Daymond
All of his instincts were in turmoil. Daymond knew Luna and Crescent were only trying to help Camille, but his sister’s face went pale when they had the fire ready. Her eyes focused on Luna, now in her werewolf form, as she approached her while Crescent held her down. He had to grab Bernard’s arm to stop himself from going to Camille’s side.
Thankfully, he could feel Bernard shaking too as they watched the older werewolves while Luna wrapped her hands, now engulfed in the same flames that made the fire, allowing the others to see anything coming around the bite and the back of her leg. He knew he’d never forget that night. Camille tried to stay still, but she threw her head back, mouth forming an o in shocked silence before her screams filled the air.
The stench of burnt flesh, blood, and something foul soon accompanied the screaming as a black tar-like substance almost immediately began seeping around the bite wound. Camille tried to thrash, but Crescent kept her still while Luna worked.
“It’s alright. You’re doing good. Breath, Camille. Just focus on your breathing. We’re almost done.” Crescent cood.
Daymond shook his head. This is wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! He whined and hid his face in his older brother’s side. Bernard wrapped an arm around him tightly, almost to the point of bruising, but neither boy said anything.
Camille’s screams eventually turned into hoarse whimpers as her voice gave out, but it was still some time before Luna released her leg.
“There. I think that should do it. We’ll need to keep an eye on her, though. Who knows what that thing’s bite did?”
Daymond risked peeking at his sister’s leg and had to fight to keep the bile down. Where once smooth tan skin was exposed, now looked horribly black. It was as if Luna had tried to cook Camille’s leg instead of focusing on the now-invisible wound.
“What… what did you do? Why did you burn her leg like that?!” Bernard demanded.
Luna carefully bent over Camille’s leg, fingers lightly touching the area where the bite should be, and said. “I kept the heat on her wound as long as possible. This black stuff is like a venom. I don’t know how the rougarou had it. But it could also be a side-effect from biting a werewolf instead of a human.”
“And if it’s not?” Bernard asked, dread filling every syllable as Daymond’s eyes finally settled on his sister’s too-pale face.
Luna sighed and slowly stood up. “Then, we’ll see what Longnose says. He knows some of the Vodouists around here. Surely one of them can help Camille.”
That’s not good enough! Daymond wanted to scream, but everyone’s exhausted faces stopped him. It wasn’t the first time he wanted to growl and tear things apart. He was still ashamed that he’d almost lost his family an ally, when he pushed Longnose in a fit of anger.
But time and his sister’s soft whimpering stayed him. There would be time to howl for blood but this wasn’t it. He slowly pushed himself away from Bernard’s side and helped his brother to his feet. Luna smiled, and one of the other werewolves gently picked Camille up. It was time to move.
Bernard
Bernard never considered himself to be an emotional person. He preferred logic and cold facts over intuition or impulses. That didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of emotions, and right now as he ran behind Luna and Crescent with Daymond at his side, Bernard was overflowing with them.
How could this have happened? Why do bad things keep happening to us in the swamp? Did we just get lucky the last time we were here, or is something besides the vampires trying to kill us? No easy answer surfaced, and Bernard fought to keep himself from growling as his frustration grew.
There wasn’t time to waste. Antione was still out there, which meant Bernard was supposed to be in charge. Yes, they had Longnose’s pack to help them, but his younger siblings were his responsibility, and he let them down. It didn’t matter that everyone agreed to split up.
Bernard’s little sister almost died tonight and still might if she didn’t recover soon. But he couldn’t focus on the illogical turn of his thinking. He could only push himself to stay close to Daymond as Camille’s pained whimpers constantly reached his ears. He hated it. He hated everything about this situation.
But he could do nothing about it except run and stay out of the way of those he hoped knew more than he did. It was his least favorite way of handling a situation. Bernard always wanted to learn how to do things himself. It was why he always hung out in the library whenever his mother had to work late or saved his allowance to buy experimentation kits.
The more things he could do, the more useful he became. Being a werewolf was still a new experience. But thanks to their family outings, Bernard knew he was getting the hang of it. His duplication power was getting easier to control, but it was useless in light of Camille’s condition. Why couldn’t I have gotten a healing power instead? We should have practiced first-aid, or…
He shook his head and growled. Daymond looked at him, but Bernard didn’t say anything. They had to stay alert to help protect Camille while they headed back to camp. That was the only thing that mattered.
