BLOOD and Revenge

Chapter 29: The Council

The council had finally arrived and I could feel the time I had to get this plan into action growing smaller and smaller. The two days it had taken for them to show up I had been given more meals but I couldn't eat them. They didn't hold the nutrients that my vampire body needed. I would drink the water but the soup that they would leave me I would not touch.

Since my two more days in the cell had kept me away from feeding, I was at the point that I warned them that no one could open my door and had to find a way of giving me my food without putting their limbs into the room.

  James himself had come to escort me to the small area they had set up for the wolf high council. With my hold on my hunger hanging on by a thread, I stumbled through the forest towards the compound.

"James, I need to feed before I see them. Otherwise I will be as feral as a rabid animal. I will be useless that way and they will not listen to me." The look he gave me was a mix of both revulsion and sorrow. I could tell he hated seeing me like this. It was bad enough that I hadn't even showered since before I got here so I smelled worse than a skunk.

"I don't think I can do that Janine." I growled low in my throat and started to lean on him for support, his blood inches away from my fangs that hadn't gone away for a few days now and were aching with a painful need.

"Please James. A deer, a squirrel... hell even a cat wouldn't be a problem. I need something before I lose myself." Since James had requested that he transport me alone, no one was around us to cause any problems. If he let me hunt for a few minutes it would only be a problem that we were making the council wait.

The wolf I was leaning on stopped and glanced around nervously before extending his wrist towards my lips.

"Hurry before someone sees or the council finds out. If they do I will be on the chopping block with you." I tried to hesitate but my hunger wouldn't allow for me to do so. My fangs embedded themselves deep into his flesh and the taste of blood caused a frenzy in me. I drank quickly and deeply, the strength I didn't have before finally returning with a bright and magnificent flare. His blood was like my own version of drugs that was making my body buzz with life.

"Stop. You are taking too much," he whispered and tried to pull his wrist away. Lowly I growled at him, my feeding slowing down a little but not enough that there was a sign of stopping.

"Janine, stop!" I pulled my fangs out of him quickly and took a step back to gather myself as I almost went for his neck this time. I couldn't take the power that rushed through me and I started to hop from foot to foot as if I was not able to stay still.

"Damn you taste good." I groaned out. A whisper of a smirk was on his face before it left and noticing that his wrist wasn't healing as fast as mine would, I punctured my finger and smeared my blood over his wound. Within seconds it was gone, dry blood decorating his flesh that he hurriedly wiped off.

"Thank you," I said and extended my handcuffs to him to take hold of. He took the chain and started to lead me again, this time my body having no trouble walking normally. The vampire in me wasn't sated with how little I ate but I knew that I could handle being civilized. That I could manage.

"You're welcome," he whispered as we started to see houses and people through the trees.

When we broke through the trees, people froze and stepped back, some shielding their children from me. People I knew. People that knew me.

As James led me through the pack, a building caught my attention. It was large but also not too big as to draw attention. A direct path was between us and the building in question.

"Vile.." 

"Disgusting.."

"Abomination.."

Worse words were coming from the wolves' mouths and whatever strength I had drawn from James's blood was purely just physical. Nearly a week in a cell by yourself will do that to you. And their words didn't hurt any worse.

We entered the building quietly and turned left toward a large door with intricate decorating on it. The main doors to the building were closed and wolves surrounded us.

"Don't cause trouble and they will listen to your request," James said with a stern voice that reminded me of the days we would play war. He was always the commander, the leader, the head honcho. And it truly fit him well. He was born to lead.

The doors opened and he strode in, pulling me along as if I were a true prisoner. The room was set up similar to a court room but instead of one chair at the front and two podiums, there was only one podium and seven chairs. All of the chairs were filled with men who looked mostly old but others looked quite young. However, the male in the middle looked maybe twenty-five and had this feel to him that made me want to submit.

Who is he?

I was chained to the podium, the cuffs still biting into my wrists. When I glanced at each of the council members I tried to gauge on their strengths and weaknesses. But no matter who I looked at, they all had their eyes narrowed at me as if I was a bug that needed to be exterminated. When the wolf in the middle started to talk, there was no sound to be made.

"The council has come at the request of Janine the vampire under the pretense that she had valuable information in exchange for her death. The council and myself have found that your request is acceptable and that your wish for your death to be on your own terms may be done if your information is found worthy of our time." I held back from rolling my eyes. It was painfully obvious that he was the wolf in charge, even of James, as the other wolf stayed back.

My only question was just who was this wolf that he held even an Alpha like James at bay?

"Why do you believe that your information is of value, vampire?" one of the older males asked. I frowned at him and cleared my throat.

"My name is Janine. And I do not believe that it is of value. I know it has value." They all frowned at me but I could have sworn that I saw the ghost of a smirk on the guy in the middle.

"Alright then Janine, what is it would like to tell us?" I appreciated that the powerful male at least spoke my name and gave me the time of day so I went on.

"Before I reveal my information, I would like to negotiate my terms on how I wish to be executed." All of their eyes lit up at the mention of my death. Wolves...

"Go ahead."

"On the night of the full moon which I believe falls onto Halloween. I want my death on that night when the moon is at its highest. What I want first is to be bitten by the Alpha who captured me as he drives a stake laced with vervain through my heart." My specific instructions surprised most of the wolves in the room but the gasp of surprise that everyone turned to was James's. We all turned our heads to him and he cleared his throat before stepping forward.

"Is there a problem with Janine's request Alpha James?" Oh I could see that James had a problem with it. He had a big problem with it. We were soul mates after all.

"You see, your majesty, Janine is my mate."