The Pack, late evening.
Sprinter had finally made her way back to the current lair, having taken a wide and circular route as she had been taught. Certain that she had not been followed as she had moved through a variety of difficult terrains including drains and sewers, she finally allowed herself to enter the lair. Arriving late, she was greeted by a now highly concerned and agitated pack. There she delivered the bad news about Nightstalkers and Gutter's death and that Watcher was now a prisoner of the witches.
Bloodletter's grief was obvious however hard he tried to hide it. His desire for revenge could be smelt by all as he couldn't help but spread his scent wherever he went within the lair. Since Gutter had been Firstfang's and Striker's latest cub, they too wanted blood and revenge. And as Watcher and Sprinter had been Starbright's and Jumper's first litter, they too wanted nothing more than to attack and rescue her.
By now all the pack had changed into their Wolfen form, driven by the overwhelming collection of scents, whether they wanted to or not.
Firstfang moved to confirm her authority so as to prevent any rash actions, as the conflicting scents and pheromones from the Wolfen, made it more and more difficult for the pack to think clearly. As those who had lost mates or children, demanded revenge and death, it would have been easy for the pack to succumb to the blood lust and make a fatal mistake. Both Firstfang and Striker cemented their authority by making it plain that they would settle for nothing less than a bloody revenge.
Brokentooth's visit to the demon, Zacmar had at least given them the location of the witches home. Once there they would avenge their pack mates deaths and rescue Watcher. As the pack united under Firstfang's and Strikers dominance pheromones, a grim and hate fired resolve filled and motivated them.
Sprinter would remain behind to guard Ripper and the two as yet unnamed cubs. Her protests became almost violent and she only desisted, when Firstfang grabbed her throat and pinned her to the floor until she stopped struggling. Brokentooth demanded and was granted the right to lead a diversionary attack. This would be an almost certain suicidal attack however the old Wolfen wanted nothing else. It would allow him to die with honor, regain his old name and be remembered in the pack's histories with pride.
As Firstfang began to lead the pack from the lair, and then across the city to the witches home, the Triad appeared in front of them. Firstfang immediately crouched low as she prepared to attack with Striker and Brokentooth joining her. The rest of the pack, spread out on both sides as they set out to flank the demons. As the three demons readied fireballs of their own, Firstfang recognised the demons who had contacted her six weeks previously and convinced her to bring the pack into what had been forbidden territory.
Showing the control and quick thinking that had made her leader so long ago, she managed to stop her attack and with a snarl directed at those behind her, made them pause. The Triad also waited to see if the the Wolfen could control themselves sufficiently well enough to make it worth their while to talk.
As the pack crouched and waited, Asmodeus calmly said to Firstfang "We have come to give you information you need and advice you must follow if you wish to survive. Take your human form so we can talk. Attack and we will vanquish you all".
After waiting for a short period to compose herself, Firstfang changed herself back into her human form. Panting from the exertion, as due to the circumstances, it had been one of the most hardest changes ever, Firstfang stood in front of the Triad. "What can you offer us" she replied in a scornful voice.
Mentally making a note to teach this puppy of a Wolfen some manners later on, Candor answered. "First we have the location of your greatest enemy, the hunters who will kill you without mercy if they get the chance. Second if you continue to make yourself as visible as you have been, it will be only a matter of time before the Source learns of your presence and comes after you. Some of you will remember the last time he did just that and how few of your pack escaped".
"Continue" replied Firstfang.
After waiting long enough to make the pause an obvious insult, Candor spoke.
"Here is a map showing where your old enemies are hiding and a hidden way inside. With this you will be able to slaughter them at your leisure and remove that threat". With that, Candor removed a folded map from inside his robe and dropped it on the floor. Firstfang made no attempt to pick it up and continued staring at the Triad as if she was planning on ripping their throats out. Which she was.
Candor continued "Also you must curb your attacks on humans that will be missed or killing them where their remains might be found. You know as well as us, what will happen if the Source finds you. We bought you here so that you could help us in our fight with the Source. Remember as we are just as dangerous an enemy and if you are not an ally, then we will dispose of you all. Do as you are told and you will be well rewarded".
With that the Triad faded below, leaving the pack to make its own choices. Well aware that that the Triad would prove to be a dangerous enemy and probably an equally dangerous and untrustworthy ally. And they had not mentioned the witches, why had they not warned the pack about them was something Firstfang would have to think about later.
Faced with a number of important decisions, Firstfang elected to remained in her human form. It would allow her to consider the their options more logically and resist the emotional effects of the smells and other chemical signals the the Wolfen used to communicate.
