The Beta
Prologue
As Nicolas Boudreaux lay on the floor bleeding from the open wound in his neck, he knew he must be dying. What other possible explanation could there be for the sight before him? It was September 8, 1863; there had been a battle, he remembered that much. He was at Fort Griffin on Sabine Pass in Jefferson County, Texas. He and his best friend /lover Richard Robertson were two of the forty-four soldiers sent there as a punishment by the Union soldiers after they successfully took Sabine Pass the previous year. The Confederate troops spent that year practicing hitting ranged markers in the river and had plans to stop the four Union gunboats accompanied by the seven troop transports from entering Sabine Pass, reducing Fort Griffin to rubble, and then successfully landing those troops and taking Texas. Around 6:00 in the morning, he and Richard were awakened by the sounds of the cannons firing. The forty-four men at Fort Griffin were successful in stopping the Union troops from landing and took nearly 200 prisoners. By the time they got the prisoners placed, it was well past nightfall.
He and Richard had been searching the last of the gunboats and were below decks in a dark, windowless room. There was a cage in the corner with a man calmly sitting in the corner. He was laying with his back to the wall, his left leg stretched out in front of him, right leg bent at the knee with his arm resting on his knee. Richard immediately tensed up when they entered the room. He began to sniff the air and the man in the corner let out a laugh. He looked at Richard and said in a definite Cajun accent, "Well, well, well, what do we have here? I've been alive for hundreds of years and didn't think I would ever find you."
Nicolas turned to Richard and asked, "What the hell is this loon talking about?"
The man in the cage laughed and said, "Mon petite ami[CAH1], I am not the loony one here, my mate standing next to you, however, is. Isn't that right, mon cher[CAH2]?"
Nicolas having been raised in Southeast Texas on the Texas/Louisiana border knew that the man had just called his lover, my love. He then watched as the man in cage move to the door in the blink of an eye. Since Richard was built like a brick shithouse, and Nicolas was full foot shorter and weighed little more than a sack of potatoes [CAH3]plus the added fact that Richard didn't think to restrain from using his full strength, physics ruled out when Richard stepped in front of Nicolas and pushed him back. Nicolas flew across the room and hit the wall with a thud, his limp body fell to the floor.
Richard knew that his true mate might be out there somewhere in the world, but being from Beaumont, Texas and not having any plans to ever leave, he gave up searching for him or her. He didn't need his true mate to be a great Alpha; his father had never found his true mate, and he was a great Alpha[CAH4], just like his father before him. In fact, there were only two people that he knew that were, in fact, true mates. So, it was truly rare to find your true mate. When Richard and Nicolas met at the age of sixteen, they became inseparable. Richard ended up falling in love with the smaller man and imprinted on him. In the six years that followed that meeting, Richard had planned to eventually tell Nicolas that he was a werewolf, and explain everything, and even offer to turn Nicolas so they could be the Alphas of the pack, but the timing never seemed right.
Richard had no clue what the man in the cage was. He had met other shifters before that were panthers and coyotes, so he knew their scent. He knew the scent of humans as well. Granted Nicolas did smell more like a wolf than a human, but that had been the case since they were in each other's company day-in and day-out. But this man, his scent was neither human nor shifter. It reminded Richard of cloves with a slight hint of musk. It was the most intoxicating thing Richard had ever smelt and made his dick instantly hard. He wasn't sure if he had thrown Nicolas back to protect him or to get him out of the way so he could closer to the stranger, but he was sure that the man in the cage was his true mate and he now had an important decision to make.
Without even a hint of struggle the man opened the door to the cage, stepped up to Richard and leaned in as if to kiss him and said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk mon chiot, you didn't need to hurt your little toy. I was going to have a snack before I finished him off and then have my way with you." At that moment, Richard saw the fangs descend.
Richard asked horrorstruck, "What in the hell are you?"
The stranger replied, "Didn't your père teach you about my kind? No? Hmmm, interesting. I don't guess you get to see many vampires out in these neck of the woods."
