Betrayal

Keyan crept over the threshold cautiously. It was four in the morning and half the pack was already in REM sleep. She crept over the floor as the plan materialized in her mind. “Kill the leader and heirs first. Then go after extras”. Keyan scoffed at her directions. But her liege had been more than clear about his instruction. She was to kill the leader and all his male children. Then the female children and whores. The young vampiress licked her lips over the prospect of getting at Tatiana, the Queen Bitch. ‘I‘ll save her for last. I want to see her reaction when I rip out her throat’. 1

The warrior leaped up the steps not even making indentations in the dust that lined the floor. The Victorian case had been newly remodeled to accommodate the weight of fifty full-grown werewolves bound up and down them on a regular basis. Not just that but several changes had been made on the 17th century mansion. Several windows and exits had been added. Space upon space was needed to hide and house even a clan as small as the Carmichaels. But in then end it would be the races undoing. They had entered the area loud and proud, drawing attention to their heritage and species. Pack leaders from the past had often set up road signs that created difficulties for any ignorant driver heading toward the clans grounds. But human always turned away, never even thinking twice. ‘Well, it was either that or fall victim to a wandering dog on patrol’. Keyan looked up to the last flight of steps. She reached inside herself and centered her energy. ‘Up.’ With out much more effort that breathing, Keyan bounded up to the top of the railing and crouched into a cat-like stance. She sniffed the air lightly counting the amount of wolves on the floor and how many guards she’d have to kill. Her nose wrinkled. Less than three had been placed to guard the females. ‘Idiots, confidence breeds folly.’ She leaped again and clawed onto the wall. She scrabbled along like a spider until she reached the pack leader’s hallway; which wasn’t had to find. 2

All Keyan had to do was follow the yellow brick road. Lining the carpet leading to the hall were golden fringes. The fringe soon grew into a full length chamber rug sew with golden silk. The walls were filled with portraits of passed leader who had died with honor and next would be the portrait of their main whore who held the title of Alfa female. One hundred odd painting and photograph were present. Kenyan shook her head in disgust as she scaled the ceiling. They died so easily and frequently. One of the Earth died after eighty odd years, Moon spawn lasted only a fifty years more. The warrior smiled grimly. She herself had another three hundred years ahead of her, and that was if someone destroyed her. She could live to seen the end of the whole werewolf race before her skin even began to pretend to wrinkle. ‘Yes, three more centuries of being alone. Bloody perfect’. She clawed down the side of the hallway and floated down in front of the leader’s door. This was the climax. So would begin the next turf war Keyan opened the door and stepped in to the humidity of the master room.3

When she closed the door, Keyan pulled off her jacket, as a Child of the Night temperature didn’t bother her in the same way as humans. It was the somewhat thing her kind had in common with Dogs. They weren’t badly inconvenienced by the weather. But vampires unlike wolves could with stand any climate, a werewolf still became cold eventually and they would sweat when wearing long sleeves in eighty-degree weather. Vampires, on the other hand, were more evolved. In contrary to popular belief, vampires do feel heat and cold as anyone else. But their bodies easily adapt its temperature and functions to accommodate changes in its environment. So Keyan could have easily walked to her mission naked, but that drew too much attention and it drew needed energy away. But now she pulled her jacket off to reveal the serpent tattoo on her arm. It was a reminder of why she’d chosen to be the one to del the first blow, to end the vendetta once and for all. 4

Above the tat was what she wanted, she dug out a small pool of blood and focused on it. Slowly she felt the minds of her comrades open. “I’m in”. Keyan felt her message be received with relief and worriment. Santos answered her sternly. “Are you under pressure?” Keyan rolled her thoughts around so that he could envision her eyes creating the same motion. ‘No. Go ahead and attack. I’ve got my part under control’. She closed her mind and shook the last of their thoughts away. Now was the time. The quicker she did this, the less likely she’d have to plan for mistakes. 5

The pack leader had been easy. So had all five male heirs. She hadn’t known them and Adrian, the pack leader, had caused Keyan so much pain that it was entertainment as his eye bulged under her weight upon his chest. When her knife slipped into his throat, she relished in the taste of his Life’s Blood. So sweet. Keyan had gone into frenzy on the dead leader’s blood. Blood for a vampire was the ultimate aphrodisiac. She wobbled around the room and tried to regain her alertness. The easiest part of the battle was over. Now it was time to pay Tatiana a visit. ‘Hmm, I’m coming for you baby’.6

