A sea of blackness surrounded him, as Kyle felt himself drift in and out of consciousness. He could barely form a coherent thought and his sluggish mind failed to keep track of his surroundings. He only distantly felt himself being moved from one place to another, with no sense of how much time had passed. 

Kyle heard tiny bits of conversation being passed between his captors, and one word stuck out to him, Brighthaven, that was the name of the city. He knew then that he was probably not too far off from where he had been captured.

One thing he had picked up on was the change in the scent of vampires around him. The vampires that had captured him had the scent of rot and dirt he associated with lower tier vampire goons. However, the vampires they had passed him on to, had the full bodied, rich scent he knew belonged to the pure blooded founding families. 

Kyle knew that the situation had just gone from bad to worse, as the power of the founding family vampires made the vampires he fought earlier look like child's play. These vampires possessed a pure unadulterated strength, gained from serving an Elder that had power that was centuries strong.

His mind muddied again and he was barely holding on to his senses, as he felt himself being roughly carried down a narrow staircase. His head bumped against the wall, but the vampires paid it no mind as they harshly moved his body along. It took everything in him to try and stay conscious, but the witch's spell was too strong and everything faded to black once again.

Freezing cold water splashed over his face and Kyle awoke, his body jerking against chains that were binding him. He grimaced in pain as it burned his skin. Looking down, he saw that his wrists and ankles were bound in thick silver shackles that were fastened to the ground on a short length of chain. 

He must've shifted back into his human form while unconscious, and someone had put his sweatpants on him. Kyle's top half was left uncovered and the cut he had gotten from the silver dagger was garishly red against the tan surface of his skin. It was still bleeding, although at a much slower pace now, the blood trickling over the parts that had already coagulated.

A tall vampire stood over him, and Kyle felt his blood run cold at the pure power exuding from him. He wore a perfectly tailored, dark green, three piece suit that hugged his tall, lithe frame and enhanced his natural beauty. His feet were covered in polished dress shoes that shined brightly even in the low light, and seemed so out of place on the cracked cement floor. Even without looking at his aged face, Kyle could tell that the vampire that stood before him wasn't just anyone.

He was an Elder.

“You.” The Elder said, his bright red eyes dripping malice as his sharp canines glowed menacingly in the low light, “What are you called?”

“Kyle.” He answered, everything in him telling him to obey.

The Elder nodded, his long platinum blond hair gently swishing along with the motion. The Elder looked to be in his early forties, but Kyle knew his handsome face belied his age, and that he was well over centuries old. Much older and stronger than the vampires he had fought before getting captured. The Elder possessed a calm, graceful beauty that made him seem almost statuesque as he stood towering over Kyle.

“Well, Kyle.” The Elder said, with a voice as smooth as honey, as if he were just greeting an old friend. “I am Heinrich. The Elder of this family.”

Kyle nodded, barely able to form any words over the massive lump in his throat. The wound at his side throbbed, a loud beat that rattled through his skull, and sent his brain shaking to its rhythm. Kyle could barely focus on anything besides the pain, and coupled with the silver shackles that burned against his skin, it took everything in him to stay conscious.

“This is what is going to happen.” Heinrich said, clasping his arms behind his back, “Soon my son will come down here and drink your blood.”

“He will suck you dry, and if you put up a fight or if he doesn't follow through with it, I will find your pack and kill each and every last one of them.”

“Even the pups. I will take my sweet time killing them.”

Kyle snarled, and wrestled against his chains, pure rage running through his blood that seemed to mask the pain in his side.

“Don't you dare f*cking touch them!” He shouted, swearing as the silver bit into his skin.

“I won't need to, not if you comply.” Heinrich smiled adoringly, as if looking down at a child.

“Let me go right now!” Kyle growled, thrashing against his chains, barely having enough strength to lift his arms but still struggling as hard as he could.

