| Alucard |

Alucard hurried through Ardelean Forest. He suspected that the werewolves were scheming, and he was right. Of course he was. Why now? Why did they have to decide to crawl out of the woods while he was working on something for Damien? He couldn’t afford to let them threaten the treaty, so he was going to kill them all before they could try to kill anyone else.

His scowl thickened as he tried to work out what he was going to do once he reached the abandoned village. The werewolf that attacked Elvin was stronger than any other he’d faced, and if every wolf in this rogue pack was the same, then he was going to have to be much more careful than usual.

The vampire used his ethos to shroud himself from detection, and as he approached the tree line, he set his eyes on the rubble up ahead. A campfire burned in the old village square and several Beta werewolves were curled up around it. He spotted three Etas on patrol, and inside the only building that still had a roof was the silhouette of a large, wolfish creature.

Alucard silently moved to the left, trying to get a better look inside, but judging by the beast’s sheer size, he assumed it was the Alpha that Tobias mentioned.

He counted eleven wolves. He’d faced packs three times the size of this before; but he had to remember that these might not be ordinary werewolves, and if the Betas were as strong as the one he faced in Wrodiff, then the Alpha was probably much more dangerous.

The vampire set his eyes on one of the Etas and used the darkness to prowl closer. Then, when the wolf passed by, sniffing the ground, he snatched it by its scruff and pulled it into the brush. The wolf squirmed and tried to alert its packmates, but Alucard held its maw shut with one of his hands, and he plunged the other into the wolf’s neck and tore its throat out.

One down, ten to go.

But the wolves smelled the blood of their packmate, and when they all climbed to their paws and raced towards the corpse, Alucard moved away from it, left the trees, and took cover behind a wall. He watched the wolves find and both mourn and anger over their dead friend, and then he shifted his sights to the Alpha. The massive creature emerged from its den, and it brought a look of dread to Alucard’s face.

An Amarok. Huge, insane werewolves with no humanity and the strength of a hundred wolves. The creature’s navy fur glistened in the moonlight as it prowled towards its pack, blood dripping from its gnarly jaw. Alucard could see inside the building, and the corpse of three humans lay inside.

The vampire clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He could tell from the smell that the bodies were no more than a few hours old, and he was certain that in the morning, there’d be an uproar.

“Find…them,” came the Amarok’s distorted, rumbling voice.

On his word, the pack spread out and started looking for their packmate’s killer, just as Alucard hoped they would. If he could take them out one by one, this would go a whole lot smoother.

Alucard waited as a Beta approached and passed the wall he hid behind. He pulled his rapier from its sheath and stabbed the blade through the wolf’s skull, killing it instantly. He dragged its body behind the wall, and then he used the shadows to mask himself and moved over to a mountain of rubble.

He peered through a small gap. The Amarok was prowling the village square; the stomps of its massive feet echoed through the tense quiet, and when it sharply turned its head and looked Alucard’s way, the vampire backed away from the small gap between the bricks.

It was coming his way.

Alucard disappeared into vermillion smoke and reappeared on the other side of the village, but when his back hit a wall, pieces of stone fell and hit the concrete. He heard the wolves growl, and he knew they were coming.

He moved away from the wall and turned to face the first incoming Beta. But when he reached for one of his colts, another Beta came from behind a building and crashed into him.

The vampire landed on the ground with a thump and a grunt, holding the wolf’s snapping jaws back with his free hand. But it was so strong that he felt himself losing the battle.

And the other wolves were closing in.

Alucard dropped his sword and pulled his colt from his pocket. He fired it into the beast’s neck, and as the round burrowed inside its skin, Alucard kicked the yelping wolf away before the bullet exploded inside it, sending a rain of blood everywhere.

He climbed to his feet, but before he could grab his sword, another wolf lunged at him and tried to sink its teeth into his arm. The vampire managed to smack the wolf’s face with his colt, but he had no time to turn and face the werewolf running at him from behind.

The Eta smashed into his back, pushing him back to the ground. He rolled over to face it and reached for his dropped colt, but the wolf pounced on him and went for his throat. Although he grabbed its maw in time, three other Betas were seconds away.

