A Solitary Life

He was being stalked, of that he was sure.

With a soft clucking of his tongue, Cameron did his best to not look over his shoulder. He had done so once already, and hadn't missed the shadow that had slipped away from his vision at the last second. He was being followed, and by now, whomever it was probably knew he'd realized it.

It was an amusing feeling. Usually it was he who did the stalking. Whomever this was had to be supremely confident. Either that or they didn't realize his true age and nature.

The marketplaced bustled around him unknowingly, a plump merchant's wife calling out to him as he stepped into her line of sight....

"Apples, milord! Fine apples! Fresh picked to take home to the missus!"

Cameron gave the bold woman a toothy smile before flicking a copper coin her way and pausing to select a gleaming red fruit from her stall. There was little chance whomever followed him would make a move in this busy place. And for just that reason, he was almost anxious to leave it behind him.

Turning a corner as he exited the marketplace, he knew there would be scant seconds before his tail thought it safe to pursue.....should it decide wise to continue this game at all. With a fierce gritting of teeth, he turned his attention to the brick and mortar wall of the shop he'd just passed.

Muscles rippled as scrabbling fingers found purchase again and again, scaling the rough surface with inhuman speed. And when he'd finally reached the top, he was barely winded. Instead....curious to see just who or what his shadow might actually be.....

Grey eyes watched curiously in silence......hopefully patience would show him something interesting......

"Apples, mi'lady! Fine apples! Fresh picked to take home to the family!"

All she wanted to do was go home. Buy a shiney red, tangy sweet, apple, and go home, apple juice tasting on her lips. Was that so much to ask? It was all she wanted, if she had a home to go to. If she had one.

Laurel Anne Erikson

She was all alone in this world. And had been for some months now.

The woman meant no harm. She didn't know. She was nothing more than a vendor, a lady trying to sell her meager wares to support her own family. Unfortunately, Laurel had no coin to offer the woman, even tho her own belly was growling from hunger and those apples looks absolutely devine to her. Never mind that Laurel had no family to bring any apples home to.

"sorry, no, but the man you just sold an apple to, I saw him pass a copper to you, did you see where he may have gone?" She drew the hood up about her head as she looked quickly around. There were so many people in the market this day. She had managed to keep him in site, until he rounded the corner. She caught the briefest glimpse of him when he took the apple, but then he was lost in the sea of humanity that seemed to be swarming the main street. It had taken her a long time to find him. IF that were him. She thought it was. She had paid the last bit of gold she had brought with her, from the sale of a very fine piece of jewelry, to get the information that had lead her here. She could not loose him now!!!

She prayed a silent prayer that the dirty old lady had at least paid attention to where the man with the copper went.

"he went down the alley miss" she grinned, holding out her hand, expecting something in return. Laurel had nothing left as far as coins went, not with her now. All the money she had left now, was back at her home, well hidden, waiting to pay this very man she was seeking.

"please forgive me" she apologized, bowing her head slightly to the woman before moving toward the alley.

"bitch" the woman spit at her, before turning away to hawk her apples to others.
"Apples! Fine apples! Fresh picked to take home to the family!"

Laurel slipped into the alley. Despite the light of the day, and a rather dismal day it was, the alley was quite dark. The shadows that danced along the walls were haunting. Laurel paused, her fear getting the best of her, but then she continued on. She would do this. She would, no matter what. She had to, for her father. Gods she missed her father.

A sound still barely lingered in the air, scratching sounds, as if someone had clawed the very brick that lined either side of this dismal place. She stopped, lowering her head, listening. Why would someone do that? Scratch at the brick? Maybe it was a rat, or some other rodent, skittering about in the faux night that the alley seemed to foster. That had to be it. Yeah, that had to be it.

But wait, where was he? She scanned the alley again with her dark eyes, which matched the deep darkness that was her long mane of hair. There were no forms lurking, no shadows moving, he had just.... disappeared.

With a low sigh, she turned. How had she lost him. How?? And, more important, would she find him again???

"You have to Laurel, you have to" her words echoed back to herself, a quiet, sweet sound.

Gods, if only her father were there. She missed him, more than anything in this world, Laurel missed her father. He was a world class tracker, hunter, and, to Laurel, a world class father. He had been the last to die, defending his family. His actions had saved her life that was for sure, she wasn't even scratched.

She took another step back toward the main market street, when she froze. The hairs on the back of her neck standing up, a chilling cold slithered over her form, reaching beneath her cloak, gliding against her skin. She had felt this before, that night it all happened, the night this all started. The night the Lycans came.
But...
There were no Lycans here, not right now, right? Why... why had this feeling suddenly overcome her?

And worst, she had lost him!! Shit!!!

"SHIT SHIT SHIT" She could not shake her feeling and it scared her, and frustrated her and angered her. She hated Lycans, why were they everywhere she went?

What if she had been following the wrong person?

Laurel:

http://s1070.photobucket.com/albums/u487/RainandHeat/BLACKHAIR-1.jpg

It was nigh impossible to catch his stalker's scent. He had to praise that much about his shadow at least. Of course, the market had to have given his pursuer at least as much difficulty if it indeed were Lycan.....if not....well, hopefully he'd find out shortly.

Steely eyes pierced the gloom of the alley way, ever watchful and waiting, yet not so much so that he ever let down his guard even for a minute. From behind him, he could hear the soft, sporadic sound of water droplets as a leaky gutter bled slowly onto the rooftop's surface....one drop at a time.

Those same eyes narrowed softly as his "shadow" finally came into view, swearing loudly enough to provoke a toothy grin from her supposed "prey." This certainly hadn't been what he had been expecting, yet it was far too soon to simply think she was a human who had sought his aid. He continued to watch....gave her ample time to note the scrabbling he had made on the building walls as he had forced his bulk up their surface. A human wouldn't comprehend it should they be looking for such a thing......but a skilled tracker would.....one who had been trained to locate a being such as he.

He did little to hide his presence as he watched her, admiring the fullness of her body from this vantage point. She was lithe, graceful, and apparently full of frustration at having been eluded. Perhaps it was time to throw a little bone......

Cameron stood up, just as he saw her stiffen. Though he couldn't tell if it was from noticing his path of retreat or not. Either way....she couldn't miss the feeling of his shadow as it fell over her.

He said nothing, just gazed down upon her with his brawny arms at his sides, wondering what her next move would be now that she was out in the open.

Again.....he would wait and see.

"Just wait, Laurel, just wait" It could have been her father's voice, whispering in her ear. When tracking, sometimes it was best to just wait. Laurel stood, frozen, head canted slightly aside, and listening. That was another thing her father had taught her, listen, watch, and often times the "prey" will tell you exactly where it is.

Breathing.

She heard a low breathing.... from above.

Laurel moved to a defensive position, laying her back to the brick alley wall.

But....

Something was wrong. This was not the place to meet up with him, if that were him. The feeling that had come over her had put her on edge. What if the person she had been tracking were not him, what if that were a Lycan on the hunt? Could she have made that kind of mistake? She was a good tracker, a smart tracker. But tracking animals and tracking another human were totally different things. What if she had made such a grievous error? Swearing about it was not going to get her anywhere.

If her sixth sense were right, and that was a Lycan she had been following, she needed to get the hell out of there, before things got deadly, and then try and locate Cameron again. That was who she needed, Cameron. She had seen a rendering of what he looked like, and a description, and had committed that to memory, and she thought that the person she had seen this very morn near the marketplace was him. It was rumored he was here, in this very village. She was not sure why, but that did not matter to her, she just wanted to find him.

But maybe if that were a Lycan she had been following, maybe that was why he was here. He hunted Lycans after all, right?

She was about to move, when the shadow descended over her. It felt cold, so very cold. Was that him? Cameron? Was he cold like this? Did it matter? Laurel did not expect a warm and fuzzy man, or even one that was easy to talk to. She did not expect anyone like her father or older brother. It would have been nice, but NOT what was expected. This was a Hunter, a Killer, or so she had been told. Of Lycans. It was said he was a cruel man, a very cruel man. That mattered not to her. She just wanted to find him, and beg him to hunt, and slaughter those that had slaughtered her family. It was that simple. And, she could pay.

But again, something was wrong...

"Don't look up" It was as if her father were speaking to her. "Don't look up"...

She almost did, until her eyes caught sight of the tearing in the brick. Claws. Whatever was up there, had scaled it's way up. It was Lycan. It was not HIM!!! FUCK.. she had made the one error she could not afford to make. How had she done that.

Laurel quickly lowered her head and eyes, drawing the hood tighter about her visage. She would not let that monster see her. She could not. He could mark her as prey and she did not need that right now. She carried a sword, her father's, across her bac, of the purest silver, honed to a razor sharpness, but she knew, she would be hard pressed to win in a fight against a hungry Lycan.

