Behind him was a tall and unpleasantly, strong looking dude, and as lithe as a jungle cat. His skin was the color of tobacco. His black, lean face was coldly savage and there was a dangerous expression in his raw spinach eyes that didn’t make the thought of offering him your hand for a handshake enter your head. That was the kind of guy he was.
Helldog sat at the head of the table, while the mean looking guy sat beside him. Helldog went straight to business.
“I believe the last time we spoke, I told you I will kill you if I ever set my eyes on you again,” he said solemnly.
Victor nodded.
“I clearly remember that. But knowing with the way you threatened me the last time we saw, I know you you will be curious to know why I had risked to come here”
Helldog regarded him thoughtfully for a long moment.
“I'm alright. It better be good.” He said tightly.
Victor began, “I need your help. I’ve got an issue that needs urgent fixing. Problem is I can’t fix it alone.”
But before going into what the problem is, there’s something else I gotta say.” He paused and went on. “ I’m coming back to the pack. I want back in,”
The expression that went through Helldog’s face was a sight; first it was shock, then disbelief, then anger, then shock and finally disbelief.
“You are insane. Is this a joke?” He finally exploded.
Victor shook his head.
“This is for real. On the level.”
Helldog stared at him nonplussed.
“I don’t seem to understand you, man. What made you change your mind?”
Victor shrugged indifferently.
“Let’s say desperate times calls for desperate measures,”
Helldog regarded him, gnawing his lower lip, his expression thoughtful. Then he leaned forward in his chair.
“I see,”’he finally commented. “Can you elaborate on the desperate times? I will need a good explanation on that,”
Victor adjusted himself in his seat. He knew if Helldog was going to help him, he needed to come clean with the reason that had brought him there. So he went on to tell Helldog about the situation of Selena and Caesar . By the time he was done, Helldog and Morrigan had an incredulous expression on their faces.
“You are crazy, pal. The Alpha told me all about you. I wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole, if I were him,” Morrigan said, shaking his head pitifully at Victor. Victor ignored him. His attention was fully on Helldog. The main man in this all thing.
“I’ve come across a lot of crazy people in my life, you are far worse, Victor I must say. Helldog said solemnly. “You mean you came all the way here, risking your life just for some damned human ?” He shook his head.
“I loved her,” Victor said simply.
“But she’s human. She’s not even one of your kind.” Helldog pointed out. “So why bother with her after all?”
“She’s been with me through hell. We both love each other. I can’t let anything happen to her. I don’t think you understand me, but I’ve got to get away from Caesar .” Victor said calmly.
“Victor, you are a goddamn fool,” Helldog said, a laughing jeer in his eyes. Then he kept quiet for sometime, thinking. “Alright, we’ll help you.” He said finally.
For the first time that day, A gleam of hope came into Victor’s eyes.
“You will?” He said in a calm voice, but inside, he was about to explode with excitement.
“Yeah, I mean fuck it, we’ll help you,” Helldog said. “But I’ve got my own terms too. If you don’t agree with these terms, then no help from us, my friend,”
“What are they? I’m listening,”
Helldog heaved heavily.
“Firstly, we are attacking that town. And this time, we are ending this war for good! We are taking over the town. And anyone one who wishes to join us, we’ll turn them to wolves, do you have a problem with that?” Victor shook his head, and Helldog went on. “Secondly, you are gonna be by right hand man?”
Victor screwed up his face, “What do you mean?”
Helldog grinned wolfishly.
“I mean I’m replacing you with Morrigan here. You gonna be my new lieutenant,”
Victor stared at him astonished.
“What?” Morrigan gasped. “What the hell is this? We had a deal man! We had a fucking deal!”
Helldog turned to him coolly.
“Yeah, we did. But right now, that Victor has come to join us, then you’ll need to step down. Let me tell you something, my friend.” He pointed to Victor. “This guy here was formerly a lieutenant of this pack and he was a damned good one. I don’t give credit easily, but let’s say my new role as an Alpha has changed some things about me. I now see the perspective of the world in a different light. In this fight, Victor will come in handy. We need him on the team. There’s no shortcut about it. I promise to make it up to you, Morrigan. But right now,” he shrugged helplessly, “I can’t do anything. It’s all out of my hand,”
Morrigan suddenly slammed his fist into his open palm, he sat there, fuming, the expression on his face menacing but he didn’t say anything. Helldog turned to Victor .
“Now that my friend Morrigan has come to terms with the new arrangement, I guess we are good to go. Do you have any problem with all I’ve said?”
Victor is silent for a long moment. What more could he say?, he thought. l can’t even refuse him. I knew he was going to play a fast one on me. Afterall, I came to him for help. Now, I’m gonna always be at his beck and call.
