HAND-TO-HAND FIGHT

"Mary, please tell me. When?" Margaret insisted once more.

"It's dawn, we have to..."

"You promised, Mary," Margaret crosses her arms at breast height. "I thought you were a woman of your word, but from what I see now..."

Mary rolls her eyes. Not even half an hour since the timid rays of rising sun passed through the windows and Margaret was already on her feet tormenting her with a promise she made ten years ago.

When she saved the little ten-year-old child from being enslaved or devoured by the Lycanthropian beasts, in order to get her out of the deep depression that possessed her body, Mary promised to train her and transform her so she could take her revenge. Mary thought that in time the girl would give up on this idea, however, nothing would get it out of Margaret's head, and it frustrated the red-eyed vampire immensely.

"In three months. "In three fucking months!" she said in a loud tone that scared the young woman, who tensed all her muscles on alert. "On that same date, three months from now, if you ask me again, I swear Margaret, I swear I will fulfill my promise." Mary decreed impatiently. "Now go and have coffee!" she shouted, pointing to the table.

"A-all right."

That was all Margaret could say. She was happy, after so long now she has a date set and it made her anxious.

"Hey! Stop yelling!" Occisor entered the kitchen covering his sensitive ears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your ears," Mary apologized. She knew that Occisor's hearing was more sensitive than hers.

Although only Margaret needed to have breakfast in the morning, the three of them sat at the table at every meal to keep her company. The other two members ate only at dinnertime.

Mary still remembered how to cook and so she made the dishes with great pleasure for Margaret. It was one of the only things she could still do normally and it always brought back memories of when she was just a human. She misses that time, the time before everything was ripped away from her.

"Good morning to you, too," Margaret said to Occisor who gave her an impatient look.

"Eat up, creature, don't delay me, I want to train!"

"Don't talk to her like that, Occisor, or you won't have any training today!" Mary scolded him firmly, but Occisor didn't feel the slightest bit frightened.

"If not with you, I will train with anyone else. I just need the basics, the rest I can improve on my own," he replied boldly and Mary took a deep breath.

"Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, you've got to be kidding, the two of you decided to rattle me! Bloody hell!" She said angrily.

"Look, kid, you're barely out of your diapers and you think you're a man? Wake up, naughty boy."

"I don't think I am, I know I am and I know what I'm gonna do! And if you don't want to help me, don't get in my way."

For a ten-year-old, his tongue was too sharp. Everyone knows that the development of a lycanthropist after six months of life tends to be accelerated, but it was impossible for this to have happened in just one night, one night when he spent practically all of his time crying.

"Look, puppy, don't forget who it was that saved you from death!" She spoke very close to Occisor's face as she suspended him by his collar.

"As if you would let me forget!" He rolled his eyes.

Mary's eyes changed color, when she is calm her eyes are red, when angry, black. And at that moment they were turning black.

"Calm down, Mary. Occisor has not yet digested the events of last night," Margaret intervened and reason reigned again in Mary's brain. She released the boy who settled back on the table.

"May this attitude not be repeated," she said at last and sat back down at the table.

It took only ten minutes for Margaret to finish eating the spiced bread that Mary had prepared.

"Ma'am, the room is already ready," one of the guards entered the private kitchen.

"Thank you, but next time wait for us to get out of here," she scolded him.

Mary hated having to live on a government base. Privacy, that's all she ever wanted, but it seemed to her that her will wasn't the priority.

The intruder guard was called Derrick, his hair was dark brown and wavy, and he was only five years older than Margaret. Also, he was in love with her.

Derrick was the son of a king, a kingdom killed by Lycanthropic beasts; his mother gave her life so that only he could escape. The government found him and his tutor, who had looked after him for thirteen years and died on the battlefield.

Derrick got lost in time when he looked away from Mary's face and paused on Margaret's beautiful eyes. She loved him too, but she had her priorities and unfortunately love didn't come first. She didn't want love, not at that moment.