Laurel cared not if she died, she simply wanted revenge for her family first. Cameron would be that revenge. Finding him was her only reason for living.

Slowly, she backed out of the alley, careful to keep her back to the wall, until she was around the corner, almost knocking over the apple cart lady.

"Sorry" she stammered, before turning away. She was frustrated and angry at herself for making such a stupid mistake. She needed to find him. She HAD TO. SOON....

So that was how it was going to be.

A lip curled slightly in amusement, a razor sharp incisor slipping into view for just a second as Cameron regarded the hooded figure beneath him. There could be no doubt that his pursuer had noticed the shadow that had fallen over it. Yet the mystery figure held enough poise and self control to not look up and reveal who or what it was. Interesting.

Something was off, as well. Something that made a soft current of electricity quite unlike anything he'd felt in eons run through his body. The elder lycan was certain he'd felt something similar before......he just couldn't quite capture when and why......

He knew he shouldn't let her go. He even tensed slightly, deliberating whether or not he should drop down and confront his mysterious shadow before it had the chance to disappear once more into the throng of humanity once more. Every muscle in his body keened for him to drop like a stone and pin her to the ground beneath his ponderous weight, growl in her ear a demand to know why she pursued him.....

Yet he had long ago learned to banish such impulses, for they often led to even more dangerous situations. And so he watched her as the little shadow slipped away once more.....

He had his own hunt after all.

There was to be a bloodletting tonight. Few of the town's residents even suspected that tonight's full moon would be much, much different than those they'd survived up until now. The peaceful village would turn into a charnel house soon enough. Cameron shrugged to himself. Humans lived, and humans died.....usually in the time it took for him to blink. It was their tormentors he was interested in. He was hungry.

Slowly he moved from the rooftop......not really moving in any set direction, just wandering aimlessly from the top of one building to another as his thoughts churned feverishly behind the stoic mask he wore.

That was no ordinary stalker, of that he was sure. She could have passed for a human.....perhaps even was one. But either way, there could have been no mistaking her stiffening as she noticed the marks where he had scaled the alleyway wall. Not to mention the self control she had shown as she had picked her way out of his trap. But most unsettling of all had been his own bodily reaction and his inability to identify it. Had it been something he'd seen? A stray scent that had reached him?

A soft, annoyed growl escaped him them. He should have pursued her, shouldn't have let her slip away so easily. He could have had answers then.

His growl was mirrored by another. His stomach. Squinting skyward, the lycan glanced at the sun. The humans would be packing up their shops by now. The smarter ones would lock their doors for the evening.

Supper would be forthcoming soon enough. He could worry about the mysterious female later.

"It's a new moon" the words were echoed by many in the street.

"the new moon"

It had been the night of a new moon when her own family had been killed, 3 days ride from where she stood. A brand new, very full moon.

Did this small village have any idea what would be happening this night?

THAT was why he was here. How had she missed that? That was why. A new moon meant the cycle's first hunt. Luna, the moon, sister of the sun, Sol, would be in command this night. The wolves would howl. That had to be why he was here.

And it was the solstice. Everything would be intensified. Everything.

It was not lost on Laurel, what would be happening this night. Since the night of her family's slaughter, she had researched all she could on Lycans and their kind. She knew, the night of the new moon, on the solstice, the Lycans would hunger, for both meat, and more, carnal pleasures.

The thought made Laurel shiver down to her very bones. She refused to remember that night, at her small house, the night of the new moon, on the solstice, when her older sister, and her own mother, had been...............

"NO.. NO NO NO" Almost viciously she shook the memory from her mind.

He was here. He was here for the new moon's hunt. He would hunt them. She needed to find him tonight, because surely he would be gone before the morning, when it was all over, and Laurel could not afford to track him again, for days, or even weeks. She had to find him...

"I have to find you tonight, I have to" it was said almost like a prayer.

"what was that sweetie?" the nicest young girl and her husband had agree'd to allow her to stay with them for the night. Beth and Herbert, 2 very nice villagers. Laurel had agree'd to pay them her very last silver coin for a couple nights lodging and they had very excitedly accepted. A silver coin was a rarity in this village.

"oh nothing Beth" Laurel turned, trying to smile.

"Remember, it is a new moon tonight, make sure to barricade the doors and windows"

Herbert nodded. Beth came from a larger city, that was not as vunerable as the village was. But Herbert, he knew, he knew well.

"the new moon" Laurel whispered, looking out at the setting sun.

He hungered.

Yet he forced himself to smile as he passed them. Cameron offered a polite nod to a smirking teenaged looking "human." Yet Cameron wasn't fooled, just as he was sure the lycan wasn't either. Both possessed a heightened sense of smell that easily differentiated predator from prey.

His only mistake was thinking Cameron was here to partake in the evening's festivities. Well....he was. Just not in the same way the muddied lycans were.

They weren't congregating. Smart. Instead, they had instinctively spread out through the city. When nightfall did come, it would come with unprecedented carnage for this unsuspecting village. It had taken quite a bit of time to locate the handful he had found. And yet none of them were alone. It seemed like they were traveling in pairs.

Not like he cared. That simply meant less hunt for more food.

If they had known about him, had been warned, he was certain he would have been attacked by now. Even if it would have just been suicide. When faced with death, people do strange things......things that only seem to complicate well laid plans. For the moment, Cameron could only be thankful of the current level of complacency.

His dark head swiveled upward.....a simple glance at the sun's position telling him all he needed to know, smiling as the lycan he stood so dangerously close to echoed his movement, baring his throat unknowingly for just a moment.

Cameron was careful to end them both before they could scream, the same shifted hand that had torn the youth's throat into so many bloodied ribbons and sent him gasping helplessly to the ground, tightening suddenly to pierce his companion's chest, crippling a lung so that he might share the same panic and pain......

Yes.....he would feed well today.....and tonight. The corpses he left behind.....torn asunder save for the looks of horror and death shown clearly on their faces would serve as testament to that. He felt not an ounce of pity as his jaws opened wide.....sharpened teeth closing about the tough muscle of the heart and tearing a bloody chunk free from the first of his two grisly trophies.

Indeed. The evening should provide food and amusement.

The sun had barely lowered, the moon only just peeking over the horizon, when it started.

A howl.... a scream...

Oh yes, it had started.

Laurel had already left the safety of the small house. She implored Beth and Herbert to lock the doors behind her, to shudder the windows. She would be alright. She would be. They did not believe her, but Laurel didn't care. She had to find him tonight, she had no choice.

She kept to the shadows, between the small houses and the slightly larger taverns and the general store. About her form she wore a Lycan fur. She had paid alot of money for that fur, alot. It was fresh, that was her one requirement. She needed the scent to mask her own. Sure, she took a chance that the very one she sought, would attack and kill her, thinking she was a Wolf, but it was a chance she had to take. It was her only protection against all the other Wolves that hunted this night. And there were many. It seemed they had descended on this small village, descended like the plague.

Laurel paused outside one small place, she could hear something inside. She knew she should not look. "Don't" her mind screamed. "Don't". But she made the mistake of peering in the window when she heard the female's plaintive crying out.

The girl, she had to be Laurel's age, no more than 19 or 20 seasons surely, was on her back on the floor. Her dress torn from her writhing form. Blood dripped from the lips of the man, and yes, he was in human form, over her, his body covering her own. The pumping of his hips, the hard thudding of his body into hers, Laurel knew he was mating her, raping her. The girls gurgling cries, her breath being driven from her as he thrust his rock hard member deep into her sex. The husband, Laurel guessed it was the husband, lay in a torn heap on the floor, his blood soaking into the wood.

"Oh yeah" the man grunted "ohhhh yeah" his voice nearly howling like the dirty Lycan he was. He pushed the length of himself into the girl one more time before spilling his seed, his body violently shaking, as was hers.

The memories flooded Laurel's mind and she herself nearly screamed. But she managed to slap a hand over her own mouth to silence herself, but, unfortunately, that sound was heard by the monster that was raping the girl.

Climbing off the whimpering prey, he turned toward the window. He saw, what he thought was a female Lycan, at least that was what the scent told him. The fact that he also smelled death, he attributed to the fact that there was alot of that this particular night.

"want a taste?" he growled, licking his blood stained lips.

Laurel quickly turned away...

"NO"

The next sound Laurel heard was a heart rending, ear shattering scream, followed by a low, deep, long howl.

She just wanted to collapse and give up right then and there. She was never going to find him, never.

She needed to get away from that house, and fast, her feet quickly taking her to the forest side of the street. She could not afford to look into any more houses. She could not see that again. Her mind was already playing back her sister, on her own bed, screaming, crying, begging, while the Brute that was the Lycan in human form, viciously raped her, laughing as he bit into her nipples, tasting blood, feeling her writhe and arch beneath him, his cock tearing into the warmth that was her sex.

