Michel Lachance's Story

Headlights sent forbidding shadows stretching through the warehouse. Through the badly patched up walls, light spilled in, slicing past rafters and rubbish to make clumsy, constantly shifting patterns across the floor. Even Arman, who had just barged in with an over-enthusiastic “I’m home” – met with a very unenthusiastic response – had hushed and froze.

He watched the pack as the cars came and went, how they sheepishly shrank into shadows, some even ducking out whilst the youngest held their breaths, terrified. Cass had moved to peer through a hole in the ruins, after giving Arman a cold glare. Her eyes had roamed from his head to his toes, noting that he had nothing useful on him; no food, no clothes, no medicine. He was here to start a fight.

When the cars had moved off, silence reigned for another few minutes.

Cass was tired. Tired of this.
The newest attack was a worry for them all. Arman’s latest victim had been found by a member of the Bloodstone pack, a prestigious, organised urban pack from Vargeras. It wouldn’t go unseen to. And as far as Cass was concerned, that was the last straw. This insane, reckless werewolf had been causing them far too much trouble. But this, this was the epitome of his thoughtlessness. Sometimes, he’d bring the bitten straight to her, unless for some reason he was compromised. But now, with the warehouse becoming overcrowded and Cass’s patience teetering, lately he’d simply been leaving them to their fate. She thought she understood his motives at their very basis but Arman was still a mystery to her. He needed to go. Yet, how? It unsettled her when she caught herself idly plotting his murder. However, options were few. He was strong, so much so that Cass could never keep him away for more than a few days, even when some of the older members of the pack would provide backup. And she was not about to risk the safety of the youngsters.

The silence was broke by a heave and a splatter of vomit on concrete as Michel, a pack member in his teens, was violently sick. The boy’s looting earlier in the day had rewarded him with a bottle of fancy liquor which he had taken the liberty of drinking all by himself. Cass had found it hard to muster up some sympathy as she’d spent the last two hours dealing with him as he rambled and threw up.

Arman, still stood near the entrance, acted as though it hadn’t even happened.
“We should go after them” he said, sounding important. “Whoever it was isn’t aware that they’re in our territory now.”

Cass snorted. Territory.

Seri watched the cars go by from his perch up on a stack of rusted shipping crates, above which was the hole in the roof he had entered by. The werecat grimaced, waiting until they had passed before descending nimbly, dropping from one crate to the next before landing finally atop the crate at the bottom. “Go after them?” Seri rolled his eyes, “To what, punish them for trespassing? Tsk.” He seated himself with his legs hanging over the edge of his perch and stretched out lazily. “Sounds like a lot of effort just to make a point. You don’t see the otherrr packs getting all worked up over people passing through their territory.” He purred, shaking his head.

He wrinkled his nose and spared Michel a derisive glance, “You smell like a brewery, Michel. A brewery full of hobos. It’s repulsive.”

Finally, Seri turned his attention to Cass. He unhooked a small bag from his hip and tossed it across the warehouse to her. Inside was a bundle of pill-boxes, bottles of medicine, a roll of bandages and – interestingly enough, some contact lenses. It was exactly what you might have expected to find in an average person’s medicine cabinet – likely because Seri had simply swept his arm across the shelf without paying attention to what he was taking. Thankfully, all of it was labelled. “I ... found this, while I was out.” He remarked with a coy grin.

"Hey, man, Arman. You gotta stop soundin' so fuckin' serious 'n creepy shit. Like a fuckin' old guy from the dark ages. We're in a shit hole but we've got light bulbs, y'know, pal? Just... lighten up or somethin'."

Walking past Arman was the tall, and hardly intimidating Hubert. Chubby and never without a grin, most didn't take the man seriously. He wore plaid shirts and washed out jeans nearly every day if he wasn't working at the restaurant. He liked to laugh. He liked to joke. Acted like nothing was ever meant to be grim and dark. Trying to be the one big joke in a city filled with drags.

Between the fingers of one hand was a sprite and water, in the other, a box of crackers. He boxed Michael over the head with the crackers and chuckled. "Hit the bottle like a champ, yeah? Hahaha! When you're done blowin' yer shit outta your mouth I got somethin' for you to eat. If you don't lose your stomach somewhere there. Yeuch."

He nodded up to Seri and Cass, giving them both a phony salute with the bottles. "'ello, 'ello. Whassat you got? Done stole'd some goods?"