Tatiana turned fitfully in her sleep. Terrible visions plagued her dreams. She saw her beloved home being torn apart. Her lover being murdered in his sleep. Her several children soon reaching the same fates. The werewolf sat up and patted her hair to reassure herself. “Calm down silly. No one would dare challenge Adrian’s rule. He’s a good leader. No one has the guts or the cowardice to take him on in his sleep everything is fine.” But even still the werewolf furtively sized up her room. She leaned back into her pillows and closed her eyes. Keyan took in the scene not believing her nemesis for a minute. This was one of he reasons she had begged to have the mission. She knew the clan the best and Tatiana’s fake sleep act didn’t fool her. Keyan knew that an iron pugio lay sheathed on a belt in between Tatiana’s legs. Keyan knew because the werewolf had told her so, back when the two had been close.7

Keyan clicked her heels against the hard wood floor. Stealth was no longer needed. She could here groups of assassins below, hacking their way through the packs defenses. It was only a matte of time before they were finished, and Keyan wanted to savor this moment. The warrior stopped at the side of Tatiana’s bed. Then she sat down. Keyan unzipped her boots and rolled back into the queen-sized mattress and embraced the still queen. Tatiana stiffened. Keyan smiled as he ran her tongue along her ex-lover’s neck. “Good morning baby. Miss me?” Keyan chuckled softly. She could feel the werewolf’s blood literally run cold with fear. “Surely, you didn’t think I would let you go, that easily?” The vampiress braced herself, for what she had predicted. Sure enough the Wolf Queen sprang up enraged. Keyan was thrown to the brick wall directly opposite the bed. A small trickle of blood flowed from her mouth. She wiped it off and sucked on her finger seductively. Her eyes watched Tatiana. Vampires weren’t the only ones who got turned on by blood. Tatiana took a minute to gather what she knew to be true into reality. “You killed them, didn’t you? My family? My man?” Keyan shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that I killed them all. Just the important ones. Like Adrian of course.” Tatiana lunged at her. Keyan darted to the right to late and both fell to the ground. Even though she knew it had no effect, the wolf gripped Keyan’s neck tightly. 8

Tatiana had spent the last few years of her life trying to erase her memories of Keyan. She had failed. There wasn’t a moment that didn’t go by when she thought of her. Until the Change, Keyan had been her life. Tatiana had planned to spend all her years with Keyan. The pack had meant nothing to her then, and both presumed that they were ordinary girls. Summers the two had spent enjoying the sun. Nights they’d fallen asleep at the first mention of stars. They had fallen in love and wanted no one else. Until the Change. Keyan was vegan when she started having cravings for meat; rare steak and jerky became apart of her main meals in a matter of weeks. Tatiana began to crave it too. She soon started eating raw ground beef. Then there was the night when they made their first kill. Together. But that had only been the beginning. Her hair had begun to grow at alarming rates and Keyan went swimming in Lake Erie during ice fishing season. Then Keyan stopped hanging out. The sun bothered her. Well, for a while, before Tatiana let her drink her blood. Then the two continued to hang out. But both species despised each other and would not stand by as their children behaved in such perverse ways. So Keyan was deported to a remote village in god knows here and Adrian, Tatiana’s stepbrother, claimed her for his own. Tatiana hadn’t seen Keyan since. Not since now. 9

Now as she loomed over Keyan, now that their love was terminated, knowing that Keyan had murdered her family in needless vengeance; Tatiana couldn’t bring herself to kill her. Tatiana reached in between her legs for her blade. ‘Whether I like it or not, she has to die’. The wolf furrowed her brows as her hands grazed only skin. Her dagger was gone! Keyan smiled knowingly. “Did you really think I had forgotten so easily? I took it before you even started to wake. And you talk in your sleep, when did that start happening?” Tatiana’s hands gripped tighter. “Why? Why are you here?” 10

Keyan shrugged. “I was ordered to ensure the demise of your clan. So I thought one last farewell.” The vampires bucked and exerted her energy through her hips. The Queen flew backwards. All the anger slowly depleted from her face as surprise and wonder. Even as her spine crack upon impact with the stained glass, Tatiana continued to smile. The fall was gradually fast then slowing to an almost float. Her trip was amazing and graceful, that she forgot that she in fact was falling. As the hours of gliding squeezes into nanoseconds, reality smacked itself against the great werewolf’s body. For one moment Tatiana was sure that she had landed in a cloud. But then spasms rippled from her back and spanned out to the rest of her skeleton and muscles. 11

“H-h-h-help. Somebody.” Tatiana vainly croaked out into the darkness. Surely someone escaped and was waiting for any glimmer of surviving members. But no answer came. The wolf looked up and caught sight of the window she’d fallen through. The stained glass would send rainbow beams into her bedroom no more. Tatiana smiled. She could see someone above looking down at her. ‘Adrian he’s alive’. But when she blinked, all that remained of her murdered lover was Keyan’s blood stained gin. Tatiana swooned. She didn’t feel the first bite, as her enemy quickly devoured her.12