Cale paced the room nervously. The sun was already beginning to set. Questions kept running through his mind.

Did the assassin find Liek? Did Liek kill the assassin? Did Liek escape? Was Liek killed? Was he killed slowly? Or was his death quick?

Something inside Cale told him that his brother was alright. But for how long? Cale sensed a movement in the doorway.

"What news of my brother?"

The assassin walked in with a despicable smirk on his face. Cale assumed the worst.

"Was it quick?"
"Sure, it was quick. He couldn't put up a fight."

Cale felt his heart sink. The job was done. His only brother was gone from him. He gathered himself before he spoke. He couldn't show his sadness. The assassin was watching him carefully, and if he openly mourned the death of a traitor, he too could be punished.

"Well. I suppose we should notify the council then." Cale said quietly.
"No need. Your brother isn't dead, if that's what you're thinking."
"What?"
"When I found him, he was nearly dead. I refuse to kill anybody that is in the state he was in. When I saw the nearby humans-"

Cale jumped up.

"Humans!?"
"I handed him over to them. They nursed him back to health, but they did something else to him."

Cale already knew.

"They saw his nails, didn't they?"

The assassin nodded.

"Filed down to worthless nubs. He was defenseless. I let him off with a warning, shortly after he wet himself."

Cale rubbed his face with embarrassment.

"Tell me you're joking, assassin. My brother-"
"Is no werewolf if he wets himself with even the slightest threat." The assassin finished.

Cale stood up angrily and whipped his fist across the assassin's jaw. The assassin grunted and held his ground. A large cut appeared under his eye. Cale wasn't finished. He grabbed the assassin by the throat and pinned him against the wall, his nail just inches from the assassin's jugular.

"My brother is still a child. He has never been confronted with such open hostility by one of his own kind, so you will NEVER speak of him with such disrespect. If I hear it again, I will split you open while you sleep, regardless of the consequences."

The assassin spit out a tooth and frowned.

"You seem to understand your brother quite well, Cale. But yet you continuously fail to understand me. Remember who I am, and know that you would have been dead the moment you laid your hands on me if you had been anybody else."

Cale felt a searing pain under his belly, and the assassin quickly slapped his hand away with surprising strength. Cale looked down and saw blood.

"I'll be leaving now." The assassin grinned.



to be continued....