“And when people are passing through other pack’s territory, they’re aware of it, and show respect…” Arman bristled. Speaking of respect, he was getting none. He wondered why he bothered with this lousy group of children, jokers, and downright imbeciles. They clearly needed direction - direction which he could offer.

In other circumstances Cass might have offered Seri some warm words or at least a smile as she snagged the bag from the air and peered inside for a quick inspection. But she was too tense for niceties. This was how it’d always start. Arman would act like that uncle that everyone was fond of when he returned, despite the obvious sense of hostility which would fall upon the warehouse whenever he entered.

Arman growled under his breath as Hubert flounced by. Just what he needed when he was about to make some serious suggestions. He didn’t think the man understood what serious meant. His expression grew darker, just like a creepy old guy from the dark ages.

Michel was too out of it to react quickly to the light bosh around the back of his head but gave a groan a few seconds afterwards and said something which sounded vaguely like “I’m sorry” – well, it was more a slurred whine. He swayed for a little while then sniffled and started to look for something to clean with under Cass’s unimpressed stare.

“Stole?” Cass piped up, regarding Hubert the same way she did the smaller children. “Didn’t you hear what he said? He found it whilst he was out.” The smile she offered him was only a whisper of what it would usually be.

Arman remained stood in his bubble of imagined superiority.

“Are we not going to address the fact that we’ve got some posh ‘uns snooping around? Someone said something? Someone told someone there are people here?” His tone grew more aggressive and he glared around at those inside the warehouse as he demanded, although many had already shrunk into the shadows, sensing trouble ahead.

"Get over yourself," Seri replied to Arman with a yawn, "You know, if it weren't for your one-man crusade, nobody would care where we lived. There's a lot of street rats like us in this part of town, too many for the sort who cruise around in cars to bother sifting through. Until you start kicking their nest, reminding them they live next door to us."

He lay back languidly on the crate, one leg dangling down from it. His yellow eyes lay boredly on Arman, like a housecat might watch an angry terrier while safely perched out of reach on a shelf, and he sneered. "But sure, come up with a conspiracy. That's probably more fun to play along with, anyway."

Marry watched the arguments and bickering from a shadowy corner. Some of the wolves looked scary, others looked nice, but Marry knew to stay safe she had to stay quite. Quivering in her human form, Marry slid down the cold wall to her tush and brought her knees to her chest, hugging them as she watched behind her jet black bangs.

Lindsay walked the streets of her new home, it wasn’t dark out but still in-between buildings were shadows and bottles being kicked about. The buildings didn’t perk much interest in her focusing on a rock on the ground she begun kicking it around as if she was playing soccer, kicking it away with the instep of her foot, she saw it ricochet off a bigger rock and into the shadows, her interest being perked by a warehouse that seemed abandoned, she peeked inside and stepped inside, ”Oh, hello” she said with a calm voice, ignoring the men in the room.

"Found it! Right, right," chimed Hubert with a chuckle. "He found all of that." He gave Cass a wink, then set himself down on the floor, elbows on his knees. He made sure he was a bit away from all the yuck. It smelled something awful. Like the rest of Phantom Quarter.

"Can't we get some new digs, Cass? This place is really startin' to ware on me, y'know? Ain't a good place for nobody. Especially the kids. Not as old as Lord Arman the First of the Dirtage, but old enough to be concerned."

He looked up as Arman spat. With his anger bubbling, just a bit, he got up and walked over to the man. "Listen, buddy. There ain't no reason to get all riled up! Listen to Seri. Even he's on your case! You're the one bitin' people all willy nilly! We can't do that, bud! We don't turn into dust bunnies after we get bit. We turn into monsters! What's that whole lecture about power and responsibility? Stop actin' like you probably didn't get us in this mess!"

He paused at the hollow sound of a rock hitting the warehouse floor. His eyes narrowed. "Th' hell are you? Nah, nah, let me guess. Another one of Arman's victims? Good goin' man!"

Lindsay looked at the man, getting in a defensive stanse. "Who's Arman?" she asked, her eyes narrowing, maybe this had been a mistake. There were too many men inside. "I wish to speak to the alpha" she said, her stanse still defensive, not caring if she was a percieved threat. "Believe me, I wouldn't let someone do this to me." she spat.

Kicking the nest, Seri had said. Arman pressed his lips together into an angry line. He couldn’t argue, that’s what he was doing. But it needed to be kicked. But still, he refused to believe that he was the reason for the disturbance. There was nothing that would lead anyone who found the bodies to the warehouse. He’d made sure of that.

