“We ran into some trouble with some Asian Werewolves.”

(Excerpt of Sororate Chapter Two)

 

Although the old Riverclaw home was just down the hill from ours, we still drove in Declan’s metallic black, plasma-powered, pick up truck.

The Lokoti Tribe lived in the World Heritage Listed, Lokoti National Park.  We were situated in the Alaska Range approximately 4.5 hours north of Anchorage and 1.5 hours south of Fairbanks.  The tribal lands looked like a small village of wooden houses along tiny streets.  We were surrounded by forest, snow-tipped mountains and interconnected river ways.  Every full moon I hunted with my mate and pack inside the vast wilderness, to feed on large prey such as bear, caribou, moose or else.  

My husband drove the short way and pulled up in the driveway of the large, two-story, log cabin which had been in the Riverclaw family for several generations.  The 19 year old Forrest Riverclaw, come out onto the front veranda to greet us. 

“Grandfather says you’re already back from your trip?”  He shook Declan’s hand before kissing my cheek.

“We ran into some trouble with some Asian Werewolves.”  My mate said shortly.  “But we’ll explain later.  Where’s your grandfather?”

Forrest opened the front door for us and we followed him inside.  As soon as I came into the house, I halted in surprise as I experienced the strongest sense of déjà vu.  Last year Declan and I came with the death of my Uncle Julian, whom was Chiron’s grandfather.  Then we saw the younger generations of Riverclaw’s mill sadly around the living room and today they were doing it again.

“Aunt B and Uncle Declan.”  Sharon nodded in acknowledgement.

She was Stone’s middle-aged, human wife.   Then the youthful appearance of Stone who was Chiron’s son, jogged down the stairs to shake my mate’s hand and place another kiss on my cheek.

“Thanks for coming so fast.”  He said gratefully.  “Dad is upstairs with my grandfather.”

Forrest sat next to his mother on the couch, as his little sister sat on the other.  He was the pack’s youngest Werewolf, as he turned after Uncle Julian’s death and he tried to be strong for his family.  We watched him put a comforting arm about his mother’s shoulders and pass a smile his sister’s way.  Declan and I noted this, before we headed up the stairs with Stone leading us into one of the bedrooms.

We found the middle-aged Chiron, sitting on the side of the bed that the elderly Phoenix was lying on top of.  My younger cousin whom looked much older; was fully dressed, showing he must have passed away in his sleep during an afternoon nap.  His son put down the deceased’s hand to stand up and face the arrivals.

“Aunt B and Uncle Dec.”  He nodded tearfully.

I rushed forwards and engulfed him in hug, as my mate gave an understanding nod. 

“Dad wasn’t the same after his father died.”  Chiron sighed sadly when he released me.  “The last twelve months, seemed like he was just waiting to rejoin his family and mate in the Holy Hunting Grounds.”

As Declan and I approached the bed to say our goodbyes, Stone came to stand beside his father and place a supportive hand on his shoulder.

My eyes stung as I stared down into the elderly man’s peaceful face which was framed by his long, white hair.

“Hi Phoenix, its bitch-features.”  I tearfully joked to my late relation.  “Say hi to Mum and Dad, Uncle Jules and Aunt Danika, Phoebe and Vincent for me.”

My usually obnoxious cousin of course didn’t reply, and seeing him like this was upsetting.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I was actually hoping to solicit your services as a surprise for my wife.”

(Excerpt of Sororate Chapter Two)

 

I whirled around and stormed back over to the coffee table to begin to pack up my work.  “Whatever!  Keep the frickin’ laptop!  I have back-ups of my work and diaries stored in the Circulate Mainframe on Taurus Six anyways.”

I was so angry, my hands were shaking again as my nose started to run.  I wasn’t crying, but I didn’t want it to look like I was either.  I struggled to pack up my research coherently that I didn’t notice Declan walk up behind to hold out my laptop. 