"Vampire? That explains why you were in a windowless room in a cage, but why are you on the ship to begin with?"
"Did you honestly think that the Union troops didn't know about the little plan your friends had? I was the insurance for once they were captured. I was to stay here until the sun went down, then sneak off the boat and into the fort and feast," the man replied with a smirk.
Richard stared at the man and asked, "Why would you do that? What kind of creature would take pleasure from killing that many people?"
The man leaned closer to Richard and whispered in his ear, "My pet, you have no idea how many people I've killed, and I loved every minute of it." He then licked Richard's earlobe and Richard knees almost buckled.
The vampire's attention then flicked to the body that lay on the floor behind Richard when Nicolas let out a moan. Richard suddenly remembered that Nicolas was there. Hell, Richard almost forgot Nicolas existed for half a second. That moan brought back the last six years in a flash of emotions. He remembered the love he felt in his heart for the small man, and his need to protect him and keep him safe. He looked at the monster in front of him and knew immediately what his decision was. He looked the vampire in the eyes and said in a flat even voice, "You are nothing to me. I choose Nicolas, you are not my mate."
If one's mate rejects you, it feels like your heart is ripped from your chest, torn to shreds, placed back in your chest, and then ripped out again. The vampire let out an anguished cry that could be heard all the way back to the fort. He might have been evil, but even evil feels. Before Richard could even think, the vampire was gone from in front of him. He turned and was greeted with a horrific sight that would be forever etched in his memories. The vampire was crouched over Nicolas' body, his fangs fully clamped on to the small man's neck. The look in Nicolas' eyes was pleading. Richard lost all control and without a thought, shifted. Normally, he would shift to a four-legged wolf, only about the size of a mastiff. This time was different. Once the shift was complete, he was standing on two legs, his arms ended in a combination of paw and hand that had razor sharp claws at the end, and he felt powerful. This was the first time he took on a full Alpha form. The look of horror in Nicolas' eyes made Richard's heart break. He leaped over to the pair and without a thought, ripped the vampire's head from his body. That's when Nicolas' body fell to the floor and he knew he was going to die. What neither was expecting was for the vampire's dead body to fall onto Nicolas, and where the head should have been, the decapitated body bleed into Nicolas' mouth. Richard yanked the body from his lover's and shifted back to human. Nicolas tried in vain to get away but his heart was slowing and he was too weak to move.
Richard went and held his lover as the heart slowed and eventually stopped. The heart-breaking cry that escaped Richard was deafening. Suddenly, Nicolas' eyes sprang open; however, when Richard looked into them it was not Nicolas looking back. The once hazel eyes were now amber and his skin was alabaster white. Fangs shot out where his eye-teeth were and Nicolas' mouth latched onto Richard's neck. Richard pushed Nicolas off of him and smelt the air. Nicolas no longer smelt like his best friend and lover he had imprinted on, rejected his true mate for.
Nicolas looked at Richard and asked, "What the fuck are you? What the fuck was that guy? What the fuck happened to me? This is all your fault. This all happened because of you. I never want to see you again." Nicolas fled from the boat before Richard could react. His lover, his rock, his everything had just left. He knew Nicolas was now a vampire. He realized Nicolas had died, the monster that fled from the boat was no longer his Nicolas. He had to accept Nicolas, as he knew him, was forever dead.
