Cover art by: Crashman42

Editing by: Freckles Fiction

Werewolf Wicked

Left to the Wolves

Yang

Drug trafficking, extortion, gambling, loansharking, all the ins and outs of criminal income and The Club was elbow deep in all of it. This place had Lien, fat stacks of it. Women, clothing, fine art, the old Alpha indulged in his base desires and made sure there was always money to fund himself. Hypocritical, lusting the things made by humans, who he considered clumsy, inept and weak, when he acted like an animal.

Not so weak, apparently. A human killed him. A human possessed by a ghost, but that was beside the point. Humanity evolved faster than most of the old timers could keep up with. They didn't chase Weres with spears, they didn't need to come in range of claws to kill them. Humans were scary, in their own way. Ruby was a perfect example, she could have killed Senior the minute her foot touched the dance floor. Ruby just didn't want to. She had morals like that. Ruby would always be a shining beacon, guiding people to do better.

Yang didn't hold the same values as her sister. Yang didn't like to kill people, she preferred not to, but she had no problems ending someone who deserved it. What bothered Yang the most was that she also loved it. The feeling of a fight, one where death was a possibility, always got her heart pumping. When she won, the grovelling, crying and smell of fear from the loser; she shivered. It intoxicated her and her reaction disgusted her. Ruby wouldn't get it. She wasn't a Werewolf. Yang was born one.

She knew her birth was an oddity, courtesy of her bitch of a mother, Raven. Raven only wanted power. When Yang apparently failed at getting her mother more, Raven left. Yang snarled at the memory, taking a deep breath to pull her back.

Always angry, always craving violence. That's what it meant to be a Werewolf. Books and movies portrayed Werewolves as unlucky, struck with a terrible disease, or misunderstood. They weren't exactly wrong. Most Weres were unfortunate people in the middle of a pack, who got so damaged their bodies accepted the change to keep themselves alive. What the media missed is that once changed, a Were wanted to kill people. Weres were not misunderstood people who sometimes forgot their own strength. No, Werewolves wanted to hurt people: young, old, women, or children. Weres didn't care, people all died the same. The thinnest sliver of control kept those instincts at bay. Those too weak when they turned had to die, as controlling the beast meant her species survived. Disgustingly archaic. Weres were Monsters no matter how much Ruby thought otherwise.

Yang was a monster.

Another deep breath. She could feel the red leave her eyes, the tension eased from her shoulders just enough where she could snatch control and focus again. Where was she? The pack, right. Opening her eyes, Yang looked over her stacks of notes acquired by Junior. She needed to set a plan and tell the idiots what to do.

They expected it.

She unballed her fists and sighed. Letting the remains of her pen fall into the trash can at her feet, she reached into the drawer and pulled another from what had been a fresh box. There were only four left. Looking back at her notes, she scratched out the ways the pack kept everyone fed. A fed Were was a happy Were. No more illegal stuff, her pen stilled on the last scribble of the page. They'd keep and improve the information dealing.

At least the information dealings were beneficial, she circled and underlined it. She would order Junior to train more people. If she had her ear in every part of the city, she could make sure to protect those under her. She would have to.

A sigh escaped her. She pinched the brim of her nose, a gesture she'd seen her dad far too often do and now she understood why. Her pack, her responsibility. She had to keep them safe, had to always stay strong, or they'd collapse.

The pack did not need Yang Xiao Long, they needed an Alpha. Yang could not be herself here and if she upped and left, they would be left floundering. The surviving members were far too weak to protect their territory and her wolf's protective instincts settled on the members like a net.

Mine.

The pack was hers, like it or not. Mine; the wolf in her head, claimed them all under her protection. Mama wolf didn't care if Yang was content with keeping only Ruby safe. As if to mock Yang, the bonds of the pack yanked at her attention. Her dad described the pack bonds as golden ribbons that pulled from his heart to every member of the pack. When Yang tried to look she saw thick iron chains, wrapped around a two inch thick gorget. One chain yanked at her neck and she could feel Junior's anger. He was pissed, but not crazy. She dismissed it and tried to go back to work, but once she noticed one of the bonds the rest followed. Dozens of chains jerked and tugged her in every direction, rattling with an uproar of clanks. Dozens of people all in her head with their own hopes and fears, all looking at her.

A knock on the door and the chains vanished from sight. The mental overload of the entire pack's emotions faded to the soft pulling of the iron chains that never fully went away.

Yang glared down at another wrecked pen and the same page of work she'd been stuck on before. She asked, "Who is it?"

"Who do you think?" said one of the twins, Melanie, if the snark was any indication.

"We made the list like you asked," said Miltia.

