Rocky mountains is a private location in Greenwich which houses only those who can afford their high rates. From the entrance of the premises one can already see the rich natural environment of the place and listen to the singing birds like they were in a Disney fairy tale.
They enter Rocky Mountains disguising as interested customers. Their attendant who looks and sound wasted on the job takes them around to find anything that may peak their interests but they already know why they came here.
Zhen holds a map which shows tiny paw prints, moving and disappearing through the map lines, "What is that?" Joseph who walks beside him asks.
"That's the werewolf we are searching for," Zhen says, "So is this a magic map or something?" "No, it is my magic that shows us what's going on, on the map" "Neat. So can your spell locate anything?" Joseph asks.
"Only things that are not hidden," "So you can find my former pack?" "If their territory is not hidden, yes" Zhen says.
He looks at the werewolf suspiciously, "Do you want to find them?" "Yes," "Shouldn't you already know where their territory is?" "I should but I don't," Joseph says.
He shows Zhen the back of his neck to reveal four scars, "Who did that to you?" Zhen asks as he cringes. "My former alpha, he forceful penetrated my mind with his claws and erased the memories of the territory. I lost some memories of my former life as well," he says.
"Werewolves can do that?" "Only a few and in most cases it kills the victim," "So you want revenge," Zhen says, "Yes I do. If this alpha is worth fighting for I could stick around but she has to earn my trust and that is how she will do it," Joseph says.
"Why are you telling me?" "She is an alpha, she won't be so keen to listen to me but she can listen to the friendly wizard helping her to find the ferals," he says.
Zhen stops while the ladies keep walking with their guide. "Look here man, I'm not here for anything other than finding ferals for her," Zhen says, "Good, in the process you will chip that in" "I'm not down for it man," he says.
Joseph bends toward Zhen's ear, "You better, if not I will kill you," he says. Zhen chuckles at Joseph's threat, "You know you can't. If anything happens to me she will kill you," he says.
Joseph shrugs his shoulders, "How would you know? You would be too dead to find out," he says, he grins as Zhen's face shows his understanding of the situation.
"I'm glad we had this talk," he pats Zhen on the back.
"Fuck, I can't wait for this to be over", Zhen thinks as the situation is becoming troublesome.
The attendant leaves them to explore the place and gives them a number to call when they have come to a decision. As soon as she leaves, Cassandra does not waste time to turn her attention to the real reason they came.
"Zhen, talk to me. Where are we going?" "West, towards the thicker sides," he says as he points to a part of the plains filled with tall trees and a darker background.
"The way this place is, there has to be a den somewhere in these woods," Maya says, "If there is one, it is hidden" Cassandra says, "There has to be. I mean the place just welcomes it," she says.
Zhen leads the way as they change directions and walk into the deeper sides of the forests.
The atmosphere is dense but the beam of sunlight that brightens the forest gives it an enchanting appearance, the lights bounce off a little pond they come across and the bright colors of the leaves make them appear like glass art instead. The air is fresh and soft against their faces but the rustle beneath their feet gets unpleasant as the dead grass is soon replaced by stones.
"I can sense her," Cassandra says and the other werewolves sniff into the air, "Yes, her scent is here," Maya says, "Of course it is. My spell is legit," Zhen says.
At high speeds a hard object smacks Zhen on the head and sends him to the ground. They shake him but he doesn't respond as he lies unconscious on the floor.
Cassandra picks the object that crashed into his head, "A stone. She must be here,".
Her eyes find a woman on a tree holding a catapult in her hand as she pulls back the slinger and aims at them. She fires another stone at them but the wolves are quick to evade the attack.
Cassandra runs toward the tree and the woman jumps off and begins her escape on foot.
Maya and Cassandra chase after this stranger.
She is fast.
She dashes through the bushes and slide in between giant roots before disappearing behind a tree.
Cassandra searches the tree but can't find her, until a stone smacks her hard behind the head. She glares at the woman, her long black hair falls onto her face and her tattered clothes barely cover her frail looking body.
Maya appears behind the girl, ready to grab her but she eludes Maya's grip and slams her against the floor before she continues her run.
Maya growls as she watches the girl run, she follows behind her desperately trying to cover the distance between them but this werewolf is fast.
