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Cries to the moon

Sins of the father

The move was awkwardly silent. For a pack of wolves this move was too quiet as they bounded through the forest towards Ruby's destination. Even Ruby herself wouldn't have expected her brother to have had the forethought he had shown not hours earlier. Still Ruby couldn't help but wonder why Robert didn't just come with them. Her mind slowly turned before clicking in place. As the idea fell into place and played out in her mind, she couldn't help wonder just how foolish her little brother was.

Robert, meanwhile, was leading a small pack of six to the den they had left behind. He jumped into the Den first followed by a white wolf, two grey wolves, and a grey and black wolf. Each began sniffing the floor intently as Robert reverted in the middle of the room. As Robert stood there the white wolf snarled and reverted behind him.

He was a young man, no older than eighteen and very fit. He wore only shorts and his long, wet, black hair gave him a feral look as he glared at Robert. Robert turned to face him and frowned. "What is it Michael?" he asked already knowing the answer. "You were here." He began. "Judging by how closely your scent mingles with this male's scent you stayed to chat." Michael replied taking a step forward. In the pale light of the lanterns Robert could see the teen well and could read exactly what those blue eyes of his were seeing.

Behind Michael all of the other wolves had formed a wall blocking Robert off from the door. "You think I let them escape?" Robert asked scoffing afterwards. "Don't get ahead of yourself Michael." He said turning away from Michael for a split second. Michael wasted no time shifting back to his wolf form and tackling Robert. The others sat idle while Michael smacked Robert around before tossing him into the wall.

Robert was unable to lift a finger against Michael as he was thrown like a ragdoll around the room until he was too bloody to move. After all was said and done Michael reverted standing over Robert and smiling. "I've been waiting for this day. I'm taking my father's clan back." Robert chuckled on the floor of the cave weakly. "Such a pup, you had to strike while my back was turned to win." Robert murmured before coughing blood.

Michael bent low to the ground and whispered to Robert in a teasing tone. "Don't you die, Robert." He whispered. "I'm going to find your precious Daniel for you. And then I'm going to take his life right in front of you." He said standing and walking back to the door. Robert watched as Michael's blurred figure walked from the cave followed by the others. As his consciousness drifted from him he heard Michael howling just outside the cave. Robert's plan had, once more, gone without a hitch. With that thought in his mind he simply let go, drifting into the black abyss of his crashing mind.

In his thoughts he remembered that night clearly. He remembered coming home to an unfamiliar scent and the smell of blood in his house. He dropped his coat onto the couch in time to see a white tail disappearing from the kitchen's back door. All too clearly he knew what had happened as he rounded the corner and ran up the stairs to his son's room. Daniel, three at the time, sat in a playpen just feet away from Julia's body. He remembered the questioning look Daniel gave him as his father picked him up and carried him from the room.

The authorities arrived soon thereafter and ruled it a freak animal attack. Robert, however, knew better. That night, after leaving Daniel with Ruby, he tracked the werewolf from his house back to a rival den. The wolf he tracked specifically was the leader of this pack. He even recalled the slightest scent of Julia's blood from the den. Had it been any other wolf Robert was sure he'd have charged in and slaughtered them but Robert knew better than to attack a leader.

Instead Robert left, he ran back to Ruby and her pack and begged her for her help. It was the last time they would see each other for years. After several minutes of flaring tempers, Robert, in his rage, disowned Ruby and told her to leave. Why? Even now, after all those pained years, he wished he could take what he said back. As he lay there broken and battered, with his own blood beginning to pool around him, he wished that night never happened. Ruby had gathered Dawn and Sam and simply left.

Robert, meanwhile, dedicated his time to stalking and waiting in the shadow's while Daniel continued his schooling. Until the day he caught the leader alone. A cold, autumn day he remembered well. His prey was walking, blissfully unaware of Robert's presence. The perfect moment came upon him. The siren call he had waited for drove him to his edge and past as he leaped out, charging his prey. Minutes dragged into hours as he remembered the fight. Halfway in he took a vicious swipe from his opponent's right paw, which gouged deeply under his eye.

His opponent lunged in desperation tackling him to the ground. And then it happened, the slip up he needed a temporary lax in his opponent's hold. His head came up and in one swift bite he crushed the other werewolf's throat. Their fight had not gone unheard and as Robert pushed the massive white wolf off of him he was surrounded by the clan he had led. He was offered two choices. The first was to live as their new leader, the second, death. Robert, knowing he had to protect Daniel, chose to act as their leader. He sighed as reality came drifting back.

The sun illuminated the cave to a painfully searing sight in Robert's concussed eyes. He had been unconscious for a day, maybe longer, as he pulled himself up. His side burned painfully with every breath and he knew he had broken a few ribs as well as split his head open. However injured he was his next move had to come into play now. His reversion was made all the more painful as his ribs reset themselves and solidified again. He walked to the door of the cave before whispering; "I'm sorry Julia."

Robert looked off into the hillside towards the den in which he laid his wife to rest. The damp ground clouded the scent but he began picking up a few scents familiar to him in the direction of the safe house. Nestled deep in a valley in the mountains where he could be sure there was no accidental discovery he had plotted out and bought a few acres of land and built a small but live-able house there years ago. It didn't have to be much it just had to be safe. Knowing that was where Ruby had taken him Robert spent little time waiting and tore down the hillside towards their scent.

