Three days had passed since Gabby had cast the summoning spell and for three days nothing had happened. Zac was a very impatient vampire. Ironic, since he had all the time in the world. Strangely, he'd been more patient as a human and then it took a lot longer to get anywhere other than where you were.

“You know, I'm sick of all this waiting. There's got to be something we can do,” he sighed, looking out the window of the parlor into the garden.

“It's only been three days,” Sam said, glancing up from his book.

The front door slammed closed, but neither of them looked to see who it was. They knew Liz was walking down the hallway.

“Are you going to tell her?” Zac raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you?” Sam retorted.

“Where have you two been hiding the past few days?” Liz asked, as she walked into the parlor. “Wait. Maybe I don't want to know the answer to that.”

“Then why'd you ask?” Zac grinned wickedly at her when she rolled her eyes.

“Where were you when I came looking on Sunday? I thought we were going to do something?” Liz asked Sam, who glanced to his brother, not knowing what he should say.

“We were out with Gabby performing blood sacrifices.” Zac winked at her, a mocking tone in his voice. “Why are you asking anyway? I know Gabby told you.”

“How’d you know?” she asked, confused.

“I didn't, you just told me.” He ducked as a cushion flew at his head.

Of course Gabby would tell her. They shared just about everything with each other and stood to reason she'd share this bombshell as well.

“When were you going to tell me?” Liz objected.

“I knew you'd disapprove,” Zac said, leaning against the windowsill.

“Yeah, of course I do,” she cried, annoyed. “Did you think any of it through?”

“Yes, of course I did.” He didn't like to keep her out of the loop, but he had to.

“All of five seconds!”

“Look, if we had of told you, we would have spent ten years arguing about whether we were going to do it or not. And if you hadn't noticed, I think ten years is a bit of an optimistic time frame for planning our defenses.” Zac smiled sarcastically. “That's why I'm me and you're you.”

Liz sighed dramatically, sinking onto the sofa, arms folded across her chest. “Fine. It's too late now.”

Zac shook his head. “Anyway, you guys are getting hungry. Have you thought about the Chihuahua’s?”

“We've had to go further afield to hunt,” Sam replied. “It's getting harder to dodge them.”

The werewolf pack had lived in a smaller town nearby for years, or so they’d heard. They weren't an issue to the brothers when they’d first returned home, but that may have had something to do with them trying to be human. Once they’d caught on that vampires were living in the area, they did all they could to inch them out. Especially once they knew that Sam and Liz only fed on animals. They started claiming even more territory until they had it all.

“They're pushing us out so they can claim the town,” Liz said.

“That's because they know they can't win a fight against all of us together,” Zac scoffed. “They're using dirty underhanded techniques to get their own way.”

“I know what you're trying to insinuate, Zac,” Sam warned.

“What? It's is our home and sure as hell I'm not going to let some dog screw with you,” he said defensively.

“The moon is almost full.”

The werewolves would be stronger the closer it came to a full moon, when their compulsory transformation neared. It would be stupid to go out into the forest at night; even they would be overpowered. Werewolves could change whenever they wanted, but were at the mercy of the phases of the moon, their strength waxing and waning with it.

“Fine, I won't start anything with them,” Zac huffed. “But if they come at you or Liz, I’ll do what I need to.”

“Understood.”

“You know I'm coming with you tomorrow, right?”

“You finally want to try a squirrel?”

“Very funny, Samuel. I'm more into wolves,” Zac snorted.

“Their bite can change a human, god knows what it can do to a vampire,” he said in a last ditch effort to dissuade Zac.

“What do you take me for? I ain't some green recruit, Sam. I'm an expert.”

“That's what I'm afraid of. You can come with us, but don't start anything. We can't afford it right now.”

“Aye, aye, Captain. Oh wait, that's me.” Zac laughed at his own joke, earning a slap in the head with another cushion from Liz.

Zac grinned to himself. Tomorrow at sunset, it would be vampires vs. werewolves one way or the other. His bet was that the dogs would start it.

The late afternoon sun burned orange through the treetops, casting long shadows over the open yard in front of the manor. Zac was perched on top of the brick fence, waiting impatiently for Sam and Liz to arrive home. When he finally caught sight of them coming up the driveway, he jumped down and went to meet them.

“About time,” he said.

“Chomping at the bit as per usual, I see,” Sam said, thumping his brother on the shoulder.

“Sooner we go, the sooner it's done.”

“Just stay back, okay?” Sam asked, holding his hand up. “If it looks like trouble, then do what you have to.”

“Fine. I'll be your little escort service. I won't touch the stinking dogs unless they try something.”

Sam assessed his answer for a moment before nodding and turning towards the forest. Just as he said he would, Zac hung back, perched up in a tree some distance back from them, watching and listening.

It didn't take long for their presence to be noted, as if they were waiting for the vampires to hunt tonight. As the werewolves sauntered through the forest in their human forms, Sam and Liz stood deathly still in the middle of a clearing, waiting for the inevitable, Zac waiting silently in the shadows.

“I thought we told you vamps not to come here anymore,” the hulking man they knew to be the pack master, declared as they came close.

“Do you really want us to feed on innocent human beings?” Sam scoffed.

“We want you dead or gone. Whichever comes first.”

“We only feed on animals,” Sam tried to reason. “We don't want to hurt anyone. Surely we can make a deal.”

The wolves began to laugh, the menacing sound carrying around the now dark forest.

“Change it up boys,” he said to the others, his eyes beginning to glow a deep amber. “Let's get us some vampers.”

