"Shut up, Nicolas," Ansuya glared at the Scout, "We wouldn't be fighting vampires, but Native Americans, the people we came here asking for help. And it would be a slaughter, both in blood and good will, no one would ever trust us, or the Mountain again. That's not who and what we are."

Nicolas was sullen but he had the good sense to stay quiet for once. The pack looked around the room and all eyes fell on Aceso. Aceso, shifted and spoke to Thom, her voice quiet, "Thom, I apologize for what my pack has done and the trouble that we have put you in. If you are willing, we can guarantee your safety. Come with us."

Ansuya listened without much of a rection. Her eyes didn't hold any approval, but they didn't hold any disapproval either. The Elder did not respond in any way, instead waiting to see how the Native American councilman would respond to the extended offer of friendship.

The councilman, gave a half smile and shook his head, "Thank you for the offer. If it was just me, I might just take you up on it. But it's not just me, it's my family, my wife and son, and my people. They are in danger, now, more than ever. I am needed here to protect them."

Ansuya saw this was going nowhere and there was nothing more they could offer the councilman; he had made his decision. "Very well, Thom. Celestino, thank you for your hospitality. We're leaving. If you change your mind, we will meet at midnight, on the western edge of your reservation in the desert. We will be there every night for as long as we can, but eventually we will need to move on. Our home has been destroyed and The Mountain will respond to that insult in kind."

Aceso, shifted back into her wolf form, her gold eyes glowing as she led her pack to the front door. Ansuya was the last to leave and with a parting glance to Celestino and Thom, she softly closed the front door behind her.

Thom sat down heavily in the nearest chair as he mopped his face with his hand. "When did they arrive and how long have they been here?"

Celestino shrugged his shoulders, "only a few days. I have been teaching them a bit of desert craft, hunting and trapping, and water gathering. Why do you ask?"

"Because I wish for the love of God you would have come to me first!" Thom said exasperatedly. "I know they mean well, I can't see or feel any malice from them. But damnit if they haven't put me in an impossible position."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Celestino knew enough to not try to defend the strangers' motivations, or their actions. The silence stretched between them, and that silence was slowly being filled with a low rumble. He wasn't sure he had heard it at first. The sound was distant and as it grew louder, it grew closer. The sound was hard to place at first, as it grew louder, filling the silence, it took shape.

Thom said softly, "They're here."

Celestino got up, "we have to get you hidden then. They can't find you here. Clifford already knows that I'm the one that brought them here, or at the very least I helped them. You can still get away."

Thom shook his head, "No, my friend, if I leave, or hide, they will just keep looking for me. They will take our people and harass them till they find what they're looking for, or destroy the village, whichever comes first." Thom stood up and walked towards the door, "The best way for me to serve our people now is to let them have me, I can stall and resist them. If they have me, then at least they won't indiscriminately destroy homes looking for me." He opened the door and stepped onto the porch.

Celestino stepped up next to Thom. The councilman was right, if the other council members had made the decision there was nowhere for him to go, and they would eventually find him anyway. He was fairly confident he could survive in the desert, but his wife he wasn't so sure about, and he wasn't going to abandon his home. Better to make his stand now, meet them head on and show no fear.

The sound they had heard was in fact the sound of an engine, but where Celestino expected a few vehicles at least, what they saw was a single set of headlights coming up the dirt road. It was pitch black, and trying to see anything other than the headlights was impossible. Celestino did think that the engine sounded like a truck.

They watched the headlights approach and the truck stopped in front of the porch. The driver got out and yelled, "Cell? Cell, I got a hurt animal here!"

Celestino was taken by surprise as he found his legs carrying him towards the truck, while his brain still tried to reconcile that this wasn't the herald of doom Thom and he had first supposed.

He walked around the still running truck and looked in the truck bed. Wrapped in a heavy blanket was a very hurt wolf, barely breathing. Celestino looked at the driver. "I was driving along the road in the desert and I heard this ruckus of howling and some god awful sounds I don't really care to think about. I drove over to see what the commotion was all about and I found him, just lying there in the dirt. He was surrounded by two or three dead coyotes and a lot of blood."

Celstino nodded and grabbed the blanket, "let's get him inside, see what I can do for him."

With some help, Celestino was able to get the wolf onto a table inside and with some proper light he saw just how bad the damage was. Celestino shook his head, it was a small miracle the wolf was alive at all. His abdomen has been ripped open. He had gashes and chunks taken out of him, all over his body. The coyotes had really done a number on him, how this wolf was able to survive the attack was beyond him at the moment.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.