“I don’t have any problem at all. I’m cool with it,”
“Good, good!” Helldog said beaming. “Now that we crossed that bridge, Morrigan, I want you to bring some of the guys in here. They’ve got to know their new lieutenant,” and he went on to give their names to Morrigan. Morrigan got to his feet, came around the table, he looked killingly at Victor before going out of the room. Few minutes later, he returned to the room, with Razor, Valko, Kiara, NightClaws, Lexi and Amwolf, all trailing along behind him. Their faces were hard and expressionless. When they saw Victor, they didn’t say anything, but they acknowledged him with a curt nod. He returned the greetings. Then they look at Helldog.
Helldog sat forward in his chair.
“Good! Now that everyone is here, I want to make a short announcement. As you all know, Victor was a very big part of the Blood River pack family. And he played a vital role which he carried out excellently well. And for that reason, he’s gonna be reinstated back into that role. Guys, Victor here he’s the new lieutenant of this great pack.”
All the members jerked their heads to look at Victor, some smiled, some grunted, and the rest said nothing. Afterall, they didn’t like Helldog and they were used to his unusual ways of doing things in ways that suited him. Also, they never liked Morrigan anyway who was not mean and violent to anyone that crossed him. So if Helldog kicked Morrigan out, then that’s his personal business.
“Now, we are done with that. I will also like you to know that we are going into Fur Rivers anytime from now. This time, we are getting our town back from good. And Victor here I’m pretty sure we throw in some help to win this fight. I’m sure of that. And also, my brothers, I’m going with you in this fight,” he declared.
“What?” Valko said. “I’m sorry my Alpha, but I don’t think that’s a good idea,”
And the pack members all began to beef about how it’s unheard of for the Alpha to join his pack members in a fight when he had resourceful members to carry out the job.
“Calm down, brothers and sisters. I’m fighting alongside you my brethren. You know why cause I wanna kill Caesar myself. I wanna rip him out with my bare hands,” He said evenly. “If we're gonna end this war, then Caesar has to die. And I’m Gonna be the one to do the job.” What he didn’t tell them was that, knowing how strong and skillful Victor was in fights, he was afraid of Victor taking all the glory.
“I think you should let me lead the pack,” Victor said, looking directly into Helldog’s face. “Morrigan, here can also come with us,” he gestured to Morrigan, who gave him a surprised, curious look but said nothing. Victor went on. “I believe you remember what happened to Jack. We don’t exactly want that to happen to you,”
Helldog gave him a tight smile “Don’t worry about my hide, Victor, I’ll be fine.” He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes boring into Victor. “Now, tell us how the hell we're gonna win this fight?”
Victor nodded his head.
“It’s very simple. The ray gun they called the Wolf Stopper is our only obstacle. But not anymore. Because I’ve found a way to beat it,” All the members of the pack were watching him closely now. “I just gave it to Caesar, that guy is very smart. With the WolfStoppers, any werewolf that attacked that town is a goner. That gun is the perfect eradicator for our kind. But the makers made a slight mistake. They overlooked something important. I figured out that mistake in an ingenious way the last time I went into that town. That mistake is the undoing of that gun. And that mistake is the reason why we're gonna win this fight,” Victor was smiling now.
“What the hell is it, Victor! Spill it!” Helldog said impatiently, curiosity plastered all over him.
Victor with an expression of patience on his face, rubbed his palms together gingerly. In a quiet way, he was proud of himself.
“What Caesar didn’t know about the Wolf Stopper is this: it’s only meant for a ground level fight. It’s not meant for a high level fight,”
“I don’t get you. What do all those terms mean?” Helldog inquiried.
“It means that the Wolf Stopper could only stop a werewolf who tries to attack anyone holding it, face to face. But when you attack from high places, then it can’t get you. It wouldn't even see you coming.
“Wait a minute,” Morrigan said, facing Victor. “Are you saying that if we are gonna fight those people, we’ve got to attack them, let's say from rooftops like we come down from rooftops, snatch up one or two Fur Hunters, rip them away and then quickly jump onto another rooftop, while looking out for the next kill? Like we don’t ever fight them head on, directly on the ground?”
Victor beamed and clapped his hands.
“I never figured you for a bright kid, Morrigan,”
Morrigan snarled “There’s still a lot from where that came from, brother,” he said and Victor knew he was genuinely pleased.
“That’s it?” Helldog said, looking pleased.
“Yeah, that’s all there is to it,” He answered. “Those Fur Hunters won’t see us coming. We move formation like.” He turned to the rest of the pack. “Gather around brothers, so that I can explain that we are going to move,” and he began to tell them his plans.
Unbeknownst to Victor, Razor harbored another sinister plan—to betray their plans to Caesar.