That didn't mean these were the only problems, there were always the rogue wolves. Not part of their any pack for whatever reason, some tried to make their own mark. There was the option of a rogue joining another pack, but the wolf community could be small and for some no other pack would open their doors to them. If a rogue presented themselves to him, he and the rest of the pack would then consider a request to join the Silver Pack. Normally rogues ran alone or in some cases small groups of two or three; however Ben had recently heard some rumblings of larger groups making their presence known in the city. He had Theo and Connor looking into this to establish if this was the case, but generally the rogues here caused few problems and if that remained the case they would be left alone. If they were causing problems in the City, he would eliminate them one by one which was not a task Ben enjoyed, but necessary all the same.
Still enjoying the view Ben watched as the pups started their training with Theo, they were certainly put through their paces. At the moment Silver had about thirty pups of varying ages, they went to a local school in addition to taking pack lessons, such as self-defence, hunting, healing, shifting and the traditions of pack. It was a hard and gruelling schedule, but part of life.
Like many of the other species their ability to reproduce was a slow process. Most families managed to have one or two children yet even that could take centuries, the age difference between Ben and his brother was one hundred and twelve years. This made the pups more precious, everyone was important; every pup was needed to keep the pack alive and strong. The low birth rate was frustrating for them although it did make sense, if vampires and shifters were able to reproduce as easily as the humans, one race would soon dominate society, and by making it difficult to reproduce the humans would remain the dominant species in numbers, if not in strength.
"Hey Ben, what time are you heading out?" Connors head popped around the doorway, the house was large and as such was the Alpha's house, rather than live here alone his brother and Connor shared the space, thankfully though they each had rooms downstairs.
"In a few minutes, why?"
"We are short of staff in Silvers tonight, what's the chance of getting finished with the Council by opening time?"
"Get my lazy ass brother and his friends to fill in." By that he meant Nicky, as much as Ben loved him, his brother seemed to have a gift of disappearing when there was work to be done.
"No can do, already tried that. They have yet to return from last night, and they aren't answering their cells." Nicky's two best friends Seb and Julian were tasked with keeping Nicky out of trouble. They were rarely successful; sometimes Ben thought they were as careless, if not worse than Nicky.
"I bet they aren't. I will be there, but my brother needs to take some responsibility. We were never that unreliable were we?"
"Shit no, but your parents spoiled him and now he's a pain in the ass." Ben knew he was being unfair and harsh towards Nicky, but he and his wolf were becoming more desperate the longer he went without finding her. Just thinking about her sent his blood boiling and into overdrive.
"I have to go, I will see you tonight." Ben left to head into the City towards tonight's meeting place for the Harmony Council. He still cringed at the name, but a witch and a human had named it, so what else would anyone expect? The Council was there to help manage the transition of different species living together. As such all species were represented including the humans.
Being part of the council could at times be tedious, well most of the time. Yet he also understood that people needed to be able to live together in peace so he agreed with the Councils aims. Silver Wolf Pack and the vampires were the largest species of Other's living in New York. Both species were equally dominant in the area, so they needed to be part of the Council. All large cities had their own Council focussed on uniting the groups, rather than dominating them. Very often the Silver Pack was part of the city's security, not in the way of policing, that was the job of the PTF however the wolves and vampires provided man power for the PTF, with pack often patrolling with the vampires. Even among other species the wolves were probably the strongest of the species, on par only with vampires and demons, and everyone was pleased that the demons stayed in the other realms, for the most part.
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It didn't take long for the Council to come to the rogue wolves confirming the whispers Ben had been hearing. Vlad was the head of the vampire's and as such, he was immensely powerful. No-one knew his age, but with his long blonde hair, strong features and aloof nature he attracted attention. Ben had often seen females literally swoon at his feet, but it was his stony grey eyes that gave him away; they alone reflected his immense power, more than that though Vlad's physical presence was colossal. Ben had known Vlad for a long time and considered him to be a close and loyal friend. He had never seen Vlad with a female and although they were close friends, Ben knew that Vlad valued his privacy and would never openly parade a female.
Vlad handed out a police report to each of the members. "Now our PTF rep is unable to join us, so I will raise a new concern on his behalf. We seem to have a problem with some missing humans, twelve to date. Over the last six months twelve humans have gone missing, five of those have been found. All of the five found, bore shall we say marks indicating death by other species."
"What species is considered to be responsible for this?"
It was Dirk who asked the question which everyone else was about to ask. Dirk was the head representing the Warlocks and did not tend to be particularly vocal at these meetings. A small man with long grey hair, Dirk wore bright clothes all of the time, and was considered something of an eccentric. He had been married for many years, and everyone knew by the constant text messages he received in these meetings that Dirk was still deeply devoted to his wife. Although Dirk carried on texting while Vlad passed out gruesome pictures, all knew that he was taking this seriously and gave his attention to Vlad as he continued.
