Paradise Pines (Shawn Mendes)

The Alphas

The winter air was acrid in the mountainous forest of Paradise Pines. The season suited the area's rapid growth in fatalities. What was once a quiet and peaceful town had become overrun with werewolves – good and bad alike. The white wolf's pack had gathered at the local resort to discuss how to get rid of the influx of supernatural beings lurking about. Carlito brought everyone together in the dining hall to formulate a course of action to defeat their monstrous, abominable adversaries.

"Settle down everyone!" he ordered. "Settle down! We have a lot to figure out in very little time." His words could not get through to anyone. With a roar, Shawn got the attention of the fragmented pack. "Shut your mouths and listen!" The base of his voice reverberated throughout the hall, vibrating through the bodies of everyone.

"Thank you, Shawn." Carlito cleared his throat. "Finally, we can begin. I'd like to start off by saying that I understand how tired and frustrated you all must be. A good portion of you have travelled a great distance to be here, jeopardizing your jobs and schooling, but our kind is in a dire situation. On that note, I want to inform you all that I and other members of our former pack are grateful for those of you who were never part of our pack, but have decided to join us in our war." News about Iris possessing the power of White Wolf, a legend in her own right, broke out among werewolf kind, inspiring them to join in arms and defeat the evil plaguing North America. "With that being said, I would like to point out that this war is not only for our former pack, it is also to liberate other packs and human civilization in general from the claws of money hungry, power hungry, tyrannical werewolves.

"Every move we make from this point on determines the fate of the rest of our lives. More than anything, we must solidify as one big and hopefully ever-growing pack to win this war to ensure our longevity. So, I ask that you all be openminded, share your thoughts, give others the chance to speak, and allow us to unify while constructing a plan. As a businessman, this is my area of expertise, so I will be conducting this entire meeting alongside my nephew Shawn, the man that set this war into motion, and Iris, the vessel of the white wolf, Esme."

In the most awkward fashion, Iris waved her hand at everyone. It was one thing to get the attention of all the townies she grew up with after rescuing Avril, but the attention of so many strangers was something entirely different.

"To start off, Shawn and Iris have an announcement to make that will give us an upper hand in the war."

"Right," Shawn began. "Esme has been communicating with Iris, sharing information with her on people, places, and most recently, magical relics. Yalda has been practically invincible with the aid of witches, warlocks, sorcerers, or whatever you prefer to call them. If you've killed a Yalda werewolf before, you know that they come right back to life. That won't be happening anymore now that we have a powerful bargaining chip that will convince the witches working for Yalda to cease their protective sorcery." Looking at Iris, Shawn told her, "Take it away."

"H-Hello everyone." She tucked her hair behind her ears, afraid to look at the sea of unfamiliar faces. Iris had spent her entire life in Paradise Pines. So many foreign faces took her out of her comfort zone. Not that she had a problem with them, she simply never had a reason to have stage fright until now. Most people only expected her to be a great student and a well behaved young lady, but the people before her expected her to lead them into battle and leave it victorious. The pressure was too much for her to handle all at once.

"So, yeah, um..." she trailed off, at a loss for words. Taking a deep breath and centering herself as Shawn once advised her, she spoke. "Esme lead me to a magical stone containing the power of a warlock that helped her form her pack and save the lives of many people. This wasn't just any old warlock, he was a rarity for the amount of power he possessed, and now he has entrusted me with that power contained in this stone." She pulled out the glowing, blue stone from her coat pocket. "I will make a trade with the head witch of Yalda tomorrow: this stone for her help."