Strange Love

Giorgos and Rin both stood in wide-eyed shock at the new scene in front of them. "Holy shit... I..." Rin muttered.

"Wasn't expecting that? Yeah man, me either, and I'm a wolf..." Giorgos replied. His eyes moved over to Rin. "Um.... you think you could poof me some clothes over?"

Rin didn't pull his stunned eyes from the wolves as they shredded what was left of Fern's body as he snapped his fingers. He held his hand out to Giorgos without looking away. "What about you?" He asked as the bear made its way to their side.

Ry shifted sending Rin a shrug. "I mean, if there wasn't a bunch of man-hating... man-eating, blood-thirsty chicks out here probably not... but..." His eyes moved back to the girls. "I don't want to risk getting something bit off if I happen to offend, ya know."

"Heard..." Rin snapped his fingers again producing Ry's clothes.

Ry lifted his phone to his ear as he tugged his pants on not bothering with his shirt. "Dad, we need you, bring some of the enforcers with you. We'll need a clean-up crew." He hung up without waiting for a reply as he walked over to Russ who was staring at the others in a mixture of horror and raw curiosity. "It's over, man. Call them off."

Russ nodded as he threw back his head and let out a loud howl. "Um... I don't think they're listening..."

Ry nodded. "Bloodlust... Follow me, keep partially shifted. You'll need the strength."

Ry and Russ moved through the ravenous girls cautiously. "Listen, girls, we have supplies waiting for you back at the palace. There's no need for this. We need these bodies for identification. The council will demand it."

"I doubt they give a shit about the council..." Russ growled as the smell of the blood did something to the beast causing it to be harder to hold back. He caught Ry's hand. "I... I think I know what they're going through... this is going to be harder than planned..."

Ry arched his brow at the clawed hand gripping his arm. "You alright, kid?"

Russ forced himself to nod. "I can handle it." The words had no sooner left his mouth when one of the girls bit into his hock. "Ouch, shit!" He called out as he turned toward the smaller wolf. The red tent of his eyes blazed down into hers, but she didn't back down. Russ tugged and shoved as carefully as he could against the girl even though the beast within was screaming for him to attack her. "Come on, stop already... same side remember?!" Ry moved to yank her away, but Russ stopped him. "No, you might hurt her!"

"Hurt her?! She's going to bite off your damn leg!" Ry growled.

To his and Russ's surprise, the large white wolf launched forward and knocked the other wolf to the ground. They both watched as the smaller wolf hunkered before the other wolf as it continued to growl with its tail tucked between its legs. "They see her as their alpha..." Russ commented. "But... she's..."

"Female? Yeah... I know, but if you remember I told you before, when you were supposed to be studying, female alphas often lead entire packs in the absence of a male alpha. That's probably why your uncle singled her out." Ry stepped around a few of the other wolves as their attention moved to the other two wolves. "And as much as I'd like to move out the way and allow them to dual it out over the corpses, we need these bodies..."

Russ swallowed hard as he worked his lanky hybrid form toward the white wolf. Holding his paws in the air, he forced his voice to come out as gentle and controlled as possible. "Listen, we need these bodies. I know you guys must be starving, but I promise there will be supplies back at the palace for everyone."

The white wolf snarled at him as the one she'd just been bickering with came up beside her, teeth bȧrėd as well.

Russ could feel the other wolves begin to surround him. He tried to keep the alpha beast within under control as "I know they've hurt you guys... I'll never be able to fully understand the extent of that, but I want to help... we want to help you."

....

"Well..." Poseidon said as he surveyed the open clifftop, quickly releasing his hold on the enforcers who didn't pause for a second as they raced forward toward the wreckage.

"Not what you expected?" Rin and Giorgos both said at once. They exchanged glances as they both laughed awkwardly. "Yeah... Russ and Ry have been over there a good twenty minutes now..."

"Hum... really? I hate I missed most of the fun..." Poseidon said rubbing his chin. He arched a brow as he watched one bite at Russ's back heel as he wrestled a leg from another. "Feisty little things, aren't they..."

"After tonight, I'll never piss off a lady again..." Giorgos threw in as he watched the enforcers struggle against the snarling wolves for the remaining bits of Fern that were left. "I... I mean I guess it's only fair they eat his ȧss since he starved them for so long..."

Poseidon chuckled as he held his hands out in wide quotations. "And his headstone shall say 'here rests Fernando Boosilis, a piece of shit in life and death', hahaha!"

Rin chuckled. "He really was a shitty person." His remark brought laughter from the other two men.

