MEN SHOULD KEEP THEIR WORD . . .

Scaled limbs carried the warrior through the trees. The sun was setting and soon night would be upon Blossom. For some they would be putting pups to bed and getting everyone settled into their dens. For others they were out socializing and interacting. But tonight, the male found himself alone. It was not because he had no one in his life, there was plenty that he interacted with. The pack was growing and thriving, his family had grown. He had his mate who he saw almost every evening. And then of course the newest members to his life was his young. Being a father to the four pups, who had been teenagers for some time now, was one of the best things that had happened to him. He never thought he would like having a family as much as he did, but now he couldn’t see himself as anything but a father. It had made his and Macaria’s bond grow stronger, and he hoped that she had realized how good of a mother she was. She had been worried that she would fail, as her own mother did. But she had not. She had raised them to be great individual beings, and he had no doubt that they would all strive and do well in their lives. For now everything was good and he was happy.

As Grey Wind thought of his family, he decided it was time to check in on the teens. He still could not believe how fast they had grown. He still couldn’t see them as adults, but they had grown. He wished they could stay as young pups forever. But that was not how the world worked, and he knew it. So even though they were older and could be trusted to be out on their own, he still liked to check in on them. He knew that Missandei had made a friend, one that she spent many nights and days with. Grey Wind didn’t want to be the father that controlled her and told her who she could and couldn’t be with. But he was not going to let anything bad happen to her, especially with this male, so he kept a close eye on her. The brute left the territory of his pack thinking of his daughter, assuming she was with this male once more. It was easy enough for him to pick up on her scent, and was not surprised to find the familiar scent of the boy. Grey Wind didn’t even know his name yet he could track down his scent easily. To some it would be creepy, but he told himself he was just being protective. Grey Wind was a male himself though, and knew what it was like to be a teenager. He did not trust this male who had taken a liking to his daughter, and he absolutely would keep an eye on him. But what came next would shock the brute to his core.

Grey Wind was expecting to find the two of them sharing a den again, something that he hated to see, or out exploring. What he had not even considered was to find them slaughtered. He was shocked when the scent of blood reached his nares, and he quickly began to trot faster through the trees. Maybe they had just gone on a hunt. It didn’t have to be a bad omen. But when he pushed through into the den where their scent was leaking from, he knew it could not be true. The two teens were both dead, their necks broken and their blood spilled on the ground. It was not a lot of blood, not of one that had bled out. But just a small lingering amount, as if it had been forgotten. The male became frantic as he tried to determine what could have happened. Had the two fought and someone killed each other? No that was not possible. There were not excessive wounds on them, just the pierced necks. But there was no scent of anyone else here, so they had not been killed by another. And that was when it dawned on him what had happened. A vampire had done this. It explained why there was so little blood, and why their was no scent of their assassin. Rage and grief overwhelmed the male, and he became irrational and foolish. Someone had to pay for what happened.

Without even realizing or thinking of what he was doing, the male gently picked up his daughter’s corpse, maneuvering her so she was laid across his back. She was not as small as she used to be and he could not just carry her scruff. Being careful not to jostle her around, as if it would somehow hurt her, he brought her back home. Grey Wind could not just leave her in that den. It would have completely broken him. Being careful not to run into anyone else from the pack, not being able to bear to see another being right now, he brought Missandei home, to the den she had not slept in in a long time. Carefully laying her down, the brute began to pace around. Realizing now that he had no idea what he was doing. What was he going to do with her. And Macaria had no idea what happened. At the thought of his mate, something in him cracked. If he had been at all rational or thought for even a minute he would have realized he was being insane. But sanity had left him. Somehow he made the connection that this vampire who murdered his daughter must know his mate. And if she had done something then she could have prevented this. Her kind had killed Missandei. And she had to make it right. With grief fulling taking him over, he lifted his muzzle to the sky, calling to his mate. Not just calling, demanding for her to come. And to explain how a vampire had taken their daughter’s life.