On our way out, Mary tossed a drone into the air to make a quick map of the area, though it seemed we'd seen almost all of it, the shimmering walls of this pocket dimension visible from the site of our battle once the drone reached above the tree line. Karl decided this one was worth leaving open for now, as it seemed empty after our battle, so he had Mary set a circle under the portal and set a barrier to keep anything we'd missed from escaping.
An hour later, we were at the next portal. A total dud. The entire contents amounted to the bedroom of a medieval peasant's cottage. A broken straw bed, dirty wooden walls, mud floor and no more. The mages quickly sealed it shut and we started heading for base.
A few minutes out from our destination we came across a van, obviously lost, and smelling of Werewolf. "We should likely stop and help them out you think?" Karl asked nobody in particular before pulling up beside them.
"You boys ain't from around here are you?" Karl shouted out the window with an uncharacteristic drawl, making Mary giggle.
"It's you! Damn you mages, where did you put the Safe House? We've been lost in these never ending wheat fields for hours!" A familiar voice called back. Oh, I know that voice, it's Jake, the Alpha's son from the Blue Moon Pack. Looking in the van I see his Beta Jurgen and two very similar Latino male humans.
"What brings you fine gentlemen out looking for my farm?" Karl teases and Mary whispers at me 'unless you've got a token or a mage with you, the farm house is invisible' which strikes me as inordinately funny. I blame overwork.
The two weres don't look overly impressed, so Karl just waves for them to follow. "You're almost there, just follow us in"
A mere mile later we're pulling into the garage, the barrier spell sending a shiver down my spine as always, and the two were's mood definitely hasn't improved. The fact they'd obviously just driven past this point when meeting us might have had something to do with that.
"Oh good, everyone came back at once" Narishma's voice drew my attention to the elevator, finding her and a very excited Lala waiting on us. Wait, what is Lala wearing this time? A light blue Jumper with a unicorn on it and a yellow shirt? Narishma catches the direction of my gaze with a very suspicious seeming smile, but continues "Lala here is very excited to see you all, we've spent the whole day together becoming great friends." Ok, that seals it, the vampire definitely has something to do with dressing my favourite bunny up like that.
After unpacking our gear and sending it with base staff to our rooms, Karl and Mary peel off with Lala to take care of the day's debriefings, leaving me to deal with a pair of frustrated werewolves, their human teammates and a smirking vampire.
"I know Karl already said this once, but seriously, what brings you two here? I thought you were dealing with the mess out on the west coast?"
"We've been reassigned. The government feels that there aren't enough groups covering the North zone, as this has been dubbed, so the west coast Packs and Covens are taking care of the mess, while us four and a witch team are to come here to help out."
Thank Moon Goddess for that, we need all the help we can get. Despite being called the Combat Mage corps, well over half of the corps is logistics and support staff, leaving us desperately short handed, given the area we have to cover. Now to get these two settled and distracted so I can go about my day.
We spend the next three hours catching up on world events, including a long chat about the chaos in Seattle, before Jake starts getting visibly bored. "Hey, wanna do something fun" he asks.
Jurgen seemed quite taken by the idea of a spa day, maybe we'll have to get everyone together, we've all got all evening free.
"Like what?" I ask, not sure Jake and me have the same idea of what constitutes fun.
"I saw a training ground that's supposed to be able to take supernatural fights, how about a little spar?" Maybe we do have the same sense of fun after all. Plus, I've got some newly enhanced combat abilities to test out. "Your aura seems stronger than before, almost as alpha as me. I'm really looking forward to this" Jake finishes.
Two trips in the elevator, and a short walk about later, after picking the wrong floor and getting lost, we came to the most magnificent arena. It's high roofed, like the gardens in the residential floors, but themed like a roman coliseum. The instructions by the entry say it's a magical construct, not a real building, so there's no worries about damages, it'll just reset to default for the next user. This is so going to be fun.
I toss my coat onto the bleachers and Jake looks me over with a stare somewhere between lust and anticipation. "Like what you see pup?" I taunt and he growls low in his chest, making Jurgen laugh.
"She's not going to let you off easy buddy. Better get your game face on" Jurgen yells down from the stands and the two humans burst into eager laughter.
Jake lunges for me, hoping to take me off guard with the first move of the fight, but it feels slow, unusually so. Maybe it's a side effect of the experiment with the mana gems? I step to the side, grabbing his wrist and kicking him in the mid section, doubling him over before flipping him forward onto his back. Stepping back, I get ready for his next attack as he dusts himself off.
"Not bad Lycan. I thought Alpha Petros was taunting the Task Force, but it seems he sent a capable fighter." No, Alpha was taunting the Task Force, he only sent me as a favour since I really, really wanted an assignment outside the pack. And even then, he contacted an old friend to look out for me, since he wasn't sure I was up for it.
"Maybe werewolves are just slow and weak compared to Lycans?" I taunt him and he launches a flurry of fists and a fast kick my way. Still, painfully slow. I step around the attacks, one at a time, and I can see Jake's surprise growing. Sending him flying back with a pushing kick to the stomach I launch forward with a flying punch, drawing a gasp from Jurgen and the audience in the background. My punch lands on the crossed arm block of Jake and I hear a solid crack, pretty sure that was an arm.