The witch's spell had lasting effects, and combined with the silver shackles, and the deep cut in his side, resulted in Kyle feeling weaker than he had ever felt in his entire life. Horror took hold of him at the thought of being so helpless in the face of someone who was threatening the wellbeing of his pack.

“Hmm,” Heinrich rubbed his chin, as if in thought, “If I do that, then where will I find another delicious meal for my son?” 

“I will kill you.” Kyle swore, spitting at the vampires feet.

Heinrich laughed, the sound full and loud as it echoed around the room, “Oh, a little dog like you could never touch a hair on my body.”

His graceful face was lit up with amusement as he stared down at the werewolf. The Elder possessed a certain confidence that made his words seem more fact than anything else. If he said that Kyle would never be able to harm him, then it was so.

“If it's the last thing I do, I will slaughter you.” Kyle promised, glaring up at Heinrich.

The amusement disappeared from his face as Heinrich stepped forward, wound his arm back, and slapped Kyle hard across the face with the back of his hand. The blow sent Kyle lurching to the side, and the Elder picked him up and slapped him again. Harder. Blood pooled in Kyle's mouth as his head rocked to the side, and he gritted his teeth, glaring at the vampire looming over him.

Heinrich then reached out with one of his long, sharp nails, and dug into Kyle's open wound. Kyle let out a scream as excruciating pain seared through his body, and he nearly lost consciousness again. White spots danced across his vision and he gritted his teeth, trying to push past the blinding sensation. The Elder laughed and removed his nail, licking the blood and tissue on it.

“Mhm, quite good. Worth every penny.” Heinrich said, before dusting off his knees and straightening.

Kyle bared his teeth at the Elder, and vowed to rip his face off as soon as the chance presented itself. He struggled at the chains once again but it was useless. The chain barely had any slack and he couldn't reach anything, let alone the vampire standing a safe distance away. 

Even if he did manage to get free, Kyle highly doubted he would be able to win against Heinrich. Not to mention the swarm of vampires he could faintly sense two floors up on the ground floor. As all vampires had once been human, they tended to be slower, smaller and weaker than werewolves. Which is why when they attacked werewolves, they did it in massive swarms so as to overpower them with numbers to make up for what they lacked in strength. 

However this meant nothing to Kyle, who was still suffering from the witch's spell and the huge cut on his side. There was also the fact that founding family swarms tended to be stronger the closer they were to the highly powerful Elder. And the Elder himself was in a whole other league of strength compared to the average vampire.

He knew he needed to be smarter if he wanted to escape, and so he tried to gain as much information as he could that might help him when he planned his escape.

“Where are my packmates?” Kyle asked, blood dripping down his chin, “Your vampires captured them yesterday, did your son eat them too?”

“Packmates?” Heinrich asked, confusion playing across his beautiful face, “Wait... do you mean those half breeds? Ha! Why would I feed that to my son?”

Kyle snarled at the Elder even as relief filled his chest, good they're still alive. 

His whole face was in pain, as the vampire had hit him so hard it's a wonder his jaw didn't dislodge. The open wound on his side was throbbing painfully with each breath he took, and Kyle found it hard to focus.

Breath. Throb. Breath. Throb. Breath. ThrobTHROBTHROB.

The werewolf was just barely able to push past it enough to speak. Knowing that with his pack relying on him, with Robyn and Anastasia relying on him, that something like this should never be allowed to hold him back. Not if he ever wanted to see them again.

“Then, are they also trapped down here?” Kyle asked.

“No,” Heinrich waved a hand dismissively, “Those things stayed with the wolfcatchers who caught them. They probably got sold to someone else, you're the only one I bought.”

Kyle felt his mind reeling as he tried to make sense of what the Elder had said. Wolfcatchers, he remembered vaguely hearing about them. Gangs of low tier vampires, who made money by capturing and selling werewolves to the highest bidder. 

He knew that they usually targeted rogue werewolves who didn't have a pack to defend them and were thus easy targets. It seemed that the wolfcatchers who caught him and his packmates were stronger and more organised than others. Given the fact that they were bold enough to attack a pair of werewolves at once, told him that they were either completely confident in their strength or completely foolish.