Reluctantly, Richard left the boat, shifted, and ran home to the pack. Ran to his father, mother, brothers. Ran to the ones who knew him best. Ran to the place that held thousands of memories of him and Nicolas. The pack lands were outside of Beaumont, Texas. It sat on one hundred plus acres with the Neches River on one side as a border, in the piney woods of southeast Texas. Richard was too distraught to notice something was awry when he entered the pack lands. Yes, it was night, but even then, there should have been a guard on watch at the border of the property. Also, there should have been the nightly fire in the pit in the center of the small village. There was nothing, though. Not a sound. Richard came to halt in the center of the village and quickly shifted back to human. He sniffed the air and caught the scent of blood mixed with the new scent of his former lover. He cautiously entered his father's house. There was blood everywhere and his mother's and little brother's bodies were laying in the middle of the room lifeless. He ascended the stairs to check the bedrooms. They were all empty. Finally, he checked his father's office[CAH6]?the Alpha's office. There, behind the desk, Nicolas was latched onto his father's neck. Richard begged Nicolas to stop with this madness. Nicolas looked at Richard, pulled off the neck and stared[CAH7] him straight in the eyes and said, "Oh, my dear, I am done." And with that statement, snapped Richard's father's neck and threw his lifeless body aside. Nicolas crossed the room, his face still covered with the blood of all of Richard's family members, and kissed Richard full-on, then walked towards the door. He then turned and said, "Why didn't you tell me the truth? Why did you keep this hidden from me? Let's see, hmmm logically, if I could become the same as the stranger in the cage, who's to say that I couldn't become the same as you."
Nicolas was looking Richard in the eyes as he said this, and knowing Richard as intimately as he did, saw the guilt there. Nicolas flew back across the room, tackling Richard to the ground, and said, "You could have prevented all of this if you had just been honest with me. I wanted to be with you forever, but you kept this from me and now you have to deal with the consequences. Oh and, Richard dear, you have quite a mess to clean up." With that, Nicolas turned and left the house. Richard was in a complete state of shock. Werewolves had an average lifespan of about 500 years. They could still breed till about the age of 250, so Richard had expected to live a long life with his pack. Now, however, he had no family left, he wasn't sure about the rest of the pack, but given how quiet everything was when he entered the pack lands, he didn't hold much hope. He was twenty-two years old and completely alone. In one day he lost his lover, his true mate, his family, and his pack. The worst part was the fact Nicolas was right, this could have been completely avoided if he had only been honest with Nicolas from the beginning.
His[CAH8] was a small pack, only twelve members total- Richard's father, mother, older sister and her husband and son, his younger brother, his maternal grandmother, the true mate pair, and his mother's sister, and her husband, and their newborn son. They all knew about his relationship with Nicolas and were all trying to convince him to tell the truth. His first excuse was Nicolas was too young to make the decision whether to accept the offer to be changed and stay with Richard and the pack. When that excuse finally got old, the war broke out, so Nicolas and himself went to Fort Griffin to help protect their families. Then, for the past year they were held prisoner[CAH9] in Fort Griffin. There never seemed a good moment for him to turn to the small- framed young-looking man he loved more than anything in life and said, "Hey, by the way, I'm a werewolf, and if you would like, I can bite you and we spend the next 500 years together."
During that year, his mother, aunt, and grandmother, as well as other women from the area, had been allowed to visit. He could leave the fort at night when he absolutely needed to shift. He didn't, however, get a chance to meet his cousin. He missed his younger brother's first shift. He missed his nephew's fifth birthday. After contemplating all of these thoughts, he finally gathered himself and stood up. He knew Nicolas was long gone. Although he had never met a vampire since most lived in Europe, on the east coast, or with a small but powerful clan in New Orleans; he knew the legends about their speed and stealth and their power to place people under a type of spell, allowing the vampire to give any command they wanted. Those legends were how Richard knew true mates could be any supernatural being, be that another shifter, vampire, witch, or Sidhe (pronounced shee and more commonly known as fairy folk). Right then, though, he couldn't waste time recalling fairytales, he had his family and pack to take care of. Werewolves were traditionally cremated on a pyre, the ashes left to become part of the earth.
He knew he couldn't stay here; the memories were too harsh. The pack had plenty of money saved, so he knew he didn't have to worry about affording new pack lands. The only question was, where was he going to move? He needed to find a new pack; however, with him being a full Alpha now, he couldn't join an existing pack without either challenging the current Alpha or submitting to him or her. He didn't want to deal with any more death anytime soon.
