Teethmarks and Wolf Pelts

We ended up checking into a motel in the suburbs of Phoenix, a suburb called Yellow Brook. Stupid name, but Lewis had called Elijah upon our arrival and told us this was the last place Nicolette and Beau had been able to sense Connor. The scent had been very faint, almost nonexistent, but they told us this is where the best bet of where he could be.

Elijah pays with his credit card and we head up to our room. The motel itself is one of those cliché ones where it's just one line of maybe ten rooms in the front and ten in the back. Nothing more nothing less. The outside has a new white paint job, but the shingles look damaged beyond repair. I silently pray that it won't rain tonight as we enter our room. It's small but has two full sized bed with clean white sheets, a desk, and a fully functional bathroom. Since our flight had gotten in at 5 in the morning and the driver here had only taken half an hour or a little more, we wait in the room until its time for breakfast. I shower first, of course, but afterward we head out to a little cafe that isn't more than a block from the motel.

"I'll have the bacon and eggs special, and..." Felix starts to tell the waitress and he looks at me.

"Same," Elijah and I say simultaneously. I smile at him. The waitress nods at all of us kindly and heads back toward the kitchen. Felix turns his head to stare out the window and I notice that for the first time that he hasn't worn a flat bill hat since the day before yesterday. His brown hair is sort of pushed down at the top of his head, fitting to the form of where his would go, and them fluffs out near the end. His soft brown eyes watch the people as they walk past with such intent that I'm not really sure he's even paying attention to the people in the diner. He bites his pink, full bottom lip and it makes me appreciate how beautiful he is. Especially with that tan skin of his.

Lewis is paler than Felix, I tell myself. You've promised to be his.

To be honest, I'm not sure why I even promised to be his. Sure, I like the security and protection he offers and his kisses are soft and warm, but is that really enough? He punched me so hard I had to cough up blood- how could I even want to see him after that? I understand that your anger can get out of control when you're part animal, but that had been uncalled for. Plus, I know my decision isn't based off of looks because I find Felix much more attractive then Lewis. Had I made that promise in the heat of the moment? Or perhaps I made it as a payment for all of Lewis's help in finding Connor.

"Here you are," says our waitress as she comes back. She sets down a plate in front of each of us, offers us a smile, and then skips off to others who need tending, though there maybe a total of twelve in the diner, including me and the boys. Felix turns his attention to a piece of bacon. He looks at it and I can feel the disappointment in him -mostly because I feel it too. The animal in us want something non-cooked. To avoid this feeling, I decide to ask some questions.

"So, what's the game plan?"

"Well, actually," Elijah starts as he pulls out his cell phone, "I have to make a few calls, but once I'm done, we'll know for sure where to start. I'll be right back." He gets up from my side of the booth and then heads outside to make his calls. Felix looks at me thoughtfully. I think he has something sweet or even profound to say, but as soon as he speaks, my expectations drop.

"You realize you're going to have to turn soon. Like, tonight soon."

"I thought you guys didn't want me to turn until the next full moon. That's like a month away," I counter but Felix seems unimpressed. He raises an eyebrow.

"True, but seeing as you're the only one with his scent, you'll have to turn. If we wait in Phoenix until the next moon, Connor may be gone by then," Felix's eyes avoid mine as he adds, "Or worse."

"And the worse being?"

"Maybe he'll be dead by then," Felix looks down at his breakfast and slowly takes another bite of his bacon. I fall silent and start eating as well. Occasionally, I feel his eyes on me but I don't say anything for a good three minutes or so.

"Are you and Elijah going to talk me through the Change?"

"We'll be by your side every step of the way," he agrees and we just continue to eat. After a few more minutes, Elijah comes back in and takes his seat next to me. He has an unreadable expression on his face and his eyes are cloudy. There's something definitely on his mind.

"What was that all about?" I ask.

"Well, seeing as we're going to be staying and searching for Connor in this area, I had to notify the local pack. We do it because that way the pack knows we're not a threat and they'll even offer us protection from other two natured in the area," Elijah explains.

"Then what's the problem?" I ask, but I look into how Felix is feeling. He knows what Elijah is implying and he doesn't like it one bit.

"We'll have to meet with them -today- so they can determine if we're a threat or not. The Alpha I spoke to also seemed pretty shook up by Connor's running away and has offered us help. Says one of his underlings might know what happened."

"That's good, though!"

"Not exactly," starts Felix. The sunlight from the window catches his tan skin just right that I have to look away to not get distracted by his beauty. He sets down his fork and sighs. "Since they're offering help, that means by pack rules, we have to accept it. It also means we'll be in debt to them."

"Well, that," Elijah says slowly. His breath is a little shaky but he continues on after he sees our confused expressions. "The underling the Alpha mentioned, the one that can help us... She used to be a Hunter."



The Alpha of Phoenix arranged for us to meet with him, and some of the other Phoenix werewolves, at his apartment building in another suburb of Phoenix. Felix had seemed more than reluctant to go, but Elijah and I were genuinely curious about the ex-Hunter werewolf. Elijah rings the buzzer for the Alpha's apartment number and a moment later, he appears. He's a tall man with short, spiked blond hair and a little scruff of a beard on his chin. He has thick, stylish glasses over his brown eyes but you could tell that they were definitely prescribed rather than used just for fashion. The Alpha couldn't be any older than 26, or maybe even younger. He offers us a kind smile.

