Hey, guys. I'll just get right to the story for now.
Forests typically are buzzing with noise, pulsing with movement, but the forest Alvin and his pack were traveling through was mute.
From the back of the group, Steven whispered, "Alvin, I don't think this is the safest way to go."
Alvin, scanning the area ahead with abnormally golden eyes, said, "It doesn't have vampires, and that's why it's great to go through."
Allison walked a few paces behind Alvin. Being his little sister, she shared many of his features. Also looking around the area with golden eyes, she mumbled to Alvin, "But it's completely quiet. That's weird."
"I've been leading this pack for how long now? I know what I'm doing. We haven't had to deal with vampires in forever. Besides, if we turn around now, it'll take another two weeks to walk back the way we came." Alvin was becoming very irritated by their questions. Alvin's been the alpha for so long now. And now that he thought of it, he was curious as to how long he had been the leader of the Seville Pack.
He didn't pay much attention to everything in front of him, which occasionally caused him to trip as he walked, but he was more focused on trying to figure out how long he had been the alpha. The last alpha was his dad. That was something he remembered for sure.
Alvin glanced backwards, looking towards the back of the group. His father trudged behind Steven, staring down at the ground silently. Frowning, Alvin looked forward again.
He remembered now. He had been the pack leader ever since his mother was killed and his dad had come crumbling down.
Alvin then thought of Allison, who was still very young. She technically didn't even know their mom and hadn't experienced the downfall of their dad. When his mate died, Alvin's father did hide in the dark with Allison, holding her close and refusing to let people come near them, but of course Allison didn't remember that. She was only a baby then.
He thought a little more about her as she ran forward to keep pace with him. Compared to him in height, she only came up a little taller than his hips. She hasn't aged in a very long time. Her aging process was taking a lot longer than his own or any of their siblings.
Wolves don't have a set aging process. Frances, who was Alvin's older brother and was walking somewhere behind him, didn't even stay a child for more than a year or two. But now Allison had probably remained looking like a seven to nine year old in her human state for hundreds of years. She didn't age quickly, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing because she enjoyed being a child, but at some point she did need to grow.
Crack.
They all froze. Alvin glanced back at the pack, putting a finger to his lips. A few members nodded their heads. Alvin lifted his ear into the air, trying to hear for another noise.
That noise could have come from anything. A deer, a bird, a frog, a vampire. To be fair, they all did want it to be some kind of animal. They hadn't eaten meat in probably more than two weeks now, and plants hadn't been filling them up as well as meat could.
Alvin made a small gesture with his hand to Allison. She had the best nose of all of them. Alvin continued to listen as she sniffed.
Allison took a few silent steps forward. Her eyes were shut, so that way she focus more clearly on the smell.
Eyes shooting open, she leapt forward, turning into a wolf midair. She ran through the trees. Alvin and the pack followed after her, shifting into their wolf forms as they moved to follow her.
A being squatted high above them in a tree, staring at them as they ran after a false smell. Tilting their head, they understood that they needed to go warn the others. Their cold green eyes continued to watch the pack of wolves as the being silently leapt branch from branch in a similar direction as the pack.
Allison slumped against a tree, once again a human, pouting. She looked up at the irritated faces that stood above her. She mumbled a quiet, "I'm sorry."
Alvin pulled a leaf out of his hair as he looked around. He frowned, "This isn't right…"
Brian, Alvin's eldest brother and the one who looked the most furious, yelled, "You're right, Alvin! It isn't right that Allison lost probably the only meat in this forest!"
Alvin quickly glared at Brian, staring deep into his eyes. Brian took the challenge, staring back into Alvin's. After a few seconds, though, Brian turned his gaze downward.
Alvin walked forward and helped Allison up. He kneeled down to her height and sighed. He tiredly questioned, "What happened?"
Allison looked like she could probably cry at any moment. She didn't lock her gaze with Alvin's as a sign of inferiority while telling him, "The smell was there for a while, and then it was just gone. There is no smell anymore."
Alvin nodded and stood to his full height. He looked around for something. Anything at all. Allison's nose never failed. If anything, he could only recall one time when it failed. It was when she thought she smelled a mouse, but instead it was a herd of deer. No one minded the mistake that time because they all got to eat their fill. So, Allison being able to smell something and then the smell suddenly disappearing was too strange to him.
Alvin looked upwards into the tree limbs. Looking confused, he moved to get a better look. It was a strange thing. There was a single branch that had been cracked - moved.
He waved his hand at everyone and they became silent. He whispered, "Someone's been following us."
This almost caused Francis to burst into laughter. He was extremely egotistical, something that he shared with Alvin at times, and he said, "That's ridiculous. We would've known if someone was trailing us."
Simon, being far more intelligent than the rest of them, responded with, "It is possible that they weren't really trailing us. From the way that crack is, it looks like they may have been coming from the opposite direction. Whoever or whatever it was probably didn't intend to come upon a group of wolves. And when they did see us, they probably ran off."
