Gilbert sat on top of Cyrus' lifeless body, the dead man's weight beneath him rivaled only by his anticipation. Cyrus was taking longer than he had expected and, Gilbert was a sucker for patience.
Gilbert turned the long dagger in his hand.
"It's been four minutes. He should have awakened by now," He muttered, his eyes fixed on Cyrus' cold face. His voice was filled with frustration. "Maybe all that myth about this ugly dagger was total bullshit. What if you were,"
"Wrong?" Tabeth cut in smoothly, her voice calm and collected. "We will see- you just gotta be a little more patient."
"If you say so," He said turning his gaze to her. " I hope it's worth the wait, though."
"There's no way it won't work, you're gonna have all the fun you want with him," Tabeth said with a faint smile. She knew that Gilbert was running out of patience. He was thirsty for a fight. Fighting was the only thing that made sense to him. It was like a hobby to him. He enjoyed hurting others and also being hurt in return. Violence chased away his depression.
"You said the blade was made from one of the first werewolves?" Gilbert said flicking the dagger between his fingers. " How did it end up in our family then? Do you think someone managed to kill an original wolf and pull out its fangs?"
"Probably-," Tabeth said softly.
Gilbert frowned in annoyance.
"I'm joking, nobody could possibly kill a Primera. Family history doesn't say much about the dagger. There's only some bullshit story about it being passed down the line-."
She paused." You should ask Mom about it."
"What I know is that this dagger is history. Power. It's one of the most important relics in the Victoria family."
Gilbert nodded as if he understood what he'd been told. The truth was he didn't care. He didn't care about relics, old werewolf fangs, and legends. He wasn't interested, it wasn't gonna give him the fight he was craving.
"How many minutes left?" He snorted.
"Time's up, he should be awakening any second now. You might want to step away from him."
Gilbert stared down at Cyrus' body. It was still cold and very much dead.
"You're sure I didn't kill him for nothing- I don't see anything. Mr Hunter here, is still pretty much dead here," He said poking Cyrus with the dagger.
Tabeth folded her hands as if reciting a scripture.
"Let's give him a few more seconds," She said her voice sounding more like a question than a decision. She lacked conviction.
"Sure," Gilbert replied, scratching the back of his neck. He frowned and then looked down at Cyrus. He thought he had felt the corpse beneath him move.
He was right.
Cyrus' fingers stirred, brushing slightly against the floor, each movement a fight against the darkness that had engulfed him. Gilbert stepped away, his mouth curving into a dark chuckle.
"It worked!" Screamed an exhilarated Gilbert. His eyes glowed with fascination. "The bloody dagger worked - see Tabeth, it worked!"
"Thou shalt never doubt me," Tabeth said cooly.
Cyrus' bones cracked, muscles twisting as he roared back to life. His mouth opened in a silent scream, showing fangs that had replaced his teeth. The sound thinned into a guttural growl, low at first, then louder, echoing through the farmhouse.
"There's the wonderboy," Tabeth said quietly, satisfied.
Cyrus stood up and went silent, head facing downwards. Then he tilted it upwards and faced Gilbert.
His eyes snapped open.
Something was wrong, Tabeth observed. His eyes were not golden, nor were they blue or green. Cyrus' eyes were red. That was odd. She had never seen a red-eyed werewolf before. Unless-.
"Don't fight him, Gilbert-," Tabeth warned, her voice trembling.
But her efforts were in vain. She couldn't stop Gilbert now. The fight he'd been waiting for was at hand. His golden eyes glowed with excitement.
Cyrus' red eyes pulsed. He let out a low growl.
"Gilbert, stay away from him; he will kill you," Tabeth shouted at the top of her voice.
"What's she saying?" Gilbert thought. "Has she gone mad?"
"Stay out of this one Tabeth, just watch- I'm going to tear this-,"
He didn't finish.
Cyrus snarled, then leaped forward faster than the human eye could follow. He sent Gilbert flying, slamming back into the wall with enough force to crack it.