Annoyed, I snatched it back and carried it and the rest of my work over to one of my shelves where I kept the majority of my academic work.  Considering I had been doing this for over a century, I had several bookshelves which took up the whole wall.  The shelves which held my husband’s novels and large music collection, sat on the other side of the room.

As I started to put my books away in alphabetical order, Declan came up behind to try to wrap his arms about my shoulders.

“No!”  I shrugged him off and after a moment I said sulkily, “You haven’t paid my pimp the hourly rate yet.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

“A million credits.”

This made him snicker back, “You must be better than Julia Roberts in ‘Pretty Woman’ then.”

“Maybe if she was a barren prostitute she would have earned that much.  We have a pretty good union you know.”

“I guess so,” he humorously went along, “do you also have medical insurance?”

“My pimp manages that.”

“OK, who is this guy so I know who to kill by ripping out their hearts via their throats?”

“Why do you presume it’s a guy?”

“So you have a ‘madam’ then and not a pimp?”  I paused in my shelving to give a funny look, wondering how the hell would he know the correct terminology?  He said coolly, “You’re not the only one who can read a book you know.”

“Yes, I do have a ‘madam’ and she’s very cross with you for offending her worker.”  I turned away again.

“Then would your ‘madam’ mind if I offered not only my apology, but also reparations for this gross offence?”

A smile escaped when he said that, but I said breezily, “You would have to pay the million credits first.”

I watched him pull out his wallet from his back pocket then his credit card appeared before my face. 

Indignantly, I snatched it from him as I said, “You don’t have a million credits!”

“After slaving away at the Garage for over a century, I’m a quarter of the way there.  I was saving the money for another holiday for my wife, just don’t tell her that.”

“Oh.” I tried not to show his words affected me as I handed back his card. “I heard your wife has some money of her own.”

“My wife is one of the smartest people I know and she’s well-regarded in her field.”  He said proudly.  “Which is why it makes me angry when people act in a demeaning way towards her, or she demeans herself to strangers.”

“So you’re here soliciting hookers instead of lying with your wife?” I asked curtly.

He watched me walk into the kitchen to check the pantry to see if there was another jar of Nutella, before he said, “I was actually hoping to solicit your services as a surprise for my wife.”

“It doesn’t sound like a nice surprise.”

“Yeah well, she’s difficult to please.”  He followed me into the other room.  “She’s feisty as hell and more inflexible than a plank of wood.”

“So why do you want me for your wife, to buy a three-way or something?”  I asked crassly.

He frowned at the idea, “Look lady you seem attractive and all, but my wife and I don’t swing that way.  Besides, I don’t think you’d live through a night with my wife AND me.”

I tried not to snicker before I closed the pantry door, with my search unsuccessful in finding any more Nutella.  It was then Declan walked over to the medicine cupboard above the fridge and opened it up.  He reached behind the vitamins and painkillers to pull out a hidden jar.

My eyes widened in surprise, “How long have you been hiding THAT for?”

“Two months.”  He shrugged. “It’s my emergency supply for when my wife experiences her famous mood swings thanks to PMS.  I need something to placate her between hunting on a full moon.  Her tantrums can even bring a European Werewolf to heal.” 

I threw him a withering glare as I tried to take the jar off him but he held it away. 

“Nah ah!”  He shook his head. “This is a business transaction, is it not?”

“Why? What do you want?”  I folded my arms defiantly.

“I’ll give you my emergency stash of Nutella instead of the credits, if you’ll do something to my wife for me.”  He said firmly.

“Hit her over the head with a shovel and bury her in your back yard?”  I asked dryly.

“Not quite.”  He pretended to look tempted by the offer.  “I will pay you to walk up to my wife and say something to her. You see, I’m hoping that if this comes from a complete stranger she might start to believe it.  She certainly doesn’t listen to her husband.” 

I looked on impatiently as my foot began to tap the floor.

He continued, “I will pay you in Nutella if you will walk up to my wife and say just five words to her.  You’ll have to put your hands on her shoulders like this…” he demonstrated by making me face him, “…and you look her right in the eye,” next he did this too, “and you say to Bianca Sabre, ‘you’re more than worth it’.”

