Ancient Enemies and Forbidden Feelings [Numbers + Rikaya][M]

[Numbers]

Valeria smiled as he got close to her and would touch her and whisper into her ear. She pressed back against him, letting her body be against his as she had a sly smile on her face. "Careful wolf, we may play, but nothing more than that. After all, I am a princess, heir to the royal family of the vampires. Though, I do wonder what your blood tastes like." She said with a smile, letting her head lean back to let her lips get close to his neck while letting her drawn fangs brush against the skin of his neck before pulling away.

"As for your previous question, don't worry about it. If we found ourselves at war with humanity again, they might try to take our buildings. We let them march and then the failsafe activates, killing any intruders who thing they can learn the secrets of our people." She then turned and started to walk away from the hole. "Tell me, have you on who you're gonna bring with you?"

[Rikaya]

Kaden smirked in response to Valeria's reaction to his advances. He was mostly playing along with her games but he would be lying if he said that this wasn't at least a little enjoyable. "Oh what fun it would be for me to corrupt a princess" Kaden replied to her comment and moved his head a little to give her more of an opening to his neck, almost daring her to take a bite. "Maybe I'll let you try it one day, though something tells me you might not like the taste of dog" he went on and laughed as he made a joke about himself. Oddly enough his sour mood was slowly getting better. Valeria's teasing nature was actually helpful in this situation. Though with the full moon so close, this good mood might not last long, and Kaden was very aware of that.

Following the vampire away from the pit, he listened to her explanation of it, which wasn't much of an explanation, but it was enough for him to decide that he did not want to get on her bad side anytime soon. "As for that, I'm still deciding. It'll either be Malcolm or Carolina and before you get too excited, no I wouldn't be bringing her just so you can harass her some more. She's a good asset to the pack so I would hope that you ladies could behave yourselves if it should come to that" Kaden commented and glanced across the construction site to see Carolina helping a few of the guys begin to load up the trucks as their work day was almost over. It seemed as though being at work was helping Carolina stay focused as she wasn't paying too much attention to him and Valeria. "Once we get past the full moon, I'd say we have another few weeks to go on this site and then my boys will be done. Is that when you're planning on heading out to.....where exactly will this venture take us?" Kaden wondered.

[Numbers]

"I would not worry about how she and I will play together. After all, I have no plans to steal you from her. If I wanted to have a suitor then I already would have one. If I wanted you, I would have already used some of the abilities we vampires are graced with. Even in our weakened state, indoors or at night, our charm ability still works pretty well. Especially when used in combination with more natural tactics." She said with an amused smile to his comment about her playing nice with Carolina.

She continued to walk with him listening to his next question as she slowly led him to the perimeter of the campus by the woods now. "Yes, that is when me, my aid, you, and whoever you choose to accompany with you, will leave. As for where we will be going, we will have a few stops to make first before we go to one of the rumored locations of the artifact. After all, I want to make sure the retrieval of said artifact goes to plan, and in order to do that, we need to make sure we are not interrupted by any of the fae races. Or, even worse, accidentally discovered by some mortal humans. Not that they're any threat if we appeared to be human, there is a chance that being close to the artifact will, in turn, start to give slightly more control back to your and your companion. Of which, if the humans see us digging somewhere we shouldn't, and then call the cops, we will have a whole new mess to deal with."

[Rikaya]

"Well, I'm afraid there is no one to steal me from" Kaden concluded after hearing Valeria's comments about stealing him away from Carolina. "Also, if you really wanted to charm me, I don't think you'd need to use your abilities. Not everything is a game you know" he smiled at her teasingly. "Sometimes it is best to just let nature take its course, something you learn very quickly being a werewolf" Kaden explained and followed her along to the edge of the woods. Valeria then went on to explain the mission they were to go on and he nodded as she talked to show his understanding. "I trust you have a good plan of execution for this. I assure you myself whoever I bring will exercise caution as much as possible. Is there something in particular you'd want us to do for you on this trip?" he wondered. As the work day was reaching it's end, Kaden turned briefly to face his pack and let everyone know that they can start packing up for the day before he turned his attention back to Valeria.

[Numbers]

"I have lived for thousands of years. I have lived to see many generations go by and have had a lot of time to plan, to move the pieces into the correct places. That way, even if something goes wrong, there are already pieces in play that are ready to take over for the one that was lost. As for what I would want you to do, you'll be doing a variety of things as different scenarios come into play." She started to lead the wolf back to his pack. Once they were there she turned to him one more time. Go ahead and take your week-long vacation dog, just remember who gives the orders in these upcoming missions after the work you're doing here." She then leaned up and gave the alpha a quick kiss on the lips in front of his whole pack before pulling away. "I look forward to playing some more. Maybe next time, you can show me just how much of a wolf you really are." She said with a sly smile before walking off to head back to the pit that was now holding a bomb in it. She couldn't wait to start the actual missions with him, and hoped that the shewolf was the one who would get picked in order to keep her entertained.