Antione
Antione groaned, every muscle in his body burned. He hoped that meant he hadn’t been passed out for long, but with his luck so far, he wouldn’t be surprised to see it was daytime. Luckily, it was still night, and he was still wearing his jeans… but no hoodie. Guess that means I fought a weird vampire after all.
He tried to stand, but his legs collapsed, nearly sending him crashing to the ground, but Longnose and Bruno caught him.
“Easy there, pup. The threat is gone.” Longnose soothed, but Antione shook his head and pointed back toward the river.
“There are giant alligators over there.”
Longnose nodded and looked at Bruno. “I’d say it’s time we rejoined the others.”
“You’re right… Sorry, kid. Looks like we won’t be getting any leads tonight,” Bruno said, but Antione wasn’t worried about that.
“They talked.” And they’re angry.
“Of course they did,” Longnose smiled kindly at Antione before turning back to Bruno. “Will you carry him?”
“Yes.” The burly werewolf gently tossed Antione over his shoulder, making the boy groan at the new direction his head was facing and weakly clung to the older werewolf’s back.
“I can walk,” he protested.
“At a snail’s pace, perhaps,” Longnose countered. “Just hang on and try to give Bruno a warning if you’re going to be sick. I know you still don’t trust him, but we need all the help we can get right now.”
Antione nodded, too weak to argue. Thankfully, Bruno didn’t jostle him too much during the run back to Longnose’s camp, but the relief he felt only lasted a few seconds once he saw his brothers.
“What happened? Where’s Camille?” he cried, just as Luna ran up to Longnose.
“Camille ran into a rougarou and was bitten. We cauterized the wound, but she hasn’t woken up yet. We’ve been waiting for a few minutes…”
Longnose nodded thoughtfully and looked at Bruno. “I’ll check on Camille. You tell the boys what they need to know.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Bruno replied as the other man followed Luna. Antione wanted to follow them, but Bruno gently restrained him with a large hand that covered most of his back. “Don’t worry. Rougarou bites aren’t fatal to werewolves.”
“This one might be,” Daymond snarled. “Camille’s healing isn’t working, and this weird black stuff came out of her! And why are you carrying Antione?”
“And what happened to you?” Bernard asked as he stared at his older brother. “You look like you’re about to be sick.”
“And that’s my cue to drop him,” Bruno said.
“Don’t drop me!” Antione demanded, no longer feeling exhausted as he glared at Bruno. “How do you know so much about vampires and other creatures? Who are you?”
“I’d like to know that, too,” Bernard said as Daymond nodded. “Jean-Claude acted like he knew everything, but you seem to know more than he did. You said you were one of our dad’s first followers, but were you part of a different pack before then?”
Antione frowned at that last part. Can a werewolf choose to leave their pack? But why would someone as strong as Bruno follow Jean-Claude? It can’t have been just because he was an Alpha. We’re Alphas, too, but none of the others are rushing to obey us. So, what else is needed to form a pack?
The burly werewolf carefully set Antione down and sat on a rock. Bernard and Daymond rushed to their brother’s side, concern momentarily overriding their curiosity… and almost immediately backing up as Antione promptly rolled over and puked. Bernard rubbed his back as Daymond covered his face.
“Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m not good with…” He didn’t get any farther before also succumbing to the need to hurl. Antione waited for Bernard to move away, but the other boy only sighed and shook his head.
“I’ll help you in a minute, Day. Don’t worry too much about it.” He leaned closer to Antione and whispered. “You alright? Do you want me to get you some water?”
“Here.” Antione looked up in time to see a green flask land near his head. Bruno rose and walked around Daymond. “I’ll get some more for the runt. Drink as much as you need.”
Daymond growled for a second, but Bruno ignored him. Antione managed to unscrew the flask on his third attempt and took a long gulp. The water didn’t do much to get rid of the taste, but the coolness helped his throat. By the time he sat up, Bruno was already placing a canteen in front of Daymond before sitting down and looking at Bernard.
“You feel like you’re going to puke?”
“No.”