At his destination Daniel's condition began to pass with the sun rising and he slept through most of the day. While awake he ate what little he could stomach then went back to bed. The night's events had been entirely too much for him. To top this all off he had found his mother's grave in his panic during the new moon. Justin even seemed distant to him now which added to the pressures of everyday life.

The twins and Shane were in a nearby town for the day shopping. Ruby, meanwhile, continued trying to get Daniel to eat, knowing all too well what he was going through. Finally at three in the afternoon the silence was broken when Justin came in and sat on a bed with him. The cozy little shack was built as you would find a shelter. It had roughly eight rooms and was built literally into the hillside. It had four bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a family room.

Justin looked on edge. He seemed barely able to look at Daniel much less speak. "I, I was wondering," he began, he stammered through his thoughts for a second before Daniel lightly placed his hand on Justin's. Justin sighed and laid down facing Daniel. "How much of what your dad said did you understand?" Justin asked. "All of it." Daniel replied placing an arm around Justin's shoulder. He pulled Justin in close hugging him tightly as tears began to roll down Justin's face.

"I'm sorry Daniel." He whispered burying his face in Daniel's chest. The pair laid on the bed in silence for a few minutes before Daniel spoke again. "Justin, it's not your fault." He whispered. Justin began to protest but Daniel cut him off again. "Did you do it?" he asked. Justin simply shook his head. "Then it's not your fault." Daniel said with an air of finality. For several long minutes the two sat in silence before Ruby appeared in the doorway with another tray of food. Justin took the hint from her glare and made his way out of the room as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"You know, kiddo, you and the mutt make a cute couple." She said smiling teasingly. Daniel's eyes widened as he stammered some combination of embarrassment and denial. Ruby laughed and set the tray on a nightstand nearby. "Relax I'm just teasing kid." She said standing and turning towards the door. She took the door's knob in her hand and shut it. "Danny I need you to know something." She said her tone dropping again. With a sigh she continued and walked back towards Daniel.

"My little brother is an idiot sometime but he thought through everything we've gone through." Daniel looked at her questioningly as she continued. "There is a bank account he set up for you with about four hundred thousand dollars." Daniel's eyes went wide as she rattled off the number. "This house was also set up by him years ago. He has been planning to spirit you away long before I thought of it." The gears in Daniel's mind began turning as he put the trips and hunting together before they stopped suddenly. The man he had been trying to despise for a while now had set him up.

He knew his father would have told Daniel to leave after the new moon and would have told him to come here. Daniel, at the time, would have happily obliged and with the money in front of him would never have looked back. Daniel sat up in his bed and looked to her. "He's in trouble isn't he?" Daniel asked as Ruby nodded. "Most likely he'll be killed." Ruby stated coldly. Ruby looked into Daniel's eyes and whispered again.

"You're not leaving this house kid." Daniel glared at her and pulled the blanket he had draped over him off. "If you leave you'll be killed so just relax." Ruby opened the door behind her side stepping Justin as he fell into the room. "Mutt, make sure he eats." She muttered as she passed. Justin walked to Daniel's bed trying not to laugh. Daniel hugged Justin tightly again refusing to let go. Justin picked Daniel up and climbed onto the bed setting him down next to him.

Ruby opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch to be greeted by Shane and the twins bringing in supplies. Justin and Daniel meanwhile remained intertwined on Daniel's bed. Their conversation drifted into a subtle remembrance of the normalcy they once knew. Girls they would have dated, relationships that could have happened. Favorite teachers and hated subjects drifted through their heads as the rest of the pack brought in bags of canned goods and bedding materials from a red pickup truck they had found on the property.

Night fell quickly and found Daniel and Justin asleep in their room. They lay strewn across Daniel's bed snoring. The twins had taken a similar idea to their room where the sat on the floor playing cards. Shane took to cleaning a set of shotguns he had found in the pantry of the kitchen and Ruby laid, sprawled out, on a sofa in the family room. It was a peaceful night to say the least until Ruby sat bolt upright on the couch and ran to the door. Shane stood and cocked one of the shotguns walking up behind her. Daniel and Justin picked up on the movement with the twins and peeked their heads out of their respective rooms to watch.

Ruby opened the door and stepped outside to see a large black wolf limping towards them. With a sigh she began walking towards him while Shane signaled for Daniel to come from his room. Daniel, not knowing what to expect, crept from his room until he got to the door. In an instant he recognized the burly, scarred wolf and ran from the house to meet him and Ruby. As Ruby neared, however, Robert whined and then collapsed onto the grassy ground. Daniel's blood ran cold once more as Ruby yelled for Shane who came rushing to her side. After several arduous minutes Robert was brought into the empty bedroom that had been Justin's and was laid on the bed while Ruby carefully dabbed the blood from his matted fur. Daniel sat in the corner hugging Justin to him, on the verge of another breakdown as Ruby assessed Robert's injuries. After nearly an hour Robert opened his eyes and reverted, laying on the bed in bloody, sweat stained rags which were the remnants of his clothes. He managed to say only one word before he passed out once more. "Michael." He whispered as Ruby packed gauze to his bleeding head.