"Best we stop there, I'm pretty sure your arm just broke" but Jake's eyes are going golden, his wolf is angry and trying to take over to confront the threat. I back up a dozen paces to help him calm down.
"Where'd you learn to fly little Lycan" a new, deep voice calls across the arena. That sounds like my Alpha, but what would he be doing here? "That flying punch must have covered 10 meters"
I turn to look at the intruder "Yes girl, it really is me" Alpha Petros says to my unspoken question. "I came to visit, got a bit worried about my favourite pup. But it seems there was no need. Look at you, all big and bad, beating up poor defenceless werewolf Alphas." he laughs and Jake snarls, almost to the point of shifting.
"Please don't taunt him while he's injured and trying to control his wolf, Alpha" I shake my head at his attempts to bait the Blue Moon Alpha's son. Jurgen hops down and tosses me my coat, going over to talk down his boss before things get out of hand.
Petros has many questions in his eyes, knowing full well I was no match for any ranked werewolf a week ago "I'll fill you in later, where there are no extra ears" I whisper and he gives me a one armed hug around my shoulders, showing his reluctant agreement.
The wolves head for the infirmary, promising to meet us later for dinner, as they and Petros are staying on the same level. I take Petros around to the Television lounge on the second floor where my team and the trainees are staying, knowing it will be much quieter than the other floors that mostly have 80 or more residents instead of our 7. What I find there has me rapidly changing our course though. Karl is watching an animal documentary, rubbing little circles on Lala's back, while she sleeps with her head in his lap. Don't know, don't want to know what's going on there. Then I notice Narishma hiding in a corner, watching with an intent gaze. Now I really don't want to know. I'll talk with Petros in the Library instead.
Aside – earlier that day
Lala's point of view
"Are you sure this will work Ari?" I ask my new vampiric friend. "You know, a bunny has needs, but with the slave binding in effect I can't do anything about it without Karl's uhmm, assistance or permission, you might say" the thought makes me blush. Though I was technically a bed slave to the Archmage, he was well over 300 years old, and treated me more as a plush toy to cuddle than anything else. Sexual experiences have been few and far between during my 31 years.
"Don't worry, BunBun. You look adorable, there is absolutely zero chance that Karl will be able to resist your charms" She reassures me, gesturing to the lovely new jumper she bought me with a unicorn on it and the soft cotton shirt with the frills at the sleeves. "They're almost here now, let's head up and go say hello."
I hop anxiously the entire elevator ride until Narishma simply picks me up to stop the shaking, saying that I'm making her nervous too. She's such a joker, but she's been a great friend, showing me around and even hanging out with me while everyone else is gone and I'm bored doing paperwork.
Here they are, the Jeep is here, followed by a van. I hope they're not going to steal Karl away and ruin my plan for the day.
"Relax BunBun, I'll make sure everything works out" Ari reassures me as my team piles out of the Jeep. Oh my, Karl sure is looking strong today, stronger than when he left even. Simply mouth watering. Bunnies might be very peaceful herbivores, but we're instinctively attracted to strong protectors.
"Lala here is very excited to see you all, we've spent the whole day together becoming great friends." Narishma greets the team and stealthily pats my head in reassurance. The team splits up, Kat taking the wolves and their human partners from the van off to settle in while I take Karl and Mary towards the lounge to do our debriefing.
"You've had a long day Mary. Eat, shower and catch some sleep. Tomorrow will start early" Yay! Karl is helping my goal without even knowing what it is.
We sit down and I write up the debrief quickly while Karl keeps giving me odd looks. But they don't look like bad looks, he seems interested in me. Ari must not have been lying about this outfit. She told me it was the number one very best never fail seduction outfit, she even did my hair up in a cute bun to match.
"How about we watch a movie now that we're done work" I suggest?
"Excellent thought Princess, let's go" Karl hoists me up on his hip, letting me wrap my arms around his neck as he carries me to the lounge. As we get settled, Ari brings in snacks and Karl thanks her with a glint in his eyes and a muttered "I know you're in on this Vampire" which she pretends to not hear before disappearing from the room.
I pick out an animal documentary and curl up beside Karl. Time for the never fail pick up line Narishma taught me "How about this one Papa?" I ask with my best seductive look.
"Anything you want princess" he replies, gently stroking my ears. Oh, this is pure bliss. Oh no, the patting is making me sleepy, I should have had a nap today, all the worrying really wore me out.
Now he's moved onto rubbing circles on my back as I settle my sleepy head into his lap. Just a short nap won't hurt anything, right? We've got time. The last thing I hear before darkness overtakes me is Karl whispering "Really Ari? Dressing her as an elementary schooler?" Oh, that tricky Vampire, I'll get her back for foiling my seduction plan.
Sometime later I wake slightly, feeling myself shifted from a warm lap to strong arms "Relax Princess, I'll take you to bed now, you'll wake up stiff if you spend the night on the couch". We're headed to bed! Maybe not all hope is lost. Take that Ari.