Utterly frustrated, Felicia desires nothing else but to sharply spin the cargo van around and peel away; leaving that annoyingly obnoxious asshole choking while enveloped in a huge dust cloud left behind as she races down the dirt road. And, if it wasn't the dire situation that her wards are currently in ... with one of them being hunted down by the Demon Lord; and the other two by Princess Vodrak ... she would have done just that a while ago. However, as things stand now, for better or worse, the Rainier Pack currently is the only viable asylum for the three targeted refugees. For that reason, and that reason alone, Felicia is considering waiting a little longer to see if there's a possible resolution to the current stand-off between them and the sentries posted at this perimeter checkpoint that will finally allow them to proceed and meet with the alpha.
Besides, Felicia's pretty certain that the booming shout emanated from a little off in distance; so, clearly it wasn't any of the idiots that she's been dealing with thus far calling out to her. She's curious to see if ... more like hoping ... this one possesses a little more sense and is capable of reasoning with. So, Felicia reluctantly concedes and shifts the van's gear into park; but keeps the engine running in case she's pissed off again and decides to make a quick getaway for real this time.
In a moment, a muscular behemoth of an individual steps up to the driver's side window; a gargantuan figure with a stature so tall that he needs to bend down slightly to look into the cargo van ... none other than Gamma Raymond Silva, the one personally in charge of the Rainier Pack's security and defenses. Despite his wolf's domineeringly commanding aura and his overwhelmingly intimidating physical presence, somehow the gamma still seems genuinely approachable while conveying a pleasantly amiable visage; with subtle mildly soft features underlying those more visible overlying sharply hardened ones. He addresses Felicia...
"Felicia, I presume?" Felicia gives him a quick nod; he continues, "Hello, I'm Gamma Raymond Silva, but you can call me Gamma Ray; or just call me Ray if that seems too formal."
Melanie grins as she looks past Felicia at the gamma...
"See ... now, I like you." She looks past the gamma at the first sentry; who's standing behind the gamma, "You ... I don't like." Melanie, acting in a childish manner, pulls down her lower left eye lid with her index finger while sticking out her tongue. "Nnnnahh!"
The sentry becomes irate and glares at Melanie while growling through clenched teeth. The gamma on the other hand emits a hearty guffaw; then turns to the sentry...
"Relax, Xavier, calm down. You're going to burst a blood vessel in your brain if you lose your temper like that so quickly."
Melanie's flippancy really gets the best of her now...
"Yeah, Xavier; listen to your gamma. You don't want to go breaking blood vessels in your brain, because they carry oxygen to it ... and clearly your brain can use all the oxygen it can get." An impish grin immediately etches its way across her lips. "Then again, if we're talking about your brain ... a hemorrhoid would probably cause just as much damage."
Felicia delivers a rapid smack to Melanie's shoulder, as she fights back her laughter; just like Cora and Doreen, who have their hands pressed over their mouths to keep from laughing out loud. The gamma however is freely releasing yet another barreling guffaw, while Xavier continues growling ... teeth clenching and grinding together as his eyes twitch.
The gamma sees this and once again advises the irate sentry to calm down, instructing him to take in a quick walk around while taking in deep breaths. As the sentry does this, the gamma focuses his attention back to the occupants in the van.
"So ... I take it your Melanie, then?"
"Yup. How'd you know?"
He lets another brief laugh. "I do my research. I heard you've got a tongue as sharp as your wit ... and you're not afraid to use it on anyone..." The gamma takes a quick look over his shoulder at the fuming sentry; who's face is still contorted in that furious display of enragement. "No matter how mean or ugly they may be."
Melanie smiles as she quips, "Guilty as charged ... but I can't help it; it's a gift."
The gamma lets out a short laugh. "Well, if that's the case, then no one can fault you. After all, a gift's a gift, and shouldn't be wasted; so, might as well use it, right?"
"I know; right" Melanie looks at Felicia with her 'patented' impish grin. "See; Gamma Ray gets it."
Felicia just rolls her eyes and shakes her head. The gamma addresses Felicia...
"Now, I understand that this is your vehicle; thus, it's your prerogative to do with it as you please ... but, if I may, a suggestion ... lately the price of gas around here has been rising faster than dough mixed with triple the dosage of yeast; so, you might want to turn off the engine ... at least until we finish our discussion ... so you don't burn up all your gas. Just saying."
The gamma conveys an affable smile to Felicia, who in turn smiles back and nods while turning the key in the ignition to its off position. The gamma continues...
"Good ... now for the matter at hand ... you were supposed to be meeting with Alpha Julian, but when I arrived you were about to leave for some reason? Care to inform me what happened? Is something wrong?"
"It's true that we came here to meet with Alpha Thurgood..."
