The Pack House

Crimson Canyon

A/N: comment & vote
The woods turned to a well worn path.

A rotten stench hung in the air and the source was the mangled animal and werewolf corpses lying along the path. "You'll have to excuse the mess," mused the man holding me. "Arrow hasn't ordered anyone to clean up yet."

Why would you need to be ordered to rid an area of something so disgusting? But I didn't dare reply--I was too busy coping with the horror of knowing my friend was being brutalized. "Where are you bringing me?" Zach whimpered and I fought the urge to hush him.

He was afraid. He wanted answers and reassurance. "To Arrow," Dax replied evenly, pulling along until he fell in step with me. Zach shot me a horrified look. "And from there, back with the whores I would imagine."

"Shut up Dax." The man holding me replied evenly. "Don't you worry Omega--I bet we can fetch a pretty penny for you."

"Unless they belong to Red." Dax muttered after a second.

The man gave him a lethal look and Dax fell silent.

***

The village itself had the look of something once beautiful.

Wood and brick buildings, crumbling with neglect, kept together crudely with last minute fix-em-ups and concrete. The center cobblestone was missing rocks, leaving pockets in the earth that had collected rainwater. The men trekked through them fearlessly. Cold water soaked my sneakers and socks completely as we splashed through the ankle-deep puddles.

We were heading toward a run down building the resembled something of a town hall. The windows were boarded us and the whole area seemed deserted. Occasionally I'd glimpse movement between the boarded windows of the buildings lining the streets.

The fact that we may not be alone here was chilling in a new way. We reached the cracked concrete steps and they pushed open the double doors. They creaked, seemingly hardly hanging on the hinges. We stepped inside.

It was dimly lit by gas lamps and candles and smelled musty, like stale air. "Boss? We got some omegas here for you."

My eyes adjusted and I could see a large man sitting in an arm chair on a stage. The chairs had been gutted out and a large, banquet style table took up one side. There was a the remains of a meal on it. Bottles of wine, a deer sliced open and gutted, almost completely picked clean. It still smelled reasonably fresh but the flies were circling it heavily. A loaf of bread had hunks taken from it. Half a vine of grapes. A quarter of what looked like a chocolate cake...

It seemed almost too civil for this place.

"Is that right?"

His voice was deep and smooth. It sent a shudder down my spine. His scent hit me all at once.

Pine, fresh air, and spicy cinnamon.

It can't be... It's not possible...

"Turn up this lamp Marc," the man stated.

A shadow moved and suddenly a lamp flared to life, casting a flickering orange light on the man. He had a square jaw and a broad set of shoulders. He was wearing a gray tee shirt that was molded to his body. I couldn't help but notice how toned he was. He had a glass, half full of an amber liquid but when he saw us, he leaned forward.

I was, of course, hit with the overwhelming urge to cough and I began to hack into my arm. "Ugh! I guess they are sick." The man let go of me and shifted away

I knew better than to move as I caught my breath and slowly looked up. As my eye eyes locked with his hazel ones, I found myself  breathless once again. "Where did you find them?"

"In our territory, stumbling around. They found one of our lost toys however."

"Did they now? Well that's great. Who do they belong to?"

"They say they belong to your brother."

Brother? Red has a family?

"I don't have a brother," he snarled angrily and the man rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say Arrow. Red. They say they belong to Red."

"How do you know him?" Barked the man furiously. His eyes had settled on me again. Why was still looking at me? And why was my face so hot? "How do you know Red?"

"He runs the Pack House!" Cried Zach, obviously spooked by the intensity of his voice. "He owns us. Please. We need to get to Crimson Canyon!"

The man moved his eyes off my own momentarily to look at him before he came back to me. "Well boys, welcome to Crimson Canyon."

QOTC: thoughts...?!