The sun was setting gently, and the warm air was rapidly cooling, as if in warning of the impending autumn and winter night still to come. The cool air felt nice on my exposed skin as I stood on the grass behind the estate, looking into the deepening darkness of the woods beyond. I was wearing a pair of thin bike shorts, and a sports bra that bordered on being a tank-top – I had no desire to be seen naked by my dad or the Cullen's at large, no matter what Charlie had to say about the matter. Apparently nakedness was a natural and expected part of being a werewolf, and sure, I could understand that, but I was raised in the modern world, the modern human world, and I was going to keep my clothes on, thank you very much. Thankfully, Charlie adhered by my wishes, so he was standing nearby in a pair of cargo shorts.
"So, what exactly are we doing?" Tanya asks warily as she walks across the lawn, followed by the rest of her family. Tanya's eyes glance over each member of the Cullen's, before coming to rest on Edward, who was standing at my side.
"The Wild Hunt." Charlie answered with a grin. Met with blank faces Charlie continued, "The two Packs of the betrothed, along with their guests, come together to hunt as one pack, to symbolise unity and brotherhood. Also, we get to have ourselves a bit of a feast."
Charlie bent down to retrieve one of the murky stone mortar and pestles filled with the dark purple paint, he handed one to me and kept the other in hand. "Charlie and I will be transforming, but since you guys can't do that, you have to honour the Moon Goddess in another way." I explained as I gestured to the grainy pigment made from Wolf's Bane.
Tanya and Carmen looked uncertain and hesitant, while Kate and Bree seemed curious and just a little bit excited – but it was Eleazar's reaction that confused me the most. Eleazar's eyes glimmered with a shard of recognition, quickly followed by overwhelming guilt as he looked at the ground and steadily refused to make eye contact with anyone. It took me an embarrassingly long moment to understand what was making him react that way, until I remembered that he had been there for my aunt's wedding, before…. Before everything fell apart and my family were massacred in the dead of night.
"Why is this even a thing?" Tanya asked, not entirely unkindly, but her voice was still sharp enough to give away the fact that she did not want to participate in this particular tradition. I wanted to snap at her, tell her to wait here at the estate, that no one was going to force her to join the Wild Hunt, but I didn't say any of that. This was Edward's family, Tanya was his cousin and friend, someone he loved and cared for – her anger and distrust were understandable, even as misplaced as they were. That didn't stop it from being annoying as fuck, though. "I mean, if you all can transform at will, how did this even become a part of the tradition?"
I looked down into the pestle for a moment and swirled the paint with the mortar as I spoke. "Not all children of werewolves are born with lycanthropy, some are born human." I explained. "And some still, decide to never receive a bite to become a werewolf, they decide to remain human for their entire life." I left out the part about how painfully short those lives were in comparison to their family's. "That doesn't mean they are any less a member of the Pack, traditionally, they would join the Wild Hunt on horse back."
We all understood what I left unsaid. That by 'traditionally' I meant before we were slaughtered like animals, before all that was left was two lone wolves fighting to survive in a world that made living a crime, before those wolves somehow managed to make a Pack with a motley group of vampires. A reality that I will never be able to experience, one of safety and love and community, a reality that was destroyed almost a millennia ago by the very dark haired vampire that was stoically avoiding my gaze.
"Hold still, will ya." I heard Charlie grumble off to the side, and I turn to see him smearing paint on Carlisle's smile crinkled face, his eyes glittering with mirth as he chuckled lightly at Charlie's exasperated sigh. Charlie was carefully painting on an upturned crescent moon on Carlisle's forehead, like a bizarre set of bull's horns, then he smudged three little tear-drop shapes along the curve of it, one above each eyebrow and the third right in the middle. I recognised that particular symbol from my childhood lessons – of all my childhood lessons the ones about the runes and symbols of the Moon Goddess seemed to be the most boring and tedious at the time. I didn't appreciate the beauty and mysticism that is our culture. The simple yet beautiful symbol that Charlie was so carefully painting onto Carlisle's forehead was one that symbolised the Moon Goddess' blessings towards our people – how she wept for us and the injustices that the other Gods forced against our people. We were children of the moon, we carried her love and pain within us.
Charlie was already moving on, painting the same blessing upon Esme's forehead. I shook myself out of the melancholy contemplation I had found myself in and moved towards Eleazar. He blinked up at me, and even though I knew he was even older than my dad was, at this moment he seemed so young, so uncertain. I dipped my fingers into the paint and began the curve of the upturned crescent shape on his ice cold skin.
"The Goddess' blessing." he murmured as I smudged the three tear drops underneath the curve.
"You are a part of my Mate's Pack, in all the ways that matter, that means you're part of my Pack now too." I quietly murmur back, I'm aware that our softly spoken words are available to everyone around us – every word spoken is listen to and heard by the group – but that doesn't matter. "Do you understand what that means?" I asked softly.
