Thread: The Perfect Mate (ldelgado1986 & Rage)

The forest outside of the small town of Sapphire Falls was restless that night. The animals scattered to get away from them as they way through the thick trees, communicating with growls and grunts to keep track of each other. In these woods, they were the most feared predators, but they were much more than that. They were the guardians and protectors of not only the forest, but the town as well. They were nothing more than a legend to most, whispered about as if speaking of them aloud would cause them to come storming from the trees to sweep the offending party away in a flurry of teeth and claws. The people had many names for them, such as 'Wild Ones' or 'Forest Spirits'. They had their own name for themselves, though The Pack. Few people had ever laid eyes on them, and of those, fewer had lived to tell the tale. As a general rule, they didn't hunt humans, but any person who threatened the balance of nature within their territory soon learned the error of such a course. More than one developer had tried to buy out the woodlands to build some atrocity, be it a shopping mall or suburbs, but all had been ran from the territory or outright disappeared. The Pack didn't take kindly to trespass, and the people of Sapphire Falls didn't need shopping malls and factories. It wasn't that the town didn't have modern amenities. It did, but most of the citizens were content with driving an hour into one of the larger towns for some needs rather than ruining the tranquility of their community and the beauty of nature that surrounded them. Sapphire Falls had all any town needed, really. It had a few shops, a couple of restaurants, and even a movie theater. Around the main part of town were scattered residential areas, and the entire town's population was probably only about a thousand people or so. Most of these people knew each other, and many were related to one another in some form. The town consisted of several families that had led a peaceful co-existence for as long as anyone could remember, first and foremost of these was the original founding family, the MacLeods. Originally a quite secret clan, the MacLeods had immigrated from Scotland to settle the land. After time, they had brought in others from their homeland that they had held longstanding ties to, and eventually several families populated the area, and it had been that way since. It was rare that an outsider moved into the town and remained for long, though there were exceptions to these rules, as many married outsiders to carry on their family names without weakening the integrity of the other families and causing their numbers to dwindle, therefore each family always had a strong presence in the town. And then, of course, there were also those rare outsiders who simply took up residence in the small settlement and simply remained, accepted as part of the community as long as there were no plans for tearing down their beloved forest for the sake of 'progress'. The Pack had also been around as long as anyone could remember. The original members of the MacLeod clan and the other families that had settled the area knew full well of them, since it was made up of certain 'chosen ones' of each clan that had been 'touched' or 'gifted' by the spirits of nature. As time passed, though, it became so that only the elders of each clan knew the secret, and these days there weren't many left. Each member of each clan was born with the gift, but it was only awakened in those that had been chosen. Each member of the pack would choose a successor when his days were close to an end, and awaken the gift with a bite. Only those who carried the gene would ever go through the change, and anyone not of one of the founding clans could not be turned. The members of The Pack rarely ever took human form once the gift was awakened, their ties to society slowly fading as the instincts took over. Often they roamed the forest as wolves, and rarely ever took their 'War Forms', a hybrid of wolf and man. The War Form was usually reserved for special cases and celebrations, as it was little more than a giant, furry engine of mass destruction. It was the preferred form for hunting human prey, though it was a rare occasion since they only hunted humans who threatened their territory and their families. The fact was, if one of them were to take human form and wander into town, the residents would probably not recognize them, since it was so rare for them to do so, and they were usually chosen at a young age to join The Pack. This night was special, though. This night a new Alpha had been crowned, and they wanted to celebrate. As they reached the edge of the forest, looking at the residents of the town, they looked at each other, dropping the bags they had carried on the ground before their forms shrank, the wolf-like features of the hybrids disappearing to be replaced with human characteristics. Soon, where four wolf-men and a she wolf had stood, there now stood four human men and one woman. Opening the bags they had brought, they began to dig the clothes out that had been packed in them, and within minutes the men were dressed and headed into town. The first stop for them was the only bar in the small settlement, and they were all quite thirsty. Meeting the gazes of curious passers-by as they strolled down the street, they offered polite nods, and even smiles to people as they made their way to their destination. There were some older citizens who seemed to look upon some of them with recognition combined with disbelief, as if something wasn't quite right, and they were correct in their assumptions, since not a single member of the group looked to be older than twenty-five, yet some were well into their forties by that point. It was simply another aspect of their gift. Once it was awakened, the aging process slowed dramatically, granting them quite long lifespans. Finally arriving at the bar, they looked at each other for a moment before their leader, a man with long, thick, dark brown hair and intense blue eyes that accented a handsome face with a strong jaw that displayed a bit of stubble, gave a nod. He wasn't overly large, but was far from a small man, standing at six feet, or probably a couple of inches taller. His body was of a frame between medium and large, but even under the leather jacket he wore it was obvious that his build was solid, as were the builds of all who accompanied him. His boot cut denim jeans hugged his thighs, showing off their muscular shape and his black leather dingos clomped on the ground as he stepped forward, pushing the doors to the bar open. Bartender, he called out in a surprisingly smooth, yet somewhat deep voice. Line up some shots of your best tequila! I'm in the mood to celebrate! Soon the shots were poured as the five companions lined up at the bar, each one tossing them back before the leader laid a hundred dollar bill down. Since they never really had to spend money, that which they took from the bodies of their adversaries had a tendency to pile up, so they always had plenty to spend for these little escapades. Keep 'em coming, the leader said as the bartender went about refilling their glasses, the eyes of the Alpha scanning the room briefly to see if he could find anything of interest while the group laughed and drank and carried on with each other jovially.