Once he had his family and pack taken care of, he decided to head north. He traveled slowly so he could listen to local gossip and see if he couldn't track Nicolas. In every town he visited, he heard rumors about local boys either missing or being found naked and dead. All the boys were between the ages of sixteen and nineteen. The bodies would be found to have been involved in some sort of sexual activity and completely drained of blood. Over the next two years, he followed the trail of dead boys throughout East Texas, Western Louisiana, over through the hill country of Texas and eventually to Dallas. As time went by, the bodies were fewer and far between. There were a few times when Richard thought he had lost the trail altogether. However, it ended once he reached Dallas.
It was 1865 and Dallas was a growing city. Nicolas decided to set up his home and stay. Upon his arrival, he immediately sought out the richest and most exclusive neighborhoods, befriending and seducing the young guys he met. Over the years, his powers grew quite strong (speed, stealth, and enthrall), enabling him to become more discreet when he fed. He eventually discovered that he didn't need to drain the boys completely, he only needed to take enough blood to maintain his hunger, leaving his prey merely feeling weak. Considering the majority of time the boy had just came as well, they were none the wiser to the loss of blood. Of course, this meant he needed to feed more frequently, but he could use the same boys over and over again. He would simply place them in his thrall, command them to return every week. He would keep fucking and feed on them for a few years. Once they hit the age of twenty, though, for some reason, Nicolas no longer found their blood desirable. Yes, it would maintain him, but it just didn't have the same flavor as the younger ones. That didn't mean he simply threw them away, they still had their uses. He needed money, they had money, he had the power to enthrall them and command them to give him money, so he took full advantage of the situation. He even got a few to leave him everything in their will and then they would, unfortunately, meet an untimely demise. By 1875, he had amassed millions of dollars which he invested wisely. By the turn of the century, he had Dallas under his complete control.
However, the years he spent traveling after the change got him addicted to the kill. Holding a person's life in his hands made him feel like a god. That feeling was further enhanced by his powers. He could almost move at the speed of a thought, he could practically disappear into the nighttime shadows, and he could enthrall just about anybody into doing exactly what he wanted. The person would have to have an iron will to resist his commands. Like all addicts, he needed his fix every once in awhile. He would reach a point about every year and a half when he just had to drain a boy completely while he rode their dick, leaving just enough blood in the boy's system to keep his cock hard until Nicolas was able to get off. These actions eventually caught the attention of the other American vampires. The ones from the east coast thought his actions were deplorable. They had a respect for life, viewing it as a gift that should never be taken for granted. However, on the other hand, the New Orleans clan thought nothing of it since they controlled their city in much the same way. Considering the vampire that made him spoke French and had an accent, he figured that he was part of their clan. This was confirmed after meeting them. Since he had Dallas under his control, they accepted him as part of their clan and supported him in his endeavors.
Richard watched Nicolas as he took control of Dallas, feeling helpless since he could not stop Nicolas. When he first arrived in Dallas, he tracked Nicolas down one night and tried for an attack. The vampire was fast, but the werewolf could easily track his movements. The vampire would cloak himself in shadows, but the werewolf could easily track his scent. Finally, when the vampire tried to enthrall the werewolf, nothing happened since Richard had the will of an Alpha. There were times when he prevented a young boy from becoming Nicolas' victim, but these occasions became fewer and fewer as Nicolas gained more control. Finally, in 1870, Richard realized that he could accomplish nothing staying in Dallas. If he ever wanted to successfully stop Nicolas, he would need a pack. He bought one hundred and fifty acres of land in deep East Texas just outside of a small town known as Rusk. He figured this would be far enough from Dallas that Nicolas didn't fell threatened, but still close enough that he could keep an eye on him.