Well aware that in her human form, she was vulnerable to an attack by any of the pack who objected to any of these decisions, she was pleased to see Striker and Brokentooth make it plain that they supported her. Both stood alongside her and turned to face the others.
Talking to the pack, Firstfang stated in a strong voice what was going to happen. "First we must deal with the witches, to gain vengeance for those they killed and to rescue Watcher. Anything else will wait until that has been accomplished, then we will deal with the hunters. I trust those demons no more than I trust the witches or the hunters. Once we are all together again, we will find a new lair and rebuilt. If the demons return, we will kill them as well".
Changing back into her Wolfen form, Firstfang lead the pack into the night. Moving rapidly across household sections, alleyways and the occasional road, the pack made good progress. Their natural coloration hid them well and what few people did see them, they assumed that they were large dogs, perhaps closer than it looked due to the Wolfen's size. That they were Wolfen was not something the vast majority of humans would ever know and in truth, be quite thankful that they didn't.
Within a relatively short period of time, a tribute to the capabilities of the Wolfen, they arrived near 1329 Prescott Street. Hiding less than a 100 meters from the Manor, the pack waited behind a house whose owners were out for the night. The only resident, a large and normally ferocious Alsatian cowed at the back of his kennel, trying to look as harmless as possible.
Ignoring the dog, Firstfang, Striker and Brokentooth (now Throatbitter) carefully moved out to scout the Manor. They found a large wooden house with two floors. Large windows would give quick and easy access to the first floor while ledges would give almost as good access to the second. Vegetation in the form of bushes allowed them to come close without being seen. Compared to the houses occupied by the Hunters, this would be absurdly easy to enter.
Approaching up to the walls and taking care to remain below the windows, they listened carefully to what was being said. Quickly they identified through sound and smell, that three woman and four men were present. Striker also located Watcher, apparently high up, either on the second floor or as the pack knew, in what a lot of these old houses processed, an attic.
Investigating around the base of the house, it quickly became apparent that the basement would not be the quickest way in. Large bay windows leading into a conservatory would allow quick access to any of the first floor rooms and give the witches little time to prepare.
Carefully peering in, Firstfang also realised that the main staircase was also easily accessed.
All three Wolfen left to return to the pack and to plan the attack.
Inside the Manor, a counsel of war was being discussed. A tired Paige yawned as she listened to Cole's repeated argument that the muzzled Wolfen cub currently imprisoned upstairs in a crystal cage must be killed immediately. Backing him, somewhat surprisingly was Inspector Cortez and Paige. Cortez knew a killer when he saw one and Paige's reading of Watcher's intentions made her agree with Cole.
Her three sisters and Leo however were uncertain, the cub was hurt and traumatised, having witnessed the deaths of two Wolfen, one its possible mother and a possible sibling. Which Prue and Piper argued would explain its hatred. Darryl as the odd one out, was trying to remain neutral.
As the discussion petered out, both Cole and Phoebe left to check on the cub which had remained in its Wolfen form. When they had returned to the manor, they had muzzled it and had given it some basic first aid, however the cub had sunk into a stupor and refused any attempts to communicate with it. As they entered the attic, they found to their surprise that the cub was both awake and looking around. Even Phoebe could feel the hatred in Watcher's face as she glared in their direction. It took little imagination for Phoebe to decide that the Wolfen cub was looking at her throat with a view to ripping it open.
Watcher had of course, had smelt the presence of her pack and knew that they were about to rescue her. Her only wish was that they would leave at least one of the witches alive, especially the brown haired one who had killed Nightstalker so that Watcher could gain her own revenge.
Downstairs, both Cortez and Darryl were preparing to leave as it was getting late and both wanted to return to their families. It had been a long day and tomorrow didn't look like it was going to be any shorter.
At the same time, the pack moved closer to the Manor. Throatbitter would make his suicide attack through the front door to draw the witches attention. The rest of the pack would make a massed assault by entering through the conservatory windows to overwhelm the humans before any organised defence could be made. From there they would split up, with Firstfang, Striker and Bloodletter attacking from the conservatory. Slowdeath and Seeker would turn into the Living room and attempt to flank them. Jumper and Starbright would climb the stairs to kill anyone upstairs and rescue Watcher.
As plans go, it was simple and relied on the sheer speed and ferocity of a massed Wolfen attack. It rarely failed against Hunters and even the few witches that the pack had dealt with in the past. However two things went wrong.
The first was not the packs fault, even if the Triad had told the pack about the witches, they did not know anything about Paige's sensing power, what it was and how powerful it was. But the second was something even Firstfang should have predicted and that was Bloodletter's massive desire for vengeance. Only he and Nightstalker had known she was in cub, something they were to announce to the pack that night. Now his mate and children were gone forever and he wanted nothing but revenge.
