What a Wonderland

This was the right kind of bar.  It was pretty small, so not packed with people, the drinks were good, the light dark, which tended to give people like the young, smallish Chinese woman sitting in the corner quite an advantage over the normal sorts of customers that frequented the establishment.  Smelled like vomit, piss, and stale beer, but that wasn’t too overpowering as long as one stayed away from the bathrooms.  The woman narrowed her eyes at a pair of drunks that had been slowly swaggering their way over to her and took another sip of her drink.  Of course, she hardly felt a thing from the alcohol, but the two men obviously didn’t realize that, since she had been in there just as long as them, though she had mostly been snacking on a plate of fench fries.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” one of the men said, dropping into the chair across from her while his friend flopped into the one right beside her.  Putting on her sweetest smile, only possible because she knew exactly where this conversation was going to end up, the woman looked between the two men.  “What can we do for you gentlemen?” she asked.  The one sitting next to her didn’t even try to hide his roving eyes, peering closely at her trademark close-fitting red dress.  His slightly bloodshot  eyes widened slightly as they traced the slit all the way up her right leg.  He grinned.  “I can think of one or two things, can’t you, Will?”  He brushed his hand against her leg.  Faster than either man could blink, she snapped her hand down and seized the man by the wrist, twisting up and around, causing the man to yelp in surprise and pain.  “Touch us again and we break your fucking arm,” she growled.  Before either man could react, she let go and stood up from the table.  Long, smooth strides carried her out of the bar and into the street, where she could smell the salty tang of the ocean, though she made sure to slow down once she was there.  She knew when her bait had been taken.

Sure enough, just as she was about to round a corner, the two men stumbled out of the bar and pointed at her.  She glanced back, grinned, and then disappeared around the corner into the alley.  By the time the two men arrived, she had leaned back against the wall, right foot propped against it, revealing a fair swath of skin, and arms folded calmly across her chest.  “Hello, boys,” her voice now much more of a purr than it had been in the bar.  The men glanced at each other, then grinned and started towards the woman.  The one that had touched her in the bar moved forwards and reached out towards her.  Exploding into motion, the woman snatched his wrist, giving it a sharp twist to break it just for good measure, and pulled, twisting her body along with the momentum and planting her free hand against the back of his head which she used to crack his forehead against the wall, smashing most of his face into pulp.  Even as he fell lifelessly to the ground, she was twisting again, this time dropping into a crouch and snapping out a straight kick which shattered the remaining man’s kneecap.  As he fell, she finished her spin and whipped her hand out in a palm strike that cleanly broke the man’s jaw.

Grinning wolfishly, she stood up and looked down at the man, who was making obscene, inhuman groaning noises through his destroyed jaw.  She had time for a quick snack before continuing her search for one of these packs that she had heard about.  Although, hopefully she would not have to be looking for much longer.  She had chosen this bar specifically, due to its location, which she had judged to be right on the edge of one of the pack’s borders.  It was an interesting idea to put a pack based on Long Island, but who was she to judge?  Dragging the still struggling man further into the murky darkness of the alleyway, the woman allowed her form to shift, since eating fresh meat was much easier with her wolf teeth than her human teeth.  The man’s grunting and groaning took on a terrified urgency and his eyes widened until they looked ready to simply roll out of his head.  Ah, how she loved that look.  With a quiet snarl, she dug her teeth into the man’s neck and ripped.  She watched for a moment as his struggling became frantic and uncoordinated, painting red streaks across the ground and gurgling in his own blood as his shattered leg flopped weirdly about.  A few moments more, the writhing stopped and the impossibly large wolf, standing about 9 feet tall, bent to her little midnight snack.

Only at night did the Beta ever release her primal form. The wolf side knew it was her time to shine among them. All day they had been caged, locked into the abyss and never to be released unless Natasha had stated so. On this night, she pondered the idea of wetting her fur by the bridge, or perhaps searching for a reason Vampires would be coming to these lands. She had not seen any around the borders, not yet, since they had moved to Venantium. None of the undead walked came here, and Natasha was happy for that. Her Alphas were safe from harm of the unknown creatures. Making her way from the home, she rushed in the shadow's cover, and headed for some low class areas. Many times, she could find drunk and bewildered men, lingering outside the bars and trashcans. They looked for cheap thrills and easy girls. On most nights, she could smell scents like alcohol, blood, human excrement, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Tonight had a strange feel to it though. She could not place her finger on it, but something had changed. Allowing her canine nostrils to take in the scents of the city streets, she discovered a treasure buried in the heart of the darkness. The scent was mixed with blood and wolf. Not your standard zoo or wild wolf, but one just like her. Heading in the direction, she stumbled closer to the scent. Her ears perked forward and her eyes planted around the corner. A large wolf was devouring a fresh kill. Lovely. Luckily it had not crossed the border, or Natasha would have found herself a an interesting night.

Lifting her tail over her spine, she looked to the other. Planting her paws to the floor, she looked over the coat before her. Who was this wolf? And why were they feasting so close to the border of a pack? Her voice was smooth and gentle, "who are you and what brings you to these lands?"

It had been too long since she had enjoyed a real meal like this.  Despite the fact that it was in an alley and the main course still tasted like alcohol, it really was quite pleasant; the crunching of bones and ligaments, the moist, juicy tearing of muscle fiber and ripping of soft tissue was as music to her ears.  The taste wasn’t too bad, better than some things that Daiyu had forced herself to eat in more desperate times, in fact.  Sadly, the chances of someone finding her while she was eating were fairly slim, since she had gone a little ways back into the alleyway, away from the lights and the people.  It would have felt good to rip into someone that wasn’t drunk.

