Evil's Awakening II

Alpha Nath walked freely into the Clearwater Pack. He smiled and nodded at a few guards on the way in. For all they knew, he was not holding the key to their destruction. He entered his cabin and locked the door. The room was not empty. Logan sat on the bed, leisurely typing away at his phone. After his father assured him that he would not bear blame for Garsam's disappearance, he had calmed down. It's not like he really cared whether the prince was alive or not. He looked up when his father walked in. "You're back." Alpha Nath turned into another room. "Come along, boy," he called. Logan got off the bed and followed him. The room they entered was small—very small. It was plain peach in color, and a beam held a few sparse coats. It was the closet. In the far corner was a large bundle covered with a black cloth, but if one looked closely, they would notice it moving. It was the bundle that Alpha Nath pointed at and ordered Logan, "Carry her." Logan carried the bundle. As he moved, the cloth slipped, revealing a beautiful woman. Her eyes were closed in slumber. Even when Logan bumped her head while trying to get out of the small door, she didn't wake or even frown in discomfort. Logan lay her body on the bed and made way for his father, who took out the heart from his satchel. It was strange watching the pulsating organ throb in his father's hand. Logan stared at the heart in awe. "The heart of Virgo," he whispered. "It's as fascinating as I thought it'd be." "You can leave now," his father said. "What? No!" Logan protested. "I wasn't asking, boy. Leave!" "But..." "Out, now!" "This is ridiculous!" Logan stormed out, slamming the door so hard it rattled in its hinges. Alpha Nath ignored his son's outburst and turned his attention to the woman. It was going to be a messy affair, but that was not why he sent Logan out. If Virgo was revived, she would recognize him as her master. Logan being here would complicate things. A powerful demon with two masters would soon revolt. Alpha Nath was under no illusion that Virgo would be easy to control, but he knew her story and how much hatred she had for the Clearwater Pack, especially Alpha Kain. So he knew just how to manipulate her. He didn't want much from her—just total control of the werewolves and usurping power from the Royal Pack, a dream that would soon come true with the demon's help. He retrieved a special knife crafted from pale, gnarled bones. He gazed down at the woman; he was not one for killing an innocent, but the demon required a vessel. He plunged the knife down with determined swiftness and carved out the woman's heart, tossing it to the ground. From beginning to end, the woman did not so much as twitch. He picked up the heart of Virgo and placed it in the bloody cavity. Immediately, it touched her blood; the heart of Virgo started to beat even faster and louder. The blood surrounding the wound was being sucked into the heart. It continued absorbing the blood until the woman's beautiful face and body shrank to something grotesque. Then it stopped. It lay still in her chest, throbbing, but nothing else happened. Alpha Nath groaned a sigh and picked out the heart. He wrapped it up once more and set it on a pillow. He mind-linked Logan, asking him to come. A few seconds passed, and Logan walked in; it seemed his anger didn't keep him too far. "What happened?" he asked, taking in the bloody bed and the shrunken, motionless woman. "The heart rejected the body," Alpha Nath replied. Logan gasped. "Can it do that?" "We need to find a new vessel before the Royal Pack finds out that Garsam is missing and comes here." Alpha Nath asserted. Logan snapped, "And what if it rejects the next body we find, and the one after that? Are we supposed to just keep on sacrificing more women?" "Yes," Alpha Nath replied matter-of-factly, "if that is what it takes." Logan stared at him in disbelief. "That wasn't the plan." "I've heard that before," was his father's nonchalant reply. Alpha Nath reclaimed the heart and returned it to his satchel. "Clean up all evidence; I'm sure you know what will happen if we're found out before we can find a suitable vessel." Logan clenched his hands into fists as he watched his father leave, certainly to find another woman to sacrifice to that demon. He only agreed to this insane plan because he was disappointed by werewolf kind's choice to be at peace with humans. Werewolves were becoming too humane. Gone were the days of pack hunting; now they bought meat from humans. No more warrior training for the pups; instead, they were brought up to pursue human professions. Werewolves were hunters, and humans were prey, but now? Werewolves worked with humans in the upper echelon of the world and hid from those in the lower. Hiding in the shadows like rats! It disgusted him. That was why he agreed. He hoped Virgo's resurrection would drag werewolves back to the early age of power, loyalty, and predatory superiority. If he was the heir of the Royal Pack, he would have been able to make a change. But no, the life he wanted belonged to that sniveling fool Garsam, rather than changing the world, he pined for his father's acknowledgment and affection like a pathetic runt. He broke free from his train of thought and surveyed the mess in the room. There was no way he could scrub away the overpowering stench of blood. The best way to mask the smell of blood would be with an even stronger smell. He glanced to the corner at a small box he knew contained his father's good alcohol. The smell of smoke should do the job. He found a lighter by a box of expensive Cigars in his father's cabinet. He stowed away the Cigars and generously soaked the bed and the woman's body in the liquid, then he lit the bed on fire. He watched as the flame licked at her body. Heavy smoke soon filled the cabin. He walked to the window and shut it to prevent the smell of smoke from spreading too soon, although with the werewolves' keen sense of smell, the fire would be discovered soon. Once the windows were shut, he walked out and locked the door behind him. At the back of his mind, he vaguely wondered at how furious his father would be when he found out how ostentatiously he had gotten rid of the evidence.