"You can go back to your post now, Officer Derrick," Mary brought him back to reality and he tilted his head in a nod and walked back out of the private kitchen.

"Now can we go?" Occisor questioned as he rose from his chair.

"Let me just wash this first..."

"You've never washed your plate in the morning. Is all this just to avoid that officer?" Occisor loved to tease Margaret because he knew she liked the boy.

"Go to hell!" She cursed, picking up her plate and going to the sink.

"Will you stop it? And let's go already," Mary said and started walking, being followed by the other two in silence.

The training room was upstairs. The base had three floors, the second was the private one where only the three lived, but the officers never respected their privacy and always entered their quarters uninvited. The base had no elevator, so they needed to climb two flights of stairs to get to the top floor.

The third floor contains five rooms, which are:

A interrogation room for humans;

Mary not only had the responsibility to hunt the supernaturals, but she also had to deal with serial killers. The government didn't want any police officers to die dealing with these kinds of people, so it was Mary's duty to hunt, interrogate and kill those serial killers.

The second room was an interrogation room for superhumans.

That room was intended for werewolves, vampires and witches. A few years ago, the three races went to war, and that had terrible consequences for the humans. The death of many innocents, the trafficking of virgin women, vampires took them to generate their heirs and witches to complete their ritual. The enslavement of humans to werewolves.

The third room was a human torture room.

This room was destined for the accomplices of serial killers or even those who betray the human race to make it difficult for agents to hunt supernaturals.

The fourth room was another human torture room.

Unlike serious killers, supernaturals are not only entitled to death, before that they go through torture. And the only one capable of that so far is Mary. Each race has its weakness, and she exploits each and every one of them very well.

The fifth room was the training room.

The room that Mary intended to use for hand-to-hand combat training. Inside there's various materials for various kinds of fights. This room is divided in two parts: one for combat and the other for target training guns, knives and arrows.

"I still think they should install elevators here," Margaret grumbled.

Despite her good physical fitness, she hates the stairs.

"It must be pretty cool to go up by just pressing a little button."

Margaret always found the idea of elevators fascinating, she only stepped on one once and felt like she was floating. But the government didn't want to pay for it.

Occisor and Mary could already be on the third floor, but Margaret was walking at a much slower pace than they were.

After another ten minutes of climbing the stairs, they walked down the hall heading for the last room in the corridor. Mary opened the door and gave the other two space to enter as well. Margaret and Occisor only observed the place. He had never been there before.

"Margaret, today you will train with the targets."

"Alright."

Margaret assumed her place, leaving only Mary and Occisor in the hand-to-hand combat area.

"Listen, Occisor, when your training is over, you will have the responsibility to deal with the humans."

"I just want to hunt the..."

"Don't interrupt me!" Mary said harshly and Occisor shut up. "The government supports us in order to deal with Vampires, Wizards, serial killers, accomplices and werewolves."

"I don't want to get involved with the other races!"

"If you want to hunt the werewolves down, you will have to do that, if not, you will also be hunted and will be accused of being an accomplice to the vampires and the witches!"

"This is bullshit!"

"Watch your mouth!"

"I'm not a kid anymore, Mary."

"Then be a gentleman and respect the ladies present here."

Occisor rolled his eyes in response, his rebellion making Mary even angrier.

"Today I'll teach you the fight of the eight guns."

"I thought it was going to be hand-to-hand combat."

"But it is, the eight guns' fight is known to utilize various parts of the body. Let's start with the base."

And so Occisor's training began.

THE BOOK

Exactly thirty minutes after the sun rose, only to remain hidden behind the dense, gray clouds. The sounds of strides echo through the stone floor in the long hallway and soon the genuine couple appeared. At the entrance to the room, two slaves were responsible for opening and closing the heavy doors. When the couple positioned themselves in front of the door, the slaves opened them and the noise caught everyone's attention.

"Is everyone already here?" The genuine alpha asked as he entered the meeting room.

"Yes, the seven alphas, sir," the omega replied with his head down.

"All right. You can leave now."

"Excuse me."