"no.. NO" desperate to cast the memories aside, Laurel stopped, shaking her head, covering her ears so she would not hear the screams, the cries.

She nearly stumbled over the 2 dead bodies. Only these, these were different. Yes, they were torn apart. Yes, both had the look of abject terror on their faces, but something was different about them. It dawned on Laurel what it was as she took a closer look. Both were mid transformation. They were Lycans, only they had not had the chance to fully transform before they were attacked and slaughtered, and fed upon.

"he must be close" she whispered to herself, strangely glad that her mind could now focus on the task at hand.

She turned, only to come face to face with the Wolf that had raped and then devoured that poor girl in the house that Laurel had just witnessed..

"yes, I am close" he growled, languidly licking at his fangs. "there is something wrong here" he smelled the air, looking beyond Laurel to the 2 dead behind her. "something very wrong". Reaching out, he touched the dark fur cloak that encircled her form, pushing it back slightly to observe the female beneath. "Mmmm my, how pretty, and..." he paused, sniffing, "in heat"........

Laurel's eyes widened and she took a step back from the advancing Lycan.

A low growl echoed from the shadows as the dark lycan advanced. It was more than enough to give the creature pause as it cast its long muzzle about, scenting the air.

This had been a scent he had recognized. And just as swiftly, the stalker had become the stalked. He hadn't lost his curiousity one bit, as to her identity, and this time she lacked the hooded cloak that had disguised her earlier.

Cameron moved slowly from the shadows and let the other lycan take a good look, even as its eyes threatened to bug right out of it's head.

"Did you enjoy your meal?"

Silence. The lesser creature obviously taking in his full coat of nearly metallic silver fur......a testament to his age.

"I asked if you enjoyed your meal."

The muzzled head snapped back up, finally making eye contact, and for a moment the fool grinned a wolfish grin. Thinking it had found an ally of the night.

"She howled beautifully for me. A sweet little morsel. Had I known an Ancient was in town for the solstice, I'd have gladly shared her. As things stand, perhaps you'd like to partake in some dessert?"

Again, the lowly creature advanced on the obviously terrified human, now surrounded by two lycans......

"Dessert. Yes. I think I'd like that very much."

Blood stained his claws, though his muzzle by now had been licked clean. As he drew nearer, the other lycan paused......clearly confused. Something was wrong here. Something didn't.....smell right.....

Eyes widened, and for a moment, Cameron could see recognition in the younger lycan's eyes.....recognition of old horror stories passed down in their generations meant to keep them from growing too bold and letting their guard down.

"Oh.....oh fuck.....you're....."

The silver lycan tore out his throat with a single swipe of his claws, ending any further chance of alerting others. He kept a lone grey orb focused squarely on the quivering human as he bent low.....following up on the terrible rents by clamping his powerful jaws around the pitiful creatures neck and grinding until not only could she hear its own strong spine snap......but she could personally watch the life fade from her tormentor's eyes.

He let the corpse slide to the ground like a rag doll. This one tasted even more foul than usual. Yet unless he wanted the damn thing to regenerate......

With a canine snarl, Cameron drove a sharp paw into the thing's chest, slicing with surgical precision. As the breastbone split in too, the air misted with blood as the thing's ribcage sprang open......

He wasted no time in burying his whole face in the chest cavity, eagerly seeking out his victim's heart. The clearing was filled with the sounds of his feeding......

When he finally retreated, it was with a gore stained face that he turned to face her with.......steely eyes narrowing.

"So this is the face of my stalker. You apologized earlier, yet you didn't say for what. Nor did you tell me why you spent so much effort to pursue me in the first place. Tell me little human girl......why do you risk so much to track me. Don't you know that wandering into a village of humans on a full moon......in heat as you are.....is just begging for someone to rape you senseless?"

He cast at the air....drinking in her scent......and that scent excited him. But he would not lose control. Merely scare her into talking.....especially when he made no attempt to hide his rapidly swelling cock from her.

"At best, you'd be devoured. Yes, I said at best. Because the worst case scenario is that you would be bitten and turned. The seed pumped into you from your tormentor would take root.....and you'd be mated for the rest of your life. You'd become one of them."

His eyes narrowed.

"And then one day, perhaps it would be you that I hunt."

Laurel realized that she had taken a chance that she should not have taken. Why search for him by night? The daylight was much safer. What the hell had she been thinking????

But that was just it, she was not thinking. She was acting on pure adrenelin. Her need to find him, Cameron, her need for revenge for her family, had taken over her life. She was a smart girl, she knew better. But she let the heat of the moment, the knowledge that he hunted Lycans and Lycans would be feeding tonight, cloud her judgement.

Plus there was the small fact that Laurel was not afraid of death. She just wanted her revenge first.

She had stepped back from the Wolf, her mind reeling as to how to get herself out of this, when that low growl from the shadows stopped her in her tracks. It was deep, rumbling, filled with a sense of power, of strength.

He was huge, magnificent, Laurel had never seen anything quite like the Dark Lycan that stepped from the ebon night that surrounded him.

"Did you enjoy your meal?"

"I asked if you enjoyed your meal."

His voice held a command to it.

And to be honest, this Lycan scared her far more than the first one. Far more. She stepped back further, her eyes fixed on the newcomer. Her fear was palatable, but it was strange. Mingled with it was anger. She could not die here, before she got her revenge. She could not. These Lycans had taken so much from her, how dare they take that from her too. NO, NO NO.... NO...

From that moment, thru the kill, happened at what felt like lightening speed for Laurel.

Her mind did register one thing clearly, the first Lycan, and the abject terror that suddenly colored his voice when he spoke...

"Oh.....oh fuck.....you're....."

The blood spewed, flowed. It was everywhere. She watched as the second Lycan, the obviously more powerful, tore into the first, the life, if one wanted to call this a life, in his eyes flickered and went out.

And he fed.

And she, did not run.

She was not sure what kept her there, rooted in place.

When he lifted his head, blood, tissue, meat dripped from his fangs. It was far from a pleasant site, but Laurel had seen worse. Much worse. She had buried what was left of her family, and they had been torn apart. It was a memory she did not want to recall, relive. Ever. But after that, the blood and gore that now stood before her, she could manage, and she stood her ground.

"So this is the face of my stalker. You apologized earlier, yet you didn't say for what. Nor did you tell me why you spent so much effort to pursue me in the first place. Tell me little human girl......why do you risk so much to track me. Don't you know that wandering into a village of humans on a full moon......in heat as you are.....is just begging for someone to rape you senseless?"

One thing kept creeping into her thoughts. Why had he not turned and slaughtered her?

Wait.... was it he that she sought?

Was it a Lycan that she sought to kill other Lycans?

"At best, you'd be devoured. Yes, I said at best. Because the worst case scenario is that you would be bitten and turned. The seed pumped into you from your tormentor would take root.....and you'd be mated for the rest of your life. You'd become one of them."

His eyes narrowed.

"And then one day, perhaps it would be you that I hunt."

Her eyes widened...

"Oh God" the words slipped past her lips. She had been tracking a Lycan. How had she missed that.

"I thought, I thought, you were .............. human... I thought Cameron was human" she quietly said, her mind racing, trying to come to grips with this very surprising fact.

Then the rest of his words sank in, and for the first time, anger flared in her gaze.

"I will never be one of you. I would rather die first." the anger fostered a sense of bravery. "It is YOU that I hunt" she choosing to echo his words. And in fact, she took a step toward him. Yes, she hated Lycans. But if it took a Lycan to kill the ones that had ended any semblence of the life that she once knew, that was just fine with her. It would have to be.

"I seek a Hunter, An Assassin, to hunt down and slaughter two particular Lycans" She needed to get this out before her own fear resurfaced and she could not.

"I will be willing to pay you all that I have. But I need to them dead first, preferably torn apart, and the more they scream, the more they suffer, the better."

" Can you.... " she faultered then regained her strength at least for the moment. "Can you do that..... for me?"

She met his steel gaze, her own crystal clear blue eyes refusing to look away. Yes, he could reach out and effectively eviscerate her, or he could rape her right where she stood... But for some reason, she knew he would not.

If he agree'd to this and he did as she asked, she would let him feast on her as a reward. She cared not, as long as revenge was enacted first...

"Oh God."

Terror. Not an unusual response. Expected in fact.

"I thought, I thought, you were .............. human... I thought Cameron was human."

His body shifted to face her......his enormous cock steel hard and standing proudly as he regarded her silently.

"I will never be one of you. I would rather die first."

Well that was a good thing. Not another corrupt cultist who would try and come to him for power.

"It is YOU that I hunt."