"That is the interesting thing, victim one was found drained of blood with clear fangs marks on the inside of her thigh. Victim two had burns all over his body but also restraint marks with a magical remnant, indicating a witch or warlock. Victim three was tortured but had marks from both a vampire and wolf across her body. Victims four and five were beaten so badly the ME was unable to distinguish specific injuries relating to other species."
Danissa represented the witches, and had often fought the committee for what she considered to be infringements of the rights of females in general, not just witches. With her long red hair and green eyes she was a striking woman, though her hair was normally pinned back strands were always falling forward but they added an air of elegance. The vast amounts of jewellery she wore meant that she always stood out in a crowd, though Danissa had always carried herself with an aura of goodness, which made most feel inferior. She was also gifted with second sight; it had not however helped her to find her husband when he disappeared several years previously.
"Why do the PTF believe that these are related incidents? Is there anything to link them?"
Vlad looked at them all. "All were the victims of extreme violence, they were dumped on a Monday and they all bore the symbol M crossed with a W on the soles of their feet."
"That would certainly link them." Danissa sat back looking troubled; a peaceful woman who abhorred violence, her face had visibly paled as she looked through the photos; Danissa barely glanced at the latter ones too horrified by the images depicted in them.
"It gets worse." Vlad was focussing on Ben. "In six of the cases the rogues appear to have been the ones who took them. There were several confirmed sightings of the rogues working in a large group and coming under one leader."
"How do you know?" Ben wanted to make sure the information was accurate, his pack would never be involved in something like this and he would not tolerate any insinuations, even if they were from a close friend. Therefore he needed to understand what Vlad was saying.
Vlad
passed some pictures of the humans being obviously kidnapped; Ben was angry and dismayed to see that there were undoubtedly wolves involved.
"I never thought that they would be from Silver's, as a man with honour you would never have allowed any of your pack to do this." He was relieved by his friend's words.
With the slight over, Ben took in the pictures. "I have seen a couple of these wolves in the city, but not together and rogues are rarely this organised. There must be someone leading them." He was pondering who this elusive someone could be when Vlad continued.
"Apparently Silvers had already been ruled out by Bastian, although I am not sure how. Therefore unless there is another pack moving into the area, it stands to reason they are the rogues."
Ben nodded. "I was given information yesterday highlighting that the rogues may be coming under one leader, and banding together. How long that will last for, I don't know?"
Rogues often harboured ideas of grandeur and narcissism, so they struggled to be led. It was still a concern when rogues acted out against the public, people didn’t see packs they saw wolves and this could seriously hurt their reputation. That was however the minor worry, his biggest concern centred on the people being murdered.
"I will start a roster for more wolves to patrol the streets looking for the rogues."
"I suggest we pool resources to increase the patrols, I will send Ice to co-ordinate with Connor." Vlad seemed particularly concerned though he did not elaborate further on the why.
As Ben and Vlad headed out together when the meeting was concluded, Danissa caught up with them. "I don't know what is going on but something is really wrong? I am going to consort with some of my coven, Ben I think that something is going to happen to you, please be careful. I know some of you think I am flakey, and annoyingly stubborn which of course I am, but if you don't listen…."
"Do you have any idea of what will behest Ben?" Vlad was holding Danissas arm in a gentlemanly manner, manners from centuries gone by yet still evident in Vlad.
"I am sorry but I don't, I am not even sure it is Ben personally. I just saw Ben being watched, he was with a woman although her image was vague. I could feel an immense rage focussed on them."
Danissa was wringing her hands; the men knew that she hated seeing half a vision, especially when it involved her friends. Regardless of what anyone said about Danissa, both Vlad and Ben respected her as a person and a witch.
"I for one have always considered you to be a very stubborn woman in the nicest possible way, but never flaky, and I will take your warning very seriously. If you can find out anything more, I will be in your debt my dear witch." Smiling Ben bent his head to her hand while Vlad laughed at them both.
"Always the charmer, rest assured I will also take your warning to Ben seriously, on the condition that you also take care to look after yourself. You are way too kind and too important to those around you, particularly those who would do you harm." Vlads smooth words reassured Danissa.
Both smiled as Denissa nodded, and walked away from them. "You can't mistake the beauty of her, inside and out. Her mother and grandmother were the same." Both sighed thinking of the generations before Danissa, the witches who had come and gone.
Ben looked at Vlad with a glint in his eyes. "Is there something you are not telling me, Vlad?" He knew that Vlad had a soft spot for Danissa and had become somewhat angered when other members of the committee had indeed called her 'flakey'.
Ben also knew that most people were suspicious of his friendship with Vlad. In many cities the vamps and shifters struggled for supremacy, leading to a lot of fighting. Even when the groups were hiding their other sides from the humans they fought, but here they had always had a truce, well they had since Vlad had come to power, prior to that things had been bloody and unpredictable. Ben's best friend was a vampire and he considered many of them friends, including Vlad who was one of his closest. If the vampires needed the wolves they would be there, and vice versa.
