"DAMN IT I TOLD THEM TO LISTEN TO ME!!! I ORDERED THEM TO LISTEN TO ME!!!" Lyall seethed in rage. Her sister was ignoring her ranting; it was a typical thing with the younger Lightstone. Probably had to involve the fact that she was a Werewolf and was prone to mood swings…
     The Alpha female grabbed her coffee mug and threw it against the far wall of the kitchen. It crashed, shattered, and splattered its dark liquid all across the wooden wall.      Azriel was startled, unused to sudden bouts of anger, but his girlfriend having shared a house with multiple werewolves, she was used to it. He had been surrounded to calmer individuals practically his whole life, so he sat there, staring at the Alpha as is she wanted to eat him.
     Faelan leaned back in his chair, watching his cousins' reaction to his ill news. Lyall was clearly not taking it very well. He sipped at his own mug, letting the caffeine revive his system. Closing his eyes and absorbing the warm familiarity of the building that he was sitting in. He let the raging female go on; until she realized that he wasn't paying any attention to her.
   Lyall turned to face the Alpha male, noticing his silence. He was meditating, the damned bastard was meditating! How dare he!? She got into his face but he didn't open his eyes. Faelan continued to breathe easily, as if oblivious to the murderous female leaning over him, tempted to rip out his windpipe.
   "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!!!???" she barked out harshly, it was then that his amber eyes opened slowly. One last calm exhale before he responded with a casual tone of voice,
   "There's nothing we can do Ly… They picked a fight with Blacroze clan… What are we going to do now? We can't go down to their Alpha and beg for forgiveness from them. It would make our pack submissive to theirs." Lyalls right eye twitched at the very concept. He ignored it and continued.
   "Let them fight, it'll teach them not to get drunk and run through other territories that aren't our own. We have acres upon acres of unlimited forest and yet they had to cross that fine line. The one rule we give them?" Her eye twitched again and her teeth were grinding, her canines were already elongating.
   "So if they get killed let it be their problem." She clenched her hands, and took control of her blood thirst. That was what made her different, what made her the strongest in the clan; not the fact that she owned all this land. Lyall could control her changes, when the other members got too upset they were VERY likely to turn. Not entirely, sometimes just bits and pieces, but enough to hurt whoever pissed them off. She could stifle that urge so that she wouldn't change at all.
   "You know that it doesn't work like that Fae! If they kill one of ours or vice versa, it triggers a pack war." Melanie tossed out the shards of ceramic, and pinned her sister with a dead serious gaze,
   "Then there's only one thing you can do." Lyall shook her head and crashed back into her chair while waving her hand in dismissal. The male werewolf sighed deeply and crossed his arms,
   "She's right, and as stubborn as you are, you know that you agree." Again there was a harsh blow off the shoulder as she combed her hand through her unruly auburn hair. Aggravation radiated off her very being.
   "Out of the question, I will not, can not accept that. Simple, we fight, or we die." Azriel fidgeted a bit with his own cup, his eyes darted back and forth from Melanie to Lyall. Faelan seemed annoyed at how difficult his cousin was being. Feeling out of the loop the necromancer finally spoke up with a nervous voice,
   "What's the other choice?" Other then certain death that is?" the Alpha male glowered at Lyall, it felt as if sparks were in the air and they sure as hell weren't nice ones.
   "Forming a union of a sort. If we make a pact and agree that whenever the other is in need one will rush to their aid, then we can get out unscathed. My dearest little cousin here is too proud to form any type of alliance with anyone, even if they're related."  The female started to rise out of her seat her finger pointing angrily,
   "You know as well as I do that the reason I didn't join with Shay's pack wasn't because he was my mothers' brother, but because he was young and irresponsible. He would have gotten us all killed, he ended up getting his whole pack slaughtered and he himself was sent to prison. He would have dragged up down with him if he had gotten the chance!"
    Faelans' lip rose into a vicious looking snarl,
   "Fine, I agree with you, but when he asked for you to help get him out of the state before he was incarcerated, the least you could have done was that."
   "HE KILLED A CHILD!"
   "He never learned to control himself!"