Cameron wasn't sure if he should accept this dainty little thing's challenge right then and there......or burst out laughing. Insulting as she might find it, the latter of the two options won out.

"A tiny little field mouse wants to hunt the predator?"

"I seek a Hunter, An Assassin, to hunt down and slaughter two particular Lycans."

There was something there. In this human girl's eyes, that gave him pause. No. She did not want a fight with him. Not at all......

She sought healing. He'd seen it before. Had even heeded its call before. The huge silver wolf cast about, scenting the air before returning his attention to her. They were alone for now. She was safe despite her heat and the tantalizing aroma that wafted from her.

"I will be willing to pay you all that I have. But I need to them dead first, preferably torn apart, and the more they scream, the more they suffer, the better."

Torn apart. Screaming. Suffering. This human must have suffered much to ask for such things. Things that were akin to him.

" Can you.... " she faltered then regained her strength at least for the moment. "Can you do that..... for me?"

"All that you have. And just what do you have?"

Before she could answer, he continued......casting about once more, testing the air. Still there was nothing. Though faintly he could hear the screams deeper in the village. Another maiden was being violated tonight.

"These two. Their names? And what do you know of them?"

He crouched then.....bringing himself lower to the ground for her sake so that perhaps this little girl wouldn't find him so intimidating. A tall order, he knew. Yet she had shown bravery so far, and there was only the slightest quavering in her voice.

"And your name? I refuse to enter into a contract without knowing the name of my employer."

He listened carefully and nodded.....it was a strong name......like the tree she was named for.

"I cannot follow you."

He watched her reaction.

"As I stated before, Laurel. You are in heat. I'm sure you've noticed by now the effect you have on me."

He held her eyes for a very long time, noting every time she even thought of risking a glance down his body.

"Relieve me, and I will follow you. I will exorcise the demons of your past. You can consider this an advance payment if you'd like. As the price for my aid could be very high. I leave it up to you to show how dedicated you are to seeing those two slain."

"All that you have. And just what do you have?"

Gods, would it be enough? It suddenly dawned on her that what she had managed to save, 1000 peices of gold, quite the treasure to most people, most humans, may mean nothing to this large, silver hued Lycan. Nothing at all..

Her lips parted to answer, but before the words could come out, another cry split the night. It was distant, the other side of the village, but it was female, and Laurel did not need to be told what was again happening to another poor soul.

He continued.

"These two. Their names? And what do you know of them?"

When he lowered down to a crouch, it took all Laurel had within her to not show the terror she felt. To not turn and run. NO, she would hold her ground and get this done. She would not run, not shame her family that way. They deserved revenge. She, she needed it, desperately.

"I know not their names..... " she paused, taking a deep breath, reaching up to brush back a tendril of her midnight black hair that had slipped forward to tickle the curve of her throat. The spark in her eyes glowed once more, heated in anger and rage, as she remembered the two... the two that had torn her life asunder.

"but, the larger, a male, had a deep crimson red streak that ran down across his chest. It was not a blood stain, it was coloring in his fur. He was large, not as large as.... You" she stopped, looking at him... FULLY looking at ALL of him... "but larger than him" she pointed to the nearby dead Lycan he had just feasted on.

"the other is female. I know that because she had no......" Laurel stopped, her face bright red. She needed go any further with that. "And she has one missing eye" Laurel knew that because it had been her own father that had blinded her.

"That is all I know. I hope..... I hope it is enough" It had to be. It was all she had.

No wait...

She had one more thing.

"wait, I have... this. " from within a small pouch carried about her waist, Laurel produced a bloody hunk of fur. The blood had long since dried, but the fur was a deep brown color, with a splash of red. "This is from the male, the one with the red. I was hoping this will help you so I kept it to show you" She had expected to show a human, hoped maybe he would recognize it. But maybe, for another Lycan, it would mean even more.

"And your name? I refuse to enter into a contract without knowing the name of my employer."

"Laurel, Laurel Anne Erikson"

She turned away... "I can take you to my cabin, show you the ..... show you where..... " she paused, this was not easy for her.

"I cannot follow you."

Laurel turned back, her dark eyes meeting his. A howl startled her, a Wolf raging his triumph, causing her to jump, nearly into him , she having not realized that he had slowly advanced closer to her in the darkness.

"As I stated before, Laurel. You are in heat. I'm sure you've noticed by now the effect you have on me."

She couldn't help but notice, it was right in front of her. He was rock hard, aroused, and huge.

"Relieve me, and I will follow you. I will exorcise the demons of your past. You can consider this an advance payment if you'd like. As the price for my aid could be very high. I leave it up to you to show how dedicated you are to seeing those two slain."

She flushed red with heat. Relieve him?? Was he crazy??? The thought flashed thru her mind in an instant. She had no idea what may have shown on her face, but she regained control quickly. Or at least she tried to.

She took a markedly large step back, her eyes having fallen to regard his member once more before she pulled them back upwards. There was no way.......

But she also knew, the gold was not going to be enough.

She would have to offer something more. Something she held dear, that she had never given to anyone.

"no, NO, but I can .... promise you this." she swallowed slowly "I am intact. Never been....... touched. If you find these 2, and torture them, kill them, while I watch, I will offer myself to you.... to..... to do with as you desire. I have 1000 gold as well.. 1000 gold and myself. That is your payment. The 1000 in advance. The payoff when it is all over. ..."

"But...."

"Please promise you will kill me when you are through with me"

The descriptions did nothing for him.

But this......this was something he could work with. A huge paw extended towards her, accepting the scrap of fur she had produced. He could feel her eyes on him as he raised the parcel to his sensitive nose and inhaled deeply. That scent......deep and musky, a mixture of woodland and swamp......a tang of perspiration......and the soft alluring scent of the mate he ran with.

He would not forget. Never forget. For long moments, he stood there, eyes closed and softly breathing in the strange mixture of scents. Committing them to memory.

"It is enough."

He listened to her as she quibbled over his demand......obviously frightened to death of him.

"No, NO, but I can .... promise you this." she swallowed slowly "I am intact. Never been....... touched. If you find these 2, and torture them, kill them, while I watch, I will offer myself to you.... to..... to do with as you desire. I have 1000 gold as well.. 1000 gold and myself. That is your payment. The 1000 in advance. The payoff when it is all over. ..."

"But...."

"Please promise you will kill me when you are through with me"


An odd request. Yet he was not unreasonable. Nor did he lack the self control of the muddied lycans. His lust was his own to rein in. He would not force himself on her and become the monster these humans all believed him to be.

"Then you will wait."

He watched her face fall slightly.

"You are wrong to ask me to be beside you when your body screams to be mated and bred. You will wait until your cycle has passed. Only then, will I follow you to your cabin."

If he had been in his human form then, he would have frowned. As things stood, not much was seen but a furrowing of his thick brows as he thought. She had been hunting him for this? His own terms would now prevent him from leaving this area until the time specified. And he wouldn't be caught dead tomorrow in this village......

"You'll find me at the edge of the southern forest when you are prepared to leave. I can not promise that I will take your life. But I will promise that I will not breed you, Laurel Anne Erikson. To do so would be to create more monsters.....and I've no wish to hunt my own children."

Another casting, tasting of the air's currents.

"Now go. Your ripeness calls out to them the closer you get. You should not delay any longer in this village unless you'd like to share the fate of the girl you spied on just now."

His head spun back to her once more.......

"We will meet again."

"We will meet again."

Laurel turned away. She had seen that look in his eyes, almost a disdain. He thought her weak. Didn't most Lycans think that humans were weak? That was why they fed on humans, right? Weak, and maybe even stupid, or foolish, for venturing out during her monthly cycle.

"I am not stupid, Lycan" she said back to him as he turned away. "I am not weak. I may be frightened, but fear is a survival characteristic. And I intend to survive, until I see my revenge. Then, I no longer care. And I am not stupid. I came out this night because I knew that Cameron, you, hunted Lycans, I knew I would find you this night. I had to or risk loosing your trail. I could not afford to do that. So do not think me either of those things"

Why was that important to her, that he know that???

"and this is not a deal until we agree on the terms. I did not ask about being bred" the thought made her shiver, "I asked that the promise be made to end my life once you have finished with me. Give me that promise Cameron. It will not make you any more of a monster. It will only be a promise kept."

"Please"

"To see the death of these 2 Lycans is very important to me"


Maybe not to him, but to her, it was all that mattered.

She stood in the darkness, another blood-searing cry ringing out behind her. "NO.. NOoo please NO" Someone ran by, a naked female, behind her, three, count them, three Lycans, in human form, just as naked, laughing and yelping as they chased her. Laurel her the girl's body hit the ground with a hard thud. Then she heard the men, and the sounds of them mounting and raping her. Closing her eyes, she waited his response before she moved. She had to get out of there shortly, or they would find her, and she could not count on the Silver One before her, protecting her yet again.

