Queen of Darkness

Chapter 23 - Part of the pack

I vaguely recalled my dream where someone encouraged me to take a drink and keep drinking. I didn’t focus much on the person per-say or on the act of forcing myself to drink, but the taste of blood was very real.

I woke, feeling slightly better only to realise that it was in fact no dream because I could still taste the blood on my lips.

Morning was breaking and I was lying next to a camp fire that had been burning for some time because there were only a few glowing Amber’s left smouldering.

As I looked around I saw Joshua sleeping on the ground on the opposite side of the fire, and Shadow was sitting on a log near me.

Of cause they wouldn’t just let me be, what was I thinking? He was too bloody stubborn for that.

Shadow: “How are you feeling?”

Me: “I’m fine,... why did you follow me? ”

Shadow: “You are in no state to run off. But I have to give it to you vampire, even injured you made good distance and left minimal tracks. It took us a good 6 hours to find you.”

I guess coming from a werewolf that was supposed to be some kind of compliment but I didn’t really care.

Me: “Who’s blood did you give me?”

Shadow: “Mine... and Joshua’s, but don’t worry you didn’t bite anyone against their will. We cut ourselves and collected the blood in a cup, I had to basically force it down your throat because you didn’t want to drink.”

Me: “What about your werewolf rules, no giving blood to a vampire?”

Shadow: “You never bit either of us, or any unwilling human, so technically there’s no proof we gave you blood”

Me: “I don’t understand your willingness or should I say eagerness to save me”

Shadow: “I don’t think I understand it myself, to be honest. There’s just something about you... I don’t know what it is.”

We fell silent for a while, before I decided to take the opportunity to learn more about him.

Me: “Why do the call you Shadow?... It’s a strange name to have.”

Shadow: “Because that’s how I move, like a shadow... The enemy doesn’t see me coming.

Some of us are given nick names that expresses our wolf side, it’s an extension of one’s personality, and it normally gets given to us by the pack leader after we return from our first battle.

It also depends on the person, some werewolves don’t have that something special that jumps out at you when you see then, some just choose not to use nicknames. Because I’m the alpha and want to keep up tradition I stuck with the nickname my father gave me.”

Me: “What about Joshua, does he have a nickname?”

Shadow: “No... Josh is just... Josh.”

Me: “I’ve heard some people calling Mary ‘Wildflower’, I take it that’s her name? She’s always around you, is she your wife or something?”

Shadow gave an amused snort “Oh hell no! She is exactly like her name states, she may be pretty as a flower but she’s a wild one. I feel sorry for the wolf that thinks he can tame that one.

I’m aware she may be harboring some feelings towards me but I’ve made it ample clear to her I’m not interested”

I was feeling stronger and healthier but Shadow didn’t want to return to the estate just yet. He figured that I would need their blood a few more times, before I was strong enough and they couldn’t be seen cutting them self to provide me with blood and therefore decided we camp out for two more days.

I was not at all happy with them giving me their blood but it was a hell of a lot better than suffering from pain and hunger while slowly perishing, and besides I never had werewolf blood before, it was more filling and wholesome than any mere human.

Me: “If your blood tastes this good and is so filling, why has the vampires never attacked you for your blood?”

Joshua, now fully awake, came to sit next to me, giving me that cute boyish smile of his.

Joshua: “Didn’t Shadow tell you?”

Me: “Tell me what?”

Shadow: “We don’t know if it’s just a myth or not but the reason why vampires won’t drink werewolf blood, the reason why werewolves won’t give their blood to vampires, is all to do with the turning process.

Most werewolves are born, from werewolf parents it’s who you are... it’s part of your DNA, but a bite from a werewolf can turn a human into a werewolf, just as the bite of a Vampire can turn a human into a vampire.

The difference is that werewolves don’t go around biting people so this occurance don’t happen all that often.

If you’re born werewolf, it’s who you are and you never really know or feel different cause there is no change, but humans turned werewolf because they were bitten...they just see the effects during a full moon, but the rest of the time they don’t remember it and they don’t feel any different.