"Gilbert!" Tabeth called. Cyrus wasn't an ordinary werewolf, she realized. He had awakened into something more dangerous than any werewolf she'd seen before. The only person this strong was her mother. She had never seen anyone move this fast except her.
"Not bad!" Gilbert chuckled, blood spraying from his mouth. The fresh flesh on his chest began closing up. His body was healing.
"Gilbert, please- don't fight him, please," Tabeth begged. Her words fell onto a stone.
Gilbert struggled to his feet, his chest heaving and blood dripping from his nose. Small fur rippled on his skin. His hands twisted into claws.
"Okay, asshole!" Gilbert muttered, spitting blood. " Let me show you the difference between a werewolf and a newly awakened puppy,"
Gilbert's body shot forward like a bullet. He moved at superspeed, his claws lashing at Cyrus. But Cyrus was faster. He sidestepped Gilbert's claws. They lashed and lashed. Left then right. Up and down but they did not touch him. Gilbert was moving like he was in slow motion.
Cyrus' fist drove into Gilbert's ribs. The impact came with a sound, the one that you only hear when twigs break. He gasped. A knee followed to the gut making him spit more blood.
"Please stop!" Tabeth screamed.
Cyrus didn't. He couldn't even if he wanted to. He was out of control. He was a beast now, a brainless beast.
He lashed out at Gilbert. Claws sank into his body and came back with torn flesh. Gilbert tried to fight back. He managed to land a wild blow on Cyrus' cheek. But the red-eyed werewolf didn't flinch. He clawed again tearing flesh like cloth.
Gilbert coughed up blood, his body getting weak. The fight was running out of him.
"What the hell is this thing?" He thought."Why is he this strong?"
His eyes began narrowing to a tunnel.
Tabeth had to act fast; otherwise, Gilbert would die whilst she watched. Her hands sank into her jean pockets. They found what they were looking for. They came back carrying a black dart. She had carried it for a moment like this. In case things went sideways like they were now. She had to get Cyrus now when his attention was focused on Gilbert.
She moved using werewolf superspeed. The black dart sank into Cyrus' nape.
Cyrus' eyes pulsed. He let out a sharp cry, a blend of a beast and a human, then staggered backward as if struck from within. Gilbert rolled to his side, gasping.
Cyrus clutched his head, staggering sideways. The glow in his eyes flickered like a dying fire.
"What did you do to him?" Gilbert asked weakly.
"I sedated him," Tabeth answered, her voice regaining its calmness.
Cyrus snarled weakly as his body gave in to the drug. He seized and then let out a final growl. He crumpled to the ground, breathing heavily. His claws shrank into human nails. His eyes turned back from red to brown. He was Cyrus again, the werewolf hunter.
Tabeth ran to Gilbert dropping to her knees. "Jesus- that was careless, I told you-"
"We should kill him, You should finish him now," Gilbert croaked, barely conscious."He's dangerous."
"No, "Tabeth said softly. " We are not killing him,"
Gilbert's eyes widened in surprise."Why?"
"You saw his eyes didn't you,"
Gilbert nodded. He groaned as he tried to stand up. " They were red- Ugh!- I've never seen a werewolf with red eyes before."
"Exactly, Mother would want to see him," Tabeth pointed out. She paused as if processing something." This can't be."
"What can't be?" Gilbert asked weakly.
It was then that he noticed the look on her face. It had gone white as if all the blood had drained from it in an instant.
" There hasn't been a red-eyed werewolf in five hundred years."
"How do you know that?" Gilbert asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"It's from the legend. The books in the library talk about - THE RED ALPHA,"
"What's a red alpha?"
Tabeth tilted her head slightly then grinned in triumph. " This right here is gold Gilbert. Mother will be shocked. We're taking the Hunter with us."
Gilbert wanted to protest. The thought of taking a werewolf hunter to their house was repulsive. Especially a living one that had just almost killed him. But there was nothing he could do. Once Tabeth set her mind, there was no changing it. But he also wanted to know about this Red Alpha that had beaten him to a pulp. No matter how dangerous this werewolf hunter-turned-werewolf was, he was no match for Mother. She was the baddest werewolf in Victoria Town.