A bit of a backstory. This is how Lance and Nicolae became acquainted.
It was 1776, just after America declared its independence from England. With everyone focused on that war over seas, Vampire Covens and Werewolf Packs had been allowed to flourish, each group now numbering in the thousands. Along with this increase also came death. Hundreds of human corpses turned up daily in many big cities. A few ravaged for threatening a Pack, but the rest went to feeding the hordes of Vampires now roaming the countries. Until it got to the point that the Werewolf Pack needed to step in and thin the ranks of their enemies before their kind became exposed. In that period, long before Lance claimed the pack in New York, he was a Second in Gerard's Pack, which in that time, had over five hundred members.
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~France - 1776 - Vampire Coven outside of Paris~
Lance stared over the moonlight lawn that spread between the mansion a Vampire Coven had taken refuge in and the forest in which they hid. The moon was a day away from being full, and Lance could already feel the wolf trying to burst free. His hearing was stronger, his sight sharper, and he could pick the scent of the Vampire from where he stood behind the treeline. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to go running out there to kill the Vampires.
Next to Lance, Gerard, his Alpha, knelt on the leaf strewn floor studying a map of the area and the mansion. Black dots, indicating patrol units were few and spread out, but also would've made it impossible to launch a sneak attack. Red dots, also aligned the mansion walls indicating where the Vampires had set up cannons.
"Damn," Gerard growled, much to himself. We can't send a sizable unit to sneak pass the guards to wipe out those fuckers, nor can we go running straight at them without being torn to bits with those cannons."
Lance knelt down next to Gerard and studied the map with him. This mission seemed impossible. Even with Gerard's pack being over five hundred strong and them outnumbering the Vampires in this coven three to one, it seemed hopeless. His eyes darted over the map until Lance noticed an odd symbol marked on the map. Pointing to it, he asked, "What is that?"
"Servant Entrance, but they have guards patrolling that area every ten minutes or so. We would never be able to get enough wolves in before we're spotted."
"What if we don't need to get a whole lot of people in," Lance said. "What if, we send three, at the most four, wolves in between patrols, then they could sneak up to the room, destroy the cannons and send out a single for you to attack?"
Gerard's eyes flickered in though as he thought out Lance's scheme and then he nodded his head in approval. "It just might work, but we would have to send in the best."
"I volunteer myself for this, since it was my idea."
Gerard grimaced, but nodded. "Can you think of anyone else?"
"Cara is the best huntress I know in the pack, and both Perry and Hughes can get right next to a deer before it knows their there."
"Then it's decided. Gather those three up, and prepare to move out." Lance started to walk away, but Gerard reached out and grabbed his hand. "Be careful in there. If reports are correct, there's an Ancient in there."
"I'll do my best."
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Lance put a fist above his head, signaling the others to stop, as they hid behind the little bit of shrubbery near the Servant Entrance. Cara started to knock an arrow, but Lance stopped her with a shake of his his head. As soon as the patrol moved on to the other side of the building, they broke cover, making there way to the door. Luckily the door was unlocked when they got there, so they quickly opened, made their way inside and shut the door.
Despite it being pitch black inside the tiny hallway, with the full moon a day away, the four Werewolves could see perfectly. With quiet footsteps, they made their way down, stopping when ever their ears picked something up. Despite the late hour, Lance was surprised to find that not very many Vampires were up and about. "Heh, maybe they're in their coffins still," Hughes joked at one point, referring to common misconception humans made. All in all, they had only a half dozen Vampires on their way up to the roof, two of which they had to kill and hide the body before they risked being spotted.
Where the inside seemed nearly the empty, the roof was crowded, at the very least two dozen Vampires walked on it, two for each of the cannons. Lance, signaled the others to stop and studied the group. They all seemed bored, few walked around, eying the grounds below while the others played dice or cards. And stacked neatly against a tower was case upon case of gunpowder necessary to fire the cannons.
While he signaled the rest to stay, he snuck back down stares, grabbing a few the of the torches the lined the walls. Running back, he handed one each to Hughes and Perry and then mouthed to them, "Gunpowder case. Wall next to dice players. On my count." He held up three fingers and slowly counted down. "One . . . two . . . three!" The last word was shouted at loud as all three of them hurled the torches which landed on the cases of gunpowder.
The reaction was almost instant. The rasp of steel on leather could be heard as the Vampires drew their swords just before the explosion came. The ones closest to the cases were nearly incinerated, while the rest were blown off their feet or thrown over the side.
Drawing their swords, Lance and the rest of their team ran out and dispatched the rest of the Vampires with stakes. In the mansion they could hear a warning bell as the, but in the distance they heard the cries of their pack mates as they charged across the lawn.
Lance laughed with his companions as he watched his Pack cut down the few guards that the Coven had sent forth to try to stop them. So caught up in watched the fight below, that they didn't notice that they were being watched.
"You think it's funny?" came a voice, startling them out of their laughter. "Watching my children being slaughtered is funny to you?" All four of the Werewolves turned around to see two Vampire's standing in front of the entrance they come up. One looked no older than fifteen, but just by looking into his cold eyes, there was someone much older behind the mask, but the other, a female, didn't have that same darkness in her eyes.
From down below a loud crash could be heard as the Werewolves jumped in through the windows of the mansion instead of beating down the door that would obviously be barred. Lance eyed the Vampire, not moving one bit. Despite never having met one, Lance new this pseudo-child had to be an Ancient. With slow and precise movements, he reached for the stake strapped to his pants.
Faster than the eye can see and much more than humans possibly could move, the female Vampire charged him, her eyes turning completely black and her nails turning to razor claws. Despite all her speed, Lance could tell this Vampire was young, more than likely turned recently, and Lance had been fighting these creatures for over two centuries now, so he knew their every move move. Drawing on speed from his inner wolf, he tore the stake loose and brought it up, and use the female Vampire's own momentum to impale herself on the stake right through the heart. Pushing her body away, he ripped his sword out of its scabbard and beheaded her in the same move.
"You bastard!" the Ancient yelled, but before he could charge, two shapes manifested out of the darkness, grabbing his arms. Neither of the two figures seemed to have a distinct shape, they just seemed to be a black hole that had appeared in thin air, absorbing all the light surrounding in it.
You must flee from this place, Little Vampire, said a voice, not spoken, but more like something heard inside your head. If you fight, you will die. And as quickly as they appeared, they vanished taking the other Vampire with them.