Shortly after settling on his new land, Richard met a werepanther named Ben and a werecoyote named Gerald, a couple the were true mates. He told them his story, and once they heard about Nicolas, they decided to help Richard and became his first two pack members. Both had actually been affected by Nicola, though not directly. Gerald's cousin, who was a human, was killed in 1864. The sixteen-year old's naked body was discovered one morning, having been completely drained of blood. Ben's family was pretty wealthy, with a lot of said wealth spread across many branches of the family tree. His mother's cousin and his family, all of whom were human since the were gene was passed from the father's side but never from the mother's side (meaning that if your mother was a shifter and your father was a human, you would be human), lived in Dallas. They died one night in a house fire that spared only the youngest son. The son inherited the whole estate. He had a will drawn up immediately after receiving the inheritance, naming his friend beneficiary. The friend's name was Nicolas Boudreaux. They agreed with Richard when he made the decision to tell any new pack members that vampires were the natural enemy of all werecreatures and needed to be controlled and if at all possible eliminated from existence. The three of them were the only natural shifters, though. When other natural shifters heard the lie about vampires, they would leave, not wanting to get involved in a war. And a war was exactly what Richard was starting.
Over the following years, the pack grew. The three founding members were selective of who they would turn. They needed to make sure the people were healthy, strong, smart, and adaptable, since the first change after a bite can, although rarely, kill the person. They didn't feel like they had time to spare to weed out the weak. By 1890, the pack had 30 werewolves, 20 panthers, 15 coyotes. In that time, Richard "dated" (had casual sex with) a few different men, but his heart still belonged to Nicolas. He initially thought the imprint would fade away since Nicolas was a monster now, however, Richard eventually accepted the truth and admitted to that he would always love Nicolas. This didn't stop him from making the occasional trip to Dallas with the strongest pack members he could gather and launch an attack on Nicolas and his clan. Only Nicolas would rarely attack Richard. Not a full-on physical attack at least. Nicolas would attack Richard with a gift, or a letter, or a phone call once telephones became a household item. The little man always did love to play games.
There were casualties on both sides. In 1905, Gerald was killed during an attack on the pack lands. He was on guard duty that night and Nicolas' clan attacked from the shadows. Gerald never stood a chance against the five vampires. He had just enough time to sound the alarm and warn the rest of the pack of the attack. The five vampires were quickly dealt with, three of them dead on the ground and the other two captured and held for questioning. Once the alarm sounded, the entire pack emerged from their respective homes and started shifting. The vampires suddenly found themselves surrounded by wolves, panthers, and coyotes. The moment Ben saw Gerald's body, he attacked the closest vamp and quickly removed his throat from his neck by sinking his razor-sharp teeth in and locking his powerful jaw, finally using his paws to push his body away from the leech. He turned faster than anyone thought possible and repeated the process with the woman vampire that then stood in front of him. The third vampire was taken care of by Richard while in his Alpha-hybrid form. The poor boy looked to be about seventeen years old and didn't stand a chance as the huge wolf on two legs walked up to him and using his claws, simply ripped the boy's throat out. Ben was still in a frenzied state, and Richard wanted answers. Before Ben could attack the other two vampires, Richard looked at him and in a strong tone, infused with his will commanded, "Ben, stand down now, your Alpha commands it." Once that particular line is stated by an Alpha, the pack member must obey. If the pack member does not obey the Alpha Command, it is considered a challenge against the Alpha and then the pack member has two choices, either fight the Alpha for the Alpha spot or leave the pack lands immediately. Ben complied, and the vampires were taken in for questioning. Silver handcuffs were placed and their wrists as well as silver shackles around their ankles to prevent them from trying to attack. Every supernatural being is "allergic" to one of two metals, either iron or silver. Werecreatures vampires were susceptible to silver, while witches and Sidhe suffered from the touch of iron. When Richard finally questioned the two remaining vampires, he didn't expect many answers. Mainly he wanted to know the reason for this attack since it was so out of character for Nicolas. The only answer he received was that Nicolas had no idea of the attack, they did it on their own to try to impress their clan leader. Richard then escorted the pair to the vampire holding cell he had built. It was basically a 10x10 square foot box that was fifty feet tall and built out of rock that was so smooth, it was almost like glass, offering no hand holes to assist in an escape. Attached to walls were silver chains that locked around the prisoner's neck. Oh yeah, there was no ceiling, meaning that once the sun rose, the shadows in the room would become smaller and smaller, eventually leaving no escape from its rays once it reached its apex. The vampires would spend the day in excruciating pain from the silver chokers, knowing that they would be dust in a matter of hours.