"And I want to hunt with you when you do" that was the last of her deal. She wanted to see him torture those Lycans, she wanted, no, she needed to hear their screams, to see their own life blood drain from their bodies. She wanted to look them in the eyes while he ripped out their hearts. She needed them to know that it had been her... HER, that had brought forth the evil that torn them apart.

"You claim strength, yet you seek death. Giving up on life, is by definition, weakness."

His eyes bored into hers, turning slightly as he too watched the human woman run down by the lycans......stared impassively at her as his "brethren" used her for their own carnal lusts. There were three of them.....they would be occupied for a while before the woman was let die. And if they didn't kill her.....Cameron would have to.

"Your desire for revenge is strong. Yet you are weak. Perhaps not of body, but certainly of emotion, how your mind fares remains to be seen."

He turned away from her.....fully facing the brutal rape going on dozens of yards away from them. The woman's horrific screams were hard to ignore.

"I will find them for you. I will cripple them. Tear their limbs from their bodies and deliver them to you for death. You.....you will make sure they know why they suffer. What grudge you bear them. And you will show me how hot your desire for revenge burns. They will scream for mercy. But it will not be mine to give. In the end.....you will be the the one to claim their lives."

He slowly began to move then.....towards the three who so openly displayed their debauchery out here, mindless of his presence.

"You may hunt with me. If you are strong enough to keep up with me, and wise enough to evade the many enemies who seek me dead."

He let his last words echo through her mind, let it be something for her to dwell on.

"But I will not kill you, Laurel Anne Erikson. You will have to find strength past that of your simple revenge."

"You claim strength, yet you seek death. Giving up on life, is by definition, weakness."

"I do not agree. Living a life that is not worth living, just to live, is weak. But I will not debate this with you." she actually snapped at him.

The sounds of the Lycans just beyond where they stood was nothing short of terrifying, yet Laurel did not turn, did not flinch. She was already pissed off at herself, at having shown him any weakness what so ever. If she were going to be able to do this, she needed to be strong. Did she really need to convince him she was strong, no. Just herself.

"Your desire for revenge is strong. Yet you are weak. Perhaps not of body, but certainly of emotion, how your mind fares remains to be seen."

She was about to snap at him again, when she realized it was futile. What he thought of her mattered not. As long as he accepted her proposition, and proceeded to succeed at his task, that was all that really mattered. She had no doubt he would find those specific Lycans.

"I will find them for you. I will cripple them. Tear their limbs from their bodies and deliver them to you for death. You.....you will make sure they know why they suffer. What grudge you bear them. And you will show me how hot your desire for revenge burns. They will scream for mercy. But it will not be mine to give. In the end.....you will be the the one to claim their lives."

He slowly began to move then.....towards the three who so openly displayed their debauchery out here, mindless of his presence.

His words surprised her, but strangely enough, Laurel smiled at that thought, a very very evil smile from a very pretty face. Her dark eyes, for the first time this hellish night, lit up.

"That.... is a deal. " She would have no problem what so ever, ending the pitiful lives of those two particular Lycans. "Let them scream for mercy, I will personally sever their vocal chords" The desire to mutilate and kill those Lycans burned so very bright and deep inside her, that it threatened to tear at her very soul.

"You may hunt with me. If you are strong enough to keep up with me, and wise enough to evade the many enemies who seek me dead."

She merely nodded. She was strong enough physically to keep up, she may not look it, but she was. She was fast, and agile. She would keep up, or at least just behind, as he hunted. And she was determined, very determined.

"But I will not kill you, Laurel Anne Erikson. You will have to find strength past that of your simple revenge."

Again, she was about to argue that part of the deal with him, but he had already slipped back into the darkness that consumed him. A moment, mere seconds later, she heard the 3 Lycans scream horribly, along with the girl. The sound was heart rending, pitiful, and tore into the night, but she did not turn. Those sounds were nothing to her, given what she had heard the night her family died. It was not that it did not effect her, it did, but Laurel knew she was going to have to buck up and deal with it.

She would no longer let emotion weaken her. He was right about that, as ashamed as she was to admit it, he was right.

That, would change... starting now.


Laurel quickly made her way back to the hut that she was sharing with Beth and Herbert. It was no small feat that she had not been scented and attacked. She was sure, perhaps one reason, was that HIS scent still lingered about her. No, he had not touched her, but his scent was so strong, and she so close, that it permeated her. It was the only thing that kept her safe.

Beth and Herbert were also safe, for the moment. The barricades had held, and there were so many "easy" pickings in the village that the Lycans had just not bothered.

The sounds of the night were more than hard to listen to. Beth was crying, Herbert was not much better. Laurel fought to keep her own emotions under control.

She had other things on her mind. Cameron, the 2 Lycans, their deal, and his refusal to complete the deal. What did it matter to him whether she lived or died. Did he just not want innocent blood on his hands? er... paws??? She knew she could force him to kill her, simply attack him. But he could simply fend off the attack and be done with it. There was no way she would be able to really hurt him.

"This is not healthy, Laurel" she said to herself. "Not healthy at all, to think so much of one's own death"... She sat back in the darkness of the small cabin. Alone. So alone. No family. A fate worse than death. At least to her. "If he won't, than I will just have to do it myself" she finally decided. But that would be later. First, she had to see her revenge come to fruition. Then she had to..... consumate... her deal with the Lycan.

She could not even think about that. NO. Revenge.... revenge.... revenge....

*************************************************************************
​

It took 2 and a half days for her heat cycle to finally cease. The night of the 3rd day, Laurel bid farewell to Beth and Herbert. They had survived that horrible night, but half of the village had not. Laurel could not think about that, she just could not think about so many families now torn apart like hers. NO, she had to get this underway and be done with it, so that her own suffering could be over.

At the edge of the southern wood, she waited, as dusk fell. She drew the same hooded cloak she had worn while tracking him about her form and let her thoughts meander thru her mind. He mentioned many enemies. Lycan? She would bet that Lycans would want him dead. Why did he hunt his own kind? That was the question. Did she even dare ask him???

It would be a several day trek back to her .... home.... if one wanted to call it that.. and the beginning of the hunt. Perhaps she would learn why during the journey.

He was nervous. He did not like lingering so long after a kill. Not when there was always a chance that other Ancients might come. Some came to scold the bitten lycans, make them believe that such open killings and slaughters would bring about the doom of the entire race.

But other came for him. More concerned about the lycans that had been slaughtered by something obviously not wrought of human hand. A confrontation is what he wanted to avoid. Yet Cameron kept his promise. He had lingered until Laurel had come looking for him.

He had smelled her approach on the breeze long before he saw her of course. The girl hadn't tried to mask her scent by keeping herself upwind, and why would she? When he stepped out to greet her at the forest edge, he was again in his human form, dark and brooding.....yet with those same sharp grey eyes she had seen nights ago.

"You are ready then?"

Of course, she was ready. She would not be here if she wasn't. Yet he waited for her assent.

"You won't mind walking? The beasts of burden your kind use shy away at my approach. It would be a hindrance."

Again he waited. She hadn't come with such a creature, but he just had to make sure she knew what to expect.

"Then we leave immediately. I can only assume you have a place in mind to begin the hunt. I can tell you now that the two you seek did not take part in last night's butchery."

If only it could have been that easy. Still.....if it had, he would have a human woman on his hands who insisted on being fucked silly as part of his "reward", and slaughtered like a lamb when it was over with. Neither sat well with him. How long had it been since he'd given himself over to those primal instincts anyway?

It must have shown on his face, his irritation, his distraction. Shaking his head like he'd just dunked it in a lake and came up gasping for air helped....though he was sure it would earn him an odd look from his new "companion."

"Lead the way. I will alert you should I pick up the trail, or the trail of others of my kind. Let us travel quickly, but silently. For your sake, I will walk for now.....but be ready to break into a run at any given moment."

"You are ready then?"

He had stepped out of the shadow of the woods, almost as if he were one with those shadows. And, he was perfectly silent, which if course was a good thing when you were a predator, as he was.

She took a moment to observe him, in this form. He was handsome, at least she thought he was, not that it mattered what she thought. What was most striking tho, were his eyes. They were the same eyes as the Wolf, sharp, cunning, and a deep steel grey. It was easy, thru those eyes, to see that he and that Monster, that Lycan, were one and the same.