"To all those who always said he'd never become shit, now he will become wolf shit!" Poseidon exclaimed in overexaggerated theatrics.

"Are the three of you done writing eulogies yet? The enforcers want us to help bag the bodies for the council." Ry growled as he walked over.

Rin arched a brow. "Are they expecting all the pieces?" Unable to hold back the laugher anymore he cupped Poseidon's shoulder as he leaned toward the sea god. "Cause we'll be following these girls around with poop bags for a good month if they want all him back!" They both busted out in laughter.

Ry rolled his eyes. "I'm glad the three of you are enjoying yourselves." His eyes moved back to Russ and the wolve-girls. "He's really struggling with them, you think you can help, dad?"

Poseidon shrugged. "Let them have their fun. I'm sure after they get their fill, they'll be more amiable."

Ry rolled his eyes again with a heavy sigh. "They need bodies, not... that..." He pointed to a severed arm that was being wrestled from one of the wolves."

Poseidon crossed his arms over his ċhėst and shrugged. "Looks like most of it is in tacked."

"My gods, dad, you're ridiculous!" Ry grumbled as he turned to walk away.

"Speaking of dɨċks, what do you call it if you find his detached pėnɨs but then drop it and lose it again? Re-dick-less! hahaha!" Poseidon called out after his son. "What do you think? I'm really killing it tonight!"

Ry didn't answer as the three men burst out into laughter behind him. He only shook his head and lifted a middle finger into the air as he continued to walk.

"Ah, come on son, don't be like that. I can't help it, I'm really on a roll tonight... Of course, Fern would probably be on one too if the girls could find a supermarket out here." Poseidon tried to mask his laughter but a 'psh' still slipped out. He patted Rin's shoulder. "Come on Mr. Genie dad, let's see how well you are at putting puppies to sleep."

"To sleep?" Rin asked as he followed the sea god toward the commotion.

"Yep. How else do you think we're going to get a bunch of starved, blood-thirsty wolves to the palace without losing a limb?" He sent Rin a wink. "You think you could get close enough to sprinkle them with a sleep powder if I gave you some?"

"Yeah, no problem." Rin answered without hesitation.

With a flick of his wrist, Poseidon produced a small leather stack. "Use sparingly, though it's old, it's still strong. Don't want them out for too long."

Rin arched a brow. "What is it?"

With a mischievous smile, Poseidon shrugged. "Let's just call it pixy dust." He turned back to the commotion. "As soon as you get them to sleep, we'll work on teleporting them back to the palace, alright?"

Rin nodded. "I mean I'm not sure how much more help I'm going to be tonight, but I'll try."

"That's good enough for me." He made his way toward Ry. "Get the enforcers to step back out of the way... without saying it..." He sent him a wink.

"And Russ?" Ry asked.

Poseidon shrugged. "Doesn't really matter... hell might work if he's left with them."

Ry shook his head. "I'm not even asking what you're up to."

"Probably for the best, now get everyone out of the way." Poseidon pointed to the indigo streak of smoke moving through the air.

"Shit, you couldn't have told me before you guys started?!" Ry shouted as he rushed forward. "Clear out, we have this in hand." He shouted to the enforcers who were still struggling against the girls for various body parts as they tried loading them into body bags.

One enforcer threw the bag to the ground as his hands went up in the air. "I fuċkɨnġ hope so because I'm getting fed up with these-" Two angry growls stopped his words as he came face to face with not only the large white wolf but the hybrid prince. "Ok, ok, I'm going..."

Ry caught Russ's arm. "Dad's doing something to neutralize the situation. We need to move."

Russ caught sight of the shimmering cloud of smoke as it moved over the wolves. "Rin too? What are they doing?" He struggled to maintain the humanoid form. "You know what, it doesn't matter. I'm about at my limit... I don't think I can maintain this form too much longer." He glanced over to the white wolf. "You coming with us?"

The wolf glanced over the girls who were slowly becoming drowsy and falling asleep. Her wide eyes moved quickly back to Russ in shock.

"Don't worry, they'll not be harmed. We're just trying to get them to safety so the enforcer and clean-up can do their jobs." Russ said his voice mirroring his increased struggle. He frowned as the wolf's gaze continued to dart between him and the others. "It's up to you, but I'm not sure how much help you'll be to them if you're asleep too. Whatever you choose, though... I can't hold this form any longer..." Russ turned and swayed slightly on his feet, but Ry caught him.

