42

Talia and Ari enjoyed the breakfast smiling at their inner joke. Talia had said to break bread just as Ari had when they first met. Ari asked no questions till she and Talia had eaten and felt somewhat comfortable with one another- then in a pointblank fashion she told Talia to explain herself and Talia had to an extent.
"So, wolf huh?" Ari joked.
Talia grinned wolfishly, "I very well couldn't have told you then. I did not know what you would've done. And let’s face it I was not within my right mind. “Ari stuck a black berry in her mouth savoring the tang. "True."
"Besides, it wasn't like i had come across kind people outside the pack." she looked out across the yard, "or within it at that time." she looked back at Ari and smiled. "However, things are changing, and I have pledge Mika as my alpha. So, looks like you are stuck with me."
Ari sighed, "Well damn. What a shame." the girls laughed lightly. "So, what happened? When you got back?"
Talia took in a long breath and slowly let it out. "Theo got us back to the pack lands without any real incident. I met the alpha Kelon. I was strong enough by then. The ash was out of my system and the baby had stopped cramping. But was moving fine and growing. At first Kelon did not believe me and thought it was the imagination of a stressed mother. However, then Niko showed up within days of us arriving. He got the alpha's ear and things really started looking familiar. Theo noticed the changes too. They were not very subtle. Niko worked fast to cause chaos in the social structure. Those that refused to follow left to find Mika with Theo. We came through the same route you found me on, and then Theo lead us further north. We got here just in time for his attack on the nest. Mika was in some kind of way while you were here. But he kicked ass and here we are." she laid her hands palms down on the wooden table.
"Yep here we are."
Talai looked at her waiting for her turn, “Don’t make me ask." Ari wish could tell her juicy details but the truth of the matter was she still didn't have much to recall. "I don't know what to say. I remember being here with Drax. I remember the fight, and how badass Mika was in the fight.' she blushed as the warm sensation rushed through her body thinking about Mika going all alpha over her. "But other than that, there isn't much to say." she shrugged her shoulders and Talia dropped the subject.
"How much longer with the baby?" Talia absently rubbed at her stomach. "Not long. Maybe two or three weeks? I think it will be on the full moon coming up."
"How are you managing things?" Ari asked in a calm voice.
"I guess as good as anyone can." she sighed. " Theo has been of help a lot. You know with the traveling and checking on the baby and me. I have a lot to thank him for. And you."
"You have nothing to thank me for. I was being a kind person that was all Talia."
"Kindness or not I still thank you it saved my life and my child's."
The two sat in silence for a few moments chewing the food over.
"Talia, what other supernaturals do you know about?" Ari just blurted out. Talia looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Where did that question come from?"
Ari shrugged her shoulders, "I am learning that there is more than werewolves, vampires, witches and deaders to worry about now."
Talia nodded her head, “Yeah there are. Alot more." Ari looked at Talia seriousness written on her face.
"Mermaids, witches, faires, Skinwalkers, water monsters, devils, there’s a who lot of them out there. Some older than this land."
Ari attention was locked on Talia, “Have you seen any yourself?"
"On my old pack lands there was a few water monsters, and the rivers always were infested with mermaids. Sometimes, maybe once or twice myself my hunt had been interrupted by a large furry creature. It walked like a human, but in no way smelt like one. The small group left large footprints behind. Matt had said it was called a sasquatch." she scrunched up her face at the word. " I think i am saying that right? Any way. It didn't threaten us, and it mainly appeared to eat leaves and berries. The smell from it did not make it seem like a interesting taste so I did not hunt for it again."
"OK. What about faries? You'd mentioned them." she prompted.
"Well I have never seen one in person but I have been told they are all over the place, and sometimes can be pesky little shits. I do not know alot a about them, but before things went bad in our pack some of the guys would come back from hunts and talk about running into them. Said they liked to fuck with people."
"And skin walkers?"
Talia got very still, "These aren't to be under estimated., We will speak of this one time and one time only. Speak of the devil and he will come for you." she warned. "They are very, very old. It was first said that they were some witches who cast a spell to change in to any animal they wanted to take revenge, murder, incest, plot whatever they felt like doing. I do not know if that is true or not I just know they are BAD news. As for the differences unlike werewolves who can only change into a wolf- this can change into any animal it eats. If it kills a man it can take that very man's appearance, if it takes a bear it can turn into a bear. I do know that there is a old legend that the thing had territory not too far from here. They use to call it some kind of ranch, or homestead. “she shook her head.
"Surely people didn't farm these things?!" Ari gasped.
"No, no nothing like that. There was some kind of homestead and the people there started seeing weird things. Eventually someone figured out what it was and gave it the name. Sk, you know, Ranch."
Ari sighed. that was a lot to take in and they had not even gone all the way down the list of creatures Talia had mentioned. This last one sounded horrible, but it did make her wonder if it was true.
"So water monsters and devils?"
"Water monsters honestly are like huge snakes. They are the keeps of deep waters. They will sink a boat faster than a storm. Some think they have the power to influence the weather so the waves will conceal them. But I have yet to be in deep enough waters to find out for myself.
As for devils, well fuck Ari those bastards are all around. I bet you half of the murders that people think are vampire are done by those creatures. There isn;t a good one out there either. Liek with witches you might get a good one, but you might draw the short stick and get the crazy bad one but atleast theres a chance. No" she shook her head," no there isn;t a chance with a devil. They like to kill just for the sport of it. Hard as hell to catch and even harder to kill. Vampires are not the only apex predators. These guys tend to come out when the sun is not as bright, or closer to sundown-whereas vamps tend to wait till the sun is all the way down. And there are several types of devils too!" she said in a exasperated voice.
"Types?"
"Yep apparently there are different ones that do different things. Like I remember my dad talking about one, this one time he called it a succubus." she said it slowly.
"Suck-u-bus?' Ari repeated. "Sounds like a vampire to me."
"It kind is but kinda isn't. It doesn't drink the blood. It fucks the males and then takes their souls."
Ari's eyes about popped out of her head. "What? you can do that?"
"They can apparently. And apparently they are ultra-sexy or some shit. Tricks the males and then kills them."
Ari took a swig of her drink" I guess it severs some right for letting their cock wonder."
Talia chuckled lightly, "Yeah I guess so. But really Ari, all of this is just stuff I have picked up over the years. Some of it I am not sure is even real, others I can say yes I have witnessed it or trust the source. There could be so much more out there about which we do not know. Or I could be utterly wrong about all of this."
"There is more out there I know it. You know that Niko is a Wendigo now right?"
She shook her head, her face paling, “Is that was making him so weird?"
"Yes. We made the last host a crispy fucker. That was when it took Niko over. Whatever it is, it has abilities to control people. It had been working with Drax to get females. I am not entirely sure why because it acted like Drax was it’s master, but honestly I think it was a ruse. I mean fuck the thing was cooked alive. It was a pile of ash and I saw it with my own eyes rise back up and out of that room! It is way more powerful than a mature master vampire ever could’ve been."
It was Talia’s turn to have her eyes wide in disbelief. "Can we save him?"
" I do not know. I mean the creature, spirit whatever the thing was left one vessel and sought another. If we pulled it from Niko who is to say it would not kill him on the way out. Is Niko still alive in that thing? And with that being said what about the rest of the packs? Can they be released from this thing’s influence?"
There it was, there was the burning question everyone wanted to know about home. Could there ever be home there again? Were their loved ones lost to them now? What did that say about the west coast pack that they were skirting dangerously close to?