"No, not really." he replied as I stepped back.
"It means that, no matter how long you're gone, or how far you stray, that you'll always be welcomed back with open arms." at Eleazar's hopeful look I continue, "I'm not saying it's unconditional forgiveness, because it's not. It just means, that you will always have a place here, and with that comes the chance for redemption."
Eleazar jerked his head once in a stoic nod of agreement. Then, I felt, rather than saw, Charlie come up to my side. I turn my head and studied him carefully, wary that I had said too much or overstepped somehow – but Charlie simply offers his hand to Eleazar, his face flat and unreadable. I watched as Eleazar's jaw ticked slightly before he stepped forward and grasped my dad's forearm in his hand. Charlie grasped Eleazar's arm in turn, and after a moment he pulled Eleazar into a brief, but strong embrace.
As they pull away Charlie spoke up, "My daughter is wise beyond her years, and she's right. The Cullen's are Pack, and so, by extension, so are you and yours. I can't yet say I forgive you for what you did," Charlie paused for a moment and the muscles in his throat strained with the effort it took for him to keep an even voice. "But…" Charlie sighs, "Redemption."
He doesn't say anything else, but we all understood what he was saying. It wasn't forgiveness, but it was a chance.
A chance for…
"Redemption." Eleazar echoed sombrely.
It was without words that Charlie and I finished adorning the vampire's in their purple painted symbols. Then, when everything was prepared, and the sun finally set Charlie met my eye from across the lawn, he smirked and winked mischievously and I got the message loud and clear.
Lets give these vampires a show.
The Denali's actually jerked in surprise when Charlie craned his neck, causing his collarbone to snap and writhe grotesquely under his olive skin. I fought against a smirk, and my lips twitched traitorously as I watched the Denali's eyes widen in panicked shock. Even the Cullen's seemed a little bit disturbed by the nauseating display of shifting bone and cracking skin.
Not one to be out done I reached down into myself and began to pull on the inner wolf inside me that always lurked just beneath the surface. I knew what Charlie was doing – he had clearly heard my talk with Kate and Rose in the garage – and while I didn't love the pain that came with a drawn out transformation, the looks on the vampire's faces made it worth it. I truly was my father's daughter in more ways than one, we both enjoyed stirring the pot and getting a rise out of others. Probably too much. When I felt – and heard – my ribs crack and shift in my chest, and all eyes suddenly jerked in my direction, I was filled with a queer sort of satisfaction. Yeah, we were enjoying this way too much, and what should have been two quick, painless and simple transformations quickly devolved into a game of one-up-man-ship.
Charlie clawed at his chest, pulling away human flesh to reveal his golden fur underneath, tinted red and glistening to blood. His eyes met mine, crinkled slightly as if to say beat that.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes – that would have given the game away to the thoroughly confused and slightly traumatised vampires in front of us. If Charlie wanted to play a game of transformation chicken he was going to have to do better than that. With an arm that was already jerking with snapping bones I moved my hand laboriously to my face, and with a lupine howl I mauled my human visage from my skull, just in time for the bones in my face to begin to crack and shift and elongate into the monstrous snout of my wolf form. I felt the joints in my ankles snap and reverse as my human skin continued to slough off my body onto to be replaced with dark shadowy fur – I could no longer halt the transformation, I did not have the level of control that Charlie boasted. No longer able to remain on two legs I fell forwards, only to land on two inhuman half-paws, my finger bones continued to snap and shift as my nails fell off to be replaced with long black claws, and soon I was staring at two massive wolf paws. I could feel my skin break away as I became too large for my human skin to contain, and soon, I was no longer human at all, but an enormous wolf.
Working on instinct, I shook out my damp fur, leaving a misty cloud of blood in the air for a split second before it fell to the grass around me. Then, not even sparing a thought to my still shocked silent audience, I lowered my gaping fang filled maw and gulped down the still warm piles of bloody human flesh.
"What the fuck?" I heard someone whisper nearby and I turned my head and blinked at Tanya who was staring at me in horror.
I huffed out a wolfish laugh and trotted over to Edward who gave me a winning smile as I bumped my head against his shoulder. Edward reached up and scratched behind my ear before he stroked his hand down my side.
"What was a bit dramatic, don't you think?" Edward whispered in my ear. I growled playfully in reply as I shoved my head against Edward's body, which caused him to stumble back a step.
I heard a snorting snuffle and I turned once more to see Charlie sitting on his haunches, golden fur clear of blood and eyes trained on me as he waited.
It was time to hunt.
XxXx
My heavy, padded paws thudded against the wet earth. I raised my head towards the endless star filled sky above and howled, the sound filled with joy and euphoria. I heard my dad's reply sound off in the far away distance, his own howl echoed through the forest and filled my heart with an aching affection. I could hear the light footsteps of the swarming vampires as they followed our lead – we were so much faster than they were, and we knew where to find our prey. I couldn't see where my dad was, but that didn't matter, I could hear his pounding heart and thundering footfalls.