[Rikaya]

The kiss happened quickly and Kaden didn't have enough time to react, so he stood there looking at her as she stepped away from him. He could feel the heat rising in his body, but it wasn't due to arousal, it was because his anger had returned. If she was going to play her games, he'd rather she didn't display it for the world to see. Not acknowledging the vampire any further, Kaden began to walk away towards his truck, trying to avoid the confused stares he was getting from his pack. A loud snap could be heard in the air which made Kaden stop in his tracks and his eyes shot up to where the sound came from. Carolina was staring daggers in his direction and in one of her hands she was holding a piece of a thick wood slab she had just broken off in her anger. Kaden didn't back down and stared intensely in her direction to let her know that she needs to cool it immediately. The girl dropped the broken piece of wood to the ground and walked off to one of the trucks. Feeling his headache and frustration returning, Kaden got to his truck and the wolves drove off.

Before the full moon had arrived, Kaden had to explain to a pack of frustrated wolves that Valeria was just playing one of her games and that the kiss was nothing more than that. Denver however, didn't let him forget it and that was a very typical Denver thing to do. When the full moon had arrived, Kaden had to ensure that the protocol was followed, it was actually a standard procedure for all Industrialist wolves, to have a safe space for the werewolves to transition. In this mansion, Royce had built a chamber or sorts in the basement. It was geared with a large metal safe door, and behind it was a long hallway which contained a cell for each wolf to occupy during their transition. The cells were equipped with a coded gate which could be programmed to lock and open on its own after a certain time.

That night, before the moon was at its peak, Kaden led his pack down to the safe room. Typically the werewolves dressed down for this occasion because the transition was painful and always tore the clothing they wore. Everyone also brought some clothes with them to change into after the transition. As the werewolves settled into their cells, Kaden and Denver had to be the ones to lock the others inside and only the two of them knew the codes to the gates. As they did this, Kaden's heart sank a little as he saw the pained and some scared expressions on his pack's faces. Not everyone in his pack was used to this yet and he understood the fear that came with it. Denver went into his cell second to last and his cell was across the hall from Kaden's, "Just another day right?" Denver said to his alpha as his gate was shut. "Just another day" Kaden replied with a melancholy tone and he squeezed his beta's shoulder through the bars of the gate before the code locked the gate and electrified it. All the gates came with a safety precaution and were all electrified in case the werewolves tried to break out. Kaden went into his cell last and he locked his gate a little differently. On his gate he had to put the code in first and set a timer so that his gate would open first in the morning, then he locked himself inside and listened as the soft hum of the electricity began to run through the bars of the gate. Now it was just a waiting game.

Depending on experience, some transitioned relatively quickly while for others it could take up to an hour to fully transform. Which meant an hour of pure agony and torture as every bone in their body would brake, move and twist to accommodate their new form, the body of a wolf. Kaden hated listening to cries and moans of his pack as they began to change until his own body began to morph. Kaden's transition was faster but the pain that came with it was never less. He screamed as he dropped to his knees and felt his body shift before the familiar feeling of blacking out came over him. When a man become a wolf, the feeling in the brain is as if you had slipped into a deep sleep and woke up in a body that was not your own. There was still some idea of who you are but your actions don't come from you, it comes from the animal you have now become. Your thoughts are wilder, less controlled and the instinct to kill is strong.

Kaden was now looking through his wolf eyes, seeing his front paws in front him. Werewolves took on the shape of a wolf, but their sizes were much larger than your average wolf. Kaden walked over to bars of the gate careful not to get too close because he could feel the electricity in the bars. Snarls were coming from the cell across from him, it was Denver. A black wolf emerged into the light. Some white streaks could be seen around Denver's eyes, ears and front paws but the rest of him was black, his eyes glowing yellow. Kaden's fur was white in contrast to Denver's, it appeared silver in the light. The two wolves stared at each other, but Kaden wasn't sure what state of mind Denver was in at this very moment. Kaden's instinct took over and he let out a loud howl which rang loudly in this small space. This howl could probably be heard for miles if he was outside, but in here, the walls were sound proof and he could not be heard to anyone outside.

[Numbers]

The vacation time for the wolves went by both quickly and slowly for Valeria. Her people were using the disappearance of the wolves during the full moon to lay down the more secretive construction work. Special electrical wires, communication lines, fuel lines, escape routes, all the different kinds of top secret information that the vampires had for the place that they couldn't even let their allies possess.