In 1895, Richard met Margaret, a fiery red head that for some reason caught his eye. The first female to ever accomplish that. It was probably due to the fact that she was a fast thinker and agile enough to mentally kick his ass. She had no qualms speaking her mind and letting him know exactly what he doing wrong, and how to fix it. So, naturally, Richard named her his Beta, the person that was second in command of the pack. The Beta was responsible for giving the Alpha advice when needed (a lot of times when it wasn't needed or wanted as well), negotiating with other packs and the other supernatural beings, working as a mediator when an inner-pack conflict arose, and running the pack while the Alpha was away for business or in a battle. The Beta also knew the pack secrets. The lies and half-truths that the Alpha told the pack and the pack would accept as truth and law. In Richard's pack, there was only the one secret, the truth about who Nicolas really was, and his connection to Richard. What that boiled down to is that the war that the pack thought was so important because that was what they were told to believe, was nothing more than a lover's quarrel. The Beta never went into battle, instead, he or she would remain on the pack lands, thus ensuring that the pack had a leader in place at all times. It would leave the pack vulnerable if something were to happen to the Alpha and the Beta. The only thing related to battle the Beta dealt with was strategic planning. They would point out the weak spots in the enemy's defenses as well as the flaws in the plans the Alpha laid out.
Even though she knew the truth about Richard and Nicolas, she agreed to marry the Alpha. She realized that even though she would always be second in his heart, Richard would never leave her for Nicolas. He simply couldn't fathom the idea of living his life with Nicolas after everything that had transpired. They eventually had pups. The first two were a pair of identical twin boys they named William and Phillip (Bill and Phil) that were born in 1945. The third pup was born in 1974, her name was Lucy. In 1976, Margaret, unfortunately, died along with Lucy, in a car wreck. They were heading back to the pack lands from Shreveport after visiting friends from another pack and trying to work out some negotiations they had going with the other pack. They were run off the road while crossing a bridge. The car plunged into the water below and sank to the bottom, mother, and daughter both unconscious from hitting their heads on the dashboard from the force of the impact. It was the 1970's, so of course, Lucy didn't have a car seat. Conveniently, there were no witnesses to give a description of the other car. Two days after the accident, Richard received a dozen roses. Nine of them were red, while three were black. The next second, his phone rang. He answered it and heard, "Three hearts you once held no longer beat, each one now black, like the pedals of those roses. I am truly sorry for your loss, my love."
Richard responded, " What the fuck did you do you deranged little piece of shit? It's been 112 years, let it go. You obviously love your life and you're having a fucking hell of a good time. Let me live my life and I'll let you live yours."
"Richard dear, I have no life to live. Your lies saw to that. The life I had expected to live with you was taken away from me that night."
"Why Nicolas?" Richard cried into the phone, "Why did you take her away after from me after 91 years? I was happy with her. Almost as happy as I was with you."
"And that, right there is the reason why I took your happiness away. You will never love anyone as much as you love me. I simply needed to remind you where your heart truly belongs. Mine, however, no longer beats, so I can't say that my heart beats only for you. I could, however, say that you are mine and always will be, but I'm afraid I prefer my lovers about 125 years younger. Don't get me wrong, you look damn good for someone who is 147 years old, but then again so do I. But I will tell you, I still imagine it's your cock I'm riding right before I come."
Richard responded flatly, "Today, I'm going to burn my wife and daughter. But, know this, you goddamn son of a fucking bitch, you will pay for this. You thought we were at war before, you haven't seen a fucking thing yet you little pissant."
