Wolves closing in
~
Cadence
~

It wasn't a coffin and plain darkness to awaken Cadence, but the pillow she lay on made a buzzing noise.

Snapping awake, Cadence skimmed her hands underneath the pillow and latched onto a device, bringing it to her ear after accepting the call she didn't bother to check.

"Hello?" Cadence rasped out croakily, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"Did I wake you up, Cadence Larren?"

The phone almost hit the floor as Cadence sat up. "Alexene?"

"Where is Rexton?" Alexene demanded.

It hit Cadence like a train that Alexene still was after the hybrid. How she managed to let it slip her mind, she would let her tiresome self figure that out. He was wanted by many people, in life and death. Especially by the living dead.

"On the couch." Cadence's lips cracked as she smiled against the phone. "Feel free to come in the house."

"How about I throw a brick through the window?" Alexene snapped.

Someone was of unsound mind.

"As long as it doesn't hit my window, by all means ... fucking do it." Maybe it would hit the hybrid if she aimed correctly.

The brazen bravery strengthened into hard gold, running through Cadence's veins at a rapid rate. Their bargain was completed — with a cost. It made Cadence writhe in anger, but the deal was done.

Whatever Alexene intended to do, was all on her and her alone. Cadence wasn't being dragged around like a lap dog prepared to take orders and commands anymore.

"The living room window is smashed in."

Cadence wanted to spear a stake right at Alexene's head. Of course, she was here — she would have traced his scent after losing him in Kara forest. Alexene had formulated this plan for years and years, wanting to free the hybrid. It had been her immortal mission, and it ended with him being with the very people she loathed.

"Blame the hybrid for that," Cadence spat, preparing to hang up the phone. Peering out the window, she could see the dark skies streaking through the sheer curtain.

"He bit you."

Cadence clenched her jaw, the plaster stinging into her neck. "Well, you were there."

"Rexton never used to feed on humans," Alexene commented distantly.

"Good for him, if you want to use the front door, feel free to throw a brick through Lycus's room to get his attention — it's in the furthest corner of the house, near the woods. Good—fucking—night." Cadence spat in a harsh whisper, beckoning around the room to see Erisa stirring restlessly on the other side of the bed.

Tristan slept with his arm over his head on the floor, his snores bellowing through the room.

"Is there a reason werewolves were outside of the Fenris territory?"

Cadence jerked off the bed and pressed her feet onto the floorboards to steady herself. "What?"

"Three werewolves in the woods near the highway, they were watching the pack."

Without realising, Cadence stood and jumped over Tristan to get to the door. "Are they still alive?"

"I want to see Rexton. Get Lycus's attention and I'll talk." Alexene murmured into the phone and Cadence could sense the eerie snicker on her youthful face.

The face of her cousin crept through Cadence's head and that was enough for her to rip the door open, running down the hall.

"Give me a minute." Cadence snarled.

She cut the call and stumbled into Accalia's room, nearly meeting her knees. In all things she had to wake up to, a call from a hellbent vampire, werewolves and now Accalia and Lycus woven in each other's arms.

At least she wouldn't have to make the trip to his room as Lycus's arms had Accalia locked in place and her head buried in his chest.

"Get up," Cadence kicked the side of the bed, hovering over Accalia to check if she had sustained any wounds or even a sad line on her face in the recent hours. "Lycus, get up!"

It was his eyes to opened first and they were pitch black. He looked toward Accalia, faintly brushing a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. Shifting his head around, canines out, he slanted Cadence a vicious glower.

"What?" He seethed.

Cadence mirrored his disgusted look with a curled lip. "Good morning to you too. Guess what? Alexene called me and she's asking for Rexton. She's probably waiting at the front door for you to let her in."

Lycus shot off the bed, his tall frame almost reaching the roof and the trembles shattering through his body dared Cadence to think he would take the shift. Again.

"Right fucking now?" He pointed an accusing finger at her. "Did you organise any of this?"

Cadence waved her hands to a sleeping Accalia. "With my family here, you think I'm that stupid?"

His face remained passive, contorting in the sense of I definitely do and that was enough for Cadence to want Alexene to throw a brick at his head.

"Is Rexton downstairs?" Lycus said, leaning over to Accalia and pulling the blanket up to her face.

Cadence leered at Lycus. "If I were to know, you would find him dead."

Lycus growled at her.

"Another thing," Cadence piped up and shook Accalia's shoulder, gathering she would want to know all of this.

"Let her sleep!" Lycus seethed, going to grab Cadence's wrist and for all she knew, snap her bone in half.