By the time the vacation was over for the wolves, Valeria had finished all of the secret construction parts of the campus, moving it into the final phase. For the most part, everything was built but Valeria and her team were walking through the buildings, making notes of anything they needed to finish. Originally there were a few buildings that needed to be done still but in the process of doing the secret construction parts, her team of vampires had finished those last few buildings. They weren't as strong as the werewolves but they had numbers on their side as a lot of the lesser vampire thralls, who were basically a bunch of eager puppies just waiting to serve their masters however they could.

Which meant that when the wolves came back all they would have to do left on the actual campus itself was fixing any of the small mistakes the Valeria and her team saw on the small walkthrough of the campus. Thankfully from what they could, the wolves were definitely worth the pay as they were expert workers. Valeria finished writing up the list and for now excused her team of vampires, even excusing her personal guards as she went to the front of the campus and on one of the pillar marbles that was next to the gate.

With her, she kept her the notes of the campus, which highlighted the parts they did best, and the parts they should improve on in the future. Next to her was also a large black suitcase, which contained half a million dollars in twenty dollar bills. All of them were legal bills that were used by the company to fund their more important sites. This was by far, the largest payment that the vampires had made to this particular group. Previous payments for a job never reached above a hundred thousand, only usually averaging fifty thousand or so. However, Valeria wanted to make a point to her new Alpha wolf. The point being that her family and company was very rich, and as long as he and his wolves did what she wanted, there would be more money to follow. The previous Alpha was very resistant to their allyship as it only broke down to contracting building zones as time went on. Which made sense to her since the previous Alpha quickly became suspicious in what it was that she truly wanted. Now though, a new Alpha was in play, which meant better control of the situation. Though she would have to be careful at the same time during the day, she had no doubt that at night she would have no problem in a fight against the alpha and his wolves. Even on a full moon she was sure she could take the alpha by himself. It wasn't something she wanted to test out though.

[Rikaya]

After the full moon was over, Kaden and his pack spent some time recovering. Some of the younger and more newer members were feeling the aftermath the most, soreness and some bruising marking the spots where the bones had broken and twisted. Overall, recovery time was going well and Kaden was impressed with everyone's resilience. Kaden unfortunately didn't have that much time to rest because he had a lot to think about and consider. One, was who he will take with him on Valeria's mysterious expedition and two, he was wondering what the key was for which he found in his cell in the basement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaden was the first to regain his human form, usually the older and more experienced werewolves would be in and out of their wolf forms quicker and easier. Before he got out of his cell to go and retrieve Denver, who was the second one to turn back, he couldn't help but notice something odd about the walls of his cell. In the far back corner, partially hidden by the darkness of the dimly lit cell, looked to be a patch in the wall. It appeared as though there was a hole there once, maybe Royce had smashed through it during one of his transitions? Were Kaden's first initial thoughts, but he decided to examine it anyway. Behind the layer of paint, the patch felt cold against Kaden's fingertips and of different consistency in comparison to the rest of the wall, it wasn't concrete. Peeling off some of the paint revealed a small metal door, which reminded him of a cover that is typically used for circuit breakers. It wasn't locked, so opening it wasn't difficult. Inside, the only thing Kaden found was a plastic card, which he figured was a key card for a door. It was black with initials T.O.M. on the front right corner of the card. Kaden couldn't even begin to guess what this was for and why it was hidden behind a small metal door, in the corner of Royce's old cell and painted over for concealment. Kaden was growing increasingly more interested in figuring out what Royce was all about and what this key card was for. Before exiting his cell, Kaden pocketed the key for a later investigation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The key card, Kaden kept hidden inside Royce's personal journal as he continued to read through it for the next few days. There was a new found motivation within Kaden to learn all he could about the world for the fae, Royce, and his relationship with his mother. He spent his days locked in his room, with all the journals opened at once, bouncing back and forth between Royce's personal journal, to the self-made encyclopedias of information. Kaden now knew more information about the war that happened between the fae and the humans, or as they were also known, members of an ancient organization of hunters which spanned across centuries. The next on the list was learning more about Valeria and her lineage of vampires.

One evening, Kaden was in the living room, sitting in a big arm chair, reading Royce's personal journal. He decided to back track and read his entries from the beginning to he could have a better grasp on his relationship with his mom, Serenity, had developed in the first place. This is something Kaden had no idea about because he figured he was too young to remember it. Or.....maybe, the fire is what made him forget? There was a lot about that night Kaden couldn't remember very well.

He was brought back from his thoughts when the front door latched shut, and he looked up to see Carolina who had gotten back from her evening run. Kaden closed the journal in his lap, "Hey, have a good run?" he asked looking over at her. Carolina looked startled for a moment but then walked up to the door frame of the living room, wiping some sweat off her forehead with a small towel she kept around her neck, her brown bangs sticking to her skin. "Uh yeah, as always" she smiled a little at him. "Come have a seat, I'd like to have a word" Kaden went on, motioning towards the other arm chair across from him. Carolina walked over and took a seat looking at him curiously. Kaden put the journal down on the end table by his chair and leaned over, resting his arms on his knees. "So I've done some thinking and I want to ask you to come with me on this mission, or whatever, for Valeria" Kaden put it out there simply for her and awaited her response.