They even have a powerful witch working with them, Kyle thought, they knew they would be able to take on anyone they wanted and win.

It was plainly clear that regardless of how hard Anastasia worked towards her spells or potions, she would never be able to match the power and magic of a full blooded witch. Being half werewolf had given her the advantage of enhanced natural senses and strength, but it had also limited the amount of magic she could wield. It was like a double edged sword, one that had finally cut her too deep.

Heinrich turned away from him and Kyle finally took note of the vampire standing at his side. He had been so preoccupied with the Elder before him, that he had paid no mind to the two other vampires in the room. One next to the Elder and one at the bottom of a staircase that led up to a door. Both of the other vampires were dressed simply in pressed white shirts and black trousers, their feet covered in loafers. 

Kyle looked around the room and noticed that he was in some kind of underground dungeon. The stone walls were bare and there was a musty, earthy scent in the damp air. The room was empty with no structures inside but the staircase at the end. There were a few crushed cinder blocks and other debris in one corner, but besides that the room was quite bare. 

He could barely sense anything past the thick stone walls of the dungeon, just the extremely faint sounds of the occasional outburst as the vampires on the ground floor traipsed about. He figured that they must be quite deep underground for his senses to be dulled this much by the stone. Kyle slightly moved against the cold wet cement beneath him, his body still dripping from the water they had thrown at him.

If it weren't for his werewolf blood that naturally ran quite hot, he would have long being shivering from the cold. The vampires themselves seemed to be freezing, their teeth chattering together as they shivered from the cold dungeon air slicing through them. Kyle figured they had thrown him with icy cold water in hopes that it would make him uncomfortable too, but they had underestimated his natural affinity to the cold. Wolves were creatures of the snow after all.

Being undead isn't about to save them from feeling the miserable cold air, Kyle thought, stupid humans who thought that dying was a way to live again.

“Arran,” Heinrich said to the vampire at his side, “Go fetch my son.”

Arran nodded, the tall, dark skinned vampire glaring down at Kyle with his deep red eyes, before turning and leaving out the door at the top of the staircase. As he walked past him, the Elder clasped his hand tight, and it seemed to Kyle that there was something between the two of them. He scowled at the thought, not wanting to think of love at the moment.

Heinrich stood smiling down at Kyle, and he felt himself squirming under the bright red stare of the Elder.

“You look quite young,” Heinrich said. “How could your pack leader send you all the way out here by yourself?”

“I am the pack leader.” Kyle sneered, wanting nothing more than to rip that stupid smile off the Elders face.

“Oh? Really?” Heinrich took a step back and cocked his head, “But you're not an alpha, right? I can't smell it on you.”

Despite himself, embarrassment flushed his tan face and Kyle turned away, “No, I'm not an alpha.”

He wanted to respond in a different way, to show this condescending vampire his full strength, but he felt way too weak and tired. The silver shackles were sending waves of pain burning through his body that had him feeling nauseous, and the cut in his side was throbbing painfully, to the point where he could barely think of anything else. 

Kyle wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and sleep for days on end. He suddenly felt himself yearning for Steven's touch, and even though he could barely stand the heartbreak tearing his soul apart, Kyle just wanted to be held again. 

The vampire Elder suddenly moved closer, his dress shoes scuffing against the cement.

“Oh? What was that?” Heinrich said, sniffing the air around Kyle. “Your pain smells so good.”

“Honestly,” The vampire grinned, “You smell so delicious.”

Kyle frowned and resisted the urge he felt to spit at the Elders feet again. Just then, the door at the top of the stairs swung open and Arran entered, gesturing at the figure outside to enter. Kyle could clearly see that Arran had a distinct dislike for whoever it was. The werewolf frowned, wondering why Heinrich kept Arran around when he showed such a visible hatred for his son.

The door opened wider and the most beautiful person Kyle had ever seen walked into the room.

And the world stood still.