"Stop treating my cousin like glass." Cadence snatched her arm away before he could grab it and Accalia made a noise of displeasure, throwing the blanket off her.

She sat on her forearms, sneaking a look at Lycus and then at Cadence who were on each side of the bed.

"What's going on now?" Accalia asked.

Cadence felt a notion of guilt, swelling and threatening to burst. But it lifted as soon as it came. She didn't have time for it. "Alexene is here. She wants to see your brother and ... she spotted three werewolves outside of the pack near the highway."

Lycus left the room.

Cadence didn't stick around, dashing out of the room and fleeing downstairs, after Lycus. Bypassing the living room, she found the hybrid with a blanket over his head and Gabriel laid out on an armchair.

Sweeping out the front door, a frosty unease iced inside of her and she hugged her arms, not anticipating the cold. She was only wearing sweatpants and a thin singlet with no weapons on her.

Her bare feet crunched against twigs and leaves as she followed the steps that were placed before her, trailing up a short hill that led to a clearing.

Alexene stood in the middle of it looking as if she came out of hell and Lycus watched from a distance, wanting to take her back there.

Finally, two enemies, sworn and bound to a lifetime of vengeance, came face to face. No more games and ploys of revenge.

Cadence wasn't the spy, the middleman in the battle of lycans and vampires. Just the hunter that unleashed the very thing they were here for.

"Where is Rexton?" Alexene asked, her silvery voice chilling as ever.

"Killed him." Lycus joked and leaned against a tree trunk.

Cadence came close and watched as the dark skies grew lighter and brighter.

Alexene's doll face contorted, veins piercing from her pale face and forming all over her. "I wouldn't put it past you, Lycus,"

Cadence heard rustling from behind her and then a whack slapped across the back of her head.

"Couldn't even wait for me?" Accalia grumbled, looking ready to pummel both Lycus and Cadence to the ground.

Cadence rubbed the back of her head and sent her cousin a scowl, immediately feeling envy. At least Accalia had the brain cells to put on boots and a jumper. Her locks of dark hair draped around her, her brown skin paling from the blistering cold but her eyes that typically lit with warmth had overshadowed with scrutiny.

"This is Alexene?" Accalia asked Cadence.

Cadence nodded, knowing what Accalia was thinking. Alexene didn't come across as the type to plot and kill. Her face was a deceptive mask that hid a demon.

"She looks fifteen, for goodness sake," Accalia exclaimed with a chilly sigh, fog clouding around her.

"Try sixteen with a few hundred years on top of that, darling," Lycus stated and came behind Accalia.

The vampire drew closer to them, gracefully crossing through the thicket of nature and hardly making a sound.

Her dark attire was dusted in mud and grass patches, her red eyes gleaming as she wore that snarky smile. Alexene must have put in a lot of effort to trace Rexton down.

"You must be Accalia Larren, it's lovely to finally meet you," Alexene greeted and her pearly whites grimaced with blood. "I will not ask again, where is Rexton?"

"Cadence mentioned werewolves, care to expand on that, Alexene?" Lycus countered, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

Alexene's smile widened, getting closer and closer until she had to look up at everyone. "Bring Rexton to me and I will talk."

"No—"

"I'll go get him!" Accalia snapped and before anyone could disagree, she turned on her heel and ran back to the manor.

Alexene raised her eyebrows, sending a glance at Cadence and her patched-up neck. "I didn't expect him to do that, I thought he would take the blood bag."

Cadence's teeth clenched together, keeping her mouth shut. Gabriel defended his brother like he was a blameless boy and now Alexene claimed him to be something he wasn't. It was plain as day, with the actions committed, the hybrid was a bloodthirsty parasite, wanting to suck the life out of anyone for his own pleasure.

"He was locked up for years, you clearly underestimated him," Lycus remarked.

"And you clearly underestimated me," Alexene toyed with Lycus, a dark glint in her eyes. "I hope you enjoyed burying all those bodies on the night of the full moon, I must say I planned on killing more but the sun came up."

Lycus got in her face so fast. "One day, I'll rip you apart Alexene Lavarus. Consider yourself useful when needed because that's all you'll ever be. Someone that is needed but not wanted."

Footsteps crackled behind them and Cadence faced around to see her cousin and the boy walking side by side, rather at ease with one another. They exchanged muffled words, to which Cadence assumed, Accalia was filling him in on everything.

The hybrid was simply dressed in pyjama pants and a dark navy turtle neck, hugging his lean body and imposing his refined stature.

As he drew closer, Cadence wanted to run, put much-needed distance between them, but thankfully, his attention wasn't on her.