Carolina looked a little surprised at the offer and seemed to turn it over in her mind for a bit before answering. "I would love to, but, can I ask why you chose me?" she wondered and it was a fair question. "Because, despite what you might think, you're a valuable asset to the pack, you're one of the strongest females I have and you do good work, but..." he paused briefly. "What I don't want is for you to think that I want you to act on your resentment towards Valeria. This isn't about that, and whatever you girls need to hash out, do it on your own time if you must. I'd rather you didn't" he added quickly. "but this trip is not the time for that" Kaden explained and Carolina began to look visibly annoyed with him bringing up her hatred towards the vampire.

"Look, before you get all hot an bothered. I want you to come with me because I could use your caution with this situation. I get that you don't trust her, or like her, but I don't want you acting on jealousy during this trip, I want you to be my second pair of eyes. You sense something off, you let me know" he explained. Carolina looked smug, "You know this is what she wants right? She'll do whatever she can during this trip to get under my skin" she suggested. "Of course she will, but you can't let her. Good time to learn control don't you think?" he asked with a smirk on his face.
Carolina smirked back at him, "Okay, if you need me I'm there" she concluded and got up from the chair walking out of the living room and up the stairs to her bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaden pulled up to the gates of the construction site in his Silverado 1500, with Carolina with him in the passenger seat. They were asked to come and meet with Valeria to discuss pay for the construction project. Kaden could feel Carolina's discomfort and he looked over at her and she back at him, "Nows a good time to start" he stated simply before getting out of the truck, letting Carolina follow when she is ready. Taking a deep breath, the female werewolf followed her Alpha outside, shutting the door of the truck with her palm. Valeria was already there waiting for them.
"Hello Ms. Zurbank, hope you are doing well. As you can see, I have lived to see another day" Kaden raised his arms up in the air and smiled at the vampire.

[Numbers]

"Excellent. I would have hated for you to die to yourself. I see you have brought the shewolf with you. Interesting choice." Valeria stood up from the spot that she was sitting, quickly jumping off of it and landing on the ground lightly. She walked over with a smile to where Kaden was, not paying any more attention to Carolina. She held up the briefcase in front of her. "My people and I took a walk around the area, looking over what small details still need to be taken care of before the job is considered finished. That being said though because it is only small details, I have the pay ready for you and your people to receive."

She walked over to where the vehicle was and put the briefcase down on the hood. She then proceeded to open the briefcase and as she did, all the money was revealed. "I hope that you and your pack will find this payment suitable. After all, those who do a good job and listen to the orders they are given, are more deserving than those who try to seek their own way. Feel free to count it if you want, but let me save you some time. Half a million dollars. Legal, twenty dollar stacks. Should be able to help your pack in many different ways, wouldn't you say?"

She was wondering if Carolina was the pick that would be joining them on the missions. In a way, she was hoping that it would be shewolf. The fun that she would be able to have was something she was looking forward to since the hunt for the artifacts was sure to be stressful. Both on herself and on her people.

[Rikaya]

Carolina stood on the right side of the truck, leaning against the front with her arms crossed over her chest. Kaden was putting more trust in her and she didn't want to disappoint him, so she just eyed Valeria with careful eyes. Kaden watched Valeria approach him and lay the briefcase on the hood of his truck, opening it to reveal it full of cash. Half a million dollars to be exact. This made Kaden frown and both him and Carolina glanced at each other at the same time, Carolina's forehead wrinkled a little too at this strange display. "Half a million?" Kaden asked carefully, looking over at the money inside the case. "Isn't this a bit much for the kind of job we're doing here? Especially since all you have left for us to do are basic touch ups?' Kaden asked curiously. He figured that Carolina knew a bit of history of how Royce was paid for his work even though she was still relatively new to the pack herself, she was around a little longer than Kaden was. Kaden found this suspicious for a different reason, he was now in charge of the books and records on the various jobs that his pack would do, and he definitely reviewed Royce's records. None of the payments ever reached this amount of money.

Kaden reach over to the case and closed the lid with his palm and then moving his gaze over to Valeria, only now realizing that the female vampire was quite a bit shorter than him than he initially realized. It made her a little cute but also very menacing, he had no doubt she could tear his head off if she really tried. "Unless you're paying us for building you a castle, which we clearly didn't do, I suggest you explain your motive. Not that my pack will complain about the money, but I also don't rip my customers off" he explained. "What are you trying to do? Buy my loyalty? If so, I assure you that cash is not required for me to assist you. I have already agreed to that" Kaden concluded and left the floor open to Valeria, knowing full well she was about to pull one of her many tricks with him.