“New digs?” Cass repeated, her incredulity breaking through the tension. “Yeah? Hubert? And who’s paying for our lovely new hom-“

“Conspiracy? Come on the- No way could this be anything to do with me-” Arman broke through her in a rage which was equally dishhed out to both Seri and Hubert. It was soon cut off when a figure wandered into the warehouse. As casual as could be.

Cass was staring too. Please, not now. Those gaps in the walls sure made for quick escape routes, but also left them vulnerable. She regarded the girl cautiously; they’d already had enough unwanted visitors today.

Arman studied the newcomer briefly then shrugged “Not one of mine.” So nonchalant.
“Alpha?” An unpredicted guffaw crashed through his currently heated temperament. “Alpha male is right there, girly.” He jabbed a finger towards Cass. “Be better off speaking to me, though.”

Michel looked up from his mopping, drunk and dazed.
"Howdyou find uz?"

Meanwhile, a low growl ran away through Cass’s tightly clamped teeth. As someone who always kept a hold on their wolfish instinct, this was a bad sign.

Seri cast the new girl a bored look, assessing her and finding her to be ... well, disappointingly ordinary. He had to hand it to her for just waltzing up to a pack of werewolves without seeming the slightest bit afraid - even as a werewolf herself, she should have known better than to stray into the midst of another pack uninvited. Even a ragtag one like theirs.

He turned his attention back to Arman for a moment, sneering at his bravado, before he swiftly turned to Cass. She was growling.

His eyebrows rose. This was sure to be interesting.

Lindsay listened to their argument and pondered backing out, but it was far too late for that. ”Okay, miss Alpha” she said turning towards Cass, ignoring the boys. ”I would like to join your pack, I don’t have one, and I think it would be a good time to actually have one” she said in a more confident tone. ”I am just glad it is ruled by a female, a more appropriate alpha than a male” she said, adding a growl after ‘male’. ”I understand your growling, I know how stupid it is to wander in here.” she said, her eyes never leaving Cass.

Mary still clung to the shadows now behind Cass.

"If you wanna speak to an absolute dick, you speak to him, yeah," Hubert sneered at Arman. He moved forward towards the new wolf, up beside Cass to give her some sense of backup. She seemed to be very concentrated on Cass. Something he wasn't really fond of. The hair on the back of his neck rose on end. Ready to pounce at any second.

"The hell you talkin' about, lady? I don't think you really understand what a big mistake you've made."

"You don't just get to waltz in and start talking bullshit, princess," Seri hissed, "Like you have some sort of right to claim a place here. You quite clearly have no idea what you're talking about."

The werecat rolled his eyes, shifting back into a sitting position. "Cass is pack leader because we respect her. Not because of her gender, or anything else. You have some back-pedalling to do... you're coming across as arrogant. Disrespectful."

He bared his fangs in a feral grin. "That's a bad move."

Lindsay never took her attention off of the alpha, ”Listen here boys, I don’t have to explain to ya’ll why I’m here, I have to explain to her because she is alpha, and ya’ll aren’t.” she snarled, now starring at the boys speaking. She could feel the hate for her and the threat of an attack if she made the wrong move, which she normally did, she turned her back on the door, not wanting to have any of the males behind her.

”I have seen several packs, with numbers far greater than yours. I think ya’ll could use a hunter and fighter like me, unless you want to lose more members than you can afford.” she countered, her eyes softened as she saw the little girl. ”I do understand we are off on the wrong paw, my name is Lindsay, Lindsay Blare, I didn’t choose this life, it was chosen for me.” she said, catching her tears before they could form, as she remembered the attack.

Mary clung to a wolves legs as she was being watched now by Lindsay.

Miss Alpha.

Cass still found it all a bit confusing and flattering as the others flocked to her aid, but having a good blush was the last thing on her mind. She needed to have a proper think on what to do about those nosiers in the cars. The feeling that they’d been somehow compromised was strong, and as she swept the warehouse, she was only yet again reminded that she could not let anything happen to these people. A plan needed to be drawn up. But the problems just seemed to be rolling - or strolling - in one after the other.

Seri was right. Hubert also. This girl really had no clue what she was talking about. Cass had bigger things to worry about than this Lindsay who had taken it upon herself to proclaim herself worthy. She didn’t look nearly pathetic or rough enough for Cass to feel any real kind of sympathy. The tone she was taking – especially with the males – was also threatening to trigger another snarl to follow the one which had only just trailed off. She also simply hated the term ‘pack’. They were people, not animals of the sheer instinctive sort.

