THE BOYS HUDDLED together in a corner. They couldn’t tell the time of the day because the only window opening had been covered with a thick cloth. It sounded like a canvas or leather curtain.
But with the cold, the figured that the sun was going down pretty quickly. The Werewolf blood had melted long before. It had turned into a puddle where Mart had thrown it to the amusement of Ellie and Nina.
They could pick out the howl of the wind and stiff flap of the leather material covering the small window. Full moon was tonight and they knew it.
A door swung open loudly and Ellie, who was relaxing just outside their cell, jumped to his feet. Nina walked in, closely followed by an elegant white haired woman.
She stopped in front of their cell and eyed them glumly.
“Where did you get these ones?” She asked.
“Just outside Morton’s border, Rosetta. Near the first scene.” Ellie said.
She made some ‘tsk’ sounds at the boys as she patrolled the front of the cells. The boys’ eyes followed her warily.
“Keys.” She said, and stretched her hands without looking.
“Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea. These little pups has teeth. They killed Vlad and his group.”
“Do I look like Vladmir and his group?” Rosetta asked, quietly. “Don’t let me say it again.”
Ellie reluctantly removed the big old key from his belt and handed it to Rosetta with a little grumble.
She collected it and turned to open the door. The boys watched her intently.
“Do you think she’s bloody mad?” Jeff whispered to his mates.
“I don’t know.” Mart said. The others shrugged.
She walked in the cell. “Stay out.” She said to Ellie as he tried to enter with her.
“I’m not mad, honey.” She said, stooping down to cup Jeff’s chin. She turned his face to the side and studied his face. Then she moved to Zach. “Oh yeah, the big wolf.” She stood up and looked at the boys for a long while. “I can’t perceive any Alpha blood.”
“That’s because none of us are alphas…” Mart said.
“… or even closely related to one.” Arthur concluded.
“Hmm…” She turned to Ellie. “Send a word to Jamie Morton. I heard his kids are missing. Tell him, we have them and they’ll die soon.” Ellie nodded before she continued. “And still be on the lookout for the alpha boys. I want them before next month’s full moon.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“What should we do with these ones?” Nina asked.
“Lets wait it out. We’ll keep the ones that survive tonight. It won’t be long now, Full moon is less than 6 hours away. Ellie find those alpha boys.” She turned back to the boys and pointed at Billy, who had been quiet. “You. Don’t do what you’re thinking.”
With that, she swept away leaving a light scent of strong Eastern perfume.
Ellie chuckled as he locked the gate. “Elder Vampires. She read your mind, boy.”
“She read my mind? Is my mind a book?” Billy snarled.
“They teach you how to guard your thoughts at 17. Senior year at your High school.” He walked away.
“What we’re you thinking.” Mart asked Billy.
“I wanted to leap at her just before he walks out the door. Open up her jugular vein and watch bright blood spray and paint the cell red.”
Even Arthur, who was quite the toughest, shivered. “Damn, where did you get that thought from?”
“When did you get so violent?” Zach asked in a tiny voice.
“I don’t know.” Billy just shrugged.
“I’m nervous about this full moon.” Zach said.
“We all are, now shut up and rest.” Jeff snapped at Zach.
“A GLASS OF wine?” Charlotte asked the men.
They nodded their heads in approval, she went to prepare the drinks.
Each man deep in his own thought.
“You know, I feel it in my bones at the boys are alright.” Charlotte said, walking into the sitting room with a bottle of wine and three glasses.
“But where could they be?”
Jamie’s mobile phone rang. A shrill monotonous sound. He fumbled in his pockets till he found them. He picked the phone and placed it to his ear. “This is Jamie Morton speaking.”
He grew silent for a while and his face grew tense. He stopped breathing. “Okay. Thank you… I’ll get there as soon as possible.”
He had hardly finished speaking into the mobile when the land-line started ringing. Claude jumped up and picked that one too. “Alpha Jamie Morton’s resident. Who is speaking?” His posture stiffened and his eyes glazed over. Then he replaced the receiver and walked back to the room where eyes were darting from him to Jamie.
“Well…” Jaja asked Jamie.
“They have our boys.” Claude said.
“Yes. Thank goodness. We’re flying there in half hour.” Jamie said, smiling widely.
Jamie was dumbfounded. “Flying where?”
“To Brazil.”
“What’s in Brazil?”
Jaja and Charlotte looked at the two men, confused.
“Claude, what are you talking about?” Charlotte asked.
“They called. They said the have the boys.”
“Who called? Who, Claudie boy?” Jaja pressed.
“Rosetta.”
Charlotte gasped.
“B-but, Andrés, Alpha of red moon Pack, called. He said he has the boys. They stumbled in on their moon howl. I heard their voices in the background.”
“So, the Vampires were lying… why?” Jaja asked.
“They could not just have made that call out of the blues.” Claude said to himself. “They sounded pretty confident.”
“Well, first things first, we’re heading to Brazil in a few minutes. Call to get the private jet ready.” Jamie said.
“Yes, Alpha.” Jamie walked to the door and opened it. He almost stumbled into a wizened figure coming into the house. “Henry!” Claude greeted the oldest wolf in the pack. “How’re you doing?” Claude clapped the old man in his back.
“Claude. Bad news. Really bad news.” Henry said in a shaky voice.
“Bad news? We have good news, already.”
“No. I think you should hear this.” Henry shuffled into the house. Claude stood outside for a moment, undecided on what to do. He shook his head and entered the house again.
“Henry!” Jamie’s voice boomed through the corridor.
“You are in a jolly mood, Alpha.” Henry croaked.
“Of course I am. Everything is going smoothly.”
Claude walked in and stood at the entrance.
“”What’s the matter, Henry?” He asked.
“We noticed some children are , um, for lack of better word, missing.”
The glow seemed to fade from Jamie’s face. He groaned. “Do children ever not be missing in this pack?”
“Which children?”
“5 boys. They were not seen at school today and the parents report not to have seen them since the morning.”
“Which children, Henry?”
“Arthur Martins, Jeffery Stone, Martin Jones, Bill Walker and Zachary Kane.”
“Those boys…” Jamie said, thoughtfully. “They’re the same age group with our sons, aren’t they?”
“They’re classmates actually.” Claude pointed out.
“That isn’t a coincidence, is it?”
“And there’s more, my Lords.” Henry said. They all looked at him with a question on their faces. “Dead Vampires.” He said.
“Not again.” This time it was Claude that groaned.
“We need to see the scene.” Jaja said. He was the voice of reason at that moment, because even the always calm Claude looked like he was about to go mad.
“We’ve not even been home for 24 hours and there’s another problem.” Jamie said to himself.
Claude turned and looked at Henry. “By any chance, it didn’t happen near the morteaux flower just across the western stream, did it?”
“Oh yes. It did happen there. Come, I’ll show you. But how did you know that, sir?” They headed out.
Claude gave Jamie a knowing look and didn’t bother to answer the old man.