Chapter VIII

Swords clangs, arrows wooshed, bowstring thrummed, And the sound of deathly wails was the loudest of them all.

The battle raged and drenched the earth in hot blood. Fires blazed and consumed everything surrounding the war. The sky blackened with soot and rained down like black snow.

Two arms collided, The Army in white and crimson was pushed back by the Army in black.

A unit from the white and crimson Army appeared and erect a massive earthen.

"Minagoroshi ni suru!" The commander shouted.

The white and crimson army killed every warrior in black that was trapped on their side of the wall.

"Jinja o mamore, Nakashige-oji! An elder commander sent a massive air palm blowing the young white-haired prince away.

The earthwall soon shattered and fell to nothing. The two Armies were no longer separated and neither side moved.

Three generations of regal dressed white-haired men with crimson red fox eyes stepped forward wearing the white and crimson colors. A moment later a young man dressed in black appeared in a flash purple lightning.

"Kai. You are a disgrace to our people. We will never come back from this. Generations will bleed because of this war."

"Hahaha! Inu no Taisho! Your reign is over! And your sons will die!" Said the young man in black with a crazed smile.

The three men with white hair raised their swords and three massive nine-tailed Kitsunes appeared radiating holy aura. With the power of three foxes combined, they attacked the man in black -Kai.

Boom! A shock wave decimated the battlefield and The purple lightning shield that protected Kai became stronger. When the dust cleared, Kai pushed his power outward and incinerated the three of the foxes.

The Young white-haired prince watched across the battled field as his paternal line was incinerated.

"Otosan!" He screamed his lounges out.

A black-haired priestess appeared in a crash of thunder. She wrapped arms around the wailing Prince and vanished as the heavenly army fell to the black.

"Hhuuuuh!" Mareth inhaled all the air her lungs would allow as she sprung out of her sleep with images of war and death fresh in her mind.

Mareth panted and held herself tight. The chill of death slowly faded from her body but the visions of war remained. Mareth rolled out of bed and peeled her sweat clad shirt off and walked to the bathroom.

She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment before her alarm clock went off and she forced her to push the visions to the back of her mind. Killing the alarm clock, Mareth stepped into her shower and washed the sweat from from her body.

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Mareth was currently at Tenko's house trading keys with Tenko's father -Mark.

"Everything is loaded up. The addresses are on the dashboard in the car. " Said, Mark.

"Thank you, I'll have it back by noon," she said.

"Mark smiled and told her to take her time before asking about Tenko.

"He won't be back until Monday morning. But if you really need him. I can find him for you."

Mark shook his adamantly and just sent Mareth on her way.

Mareth was handling the orders that Tenko had set up to clear his deep freezer of all they meet he had butchered.

From Beacon Hills to Sacramento. She dropped off meat and collected money. By the time she returned, it was nightfall and she was beyond exhausted. Before going back to Tenko's house she stopped by the Harty house and saw that everything was fine before moving on.

Parking in Tenko's driveway, Mareth rubbed her tempos and then went inside the house. She put the lockbox of checks and money in Tenko's room. She then folded the Furs in the backyard and tied them in bundles, finally, she put Mark's keys on the wall and took her on.

Mareth loaded up the furs in her car, then pulled off. Mrs.Mason watched her leave from the window.

Mark hugged his wife from behind and said, "I like her. Tenko seems to trust her and she's loyal enough to deliver meat, return with money and take thousands of dollars in furs and pellets to wherever he's stashing them"

Mrs.Mason sighed. "I know. I just worry about him. What if he's making a pack for vengeance and not because he's owning his status as an Alpha. You know he never wanted this, Mark. It's not why he killed the chief surgeon."

"That's you being overprotective, Nikita. He smart and strong. And eventually, he will not need us. You have to let him grow and become his own man. You two have been fighting together since he was ten years old. To worry about him is to doubt your own abilities and the legacy his father left him. Do you doubt?"

Nikita sniffled and shook her head. "No.' she said.

"Then have faith. Live your own life and when the time comes, he'll call you if he needs you." Mark kissed Nikata's neck and she stared blankly out the window.

Nikita pulled Mark's hands off of her and walked to the bed. When Mark laid next to her, Nikita simply rolled over and closed her eyes.

"Ōgami inari-san ga musuko no chōsen o hagemashi, sasaete kureru koto o negatte imasu. Han'ei to nagakute nagatsudzuki suru jinsei de kare o shukufuku shite kudasai." Nikita prayed quitely.