The omega bowes to all the alphas and left the large room, closing the door behind him. The genuine alpha sits at the head of the great table and the genuine lunam sits at his right side.

"Have you found an heir yet?" Kratos questioned Rolf, the alpha of the Rising pack.

"No, I'm still in mourning," he replied without looking at the other alpha.

"You should leave soon. After all it was you who ordered the execution of your velut luna," he said impatiently. The other alpha's mourning had lasted for five years, it was more than enough. "And to this day you still refuse to kill that abomination of yours."

Rolf closed his eyes and his hands in fists tightly. Remembering that he wasn't able to keep his female in line makes him feel ashamed of himself. A show of weakness, and because of that, the honor of his pack is below all, thus losing the name of his star of honor.

"I know," he replied with effort. "I've tried to mate with the lunae of my pack, but just smelling their scents made me angry and I was afraid I was going to kill them, so I stopped and..."

"That doesn't matter," Kratos interrupted him. "I want to take care of another matter."

"And what would it be?" asked the alpha of the Diphda pack.

"Surely it must be of the utmost importance, to gather everyone here," the alpha of the Acrab pack concluded.

"Did the witches and the vampires attacked us again?" the alpha of the Markab pack questioned.

The Lycan race, to that very moment, contained seven packs, apart from the one ruled directly by the genuine. The others were:

• The Diphda pack, having Lucan as its current pack alpha.

• The Rising pack, having as current pack alpha Rolf.

• The Acrab pack, having as current pack alpha Dário.

• The Markab pack, having as current pack alpha Sebastian.

• The Nebula pack, with Raphael as the current pack alpha.

• The Merak pack, having as current pack alpha Apollonis.

And the Sonstellation pack, having Nicollas as its current pack alpha.

The second generation Lycanthropian of history, the stars and constellations formed the familiar branches of the wolves, their pack and their names millenia ago. While the moon represented the genuine alpha's family.

"As everyone already knows, something unusual has happened and in place of an heir, I have a female offspring," Kratos stopped and observed the attentive gazes coming from all the wolves present.

Everyone was silent. No one understood what actually happened, no one even knew that the moon goddess herself had direct contact with the genuine alpha. And no one had the courage to question any of that. The genuine alpha was not someone known for being kind. If he didn't like something, he didn't even stop to think before killing someone.

"That female shouldn't exist, because of her my heir died, but I can't change the facts," said the alpha. "And since she shouldn't exist, I'm sure her mate doesn't exist either. So her uterus should be fertile for any male."

Everyone listened attentively, but no one could say why the genuine alpha chose to gather all the alphas in his castle.

"Five years from now, she'll be at an appropriate age to mate. I want to create a competition and whoever wins will have the right to mate with her and father my heir."

Everyone in the room was taken by surprise, but they managed to disguise it well. "Will this be possible?" they whispered between themselves.

While the meeting was taking place, Bloodstain gained permission to be able to stroll through the forest, being accompanied by Guila. The white floor and the fresh air, the warm rays of sunshine, all that put a beautiful smile on her face.

"Shall we go for a run? Please?" she pleaded, clasping her hands together.

"Come!" Guila smiled. She didn't want to run. She was no longer young; seven hundred years have passed already and she only had three hundred more at most.

They both removed their dresses and tucked them under a tree, in a root that lay above the ground.

They both transformed and for anyone who saw them from the outside, they would think Bloodstain was the oldest of the two because she was much bigger than Guila, but those who knew her better knew that the big wolf was still a puppy.

Bloodstain's paws sank over the fluffy ground through the snow, and that gave her, even for a few wee moments, the feeling of freedom. Feeling the icy wind blowing against her snout made her eyes sparkle with joy. It was so rare for her to be allowed to walk outside the castle, it only happened when people came from outside, like that day. No one wanted to have the displeasure of being in the same room as the killer.

Excited, Bloodstain forces her legs to work faster, running into the white forest. Guila no longer had such strength, and because she was a luna cimex, it was like she was a normal wolf. She tried her best not to lose sight of the girl, but it was very difficult to keep up with her.

