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© All characters and storylines surrounding these characters belong to me, Eben Black..

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I scaled the staircase in mere seconds and pushed open the huge metallic door. I stepped out onto the rooftop and gazed around. Kane was standing, hunched near the edge of the pool. Blade in hand. And there, in the centre of the pool was the one he'd been talking about. Sawyer touched the glacial surface, his thick tail swished behind him as he grinned over at me. He'd changed his outfit. A pair of black trousers, a black vest that was done up and the black boots that were done with silver buckles. His three silver loops in either ear remained as he watched me with a gentle amusement. Those piercing yellow eyes looked like they were having so much fun right now. Kane was hunched, blood spilled on the floor beneath him. The blood had come from his chest, somewhere during their initial confrontation, Kane had been slashed across the chest. The wound was shallow, a warning of things to come. It had stopped Kane dead it seemed.

"Oh, good, you've decided to join us, Mr. Black." Sawyer grinned as he watched me walk over and stand beside Kane.

"Why did you do that to Kane!" I demanded in a low growl.

"Do what?"

"Control him like that? Those eyes. He was watching us the entire time with those eyes!"

Sawyer blinked and then smirked wider than ever, "Found me out, huh?"

Kane shuddered and crouched lower, his free hand clasped at the wound on his chest as he took ragged, shallow breaths. He was exhausted.

"K-Kane?" I went to touch him and he growled at me.

"Oh, it would seem you two are in the middle of some dispute. Did you have a lover's quarrel?" Sawyer laughed.

"Shut the fuck up!" Kane and I snarled in unison.

"How rude."

"Answer me one thing, Sawyer. Were you the one responsible for the massacres across the states? Is that why the council won't help? Because they are responsible!" Kane snarled.

Sawyer considered Kane for a moment and then threw his head back, laughing as the moonlight caught his blue-and-white-and-black fur.

Kane growled and demanded, "Something funny!"

Sawyer looked down and gave us the full weight of his eyes, "You are a smart one considering your nothing more than a mere mongrel!"

"You were the one who did it?" I stammered, "Why would the council do that?"

"No, no. Not the council. Just me!" Sawyer touched a hand to his chest as he grinned, "Do you think I'd really ally myself with those old fools?"

"Your an insane bastard, you know that?" Kane sneered.

"Says the wolf that just almost massacred his alpha?"

"You made me do that!" Kane snarled.

"So how are you doing it, Sawyer?" I demanded, needing to know the truth now.

"How am I making wereanimals lose their minds and rampage? Its a simple process. Dive inside someone's mind, find their sanity and twist it, feed it to the inner beast and watch the fun unfold."

"He gets inside their head and locks away the human side basically." Kane groaned with pain as he spoke.

"Another aspect of illusion then?" I added, frowning up at Sawyer now.

Sawyer nodded and grinned. "I had planned on just crossing countries and testing out my capabilities on unsuspecting innocents, but when I landed here and found one of my experiments had been stopped, I was intrigued. I wanted to know who had stopped my abilities from causing another massacre." He gazed at me and said, "I found the one responsible when I maddened another wereanimal, that lion Zeke. I dove into his mind as I had done before and found that he'd met with a rather perculiar pack leader. I looked into your group and picked at some memories, and minds. And discovered that a male wolf had obtained the role of Lupine and has bound his soul to two different species of alpha wereanimal." Sawyer grinned as he spoke. "Then you requested help from the council, and since I was in the area. I agreed to come speak with you. I just wanted to get a look at you, nothing more. Why would I stop the massacres? Why would I stop testing out my power?"

"So I'm guessing this power of yours is something new?" I demanded.

"Clever boy. I discovered them a couple of months ago. They grew and developed and soon I discovered what I was capable of. I needed to test them, and it seemed I'd perfected the power with your wolf. His hatred for me was the perfect fuel for me to possess him. He was like a puppet on a string." Sawyer winked at Kane and added, "Your agile form made you the perfect candidate for a combat test too. You did well, I watched your performance through your own eyes. Dislocating that tiger's shoulder was very entertaining indeed."

"Your an imbecile!" Kane growled.

"I know I am. I was overconfident and thought I'd be able to control you completely, but that wolf's bitch interferred again!" Sawyer growled as he pointed at me now.

"You mean the binding?"

Sawyer nodded. "I saw her, Eben Black. I saw the new wolf that resides inside you. She is a fearsome beast, full of potential."

I touched a hand to my chest and could feel my heart beating.

"She's powerful. You intrigue me too. Your peaceful side has balanced out her ferocious appetite perfectly." He suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind me. "Allow me to experiment on you." He reached a hand for me. Kane touched a hand to my chest and pushed me back, he slashed his blade out, but the direction and angle was faltered. He missed Sawyer as the feline simply stepped backwards. Kane staggered and almost fell. It was a desperate act of an exhausted male. Sawyer laughed and watched as I helped Kane slump down. He crouched and braced himself on one knee, the blade held out in an extended grip.

