“Today is the day, Guys,” Gambler boomed as she kicked the door in to the communal room with her apprentice, Arthur, in tow. The pair had been out confirming their designs for infiltrating a local casino to reach the vampire elder living inside. The State of Nevada had become thick with them in the last year and the region desperately needed new, powerful packs to level the field. If Gambler was right, this could be the hunt that moved her to the next level.

Gambler was carrying several dry cleaner bags with Arthur carrying several more. The communal room was thick with incense and the smell of curry. In the middle of the room, three of her pack in their human forms were grooming three others in their wolf forms. The ones being groomed were sitting in large tubs, having a thick conditioner combed into their fur.

“Thank God,” Victor sighed as he began to stand from his tub. “If I have to endure one more day of this, I’m going to crack.” Victor was Gambler’s second and mate, as was common.

“I’m not done, Victor,” Penny said as she pressed on the shoulders of the big wolf as he tried to rise from the tub. Penny was the newest and youngest member alongside Arthur.

“Yeah, but I am,” Victor grumbled.

“Let the child finish, Vic,” Barbara said as she scratched absently at her muzzle. She was Gambler’s Third and seemed fairly content in being groomed.

“I am sick to death of smelling like a high end Indian restaurant,” Victor said.

“It was that or low end Polish,” Gambler said as she handed her dry cleaning to Arthur. She leaned in and kissed Victor’s nose. “And you hate cabbage, as I recall.”

Victor grumbled some more and allowed Penny to work the conditioner into his fur.

Gambler and her pack weren’t really so fastidious about their coats as to demand such exhaustive work, but instead were planning for a hunt. Vampire Elders were elders because they were as powerful as they were wary. They wouldn’t simply lean on their guards and security systems, but also their personal senses. Highly alert beings could literally smell a werewolf from a hundred yards away, so for the last week, Gambler had insisted that everyone be groomed daily, subsist on curry and burn incense at all hours. The combination of smells would be enough to alter their natural scent and prevent it from giving them away to the wrong person at the wrong time.

Once the pack had finished and shifted back to their human forms, they gathered around a cheap folding table to examine a crudely drawn map. It depicted a casino and adjoining hotel, as well as some floor plans.

“Our target is Ella Van Dyne, the owner of the Tri-star hotel and casino. She’s a fully matured vampire on the cusp of becoming an elder, so this is a big time hunt. We swing this and I’ll be silver by sunrise.” Gambler said, a hint of excitement in her voice. “This is also going to serve at Arthur’s graduation to journeyman, so I expect you to pull your weight.”

“I won’t let you down, Master,” Arthur said, his voice filled with determination. Arthur would be Gambler’s second apprentice in a year’s time. He wasn’t her find, having been sent from out east by an Elder who heard she’d just graduated her last apprentice. Taking on apprentices so rapidly wasn’t unheard of, but it certainly was unusual. With times being as they were, however, it wasn’t unexpected.

“The hunts plan is the same, but let’s go over it again to be safe,” Gambler said.

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“Because some of us have bad memories,” Victor added with a sniff.

“Don’t bully the children, Vic,” Barbara said. “We were all young once.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“We’ll be splitting into two teams,” Gambler began again, “Victor, Barbara, Xochi, Klein, and I will be Assault, with Arthur, Jim, and Penny being Scout.” Gambler pointed at one of the drawings on the table. “Arthur, if you would?”

“While scouting, we were able to pin down covert access to the cash room via the kitchen; so my team will sneak in and hit the place.” Arthur pointed at a spot on the map. “The combination of pride and the chance to get humans they can eat and kill should stop them from involving any human LEOs. I expect their own security will show up first and after we drop a few of them, Ella’s children should join in.”

“Were you able to confirm how many she had on site?” Victor asked.

“Two, and if we’re lucky, they’ll show up one at a time.”

“And if not, we’ll be ready,” Jim added, placing his hand on Arthur’s. Gambler hadn’t given Jim to Arthur yet, but she suspected the pair was already bonded enough to make the transition easy.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Penny said as she drove a closed fist into her open palm with a satisfying smack. Penny didn’t look it, but she had the personality of an enforcer. If Arthur could properly channel her aggression, she’ll make a fantastic Third.

“It’s like looking back in time,” Barbara said, wiping a non-existent tear from her eye.

“Back on task, Wolves,” Gambler said, her voice kind yet firm.

“Yes, Packmaster,” The group said in unison.

“Now, Ella is in the penthouse. She has a special elevator that leads from the casino’s second floor directly there. There are also two sets of stairs leading there from opposite sides of the building. The elevator is the biggest issue, but I expect that both of the children will use it once Arthur’s team gets rowdy enough. I’ll sneak on the elevator and take it up while the rest of assault splits up and takes the stairs. We’ll trap her on her floor and have a nice meal.”

“I get why they might not call, but what about human in the area?” Klein asked. “No way at least one of them isn’t gonna try to call the cops. Also, didn’t we find out that the Sheriff is a Vamp? What if he comes?”

“The Sheriff is a sibling of Ella’s but they have sort of a ‘Cain and Abel’ relationship,” Arthur said. “So even if they’re called by casino patrons they’ll drag their feet.”

“Couple that with the fact that Sheriffs don’t go out for just anything. So if a human patron calls them, I expect the worse we’ll get is one or two immature.” Gambler added.

“I still wish we could get her during the early day,” Klein muttered.

“You’ll be okay once the Packmaster takes over, Klein,” Xochi said as she scratched his back vigorously.

“We checked, Buddy,” Arthur said. “But she’s only above ground at dusk, and we never managed to find her bedroom.”

“Don’t baby him,” Victor said.

“If everyone is clear,” Gambler cut in again, “Arthur, Jim, Penny, follow me.” Gambler waved for the three to follow her towards an open space in the room. “The rest of you, get dressed. We are going in quiet, so I had your throw aways dry cleaned.” Victor and the others began to strip down and go through the dry cleaning bags. Gambler then turned her attention to Arthur, Jim, and Penny. The three had lined up almost instinctively, with Arthur in the middle. Releasing wolves was bittersweet and no different from what Gambler imagined sending a child to college felt like. Not that she knew that for sure. She’d been turned before she had a chance to have children, so that door was shut. Her pack and her apprentices were just as good, and any lingering regrets she had only surface when she released a member. “Make a circle and join hands,” She said as she guided them into position. “Arthur, clear you mind and think only of Jim and Penny. Feel them in your heart and soul. See them as your spear and armor. Pledge your self to serving them as their leader. Loving them as their parent. Protecting them as their master.”

Arthur was already a loose teether in Gambler’s mind. Releasing it was a simple matter. She felt his mind pushing to overcome both Jim and Penny’s wills and felt them as they submitted willingly. She let her control be contested and pushed away, until finally, she could no longer feel anything besides Arthur when she looked at the trio. “Well done, Apprentice,” She said softly. “Give it a few and get dressed.”

“Of course, Master,” Arthur said as Jim and Penny hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”