"Come on kid, we're almost done. You have this... at least long enough to get some clothes on." Ry said as he guided Russ toward Poseidon. "Hey, you think you can get the kid's clothes?"

Poseidon examined Russ. "Sure... You going to be alright there, kid?" His eyes moved over to the white wolf following behind them timidly. "I don't suppose you had much in the way of clothes, to begin with, huh? It's alright, go ahead and shift. I'll produce you something suitable as well." He chuckled as the girl shifted right there in front of them with little concern for her nudity. With a wave of his hand, she was dressed in a comfortable pair of leggings and a baggy blouse. He tilted his head. "This should do for tonight. That should be comfortable enough to sleep in at any rate. I'll see what else we can come up with in the morning."

Jaden tilted her head. "Who are you?"

He smiled as he flicked his wrist in Russ's direction, leaving him in only a pair of sweatpants. "Poseidon, dear, god of the sea." He pointed to Ry. "That big lug helping the prince is my son as were the other two men helping in the cellar." When confusion deepened the lines of her forehead, he continued. "You see, the prince here has become somewhat of... extended family to me... he's family and I help and protect my family."

Jaden nodded as her gaze moved back to the girls who were now asleep on the ground. "I protect mine as well... and they are all I have left..."

"I see. You need not worry though, dear. We are all here to see they get the help they need." Poseidon ȧssured her. "Now if you will excuse me..." He surveyed the bodies being left on the ground as the enforcer went back to work. "On second thought, do you think you could carry one of the smaller girls? It would only be for a brief time."

Jaden nodded, her ears perking up some. "Yes, I would prefer to help... actually..."

He smiled widely at her. "Ah, great! That's the attitude I like to see." Glancing back to Russ and Ry, he asked. "You two ready?"

"Yeah, let's get it done... I'm sure if I'm feeling this drained, they must feel ten times worse." Russ said as he and Ry made their way to Poseidon's side. He couldn't help his curious glances over to the girl walking on the sea god's other side. "So, how long will they be out?"

Poseidon shrugged, feeling Jaden's eyes on him as well. "It depends on each individual girl's metabolism and overall health. It shouldn't last longer than twelve hours."

Russ nodded as he moved his attention to Jaden. "You know these girls better than us; do you think they'll be alright in private rooms or should we teleport them over to the warehouse we'd set up?"

"Warehouse?" Jaden asked with a tilt of her head.

Russ nodded toward Ry. "Yeah, we set up a warehouse, ȧssuming we'd be smuggling you guys out through the tunnels... that was before we realized what shape you guys were in and that cowardly bastard decided to turn tail and run."

"I see... They should be fine in private rooms as long as you pair them up." Jaden answered. She knelt beside the first girl they came to. "I can help you pair them..." She nodded toward the girl Rin was now lifting. "They are sisters." She moved her attention to a girl Giorgos was carrying toward them. "She was closest to the girl over there." Jaden pointed to one of the other girls.

Ry nodded, "Alright, I'll take her." He lifted the girl then turned toward Giorgos. "Here, hand her to me as well." He held a girl in each arm, nestled close to his bȧrė ċhėst. "Dad, you think you can pop them some clothes on too? They're cold as ice damn near."

Poseidon nodded with a slight frown. "It's not that cold out tonight. They shouldn't be as cold so fast... it's probably the malnutrition... Poor things..." With a snap, each of the girls in Ry's arms was dressed in matching pink fluffy pajamas. "Hum... something's missing..." He snapped again and they each had matching bunny house shoes.

Ry laughed. "Arei's going to be jealous you're giving away his favorite pj's."

"Ha, you know he will!" Poseidon laughed as he moved his attention to the other girls as they were carried over to him. Before long all the girls were dressed in adorable sleepwear. He turned an amused smile to Jaden. "Sure you don't want a matching set?"

Jaden frowned. "This is fine, thank you."

"Very well, if everyone's ready?" He held out his hands as everyone gathered close and touched. Within a blink, everyone was standing on the second floor of the palace. "Alright dear, I've been staying in this room, the prince and Ry have been staying in that one, and if the vampire boys make it back tonight or tomorrow, they are up one floor. Do you have a preference?" He asked as he pointed out their rooms.

Jaden arched a brow toward Russ before glancing down the hall. "If it's alright we would like to stay on the same floor..."

Russ nodded. "There's enough rooms on this one if you'd like to stay here or whichever other floor... If you guys would like we can clear one of the top floors tomorrow and you guys can have a whole floor to yourselves, but for tonight I'd say this one or the third are the only ones set up."

She nodded again. "Then this one will be fine."