The ground cracked underneath us and a second later a black spike thrust upward and struck Kane's shoulder. The ground cracked again and several spines of black stone rose up like some demented plant. Kane pushed me aside as he was surrounded and imprisoned by these blackened spines. He growled, one had pierced him in the abdomen too. Blood spilled and spattered the ground as he glared across at Sawyer. I landed unharmed and anxious, as the feline stalked toward his new imprisoned pet. Sawyer crouched and grinned at the wolf in front of him.

"For a Guardian, you don't do much do you?" he purred. He tousled the wolf's head fur and then stood up. He looked at me and said, "Now, where were we?" he walked around the spines he'd raised. He stood in a well of his own power and presence and grinned at me. "Do you have an answer for me? Your an odd one, Eben Black. I want to see how your capable of such hidden potential. You could be something great. Something more unique and powerful than any of us on the council. I cannot allow that. I want to see what makes your beast tick!" he growled the last and made to grab me.

There was a rush of movement and the whole world went black. I was back in those deep seas, sinking beneath the surface. Bubbles raised around me. I opened my eyes and gazed around. Why was I back here? I remembered Sawyer reaching for me and then blacking out. I looked around, expecting to see something in that wide expanse of nothingness. No one. Nothing. What was this place? Was this some trick that Sawyer had created? Was this how he maddened his subjects? Was this how he made wereanimals massacre their loved ones?

Eben.

I turned in the water and looked around. No one. Where had that voice come from?

Eben Black.

I span around. Nothing! "W-Whose there?" I demanded.

Eben Black.

"Who is it? Why am I here?" I asked, desperate to know the answer. "Answer me!" I snarled.

There. There is the dominance I needed. Eben. You are faced with a powerful, dangerous enemy. He threatens the pack. He threatens your alpha. He threatens your king. He threatens your knight.

"Knight?" I repeated.

I have looked at those you are bound to. The one named Snow resembles the alpha, his assurance and dominance compliments mine well. The king is the wolf named Donovan, his leadership is one we can follow without quarrel. And the knight is the role played by the one named Kane, his skills and courage are something we could use in times of need. But for now. All are redundant. All have been subdued. You and I are all that remains. Kill him, Eben Black. Kill the one that threatens us all!

I turned and found the most beautiful sight before me. A pale white wolf was looking at from inches away. Those blue eyes were almost white, lost in their own power. The wolf looked like a natural wolf, not a werewolf. Her pure white fur moved in the wake of the sea around us. Was this the beast that resided inside me? She leaned forward and touched her forehead to my own. Her size was phenomenal. I'd never seen natural wolves the size of a horse before. There was a rush of noise and the sea around us became obscurred in a pure white flash of light.

I was back on the rooftop. I was standing, straight and tall. I felt something. A cool breeze surrounded me. Sawyer was stood in front of me, his eyes widened and fearful. He disappeared and reappeared at the other end of the rooftop. What was he so scared about? I turned in a flourish of my own power, my own dominance and padded toward the edge of the pool. I looked down at my reflection. I looked at the five foot nine form, the grey charcoal fur was now purest white, the head fur cascaded and spiked like the wolves had done in my mind. My eyes were no longer their normal blue, but white with a hint of cerulean. I raised my hands and squeezed them together, flexing the muscles underneath. I felt powerful, stronger than before. What had happened to me? Was this the wolf inside me? I was still male, but I felt a gentle confidence inside me now. I took a deep breath and exhaled, my breath clouded in front of me as I looked up and gazed across at where Kane was imprisoned in black spines. The black wolf was staring at me, eyes widened and in pure amazement.

I padded toward him and touched my fingertips to the spines, there was a bluster of wind and the spines froze over in a sudden frost. There was a dull cracking noise and then the spines shattered like glass. They sparkled and sprinkled the ground in the finest dust as Kane slumped forward and landed, barely conscious on the floor.

"W-What happened to you?" he stammered.

"I don't know." Even my voice sounded confident. No arrogance there, just a knowledge that the tables had turned for us.

"You feel cold," Kane replied, his own breath clouded now. Was the air around me cooling? It looked like it.

"W-What are you?" Sawyer stammered as he glared across at me.

"I'm Eben Black. The Lupine of LA's werewolf pack, and the one whose going to put an end to your madness, right now Sawyer!"

"Such confidence, but can you really do that, or is this all for show?" he grinned, his eyes widened with sudden insanity. His mind was unravelling in all the stress.

"Do not make me test out this new form on you, Sawyer."

