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nothing but hugged him again. Morgan hugged her back, stronger this time. He knew she was back with that hug. Just then he made a promise to himself and her too, that he would do whatever it took to make her happy. As long as they were together, he knew he could do it.

Chapter 10
    MEANWHILE, SEVERAL STATES AWAY
    As the sun’s rays slowly faded behind the California mountains, his physical form became cloaked within the nightfall’s shadow. The enormous Sequoias compelled the nightfall to come early here. At the beginning of each night since his youngest sons absence, they now held a meeting, mostly concerning his capture. It had been years since his departure but the quest to find him was still as new as day one.
    Now, Arthur, the pack leader, stood on the stone roof of a new Alpha den, with his sons and daughters and their companions gathered below his silhouette. His offspring were important assets to him – he only had ten heirs out of the three dozen or so people that were present, evenly split between the two sexes. He had just set up a new camp covering every bit of the 100 square acres of mountain land that his family now owned. Morgan would have made the sixth son, if he had been present.
    The assembled pack wore dark clothing made mostly of bear, mountain lions or panthers, generally anything mammalian. They wore jewelry made of animal teeth and other remnants of the beasts they’d slaughtered. Arthur, the pack leader, who preferred to be called King Arthur, taught them that this is how their powers increase in strength. Their ancestors would protect them through battle. Under his leadership their trust and loyalty came with victory and triumphs over their adversaries through the many years they had existed.
    “I knew it would be but just a matter of time before I was to receive legitimate conformation that one of our brothers…” he hesitated to snarl. “One of our own… One that has eluded us for quite some time now has finally been discovered. He is in a small town about 3 days travel from here.” He anticipated the packs reaction. He smiled when their heads turned to one another and mumbling broke the silence.
    “Yes, I know. This is good news. The bad news is that he has attempted to disgrace our very bloodline and heritage. And outside of quest we already venture… now we must handle the fact that we have indeed stumbled upon a new enemy, and this enemy is one of our own. In fact, he is a disgrace to the ancient bloodline. I want you to bring him to me. And if he will not come willingly…” Arthur had begun raising his arm to the pack in front of him. “Then bring me his head.”
    In his clenched fist, he held the head of his most recent kill. It was a male’s head, a newly severed male’s head with long, grimy, curly brown hair. His brown eyes were still open, blood dripped from his neck. The head belonged to the Alpha of a larger pack of werewolves they had just defeated. The pack cheered when he held it out like a trophy, bragging of his savage and brutal accomplishments.
    “I don’t care how you do it. But I want you to spread out… and bring him back from under the rock he has crawled up under. The one who brings him in… will be my successor. Now go!”
    The small crowd roared at the grand prize. They dispersed down the mountainside in a competitive frenzy. The rocky land where they had just stood displayed the slain bodies of men, women and children, all who were just recently slaughtered in battle. Arthur was pleasured by its company, the gore of it all, as he always had been.
    He was a ruthless son-of-a-bitch that left no survivors. He admired his grotesque scenery with a psychotic evil that held no boundaries. And because of this grotesque savagery, this was the exact reason Morgan had chosen not to follow in the path of his crazed father and had left, oh, so long ago.
    ONE MONTH LATER, AND SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES AWAY
    “Hello!”
    He was leaving the shelter in a good mood when