Laurel took stock of what she had brought, mentally, one more time before answering his question. Truth was, she no longer had much of anything, nor did she want much. For this journey she had brought just a small pouch of medicinal supplies, some dried fruit for food, a container of water. Other than that, the only thing she carried was her fathers silver, ornate, sword, one that he had treasured. It was honed sharp and still blood stained from his attack on the female Lycan that horrible night. It was with that sword that she hoped to end those Lycan's lives, if he did not do it for her. It was the last attachment she had to her family. That was slung behind her back, beneath the cloak. She wore, oddly enough some would say, men's clothing, her brother's actually. Easier for travel, had been her thought. Black pants, a black shirt, leather belt and leather boots. Her long ebon mane had been pulled back and braided, keeping it out of her way.


"Yes, I am ready" she stated, matter of factly.

"You won't mind walking? The beasts of burden your kind use shy away at my approach. It would be a hindrance."

That made sense. And she would not place a horse in this kind of danger anyways. It was better that she only had herself to deal with, she certainly was not worried about her new companion, that was for sure.

"Of course, I prefer walking. Easier to keep quiet, let alone not have to worry about another living creature during this journey"

"Then we leave immediately. I can only assume you have a place in mind to begin the hunt. I can tell you now that the two you seek did not take part in last night's butchery."

She nodded. That had been a question that had crossed her mind, and she was glad to find out from him that neither of them had been there.

"The last place they were, which was my family's home. My thought was to start there. Perhaps there will be signs of them in the area that I myself would not see or know to look for. It is a 3 day travel from here."

She carefully watched his face. Surely he thought she was nuts, more than likely. Maybe she was. Laurel knew she had not been thinking straight since that awful night, why the hell else would she have sought out such a killer, and hell, offered herself to him. What had she been thinking??? But when he offered to bring the 2 to her, allow her the killing blow, she knew then that this little task that she had set herself to do would be worth it. After that, she cared not what happened to her.

"Lead the way. I will alert you should I pick up the trail, or the trail of others of my kind. Let us travel quickly, but silently. For your sake, I will walk for now.....but be ready to break into a run at any given moment."

"I can keep up, do not worry about that" she assured him. She was athletic, lithe, sleek. And more than anything, absolutely determined. She would do this, for her family. It was a wonder she had not lost her mind completely, given what she had been thru. She had thought of that too, more than she liked to admit. Glancing upwards, at the sun, she got her sense of direction straight in her head before letting him know the direction they needed to go in.

"My ......" she paused, taking a deep breath..."home.... what is left of it, is southwest of where we stand. Just outside the town of Harrin." She felt a deep seated cold shiver thru her form. She had left there the day after the attack, after she had... gathered up what was left of her mother, father, brother and sister, and buried them. She had been living on the road pretty much since then. This would be the first venture back to that.... structure.... calling it home just did not sit right anymore with her... since then.

"Harrin."

He repeated he name softly, nodding quietly to himself. He knew the village well, as he new much of this area. It didn't matter how long it had been since the last time he had ventured here.....

He turned to her then, advancing. Just watching her, he could read every muscle as it tensed at his approach. And just as he drew dangerously close, his eyes never releasing her own gaze, their chests inches from touching.....the soft stirring of his breath tickling its caress across her face.....

He turned....and knelt before her, dropping to a knee.

"Then the trail is three days cold at least, am I wrong?"

Fierce eyes lifted skyward, already yearning for the hunt.....excitement showing deep in their cool recesses, hidden for now from her.

"Then we can't afford another three day delay. Get on. We'll close the distance to Harrin in half that time."

He hated being used as a beast of burden. It wounded his majestic pride. But for some reason.....for her.....he didn't mind. Perhaps it was her wish. She was more than a stupid girl doing something reckless.....at least to him.

Cameron knew the desire for vengeance very, very well.

He waited patiently, growling softly deep in his throat at the slightest hesitation. Did she not appreciate that he was willing to humiliate himself like this for her?

And then they were off. He could hear her breath catch as he hurtled forward, his lithe body twisting and turning just enough to avoid trees as the whipped by them both. He would not take the main road. The sight of him carrying her would no doubt be cause for tales and tavern lore told over hushed fires for months to come. The last thing he needed was others knowing he had been here......

"Duck."

He gave her plenty of notice.....a low hanging branch speeding up to them, could feel her press tight against him as he slipped low and underneath without breaking stride. It was not entirely an unwelcome sensation......the girl was fit for a human, and though her musculature was delicate compared to his own, her femininity could not be denied as it smashed tightly against his hardened body. Cameron focused on the hunt, on the travel....rather than what else might be pressed tightly against him, her legs already wrapped around him to maintain her position.

Thank the goddess she's not fertile anymore. I'm having a hard enough time as is staying focused. Come on, Cameron, get it together or you're this distraction's gonna bite you on the ass.

Fortunately for him, the lycan had some help in being ripped from his inner thoughts......as the woods around them exploded into noise. He had felt them....known they were there all along.....yet hadn't bothered to mention their presence to Laurel.

There was more of them to their left.....coming up fast to flank the two of them on either side. Their howls shattering the stillness of the evening air. Wolves. A full pack. Their packleader growling softly to him as he easily kept pace. These weren't a stray pack of dogs though........these were his.

"The human village in the valley. Go there ahead of us. Scout. Make sure there is no ambush. You've fed well, your brethren deserve a good running. If you find wolves in human skin......deliver my hatred for me."

A short, sharp bark and a soft growl.....and the pack surged forward. One day he would shift fully, and run with them again......one day soon. It was a feeling he sorely missed.

"A day and a half. But now the way is clear."

Her own crystal hued eyes caught in his as he suddenly turned and approached her. Had she done something wrong? Said something wrong? For the briefest of moments, she actually thought he was going to attack her. But why??? He could have easily done that the other night. Laurel contemplated reaching for the sword she carried, but she would never be able to beat him, not that she would not die trying. She would have her revenge and no one was going to take that from her....

She felt every muscle in her body tense, even her breath caught. He came within a hair's breath of her, so close that his scent, still distinctly Lycan, flooded over her, as her own, distinctly feminine, did the same to him.

When he lowered to one knee, now she was bewildered. Men did that when proposing. She had seen her sister's new man do exactly the same thing.

That was when it hit her.

Her sister, Pearl, her new man. A red head. With the SAME eyes of the Lycan that had butchered her. It was HIM!!! Laurel suddenly trembled at the thought, not even hearing Carmeron at first when he spoke...

"Then the trail is three days cold at least, am I wrong?"

She barely nodded, still lost in the thoughts that had suddenly assaulted her.

"Then we can't afford another three day delay. Get on. We'll close the distance to Harrin in half that time."

It was him... what the FUCK had his name been? Not that his name would help, but Laurel, she needed to remember, she had to. What the FUCK was his name and why could she not remember it??

What, wait.. get on???

With a quick shake to her head, then a nod, she realized he was waiting for her, and none to happy about it. She heard his low growl deep in the recesses of his throat.

He was going to carry her. It dawned on her a moment later, for speed. There was no way she would be able to keep up with him, given what he was, at a dead run.

"yes, yes" she said, more to herself, before climbing on. She had a stray thought, that she was very glad she was wearing pants, and not the usual fare that females wore, given that she had to wrap her legs about him to hold on.

Laurel molded her supple, sleek, slight frame to his, the softness that marked her as very female, pressed into the strength that equally marked him as very, very male, right down to the very core.

And they moved. She could not help but hold her breath as he ran, silently, thru the wood that he seemed to know so well. He was nothing short of majestic, she thought to herself. But then again, what made him different from the foul monsters that had ended the lives of her entire family? Were they majestic as he? And why would she even think that word when it came to Lycans. Weren't they all monsters? Yet he had not harmed her. Why? Why was he different and willing to do this for her? Surely it was not the gold. Surely it was not just the sex either, she didn't think it was. He could mate anything ... er... anyone... he wanted, she was sure. There were female Lycans... even now they hunted one... so.. why??? Maybe... maybe he knew all about revenge...

That was when she noticed the others, just as they sprinted into view. Howling, a large pack or Wolves... or where they Lycans? Whichever, he spoke to them. "The human village in the valley. Go there ahead of us. Scout. Make sure there is no ambush. You've fed well, your brethren deserve a good running. If you find wolves in human skin......deliver my hatred for me."

"If you find wolves in human skin......deliver my hatred for me."

Lycans. He hated Lycans. But... he was one!! Why would he hate.... and hunt Lycans? And again, the same question that had already spun across her mind.. He had mentioned many enemies. Lycan? She would bet that Lycans would want him dead. Why did he hunt his own kind? That was the question. Did she even dare ask him???

"A day and a half. But now the way is clear."

A day and a half, until she saw her .... home again...

What was HIS NAME????? Again she saw her sister's new suitor, he practically proposing after only knowing her for a few days, down on one knee, grinning, when he had shifted his vision to her, standing not 20 feet away. The red hair... those EYES!!!