Liz stared in horror as the pack master began to change, his teeth elongating into the sharp incisors of an over large wolf, silver hair sprouting all over his skin. He tore his shirt and jeans off without any regard for his modesty. Roaring as much in pain as to intimidate them, every bone in his body began snapping and twisting as he slowly transformed.

As the rest of the werewolves followed suit, Zac jumped from tree to tree, only slightly rocking each one as he landed. Before the pack master could complete his transformation, he dived from the tree above, savagely striking him in the head. The half man, half wolf fell heavily to the ground, his pack mates howling and snapping as they completed their change.

“Run.” Zac turned to Sam and Liz, pointing to the dark forest behind them.

“What about you?” Sam as he took a few steps backwards.

“Are you stupid? Run!” he yelled, turning back towards the pack, growling deep in his throat.

As Sam and Liz ran the opposite direction, Zac jumped over the snapping jaws of the werewolves, intent on luring as many of them as he could away from the others. Bolting in the opposite direction, he bit open his wrist, dripping a trail of his blood for them to follow. He knew this land better than the back of his own hand. The vegetation had changed somewhat since he was human, but all the dips and rises were the same. Making a mental note of his location, he veered right, flanking the swamp. It had receded some, but was still there.

One of the wolves was right on his heels, snapping at every opportunity looking for its mark. If it bit him, he was probably a goner. The river was directly ahead, along with a sharp drop that plummeted into the muddy bank below. If he was lucky, he would give this wolf a surprise.

Breaking through the trees, he almost missed the edge, jumping at the last minute. Barely clearing the breadth of the river, he threw his weight forward, grasping a low branch. There was a sharp yelp behind him as the wolf desperately tried to slow itself, but the drop had appeared too suddenly. It fell in a shower of decaying leaves and earth, landing heavily into the thick mud below. Zac hauled himself up onto the high bank on the opposite side and glanced down one more time. The werewolf was well and truly stuck in the bank below, struggling to free itself from the sucking mud with no avail. If it changed back into human form, his hulking body would weigh him down more.

Zac sneered at the pathetic sight and turned back towards the manor, where he knew Sam and Liz would be circling back to. Running as fast as he could through the trees, he caught the scent of another wolf ahead. As it lunged for him out of the shadows, he jumped, grasping a limb above him causing the wolf to sail past harmlessly. His feet had barely touched the ground before he'd turned, grasping a fallen branch like a baseball bat. The wolf had scrambled back around and faced him, its eyes reflecting in the moonlight. It advanced slowly on him, snarling. Incisors that had to be at least four inches long, dripped with saliva, ready to tear through his flesh.

Suddenly, the wolf lunged, jaws widened to tear through his jugular. The branch swung and connected with the furry flesh of the wolf with a sickening thud, sending it crashing back through the trees, howling in rage as much as pain. The forest fell into silence as its limp body came to rest somewhere in the darkness.

Pausing only a second, Zac dumped the branch and continued on to the rendezvous point.

Coming up on the clearing he caught sight of Sam and Liz, surrounded by four wolves. As the lead wolf tensed to attack, Zac was on it, crushing its ribs in a vise grip around its gut. Tossing the wounded wolf aside, he put himself in between the vampires and their immediate danger.

Crouching down so he could look the four wolves directly in the eye, he called, “Here puppy, puppy, puppy.”

Then there were five wolves, the one Zac had embedded in the mud nowhere to be seen. Amber eyes flashed in the darkness as they fixated on their prey. Suddenly, one wolf feigned an attack from Zac's left, distracting him long enough so a large rusty colored wolf could launch itself at his jugular from the right.

Knocked flat on his back, he roared in anger, grasping the neck of the werewolf, using all of his strength to keep its snapping jaws at a distance. He quite liked his face; it would be counterproductive if it were ripped off.

Abruptly, the wolf was torn from him, a ear piercing yelp as bones crunched. Scrambling to his feet, he hissed as he laid eyes on an unfamiliar vampire standing over the twisted remains of the werewolf that had been an inch from his face moments before.

The clearing had fallen silent, the wolves falling back to a safe distance, seemingly to regroup. The vampire silently assessed them before glancing back to the vampires behind him.

“This one has been marked,” the vampire snarled at the assembled wolves, pointing to Zac. “He does not die until it is appointed.” He kicked the remains of the wolf towards the pack.

The wolves backed away, snarling, one of their number grasping the body of their fallen comrade by the scruff of the neck, dragging him with them.

Then the three vampires were alone with the intruder, the one obviously sent by Katrin. He turned and sneered at them with contempt, like they were an annoyance he'd rather deal with the same way. Blatantly assessing Zac, he gave him a look that dismissed him as harmless. Turning without a word, he disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

“Well, it's safe to say that we're being watched,” Zac announced to no one in particular, annoyed that the fight had been ended prematurely.

“Do you think they know about, you know?” asked Liz quietly.

“No,” Zac replied, still staring in the direction the vampire had disappeared. “If they knew, then this would have ended differently.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes as if waiting for the shadows themselves to come and fight them. A mournful howl in the direction of the river broke the heavy silence, making Zac smirk in satisfaction.

“Let's go home,” Sam said taking Liz's hand and leading her away, Zac still staring after the unknown vampire.

They hadn't solved anything with the wolves, but maybe now they would be spooked enough not to try anything. Only time would tell if they could venture out into the forest without incident. But he was more worried about Katrin. Until now her threat had seemed empty. Life had continued as normal, the ramifications of staking Alistair non-existent. Zac sighed uneasily. Perhaps he didn't know as much as he thought he did. He took his deflated ego and disappeared into the darkness.