Nicolas merely laughed and in cool even voice said, "Richard, I'm not going to pay a fucking thing because you'll never get close enough to me to lay a finger on me. Tell your boys Uncle Nicky says hi and I do hope to see them soon. I'll see you soon. See you around lover, who knows? Next time I see you I might give you a sympathy fuck. Even though the last time I saw you, you were looking quite a bit older. Make me wonder. Would you want me to call you Daddy while you pound my ass into the mattress?"
"Listen here you little," Richard began, but then notice the sound of the dial tone.
Richard decided to hold off attacking Nicolas' clan for many many years. He built up the pack as much as he could. He had a new Beta named Mike, a friend of Bill and Phil. Bill had been named next in line for Alpha while still in high school since he had a more dominant personality compared to Phil. Mike was going to be Bill's Beta. After Margaret's death, Mike became the new Beta. Eventually, Bill and Phil started dating a couple of human women who ended up pregnant. On August 16, 1997, Christopher Richard Robertson was born. Later on September 18, 1997, Gary Rito Robertson was born. Mike had a two-year-old daughter by this point with his wife, Sarah, named Ellie. The little girl was obsessed with the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess and wanted to be just like Xena. The entire pack eventually started calling Ellie Xena. On October 31, 1998, Sarah gave birth to Xakary Thomas Johnson.
Two years later, Richard is prepared to make his move against Nicolas. The past twenty-fours years had seen a few fights here and there, but no major attacks from either Richard's nor Nicolas' side. Richard was hoping the Nicolas would complacent and start lowering his guard. In 1977, Richard noticed how beefed up security had gotten over the year while he was on a scouting mission to Dallas. He had read Bill, Phil, and Mike in on most of the secret about vampires. He didn't think they needed to know that Nicolas was his former lover and that the real reason the war even started was because of a lover's quarrel. The parts he told them were mostly true. He simply said that he and Nicolas had been close friends since they were sixteen, and then six years later, Nicolas was turned into a vampire and went berserk and killed Richard's entire family and pack. The parts he left out were the fucking and the fact that he was butt-ass-crazy in love with Nicolas. Collectively, they decided that luring Nicolas into a false sense of security was going to be their best bet. They were all still relatively young, considering they were shifters, they had plenty of time to wait. They saw their opportunity arrive with the turn of the century. Nicolas was going to throw a huge party for New Years to bring in 2000. Richard, Bill, Phil, Sarah, Ben (basically a hermit now who never mentioned Gerald's name after that night, only emerging from his hut in the woods to get some supplies and occasionally to see Richard- if you wanted to see Ben, you had to trek out through the woods and go to him), and many other skilled fighters made the two and half hour drive to Dallas. Mike stayed on the pack lands, as was tradition, to take care of the remaining pack members, especially the four toddlers that were the pride and joy of the pack.
