Protectors of the Blood

The Arrival

(2)

The Arrival

            Sara stood in the middle of the meats section in the supermarket a few blocks from her house, trying to choose what she would personally be making for dinner tonight, all the female wolves of the pack were here, and even some from other packs as well, lending a hand in the preparations of the night’s unfortunate events. Tonight, Alphonse Cross Senior would be laid to rest within the crypts beneath the town hall. The crypts themselves held very few werewolves, only some of the most important ones were laid there, and Cross Senior had been a very important wolf. He had once been Alpha of the Issaquah wolves, as well as the Founder and the first Commander of the Watchers of the Moon, as well as the unifier of the wolves of Washington. He had even been granted the privilege to be King of Washington itself, a positioned he turned down three times, as well as a request to be seated about the Tribunal itself, which he also turned down.

            The female wolves were filling their carts with enormous amounts of food, pretty much taking anything and everything they could get their hands on, knowing for certain that nothing would be left come dawn. The ritual of laying a body in the crypts wasn’t a long one, an hour at the most, but the celebration of the life of the wolf, especially one as amazing as the one Alphonse Senior lived would occupy most of the night. Speeches will be made, fighting competitions will be held, and The Great Hunt, would occur all in honor of the man being laid to rest.

            Wolves from all over were rumored to be coming, Kings and Queens, Alphas and Commanders, Judges and Justices, and Wardens would pay their respects to Cross Senior, so everything had to be done right and everyone was expected to act accordingly. Sara wondered if everyone would do so though. There was going to be a whole lot of dominant wolves amongst the Elder Village tonight, and she could only hope the fights remained in the competitions alone, however unlikely that seemed to be. Alphonse Junior was the one she was probably most worried for being that his conduct had been disastrous within the three days since his father’s death.

            Cross, when he was around, which was scarce, lashed out at anyone who came near, his trust shattered in the wolves of his own pack. Anyone of them could’ve been themurderer; then again, it could’ve been any member, of any pack. Sara knew not who would do such a horrible thing, but according to Griffith, all the proper channels had been notified of the death, and the investigation was underway.

            Sara continued her shopping with less attention than she would’ve liked, but her mind was elsewhere, and on the events of the night. Upon arriving at Griffith’s house, which was pretty much a mansion large enough to house each and every one of the twenty wolves within his pack, equipped with a bedroom for each, multiple bathrooms, a kitchen large enough to host a party and a dining room to hold each and every pack member, and more, seeing that there was always a wolf or two visiting from other packs, Sara noticed that there were already people arriving at the house, though she knew not who each and every one of them were.

            She parked her car in the parking lot for Griffith’s house, a bright leaf green 2012 Mini Cooper, which stood oddly apart from the numerous solid black Escalades, PickupTrucks, jeeps, and sports cars around, and began unpacking the numerous amount of bags she had stuffed into the trunk of her small car.

            “Sara, right?” someone asked behind her. Sara turned around to see light skinned woman standing before her, dark of hair and eyes, yet with a welcoming gaze, as if she was looking upon the face of a long lost loved one.

            “I’m sorry, do I know you?” Sara questioned as politely as possible, unaware of the rank she might hold in the world of wolves. A man had come behind the woman she didn’t know, and waited as the greeting took place, his eyes burning holes through Sara’s own. They were both wolves, Sara could tell that much, and both more dominant than herself, but still she didn’t know who they were, and how they seemed to know her.