Beast let out a breathy laugh once more but jumped to her feet when she heard the scream. It came from the older human pup! Lifting her snout up into the air, she took in the scents. Mixed in with the fear and blood, she caught a new vampire scent. A scent that she'd smelled on the older pup before. With a feral growl, Beast snapped at the others to get them to move, before she ran in the direction she'd heard the scream.
The door of the older pup's room opened with the pup standing there with her arm held against her chest. It was obvious to Beast that pup's wrist was badly broken. It made her growl and ran towards her faster. Wide-eyed and stank of fear; the pup slammed the door closed. A hint of chagrin passed through Beast realizing she'd scared the pup. But, Lily would fix that later. For now, Beast had to protect pup.
Beast ran into the door, bursting through it. A vampire stood with a wolf, but not a normal wolf. This wolf was shaped like a normal wolf, but he was the size of a large bear. Vampire blood was on the wolf's teeth and claws. He wasn't a threat, Beast decided and growled at the vampire. His already pale skin grew paler as he stared at her and a glance behind her told Beast that her mate was there too.
With reflexes Beast envied he ran and jumped through the window, running away. This vampire was not a predator, but prey! She gave the strange wolf a quick short growl of warning before leaping through the broken window after her prey. The vampire he was still bleeding and leaving a trail that even a human could follow. Beast raced, using not only her legs but her clawed hands to push her along for maximum speed.
The vampire was fast, but she was faster and was almost ready for the finishing leap to bring him down to the ground when several tiny wolves darted in front of her. Some yapped at her like those silly little dogs humans keep while others leaped on her, sinking claws and teeth into her fur. Beast roar, grabbing one off her back and throwing it far. It hit a tree, slid to the ground and didn't move again.
With a snort of satisfaction, Beast grabbed another that was hanging off her left shoulder and threw it as well, but this one somehow managed to land on its feet. She swiped her massive hand at one of the wolves in front of her, but it leaped back out of her reach just in time. Pain flared in her back as the last wolf on her sunk it's teeth into the back of her neck. Beast roared in rage. The wolf yelped as her mate ripped it off her back.
With a wet, sickly crunch, her mate crushed the wolf's skull and let its lifeless body drop to the ground. All of the other wolves froze as if the death of one of their own was something that none of them had considered possible. Beast growled at them, shaking out her fur and readying to attack, but none of the smaller wolves seemed all too eager now to approach her and her mate. Except for one.
Like the others he was small, but his fur was a dull blonde and thin. Beast was sure there was no muscle to any of the scarce meat that was on his bones. He growled at his fellow wolves then growled at her and her mate. Beast snorted amusement, appreciating his attempt at being a predator. He had no chances against her or her mate of course. The wolf jumped and snapped at her like an annoying gnat.
The others still held back, and Beast swatted at the brave little wolf. The sound of a car's squealing tires before it raced off, reminded Beast of the vampire. Alarm sliced through her as she looked around to see the vamp was gone. She growled at the little wolf and its friends, realizing they'd helped him escape. She raced off towards the sound of the car, but again her mate stopped her with a warning growl.
She growled back but didn't challenge him further. She knew what he was thinking of. The traps that hurt her and others just a few days ago. It wouldn't be safe to follow him now. Beast turned to deal with the wolves. Her amusement at their antics now completely gone. They had distracted her for the vampires. The wolves made pained yelps and took off racing into the forest.
The brave little wolf, whimpered now, all his bravery leaving him once he realized he was alone. With an angry growl, Beast ran at him and, with his yelp, followed the other wolves. She gave chase for a minute, making sure he knew she should be fear before she stopped and vented her anger on a nearby tree.
Her pup had been hurt, the vampire got away, and wolves were helping the vampire! Tonight, they had failed. She had failed! James finished dressing, running a hand through his still-wet hair as he waited for Lily to finish her shower. The sun had just risen above the horizon, promising a beautiful morning, but he wasn't in the mood for scenic views. Too much had happened last night. Too much had gone wrong. Tristen had been hurt and nearly taken, Bonnie was fighting for her life. The only victory they did have was they'd brought in Jessie, but maybe that had been the plan in the first place.
"Let's go," Lily said as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom. The expression on her face was grim and serious.
He stood up, grabbing his coat. "Where to first?"
James had expected her to want to go see Tristen first, but he could see the guilt she tried so hard to hide. She was, of course, blaming herself for the girl's injuries. So it came to no surprise when she said, "Let's go touch base with Nick."
"Sounds good," James replied, knowing it was better to let Lily deal with her guilt on her own terms than try to comfort her. He followed her out, zipping up his coat to shield from the cold.
They were about half way when Lily suddenly stopped. "You know what? Change of plan. I'm going to talk to Rebel," she said, walking off in a new direction.
"Rebel?" James repeated, not sure why she suddenly wanted to talk to him.
"Yeah, you know, Zander," she replied as they walked.
"I know who you're talking about. I'm just curious as to why you suddenly want to talk to him," James replied, a little worried about what she might do or how her guilt may manifest in all of this.
"Relax James," she said glancing over to him. "I remember my promise. I won't kill him."
He made a snort, knowing that a lot of damage could be done to a person without killing them. Zander must have known it too, because as he saw them coming, he froze with a look of mild panic on his face. He had a backpack on one shoulder and a duffle on the other. The kid was running. James wasn't sure exactly what Zander was trying to escape, Lily, Tristen, vamps, or maybe even himself.
Lily slapped her hand on the shoulder holding the duffle bag so hard, Zander nearly dropped it. "Rebel, now where do you think you're going?" She said, forcing him to stand next to her.
"What do you care," he snapped. "And get your fucking hand off me."
James growled at him with a narrowed gaze, but Lily simply grinned. "Now, now do you kiss your mother with that mouth? I just came to talk."
"Talk," Zander said, looking suspicious. "About what?"
"Well first, welcome to the Freak Club," she said, still giving him that slightly psychotic grin of hers.
"The Freak club?" He repeated again, look as confused as James felt, who had no idea what she was talking about.
"Yep. We're Xavier's freaks. His ever growing group of experiments," Lily replied.
"And don't try to deny that you're the big bad wolf."
"I wasn't," he argued, giving her a sour look. "I just... I didn't think you'd be..." he said then drifted off with a shrug.
"Is that why you're running?" James asked.
"Figured I was going to get kicked out anyway," he said, shrugging again.
"Because Xavier played you like he played the rest of us?" Lily said with a skeptical tone.
"And running never helps," James jumped in. "I've been there. It's better to be around people you can trust."
"Yeah, cause God knows those kinds of people are hard to find," Lily jumped in then cleared her throat. "I, uh, also want to thank you. You know... for saving Tristen. If you weren't there...," she said, looking very guilty and a little uncomfortable.
To his surprise, James noticed that Zander looked just as uncomfortable. "It really wasn't me. It was my wolf," he said, kicking some snow.
She made a rude snort before giving him a shake. "Whatever, Rebel. She's your mate, and you'd drop everything to help her. It's freaking genetic, whether we like it or not," Lily said bitterly then smiled at James. "No offense." She turned back to Zander then gave him that psychotic smile. "Now, I'm complimenting you, punk. Shut up and take it like a man!"
The smile suddenly disappeared, and she fisted his shirt to pull him just mere inches from her face. "But if you hurt Tristen in any way and at any time I will hunt you down, slowly rip you apart, and make you watch as I feed your guts to the dogs. Comprende, Rebel?"