a mouth that looked to be sewn together, and a human-esque skeletal mask with long, curved horns. The weapons sticking out of its back clattered as it let out a creaking groan.

"The blades cut deep! So deep! Wriggle with our insides! Scrape the bones! Churn blood! Want more blades! More!" The human torso shuddered in a grotesque expression of pleasure. The weapons shifted and made lovely squishing noises inside. It moaned happily as several sharp, painful jolts made themselves known.

"Don't worry, my pet," Salem murmured, touching a lingering kiss to the Grimm's stitched mouth, tasting the rot of a thousand forgotten battlefields on its breath. "You'll have your fun soon. Very soon."

Dun dun DUN! That's right, folks! It's the Nuckelavee (or, as I like to call it: the "Nope-Nope-Fucking-Nope-I-Did-Not-Fucking-Need-This-In-My-Life" Grimm). Get ready. Shit's about to get serious! Next week will see me back in the States, so we'll have a more consistent update schedule again.

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

Peace out!