I said unimpressed, “What kind of hokey, shampoo-commercial, message is that?”

“Alright you can say this instead, ‘I would fight every single Asian Werewolf in existence because you’re worth it’.”

My broken heart started to superglue itself back together, but I battled myself not to smile.  “That’s longer than five words.”

He chuckled, “Yeah I know, but she’s generally not pedantic with numbers so it should be fine.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I knew you weren’t in any danger.”

(Excerpt of Sororate Chapter Two)

 

Wearily, I rubbed my face as my husband wouldn’t shut up.  The deep breathing wasn’t working and I could feel my previous anger begin to boil up again. 

“Thanks for your concern, B.  Thanks for just leaving me like that.  Thanks for not asking me how I got home or if I was OK or if the Asian Werewolves came back to have another go -”

But I cut him off, “I knew you weren’t in any danger.” 

“Oh right, because you had one of your all-knowing feelings as a Circulator?  Well how about acting loyal like a Lokoti Werewolf for a change!”

I shouted back well and truly enraged now; “I yelled out the dirty little secret that the wife of Declan Sabre can’t conceive to a bunch of Asian Werewolves; to break off their pursuit for the safety of my mate and tribe!  Then I get called a frickin’ prostitute for doing it?!”

Declan tossed my mobile phone down onto the couch as he seethed, “I did NOT call you that word!  I would NEVER use that word in relation to my wife! What I nearly said was, ‘you shouted out to your possible rapists that they shouldn’t want you because you were barren like you were some  broken test tube, which they couldn’t use to grow their frickin’ spawn’!” 

This angered me further as I looked away… I think I preferred it when I thought I was being called a prostitute. 

My mate looked on in disbelief, “You honestly thought I would use the word ‘prostitute’ when referring to you?!”

“Next time frickin’ finish your sentences so stupid misunderstandings wouldn’t be created!”  I fumed.

“Then I frickin’ WILL!”  He snapped back. “And if you EVER put yourself down again because you think you’re protecting me?  I will sling you over my shoulder and drop you into the frickin’ river!”

“You’ve already done that, now how about a new threat?!”

“Fine.”  Suddenly he picked up my laptop and started to walk towards the front door.  “Instead I’ll throw your laptop, with all of your precious diary entries, essays and presentations, into the river.” 

“DON’T YOU DARE DECLAN SABRE!”  I leapt to my feet.  Then moving in light speed, I stood in front of the door.  I looked on murderously whilst holding out my hand, “The laptop or your life, because I won’t just drop you into the river; I’ll frickin’ drop you into the middle of the Pacific Ocean!”

“Go for it.”  He trained his steely-cold gaze my way.  “I’ll survive and what’s worse is I’ll take your precious laptop with me before I let go of it.  It’d sink to the bottom of the sea.”

Next, I tried to snatch it out of his hands, but he whipped it away.  I shouted in frustration at his dominating behaviour, “Give it back!”

“No.”

“GIVE…IT…BACK!”  I roared out in my thunderous Werewolf voice as my eyes flashed glowing turquoise.

“Not…until…you…promise.”  He growled back as his eyes flashed glowing green.

“Promise what?!”

“That you will NEVER again do what you did in China!  That you will NEVER put yourself down like that just to make a sub-standard male not want you!  I mean come off it B, if you heard of another woman telling a possible rapist that he didn’t want her because there was something wrong with her?  You’d hit the roof!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“My wife instantaneously phased home and left me by a broken down car in the middle of nowhere.”

(Excerpt of Sororate Chapter Two)

 

I stayed up until dawn because I knew if I went to bed, I wouldn’t be able to get any sleep.  So I busied myself by doing laundry and cleaning out my backpack before storing it away in the attic.

For comfort food, I cracked open a jar of Nutella.  I curled up on the couch, spooning out the delicious chocolate hazelnut spread as I ate it straight.  Heart-aching moments like these made it a bitch not being able to drink alcohol so over the years I found replacements; like eating or hot scented bubble baths or loud music to temporarily deafen my sorrows. 

