Kai could feel the fresh dew on the grass as he ran through the woods on four legs. He hadn’t experienced running in his wolf form in over ten years and he missed the feeling of the soil and grass between his padded feet. He was a small wolf with amazing speed and even though he was out of practice, he was running on pure instinct. He finally felt free, however he also felt strange. He still couldn’t hear his inner wolf speaking to him.

The trees flew past him as he kept running. He didn’t know why he was running or where he was running to but he seemingly couldn’t stop. That was until he smelled something sweat in the air. Instantly his body craved the scent and before he could even think he started to run towards the scent. 

Suddenly, he broke from the tree line and into a large field. Looking around he instantly recognized it as the pack’s training fields. The scent grew stronger in the Omega’s nose. It smelled like apples and cinnamon. It was then on the other side of the field that Kai saw a large blonde wolf staring at him. He couldn’t help but get excited as his legs carried  him further towards the other wolf.

When Kai got to the middle of the field, the blonde wolf turned and ran into the woods behind him. Kai grew nervous and frantically started running to where the larger wolf disappeared. Following the scent, he ran faster and faster trying to catch up but it always seemed like he was just out of reach of the other wolf.

Still running, Kai started to whine. He couldn’t catch up. The scent grew fainter and fainter until it seemed to completely disappear.

“Kai?” 

When he heard his name he immediately stopped running and started scanning the woods around him. He couldn’t see anything.

“Kai?”

“Kai?”

“Kai?”

The voice kept repeating as if it was all around him. Kai frantically kept looking around him to see where it was coming from but he was never able to actually find the source.

“KAI?”

“KAI?

“KAI?”

The voice grew louder and louder. Suddenly, Kai wasn’t in his wolf form anymore and he found himself in his father’s room standing over the bed. It took a minute until he was able to focus on the man in front of him, who was sitting up and calling out to him frantically. It was Alex.

“Kai, can you hear me?” The Alpha said. His voice was laced with worry.

“Wojciech?” Kai said before a bout of nausea took over him and he passed out.

***

The next time Kai woke up he was alone in his father’s bed. He groaned aloud as he sat up. He sat there for a while rubbing his eyes until he heard rustling in the kitchen. He slowly got up and walked towards the door and was immediately hit with the delicious smell of food as soon as he opened the door. As he walked into the living room and looked into the kitchen he could see Alex cooking something on the stove.

“Good morning?” 

“Oh, you're up. Sorry to intrude, but I thought you might want breakfast so I was making some.” Alex said, turning towards Kai to greet him.

“I feel like crap… What happened? Why did I wake up in my father’s room?”

“Honestly, I am not sure what happened. I woke up in the middle of the night and you were standing over me, staring at me. When I called out to you, you suddenly said my name and then passed out.” Alex said before giving it a second thought, “actually you called out to my wolf.”

“Your wolf?” 

“Yeah, also Kai… your eyes were blue.”

Kai was shocked for a second and instantly remembered when he passed out before the trials. He had seen himself with blue eyes in the mirror and heard his wolf call out to him. He thought he was imagining things at the time, but Alex saw the same blue eyes.

“Zifa.” He whispered.

“Your wolf? But I thought you couldn’t shift since you became a rogue.”

Kai suddenly became angry and he glared at the Alpha. His now red eyes making the glare even more menacing. It was then he realized the gravity of the situation he was in and how much he had let his guard down with the Alpha in front of him. He had to remember that at the end of the day, he wasn’t a part of this pack anymore. In the pack's eyes, he was just a rogue who happened to be helpful.

“Yes Alpha. I’m not hungry. Don’t we have training to do or something?” Kai asked, but before Alex could answer the Omega had already walked into his room and shut the door. Alex knew he messed up somehow but he wasn’t quite sure how.

***

Kai and Alex were now standing in the front of the room of one of the pack’s meeting rooms. Alex had called all of his best warriors to come to the meeting room to listen in on a presentation about vampires. The meeting hadn’t started yet, but the room was thick with hostility. Several of the warriors were not fans of rogues and having one on their pack lands was making them anxious and upset. Most of them were glaring at the Omega that was standing in front of them.

They hadn’t talked to each other since the incident at the house, but now Alex could feel the anxiety that was wafting off of the Omega and automatically grew protective of him.

“Everyone needs to calm down! Kai is here to help and every single one of you will listen to what he has to say without any complaints. Is that understood?”

The entire room was silent.

“I said, is that understood?” Alex’s voice got deeper and louder. The anger in his voice dripped like venom.

“Yes Alpha,” the entire room said in unison, finally rendered into submission by the Alpha’s demand.

“Good, now we can get started. Kai, please start.”

“So vampires are horde hunters that typically stay in large packs similar to shifters. The difference is that they are more hive oriented where a single individual acts as the leader. That leader is above all and is the most important individual to the hive. They are typically called a King or a Queen.”

“So what?” A warrior in the back said with a snarky attitude.

“I don’t think you guys know what you are up against here. Nikolai isn’t just a King of a hive of vampires. He is a legacy vampire. He has been around since this world was created. Older than this pack. Not only that but he has certain attributes that make him stronger than normal vampires.”