“Good.” Bruno looked at Antione, a small smirk forming as he asked. “You want to tell them about your adventures?”
“I wouldn’t call them adventures…” Antione sighed, took another drink, and waited for Daymond to sit up before starting. “So… the good news is… I ran into a vampire.”
“What’s the bad news?” Daymond croaked.
“The bad news is, he didn’t know anything about Robert and wanted to fight me to the death.”
“Like a duel?” Bernard asked.
“I guess? He said it was part of his training or something, and… we wound up disturbing some giant alligators… that talked.”
“Huh…” Bernard frowned thoughtfully before asking. “What happened to your hoodie?”
“The vampire, his name is Clay. Got eaten, transformed into some kind of bat-thing, and needed more clothes, so I gave him my hoodie.”
“Why would you help someone who tried to kill you? Where is it?’ Daymond asked, scooting closer to them and away from his puke.
“Because he was pretty much naked at that point, and I didn’t feel like fighting a naked guy.”
“We fought a naked guy,” Daymond mumbled as Bernard sighed.
“It’s not a competition, Day. The important thing is Antione’s back. We can figure out our next move in the morning, and–”
“But that means we only have two days!” Antione cried.
“You might have less. Since the vampires didn’t give you a date to work with,” Bruno said as Bernard scowled.
“How do you know that?”
“Because Longnose showed me the note they were kind enough to leave. So, are you boys ready for a history lesson, or are you going to get sick again?”
“We’re fine,” Antione insisted, hoping he didn’t look as bad as he felt while his brothers nodded.
Bruno nodded approvingly. “Thank you. This will go a lot easier if you sit quietly. I’ll answer your questions when I’m done. Understood?”
He waited a bit and grinned when no one said anything. “First, let me be clear that this is going to be a bare minimum lesson. I’m not a teacher. I just like traveling. Robert’s pack wasn’t my first, but I did like it… for a time.”
He bent forward and drew a circle in the dirt between them. “In every place in the world, there are some areas considered fair game for any who can survive. The swamps and forests around Louisiana are one of them. That said, there is a… hierarchy, a set of rules if you will, meant to keep the humans unaware of the greater dangers such as werewolves and vampires. You’ve already encountered several other things that call this place home. Why do you think that is?”
“I thought you said you weren’t going to answer our questions until later? There’s no way you’re already done!” Daymond cried.
Bruno rolled his eyes and said in a slow, deliberate tone. “I’m not. And I never said I wouldn’t ask you anything. Now, do you know why New Orleans isn’t being overrun by zombies and giant alligators every day?”
Daymond opened his mouth, but Bernard beat him to it. “Is it because of the size of the surrounding area? A lot of people won’t go near the swamps.”
Bruno nodded. “That’s part of it. But the true answer lies with the Voduists. They’re… kind of like guardians. They keep an eye on the swamps and forests to make sure the bulk of the supernatural stays out, but there’s only so much they can do. As for the rest… Most of us follow the common rule of not wanting humans to hunt us down. Our inner wolves want us to be the top predators. But you mustn’t forget that can change at any time, especially with someone who knows how to use a shotgun. We can heal from a lot of damage, but you don’t want to take a shotgun blast to the head at point-blank range. Even if you survive, you’ll never be the same.”
The burly werewolf lazily drew in some trees and a couple of buildings in the circle before saying. “Lesson. Over.”
Antione stared at him incredulously. “That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Bruno confirmed.
“But that didn’t explain anything,” Daymond complained. “If the Voduists are in charge of keeping people safe, then why didn’t they do anything about Jean-Claude or the vampires? Don’t they care that there’s a bunch of bloodsuckers running around?”
“They care,” Longnose said as he approached the group. “That’s why one of them must have sent a rougarou. Someone doesn’t like what’s going on out here and decided to send a warning… Sadly, Camille ran into it first.”
“How do you know that?” Bernard demanded. “That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. That thing didn’t try to talk even once!”
Longnose nodded and placed his hand on Bernard’s shoulder. “I know. It is beyond stupid… Which is why we’re going to New Orleans to visit a friend of mine. Voduists don’t always work together, but we have a way around that.”
The Alpha stared at each boy for a moment before focusing on Antione. “Where’s your car?”