With the icy wind blowing softly on her snout, with the cold she could feel on her bones, with the fluffy snow all around her and with the illusion of being free, Bloodstain was feeling like she was in the clouds. But it was only an illusion. Freedom was something she'd probably never have.

Upon arriving at a frozen lake, the girl finally stopped running and waited for Guila. The both of them decided to rest by the river.

Lycanthropes had the power to communicate through the mind with one another, but that wasn't for everyone. That power was restricted and only the members of the same pack could hear each other with their minds. There was only one being able to listen to all lycanthropes and also be heard, and that was the genuine alpha. Guila always wondered if Bloodstain would inherit that power when the genuine died.

"Guila?" Bloodstain said without lifting her head from the fluffy ground.

"Yes?"

"Tell me more about her. The goodness. Why did she create us?"

"She wanted to save her beloved's life."

"What do you mean?" Bloodstain raised her head and looked at Guila intently. Guila in turn sniffed the air to make sure they were alone.

"The goddess was in love with a man, a king, his name was Lycaon. Her brother found out and blackmailed her. He tricked her and made her almost kill her beloved. Then, to save him, she turned him into a werewolf."

"I want more details, Guila! Who was her brother? What's her name? How was this man that she fell in love with? After she turned him, they stayed together? What happened to the brother? Where is she now, the goddess? Who were her parents? What..."

Bloodstain stopped to regain her breath. Guila was stunned.

"I really wish I could answer all these questions," Guila said. "But this could put us in danger.

So..." "But then how can I know more about her if you don't tell me?" Bloodstain put her head on the ground again and stared at the frozen lake.

"I'll figure it out. But we'd better go back now."

They got up and made the way back slowly. They arrived at the castle around noon and the genuine alpha's guests had already left. The castle was empty.

"Where is everybody?" Bloodstain asked as she entered the patio.

"Hunting. They must be in the woods. It's a good thing we didn't crash into them, they would definitely want to fight."

Bloodstain agreed. She hoped that she could have dinner too. But what she really wanted was to learn how to hunt. However, if the omegas didn't have that privilege, a killer shouldn't either.

"I'm going to my den," Bloodstain said and turned around, leaving the room.

Guila nodded and also started walking toward her den.

The castle has six floors; the top floor was only for the genuine alpha and his mate; the fifth was for the betas and their mates; the fourth floor had the conference room and a large library. The kitchen and the dining room were on the third floor. The second floor was for the omegas' and their mates. The first floor had guest rooms. There was also an alcova, where the slaves and the torture room where.. There were no doors in that part of the castle, only an enclosed corridor that led to the basement. It was like a box, with only one window with a ladder for the transportation of the slaves. Further down the corridor was a cellar, which is where Bloodstain's den was.

Guila walked to her bed and pulled out a black-covered book. It wasn't heavy or too thick. That was the only book she could save from being destroyed. The last book about the story of the first lycanthropist. It tells how it all happened and gives details about the moon goddess and her history with him.

Guilla thanked the goddess for not having anyone else around and with the little book in hand, she walked quickly to Bloodstain's den. Guila hated going through the slave wing, she felt very sorry for these humans, but she couldn't help them even if she tried. She couldn't even defend herself. Even though she had a mate, if he had a guest and they wanted to have her, he would allow them, even though he knew that almost killed her.. But nobody cared.

Bloodstain was sitting in a corner of her den. Guila saw the sadness in her eyes.

"I brought something for you. Don't let anyone see you reading it," Guila said as she approached. "Read this and you will know everything."

Guila handed the book to the girl and kissed her forehead.

"Now I have to go," she said and made for the door.

"Thank you, Guila."

Bloodstain whispered and smiled as she opened the cover of the little book in her hands.

LEARNING ABOUT THE ENEMY

"Thank you for the meal," Margaret says, wiping her mouth, and leaves the kitchen while Mary and Occisor are still eating.