   "Then he never deserved to become an ALPHA!"
    Lyall went to leave the room, unable to keep up a strong front, but Azriel finally asked hesitantly,
   "Then why are you so scared of this new clan?"
   It was as if something snapped, she spun on her heels and would have rushed forward on them all if Faelan hadn't restrained her.
    "I WILL NEVER GIVE UP MY PACK! I WILL NOT LOSE MY CLAN TO SOME RANDOM BITCH JUST TO PROTECT MY HIDE!!!" She breathed heavily as her eyes narrowed to beastlike slits.
   "I WILL NOT SHARE MY FAMILY WITH A STRANGER!"
   "We were all strangers once Querida, until we take the time to get to know them." Came an all too familiar voice from behind her, Faelan let go of his grip and Lyall went stiff all over.
    "What-are-you-doing-here…" she hissed, Melanie was intrigued, never before had she seen her sister react in such a way. The person that entered was quite the looker, he was tall and well built, not too broad but everything about him was seductive and dark. His eyes were a dark shade of brown, with a hint of green, they flashed dangerously, and reminded the mage very much of a forest on a moonless night. His hair was a bit messy but pulled back into a pony that reached high on his back. The color was that of wet earth, and his scent was that of pure man.
   Dressed in a simple black unbuttoned dress shirt with a white wife beater underneath, showing his muscles that were natural and created from hard work. Dark gray denim pants that were tattered a bit on the bottom and black boots that looked very Spanish oriented. The dress shirt's sleeves were rolled up showing strong arms and a single tattoo that was just above his wrist, a black ornate cross.
   Lyalls' nose wrinkled and her eyes narrowed,
   "You… what the hell are you doing here?" she barked angrily, he simply laughed before dragging her in for a brutal kiss that made her tingle all the way to her toes. Unwillingly she shoved him away from her, even as her eyes glowed with something untamed. He chuckled and strolled into the kitchen as if he'd been there thousands of times over his lifetime. Handing Melanie a single white rose and clapping Azriel on the back, he then smiled charmingly at the werewolf.
   "Now Querida, is that any way to treat a man that is madly in love with you?" she scoffed in aggravation,
   "I'm sorry, but you barged right into a private meeting, would you do us all a favor and barge right back OUT!" she snapped as her hands flexed and unflexed with the temptation to snap his neck.
   "Ah, but my dear, I have no plan about leaving anytime soon, so please don't let me put a damper on things, continue" he gestured with his hands and then plopped himself onto Lyalls' unoccupied chair. Faelan couldn't help but smirk in amusement of the whole prospect, never had he seen her so riled up over anything. So if this guy could get under his cousins skin, then the Spaniard was more then welcome.
   "Damn you." She took a step forward, but yet again she was stopped but this time, by her sister. Melanie gave her a bone chilling smile that screamed out painful torture if the youngest Lightstone didn't behave.
   "You haven't even introduced us yet to your handsome friend." That made the man grin even wider and nod in the mages direction as a form of thanks.
   "You want an introduction, then fine, this ASSHOLE is-" she was cut off by a vicious kick to the shins, turning to face Melanie she mouthed the word, 'Oww…'
   The man smirked before continuing,
   "I am Raquel, last name is not necessary, I am an assassin and a thief. Professionally of course, runs in the family."
   Azriel yet again asked the dire question,
   "What's your reason of being here?" Raquel raised an intrigued eyebrow, before responding,
    "I was hired to kill the breathtaking foulmouthed female over there, except I find myself in a predicament." He let out an exasperated sigh, and Faelan become a bit unnerved,
   "And what would that be? Might I ask?" the assassins' eyes locked with Lyalls
    "I didn't plan on being swept away by your cousins charming personality." the female alpha snarled and lurched forward a bit, yet again restrained.
    "So you're telling me… that you can't fulfill your mission because… you've fallen in love with the person you're meant to kill." Raquel nodded while Lyall continued to growl like a rabid dog.
    "What can I say?" he shrugged with a playful glint to his eyes,
    "I find myself fascinated by the untamable beauty…" his brown eyes locked with the amber ones,
    "…Of a wild beast."