Alucard’s heart was racing. He tried throating the wolf off, but it was too strong—stronger than the wolf from Wrodiff. It snarled and swayed its body, attempting to break free from his grip—

Wolf’s teeth pierced Alucard’s shin, and when he felt the venom gush into his body, he yelled painfully, and he lost his grasp on the wolf’s jaws—

The wolf suddenly burst into white flames and flew off Alucard, colliding with the wolf which bit him. Alucard hurried to his feet but grunted as pain shot through his bitten leg.

It withered, though…when he saw where the white fire came from.

Zalith stood between two ruins with his hand pointing towards the wolves. Alucard watched him throw ashen fire at two beasts running towards him, and when the flames hit them, they tumbled along the ground and shrieked in agony.

The vampire snarled and recovered his weapons. But before he could yell and ask Zalith why the fuck he was here, the Amarok let out a deafening howl. The remaining three wolves raced to its side, and Zalith moved to Alucard’s side.

“Did you fucking vollow me?” Alucard growled, keeping his eyes on the wolves, waiting for them to make their move.

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“Not because I wanted to,” the demon replied.

Alucard scoffed. “Zhen vhy vhe fuck are you in my business?”

“Damien,” he answered.

The vampire felt both rage and embarrassment race through him. But there was no time for him to ask why Damien was the reason. The werewolves growled when the Amarok told them to charge, and then they raced towards him and Zalith.

Alucard watched Zalith go for the three of them, so he ran towards the Amarok. The beast roared and watched Alucard approach, and when Alucard reached it, he dodged the swipe of its massive front paw and skidded along the ground. Then, he plunged his blade towards the beast’s back.

But all he was able to do was leave a minor cut on the Amarok’s skin; it swung around and slammed its arm into him, sending Alucard stumbling back. The Amarok then roared and lunged, but the vampire dodged again and sliced its forearm. He avoided each of its attacks, getting as many slices off on the beast as he could. But it quickly enraged and stomped its front paws onto the ground, making it shake.

Alucard struggled to keep his balance as the concrete shattered, and when the beast launched a massive piece of stone at him, he escaped its trajectory by mere inches—

The Amarok slammed its paw against his chest before he could record, and Alucard went tumbling across the ground. It was then that he realized the venom coursing through his veins was making it harder for him to concentrate. But he had to keep fighting.

He climbed to his feet and set his eyes on the monster. However, Zalith was now facing it. The other wolves were dead, and the demon was launching flames at the Amarok. But the massive beast didn’t shriek and back down like the others. It was almost as if it didn’t feel pain. It was covered in slices and cuts from Alucard’s attacks, bleeding all over the place, but it fought as if everything they did to it was nothing.

Alucard hurried over, and when Zalith backed off to dodge the Amarok’s swing, Alucard gathered his strength and stabbed the blade as deeply as he could into the creature’s leg.

It howled painfully and swung around, but Alucard avoided its swing and aimed his colt at it. Before he could fire, though, the Amarok pulled Alucard’s sword from its leg and threw it at him. Alucard smacked the blade away, but the monster used Alucard’s moment of distraction to lunge—

Zalith threw fire at its face, knocking it off balance as it wailed and shook its head. Alucard fired his gun, and the bullet embedded itself in the Amarok’s arm. The round exploded, blowing the monster’s limb off its body, and it fell to the concrete with a loud, ground-shaking thump.

However, it wasn’t dead yet. It wiped the white flames from its face with its remaining hand, and before Zalith could get another hit off, the beast kicked him away with its back leg and then pushed itself up. It dived towards Alucard, and he was too slow to avoid its paw. It knocked his gun from his hand, but when Alucard fell, white flames consumed the beast’s gaping wound, and it whined and swiftly turned to face Zalith, who stood across the square with blood seeping down the side of his face.

The Amarok charged as best it could with only three limbs. Alucard tried to get up, but the venom was stealing his strength. He watched Zalith dodge a few of the wolf’s attacks, but its strength was clearly too much for him, too, and it quickly pinned him down.

Alucard snarled in frustration and pulled his other colt from his coat. He aimed it at the beast Zalith held its snapping jaws back with his hands, but it was quickly overpowering him. The vampire’s arm was shaking, and he tried his best to focus. If he didn’t fire—if he missed—the monster would slaughter Zalith, and Damien would be furious.

With a pained grunt, he sat up, grasped the gun with both hands and fired.

The bullet cut into the Amarok’s neck, and as it drilled deeper, the beast pushed itself away from Zalith and desperately cut at its throat with its claws.

But it was too late.

