Suri carefully arranged the blood buns on a golden tray. Her face pinched together as she continued to mule over what Marianne had said earlier. A tendril of hair escaped from its gathered state atop her head as Suri stared unseeingly at the wooden table, her mind stuck on the frightening revelation of what her son's future could become. The more she thought about it, the more she believed it. And it scared her, more than Suri cared to admit. Expelling a large breath, she steadily lined up the buns, her gaze carefully meeting with Marianne's across the room.
The men had already thrown the bodies of the dead into the bonfire, having extracted what they needed. Thankfully she hadn't been the one to remove the necessary organs. Elias had done that, bringing the essential parts to her where she ground them in the kitchen with the help of others and then prepared the buns. She sighed, thinking of the remains being used as kindling to make the fire blaze out in the village center. At the thought of those ten men, her stomach churned.
Having heard the story from her mate, she still couldn't believe beings were capable of doing such horrid things. How does one rape their own daughter? Or even kill someone over a parking spot? It just boggled her mind.
Giving her head a shake, Suri lifted the finished tray and looked up. Marianne, along with three others, had finished and now were waiting for her command to go out to the festival and bring the buns out for their pack to eat. A small smiled appeared on her face as she gave a slight nod.
Seeing it, the women quickly bustled out, trays in hand.
"Have you told him yet?" Marianne whispered as she sidled up to her friend, choosing to stick close while they slowly made their way to the bonfire.
Suri shook her head. "Not yet. I'm going to do it after we distribute these."
"Mhm." Marianne understood, her teeth biting into her bottom lip. "Alright."
:::
Matt's body bent with the grace of an eagle as the music pounded in his ears, his whole body moving in tandem with the hum of the melody. There was nothing he liked better than allowing himself to get carried away by the rhythm and feel his body twist and turn in time with the beat. He opened his eyes, gazing through a curtain of lashes at his friends.
Across from him, Sammy was thrusting his hips, his brother behind him, readying them to perform a complex dance move. In the blink of an eye, the two executed a double flip, pushing off each other's force and twisting in the air, nearly causing Derek to lose a few sets of teeth.
"Yah!" The older boy cried, hand to his lips as he stared at the twins manically. "Watch it!"
Next to him, Ricky let out a whistle, encouraging his friends and clapping his hands extra loud before quickly stepping over to the furrowing teen and putting an arm around him. His mouth drew open in a broad smile, "Oogh…did he kick out a tooth?"
"Shut up," Derek grumbled. His nose twitched as he flexed his jaw, making sure everything was still in working order.
Playfully Ricky pressed his head to Derek's chest, making the crabby boy crack a small smile of his own. "Yah!" He called again, gently poking Ricky in the forehead. "This godly chest wasn't meant for you to get all cozy on!"
"Oh?" Ricky lifted an eyebrow dryly, trying hard not to break out into a bout of laughter. Derek's chest was the least manly thing he'd ever set eyes upon.
Kai, who had been dancing right next to them, did nothing to hide his amusement. Instead, he snorted loudly, his dark head of hair falling back. "Be grateful, Derek…that might be the only head leaning on your chest for a while."
"Yah!"
"Pecker is still this small." Kai motioned with his fingers as he cracked a smile, causing their whole group of friends to bend over, howling with laughter.
Aghast, Derek punched Kai angrily in the arm. "Yah!" He yelled for the third time. "I haven't started phasing yet!"
"Who's to say it will grow any bigger when you do?" The bigger teen wiggled his eyebrows, eager to see how far he could prod until Derek lost it and shifted, ripping through his clothes and unintentionally causing the wrath of his mother to descend upon him.
Derek stared at him, dumbfounded, blinking twice before shaking his head. "Argh." He lifted his hands in mock surrender. "Unbelievable. What is this? Pick fun at Derek day? Clearly, I have been misinformed here." He snapped, licking his lips in agitation as his eyes traveled grouchily across his group of friends, who were all still doubled over in laughter. "What are you guys laughing at? As if your dicks are bigger than mine! Damn it! What are you laughing at, Ian? Yours is the size of a peanut!"
The small lanky teen's laugher immediately subsided. His wide-eyed gaze came to land on Derek's icy glare. "Yah!" Ian blurted. "At least mine is bigger than Sammy's!" He pointed to the still giggling Sammy.
"Hey!" Laughter immediately dying, Sammy growled. "No, you aren't! I'm definitely bigger than a peanut!"
Max, who had taken up a stance between a laughing Matt and Ricky, rolled his eyes. He didn't know why, maybe because he was younger than the rest of his friends, but he just didn't find arguing about penis sizes that appealing. In fact, it was more childish than anything. Some of them had already started phasing, while the others were just about to. You'd think they would have grown out of this stage by now. He shook his head, bewildered by the prospect of being more mature than his group of friends.
"Ugh, you guys are disgusting."