Vlad joined him at the club where they looked at the patrol roster. Both the vampires and wolves had a roster of patrols; they tended to keep them separate but co-ordinated when needed. With this spate of crimes it made sense combine forces. Both groups were individually strong, but together they held a lot of power.
"Do you want to tell me what's on your mind Vlad, you were holding back earlier?"
Vlad smiled at Ben even though he did not look at him. "How well you know me Ben. For a while now I have been feeling some sort of otherworldly force in the area. I can't get a grip on what exactly it is but I have no doubt that someone is messing with forces outside of this dimension."
As the oldest vampire in the city Vlad had seen a lot, and had not only immense strength but talents that had developed as he had aged. Vlad was the leader for all vampires in New York City for two reasons; he was the strongest and the smartest. Ben had met Vlad's Elite Vampires; many of whom had been with Vlad for centuries and were as loyal to Vlad as pack was to Ben. Leading the vampires was without a doubt a tough job, on occasions Vlad was required to flex his strength and show no remorse in order to ensure the vampires remained under his command.
Ben knew that Vlad was challenged on a regular basis, and he needed to be ruthless in dealing with those that challenged him. He had seen some of this ruthlessness and knew that Vlad could take out an opponent without touching him, so if Vlad thought there was something else going on Ben was inclined to believe him.
"Shit, that doesn't sound good, any ideas of where we start?" Ben sighed as he awaited the answer, suddenly feeling weary.
"I don't think there is a starting point; I have several of my Elite scouring the city just trying to get a hit on a location. The problem is that unless they are in the area at the right time, the magic won't be strong enough to pinpoint it." By this time they had reached the car park, Ben unlocked the doors on his four wheeled drive while Vlad would poof out using his telepathy.
"If you need any help, let me know. It might be an idea to bring Danissa in on this if you have no luck."
Vlad smiled slyly. "Most definitely she will keep us both in line but unless we have to, I don’t want to put her in harm's way." Just that thought left them both with grim smiles. They had each watched from a distance as Danissa grew into a lovely young woman, having known her ancestors both had a strong urge to keep her safe.
They re-met at the club and pooled their force until the club started to fill and Vlad left. Ben headed out to the ground floor bar where he was needed; Connor had left him a note saying he would be needed until about eleven, which would leave him ample time to look for HER. For a lack of any other option he had decided to start his own street patrol, although rogue wolves were not the prey, she was.
Chapter 7
Lucky had a dreadful feeling; she and Darius were heading down an unlit alley, the smell of urine and trash was strong permeating her nostrils, she could hear the scurry of rats but she could barely see a thing. All the lights in the area were out but she could hear the slurping of someone clearly in the middle of a feeding frenzy, now she was listening harder, hearing more than one someone. As Darius nodded towards her, he confirmed her suspicions when he lifted two fingers up, with his vampire vision he could see everything with startling clarity.
As Lucky made her way towards the noise, she felt a little easier when she saw a light reflected from a window, a glow like a candle flickered from a nearby building, some level of illumination albeit small would help. Pulling her knife out of her belt she nicked her finger on it. Darius dropped back a little; their plan was a usual feature of their shifts. She knew that any second now the smell of fresh blood would hit them, and they would come looking for the source. Right on the mark she altered her stance, standing with legs apart, throwing her knife in the air and catching it.
"Evening gentleman, I heard that there's a party in this exact alley at this exact time, and I wasn't invited. Now where is all the music and fun, it's not a party if there isn’t any music?"
"Oh sweetheart, we will show you a special party, one that you have never seen before." She watched as vamp number one grabbed his crotch.
Lucky just rolled her eyes. "Really and just how do you plan on doing that?"
Mr big bad vamp looked towards his slightly smaller friend and grabbed his crotch again. "What do you say Dan, do you want first or seconds?"
"I am definitely going first, you were first last time." Lucky was starting to feel extremely annoyed, they were both scruffy, their clothes were torn, and they were in desperate need of a bath. The smaller one was now behind her and the taller one in front.
"Mind if I join you? I heard there was a party and you know the saying, two's company, three's a crowd but with a forth you have a party." The taller had started looking Darius up and down; Lucky watched his eyes register the fact that Darius was considered one of the ancients.
"No problem dude there's plenty to go around. In fact you can go first, can't he Dan?" He nudged his friend, nodding his head at Darius.
The one named Dan was not as quick on the uptake as his friend. "What the hell, I don't think so!" He turned to face Darius his face twisting in an attempt at intimidation.
"Go find your own fun mate, you are not invited."
"I don't think that was the right answer." Darius was now a couple of feet from the guy, while Lucky was still watching the taller one as he dropped into a crouch, his attention now focussed on her.
"Well, well pretty lady; it is time to earn a bonus. Who would have thought that a little feed would turn into something so lucrative?"
Silvers Alpha (The Silver Series) Page 5