"REAPER" that had been his name. "Victor Reaper... but everyone calls me Reaper" that was what he had told both Pearl and herself at that first meeting. "REAPER" the name burst forth from her lips, near his ear, her warm, moist breath tickling along the lobe, and down along his throat. "REAPER... the Lycan, the male Lycan,... His name was Victor Reaper... He said to call him... Reaper"

She had no idea if that name meant anything to him or not. It sure did to her.

"REAPER!!!" she cried out the name again... Closing her eyes.. seeing his face, seeing his eyes, watching as he mounted Pearl, she was screaming horribly, the sound gut wrenching. Laurel had thought she was just screaming incoherantly, but now she realized, she was screaming his name. She knew, gods help her, Pearl knew who it was that was raping her, who it was that was going to tear her throat out!!!

Laurel shuddered, almost violently, trying to shake the memory out of her head.

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The Lycan called Reaper:

http://s1070.photobucket.com/albums/u487/RainandHeat/REAPER.jpg


http://s1070.photobucket.com/albums/u487/RainandHeat/werewolfkilling.jpg

"REAPER."

The word alone would have held no meaning for him, if not for the vehemence in which she spoke it. As things stood, he almost hesitated, nearly missed a stride in his headlong rush.

"REAPER"

The great muscles beneath her tensed, contained as they were in his human form. It was true, he could have shifted. He could have run with the pack momentarily at least sharing part of their form. The fact that she had repeated the word, spat it into the wind, had made him yearn to do so......release some of the fury that clouded his past.

"REAPER... the Lycan, the male Lycan,... His name was Victor Reaper... He said to call him... Reaper"

His lips curled back in a vicious snarl. It had been more than even he could hope. A simple word turning into a name like that. Yet the cur had always been pretentious, had always insisted that his name be synonymous with death. Still, he could feel his fangs grinding even now as every muscle in his body moved......

The still air rent as easily as the pitiful clothing he'd stolen he'd stolen nights prior. Dead humans have no use for such thing anymore anyway. Still....she could feel it, bunching and coiling beneath her as his shifting swept through him. It was painful for a bitten....oft times they screamed and cried pitifully as every single bone in their body broke and reformed, their screams only to be replaced by the never ending hunger once the transformation was complete.

But to Cameron, the shift was second nature. Awkward for just a moment, running as he was, and then his speed actually increased, the wildlife of the forest fleeing before him as the air shattered.....his silver mane tossing in the wind of their wake as he snarled his recognition of that name.....

Victor Reaper. One of the youngest of the ancients. And with youth.....came brashness, recklessness. Yes, it definitely fit his image of the man.....that a youth such as him would take part in these attacks. But Cameron wasn't stupid enough to think he was actually behind them.

Still. To think that this human bitch who rode him now would be the key to finding the path he sought. That she was lead him right to the beginning of his hunt.

His laughter was cold, and full of menace.

"Oh, I know Victor Reaper. He's a mewling little pup who loves to bathe in the blood of humans. He's a pompous, pretentious, pitiful bastard of a true born. He delights in turning the fairer humans into lycans, enslaving them to his will to boost his never ending ego and narcissism."

His head rolled back as they burst from the underbrush and into an enormous clearing complete with a crystalline forest lake. A surprised nymph, shrieked in terror at the sight of him.....prompting two gigantic roanwood trees to each drop a branch at least as thick as he was before her, the forest spirit obscured from view as quickly as she appeared. Yet he had no interest in her.

"But I know something he doesn't."

His fangs ground hard as his eyes narrowed to mere slits, sprinting across the clearing and disappearing with just the barest of sounds marking his passage back into the foliage on the other side.

"He's bait."

Her near violent shuddering was not the only thing that was shaking at the moment. What she thought was her body quaking at the memory of that Lycan and his name, was not her.... It was not her at all....

It was Him....

She felt the changes, the shifting, beneath the whole of her form. Where her legs wrapped about his waist, she felt him expand in girth, muscles morphing, growing, strengthening, the entire of his body began to transform, to deviate from human to Wolven, to the Lycan that he was. Laurel held her breath during the entire event. The movements beneath her, feeling muscle, flesh, bone, coalescing, changing, the human gone.. the large, very large, canine, wolf, Lycan in full form, carrying her. His garments torn away as his body fluctuated and grew, and yet he never missed a stride. His visage was the last to make the change, from human to Lycan, fangs elongating, sharpening, snout forming, yet his eyes, those never even blinked. His steel gaze, wild, predatory, cunning, dangerous, deadly, never changed thruout his shifting.

A mere moment later, it had happened so fast, and she was astride a large, silver hued Lycan. Not for a minute did she fear that he would drop her, and in fact, it was just the opposite. She got the strangest feeling from him that he would NOT let go of her now no matter what, that his grip on her in fact, strengthened. She was not sure why that feeling washed over her. But it was there, and palatable.

She heard him laugh, a sound that was more like a low, deep, rumbling growl, cold, filled with a vicious edge, to her ear.

"Oh, I know Victor Reaper. He's a mewling little pup who loves to bathe in the blood of humans. He's a pompous, pretentious, pitiful bastard of a true born. He delights in turning the fairer humans into lycans, enslaving them to his will to boost his never ending ego and narcissism."

His words made her blood run cold.

Just then, they burst into a clearing, the light glinting off a pristine lake that stood before them. Laurel took that one half second respite from their headlong run thru the forest to catch her breath, her eyes just barely catching site of the nymph they had all but scared to death, before the little thing disappeared, with the help of the nearby trees. If she had not been on the back of a large, dark, Silver hued Lycan, the image of that nymph and the terrified look on it's face may have actually struck her as amusing... but she was, on the back of a large Lycan and there was nothing amusing about the fact that he KNEW the Lycan she sought.

"But I know something he doesn't."

She leaned back down into the softness... Gods his fur is so soft, she thought to herself, sooo soft, not what she would have expected to coat a Predator such as he..... as he continued on his run, bypassing the lake to dip back into the woods, silently.

"He's bait."

Bait? What did that mean? Laurel lifted her head and almost... almost... had it taken off by just the sheer wind that he created with the speed he was traveling at. But what did he mean by bait?

"Bait? What do you mean bait?" she had lowered her head back down and shifted a bit upwards in her position, when she leaned in to speak to him, her lips actually brushed the soft fur of his ear, moistening that fur just a little. "How do you know him???? " the question came out a bit sharper than she had intended, but a sudden realization had come over her. What if he and Reaper.... were they part of the same clan? Part of the same blood?

"Bait? What do you mean bait?"

Her surprise was not unexpected.

"How do you know him????"

Her tone was critical this time, and he could feel her tense, her dainty hands balling more tightly into his silken fur. Cameron didn't miss the note of suspicion in her voice. This was good. It meant that she was now on guard, as she should be when dealing with his kind.

"I told you. He is trueborn."

He let it go at that for long minutes, paying more attention to their path than to her. It was only as an abstract thought that his explanation might not be enough for her, not being of the same monstrous race as he.

"We are few. And most of us hide ourselves well among the humans. While it is easy for a trueborn to create a thousand lycan servants from the humans beneath him or her, its is actually much rarer for two trueborn lycans to couple, mate, and produce offspring. As a result, as we age, which granted takes a considerable amount of time.......we die off. Many of which fail to leave a true legacy behind, just more insurrection and bloodshed."

His jowls pulled back in a vicious attempt at a smile.

"That's if we're allowed to die of old age. Many trueborn underestimate the humans they torment until they overrun their dens bring their wicked silver to bear against us. We are powerful......but you are legion. Even the strongest of us.....even I.....would flee in the face of an angry mob who's purpose was to end my life."

"So you see, it is easy to keep track of who else is left of your kind, in your area."

A long silence as Cameron's shaggy form slipped to the right, nimbly sliding around a thin, white birch, close enough that she could have easily reached out and touched it if she had wanted to.

"One day perhaps, the bitten will be the only ones left. I've only heard of one true birth in the last two centuries. And you've now asked me to kill him."

A deep growl, undulating through his rippling mass of a throat. Laughter.

"But he IS rare. And so he is to be protected, yes? Victor most likely is an unwitting pawn. It's not he we need to worry about. That little runt will most likely piss all over himself at the sight of me."

The laughter turned slowly into a deeper, much more angry sounding growl, which two hops and a jump off of a ravine cliff, split into a snarl....

"It's his father pulling the strings. And he wants me, no doubt. I wouldn't be surprised if you were let live for just this purpose. And you can bet he'll intervene before I kill Victor too."

Cameron struck at a passing elm, its bark exploding into splintered fragments that whipped through the air like so much shrapnel. The human hunter who found THAT would have something to think about.

"But he'll let me rough him up a bit. The runt is spoiled. Spoiled rotten. And has no regard for us or our ways. So we're going to play this game a little differently seeing as how they probably didn't count on you knowing who your tormentor is."