Nicolas' party ended up consisting of the pack members and his clan only. He had set up an ambush. There were two vampires for every pack member. One-on-one, the werecreatures could handle the vampires. Once the numbers fell away from that ratio, the werecreatures didn't stand a chance. Nicolas fled as soon as he saw Richard. Nicolas' guards closed the doors and barricaded them. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no strategic advantage to use. The fight ensued immediately. Bill and Phil were being attacked by Nicolas' favorite pair- Toby and Justin. The pair looked to be around the age of 18 or 19, Justin having blonde hair to Toby's light brown, both had amber colored eyes just like their "father." Richard knew the pair had been turned back in 1946, having read in the newspaper about a pair of high school friends that had gone for a walk one night, simply to disappear. A picture of the pair accompanied the article, so Richard recognized them when he was on a scouting mission about four years later. He didn't have time to think about that right now, he was being attacked by a pair of leeches vampires that were too new to the "nightlife" that he quickly made mincemeat out of their necks. He thought that was too easy, and he was right. He wasn't the main target. He should have known better. Nicolas wanted him to suffer and take any semblance of happiness away. He looked over in time to see Sarah, his Beta's wife, fall to floor lifeless. He quickly scanned the room and noticed approximately half of the pack members that came with him lying dead on the floor. The vampires that hadn't perished before the werecreatures fell joined the fight against Bill and Phil. Everything almost looked choreographed. Suddenly, he felt a hand pulling on his arm yelling to get his attention. Ben was still alive! He was begging Richard to run, to abandon his children and the rest of his pack. He almost knocked the man across the face for being a coward, only to notice out of the corner of his eye that Phil was now laying on the floor with Justin latched on his neck while four others held an arm or a leg each. They then each pulled in a different direction, and Phil was literally ripped limb from limb. When he looked over at Bill, he noticed Toby staring back at him. The look in the boy's eyes almost seemed sad. He then said in a voice that sounded on the edge of tears, "I'm so sorry. I have no choice. Please..." He was cut off by Justin knocking him across the room and yelling, " You fucking pussy. If father heard you apologizing to a fucking dog do you know what he would do to me? Do you want to watch me wear the silver cuffs for hours?" Realizing he had said too much he simply grabbed Bill's head and snapped his neck like it was a twig. Miraculously, the doors opened for them as Ben, himself, and three others attempted to leave. There was no resistance as they made their way to the cars. As Ben drove away, Richard let out a cry of hurt and remorse that it instantly brought tears to the eyes of anyone that heard it. Arriving at the pack lands three hours later, an eager Mike greeted them, looking for his best friends, and his wife. When he saw there was only one car mixed with the look on Ben's and Richard's faces, he knew what happened. Still, he had to ask, "Sarah...Phil...Bill?" Richard only shook his head and walked past him to enter his house. He now had two two-year-olds to take care of. Xena, seeing the sad look on Richard's face ran to him and threw her arms around his legs. She didn't see her mommy and she heard a cry from outside a little bit ago that sounded like her daddy, so she knew something bad had happened. She looked up at Richard and said, "Don't worry Alpha Richard, I will help you take care of and protect them the best I can. I promise." This brought out a laugh from Richard, and he responded, "It seems our pack finally has an enforcer."
As the foursome grew together, observers could tell that Gary seemed to be the "odd man out" most of the time. Xena was extremely protective of Chris and Xak. Anyone who wanted to hold either one of them needed her permission first. This included Alpha Richard, who played along to amuse not only the little girl who had recently lost her mom but himself as well. Chris and Xak had gotten so attached to each other by the age of five, that was how they were referred to as, "Chris and Xak." If someone saw one, the other was there right by his side. Eventually, Mike convinced Richard to "share" custody of the two. Mike jokingly set up a schedule that showed him getting them on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and every third weekend, while Richard got them the remaining days. What started off as a joke became reality. Xena would occasionally accompany them to Richards and Gary might go to Mike's every so often, but Chris and Xak remained attached at the hip. They were so close that their scents became infused with each other by the time Chris was nine and Xak was eight. Everything changed when Chris turned twelve and started puberty, with Xak joining shortly after at eleven and a half.
[CAH1]Just learned this one! Uncommon foreign words should be in italics the first time they're used in the manuscript.
[CAH2]See above
[CAH3]When I used numbers to describe the height and weight of a character I was told that was amateurish. I was coaxed into using only words. Comparing the guy I was describing to a linebacker and describing the kind of muscles ar size worked for me in that instance.
[CAH4]You capitalized the first use of the word but not this one. I'd suggest consistency.
[CAH5]You're ending 2 consecutive sentences with the same word and it creates a funny echo sound. Try property or something else like it.
[CAH6]No spaces before or after an em-dash
[CAH7]Changed to eliminate repetition.
[CAH8]Are all the ages in parenthesis necessary? This may be your technical/research experience coming through! "__"
[CAH9]This should be in italics if you want to emphasize the word, not quote marks.