We were approaching our quarry – a healthy herd of white-tailed deer. Usually, we would slow down, take cover in the trees and undergrowth and sneak up on our prey, but this time we didn't bother. Charlie and I only slowed down just enough to allow the vampires to catch up. The deer up ahead had already heard our approach, and were up on their feet, moving about in a spooked circle.
I could see Charlie now, coming up on my left as we burst into the small clearing – and just like that, the deer stampeded. I snagged the deer closest to me with a swipe of my paw, an imposing, pitch black claw cut through the sinewy flesh of the animal's flank like a hot knife through butter, and with a braying whine the young buck collapsed to the forest floor. It kicked out its now useless leg as it attempted to stand up in a pitiful fit of fatal fear. It never had the chance to get back on its feet, as with a snarling growl Jasper was on it. Jasper flew through the air, nothing but a blur of blonde hair and pale skin as he collided with the young buck, his teeth sinking into warm flesh as he began to feast upon its blood. I launched myself into the air, jumping clean over Jasper and his kill, and landed gracefully on the other side of the small clearing.
I could see and hear the others around me finding their meals and eating their fill – Emmett was already on his third kill when I spotted the biggest buck of the bunch. I shot forward and tackled it to the ground, it kicked out desperately, but it didn't fight for long – without hesitation I locked my jaws around its muscled throat and jerked my head to the side, snapping its spine with ease. I stepped on the buck's chest, and its rib cage snapped like the dried twigs that littered the forest floor. The sounds of death continued around me – the pained whines and breathy death rattles of the deer mingled with the snarls and hissing growls of the vampires as they drank their fill. I focused on my own kill, splitting the buck open down the sternum as I dove down into the warm wetness of its chest cavity in search of its thick muscular heart. My sharp lupine fangs sliced through the dense meat of the buck's heart as I yanked it free of its fleshy prison. I snapped my jaws loudly as I gulped down the warm, muscly organ.
The vampires around me were speedily taking down the rest of the herd while I gorged myself on the deliciously rich deer liver and the chewy kidneys. I could hear my dad tearing into his own prey, the wet snarls and squelching sound of meat being pulled from bone drifted across the air, carrying with it the scent of death. The entire herd was dead, decimated by our hunt. Charlie was moving on from his original kill, the deer still mostly intact aside from the gaping wound in its chest which showed its missing organs. He approached the drained carcass of one of Carlisle's kills, and began to crack open its chest with all the skill of a surgeon in order to find the dead deer's still warm heart.
There was no need to waste time eating his fill on meat, when there was so many dead and drained deer littered about the forest floor to indulge upon. I was about to follow his example and move on to eat the delectable hearts and livers of the Cullen's kills when I was interrupted by Edward. He stood there, crimson blood smeared and drying on his face, his eyes bright and blazing as he stared down at me. Cupped in his blood soaked hands was the beautifully scarlet heart from his own kill. It was large, almost as large as the heart I had just eaten from the buck I had taken down, and Edward had to hold it in two hands as he offered it to me like it was holy communion. I gave Edward a wolfish smile as I took the organ between my jaws and snapped down the delicious offering with enthusiasm. The heart was my favourite organ of any kill – the rich liver being a close second – and Edward knew that, and I was touched that he had gone to the effort to remove the heart from his own kill in order to gift it to me.
I rubbed my head against Edward's chest as I growled deeply in happy contentedness, letting wave upon wave of gratitude flow freely between us.
"You are very welcome, my love." Edward murmured into the dark fur of my neck as he stroked his fingers through my coat and nuzzled into my soft fur.
I heard a snort of laughter and I looked over to see a thoroughly blood drenched Emmett laughing at us, "You guys are fucking weird."
Rosalie was there in a flash to whack him upside the head with the flat of her hand, "Don't be a dumb-ass." she hissed. "Also, who taught you how to hunt? You're supposed to drink the blood, not wear it!"
"You taught me how to hunt, dearest." Emmett cooed innocently.
"Was that… was that a god damn deer pun?" Rosalie asked incredulously. Emmett howled in laughter and took off before Rosalie could reprimand him further.
As Rose took off after her wayward husband, I busied myself with the remainder of the deer carcasses that still littered the woods – I wasn't about to let Charlie get all of the best bits, after all.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I know it doesn't have everything that I promised but uni this term has been a lot harder than I anticipated and it's been kicking my ass. Also, I've been getting some questions in the comments about the lore/world building of this fic that I thought I had answered within the story, but I guess I didn't do a good enough job? I can hear my professor screaming show don't tell in my mind rn but if you guys have any questions I will do my best to answer them in the authors note on the next chapter. Let me know in the comments!