The myth goes, you cannot change something that’s already changed, therefore a vampire can’t turn a werewolf into a vampire and vice-versa... but that’s not something that is proven because no one has ever tried, however we were taught that a Vampire will die when consuming werewolf blood.

That’s why vampires won’t drink a werewolves blood and why a werewolf will not give their permission to a vampire... well, other than not wanting to be a damn Vamparic.

Aurora, when we found you, you were close to death already, there’s no human blood for miles, we would never have been able to safe you. We had no choice but to give you our blood, knowing that our blood itself would possibly kill you, either way you would die... So there was nothing to lose in trying.”

Me: “But it didn’t kill me?”

Joshua:” Yes we were quite surprised... But you know what that means? ”

Me:” No? ”

Joshua:” It means by the next full moon... Ahwooo! ”

Me: ” That’s not even remotely funny! ” I knew Joshua was just kidding, after all they didn’t bite me but I still wondered what side effects could come from a vampire consuming the blood of not just one but two werewolves.

Shadow just smiled then continued to tell me all about the battles he has seen between werewolves and vampires. The battle, like the one I was part of was something that happened on a regular basis, that’s why they have different homes.

Vampires don’t stay long in one place in order not to draw suspicion but the werewolves don’t stay long in one place in order to survive, by staying away from vampires as much as possible.

There were also a few, more horrifying ways the vampires dealt with werewolves for instance setting fire to forests, or kidnapping children should they see them in towns or cities. Killing the little ones before they grew into adult werewolves.

Immediately I thought back to the day I met Joshua and Shadow confirmed that Robert kidnapped Joshua while he was on his way to town.

Robert recognised him from a previous encounter in town, when he was with the two most important members of their pack, Joshua was accompanying his father and Uncle to a store the first time Robert saw them in town, Joshua’s uncle was the pack’s leader and a long-time enemy of vampires... especially Robert’s, but on that day Joshua was all alone and an easy target for Robert.

When Robert took Joshua it was to draw his Uncle out in order to assassinate him. Unfortunately his plan worked, Joshua’s uncle went after Robert, not knowing that his nephew was already set free, but by then it was too late, Robert ambushed and killed him.

Joshua’s uncle was Shadow’s father. Shadow was only a few years older than Joshua at the time and was thrown straight into leading the pack due to his heritage.

Joshua’s father stepped up and looked after Shadow as a son but he was not allowed to lead the pack, which fell on Shadows shoulders who was forced to be an adult and a leader way sooner than he should have.

That’s one of the reasons why Joshua was still such a playful young free spirit but his cousin was so serious, mysterious and brooding, never showing much emotion.

After 2 days we returned to the Estate. I was surprised to find most of the werewolves’ attitude towards me had changed for the better.

Joshua told me that it was because Shadow told the ones that didn’t witness it with their own eyes, that I sacrificed myself to save Shadows life. A Vampire willing to die to safe a werewolf. It was the second time I saved a wolf but saving the alpha, that was something else.

It earned me not acceptance as much, but tolerance. Shadow told them that I lived off animal blood and when they caught up with me I was already healing, no humans harmed in any way as I was in the middle of the forest, too far from civilization. I became part of their pack... As much as a vampire could.

The only one clearly not happy about my return was the wildflower Mary, but now every time I saw her or heard someone call her wildflower, I thought about Shadow’s description of her which caused me to smile.

Shadow was serious about training me on fighting. He really believed that I needed training, I didn’t want to hurt his ego or embarrass him in front of his pack by displaying better fighting skills then him so I pretended to learn from him, pretended to be terrible at fighting, deliberately letting my sword fall, or missing the target completely when using a bow and arrow.

I found it somewhat amusing when he got irritable and frustrated with my incompetence.

I would just bat my eyelids at him and pout, it wasn’t seduction, I never used seduction on him, it was more to annoy him...where upon he would normally just grunt and do this strange deep breathing through his nose thing until he calmed down. He reminded me of a bull when he did that, well he was just as stubborn as a bull, so it kinda suited him.

We stayed at the estate for another two weeks before Shadow announced that they move again.

Shadow asked me to join them, they were heading for Italy, that’s where I wanted to go to begin with and for the moment I was saver with the werewolves than on my own anyway.