Sawyer merely laughed, his head threw back as he laughed, hysteria brewed underneath those startling yellow eyes. The skies around us blackened, there was no moon, no stars. Just blackness. Sawyer grinned as the shadows seemed to envelope him and hide him from me. I padded across the rooftop and exhaled again, the breath clouded as I gazed around the shadows. I could feel him, I could feel his madness seething there. All I'd need to do is pinpoint where he was. I slowly looked around and then heard a familiar crack. The ground beneath me splintered, and a second later a thick, black spine sprang up and elongated at a ferocious speed. I looked down and the spine stopped an inch from piercing my throat. I brushed a hand across the smooth, blackened surface and watched it wither and shatter like the others had done.

"How are you doing that?" a familiar voice beckoned through the shadows.

"Doing what?" I replied. I had to keep him talking.

"How are you stopping all my illusions. I've not met anyone that could overpower them, let alone stop them dead like you keep doing."

"Beginner's luck, perhaps?"

"Perhaps." The sweet scent of roses filled the air. Silver chains manifested around me and tightened, pinning my arms to my body. I gazed down at them as they squeezed. Roses hung in the air, that scent both pleasant and heavy. I took a deep breath and raised my arms, the chains snapped at once and shattered. "Your a fucking miracle worker!" Sawyer screamed in the shadows. There!

I clasped my hands together, not knowing what would happen. I focused and could feel a cold chill form between the palms. As I peeled them apart a form of ice lengthened and strengthened. I manifested the spear-like form as I turned. I turned with such speed and launched the spear with murderous intent. I relaxed as the spear sailed through the air and struck something. The shadows faded and I smiled as I looked up at Sawyer's form, hanging in midair, the ice spear had pierced his shoulder. Blood spilled from the wound as it shattered into dust. He clasped a hand over the new wound and slowly floated down. He touched the surface of the pool again and grinned. He'd been wounded, but he wasn't dead. Yet.

"You are unique, so full of potential. I feel like this is only a shadow of your power, Eben Black."

I never spoke. I padded to the edge of the pool and met Sawyer's crazed yellow eyes. I crouched and braced a knee against the rooftop.

"I want to see what makes you tick, Eben Black! I want to see what makes you so unique!" Sawyer growled.

"All you deserve is death, Sawyer. You've had your fun and its harmed many wereanimals in the process. It may have resulted in the Laws being abolished and our kind being wiped out."

"Something tells me you'd survive," he sneered.

"Doesn't mean shit, if the ones I love are dead too," I growled back.

"Considering your potential, you are too soft for that power that breathes inside you."

"I thought my softness balanced out the rage of my beast?"

"Perhaps. But I'd like to see if I could extract that peaceful side and control the bestial power inside you. Then the human world would truly acknowledge who is superior!" he looked wild now as he spoke.

"I'm bored of you now, Sawyer. Leave here, and never come back." I touched a hand to the glacial surface of the water and exhaled. The surface froze over, the ice rushed across and sprang up in several spines. Smaller and larger spines sprang from them as a jagged plant-like creation formed of ice manifested around Sawyer. The spines turned on the weretiger and struck at such incredible speed. I watched as the spines skewered him. Blood spilled and spattered on the frozen spines and on the floor. He was dead. He looked down at me, eyes wide and glaised over.

I stood up and could feel the beast inside me sated. I looked up at the manifestation I'd erected and then watched in a gentle hatred as the skewered form of Sawyer shattered like all his illusions had done. I waited, waited for his sneering form to reappear, but there was nothing. I scented the air and looked, but there was no one. Kane staggered over and looked at the ice sculpture before him. The blood had even shattered into dust. Sawyer lived. That was certain. I took a deep breath and looked at my hands as the white fur transformed again, the charcoal grey I was used to returned in a wash of power and my eyes bled back to their normal shade of blue. Exhaustion swamped me as I collapsed to my knees, breathing hard and fast. Sweat pumped out of me as the ice sculpture before us shattered and dispersed into dust on the water's surface. Kane hunched beside me and touched a hand to my shoulder. He looked concerned, but still awkward as he touched me.

"You were a-amazing," he breathed.

"Thanks. But he's still alive."

"There's that, and there's also the fact he won't be able to touch you now, not anytime soon anyhow. You frightened him, Eben. I could see it."

"So what now? The massacres continue elsewhere?" I demanded, looking frustrated and almost tearful.

"I doubt he'll do any more. He's infatuated with you, Eben. He's infatuated like a male is infatuated with a female. He just shows his interest different. He said it himself, he wants to see what he can do with you and to do that he needs to stay alive. He won't perform anymore massacres until he knows he's ready to face you." Kane smirked at me and added, "I'd be frightened if I had someone as badass as you stalking after me everytime I breathed the wrong way, let alone starting a wereanimal massacre."

"Great. Just great. Just when I think things are getting sorted, things get a whole lot more complex."

Kane laughed and said, "Welcome to the wereanimal communities, Eben."

I smiled and replied, "Regardless of what's happened. I'm still happy to be here."