The Rainier Pack's main compound is laid out over nearly ten square miles of land; housing the Alpha's mansion ... which includes both the Alpha and Beta families; the homes of the highest-ranking families and elders; the main pack house; the main security station; other administration buildings; and the main training grounds. However, their entire territory covers much more land; though, even though still considered to be pack territory, outside of the compound they live clandestinely among the humans.
Ever since entering the Rainier Pack territory, the dark blue cargo van carrying 'the package' has been under surveillance as it travels towards the main compound ... this was one of the preparations Beta Caldwell was in charge of for their arrival. At a specified point, once the cargo van crossed into the territory, the witches were instructed to activate a tracking beacon that was provided to them by the Rainier Pack; these were arrangements agreed upon by both parties beforehand ... this provision was initiated and insisted upon by the werewolves.
The witches agreed but countered with a stipulation of their own; being that while under surveillance, should the werewolves happen to notice any suspicious activity ... especially if it looked like they were being followed ... the wolves would immediately eliminate the perpetrators. Alpha Thurgood agreed to this provision; but truth be told, this stipulation kind of raised a red flag with him. The fact is that taking in this werewolf child was requested ... actually pleaded ... by his sister; and although he willingly granted her wish and has been supportively on board since the beginning despite the disapproval and opposition among the pack ... quite frankly, he's always been a bit suspiciously wary of these seemingly 'cloak and dagger' procedures surrounding this adoption.
The cargo van is currently driving along a less frequently traveled county road when it comes upon two jeeps pulled off to the side of the road: with four imposingly large individuals waving for them to pull over. Yet, this doesn't alarm the witches. They were informed ahead of time that these were the sentries to look out for; that they would escort them to one of the perimeter checkpoints to enter the compound. But besides being given a heads up, there's another reason why the sight of these hulking figures isn't really intimidating them.
These four witches were specifically chosen for this detail not just because of their trustworthiness and discretion ... which is of the utmost importance while transporting 'the package' ... but, also for both their defensive and offense magical fighting abilities. Considering the fact that in the worst-case scenario they could be ambushed by the Demon Lord's minions at any time if found out; these four witches are more than capable of not only fending them off but can also take them out without discretion. So, truth be told, in most cases, they really have nothing to worry about any human, vampire, or werewolf ... no matter how big and scary they may seem ... adversaries going after them. One could say that as for the classifications of operatives in their coven goes ... as were all the other witch escorts along their journey ... these four would be considered to be ranked as special forces.
From the county road, they turn onto a narrow dirt road ... with one jeep in front of and one behind the cargo van ... and carefully drive along the unpaved, bumpy terrain for nearly ten minutes before reaching an outer perimeter checkpoint, which, due to this special delivery, is untypically heavily manned with about half a dozen sentries armed to the hilt. Though appreciative of their intent, the witches believe that having reached this point during the transport these measures are rather unnecessary; possibly even bordering on overkill. In fact, this much extra security gathered here may even be detrimental, causing unwanted attention drawn to their activity.
From the moment Felicia ... the witch in charge of the group ... pulls up to the guard shack standing just outside of the electrified fence with barbed wire along the top of it, the sentries immediately move in and surround the cargo van. The sentry that approached the driver's side window leans in and curtly orders her...
"Turn off the engine and open the side door so we can look inside the van."
Not impressed by the hospitality so far, Felicia holds back her tongue and, while turning the key in the ignition to the off position, merely replies...
"Fine."
She turns around slightly to gesture for Cora and Doreen, who are seated in the back with 'the package' to open the side door. Meanwhile, Melanie ... second in command of the group; and a full-fledged wisecracker ... leans over in front of Felicia and flippantly says to the sentry outside the window...
"Greet visitors much? ... Gotta say, your customer service skills are lacking big time, dude. In fact, they kind of suck."
Felicia delivers a quick eyeroll at Melanie, and mutters under her breath, "That's one ... now, shut it."
Melanie just grins and gives Felicia a quick 'thumbs up' gesture.
As soon as the door opens, another sentry quickly peers into the van shakes his head, then calls to the first sentry...
"Hey, come here and take a look at this."
He steps away from the driver's side window and, in the same manner as the other sentry, quickly peers into the van. His previously stern expression instantly contorts into one of frustrated disgust as he tightly clenches his teeth and angrily furrows his brows. Observing this seemingly instantaneous facial transformation, baffled expressions overtake Cora and Doreen's visage; but, before any other reaction can take place, the sentry abruptly slams the side door shut, steps back to the driver's side window, and intensely stares in with that expression of frustrated disgust sharply etched on his countenance.