Besides, not many of the people in this warehouse had chosen this life, who would choose such a lif-

“You should be grateful” Arman said, seeming to be the only one to be taking on Lindsay with any kind of seriousness. Probably because he was insane. “Now you are so much more than you used to be, your limits have been stretched, you can do so many things that before were-“

“Shut up.” Cass said, directing her venom at Arman. Her voice was loud, clear. A shiver ran up her spine and it arched and twisted visibly, a scary sign that a turn was approaching. “And get out.”

Lindsay sighed and leaned against the wall of the abandoned building, she dug into her pocket and began playing with her lighter, ”Miss, I mean you no disrespect, I just don’t trust men”[b] she said, looking up at Cass, keeping her distance. [b]”I’m sure your male members are good people, I just have a long history with men screwing me over” she said as she opened the pack of cigarettes, and put the trash in her pocket, ”I would love nothing more than to join your pack, I feel I can offer a lot.” She said, putting the lighter in her pocket. She slid down to a crouching position, looking at Cass. ”If you decide I am not good enough, I will leave” she exclaimed.

Cass wasn’t aware of what this newcomer was saying, only of the smell of the smoke which was aiming to fill the warehouse with its stench at its own liberty. Much like the person causing it.

In response to her demand, Arman laughed. And that was it.

It took her longer to turn into the huge, dark-haired dire wolf than it did for Arman to switch into his bipedal monstrosity. But she had a head start. Still, he recognised the oncoming turn quick enough to be able to make the first move. His werewolf weight slammed into her muddled body before her transformation was complete, throwing her to the floor in a whirl of furred, canidae limbs and fragile human ones. Layabout fallen rafters and leftover sheets of plastic and metal were sprayed across the warehouse floor in the commotion that followed. Cass packed more brute force but Arman had the gift of those arms that seemed to have been made especially for crushing throats. His claws weren’t much of a contest for her jaws and inches of teeth, once they’d locked down once on his grabbing arm she was able to writhe away from the initial drop, broken but still able. His blood stained the worn concrete floor, but still, they continued to battle, moving so fast it’d be unwise for anyone to attempt to intervene. Except for perhaps Seri. If it had been Cass suffering from the wounds which were painting their home, there’d have probably been more objections. But each bite that met its mark was Cass’s. He couldn’t get his arms around her; they were slick with blood anyway. With each darting attack she’d dance away on those four, agile legs.

This was why his plan had been to force her to attack more often, so that she didn’t have time to heal herself. He regenerated faster, if he caught her weakened, then she would be his.

But not today. His knees were weakening by the time she’d shepherded him towards the door. He left, sinking into the dark, left to defeat and discomfort.

The dire wolf remained for a few more panting minutes before Cass returned to her human form, broken. She limped, naked and silent, to where they kept their ragged clothes and pulled something hastily over her head. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but still, she felt ashamed, even though she knew it had to be done.


“Everyone needs to leave.” She said to the wall she faced as she changed, unable to turn and face the people who depended upon her. They looked to her to keep them safe. And safe they were not. Not here. “Meet back here in a fortnight.”

“I’ll find somewhere for the littles. But… we need to scatter, split. He’s going to come back. I feel… I think we’re being watched. The cars. If they find us after what’s been happening in town… It’s not safe here. We’re not safe.” Cass crossed her arms across her chest, hands wrapping around the tops of her arms. Finally, she turned to face the warehouse. The children, the misfits, the lost of Lutetia… the people who had nowhere else to go but here. And now she was telling them to leave.

“Go…”

Lindsay was getting mad, she had no clue why she was angered by the wolf attacking the woman, but she was mad. "I'm not leaving. If Arman comes back, I'll help. I'm not leaving" she said, gathering the courage to speak up against the alpha. "The others might, but not me" she added, litterly putting her foot down. Her skin began to twitch, she could feel her change comming. She quickly calmed down, and the twitching slowed but still remained.

Seri had pulled himself fully up onto his perch when the fight started, and he had watched with a snarl. He'd seen it before, and was confident that Cass would come out on top, but it was a ritual that was starting to grate on him. Someone needed to deal with Arman.