"I'm Tristan Spokeswood, Phoenix pack Alpha," he says in a dignified tone. Elijah and Felix bow their heads slightly, and after a second I follow suit. "Please come in."

Tristan turns and leads us through the door, heading toward an elevator. The building itself only has five or six floors, but is very spacious and it seems as if only wealthy people could afford such a living space. The doors slide open and he leads us down the hallway, opens his apartment door, and leads us inside. The room opens up into a large loft area with dark, polished hardwood floors. There's several black leather couches and chairs off to one side of the room and toward the other side is a large open kitchen area. There's a hallway at the back of the room with doorways that I assume lead to bedrooms and a bathroom, but it's not really of the utmost importance right now.

The Alpha urges us toward the coach where three others are sitting. There's a woman, no older than me with soft auburn hair and pale skin. She has inquisitive green eyes and a weak smile. There's also a man who is probably Tristan's age with tan skin, jet black hair and dark eyes. Just looking at him, I can tell he's of Native American decent and there's something intimidating about him. The third is another woman who appears to about 23 with skin as dark as her soft brown hair, big brown eyes, and nice full lips. She smiles brightly at us and it's the type of smile that you can't help but to smile back.

"This is Bree," Tristan says pointing at pale skinned girl. "She's my younger sister. The man over there is Lance, and the other girl is Trisha."

Trisha looks over at her leader and gestures us over to the couch. Slowly but surely, our group makes our way there. I take a seat next to Trisha and Felix sits next to me. Elijah calmly takes a seat in a chair next to Bree's and Tristan's. Lance, on the other hand, leans against the wall like a true "bad boy."

"Lance is actually a weredog," Tristan offers, "Here on business. He's really harmless, so don't be scared."

Still seems pretty damn scary to me, I think. Maybe he turns into a Rottweiler and that's why I'm intimidated?

"He's really a sweetie. Aren't you, Lance?" Bree asks with a goofy giggle. Lance just glares at her. Not really a talker, apparently. Elijah leans forward, elbows on his knees and fingers interlocked.

"Let's get down to business," he says and I can't agree more. It's about three or so in the afternoon and I don't want to waste to much of my time here- time I could be using to find Connor. "You say that you have an ex-Hunter?"

"Yes," says Trisha. "That would be me." My eyes widen and I find myself suddenly staring at her. Hunters were the prime destruction of two natured, outside of ourselves. Lewis had said that their goal was to wipe us out, make a world of all humans. How could she switch sides so quickly? Trisha feels my eyes on her and decides to explain a little. "I was born into the Hunting business. For the first 17 years of my life, I believed that two natured were really disgusting and that this world should be only for humans... But a few weeks after my eighteenth birthday, during a Hunt, I got bit. Next full moon, I turned."

"What happened after that?" I ask, still skeptical.

"Well, I told my parents that I was one of the two natured. I actually found that being half animal was a lot better than I once believed, but I still went to my parents, wanting them to be the ones to put me down. Instead, they promised to protect me and any two natured I want. If they have an order to kill someone, they call me first, to assure I don't know them," she pauses. "I hate knowing that another one of us will die but if they avoided killing anything, the other Hunters would get suspicious."

"So, you were turned against your will?"

"Can we move to another subject? You have enough information on me- it's sort of a difficult subject, if you don't mind."

"Of course," I say politely. I don't blame her for not wanting to talk about it. It must have been terrible to be turned by something that you hate so much. But, at the same time it's ironic that she became the very thing she was trying to kill.

"What's the purpose of this meeting, anyway?" Felix asks.

"Well, we had Trisha contact her parents but they couldn't find any orders for your friend, so he's safe from the hunters," Tristan starts, "But they promised to keep in touch."

"If you have no assistance to offer, why did you arrange for this meeting?" Elijah asks, though it's more of a rhetorical question. Tristan shakes his head.

"I said we didn't have information from the Hunters. I have some of my wolves looking for some clues and we should have them by tomorrow morning. I called this meeting to make sure you know that she'll have to-"

"We're aware." Felix interrupts. Tristan is implying that I need to turn.

"I mean tonight."

"Why tonight?" My eyes are full of worry and Bree and Trisha avoid looking at me.

"Well, the way I want it go is that my people will pick up some clues about your friends whereabouts in this city for the rest of today. We'll search a little more tomorrow and then at nightfall, we'll have you shift and start searching. If you turn tonight, it'll be easier to shift tomorrow."

I look down at my feet, my fingers messing with the bottom of my shirt. Felix's hand suddenly lands on my knee and he squeezes reassuringly. I turn my head to him, my eyes searching his. His eyes hard and he bites his lip. "You don't have to do this, Priscilla. We can wait until the next full moon, if they haven't found him by then."

"No," I sniffle. I look from Felix's face, to Tristan's, to Trisha's, then back to Felix's again. I take in a long breath and let it out with a sigh of anticipation. "I have to do it for him, so I will. I'll do anything for him, anything to keep him alive and safe."

Elijah smiles slightly before speaking. "It's settled then. Your first Change will be tonight."