6. THE COLD ONES
The Makah chief was very upset. He blamed the Quileute wolves for the disappearances or their Makah daughters. Taha Aki tried to assure them that they were not to blame but the Makahs were already too afraid. Taha Aki feared that war would soon come. He charged his oldest son, Taha Wi, to find the true culprit.
Micah wanted to join the wolves but he would be useless in his human state. The full moon was not scheduled to come around for two more weeks so the wolves left without him. After waiting anxiously, half of them returned. It was the younger half, led back by Yaha Uta, third wife's oldest son.
Yaha Uta explained that the pack had come across a scent so sweet that it burned their noses. It led them to a trail that had faint traces of human scent and human blood. Because it was so far north, Taha Wi sent the younger boys back to relay the story to the rest of the tribe.
Micah pondered this. He knew vampires to be sweet smelling, but never so much that it ever burned his nose. Perhaps they reacted differently to the vampires than he did. After all, they were not the same kind of werewolf. Taha Wi and the two older boys with him never returned. Taka Aki mourned the death of his sons and went to the Makah chief and told him what had happened. Apparently they were able to make peace and war was no longer impending.
Micah hated the thought of more of his brothers being destroyed by vampires. The Volturi had already destroyed most of his kind. He could not let more vampires annihilate this superior breed of werewolves as well. The full moon cycle returned and Micah decided to go out and look for the vampires alone. Perhaps he could kill them and keep them from hurting the Quileutes.
He set out in the morning so that he would have plenty of time. He followed the directions that Yaha Uta gave him and headed north. He relied heavily on his sense of smell and finally found the trail with human blood. He followed it and picked up on the sweet smell that the wolves had complained about. Finally he approached a clearing where he found a male and female vampire lying on the ground and kissing. They were not yet aware of him. Micah hid perfectly still in the shadows and decided to wait until sunset, when the beast would take over. It was only a few minutes away now.
He watched the two vampires on the ground become more and more passionate. He reveled in the idea of killing them. He wanted to protect the Quileutes for good. As he waited for the sun to set an angelic voice startled him from behind.
"Micah?"
He whirled around to see her. She was the most beautiful angel he had ever laid eyes upon. She was so different, yet still the same.
"Ashley?" Micah breathed the name in disbelief.
The two other vampires were now at their side, hissing at him. "It's okay." Ashley told them. "This is Micah."
They relaxed their stance as if they knew who he was. "So you're the famous Micah?" The female said, scornfully.
"Ashley, what are you doing with them? Are you… one of them now?" Micah still couldn't believe what his eyes were showing him. Her skin was so pale and her beautiful eyes now burned bright red. Her body had transformed into a more womanly figure. She was more attractive but he missed the 'old' Ashley.
Ashley turned to the others and asked "Can you give us moment, please?" The pair walked off, hand in hand. "Micah, you promised me that you would come back. I waited for you, I swear I did. But when I didn't hear from you I thought that something must have happened to you. I thought that maybe you were trapped somewhere, or even worse." Her voice choked up. "I held onto the only hope that I had. That you were still alive somewhere needing to be rescued. So I became obsessed. I began reading any book that I could get my hands on about vampires and werewolves. You're parents thought I was losing my mind all over again. I finally found some documents by a scientist. He wrote that werewolves kill the ones that are closest to them. I understood that that must be the reason you had to get away from me.
"He also explained that werewolves don't age. I realized that while I grew old, you would stay young. I wanted to be with you forever. I wanted to be equal to you. But I knew that you would never change me. I also read that werewolves don't have any control in their animal state. It is sheer coincidence that a werewolf bites a human without killing them. So then I moved onto the study of vampires. They had more control and they were also immortal. I spent so many nights searching for someone to change me. It wasn't until I met Richard and Catherine that the opportunity presented itself.
"At first they just wanted to have me for a meal but they listened to my story and the reasons why I needed to be changed. They decided to give true love a chance and changed me and let me join their coven. When I became a vampire I was so much more capable. I searched for you everywhere we went. And now I've found you. I knew I would. Thank God you're okay. You don't have to be scared anymore Micah. You can't hurt me." Ashley reached out her hand and traced her icy fingers down Micah's arm.
Micah still seemed to be taking everything in. Ashley looked at him pleadingly. "Aren't you going to say something?"
Micah opened his mouth to speak but just then, he blacked out.