Max's ears perked up. A large grin appeared on his face as he saw Jenny, Matt's twin sister standing there with a tray in her hands.
Food!
"Oh, Jenny." Matt smiled, grabbing one of the blood buns from the tray and handing it to Ricky without a second thought before taking one for himself. "Is dad about to start?"
"What do you think?" The girl sighed, putting one hand on her hip as she gave her brother an exasperated look. "I'm not just handing these out because I want to."
"I'll give them out, Jenny." Ricky offered, casting the girl a warm smile.
Jenny grinned, handing the tray over eagerly, having been counting on Ricky's empathic tendencies. "Thanks, Ricky! See, Matt? Why can't you be more like him?" She stuck her tongue out at her brother before speeding away from the group, eager to get back to her friends. Matt growled as everyone clamored over to Ricky in an effort to grab one of the blood buns.
Ricky just stood there smiling at his friends as he held the tray, giving out the pitateu as a mother would to her children. Scowling every so often when someone tried to grab more than one, "Yah! Max, just one!"
"I need another just in case I drop this one!" Max blurted, holding the doughy bun in his fist.
"If you're so worried," Ricky lifted a slender brow, "I could hold it for you." He extended his hand, supporting the tray with his hip as he motioned for Max to hand the bun over.
The eleven-year-old almost choked.
It was evident that Ricky wasn't buying his bullshit.
Mournfully he looked down at his pitateu, feeling as if something within him was dying as he unwillingly stretched his hand forward and handed over the bun.
Ricky took it, putting it back on the tray, just as a set of howls burst out all around them. All heads immediately turned to the bonfire, where a stage had been set up, the musicians had stopped their playing as the Alpha approached.
Flanked by his first ranking wolves, he stepped onto the elevated stage, his arms relaxed by his sides as he stared out at the hundreds of Lycans that made up his pack.
Up there, standing with their chests bare and the fanged necklaces dangling from their necks, they looked fierce and strong. Ricky's blood hummed as he stared at his father, pride in his eyes and thoughts of joining him someday rushing through his mind. He could hardly wait to start phasing, get his black coat and join the first ranking wolves.
"Another year," the Alpha began, a warm smile appeared across his face. "My sisters and brothers…another year."
A chorus of howls rang through the air. Ricky and Matt joined in, their heads rolling back as they eagerly took part. Their friends mirrored their action and accompanied the chorus of cries.
"No sickness, no disease…all thanks to our ancestors and the gentlemen currently roasting in the fire." The Alpha joked though a border of seriousness lined his voice. "Even though they were undeserving of this Earth, we must still pay our respects because without them, without their sacrifice…many of us wouldn't be able to stand here today."
Bending down, the Alpha picked up one pitateu from the tray his mate was holding up. "This is what keeps sickness far away from us." He lifted the pitateu for all to see. "This is what keeps us safe here. We must always remember that and never forget that although we might be strong, without the help of these, we would be just as vulnerable to disease as the humans."
Max nodded his head, remembering the lesson they had in school regarding the pitateu. Originally, Lycans roamed freely across the Earth, never needing to hide away. They didn't hold the pitateu festival as they did now because there was no need to. Claiming a human heart and liver had been as simple as taking a piss behind a tree.
Their race had been powerful back then, living far past the two-hundred-year mark. With an endless supply of humans, and their mortal fears of all supernatural beings, the humans had even sacrificed their own people to them—a trade-off, if you will. The Lycans would get their offerings, and in return, they would protect the villages and cities.
The vitality coursed through their blood, making healing oneself as easy as passing gas. What once could have been a fatal wound would be cured in a matter of minutes, leaving not even a single scar behind.
However, now, things were quite different. The human race had grown stronger, developed weapons, and grew far too cunning for their own good. They began to hunt them, learn about them and delve out their weaknesses.
Hunters had been bred.
And they did just what their names hearkened.
They hunted.
The pitateu, eaten once a year, helped replenish their stocks in a way. It inhibited disease from entering their bodies and promoted self-healing, albeit not as fast as it once had been.
With just this tiny amount, they could coexist, learning to adapt to their environment and take only from the lowliest of humans.
It was the only way to survive.
"Remember that we are a mighty race," the Alpha continued, head held high. "We bow to no one. We live by our own laws. WE ARE PACK!"
Howls rang loud and clear, and Max followed suit. His hand tightened on the pitateu in his fist as the Alpha brought the bun to his mouth.
"Eat and enjoy the festival, my friends! And hopefully, today will be as memorable to you as it is to me." He concluded, eyes darting towards Matt as his smile broke free. "May our children quickly join the ranks and make us prouder than we've ever been!"
Howls louder than they had been before erupted for all ears to hear just as the drums began to beat again, the strings of different instruments strumming a tune one could not help but dance to. Max excitedly looked at his pitateu and shoved it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing before throwing his arms over Ricky and Matt and swinging between them, as happy as he could be.