A peculiar scent on the wind caused her to lift her head and get a better smell.  Aha, so here was another wolf approaching.  Good.  She peered down at the female that confronted her, taking in her scent carefully.  She definitely smelled like a pack.  Ears pricked forwards, Daiyu studied the woman for a moment longer before shifting back into her human form, as was polite, and straightening the hem of her tight, high slitted red dress.  “You’d be the welcoming committee, then.  Our name is Daiyu, formerly of the Fang family.  Though most people in this country seem to find it easier to call us Fang.”  Bending slightly at the waist, she offered a formal bow to the woman.

“We’ve heard tell of your pack and thought we’d try our luck here.”  She took a deep breath, once more studying the woman’s scent, and smiled slightly.  “Smells like you could use a pureblood or two, anyways.”  The whole time she spoke, she held herself at ease, confident and self-possessed, but not too dominantly.  That would only invite a fight and, while not an unpleasant prospect at all, Daiyu was trying to get into this pack without killing any of its members.

Shifting from her wolf form to her human one, she looked to the other female. It was interesting to see an actual Asian werewolf. She had never truly seen one before, or at least was not aware of such a thing. It intrigued her, as well as causing the interest to grow as her eyes moved over the loner's body. She was fit and ready to fight. I was a gorgeous look on her. She gave her a smirk as she looked over her clothes, watching as they fit against her body, tight and perfect. "What you speak is true, we are in need of pure ones like myself, but I must warn you before I allow you entrance into these lands. My Alpha is very protective of his mate and if you get too close, he has a loose temper. Sometimes he acts irrationally, all in the name of love for her. The other thing is, there are vampires in this region, our pack is responsible for killing them, but if you can risk your life to live here, knowing the danger is around, than you are more than welcome to enter our lands. I am very resourceful when it comes to Vampires, I have been dealing with them for hundreds of years. If you have any questions on anything, please feel free to ask me. I am Beta Natasha of Venantium and if a pack is what you are looking for, then you have come to the right place. We openly welcome you to our lands, as long as you will swear your life to our pack, to my Alphas, and to the laws of the land."

Daiyu snorted a short laugh at the female’s warning words.  “So basically, you’re just warning us not to fuck the Alpha pair, huh?”  That was such an absurd warning, especially right off the bat, that she could not help but shake her head slightly.  In the end, she simply shrugged, indicating her acknowledgement of the warning, but nothing more.  The next bit of information was almost beyond belief.

“Vampires?” she repeated incredulously, eyebrows lifted into a fine arch.  “We were told stories about vampires when we were little to keep us in our bed at night, now you’re telling us that your pack hunts them?  That’s…kind of awesome.  Fucked up, but interesting, at least.  So how many vampires have you killed with your hundreds of years of experience?” she asked.  The concept of a pack of werelings specifically designated as vampire hunters was a bit difficult to swallow.  If it turned out to be true, though…Daiyu’s lips pulled back into a vicious grin as she considered the applications.

After a moment of thought and careful study of the female standing in front of her, she nodded.  “Sure, why not.  We’ll swear to your pack, Beta Natasha.”  With a well-practiced flip of her wrist, she removed a smallish knife from the leather pouch strapped at her thigh.  The edge of the knife shone with a mirror finish, markedly different than that of the core of the blade, as she drew it across the palm of her hand just enough for a single drop of blood to fall to the ground.  After cleaning the blade on an almost clean scrape of cloth on the corpse at her feet, Daiyu neatly tucked the blade back in its sheath and nodded decisively to Natasha.

"This is not the place to speak of such creatures. If you would like to come and have a drink or two with me, I shall be more than glad to share the information I have gathered after all these years. I shall do what I can tell you as much as you wish to know. Welcome to the pack, Warrior Daiyu. At this time I am heading back to our lands. Feel free to finish your meal or come with me at this time. Either is fine with me." She gave her a pleasant smirk, her bright eyes rolled down the front of the one before her. It had been a long time since she had seen an awake and beautiful woman. She knew Teimhnin was awake now, but Jace had been overly protective of her and would not allow Natasha the pleasure of pleasing his love, though she had thought about it often. Natasha moved from the shadows and headed for the land she called home. As she disappeared into the night, she vanished from the other's sight. Natasha shifted to her wolf form and raced back to her quarters, deciding it was time to move from the Alpha's lair and find her own place along the shore line. She would still visit Teimhnin when it was required, but the Alpha pair now needed their space from her.

Well, that was abrupt.  Not that Daiyu was complaining, she had just expected a bit more pomp for joining a pack.  Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, though, she simply bowed slightly in thanks.  “We’ll keep you to that offer.  Thank you,” she replied.  Her eyes lowered to the corpse at her feet.  Did she really want to finish it right now?

A swift kick sent the body tumbling into a corner of the alley where it wouldn’t be discovered for at least a day, once it started smelling.  Since they had been standing so close, Daiyu had no trouble following Natasha’s scent back to the designated pack lands, even though the woman had run off before she really had a chance to find out what was expected.  However, as her guide had disappeared, she was left to her own devices.  Following her nose, she found a chateau that smelled very strongly of what she could only assume was the alpha pair.  A little further down the beach, she came across a small collection of houses and an apartment complex or two.  The scents of the pack were thick in the air, mixing with the salt of sea, so she figured that this was where the rest of the pack lived.  Interesting that the alpha pair should live removed so concretely from their pack.  But the less likely they were to ride her back, the better off Daiyu would be.

It was certainly an interesting area for a pack of werelings to live.  Judging by the scents running riot, there was no shortage of activity, either.  Was it interesting enough to stay here?  Well, that yet remained to be seen.