Mark stared at her back quietly and listened to her prayer. Mark sighed then turned to lay facing the other side of the room. Nikita could feel and smell the longing and sadness coming from her husband. But watching her son work without her, was like reliving the day she allowed his father to leave without her -It was the same day he died.

Tenko's night in the woods and days spent running around, weighed on her heavily. It was starting to put a strain on her life. But it was only natural, Nikita felt guilt, and Tenko was her penance. Every day he lived, laughed, and cried was a day she honored the memory of her late husband.

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At the Local video Rental store, Lydia was pulling into the parking lot with Jackson to look for a movie to watch for the evening.

"Okay, Hoosiers is not only the best basketball movie ever, but it is also the best sports movie ever made," Jackson argued his case.

"No," Lydia said.

"It's got Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper."

"No," she said again.

Jackson started to get irritated."Lydia, I swear to god you're going to like it."

"No" Lydia replied without the slightest sign of wavering.

"I'm not watching the notebook again." Lydia raised an eyebrow at him and the look on her face was enough to make Jackson fold.

When he left the car, Lydia watched his back and sighed. "I don't want to watch the Notebook either...All you have to do is rent the movie you want. But you won't"

She spoke out loud and hoped that Jackson might do something different tonight. She then clicked her tongue and pulled out her phone. When she unlocked it, Lydia tapped the message icon. Lydia then scrolled down only to hoover over Tenko's name.

She sucked her bottom lip as she thought about the kind of movie he would want to watch, She then smiled to her self as she remembered the first time Tenko spent all evening with each other. He had magically become her partner in all the classes they had together. She thought it was it was a sweet and an amazing gesture, but she always acted like it was just the craziest of coincidences.

But that night, they ended up talking about everything that was only important to them. She then remembered the name of the movie that Tenko said was his Favorite love story.

Lydia put her phone away and hopped out of the car. She made her way to the story repeating the name of the movie in her head over and over again as to not forget it.

When she opened the store door she immediately called out, "Jackson! See if they have House of the Flying...oh my god!"

Lydia stared blankly at the enormous beast standing over Jackson. When it turned around it flashed its bestial crimson red eyes and ran in her direction. Lydia backed away and screamed the first name that came to her mind.

"TENKO!!!" The scream penetrated the alpha's ears and it veered away from Lydia and jump out the already shattered window.

Lydia's screamed ripped through the Beacon Hills night. Tenko in his Fox form popped his head up and looked in Lydia's direction. His eyes flashed red, and the werecoyote's flashed steel-blue. Tenko took off immediately and ran to Lydia with the shifter and two other coyotes on his tail.

Sometime later, Jackson was calling the police as a pack of coyotes appeared, led by a massive fox with three tails swaying behind him. He saw Tenko's red eys and dropped his phone in fear as he backed up.

Tenko looked to a shocked Lydia walked over to her. when she finally notices Tenko, she flinched a bit before she noticed his eyes. "Tenko?" she whispered.

Tenko gave her a long blink nodded his head. He then cozied up to her and she hugged the fox as she cried. Jackson tried to move towards Lydia, but the shifter and two coyotes growled at him. The claw mark on the back of his neck glowed blue and the smell of the wound made Tenko's pack unusually aggressive.

"I was so scared. It's gazed pressed down on my chest. I couldn't stop shaking and I thought I was...I thought was going to die. I'm so sorry left you... I miss you, so much., Tenko. " Lydia cried into his fur and held him tight.

The sound of a siren cut their time short as Tenko popped his head. Lydia was next to her the sirens as they got closer. "You have to go! They'll shot you if they see you. They'll blame everything you!" Lydia pushed him away, but he stepped closer and rubbed his muzzle along her cheek, before running off. The coyotes follow close behind him.

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Mareth was pulling up to a spot in the Beacon hills preserve where Tenko told her to leave the furs that finished tanning. As she walked back to her car, her phone rang. Without bothering to look at it, she allowed it to go to voicemail. But it rang on her way home as well.

"Hello," she answered.

"We're on its tail. He just killed a video store clerk," said Derek.

"Alpha power from your sister, bus driver, video store clerk. Why?" Mareth took a long pause to think.

"Tell Stiles to drop a hint to the sheriff. Tell him, not to look at the victims' current life, but their lives six years ago" said Mareth

"Why six years ago?" Derek asked Mareth.