Tonight called for all three.  After I ate the whole jar of Nutella, I turned the music up even louder then I headed upstairs for the hot scented bubble bath.

By 4 AM as the sun came up, I finally felt tired enough to go to bed. Sleeping in daylight has never bothered me since hunting the night of a full moon, it was the custom for the tribe’s Werewolves to sleep in late.  When my eyes opened again, Declan’s digital clock read as 11.34 AM.

I didn’t bother to brush my hair after putting on some old ‘around the house’ clothes.  Instead, I traipsed downstairs and into the kitchen to make some scrambled eggs on toast.  Once the dirty dishes were stowed inside the dishwasher, I set up shop at the coffee table in the lounge room.  I turned on my laptop as I began to organize my next presentation on the topic of, ‘Female Deities in Ancient Mythology: Early Expectations On Women’. 

At 4 PM as I was writing up the section on ‘Goddesses of Fertility’, suddenly my front door swung open with the appearance of my husband.

I was sitting calmly on a cushion on the floor with my un-brushed hair, doing work.  Declan stormed into the lounge area and glared my way in fury.  I could tell he was expecting an apology or something with his demanding eyes, but I ignored him by returning to work. 

He dropped his backpack loudly onto the wooden floor as he stood over my position.  Still I ignored him, as I picked up my glass of root beer and drank from it.  Then casually, I continued typing up comparisons between Demeter, Isis and the Virgin Mary.

“Hi Declan, you’re home early from your six week holiday aren’t you?”  He cried out sarcastically as he began to have a two-way conversation with himself.  “Yeah, I was left stranded in China.  Oh really, why was that?  My wife instantaneously phased home and left me by a broken down car in the middle of nowhere.  Declan, that’s terrible!  Tell me about it!  I had to wait an hour by myself until the mechanic in his repair vehicle appeared and then I had to help him replace ALL of the frickin’ tyres when his motorized jack broke!  Then I had to drive to Leshan instead of to Yushu which was another long drive so I could catch the first available flight to Juneau.  From Juneau, I flew to Fairbanks, where I had to get another frickin’ rental car.  I RUSHED here so I wouldn’t be away from my mate for 24 hours, who ABANDONED me in a frickin’ foreign country!” 

I didn’t look up nor did I pause with my typing.  The enraged European Werewolf turned around to stalk upstairs.  I listened to him go into our bedroom when I overheard further furious snarling.  Then he stomped back down the staircase whilst holding up my mobile phone which was still switched off.

“B, I would like to introduce you to the 23^rd Century mobile phone.  It was advertised when we bought it, ‘that the self-recharging battery in this model of phone means that you never run out of power and with our world-wide coverage, you’re never out of range’.”  He continued sarcastically.  “Now let’s just get this clear so we’re both on the same page here; you’re supposed to leave your phone switched on let alone on you at all times, so you don’t give your husband a frickin’ heart attack when he tries to call you over thirty times after you ABANDONED in a frickin’ foreign country!”

I closed my eyes as I inhaled and exhaled loudly, whilst trying to keep my cool.

He continued to rant; “And it’s nice to see you sulking with your bed-hair showing that you at least got some sleep in the last twelve hours as for me, it’s been two days since I slept a wink!  If I’m not staying up all night in our hotel keeping watch in case we’re attacked by Asian Werewolves; it’s me being ABANDONED in a frickin’ foreign country!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was so angry that I noticed my hands were shaking.

(Excerpt of Sororate Chapter One)

 

Abruptly, I disappeared in a flash of light before I reappeared in another, inside my bedroom for a second time that night.

I dropped my backpack onto our Queen-sized bed then I carried my sword over to its sheath which was lying on the floor.  Once it was encased, I returned the two together to my wardrobe.  The master bedroom was dark, but the familiar smells were welcoming.