She walks in quick strides. She wants to at least see, if only for a few moments, the officer. It wouldn't be for long and she knew she'd find him soon. That night he was working on the east tower, she knew.

"Hi," she says when she finds him. Derrick looks at her with a beautiful smile. Margaret admires him for a few moments; she notes that his thigh uniform does an excellent job in defining his muscles. As always.

"Hey, beautiful. You want to see the moon with me?"

"It would be my pleasure," she slips through the iron door and closes it carefully behind her.

Margaret knew that if Mary found out she was meeting with Derrick, she would use it as an excuse not to turn her. So it has to be a secret. But, even though she has feelings for the young man, he would never come first in her life.

With confident steps, she paces until she stands in front of the Officer. She turns her back to him and leans on the small wall, pushing her ass towards him, who didn't hesitate to look at it.

He takes a step forward, gluing his body to the young woman's, leaning on the wall with one hand on each side of her body. He comes closer to her neck and kisses her skin, making her gasp. She turns and without hesitation, he takes her lips with fervor in a delicious kiss. She responded with passion, their tongues playing with each other's.

Back in the kitchen…

Mary sighed now that only she and Occisor were left in the kitchen.

"I wash and you dry," she says and begins to wash the dishes.

Occisor nodded without saying a word, the task was already customary for him. If he ever saw Margaret washing or putting away the dishes, that would be a sign that she was sick or that she wanted Mary to give her something.

The task didn't take long, they didn't have many pots to wash other than the one Mary used to treat Occisor's raw meat.

"Mary, I want to know more about my species," Occisor says as he finishes his task. "I want to know how they are, what they do, who commands them, how long they live and how they divide their rankings."

Mary wipes her hands on a cloth and sits down, waiting for the boy to do the same. Too bad Margaret is in her room reading her novel now. Or so she thought.

"The wolves have an absolute commander, his title is…"

"Genuine alpha, I already know the titles, Mary," he says impatiently.

"Then why did you ask me?*she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I know the titles they take, but I don't know who has them, or how they get them," he says and stops for a few seconds thinking about his mother. "And I want more details about… ah… the packs."

Mary looks at him. Occisor was very intelligent; in just one day of training he managed to learn and memorize all the bases of defense of the eight weapons' fighting. Mary really was impressed, she didn't expect him to learn so quickly. But she remembered that for lycanthropes the time it takes to reach adulthood is short. In just ten human years they grow and become adults. And then time freezes and only comes running back when they're close to completing a millennium of life.

"Titles are determined at birth."

"What do you mean?" He flicks his eyebrows, confused.

"The cub's size and the color of its fur, that's how you know if they will be an alpha, beta or omega. Currently, there are seven packs, but two of them were decimated by the witches' attacks and one of them lost its name of honor... And that's the one your mother belonged to."

"What am I? If I am an omega, I won't have a chance against them. I read in the book that omegas are only good for serving and being punching bags," he comments disgustedly.

"I don't think you're an omega. When you were a puppy, you were pretty strong, but since you never transformed, I always wondered if you could be a beta or an alpha."

"Will I ever be able to transform?" He asked himself, but Mary heard him. However, she preferred not to answer because she doesn't know if one day he will ever be able to transform.

"The genuine alpha has the power to hear and speak to all lycanthropes in the world through his mind, while others can only communicate with their own pack. Even the genuine alpha's mate doesn't have this power, it seems to be exclusive to him."

"When I was getting to the part about the females, Margaret took the book from me," he reports sulking as he remembers. But that was before he knew about his history and before he decided he was going to kill his own kind.

And so, like Mary Van Helsing, Occisor Van Helsing is in the process of becoming a traitor to his own people. He doesn't care, he just wants to avenge his mother, his aunt and himself. He now wants to become the thing the wolves, all of them , fear the most.

"The females also have their degree of importance in the Lycan hierarchy. If an omega is seen as a servant, a luna cimex is seen as a prostitute, even if she has a mate, it does not matter to them. And that's how your aunt was treated."