Melanie responds to this with yet another flippant quip, "Wow ... now there's a face that even a mother couldn't love."
From the moment Melanie finishes blurting out that smart aleck remark, without even having to turn and look, Felicia intuitively lands a light smack to the front of Melanie's shoulder ... this has become an instinctive reaction over the years of having to keep Melanie in line ... quickly followed up with a terse...
"Shh!" Then Felicia looks to the sentry. "I apologize for her ... but is there a problem?"
In a gruff manner, he snaps, "Yes, there's a problem! Just what the hell are you up to?!"
"I don't understand..." Felicia is a bit perplexed over the sentry's hostility, "What do you mean? We're here to meet with Alpha Julian about..."
He brusquely cuts her off, "That's Alpha Thurgood to you! Anyone outside of the werewolf community is to refer to our alpha by his surname out of respect!"
Steadily becoming more and more annoyed with the sentry's abrasive attitude, Felicia bites her tongue, and tries to speak as cordially as she can...
"Again, I apologize, this time for the transgression on my part. We're here to meet with Alpha Thurgood..." Felicia intentionally makes sure to emphasize the surname, "He's expecting us."
"No..." the sentry continues to speak to her in a surly manner, "Alpha Julian was expecting four witches and a werewolf child; not two children and a teenager. ... And that said..." The sentry leans in closer to the open window and overtly sniffs the air. "Though it's faint; I can distinctly smell the stench of bloodsucking vampires."
Melanie ... who appears to be suffering from 'diarrhea of the mouth' today ... chimes in...
"The reason why the smell is so faint is probably because they're not vampires, per say, but dampyrs; meaning that they're only half vampire." She impishly grins before 'poking the bear', "But, speaking of stench ... ever hear of a thing called breath mints? You might want to invest in some."
Again, Melanie receives another smack to the shoulder from Felicia; but this time, she doesn't offer an apology. Instead, she tells the sentry...
"Look; why don't you just call the alpha yourself and..."
The sentry angrily snaps, "Just shut your mouth, bitch!"
Her ire skyrockets, she sharply turns to the sentry and glares at him with fiercely piercing eyes...
"Excuse me?! What did you just call me?!"
With a smug, 'shit-eating' grin on his face, the sentry facetiously says, "Oh ... 'I apologize' ... I meant to say witch."
Melanie interjects, "Sure you did. Too bad that doesn't sound much better either coming out of that foul mouth of yours."
Melanie braces herself for another smack to the shoulder; but this time doesn't receive one. Apparently, Felicia is too preoccupied angrily glaring at the annoyingly obnoxious sentry to pay mind to Melanie's flippant quips.
There's a moment of tension-filled silence while Felicia, who's fuming, tries to quell her ire and regain some composure. And now, feeling as though she may have some control over her temper, asks through gritted teeth...
"So ... are you going to call Alpha Thurgood and let him know that we're here waiting to see him, or not?"
In a less hostile, more haughty manner, the sentry tells Felicia...
"No ... no I'm not. I'm not going to bother the alpha until you can explain why you've brought two vampires along with you when it was just supposed to be the werewolf child with you four witches. ... And that's another thing ... it's just one small child; so why is there a need for four witches to bring it here?"
Melanie takes it upon herself to reply...
"Clearly the fact that there's four of us here escorting them should tell you how important these three are. ... And again, sieve for brains, they're dampyrs not vampires."
He retorts, "Yeah, right, they're only half vampires; got it. Tell you what though, full vampire or half vampire, as far as I'm concerned, in my book they're all miserable bloodsuckers. ... And, while we're at it, the other one is nothing more than a worthless rogue."
This time, a look of frustrated disgust appears upon Felicia's countenance as she slowly lowers and shakes her head.; softly muttering under her breath...
"'Miserable bloodsuckers' and 'a worthless rogue' ... hmm ... I see now."
Felicia turns the key in the ignition and starts the engine. Melanie sharply turns to Felicia and asks...
"What are you doing? Don't tell me you're planning on leaving?" An impish grin emerges on her face. "Wait ... no way ... we're gonna ram through the gate, right? Please tell me we're gonna ram the gate."
"No, sorry to disappoint you, Mel; but we're leaving."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah..." While delivering a side glance to the now confounded-looking sentry by the driver's side window, "Clearly this asshole isn't going to call his alpha and let him know we're here; so, we might as well go." Now she fully turns and directly looks at the sentry, "Have fun trying to explain to your alpha why you didn't even inform him that we were and let us leave."
Felicia begins to slowly back up to pull away, but comes to an abrupt halt when she hears a loud, booming shout...
"Wait! Stop that van!"