Our two-bedroom home was a small, two-story, dark brown painted, wooden house with a stone chimney and a front veranda.  We had a European style garden with a gravel driveway and a separate garage.  Inside the house, our furniture was predominantly constructed of pine in country style, except for our sleigh bed or the red, over-stuffed, suede couches in the living room.

I was so angry that I noticed my hands were shaking.  But to get my mind off things, I turned on my bedside lamp and then the Internet Radio feature in Declan’s digital clock.  I blasted my ears with loud music whilst I unpacked. 

Alanis Morissette played, as I separated my clothes into the clean and dirty.  I put away the clean clothes but the dirty clothes I dropped into my laundry basket.  Lastly, I picked up the basket to take down to the laundry, when my mobile phone started to ring. 

Whilst carrying the basket on one arm, I fished my phone out of my pocket with my other.   Declan’s name appeared on my screen and in a temper, I switched it off and slammed it down on top of the tallboy!  It almost broke but I continued on with what was doing.

He can go to hell… or remain in China alone for all I care.  I didn’t even mind that we’d be apart for longer than twelve hours.  It’s not like I was leaving him in danger.  I had seen to his safety, which was what really pissed me off about his behaviour tonight. 

Declan’s always shaking his head and telling me that I behave too much like a ‘Light Person’.  When I thought I heard the voice of the Lokoti Wolf, my people’s spirit guide, talk through me again tonight?   I thought that was what I did do, behave like a Lokoti Werewolf to ensure my mate’s safety.  I didn’t care if a foreign breed now knew that I couldn’t have kids!  It certainly wasn’t a secret around here.

I saw the quiet pity in my tribe’s eyes whenever they looked my way.  But that was nothing to what I heard instead.  Once with my supernatural hearing, I picked up whilst shopping in the supermarket in Alma, two women whisper behind my back.  They weren’t Lokoti but they were used to seeing me around.

“She’s definitely had work done, how else does she stay looking like that?”  Bitch One hissed.

“She may be pretty but I heard from Shana that she can’t have kids. I guess looks aren’t everything after all.”  Bitch Two gloated.

Afterwards, I refused to go grocery shopping off tribal lands for twelve months, although I didn’t tell Declan why.  Usually I enjoyed the experience of visiting the supermarket in Alma.  The huge shelves and the wide range of choice they offered, seemed like a special treat to one who has memories of when food was a precious commodity after the War.   My husband knew this, which is why he couldn’t understand when I either refused to shop with him or I started ordering our groceries online, to be delivered instead.

I sensed that the Asian Werewolves who were low on females, wouldn’t want one who couldn’t breed for them.  So what was sharing this fact with a bunch of sniffing strangers, for the safety of my mate and tribe?  And Declan has the gall to act like HE was the one who was insulted tonight…?  Screw that for a joke!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This disturbed me, I didn’t want my mate to be known in the supernatural world as a cannibal.

(Excerpt of Sororate Chapter One)

 

I walked over to our rental car and opened the boot to put my sword inside.  While I was there, I opened up my backpack and took out a towel and a bottle of water.   Next, I opened the passenger’s side door and sat down on the seat to put my shoes and socks on again.  Lastly, I pulled on my zip-up sweater over my torn t-shirt.

When I stood up again, I noticed that Declan hadn’t moved.   He was still standing in front of the car and his huge, hulking, hairless form looked intimidating in the headlights.  He was growling hungrily at the night, like he was hoping that the Asian Werewolves would return.  This disturbed me, as I didn’t want my mate to be known in the supernatural world as a cannibal. 

I approached him with the towel which I began to dampen with my bottle of water.   I held out the wet material, “here.”   My husband turned his beastly head my way, as his glowing green eyes narrowed.  I said casually to hide my knotting stomach, “to wash the blood off.” 

Declan shrunk back into his naked human body, to use his hands to take the towel and wipe himself clean. 

As I walked a little away, I looked about at the sliced open or half-eaten bodies of the Asian Werewolves which were lying around. 