Those steel grey eyes narrowed again as he paused, intentionally drawing her in with the drama the silence created.

"We're not going for Victor. We're going to kill his mate first."

She.... She was not a trueblood. She wished she had been, she bemoaned that she was not, and she certainly acted as if she was. The reasoning for that was pretty simple, she was fucking a trueblood. And fucking him well, for the most part. Oh Reaper still sought humans for his.... cravings... whether those cravings were carnal or predatory. When he hungered, and she could not fulfill that hunger and survive, than he went on the hunt.

To watch him, in her eyes, was beautiful. Often, if the prey were particularly alluring, he would court said girl, gain her trust, wet his appetite with some very mild human.... sexual... interaction. But once he was done with that, and the hunger took hold, he would always come to her with the same missive "Tonight, we feast".... The full moon has risen. And, the best part for Linathe, was after. After the blood had been spilled, after the screams had faded, when he would viciously mount her, driving his long, thick, hard wolven cock deep into her dripping, soaking cunt. They would mate, right there in the midst of the blood, sometimes, the victims were not even quite dead yet, and they had to witness, to watch, the act, before Reaper or her would finally take that final swipe!!!

It was glorious.

The last feast had been, well, an event, to say the least. The girl Reaper had fixated on, had been a beauty of a midnight maned human, with crystal blue eyes. But, it was strange, he had told Linathe, she was not interested in him in the least bit, and in fact, had never taken notice of him, until he decided to pursue her older sister. She was pretty too, but not the beauty that the midnight one was. Linathe was actually a bit jealous, the way Reaper spoke of the midnight haired girl, Laurel, he has said her name was Laurel. But the sister, Pearl, she had practically thrown herself at Reaper. He, always looking for the easy way, switched gears, but always, he wanted that one girl.

The night that the hunger had finally spiked, his lust so great that he had taken her before even proceeding to the feast, his howls having sent shivers even down her spine, that night, as she followed him, catching the family unawares, he using his charm, wit, and cunning to be invited in to dinner. Linathe could still hear the father "Sure, come on in. I know Pearl would love to show you what a good cook she is"...

Pearl never got the chance. When the screaming started, she joined the fun.

But...

"She's not here!!!!!" he roared, cornering Pearl "WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR SISTER???"

When he threw her on the floor and ripped off her dress, Pearl still would not answer, not even when, in Wolven form, he mounted her, plunging the length of his member so deep inside the girl, that her scream still echoed in Linathe's ear. He tore her apart, literally.

Linathe shook her head. Usually the memories of the feast were good memories, pleasant, deliciously evil. This one, this one, his obsession with that girl, there was just something not right about it.

Linathe herself had seen the girl, that night, as she discovered the attack in progress. Why had she kept her mouth shut??? Why not just slaughter the girl herself? Jealousy. He was taken with the girl, and Linathe felt.... jealous. If he did not know she was there, then he would not be able to fuck her, or worse... turn her. Linathe knew that was what he wanted. Then she would not longer be the favored one of a trueblood. But, if she had killed the girl, she was pretty sure Reaper would have outright killed her.

Where was that girl now?

Reaper still spoke of her.

In fact, at this very moment, he was pleasuring himself, no pleasure for the human female, with a girl that bore a resemblence to that Laurel human. Linathe could hear the blood curdling screams now, from just beyond the wood. She felt no pity, just jealousy. Lifting her still human hand, she touched where her right eye should have been. All because of his obsession, she had lost an eye in the feast as well. Fucking girl. What was so special about her??


Linathe, in human form:

http://s1070.photobucket.com/albums/u487/RainandHeat/devil-tattoo-89.jpg


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"I told you. He is trueborn."

What did that mean? Laurel had researched some on Lycans, know your enemies, after all. But trueborn, that was a foreign word to her. She was about to ask him what it meant, and it was like he read her mind, as his voice drifted back to her.

"We are few. And most of us hide ourselves well among the humans. While it is easy for a trueborn to create a thousand lycan servants from the humans beneath him or her, its is actually much rarer for two trueborn lycans to couple, mate, and produce offspring. As a result, as we age, which granted takes a considerable amount of time.......we die off. Many of which fail to leave a true legacy behind, just more insurrection and bloodshed."

A born Lycan. Not a bitten one.

Laurel held her breath at that. Surely he felt her shudder. Maybe that was why he felt... different... to her .. than the foul monsters that had attacked her family. But then again, Reaper was one and the same as he was.

"That's if we're allowed to die of old age. Many trueborn underestimate the humans they torment until they overrun their dens bring their wicked silver to bear against us. We are powerful......but you are legion. Even the strongest of us.....even I.....would flee in the face of an angry mob who's purpose was to end my life."

"So you see, it is easy to keep track of who else is left of your kind, in your area."

That made sense. But she still wondered, did all trueborn kill the bitten? Or each other? Or was he still... well, was he the only one who did that?? Reaper had only killed her family that night, not the other Lycan, the female that was with him. His ... mate.

"One day perhaps, the bitten will be the only ones left. I've only heard of one true birth in the last two centuries. And you've now asked me to kill him."

A deep growl, undulating through his rippling mass of a throat. Laughter.

"But he IS rare. And so he is to be protected, yes? Victor most likely is an unwitting pawn. It's not he we need to worry about. That little runt will most likely piss all over himself at the sight of me."

The laughter turned slowly into a deeper, much more angry sounding growl, which two hops and a jump off of a ravine cliff, split into a snarl....

"It's his father pulling the strings. And he wants me, no doubt. I wouldn't be surprised if you were let live for just this purpose. And you can bet he'll intervene before I kill Victor too."

Father? Reaper's Father?

"But..." she paused..."How would any of them know I would go looking for the Lycan Killer? I had no connection to you, Hell, I thought you were human!"

"No, I survived because I was not there when the attack began. I came.... in ...the middle of it.... when he was already..... already..." she could not even bring herself to say it, and more than likely he felt her trembling. She wrapped her fingers into his fur, holding on, simply because she was shaking so much, she thought she would fall off him, and given she had no clue where they were, that would be bad. She could feel the tears, welling, wanting to fall, but Laurel kept them at bay. She did not want to show weakness to Cameron. She would not!!

"But he'll let me rough him up a bit. The runt is spoiled. Spoiled rotten. And has no regard for us or our ways. So we're going to play this game a little differently seeing as how they probably didn't count on you knowing who your tormentor is."

He went silent. But now she wondered, would he be able to kill Reaper? and what of Reaper's sire? Laurel struggled to wrap her mind around all this, she was not stupid, not by a long shot, she knew that there was something more going on here, something much more. And somehow, she had gotten caught right in the middle of it..She cared not for whatever grievences the Wolves held for each other, she wanted those 2 dead, Reaper and the female. She wanted her revenge, and that was that. What Cameron did after that was his business, not hers. Was he deviating from that task?? Did she even have the right to demand that he forget about the father and just do what she needed?

She was about to ask him, or at least voice her concerns, when he spoke once more...

"We're not going for Victor. We're going to kill his mate first."

That was all she had to hear. Kill his mate.

KILL.... the Female...

For Laurel, that was as good as place as any to start.

She shook softly as she provided just the barest of hints as to the tragedy she had been a part of.....one that could never be truly swept away from memory no matter how much a desire for vengeance tells you it can.

He pitied her. Silently and without showing. Her pride was such that even now he could scent the tears she was struggling so hard against. She would not cry, not before him, certainly not after he had accused her of being emotionally weak.

"I have to ask you something."

He wanted to give her something else to think about than the painful memories he had no doubt stirred. She couldn't have been an unwitting decoy. He knew that know. Certainly not if Victor had attacked her home expecting for her to be there......

"The scrap of fur you presented me with that first day. Where and how did you get it?"

Plans, tactics, strategems. They all swirled about in his head for now, even as the sky began to lighten. Day would break soon.....he would have plenty of time to think as she rested. If Victor didn't know, then could Armando truly be involved? Or was his reckless son just running about half assed again? No....it was best to assume the worse and that this was a trap.

Still....cunning wolves could spring traps with a stick, and still carry off the prized meat they carried. His mind churned in silence until finally it was too much for him. He could feel her surprise as he skidded to a halt, forest earth and deadfall spraying up about his fur.

"We rest here. The sun is coming up, Laurel Anne Erikson. Would you like to be seen riding a monster by your own kind?"

He had already begun the shift......the silver fur receding into more human like follicles, his great head tossing slightly as his muzzle slowly melted liquid-like into a more human visage. He had no clothes this time, yet he felt no shame as he stood before her naked. Instead it was with a wry smile that he gazed up at her, completely devoid of lust or malice.....

"How much do you trust me?"