The gamma interjects, "Please, it's Alpha Julian; our alpha isn't that formal."
"Right; of course, I thought so as well..." Felicia steals a quick glance while also delivering a reproachful glare at the sentry, "until I was told otherwise. But I digress ... so we did come here to see Alpha Julian, but we were immediately denied entry and ordered to answer questions to a highly sensitive and confidential matter which is only to be discussed with Alpha Julian himself ... that is once we're permitted to see him. And when I asked for them to notify the alpha that we were out here waiting to see him they refused, saying that they wouldn't inform him of our arrival until we answered their questions ... again, regarding this matter, they have no right to know anything about it until Alpha Julian is informed and deems it necessary for them to know about it. And, after several minutes of repeatedly going back and forth with no end of this in sight, it was clearly evident that they were going to let us through or notify the alpha of our presence; so, I decided it was best for us just to leave."
"Hmm..." The gamma looks back over his shoulder at the sentry, shooting him a rebuking glare; then looks back to Felicia. "I think I'm starting to understand what's been going on here; and why you were in the process of leaving."
Frightened by the gamma's admonishingly stern expression and rebuking glare ... not to mention fear of the repercussions which may befall upon him ... the sentry immediately tries to justify his actions to the gamma in hopes of exonerating himself from any disciplinary action and hastily blurts out...
"Gamma Silva, sir; if you'd just look in the back of the van for yourself, you'll understand why we took the course of action that we did."
The gamma takes a moment to mull over and assess the situation ... from this point he wants to move forward warily, being as diplomatic as possible; because it's painstakingly obvious that regardless of his intentions, the abrasive sentry had definitely overstepped his boundaries and insulted the witches to the point where they were ready to just leave without meeting with the alpha ... but despite renowned shortcomings in people skills and etiquette, Xavier is an established veteran among the Rainier Pack's security defenses known for being a proficiently skilled and proven warrior; so, there's no denying that there must be something that triggered him to go into a 'high-alert-mode' and caused him to take such measures.
"Felicia; first, allow me to apologize for any offense that my sentries may have incurred upon you and your fellow witches." The gamma briefly pauses before gingerly continuing. "And now, if you allow me to apologize beforehand for my next request of you ... but, if I may?"
Felicia understands what the gamma is alluding to. She nods, "Of course."
She slightly turns around and gestures for Cora to open the side door. Once open, Gamma Silva peers into the van and looks in upon its passengers. Although noticing and immediately identifying the teenager and one of the infants as being at least part vampire, the gamma's attention is more drawn to the distinctively smaller infant, who possesses the strongest presence among everyone in the van; including the witches. Just exactly like Princess Vodrak, despite the diminutive stature, this werewolf infant emanates an extremely overwhelmingly powerful aura.
Despite them being around the same age, the luna's daughter is considerable smaller than Countess Ardelean's grandniece. Truth is Acrilian werewolves have always been smaller in size in all of their three states: whether it be human, wolf, or lycan form. This enables them to be more agile and lithe while fighting; and when combining this with their inherently ferocious tenacity, it makes them undeniably the fiercest warriors among all of the werewolf breeds ... and the toughest adversaries of the demons.
Caught a bit off guard and slightly taken aback, the gamma takes a brief moment to recompose himself and collects all the thoughts that are currently racing through his mind. He has a strong suspicion about this infant. In an attempt to try and calm his nerves a little, Gamma Silva tries interjecting some levity with his best Obe One Kenobi impersonation...
"'The Force is strong in this one.'" He looks back to Felicia; and with a more serious tone inquires, " She wouldn't happen to be one of them, would she?"
Felicia ambiguously replies, while skirting around answering his question directly, "I'm sorry, Gamma Ray, but I don't know what you mean by one of them. ... But even if I did; right now, I'm not at privilege to answer that."
"I see." The gamma gives her another affable smile. "And I suppose the same goes for the two other unexpected passengers you're escorting?"
"I'm afraid not." She reciprocates with a smile of her own.
"Okay then..." The gamma closes the side door. "Give me a sec, and I'll escort you over to the alpha's mansion."
He walks away from the van heading for his jeep. The sentry rushes up behind him and disbelievingly asks...
"Gamma Silva, sir; are you really going to allow them to enter and see Alpha Julian? Especially knowing that they have two vampires with them?"
"Yes I am. Though we don't know just yet, I'm sure there's a good reason why they're here."
"But sir..." The sentry's cut off by the gamma...
"Besides ... Xavier ... that little werewolf child in there..." Now the sentry cuts off the gamma...
"You mean the rogue?"
The gamma lets out a short laugh. "Yeah ... 'the rogue'. ... Better be careful, Xavier; because mark my words someday that 'rogue' is going to probably wind up being the strongest warrior this pack has ever seen. Probably the strongest any pack has ever seen."