To my surprise, they simply looked like a bunch of dead wolves on the ground.  They didn’t revert to their human bodies when they died, like the other breeds did.  Oh well, at least we wouldn’t have to explain the carcasses of dead humans to the mechanic, when they show up in their repair vehicle.

My mate walked past as he went over to the car for his clothes.  He didn’t look my way nor did he speak, as he dressed.  Then he moved to sit inside the vehicle to use the rear-view mirror to check his mouth and face and make sure that he had removed all traces of blood.

I sensed he was angry about something, actually he was infuriated about it!  So much so, it kept his bloodlust burning inside.  What was he angry about?  Was he pissed off that he didn’t get to eat the other thirty Asian Werewolves?  I watched him through the windscreen, as he wiped off the last of the blood on his hands and especially around his nails.  I sensed he was deliberately not looking in my direction. 

Oh, was he angry with me?  Why?  What did I do?  I just removed a vendetta against us by a breed of Werewolf which was known to never give up! 

Next, he shut the car door as he sat back into the driver’s seat.  He switched off the internal light and I watched him close his eyes and take several deep breaths to calm himself.  Warily, I walked over to the passenger’s door to climb in.  Once I was seated, I shut the door again to keep out the cold night air.

The silence in the car was palpable as Declan opened his eyes to stare angrily out the windscreen.  The road before us was littered with our fallen enemy, whose silvery-grey coats almost shined in the car’s headlights.  I caught him growl again under his breath, as he looked on the carcasses.  After two minutes, I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“OK Declan, what is it?”  I looked on demandingly. 

Silence… He kept his lips pursed together whilst sitting in a tense manner as he refused to look my way.

“What’s wrong?”  I asked, annoyed.  “Are you angry that I interrupted your feeding frenzy?  Well guess what, I don’t know how many of them there were, but we were fighting more than one clan tonight.  If we had beaten that thirty then they would have come back with forty, then fifty and maybe even sixty as they pulled in the other clans.  We were becoming a vendetta to these people and they DON’T give up!”

“Don’t you think that I KNOW all of this, B?!”  He shouted, which made me look on in surprise.  “Don’t you frickin’ get it?  I was fighting for YOU tonight!  I was fighting for my mate!  I was fighting for your honour!” 

My stomach sank as I stared at my husband in shock.  He was truly upset that I had put a stop to his ‘defending’.  I thought his primitive bloodlust was so behind the times, it didn’t appreciate that his female stopped their attackers rather than him. 

Then I caught him glance my way in disgust before he vehemently bit out, “If a male yelled out what you said about yourself tonight, I would have shoved my claw down his throat and ripped out his still-beating heart!  You shouted out to your possible rapists that they shouldn’t want you because you’re barren like you were some common -”

But he stopped himself here as he looked away whilst blinking hard.

Like I was a common what…?  A common prostitute?  Hang on, prostitutes aren’t barren, or not that I’d heard anyways.  Why, was it a common trait for women who couldn’t have children, to become prostitutes?  Maybe I’ve been hidden away in my nice, little, safe world on tribal lands for too long…

“Like a common prostitute?”  I bit out.  “You think I yelled out that I was barren like I was a common prostitute or something?  Why do you think prostitutes are barren?”

Before I gave him the chance to answer, I swung open my door and hopped out.  I slammed it shut and walked around to the back of the car.  I popped open the boot so I could pull out my backpack and sword.  Then I slammed the boot closed, slung the backpack over my shoulder and carried the sword in my left hand.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?!”  Declan was quick to jump out.

“Excuse me, I think there’s a barren prostitute’s convention in Las Vegas that I’m due to make an appearance at.”  I said coolly.

I had to blink fast to try to hide my watering eyes, coupled with the sensation of my heart splitting into two.

“Don’t be stupid B -”

But I didn’t give him the chance to finish his sentence, when I instantaneously phased home to Alaska. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Through the darkness, I saw with my glowing turquoise eyes, the arrival of thirty more male Asian Werewolves.