Piper returned to the kitchen to start cleaning up what had been a disorganised dinner while Prue, Leo and Paige followed Cortez and Darryl into the hallway. Paige finally used her sensing power as she "looked" outside to see what was there. To her surprise she immediately encountered minds that were shockingly violent and focussed.
With a yell "Incoming", she got everyone's attention as Paige realised that they were only seconds from being attacked. "The Wolfen are here and about to attack" she added as Throatbitter hurled himself against the front door.
As soon as Paige had yelled, Darryl had reached for and begun drawing his gun and seeing this Cortez was only a second behind him. Leo turned back towards the kitchen and his wife.
Now Bloodletter spoilt the attack as he acted too soon. They were to wait until Throatbitter had broken down the front door and the witches attention was focussed in that direction. Without waiting, he charged through the conservatory windows, followed some seconds later by the rest of the pack. Glass shattered across the conservatory and dining room floors.
Piper had turned when they heard Paige's warning and was moving to join the others when the first Wolfen entered the conservatory. If Bloodletter had waited until Throatbitter had broken the front door down, she would have been in the sitting room, and between the flying glass and the charging pack, would have been quickly overwhelmed and killed.
Bloodletter landed in the conservatory and seeing Piper in the kitchen, he recognised her from Sprinter's description as the one who had killed Nightstalker. Without pausing he charged across into the dining room and leapt high to land on the witch and savage her. However Piper, despite being caught by surprise, was able to use her power to first freeze him, then blow him up. Firstfang, close on Bloodletters paws, witnessed his destruction and immediately turned to get out of the witches line of sight.
Striker who was charging at Leo, watch in frustration as Leo orbed out. Turning towards the others, he found himself being lifted off the floor and thrown back into the conservatory as Prue used her telekinesis. Close behind Striker, Jumper and Starbright ran past to climb the stairs towards where they could smell Watcher.
Finally Throatbitter broke down the door and both Cortez and Darryl opened fire. Off balance and with little room to maneuver, he was hit repeatedly by their gunfire as neither could miss given the short range. None of the impacts were fatal but this many bullets and his age, were too much and he slumped backwards, alive but unable to take any further part in the battle.
Slowdeath and Seeker were the only Wolfen, whose plan worked, as catching the group from the side, they completely surprised both Prue, Darryl and Cortez. Only Paige, alerted by her sensing power, knew they were coming. With a frantic yell, she managed to warn Prue only just in time. Slowdeath was sent flying into the wall and then out the door as Prue used her power to save Paige from his attack. Seeker came in low, unseen by Prue and attacked Cortez, who only just got his arm up in time to protect his throat. Seeker broke it with one easy bite, then as she reached across to rip his throat out, Darryl dropped his aim and fired his last four bullets into her body at point blank range. This pain and shock of their impact delayed her attack just long enough for Paige to place her hands on Seeker and yell "road". Seeker disappeared in a cloud of orbs to reappear in the middle of the road outside the manor, where she had just seconds to avoid being run over by a car.
As Piper emerged from the kitchen, Firstfang narrowly avoided death as Piper attempted to blow her up. Hitting her squarely on Firstfang side, she was thrown back into a cabinet which shattered, with wood and dishes falling over Firstfang and initially covering her. Before Piper could try again, Firstfang managed to free herself and hide out of sight under the table. Piper retreated back into the kitchen, and prepared to kill anything with fur that would tried to enter the kitchen.
A badly hurt Firstfang, saw Striker being thrown back into the Conservatory where he fell heavily. Turing to look at the other witches, she was just in time to see Slowdeath being picked up, thrown into a wall and then put the door by one of the witches powers. Then Seeker who had reached the humans, disappeared in a cloud of white bubbles. Aware that the attack had now failed, Firstfang raced across the dining room, into the conservatory and out the hole they had made only a few seconds before. Striker turned and followed her, encouraged by Piper as again she tried to hit one of the Wolfen, only missing her target and destroying the remaining conservatory door and its windows.
Upstairs, Jumper and Starbright ran into Cole and Phoebe in the upstairs hallway, who having heard the attack start, had been returning from the attic. Cole who had not relinquished his silver sword, swung it at Jumper. In the narrow corridor, it seemed impossible that Cole could miss but Jumper still managed to avoid it. Slamming into Cole and pushing him off his feet and onto his back, he ripped into his belly and chest. Cole was only just able to shorten his grip on the sword and attempted to stab him with the blade.