There must have been something detached from the hybrid when he was freed from his cage, a hold on him unable to release because he looked at Alexene like it was the first time seeing her in a long time.

And he charged at her.

It looked as if colour filled the undead person because Alexene smiled gracefully and prepared for the collision.

The hybrid ripped Alexene to her feet and spun her around in a twirling embrace.

"You have hardly changed, but the world has." Rexton put her down and placed a slender finger under Alexene's chin in regard.

Alexene looked up at him like he was the apple of her eye, the light of her life against the darkness — the life a vampire was subjected to.

It was plain admiration and loving concern donning her pale face. She missed him.

He smiled, a smile that set Cadence on edge with anger. She didn't want to see him smiling, no fraction of him deserved the chance.

"Listen, happy reunion, happy for the both of you, but the werewolves you told me about. Give us the rundown." Cadence cut to the chase, waving the sweetness away.

Alexene stepped away from the boy and that mask of hers came back up, walling around her. "There were three," she stated.

"And?" Cadence growled out before Lycus could.

"I killed them on the way here."

Cadence blinked, blankly and wildly blinked. Exhaling, she snatched the phone from her pants and checked the time. A breathless laugh left her mouth.

"You called me up at four o'clock in the morning wanting to see your stupid mutt, used leverage to get us out here and — that's it, I'm killing you — I'm killing you!"

Red descended on Cadence, white-hot pain bleeding all over her, painting her sight crimson. A mania of disaster and bitterness tore her from the inside out making her want to scream — lash out at every pestering thing that had dared bother her. Being kidnapped, threatened, choked until she gave in, and fed on like a blood bag until she passed out.

It ripped from the ground up and if it wasn't death calling for her, it was succession for whatever craved to torment Cadence again and again. They would win.

Her eyes scattered to the floor and she found a large stick that could easily be shivved as a dagger.

It snapped, the tie to her soul and mind, it snapped like someone had cut it and Cadence didn't know if she would come back from it.

Grabbing the stick, Cadence went to spear it right toward Alexene's head and levelled it toward her target.

The hybrid stepped in front of Alexene like a shield — as if she would need one as if the bargain she played at it wouldn't come back to haunt her.

The stick was thrown so fast it was blinding and the hybrid caught it swiftly as it came by his shoulder.

He dropped it to the ground and Cadence lunged.

Instantly, she was thrown to the floor.

"Get off me, Lycus!" Cadence roared in his face, not wanting to see him, another person she hated, another person to take a fragment of her life — take her cousin away.

If she never met him, she would have never met Alexene. If she had never accidentally crossed into his territory, her cousin wouldn't be mated to him. If it wasn't for him and Alexene, she wouldn't have been bitten.

"Cadence, you need to stop," Lycus said to her, word for word. He placed his hand on her shoulders, keeping her in place and holding her into the earth as she thrashed around. "You can't go up against a vampire."

"Get off—" Cadence hooked her arm around and punched him square in the nose. He didn't back away from the hit, swaying his head to the side and that only offered her more skin and she clashed her fist into his cheekbone.

He was a wolf in sheep's clothing, his skin hidden with fur that was bulletproof and unyielding. But he bled as Cadence punched him again and again, his blood trickled on her face and with every drop, every string to her soul unbinding, it catered to her anger.

Lycus was shoved away from her and she could finally breathe a little easier enough to get back up and finish this.

Then Accalia came over her, a brighter and stellar light compared to the void of Lycus and it wasn't a sight to behold.

Accalia was fearsome of the person before her, eyes narrowing with concern and it was enough to have Cadence want to black out. Blackout everything from her mind and never connected herself to it again.

"Fuck off, Accalia." Cadence breathed out each word with coldness.

Accalia reeled back, face woeful but she placed a warm hand on Cadence's forehand, faintly caressing.

Cadence turned her head, disgusted by the gesture. "I thought I was trying to save you," Her heart bled out in a woeful cry as did her words, "I thought I was trying to save all of you."

Cadence's eyes welled up with a notion she wasn't used to as Accalia didn't falter her brushes of strokes against her forehead.

"You got hurt trying to help me in a way that can't be undone, those scars ... a war ..." Cadence croaked out, wanting to bury herself in the dirt and never be unearthed.

"I wish you told me everything, that way, we would have dealt with this together," Accalia murmured, waving her fingers through Cadence's and curling their hands together.

I couldn't, Cadence wished to spill out, not with a creature I knew nothing about. A threat unfamiliar to me.

Before Cadence could even grasp the understanding of movement, Accalia lifted her and threw her arms around her. "You can't hurt her, not now, Cadence."