(Excerpt of Sororate Chapter One)

 

I sensed Declan was battling to retain his control on the bloodlust, which made me stand a safe distance.  I wasn’t afraid of him turning on me, but I was wary of being knocked aside as soon as our enemy resurfaced.  After five minutes of standing there, I realized that my mate wasn’t trying to calm himself; instead he was waiting for them to come back.  I even caught his stomach rumble.

Frickin’ hell, was this fight going to go on ALL night?  How many Asian Werewolves were there in this part of China anyways?!  I just had to ask that, because I soon got my answer…

Through the darkness, I saw with my glowing turquoise eyes the arrival of thirty more male Asian Werewolves. 

What is this, tit-for-tat?  At first we beat off ten, then we fought twenty and now they’re coming back with thirty…?  Where the hell are they all coming from?!

Then my sense of smell detected some slight differences about these new Asian Werewolves - that they didn’t all smell alike.  I realized we were dealing with more than one clan here.  But they didn’t smell like Hsu’s clan, which was one small relief.  If they had, then we’d have thought that this whole thing had been a set up.

Declan roared threateningly at the new arrivals, who looked on with their glowing white eyes and tiny black pupils.  Next, they started to spread out to encircle us again.  Maybe that’s their plan, to keep fighting with their greater speed and numbers until they’ve exhausted us?

This made me remember something in the SSIT Report on our foe;  There are stories of human victims being unable to escape a vendetta placed against them by an Asian Werewolf, even if the human moved to the other side of the world.

Has my status as one of the few remaining female Werewolves left, become the males’ vendetta?  Not to kill but to capture? 

*Yes little wolf* I heard the familiar deep, rumbling inside my being.  This voice often seemed to pop up when I was fighting for my life.  *There is a reason why you as the first female Lokoti Werewolf are unable to breed*

Unable to breed… unable to conceive… unable to bear children…that’s it! 

Next, I whipped out my mobile phone from my pocket with my claw-like hand.  I opened it and quickly spoke to the small computer; “Access translation program.  Translate from English to Mandarin the words: I am barren. If you’re good trackers then track this, can’t you smell my womb has never been used?  Don’t you wonder why?”

“Processing your request.”  My computerized phone responded and within a second the words appeared on the lit-up screen.

Declan overheard what I was doing which made him snarl unhappily.  He was angry about what I was about to do and he roared furiously at the Asian Werewolves for making me do it.

In my thunderous voice I called out the message in Mandarin.  I hope I got the pronunciation right and I wasn’t telling them instead I wanted to become pregnant?  But whatever I said was met with silence…

The Asian Werewolves stood still as they looked on, with their glowing white eyes.  Standing here in the dark countryside which had turned so quiet, I held my breath in fear I might miss something.   The only thing that was audible in the night air was the sound of the Asian Werewolves sniffing; they were sniffing me.  

Declan flexed his two front claws, waiting for them to come closer.  However, one of the Asian Werewolves whom looked slightly bigger than the others, turned away.  Casually, it trotted away into the night and next the others turned to follow the one who must have been the leader. 

They all slipped quietly into the darkness as their glowing white eyes and silvery-grey fur disappeared from sight.   This time my all-knowing feelings as a Circulator, said that it was for the last.  After a minute, I reverted to my human body whilst lowering my sword.

“That’s it.”  I said.  “They’re not coming back.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Not only do I want you out of harms way, but I don’t want you to see what I do tonight.”

(Excerpt of Sororate Chapter One)

 

Just then his head snapped around as his human blue eyes turned glowing green again.  I heard it too, the approach of more predators heading in our direction.

“Please B,” he looked on pleadingly with his glowing green eyes.  “Not only do I want you out of harms way, but I don’t want you to see what I do tonight.”

My heart pounded as I was touched by my husband’s honesty.  But the Lokoti Werewolf inside blindly refused to leave my mate in a time of danger.