She jumps down a hill and rolls onto the balcony of a cabin. She stops to look up at the hill and she wears a surprised look when she sees Maya in midair.
Someone comes out of the cabin, "Hello," he says nervously but the dirty looking woman removes a stone from a makeshift pocket in her frazzled clothing. She fires a shot at Maya before jumping off the balcony and into the woods.
The stone hits Maya on the head and she falls hard on her back against the balcony's floor. The man screams in shock as the woman lands on his balcony. "Are you okay?" he asks but jumps backwards when she turns her golden eyes at the man.
She growls and snarls before she jumps off the balcony to continue her chase.
Cassandra follows another route as she sees Maya give chase. She runs with all her might as she sees the two of them land on one of the cabins in the vicinity.
She goes round a few trees to hide as she predicts the woman's straight run and her calculations pays off as she flanks her and dives on the woman, she pins her against the ground and roars into her face and the woman roars back at her.
Cassandra's eyes glow and her grip tightens, she roars even louder at the woman in an attempt to make her submit. The woman wriggles under her hold and whimpers until something hard slams Cassandra's head and a foot kicks her to the side.
A man in shorts roars at her as the woman runs behind him, his eyes glow and black fur gradually grows on his body, "Stay away from us," he shouts.
Maya joins them, her intense eyes stays trained on the woman, "Who are you?" Cassandra asks, "I'm her protector. Go back to your alpha, tell him to leave us alone. I am not leaving her," he says.
Cassandra raises her brows, "What do you mean? I came here for the feral," she says, "You will have to kill me before you can hurt her," he says.
"I don't want to hurt her," "I do," Maya screams and tries to charge but Cassandra holds her back, "Stop it," she shouts at Maya.
"My name is Cassandra. I am an alpha. I am here to recruit the feral. I am not here to hurt her. This is Maya, she is a feral as well," she says. The werewolf looks at the Maya and sniffs the air, "You say you are an alpha, but that's impossible," he says.
"I am. I am creating a pack for ferals. A home where they can be safe and they can have a family," she says, "You expect me to believe that. If you are an alpha, where is your pack?" "For now, just she and Joseph. We left him to chase her," she says.
"It doesn't matter. No one really cares about a feral. You only want her for whatever selfish goal you have. She is not interested," he says.
"She can tell me herself," Cassandra says.
"Who are you? Why are you protecting a feral?" Cassandra asks, "That is none of your business. Leave, now" "I'm not leaving without her," she says.
The man shoots out claws, "Hannah, run" he says and the woman behind him tries but she is immediately caught by Joseph who restrains her, "You don't have that scent of ours. You are not a feral," Joseph says.
"What do you people want?" he asks, "First, you should put out your claws. This is not a fight you want," Cassandra says.
"Joseph, let her go" she orders and he releases her, "So, the feral is Hannah. What is your name?" she asks, "I'm Axel," "You don't need to be on guard, we are not here to hurt anyone," Cassandra says.
"That wasn't the same for us," Joseph says, Axel's fur retracts into his body.
"I won't lie to you. I do want her in my pack mostly for my own goals but I will offer her protection. In a pack she will be able to connect and eventually she won't be feral, none of them will" Cassandra says.
Maya raises her head and looks at Cassandra, her eyes widen with surprise.
"Do you mean what you just said?" Maya asks, "I do. I am not perfect, but I can promise you this. That bond that was shattered, the link only a family has, we can build it together. You can all have that again, together" she says.
"Hannah, I know what it feels like to be kicked out of a pack. To be disowned. That pain may never go but we can give you a new family, one that will never disown you," she says.
"I wasn't disowned, I was violated," Hannah snaps, her eyes glow and her breath becomes heavy with a deep growl.
"I was kidnapped, turned and raped. I was never connected to any fucking pack. I want to destroy them all," her voice gets deeper and fur begins to grow on her body.
"Hannah, calm down. Deep breaths," Axel says, "Not all ferals were kicked out, some faced worse things," he says.
"Then I promise you this, if you join my pack, we will have vengeance on all those who hurt you. Every single one of them," she promises.
Joseph smiles as he begins to understand the kind of person Cassandra is; she is a werewolf filled with rage, a selfish and powerful woman, he presumes.
I will buy what she is selling, for now.