Starbright, tasked with rescuing Watcher, jumped clean over Cole and Phoebe and followed her cub's scent up into the attic. There she found the badly hurt cub, trapped in a strange cage made of flowing, moving lines of power, that promptly shocked her badly as she tried to reach Watcher. Seeing the muzzle, a hastily made collection of tape and rope, that prevented Watcher from opening her mouth, almost made Starbright lose her control and turn to gain revenge. After a quick examination of the cage, it took only moments for her to dislodge one of the crystals and free Watcher. Despite her cub's size and weight, Starbright picked her up in her mouth easily and holding her head high leapt through the attic windows to land heavily in the bushes outside.
As Cole lost control of his sword, Phoebe picked it up and stabbed Jumper in the shoulder. Leaving Cole, he lunged forward to seize and break Phoebe's left leg below the knee and then bit her savagely in the belly . As she fell backward, Jumper turned to finish Cole, however Phoebe had given him time to pull one of the silver daggers from its sheath and he almost succeeded in stabbing Jumper in the stomach. Only by jumping clean over Phoebe was Jumper able to avoid Cole's attack.
Hearing Starbright's exit through the attic window, he realised that Watcher was now probably safe. As both Cole and Phoebe had taken massive damage to their belly and chest areas with deep cuts that lost blood freely, it was apparent that their wounds were almost certainly fatal. Jumper decided to join his mate by running up the stairs to the attic, where he also exited through the broken attic window and joined Starbright and Watcher. Firstfang and Striker, also arrived and they took turns at carrying Watcher to safety.
Joined by Slowdeath and a wounded Seeker, they headed home. At least one of the witches was almost certainly fatally hurt as was her mate. The others could wait until later.
Firstfang was relieved that Bloodletter was dead as his stupidity had cost him his life and almost cost them the fight. Had he survived, Firstfang would have no choice but to either kill or expell him. She had no idea why a normally reliable Wolfen would have acted the way he did and never would.
Downstairs Leo orbed back into a badly damaged Manor, a fatally hurt Phoebe and Cole and a badly hurt Cortez. As both Cole and Phoebe started to go into shock, Leo and Paige desperately ran upstairs to heal them. And both Piper and Prue joined together to make sure any Wolfen returning would regret it, while Darryl carried out some quick first aid on Cortez. Throatbitter tried to summon enough energy to carry on with the fight but all he managed to do was attract Piper's attention and she blew him up without hesitation.
As Cole was the hurt the worst, they healed him first, a process that took almost too long as a distracted Paige had great difficulty in allowing Leo to channel her healing power due to her concern for Phoebe's steadily worsting condition. As Cole regained his strength, he pushed both Leo and Paige away and ordered them to heal Phoebe. As she started to respond to their healing powers, Paige finally relaxed enough and Leo was able to fully utilise both their healing talents.
Coming back downstairs, it took Leo only only seconds to heal a grateful Cortez's shattered wrist. As a still sore Cole and a limping Phoebe joined them, the next problem arrived. Summoned by several 911 phone calls, two police cars arrived to investigate breaking glass, gunfire, large animals and the familiar explosions.
This time Inspector Cortez covered for the sisters as he explained what had happened. The four officers knew that he and Darryl were involved in the Park murders which were now rumored to involve large dogs. Cortez explained that he and Darryl had been following sightings and had tried to corner a pack of large dogs who then invaded the Manor. All three sisters, Cole and Leo backed them up and enthusiastically thanked both Cortez and Darryl for coming to their aid.
The dogs had entered and exited the Manor through the conservatory windows, while both Cortez and Darryl had broken down the front door to come to the Halliwells aid. Faced with a Chief Inspector and another Inspector, the four police officers had no choice to except the story. Well aware that his story had large holes in it, not least was the gun fire, explosions and the lack of dead dogs, he sent the four officers to scout the surrounding streets.
As they returned inside the Manor, Prue broke the tension somewhat by commenting" At least this time we can get the insurance company to pay for the damage". Surveying the large expanse of broken glass, both in the conservatory, the attic and the wrecked front door, this was one repair job that would take awhile.
Calling one of the 24 hour on call emergency builders they had used before, Prue described the damage. After hanging up and looking somewhat peeved, Prue commented "Oh the Halliwell house, not again, what sort of parties do you have there and why won't you invite me". No one felt like laughing as the damage and near miss had badly rattled them all.
Using the phone reminded her that Matt had invited her to dinner at his apartment and she was already late. With a sigh she called him to cancel as she tried to think of an original excuse. Such was her state of mind that it took several seconds for her to realise that for once she could speak the truth, at least a heavily edited version.