"They're a bunch of bastards!" Occisor shouts and closes his eyes to control the hatred that was boiling in his heart. Even though he was still too young, he understood exactly what Mary was saying. Her aunt was raped by those monsters.

"Lately, I've been looking for opportunities to kidnap females who have destined mates," Mary continues

"What are destined mates?" he asks, coming back to the present.

"Well, I'll try to explain in an easy way. The moon goddess creates wolves in pairs. She chooses who belongs to who and, when they find each other, they become mates."

"That's too vague."

"Then I'll give you a book with more explanations about the goddess."

"Right, but why females with intended mates?"

"Because if I torture them, thanks to the moon goddess's punishment, the males will also feel the pain. And that will weaken them."

Occisor thinks about it for a second and nods. He likes Mary's plan.

"It's a good strategy. Do you already have any females in mind?"

"Yes, in a pack nearby. Her name is Nebula. Her pack had many casualties; the last confrontation with the vampires didn't work out for them."

"And what are you waiting for to attack them?" he asks, rising from his chair.

"It's not that simple," Mary signals with her hand for him to sit down again. He obeys. "This pack is known to be good at fighting. They only lost because of their numbers and because they were attacked by surprise, but still managed to maintain their territory. Even though I have a lot of combat experience, I can't enter their den alone. I'd be dead meat in an instant."

"I'm going to become stronger and then I'll hunt them down, one by one!"

Mary just looked at him.

"What?" Occisor looks at her with confusion.

"Do you think you have an intended mate?"

Occisor's disgusted face almost makes Mary laugh.

"If I do, I'll kill her, too. I don't want to be connected to any of them. She'd be just another disgusting monster."

Mary just observes him. "Talk is easy, boy, but how would you do that? The goddess has punished this race, your kin, for mistreating their females. What do you think she'd do to you if you killed your mate?"

Mary thinks about that for a few seconds. She didn't know the answer to that. The only thing she could do now was wait for time to pass.

Mary's heart clenched as she thought about the children under her protection. She wanted them to be able to live peacefully, without being hatred, or feeling pain or anguish or loneliness. She didn't want them to end up being punished for their insane desire for revenge and blood.

I'm really getting old, she thinks as she stands up..

Unlike werewolves, vampires could live for up to two millennia. Who was the vampire's creator? Who was their god? Mary wasn't sure. In the manuscript kept in the library, they reported that vampires in general are the fruit of an unsuccessful pact of the witches with Hades. The god who can't stand the sunlight and delights in the suffering of others. So, who created the vampires? Witches or the god of the underworld?

"Mary, why is there a war going on between these three races over the humans?" Occisor questions getting up from the table and walking in front of Mary out of the kitchen.

"One wants to be superior to the other."

"What about the humans? What do they want?"

"This is more complex. $ome of them want peace, some want revenge and many others want control and power over the others creatures."

"Humans are weak beings, but they feel superior. Four species of creatures and they all want superiority. Regardless of the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. But the humans are fools."

"I'm sure they are. Alone they will never be able to get out of the bottom of the food chain. After all, this is how everyone else sees them, as food."

"I'm not gonna lie to you. I would like all of us to live in harmony, but I'll never forgive the Lycans for rejecting me and murdering my mother and my aunt. And if for that I have to face the other species too, so be it. Nothing will stand in my way. But I can't guarantee to live to protect the humans. I know all they want is for me to be a puppy under their rule."

With that being said, Occisor turns his back to Mary and walks to his room. When he opens the door, he notices that Margaret was not in her bed. He sighs. He already knew where she was and who she was with. He walks a few steps and lies down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. A few minutes later, the bedroom door opens again and Margaret enters, smelling like him.

"If you don't want Mary to find out, you'd better shower first thing in the morning. The officer's scent is all over you."

Margaret said nothing, just walked to her bed and lay down. The night was once again cold. Her lips were still red and swollen from Derrick's kisses and they only had the moon as a witness.

"How I wish I could forget the past," she whispered to herself.

But that was never ever going to happen.