"Because it was last time your sister was here before you two fled. So if we assume that the vendetta spiral is connected to this, and wasn't just bait. Then we have to ask the question that you don't want to ask." said Mareth.

"Did she deserve it? What did she do with these guys all those years ago?" Asked Derek.

"Yes, think about it. Killing Laura was intentional. They wanted to be an alpha, cased closed. New Alpha can't control itself yet, bites Scott, case closed. But, it vanishes, a nurse lures out a bus driver. Then the alpha appears. It follows Scott. No other fresh Betas have been found. It taunts Tenko, by killing my sister and Aria. Tenko could have been seen as an enemy forming a pack in its territory."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying this thing, is not as Feral as we thought. This is premeditated murder. We need your sister's stuff. This Alpha has a kill list." Mareth said.

"It should be here by tomorrow," Derek replied.

"Good, are there any survivors?"

"Two."

"Find out why they aren't dead. We need the whole story so we can understand this Alpha."

"I got it. Did you find out anything on that nurse?" asked Derek.

"I think she grew up in little Ireland. Everyone has been tight-lipped."

"Or maybe the picture Tenko drew, isn't that good."

"Funny. Its likeness is dead on."

"Then take it to Scott's mom or Tenko dad. They work in the hospital."

"I just might have to. Are you still riding with me to the bay area tomorrow?" Mareth asked.

"Of course."

"Okay be up bright and early. My alpha's a slave driver and he has a lot for us to do." Mareth ended the call and tossed her phone into the passenger seat.

MAde a mental note to talk to Jackson about what he saw at the video store and told Scott to talk to Stiles.

Sunday morning, Mareth picked up Derek and the two went to The Home Depot. The rented a pickup truck and a six-by-ten-foot trailer. They then drove to the preserve to pick up some game hunted by Tenko and his pack.

"What are we doing up here?" Derek Asked.

"Tenko is busy out there. What he's doing requires certain things that need cleaning up to keep away from Beacon Hills. " Mareth replied as parked the truck.

"What kind of stuff?"

"You'll see," she replied with a smile.

Mareth then led Derek into the trees. They soon arrived at a pile of animal carcasses.

"What the hell is going on here?" Derek looked at the bear and deer piled on top of each other. He then smells the strong scent of animal urine.

"Training a Beta. Now help me get this stuff on the trailer. We still have orders to deliver and money to get." Mareth spoke as she grabs the legs of a deer and dragged it the truck.

Derek and Mareth spend a few moments going back and forth. Until freezes to stare at the animals at the bottom of the pile. "Mareth!" he calls out.

"What?" she replies as she walks up on Derek.

She then stares the same animals the caught Derek's attention.

"This is illegal. And it's not just one, but five. This is a whole fucking pack, Mareth!"

"They're just mountain lions," she replied.

"Mountain lions are protected in the state of California. In a state like this, trafficking protected animals is like working for the Cartel."

"So what. If you don't want to get caught. Stop your bitching and help me get them on the trailer. We put the tarp on and everyone thinks we're hauling dirt. The Alpha wants them, so he gets them. Or you can walk, back home." Mareth glared with a wild light in her eyes.

Far in the trees, Tenko watched Mareth and Derek in his fox form. He was proud of himself for giving Mareth a second chance. Packmates like her keep a pack strong. He then looked at the Mountain lion being carried by Derek and another being telekinetically lifted by Mareth. He remembered the eventful weekend from Saturday morning to this very moment.

Tenko had woken up in his den next to the shifter. As she slept Tenko dunked his head in the water, shook out his fur, and stretched his body out. Tenko wanted to draw out the in shifter in the coyote, so when she woke, Tenko pummeled her. And they wrestled all day, went on a run, hunted for sport and food, and wrestled again. Tenko learned every time her eyes shinned, the shifter inside the coyote was coming through to use her speed, strength, and enhanced senses.

When they hunted together, they fought big prey like a pack and deepened their connection. Around noon on Saturday, Tenko and the shifter were sitting a clearing, resting together in peace. The howl reverberated through the woods. In unison, they lifted their heads in the direction of the howl. It was miles away, but with their speed, the run wasn't long.

It was during this run that Tenko noticed that the shifter's eyes never stopped glowing, even when they made it to the coyotes in distress, her eyes shined bright. The shifter was in charge. Because the coyote would never run to trouble for outsiders.

