The Matriarch stood up gracefully from her chair and walked down the stairs into the pit where the werewolf Shape shifters stood. Her heels clicked on the concrete ground, and echoed around the stone and concrete walls around them.

She stopped in front of Aiman, gazing deeply into the man's eyes. Her finger jabbed in between their two noses, less than an inch away from Aiman's face. The Enforcer didn't flitch. The Matriarch said just above a whisper, "I allow your Alpha to speak. Don't think for a moment that same curtesy applies to you. I could have each and every one of you killed and not lose a wink of sleep over it. Do I make myself clear?"

Aiman held the Matriarch's gaze and gave one curt nod of his head. The Matriarch softly patted Aiman's cheek, "good boy." Then she moved to be in front of Acharya, "I am to risk my people for a half bargain. So be it, but you will only receive seventy-five of my one hundred and fifty promised fighters, half the bargain, half the promise. Is that acceptable, werewolf?"

Acharya nodded. He knew that since the bargain hadn't been fully accepted by the other Cities it was highly improbably that the Bultungin would honor any of the bargain, and he wouldn't be able to blame them, it was a risk that Huan Li and Ansuya had acknowledged. Seventy-five fighters were better than none.

"When can we expect your people to be ready to move?" Acharya asked.

The Matriarch smiled and winked, "my people and I are ready to move now."

"And you?" Acharya asked.

The Matriarch smiled with genuine glee in her eyes, "Of course. Do you think that I would stay home and miss out on all the excitment? It's been years since I've done anything like this. Besides an old lady needs her exercise as much as you youngsters do."

* * * * *

The wind blew hot from the east, out of the desert. It ran through the smog clogged streets of the city and the haze made the pre-dawn sky shimmer near the horizon. Huan Li stood on the edge of the desert, looking west. The last two days had been long and his body was still sore and stiff from the beating he had taken at the hands of the City under the Sand Elder Alpha. He should have known that he was an Enforcer, and he shouldn't be surprised that he was still stiff. He had refused additionally healing, a decision that he almost regretted. He smiled, he was allowed his pride after all, even if in this case it quite literally hurt him.

Huan Li looked out over the allies that had chosen to join him. He hadn't seen a group of Shape shifters this large in some time. There was well over one hundred, maybe one hundred and fifty citizens from the City under the Sand, all in their respective human and wolf born form, both men and women, which was a bit of a surprise. Perhaps the City under the Sand was more progressive than he had originally surmised from their time there. The wolf born were lounging on the sand and asphalt of the street. They were looking bored but their eyes held a gleam as if they were actually excited for the coming battle. Better to be excited than scared. Of the three Cities, the citizens from the City under the Sand were the most battle tested. He hoped they would prove to be disciplined in their fighting as well as skilled.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Each group had several radios and walkie talkies that they had been able to scrounge up from various sources. Once inside the Dukart tower it would be the only real way they would have to communicate with each other. But outside, they hadn't wanted to alert the vampires to their presence. So, each group had a single burner cell phone to send texts back and forth, to coordinate the initial entry into the building. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to the group inbox, 'The wind is from the East.' He waited a few moments to received his answers.

'Temperatures steady in the North'

'Pressure stable in the South'

'Surf is down on the coast'

Huan Li frowned at the last message. After Keva had disappeared a few nights ago in India, with that cryptic message she gave to Soter and Hysminai, he had been shocked to say the least. Keva had proven herself to be reliable and he had trusted her to do the right thing, not run off with no real idea of where she was going or why. Now her pack was without their Alpha sitting on the coast waiting. They could move and fight without Keva, sure, but this is not the way this battle should have started.

He sent back, 'the surf will pick up, surfing will be good today.' He hoped that was the case. He looked east, at the brightening of the sky as the sun peaked over the horizon. This dawn and this day would see either a great evil purged from the world, or an immense amount of bloodshed and justice would be cheated again.

'Execute.'

Huan Li gave the signal to his group and they all stepped into the Whyte Plain. Using the Whyte Plain was a risk to be sure, one that he felt he had made a good argument against. It was Ansuya and Acharya who had convinced him that this was the best way to get to the Dukart Tower. Yes, there was a huge concentration of Shape shifters in one place and yes it would draw attention. But they only needed to be in the Whyte Plain for a minute or two and…

Huan li stepped out of the Whyte Plain and saw the Dukart Tower looming above him. The streets were crowded even at this early hour. Several homeless people were in a nearby park and cars were moving along the street. The best defense would be that no one would believe that a huge group of people suddenly appeared in a park for no apparent reason, and no one could have had a camera pointed at the field before they stepped out of the Whyte Plain. As Huan Li was considering all these possibilities, several packs from the City under the Sand had run ahead into the parking garage. Huan Li had other things to worry about then getting caught on film, he ran forward into the garage, the pain in his side only mildly irritating him.

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.