Within a couple of minutes Matt had driven over to make sure that Prue was OK and he couldn't believe the damage. And as he pointed out, reporters from the papers and TV stations would be all over them by morning if not before. At least he asked if he could report on the story, which as Cole commented, showed that he was a cut above most of the reporters out there.
With the arrival of two grumpy builders and a plentiful supply of plywood, they at least would be able to cover the holes and restore some security to the Manor.
With that, both Cortez and Darryl felt they could now head home themselves. For Inspector Cortez, another close look into the Halliwell lifestyle had been both painful and highly traumatic. Regretting the day he had discovered they were witches, that things such as demons and Wolfen existed and that he was now a part of that world, whether he liked it or not. He wanted nothing more than to go home to his family and sleep, hopefully with out nightmares. It was the measure of the man and also Darryl, that neither would abandon the sisters as both had nothing but total respect for what they did, for so little reward.
Within an hour, the builders with help from the manor's occupants and Matt had successfully secured the Manor on a temporary basis. As everyone prepared for bed, Matt first tried to convince Prue to return to his apartment, which a very tired Prue briefly considered. However the chance that the Wolfen may return was too great a risk to separate the sisters, so with regret she declined.
For much the same reason she also refused to ask Matt to stay for the night, although the good night kiss she gave him, made it clear that this was something she regretted. As they stood quietly talking in the porch, Matt made Prue promise that she would be in the Manor the next evening as he wanted to talk to her. He was going to be occupied for most of the next day with the anniversary of what was now called the Golden Gate park bomb attack, as was researching an article for the paper.
What did make her pause was the goofy grin Paige had on her face as she walked back inside after watching Matt get into his car. "He's going to pop the question tomorrow" Paige said. Prue said nothing but just wondered how much more complicated her life could get as she surveyed the damage to the Manor, the circus that was going to be tomorrow morning, that the Wolfen were still a threat, a possible marriage proposal and knowing their luck, when was a demon or demons going to show up as well.
It was Leo that summoned everyone into the sitting room for a debrief of the fight. "Can't it wait for tomorrow, I need my beauty sleep" whined Paige who obviously had sympathy from Phoebe and Piper. "No, it needs to be done while the memory is fresh. They came so close to killing Cole and Phoebe and almost the rest of us. We have to be ready if or when they try again." replied Leo.
"Leo is right" replied Cole, "the Wolfen are known for their determination, they don't quit".
"Piper, you vanquished both the Wolfen here and the adult one in the park. What can you tell us?" asked Leo. "They went poof! as they always do". "Piper !, the Wolfen are known to be resistant to magic, was it an easy vanquish ?" asked Leo again.
As Piper considered her answer, Leo turn to the other sisters and asked "I want you to think about the same question and answer it as well. Also Cole what to you think?".
Slowly as she was still considering her answer and not liking what she was thinking, Piper replied "Actually you may have a point there, the one in the Park needed two attempts, the first would have destroyed most demons, only I just hurt it, I had to hit it with everything I had to vanquish it. The one that attacked me here, I was scared and again, that made me use everything I had, but the second one survived. The last one was easy, but Darryl and Cortez had riddled it with bullets".
Prue spoke up, "I tried to throw two of them out of the house, the first was only thrown back into the conservatory, but the second, that wasn't too hard". Paige added, "The one I orbed out, I was trying to orb it as far as possible, like on to the freeway, about 300 yards but it only went as far as the road outside".
"No active powers, either of us, remember" commented Phoebe, "still the silver weapons definitely scared them".
"So they are definitely resistant to magic, that means we are going to have to be very careful, especially when we are alone. We need more ways to deal with them, those silver weapons, Cole obtained are useful but it lets the Wolfen get too close. We need that potion the hunters use. Piper, Prue, now that you had time to think about it, is there any way you can make the potion".
Prue looked unhappy but it was Piper who answered the question, "I have thought about it for most of the day, the ingredients we know are in the potion are just too volatile, sooner or later, they react and I don't to be near it again when it happens. Have you looked at the kitchen bench top, that stuff has melted holes in it".
"We need that potion so we need to find the hunters" stated Leo, "so I think they should be our next objective. And I don't think either Phoebe or Paige will be able to scry for the Wolfen either because of that natural resistance". It was Paige who spoke up "Actually, I think there is something else interfering, when I tried before, it was if there was a noise, a whine that made finding them impossible, could someone be using magic to hide them?"
"Could be" replied Cole, "we need to consider this because if Paige is correct, that would mean an upper level demon is helping them. If they are and the Source finds out, then that demon is in big trouble".
"Unless it is the Source helping them, he's been very quiet lately" pointed out Prue.