Tenko and the shifter watched as a coyote was mauled by a mountain lion. And a pair were surrounded by many more, prepared to fight to the death. The shifter looked at Tenko with her cold steel-blue eyes, begging to do something. Tenko just stared at her and she began to display human mannerisms. She looked between Tenko and the Coyote pair frantically, she flinched as she was ready to lunge forward, but still, Tenko did nothing.

The shifter then growled and pounced, the mountain lion collapsed under strength. Tenko roared and shot forward to fight the mountain lion pack as well, the Coyote pair joined in when the saw help had come. In a normal situation, the mountain lions should have won. But in the end, Tenko stood two mountain lions under his paws producing a victory roar that startled the new coyote pair.

Though the shifter had walked up and showed her affection by cuddling up under his neck. When he returned the gesture. Her shining eyes were still present. The shifter licked his muzzled, then nodded. She wanted to let him know she was still there. The feelings of joy and excitement were shared between them. It took over and they could stop themselves from rolling around with each other.

All the while the coyote pair didn't leave. Even after the shifter and Tenko left, the coyote pair followed. And like that, Tenko had gotten two new coyotes to his wild pack.

In the present, the shifter had walked to Tenko's side and watched as Derek and Mareth loaded the last mountain lion and pulled off. The shifter looked a bit worried, but relaxed when Tenko nodded to her.

While Derek and Mareth dropped the animals at Tenko's house and loaded up with the last of the game meat to sell in the Bay Area. Tenko and his wild pack were resting in the woods. The shifter was howling to the sky and though the howls were of an alpha coyote, it wasn't the howl of a werecoyote.

Later in the day, the female coyote had peed, and her male coyote pair and Tenko picked up on the sex pheromones. The male coyote attempt to court her when snapped her jaws at him and growl before looking at Tenko and walking in his direction. The shifter growled and clawed the coyote's muzzle. The coyote whimpered and the shifter continued to attack. When the coyote was cowering, the shifter hovered over her and produce a roar of werecoyote, establishing herself as the alpha female in the pack.

It was all downhill from that point. The woman inside the werecoyote was now in charge. She had learned control.

After the sun had set and the pack slept. Tenko left the den but was followed by the shifter. Her eyes an even more vibrant due to the dark woods. Tenko walked to a random and turned to face her.

Tenko's eyes shined crimson red and he morphed back into his human form. He could feel her becoming excited as she stared at him. Tenko smiled back and nodded at her. "You can do it too," he said. " You just have to want it."

Suddenly the shifter's ears drooped and she became depressed in almost an instant.

"Why do you stay like this? You're like me. Fox and Coyote is only half of who we are. How can you be you if you deny your identity as human? It's like being human and denying the coyote inside of you."

The shifters tell then tucked between her legs. Tenko sighed. "Just help me understand," he said.

The shifter looked up and barked before taking off into in the opposite direction. Tenko took his fox form again and followed. When the shifter finally stopped running, Tenko arrived at an abandoned car that was marked with the shifter's scent.

Tenko looked around and noticed that the abandoned car wasn't that far from her den.

"What happened here?" he asked

The shifter dropped her head again. This time Tenko smelled blame, guilt, regret, and anger. Tenko tilted his head and looked at the overturned car. He then dropped to his knees and looked inside to see old claw and bite marks, a car seat, a blood-stained passenger seat. The entire scene was a mess.

Tenko stood and took a good squatting position before getting a firm hold on the car and turning it over. It landed with a crash. Tenko then dug through the glove compartment. Only one sheet of paper remained. Tenko grabbed it and took another good look at the car.

"I don't understand. You were in the car. The car crashed. You left the car and came back? Why would you try to get back into the car if everyone was already dead? Unless you tried to save them." Tenko looked to the ground as he thought.

'The inside of the car was, without a doubt, a horrid show. With the bloodstains, the obvious was that the shifter lost control and caused the accident. But then the claw mark around the car says, that the shifter tried to get back in the car. If the shifter was trying fight way in, then that meant that driver or the person in the car seat dead on impact, and one survived the wreck. The shifter could have tried the save the survivor and killed them on accident. Or both survived and the shifter killed them both on accident.

But then why on accident? if the shifter was aware of their power, the accident shouldn't have happened. Unless the shifter is a child or newly bitten. But it couldn't be a child, parents would know better, especially if this happened on a full moon.' Tenko's mind was now in overdrive.

He looked down at the faded paper in his hand, then walked over to the shifter. "I'm going to figure this out. I'm going to set you free. "