Alex glanced at Kai quickly, “what do you mean?”

“Vampires are quite similar to shifters in that they can garner certain strengths from connections that they form with other beings. Drinking blood is just part of it, but there are more connections that can be made that give a vampire strengths. Nikolai for example was born from a witch and therefore he has natural abilities pertaining to the earth. Similarly to what a witch has.”

“So what? He’s just a juiced up vampire.” The same warrior responded. 

Kai just sighed before asking, “does anyone here actually know how to kill a vampire?”

“Yeah, you just shove a wooden stake into their hearts.”

Kai laughed and shook his head before answering his own question, “sure a stake in the heart might kill a normal vampire. Hell anything will kill a normal vampire. Chop off their head and they will die. Hit a major vein or organ and they will die. It’s easy to kill a vampire. What’s hard is killing a King Vampire. You need specialized weapons made of specialized materials to even harm them, but to kill them is even more of a task. It’s a ritual. Their head needs to be severed from their body and their heart needs to be ripped from their chest. Their body needs to be burned, their heart frozen, and their head needs to be buried. Even then sometimes they come back.”

“How do you even know this? You're just some rogue omega?” The warrior in the back said, malice laced in his voice. Before Kai could even say anything, Alex was already across the room. His hand around the warriors neck.

“I swear if I hear another word leave your mouth Issac, vampires and rogues will be the least of your worries. Nod if you understand.”

Issac stared at the Alpha with a look of defiance. Alex stared back before tightening his grip and finally the warrior gave a curt nod. The alpha finally released his grip before turning around and walking back to the front of the room.

“Continue”

“Yes I am a rogue. Yes I am an omega. Congratulations on pointing out the obvious. I am also a Golden Arrow. You all have trained your entire lives to protect lives. I have trained to kill lives. I’ve killed spirits. I’ve killed fairies. Hell, I even killed a demon once. With that being said, I’ve also killed a King Vampire before. I know what I am doing. If any of you have a problem with me being here, feel free to test me. I am sure Tasha and the Alpha can give you some pointers on what not to do.”

At that Tasha couldn’t help but laugh, “fuck you Kai! You know I almost beat your ass. Kyle even had to help you off the field.”

“Whatever you say Tasha.” Kai said with a small wink. Luckily their little banter calmed the room a bit. Although Alex was the Alpha, Tasha was well respected by the other warriors. She trained with them everyday. If she was okay with having the rogue there then they should be okay with it as well.

“Anyways, like I was saying before. Nikolai is one of the strongest, if not the strongest vampires alive. He is not going to be easy to kill but once we do, most likely the other vampires will retreat. We take him out and we are in the clear. Luckily for the pack, taking out the leader is my job.”

“Wait, wait, wait…. What?” Alex responded. Before Kai continued talking he just gave the Alpha a look that instantly quieted him down.

“I just need you guys to prepare for killing normal vampires, which as I have mentioned is quite easy. I have already gone over basic training with Tasha and Kyle and they will be leading the rest of your physical training to prepare you.”

“But what if we get bit?” One of the warriors in the front asked.

“The rumors aren’t true. A bite from a regular vampire won’t turn you into a vampire. Only a King or Queen Vampire can turn people into vampires. However, normal vampire bites do have a toxin that can subdue you. It will paralyze you for a few hours, but vampires reserve their toxins for prey. It’s not really the teeth you have to worry about, but rather the claws that rip skin to shreds.”

After a long while going over some details about combat with vampires, the meeting ended. Kai was exhausted. His social battery was not used to talking this much with other people so formally. However, he knew that he still had to have a conversation with Alex and Kyle. Alex had already left the meeting room to go back to his office, so Kai walked over to the Beta and got his attention.

“I need to talk to you and Alex before going home.”

“Okay, follow me,” Kyle said, starting to walk out of the meeting room before turning towards the Omega. “I am sorry about Issac. He is a little frustrated. Both his parents died during the rogue attack.”

“I understand. Honestly, I wish Alex didn’t go so hard on him. He looks young.”

“He is. He was only ten when the war broke out. Both of his parents were warriors who served the late Alpha. They died protecting the pack house.”

“It’s a shame. He shouldn’t have had to go through that. I don’t want him anywhere near the battle Kyle.”

“Why? He is a good warrior.”

“Kids should be kids. What is he? Seventeen now? He reminded me of me when I was his age. He should be excited about meeting his mate and living life, not some war between assholes.”

“You of all people should know that growing up is a part of life. That’s what he is doing, growing up.”

At that they had reached the doors to the Alpha’s office. Kai just let out a sigh before walking in unannounced.

“Who is… oh it's you. What’s up? Maybe knock next time?”

“Alex, I am too tired to banter,” Kai said, walking over to the Alpha’s desk and sitting down in one of the chairs. 

“Okay, what’s up?”

“We are leaving the pack tomorrow. Kyle, you, and I.”

“What for?”

“I have to go visit an old friend.” Kai said, curling up into the chair and instantly falling asleep.

QOTC: There are a lot of absolutely wonderful vampires in the world! Who is your favorite? Furthermore, what is your favorite vampire lore? Do you like the disco ball that is Edward Cullen? Or the killer child that is Claudia?