Yang had already known who knocked. Besides the bonds, she could smell their scent, perfume and booze, bleh, but she asked so she could gather her thoughts. She had sent them to create a list, but that had been a few minutes ago. They couldn't possibly have finished already. A glance at the clock proved her wrong. How long had she been staring at a single page?

The door swung open, slamming against the wall with a crack. Plaster crumbled, another item added to the to-do list and another bill. Melanie ignored it and walked in, tossing the papers over Yang's one page of work. She said, "You gonna make us wait in the hallway like good little servants?"

Deep breathing, barely helped. "No?" she answered. "I was thinking."

"We could tell," said Miltia, closing the door with a gentle click.

"The whole damn pack can feel you brooding. Everyone's on edge."

The bonds worked both ways, personal privacy only worked for humans. "Dammit, just getting used to everything."

"Weren't you in your father's pack?"

"Yeah, you should be used to the bonds."

"Being connected is not the same as holding the reigns and I left Patch, for a reason." Yang pinched her nose. "You got the list?"

Miltia handed over a single sheet of paper, with the names of the pack written in numerical order. "It wasn't very difficult to do."

"Not like you'll get much information, considering how weak the rest of the boys are," said her sister.

Yang perused the list, her own name sat at the very top, followed by Junior, the twins and then a large gap. The bottom third had numbers start again with people who Yang was not familiar with yet.

"Not very dominant." Yang pointed at the empty space. "There should be a steady decline in dominant wolves, not a freaking cliff like this."

"Those wolves challenged Viktor, Junior or the boss, and lost."

"Seems odd now that we know that Viktor was a piece of shit, but at the time we thought it just pack business."

"Just great," said Yang, looking at her new pack. They'd been gutted, leaving her with a bunch of submissive and barely dominant wolves. Dominance didn't necessarily mean fighting potential, a submissive could rip out a throat as well as any Were, but it was a good enough indicator of a willingness to fight. Yang, for example, stood at the very top of almost every list. She had a dominant wolf, who'd kill on any signal, her wolf would probably just do it for fun. Those on her list would do so only to protect themselves when lead by the twins, Junior, or herself.

Yang sighed and pocketed the paper, she'd memorize names later. "I want training days started. We have a gym and no one uses it. Starting from now on I want weekly training sessions. I'll go a round with everyone and get people started. Ruby can teach you all some hand to hand forms and shooting."

"We're wolves, not special forces soldiers. We have fangs and fu-" Melanie met Yang's eyes and bit down on the expletive. "Freaking claws."

"Yeah, and your old boss died to a simple bullet. Learning to fight in both shapes means you're never unable to defend yourself. The boys were horrible back when we had the brawl out on the street and I wouldn't have been able to kick your asses so easily, if you were trained better."

Melanie growled, but made no further comment.

Yang turned to Miltia. "Did you and Junior check the turf?"

Miltia nodded. "Bloodsuckers are feeding a bit more than normal."

"Anyone we care about?"

"No."

Yang motioned with her hand.

"The Fae are locked up in their towers doing whatever they like to do. Probably stabbing each other in the back as we speak, but right now, no word gets in or out."

"The Grimm?"

"No word on the street about giant, bone covered monsters eating people, so for now we're safe. Beacon hasn't gotten back to us yet, though they sent the bill and there are a lot of zeros attached to it. Before you ask, no word on Torchwick or his little ghostie either."

Yang gritted her teeth. So many things to do, she grabbed a new pen and started some plans. "For now it's gonna have to be the four of us leading the rest on patrols. I want surveys going out every day and one person at Marc's, the human's working place, at all times. He's made it past the first day exposure, which makes him an anomaly. A tasty anomaly." Yang failed to mention her private meeting with Jaune.

"Bait," said Melanie, with a toothy grin.

"Not bait."

Miltia opened her mouth.

"No, not to muscle him into being hush-hush either."

Miltia said, "I was going to say that the human's been here for a while now."

Snap. Another pen broke, only one left. Yang counted to three. "Why has no one told me?"

"Cuz, those who've tried were scared away."

Yang counted to ten, she even tried a fancy breathing exercise Ruby recommended. She closed her eyes, breathing in then out, and tried the bonds. This time she followed the chains. Fear, anxiety, and was that concern? Huh… the twins were concerned?

Melanie's eyes narrowed, Miltia's rolled.

"Are you coming or what?"

"Doesn't make much sense for you to be hiding back here when it was your idea."

"It was Ruby's idea to start what we used to do in Patch," Yang said, cracking her neck before standing. She glanced over her new subordinates, her pack, and felt a hint of smugness tugging at her lips. "I just added the extra bit to fit the season."