The round exploded, blowing the beast’s head off its body, and sending a flood of blood, bone, and innards crashing down on Zalith, who lay on the grass with a disgusted, humiliated look on his face.

Alucard let himself laugh quietly in amusement. It was over. The Amarok was dead, as was its pack.

As Alucard struggled to his feet and grabbed his weapons, he watched Zalith wipe the mess from his face, retching a little as he did.

The demon climbed to his feet, holding his arms around as blood dripped from him, and when Alucard approached, he looked at him and asked, “Do you have a handkerchief?”

“No,” Alucard replied, unable to keep the smirk off his face as he looked Zalith up and down.

Zalith scowled and snarled quietly as he tried to wipe as much blood off as he could with his hands. But he was drenched.

“Zhere’s a river zhat vay,” Alucard sneered, nodding at the tree line. “Or do you ’ave to get back to Zamien?”

The demon rolled his eyes and turned around. He headed in the direction of the river.

As much as Alucard wanted to leave, he wanted to know what Zalith meant when he said that he was here because of Damien. So, he followed. “Vhat does Zamien ’ave to do vith you vollowing me?”

Zalith stormed towards the water and grumbled, “He told me to make sure you don’t get yourself killed, and evidently, he was right to do so.”

Alucard scowled and grabbed Zalith’s shoulder, turning him to face him. “I zidn’t need your ’elp,” he growled, glaring at the demon’s bloody face. “And if you vecall, I vas zhe vone who saved you vrom getting killed!”

The demon scoffed and yanked his arm free. “And if you recall, I stopped those wolves from tearing you apart, so we’re even.” Then, he walked towards the river.

With a quiet, aggravated growl, Alucard made his way to the water, too. He crouched by the riverbed and started cleaning the blood from his skin, and when he glanced at Zalith, he caught him looking at him.

Alucard scowled and shifted his sights to his injured leg. He gently pulled his boot and sock off to assess the wound. Several gashes cut into his shin, and the skin around them was dark and infected. He loathed werewolf bites, but to his relief, it was only a Beta. If the Amarok managed to bite him, he’d be in a much worse state.

He moved his leg into the river, and when the freezing water hit his wound, he grimaced and groaned painfully.

“Are you okay?” Zalith called.

Alucard ignored him and gently rubbed the wound with his fingers. He watched the blood wash away, and as he gently pinched the gashes, slithers of silvery werewolf venom oozed out.

He heard Zalith tearing fabric, and when he looked at the demon, he’d ripped some of his shirt and was heading over to him with it.

“Here,” Zalith said, offering him the piece of torn shirt.

With a pout, Alucard snatched it from him and started wrapping his leg. He caught a glimpse of Zalith’s abs, and for some reason, he couldn’t help but glance again once he was done.

Alucard then pulled his sock and boot back on. He tried to get up, and Zalith offered to help, but he shoved the demon away and snarled at him, “Get off me.”

Zalith rolled his eyes and backed off.

Once he was up, Alucard pulled his sheathed sword from his side and used it to help him stay on his feet. He turned away from Zalith and glared at the tree line. It relieved him knowing that the Amarok and its rogue pack were dead, but the thing had been feeding on three bodies, and Alucard was certain that it wouldn’t take long for the humans to work out that it was werewolves.

He sighed and dragged his hand over his face. Maybe telling the council that he killed all the rogues would convince them not to void the treaty. If he didn’t have to deal with Zalith’s vampires, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Maybe he could have killed the Amarok before it got those people.

The demon then huffed and said, “Well, if you’re done almost getting killed for the night, I need to get back.”

“Zhen go,” Alucard snapped.

Zalith sighed irritably. “Fine,” he uttered.

Alucard glanced over his shoulder and watched the demon head over to a tree. Zalith flicked his fingers at the trunk; the bark split and cracked, opening to form a rift. Crimson flames spewed out, and as the demon stepped inside, he shot one last glare at Alucard.

And then he was gone. The rift closed, leaving a thick, black burn on the tree.

The vampire rolled his eyes and huffed angrily. That man boiled his blood. But he didn’t have the energy to argue. He was exhausted, and his leg was twinging. He had to get home; the woods were infested with werewolves, and the last thing he needed was one taking a chance and attacking him in his current state.

He took a deep breath and then dematerialized into vermillion smoke. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and he hoped he’d be able to save the treaty. But what if he couldn’t? Where would he take the vampires if the council cast him out?