Red {Wolf Rebellion I}

~Prologue~

Ain't gonna play nice,
Watch out you might just go under,
Better think twice,
Your train of thought will be altered,
So if you must falter be wise.
-Rihanna, "Disturbia"

Red Prologue

A single man sat inside his office in the Chase Tower, studying the map in front of him. His computer was on, the glow from the screen casting light through his dim office and letting him see the papers scattered around his desk.

Darkness had long since fallen over the city. Lights shone below him, and cars honked in their late night hurry. But this man was silent, the noise around him fading into the background as he typed a few words into his computer.

He'd known the moment that static had filled his ears two nights before that something had gone wrong, and when he'd hacked the security cameras, his suspicions had been confirmed. That damn agent had ruined everything. And now...now he was going to make a deal with demons. At this moment, the ends justified the means. He was in too deep to stop now. He had to see this through, and that meant he needed strength and stealth to accomplish his goal.

You should have been more careful, he admonished the person staring back at him from his screen, still under the influence of sedatives. Why didn't you listen to me, girl? I warned you this would happen. As soon as he'd caught word of how obsessed Claret had become with the girl, he'd known something was coming. Being at the center of that woman's attention was a very bad place to be.

He sighed, running a hand over his face as he prepared himself for his guests. He was too damn old for this.

Everyone else on the floor had gone home hours ago, and the man was grateful for that. Soon, the game would begin, and he himself would be the only player guaranteed a position on the board.

Of course, it'd been out of the question to meet in daylight.

Days may have went to the humans, but the nights belonged to the monsters.

A sharp knock startled the man out of his thoughts, and he cleared his throat, pulling on the sides of his jacket as he composed himself.

"Come in," he said, as he closed out the photos of the girl and deleted them from his browsing history.

Two men entered his office, gliding across the carpet gracefully to stop in front of his desk. He recognized the animal in them, the way their bodies remained tense while looking completely at ease in this room. They knew he was already wary. He could feel the way his heart wanted to race, but he snuffed it out before the men could catch on. He knew these creatures could kill him easily if they so desired.

For a brief moment, he had a flash of these creatures doing just that, his blood soaking the walls and staining the very carpet they walked on now.

He shoved the thought away, forcing a nervous swallow down his throat. He watched as the man on the left narrowed his eyes and he smiled internally. That's it. Just enough to let them believe they have the upper hand.

He knew he was playing a dangerous game in this room tonight, and he had to keep a clear head. There was a very simple philosophy he lived by when it came to situations like these. If you couldn't beat the game, then you changed the rules.

"Good evening gentlemen," he greeted, folding his hands across his desk as a mask of indifference slipped across his features. He was already planning ahead, for every possibility of the future. If this plan was to succeed, he would need to be more than prepared when the time came.

The Alpha's eyes flashed gold as he growled lowly. "Let's agree to stop with pleasantries." He glanced at his Beta, before narrowing his eyes at the man. "Why should I even consider helping a human?" He spit the word out, disgusted with the mere thought of working alongside one of them. "I thought those that knew of us were smart enough not to trouble the packs?"

The man seemed to study a paper on his desk for a moment, before he spoke carefully. "This opportunity has been a long time in the making, and I daresay there won't be another quite like it in the years to come. Action must be taken while-"

The Beta laughed suddenly, cutting the man off. The sound was more animal than human, and the human faked a flinch at the appropriate moment. Sometimes it was the losses that could sway the game in his favor.

"They're all the same, dumb sheep that don't know any better to not provoke the hunters." The Beta glared at him with an anger that could set ice on fire. "You think you know better than an Alpha? Your thoughts are no more than insignificant insects on the timeline of our existence."

The man watched as the Beta's smile grew, canines sharpening into razor points as he bared his fangs. He flinched.

The man looked at the Alpha, but he knew not to meet his eyes. Regardless of however he played the game, that would end very, very badly for him. "I'm sure you're in agreement with me when I say that Red-"

The Alpha reacted as he knew he would. Before he could blink, he was against the wall, the Alpha's hand cutting off his air supply as he growled coldly. "And I'm sure you're in agreement with me when I say never to utter that word in my presence." He grinned dangerously, "Those bastards will get what's coming to them in time."

The wolf's voice grew quiet as he squeezed, and the human choked. Despite the fear on his face, the man's pulse was calm and controlled.

The Alpha cocked his head to the side, studying this strange human.

He pushed down the urge to split the human open then and there just to see if he could get a true reaction from him. The game had only just begun, and he intended to drag it out as long as possible.

"What business do you have with them?"

The man straightened his jacket as the wolf released him, knowing that he'd just accomplished half of his mission tonight. "They have taken something that belongs to me. And I knew you'd find this game worth playing."

The Alpha snarled softly. "What did you have in mind?" He didn't work with humans, but he would make an exception for this one. He'd lost too many pack members to Red to let this chance slide. He wanted the chance to string them up and kill them slowly, and this was exactly what the man had been counting on.

He knew his Beta would follow whatever he decided, but for him, there was no decision.

"We use stealth to get in. Once I have my assets, I don't care what you do. Claret has been a pain in my ass for far too long," the man said. There would be casualties, but he found that he could live with them. If everything went the way he planned.

The man's thoughts returned briefly to the pale young woman tied to a table, less than twenty miles away. She was kept silent with sedatives for now, but he knew once she woke up, she would remember. She didn't seem like the type to believe the lies.

The Alpha's eyes flashed, and he could already see the answer in his eyes. Perfect. "We have ourselves a temporary alliance..."

"Kitler," the man supplied easily. "John Kitler."

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