Narrowing his eyes towards the trees, he mumbled, "Thought, it is strange that they didn't leave any other mark behind."
The others stared curiously into the trees with Simon.
Alvin let his gaze fall from the trees. He looked in the direction that Simon was indicating where whatever had been here had traveled from. He took a few steps forward and said, "Come on. We're going in this direction."
The puzzled pack stared at him. He looked back at them and, giving them a smirk, said, "There's probably meat this way."
And then everyone was much more eager to go that way.
"Welcome to…Shroudsville."
That was what the sign read.
After traveling for a few more hours, they finally came upon what seemed to be a man-made trail. They began to see some human buildings in the distance obscured between trees just before a dirty and faded sign that was tilted towards the ground appeared near the trail.
"Shroudsville, huh?" Steven questioned, now walking towards the front with Alvin.
"Sounds like a human village," Alvin commented.
Brian nodded, "Looks like one too."
They slowed their pace, quickly going on alert as they entered the unknown area.
Shroudsville looked long since abandoned with its multiple broken windows, knocked over signs, random holes, and items carelessly left behind on the ground. The town was incredibly small too; not a very large amount of buildings were present in the area.
The Seville pack made its way into the center of the town, taking in their surroundings. Allison let out a quiet gasp before whispering, "I think I just saw a curtain move."
Steven nodded, "I don't think this town is as abandoned as we think it is."
In the seemingly silent and abandoned town, a door creaked open. Their gazes shot towards the noise.
A man walked out of a house at the far end of the street they stood on. He walked towards them with an even pace and long strides. His friendly green eyes offered the group a silent welcome. Alvin took notice of the man's buff physique, which was not very well hidden underneath his shirt. Alvin rolled his shoulders back and held his head higher, making himself seem bigger.
The man stopped walking when he was right in front of them. He cheerfully stated, "Welcome to Shroudsville."
Alvin stared into the man's eyes. The man stood there, staring back at him. The man looked puzzled, "Something the matter?"
Alvin remained silent.
Alvin heard a small noise from Allison. It was almost a pout, and it got his attention. He quickly turned to face her. Allison stood there facing him. Alvin looked confused until he saw what was behind her.
A group of twenty or so able looking men stood behind Alvin's pack. They wore similar welcoming smiles like the man he had been speaking to, but what caught Alvin's attention was their stance. They stood with their legs apart, leaning forward slightly. Almost like they were ready to pounce. Alvin looked past the men. Near the door of one building, six strong-looking women stood, sharing the same form as the men. Both groups shared friendly smiles and dangerous stances.
Alvin turned his attention back towards the man, eyes narrowed sharply. The man simply smiled and said, "What's your business here?
Alvin opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Steven throwing his arm around Alvin's shoulders. Steven replied to the man, "We were on a family and friends kind of camping trip. We saw this place on the map and thought it might be a great place to stop and rest on the way home."
Callisto smiled, "Well, you made the right choice."
Steven smiled back at him and said, "We're the Sevilles. I'm Steven and this is Alvin."
Alvin nodded at the man.
"And your name is?" Steven asked.
"Oh, forgive my rudeness. I'm Callisto, brother of the mayor."
They nodded, observing Callisto. Callisto turned away from them and began walking towards one of the larger buildings in Shroudsville. He said, "Follow me."
The Seville pack watched Alvin, waiting for his order. Alvin slowly began to follow Callisto, much to their surprise. They mimicked his actions.
Callisto led them inside the building. He knocked on the front desk, which caused a shorter woman to slowly stand up from behind it.
The woman avoided eye contact with all of them. Instead, she focused on the button at the bottom of her shirt. She played with it as she almost inaudibly asked, "W-What can I do for you?"
Alvin watched her closely. The way she came up from behind the counter and how she was playing with the oh-so-interesting button made him wonder if she had been hiding before they walked in.
Callisto smiled at her, "We need some rooms for our friends here."
The woman quickly wrote a few things down before grabbing some keys from the wall of cubbies behind her.
Gulping, she took the quickest glance up at them and said, "Follow me, please."
She led them through the door next to the front desk. It led into the hall. Halfway through the hall, she took an abrupt right turn and went up the stairs around the corner. Once upstairs, she thrust the keys into Alvin's arms and squeaked, "The whole floor is yours. You've got a big group of people."
Alvin nodded and distributed the keys to everyone.
Callisto once again smiled at everyone, pulling the woman away from them roughly. He stated, "I'm sorry, but today is everyone's day off, so you'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to actually eat at a restaurant or something."
Most of the people behind Alvin sounded off a loud groan at Callisto's statement.