Alexene must be hearing all of this, revelling in it as well as her best friend. How could that be fair? Both have had the pleasure of hurting her, writhing in it and taking a piece of her without remorse.

"I hate her. I hate the hybrid. I hate all of them. It's never going to change and I don't want it to. This hate I have makes me a better hunter." Cadence muffled into Accalia's hair and caught Rexton watching her from afar, a gloominess instilling in his boyish features.

What could he be mopey about? Cadence had yet to lay a finger on Alexene and it wasn't like she would be given the chance.

She looked away from him, swallowing her anger and biting her tongue. Soon.

"It would've been Cole's wolves she killed," Accalia muttered, laying both her hands on Cadence's face. She was trying to see more than what Cadence gave, trying to find what she could salvage from the wasteland of Cadence Larren.

"With silver and sword?" Accalia asked her.

"With blood and silver." Cadence forced out.

Accalia smiled, smoothing Cadence's hair down and just as she turned, Cadence watched as that pretty face of hers fell, something descending upon her.

"You will tell us where the bodies are, then clear out and if you know what's good for you, Alexene, you will never mess with my family again," Accalia said darkly.

"I'm used to threats, Accalia Larren," Alexene remarked and leered at Cadence. "Who do you think invented them?"

"Hunters," Accalia answered for her and wrenched a wooden stake from her boot. "Why do you think we exist?"

Accalia gripped the wooden stake and jabbed it in Lycus's direction. "I understand that you have bad blood with him, but know this, you made hunters your enemy. You made Cadence your enemy, which makes you mine. You will tell us how you came across those werewolves or Lycus can stake you. He'll get to you quicker than I will."

"None one of you will be hurting Alexene," the hybrid spoke, his voice drilling like a siren only made to pester and annoy.

Cadence leered at him, finding him more tolerable when he didn't speak. She wondered why the hold with the hybrid and Alexene was so strong. What tied them together so strongly even after so many years apart?

"She hurt me first," Cadence spat at him. "We consider this payback in our world, hybrid."

He frowned, his apple bobbing up and down when he locked eyes on Cadence. "How did she hurt you?"

"Why do you care? Do yourself a favour and stay out of the way — Alexene, start running that mouth of yours." Cadence ignored him and that dumbfounded expression on his face.

Alexene clucked her tongue and scanned the sky, her nocturnal time slowly fading as the light grew nearer. "After I lost Rexton, I had to wait the day out and then I traced his scent here. Before I crossed the border, I saw three werewolves — all males, one was eating a rabbit while it was still alive but they were keeping an eye on the pack. One of them mentioned it's been a long time coming and then Accalia's name was brought up."

"Go on," Lycus grumbled to the vampire.

"They said something along the lines of a person named Cole should have finished her off, stolen her body and taken it back to their pack. They mentioned Rexton by description, claiming they saw him cross the territory earlier in the day and said he looked like Lycus. I wasn't willing to take any risks, so I killed them."

Lycus wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, a scowl working on his face and fitted Alexene a foul look. "Anything else?"

Alexene raised her brows and said, "Nothing else."

The vampire whirled around, her skin lightening against the reflection of the becoming skies. She spared a grave face to her friend. "The sun is coming up. I have to go, but I will be back to see you."

"By all means, take him with you." Cadence bit out and shrugged when Lycus glared at her.

And the hybrid seemed all the more willing, tracing his footing to Alexene's side to go wherever she went.

"Don't even think about it, Rexton, you're not going anywhere just yet," Lycus commanded lowly.

"But I want to go with her," The hybrid mumbled softly to his brother and froze in his steps.

Lycus shook his head firmly, too rigid and stubborn to let his brother's leash go any further than he wanted. "After I talk to Gabriel, we'll see."

"You're—you're not putting me back, are you?" It was vulnerability slicing through the hybrid's words.

"I won't, but you have to listen to me and Gabriel."

"All right!" The hybrid beamed brightly.

Cadence rolled her eyes, repulsed and turned to Accalia. "Is war happening?"

Accalia gave an uncomfortable nod. "Sooner than we may think."

Fighting against the biting cold with nothing else to be said, Cadence made her way back to the house and ignored the watchful eyes of the hybrid following her every move.

~

Cadence had no chance against Alexene, but when it came to Cadence losing it, I kind of wrote it as a build-up.

You know, when you bottle everything in, keeping your cool and then one day a little thing happens and it sets a person off? I wanted to write that about Cadence and how quickly she's slowly getting more angry and wrathful.

Edited as best as I could.

— Caranyx.