“I have a confession too…” I laughed weakly, “…I’ve been holding out on you as well.  With my speed and strength – albeit it’s not as great as yours – there’s nothing that I can’t fight.  This is why I’m coming back for you after I’ve done this.”

Then I surprised him when abruptly I disappeared in a bright flash of light!  I instantaneously phased from the middle of the Chinese countryside, into my bedroom inside of my house in Alaska. 

I rushed over to my wardrobe and threw open the doors.  I went straight for my Katana, which was hidden behind a long, black, woollen overcoat.  I pulled the polished, silver sword from its sheath before I instantaneously phased back to China. 

By the time I re-appeared beside Declan in another bright flash of light, he had expanded back into his huge, hulking, hairless European Werewolf form.  It was just in time too, as twenty Asian Werewolves closed in on our position.

I changed into my stronger Lokoti Werewolf body before I growled at my mate, “I won’t hold back if you don’t.  Stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”

I think I caught him smirk with his razor sharp teeth, before he turned towards our attackers.   But this time Declan didn’t wait for the larger group of Asian Werewolves to make their first move… he made his. 

On all-fours, the European Werewolf barrelled his way into the circle of smaller and weaker creatures!   His hungry roars almost deafened.  I didn’t have time to stand back and feel horrified by the view of my mate not just fighting, but EATING his way through our enemy.  Ten of our attackers engaged him as I fought off the other ten.

An Asian Werewolf tried to use its supernatural speed to leap onto my arm which was holding the sword.  But using my time manipulation as a Circulator, I saw him come towards me in slow motion.  This enabled me to move my arm away as I next spun around.  Then using my greater strength, I didn’t just slice my sword through the Asian Werewolf…I cut him in half. 

Two bloodied halves which once belonged to a whole, landed in the dirt.  The remaining nine paused in their attack, long enough to see a member of their pack fall to the ground in pieces. 

At that moment, my attackers and I were momentarily distracted from the blood-curdling whines, yelps and squealing. It was coming from the faltering seven who were fighting my mate.  I saw three Asian Werewolves already dead on the ground with either their heads, throats or their chests eaten out, thanks to his larger jaws.

The Asian Werewolves may have been faster than the European Werewolf, but their speed was showing no effect with his greater strength and size.  Watching Declan let loose his bloodlust, was like watching a Great White Shark be unleashed into an Olympic sized pool during a swimming event.  The victims saw their attacker coming but other than trying to escape, there was little they could do.  However, they didn’t try to run, instead they fought on to claim dominance over the strangers on their territory.

The remaining nine I was dealing with, returned their attention my way, which made me hold up my sword higher. 

One tried to leap onto my right side as another attempted to jump my left.  Moving in the speed of light, I was able to duck backwards.  I continued to fight as such, which made my movements look like a series of bright flashes with me suddenly changing positions. 

Whilst moving around, I swung my sword with my supernatural strength.  Another two Asian Werewolves fell to the ground, either missing a head or the bottom half of their body.  Their flesh which had come into contact with the silver, looked singed with small wisps of red smoke, snaking into the air. 

After I polished off my fourth attacker, I slowed down to real time when I realized the other six were now absent.  I looked over at Declan who was mangling his seventh enemy – slash – meal, where I saw my six were battling alongside his remaining three. 

My mate almost paused with his mouthful when I appeared beside him in another bright flash of light.  I swung around my sword and chopped the head off one of his opponents!  He dropped his half-eaten meal and together we faced off the remaining eight.

It was here we saw the Asian Werewolves begin to back away.  For a second time this evening, the enemy retreated due to the loss of numbers.  But this time I didn’t buy it.  Who’s to say that they’re not going to come back AGAIN? 

When one of the pack stopped to pick up its dead, it yelped in fright when Declan charged at it!  The supernatural creature bolted away and only just escaped by its’ greater speed.  Once more, we were left standing alone on the road, with our broken down car, panting with our bloodlust ignited. 

Asian Werewolf blood dripped from my sword as the same blood covered the European Werewolf’s jaws. 

 

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