"I hope you're not planning to play hero, Cass." Seri said, dropping down onto the warehouse floor. "You'd best be planning on scattering too." The werecat eyed her warily, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

After a moment, he shrugged, shaking his head and turning to stare out the door where Arman had fled. "I think we'll all be a lot better off if these outsiders find what they're looking for." he said, scowling. "Even if they need a little prompting."

“You’re leaving. I’m leaving. Everyone is leaving.” Cass told Lindsay sternly. “This is done for now.”

She swept the warehouse, picking up only the necessities. The place would be left in a state; anyone who’d visit would be able to tell it had residents not long ago. And the place stank of werewolves.

Playing the hero? She felt like she’d been doing that for a long time. Pretending to know what she was doing when really every day was just a blunder that didn’t end up in them starving to death. Play the part, pretend to know. Even now as she called for the split, she had no idea what she was doing. Arman needed to be taken care of. If she went to the authorities… or another pack… she feared for their own safety, of the judgement that would be stamped on them as rejects.

There was always the last resort.
To kill him herself.
But Cass was no murderer.

She considered Seri’s words as she collected. When done, she turned to him, her smile was genuine, full of warmth, and told no tales of finality. She was sure they’d see each other again.

“Don’t think that Arman would protect us if he was found. They’d think we were in on it. After all, it’s my fault… I’ve been harbouring them all for so long… We’d be in so much trouble. But where would we be if I’d have got help? You know they hate werewolves, we’re not really people to them, no matter what’s written down in the documents. I thought we were better off like this, we got along OK. But by doing that I’ve made myself the criminal, you lot... And now it’s too late.”

Cass considered sharing words of love, comfort… anything. But she couldn’t think of words good enough. So, instead, she just ducked her head, tucking what little she had under her arm, then said: “Time to go.”

And she exited, the smallest of The Runts in her wake. The transformations would come soon.
Much to her distaste: the wolf survived longer in the wilderness.

"Good luck, then." Seri said, nodding to Cass. He wasn't sure if he agreed with her, though. He hadn't been thinking of going to the authorities. He was sure there were plenty of other people who Arman had drawn the attention of.

After she left, he turned to the others there. "You lot, too." he smirked, "Keep your heads down."

With that, he deftly hooked a hand back onto the crate and clambered up towards the hole in the roof, disappearing out of it.

Lindsay sighed "Okay, just howl if you need help" she said to both Seri and Cass, and decided she too would leave, feeling her self ready to shift, she ran off, feeling her skin twitching, she ran faster into the woods. Disapearing out of sight.

Baron put his nose to the ground as a low growl rumbled up from his throat and he threw his head back to let out a piercing howl that echoed through the streets of Lutetia.

It was a call to sound the location of their quarry.

Those within the catacombs had pushed Arman to the surface, and Baron took point in the pursuit with Cass only paces behind.

Paws pounded against the asphalt, but he didn't close in on Arman. The wily rogue wolf knew these streets, and there where too many escape routes, too many bystanders.

No, Baron was herding him - but where?

A reverberating howl echoed back at Baron as another of the pack gave away its position to provoke Arman into veering off in another direction. As they worked in unison, the rogue was forced down alleys and back roads to keep one step ahead of the pack as it closed in upon him. He could have sworn he caught glimpses of furred bodies through the darkness as he ran, but not a one broke ranks as they drove him from the city.

As the buildings gave way to forest, his only option now would be to outrun them.

Outrunning them, as it turned out, was going to prove to be difficult.

The forest blurred past as Snow sprinted through the trees, sleek white form cutting through the foliage like a knife. He caught glimpses of other pack members to his rear; he was amongst the forerunners of the chase. Their quarry wasn't far ahead, by his reckoning. He could hear the branches breaking beneath the larger wolf's paws.

The arctic wolf's pure white coat stood out against the shadowy backdrop of the forest, far more visible in the glimmering moonlight than his darker packmates. A disadvantage in the early stages of a hunt, but now that the chase was upon them, it didn't matter. The yellow of his eyes gleamed with the thrill of it, and he let out his own howl.

____

A fair distance behind the pursuing wolves, another dark shape slipped swiftly through the shadows of the trees, with much lighter footfalls. Seri was following behind the hunt at a modest distance - slower than they were in a straight line dash, but not so slow as to be left entirely in their dust. An out-and-out chase wasn't his style. But he wanted to be there when they caught him. He wanted to see it done.

The werecat bounded through the woods like a moving shadow, only the gold of his eyes visible distinct from his pitch black fur.