The woman seemed like the most incredible idea just poofed into her head because she chirped, "Oh, if you're hungry, you could probably just ask B-"
Callisto slammed his first down on her head, causing the girl to let out a scream and stop talking. The pack stared at him in utter shock.
Callisto merely chuckled, "You can eat tomorrow. Plenty of places will be open in the morning. Besides, it's almost lights out time for the town. Goodnight. I hope you all get a great night's sleep." He grabbed the woman, who was still rubbing her head, and dragged her down the stairs with him.
The Seville pack remained silent, staring at them.
"They're weird. This town is weird," Allison commented.
Alvin nodded his head. He took a few quiet steps down the stairs and listened to see if Callisto and the woman were really gone. Instead of silence, he heard quiet yelling.
"You do realize that if he knew you told them about her, you'd pretty much be committing suicide, right!? People like them are the exact reason why he keeps everything about her quiet!" Alvin heard a slap sound off.
A shaky voice responded, "You stopped me in time… and they probably can hear you right now… this whole situation is bad… you can't blame me…"
A sigh was the response the shaky voice received. After that, their voices were too quiet for Alvin to decipher.
He tiptoed up the stairs. Steven stepped forward, "Well?"
Alvin didn't respond for a minute. He waited until he heard the door to the hotel open and close behind someone, probably Callisto.
Alvin faced his packmates and said, "Everyone, be careful. These people are hiding lots of things, and I doubt they're going to give up their secrets very easily. If you go out, make sure you take one or two others with you. Avoid conversation with the townspeople if possible. I'll decide what we need to do tomorrow, okay? For now just get some rest."
The members of the Seville pack nodded and went into their rooms to sleep.
Callisto ran a hand through his dark reddish-brown hair in an exhausted fashion. His once welcoming green eyes looked very tired, and he walked sluggishly through the town.
Someone called out from one of the houses, "Hey, Callisto, what's the diagnosis?"
Callisto waved him off, "I gotta talk to Brandon before I tell anyone else anything."
The person nodded before disappearing back into their house.
Callisto took in the view of one of the few well taken care of homes in Shroudsville. It wasn't as damaged as the other homes, but by human standards, it was definitely alright. Though, it still was in slight ruin like the other structures in Shroudsville..
He quickly walked up the stairs and into the house. He locked the door behind himself. Callisto made his way through the house before he came upon a closed door. Turning the knob slowly, he entered the room. It was almost completely dark except for two candles that sat at the end of a desk near the window.
The man behind the desk looked up at Callisto. He icy blue eyes stared with such coldness into Callisto's that a shiver crawled down Callisto's back.
The man raised an eyebrow, "Well?"
Callisto put his arms behind his back, before saying, "They're dangerous. Most of them are descendants of Violet, and if not of Violet's bloodline, they are another notable wolves' descendent. They also have an Alpha wolf. Another younger pack member may prove to be an Alpha as well."
The man stood quickly, "Two Alphas?"
Callisto nodded, "Not exactly. You didn't let me finish. They've got another Alpha. As the pack leader and alpha of their pack. That one is incredibly strong. It's most obvious that he's an Alpha."
"Three Alphas… in a pack that small…" the man quietly said to himself.
This was the big one. He was for sure not going to let this one slide. Callisto sighed, "Brandon, the woman at the hotel almost mentioned her to them."
Brandon stood up, the desk falling over from the sheer force of his standing, and bellowed, "What!?"
Almost as if on cue, they heard a small thump far away from one door.
Both of them momentarily turned their attention towards the direction of the noise.
Brandon was the first to look away. He growled out, "Bring the hotel woman to me after this."
Callisto nodded his head, looking back at Brandon.
Brandon peeked through the blinds. He said to Callisto, "Get them out of here as quickly as possible. Warn everyone to be extra careful. They're dangerous. A threat to everything we've built."
I know. It's almost been an entire year since I actually started this story. I'm sorry.
I'm a very busy and lazy person, but now since I'm on break, I have a little more time to write. At the moment, it's my goal to post a chapter for this story at least once a day during break, but since I'm really in a writing mood, I may be updating more than once a day.
Also, as much as I do love my other stories and want to continue them, I'm mainly going to focus on this one during break. I have the next few ideas for each of my stories, but no actual motivation to write them. So for now, I'll only be working on this story.
Don't worry. I'll probably get to the others eventually.
I'm trying to better my writing, which I see here needs a lot of improvement. Being my lazy self, though, I only read through this chapter once to correct a few mistakes. Please comment and tell me anything that needs fixing. This is my main goal for any of my stories on this website now; I've mostly gotten out of the fandom, but this is one of the few places where I can write about something I like and get proper reviews. So, please, review and tell me what needs improvement, what you liked, disliked, anything really.
Anyway, thanks for reading! Cross your fingers and hope I update tomorrow!
PS: Sorry for lying about Brittany being in this chapter. She's for sure in the next one. Maybe. I may need to push her arrival back a bit.