Metas was not having a pleasant sleep. Something was bothering him and keeping him awake. As the sun started to rise, it became more difficult to find rest, even with the flowing water blocking a lot of it out.
They had all become accustomed to sleeping through most of the day, and being active for most of the evening and night. This made the lack of sleep much more unbearable as he had no one to talk to.
It made his thoughts turn with a little bit of worry as he tried to put all the puzzle pieces of his current state into some order in the chaos. As he stared to the rocky top of the cave, he reflexively squeezed Myranda to his side as though something were coming to take her away from him.
It wasn't a sixth sense or anything, it was just the basic common one. There was no way the Vampires were going to just accept this without a fight. In fact, he was perfectly certain they had already made an issue of it. It was clear that they were starving if they were desperate enough to eat werewolves.
His fingers trailed up Myranda's spine and to her neck absentmindedly as his ideas and worries raced through his mind like a chess game, or a really delicate puzzle that was exceedingly tricky to manage.
The idea of making a colony was enticing, but he had to put it far away from their current location. As Jessie had said earlier in the night, 'ignorance is bliss'. If you have nothing to give, there is nothing to take. Should the colony become attacked, Metas and Myranda could have the upper hand in appearing from somewhere in the woods instead of the enemy waiting for them outside their door.
'I can manage this. If I can't, then I should not be the alpha. The pack needs a real leader, a good one - and I know Silas isn't the one to do it. He cares far too much about himself that he could ever muster for someone else,' he though solemnly.
Silas had always been self-serving. If it benefited him in any way - he was going to use it and hurt anyone who was in his path - on purpose, or not. To Metas, he was a bug that needed to be squashed quickly, and as soon as he was done with Silas, he'd install a new general, cabinet members, and his inner circle as the main ring of support in his coming reign.
Then, he could just sit back and enjoy life with zero guilt and a soul that would still be whole and fulfilled.
Honor and Glory were not cheap, and Metas was not frugal. There would be a lot of work to do before he felt anywhere near to comfortable in having a backing to his position. If he knew Silas - and he did - the eager little scrap would come looking for him. More than likely with an entire pack of soldiers because he was a coward...
If he could just rescue a good amount of wolves then he'd be set. He needed to have a following or there was nothing to be done. They must have been really defeated, or disappointed that Metas had abandoned them, which he certainly did not.
He was starting to get agitated now. If only sleep would overtake him. Just a little - a tiny little power nap.
'I beg you, please for the love of all that is good and decent in the universe, let me sleep goddess. Let me sleep for just ten minutes...' he thought desperately as he went to close his eyes again.
Nothing.
Fine. He'd just get up, then. Why waste a day?
Metas slid his arm as gently as he could and practically rolled Myranda off of his side. She groaned for a moment, and then curled up into herself as his warmth left her. He pulled his half of the covers over her to keep her warm, and kissed her temple.
As he surveyed the cave and how everyone was sleeping, he started to make a plan to tip-toe over them like a dainty bear....a giant, elegant bear.
It hadn't been too hard to step over Lara and Ajax - and it was even easier to get past Jess and Veltar, as they had slept a bit apart from one another, but their hands were nearly reaching out for one another. Perhaps they had splayed out that way in their sleep by accident. Either way, it helped a lot with maneuvering over all the sleeping bodies.
The hardest part was trying to get past Jyriah who was laid out like a starfish, taking up more room than anyone else in the little hollow. Metas had to stifle a laugh, too - because he looked so funny with the room he took up.
Jyriah snored rather gently, his mouth wide open and his lips twitching now and again with a smile or...something...?
'What the hell you adorable little rabid raccoon?' he thought to himself as he watched a line of foamy saliva run down Jyriah's cheek as though he had eaten too much ice cream, or had gotten into soap.
It shouldn't have been as funny as it was to him in the moment - but he was rather positive he was loopy from being sleep deprived.
He managed to get past the landmine of a male by essentially hop-scotching to the entrance, and once he was on his two feet, he looked through the small slits not covered by the waterfall to check for anyone lurking about.
Metas then understood why he hadn't been able to sleep - it's like he could feel Silas' foul aura anywhere. Like right there - in front of him, sniffing the ground like a little blood hound as he tried to pick up one of their scents.
As much as he desired to watch the idiot bumble around, he also didn't need to be seen. He decided to recede into the darkness and took a slow, tiny step backwards as to not show too much movement.
For some reason, he automatically held his breath as though he were merely behind a delicate washroom door that had slats in it. It was frustrating to him to feel so cautious around Silas. Silas!
Of all the wolves in all of the mountain, Silas was not the one he should have had to hold his breath for. What was really interesting to the wise alpha was that the 'joker' had come here alone. It was very odd to see Silas by himself at any point since he tended to surround himself with the powerful and the many.
It was another thing Metas truly hated about that sniveling brat. He had already decided that one: he wasn't going to let Silas off easy, two: he'd definitely let Veltar have his hide, and three: he would never forgive the little boy no matter how much he begged.
He couldn't ignore all the pain he caused Myranda and Jyriah by doing harm to a beautiful soul he knew as their sister. She was gorgeous in and out, and there was nothing that would stop him from getting his paws on that dirty little gnome.
'Bah, now I want to attack him...he's right there. Right. There.' he thought desperately as his heart started to pound, and his adrenaline rose, readying him for a fight.
'Stay calm, Metas. Stay calm. If you attack him now, you'll ruin the delicate tiles we've all set up. Take a breath...' he instructed himself, but didn't do so as his eyes kept a lock on Silas' fur as he watched him circle around as his wolf form sniffing the ground aimlessly.
'I said breathe, damn you!' he commanded to himself and then took in a breath of air. For whatever reason, he felt like Silas heard his quick inhale, even though it wouldn't have been possible through the running water.
In his haste to get further out of the line of sight of the blonde wolf who may or may not have even seen him, he tripped backwards over Jyriah, and fell backwards onto Veltar and Jess's legs and came crashing down onto them enough to possibly fracture one of them.
If Silas hadn't known they were there by now, he certainly would if he could hear the yowl and anger that came out of the mouths of several individuals who were displeased with being awoken.
He couldn't look yet to see if anything changed in Silas' position and behavior, but alas - he was too busy trying to get up in a dim area with dark tone surrounding them to be able to tell what had happened.
Another large inhale of air filled his lungs again, and once more he held it as though somehow, someway it would nullify the last two seconds.