""Whatever""

Yang snorted feeling the tension sliding off her ever so slowly. She could worry later; right now, it was time to make an appearance. She ducked under her desk, grabbing a small paper bag and motioned for the twins to go. As she followed the two girls out of the room and down to the dance floor, she couldn't help but grin at the outfits they had made.

"A devil and an angel, really?" Yang's grin grew as she noticed the two girls had went as far as adjusting their makeup to fit their costumes. They put in some effort.

Melanie and Miltia, both paused to send a glare Yang's way.

Melanie, wearing a frilly, white dress with a taped on pair of feathery wings, jutted out her chin. "Yeah, you got a problem with our outfits?"

Yang's grin reached shit eating proportions as she watched a yellow halo, attached to a thin wire, bob up and down on the girl's head. She broke into full blown laughter when Miltia slipped on a tiny pair of plastic horns.

Miltia didn't appear bothered, then again, her outfit looked closest to what they normally wore, if one ignored the wings and tail peeking out from her dress. She shrugged. "You didn't give us much time to plan."

Yang waved her hand. "No, no they're great, but don't you think you got it wrong? I'm pretty sure you should have switched costumes."

The twins exchanged glances before staring at Yang with raised eyebrows.

"No, we got it right," Melanie said.

"You definitely need to have a better look at the bonds," Miltia said. "See what we're really thinking."

"Or don't?"

"Or don't."

Yang thought she saw Melanie blanch at the idea and wisely decided to avoid the topic from now on. Pushing forward, she led the group to the dance floor.

Cracked and covered in tarps, her club had seen better days. However, there were no glass shards sticking into people's shoes, no sparking wires, and most of the blood had been scrubbed off. It was a work in progress, helped with a few fancy arrangements of flowers, placed in pumpkins, courtesy of Ruby and Melanie, of all people. The place, ugly as it may be, gave off the perfect vibe for tonight's event.

She caught a whiff of citrus and followed it until she found the human. Jaune always carried with him the scent of liquor, the good stuff, aged, fruity and oaken, though he never carried it on his breath. She found Junior too and discovered why he was so pissed.

Both of the bartenders claimed separate corners of the shoddy plank of wood the pack called a bar. Jaune had a satisfied look on his face or at least on the bottom of his face, as his eyes were covered by large, orange goggles. The rest of his outfit look no better, a green monstrosity of spandex that hugged parts spandex really shouldn't. Regardless of whatever costume he was wearing, he looked unfazed shooting a confident grin and taunted Junior, who unoriginally, wore a pair of brown wolf ears.

The two men continued to shoot snide comments and they added the finishing touches on their drinks. For a bunch of Werewolves who couldn't get drunk they sure loved their booze. With a gleam in their eyes, a few of the pack inched closer to the two bartenders. Alcoholics, all of them.

Yang made it to the bar. "I didn't think we invited you to find out who the better bartender is."

"There's no need to see, when I know I am," said Junior.

"I didn't either, but while I was waiting, talking became boasting and finally..." Jaune shrugged. "I'm confident in my skills."

The wicked gleam in the twins' eyes told her there were some stakes in this contest. Junior's sour expression meant it was probably humiliating. Yang decided to play along. "What's on the menu?"

"A strawberry sunrise."

"With a little umbrella…"

"Now, I'm suddenly interested. Let's see what you guys got."

Junior presented his mix first, a pomegranate red liquid filled a tall glass. A spear of strawberries and an orange slice balanced on the brim of her drink, with the aforementioned umbrella floating on a layer of ice. It looked good, smelled better and tasted - she cautioned another sip. Yeap, tasted strong, but not overpowering. In fact it blended so well together, Yang would have missed it, if she wasn't looking for it. The flavor of fruit had the bite of a strong alcohol, though she wasn't experienced enough to know which.

Junior smirked at her expression and leaned back against his bar, only to scowl when his fake ears slipped off his head.

Jaune presented his own and the two drinks could not look further apart, besides the little umbrellas. Bright, sunshine yellow liquid filled the glass, with a tiny dollop of a ruby red at the very bottom. Yang reached for the glass, a long necked, thin thing, fearing she would snap it just by holding it. She took a sip, tried again,sighing in appreciation. It was smooth, sickeningly sweet, and she couldn't even taste the alcohol.

"Well? Who won?" asked Miltia.

Yang pointed to Jaune's. Junior's had rated as one of her favorite drinks, but Jaune's had taken the very top.

"What- how?!" Junior reached for Jaune's drink and sipped. His eyebrows furrowed and he glared daggers at the human.

Jaune looked unashamed. "Yeap, it's a virgin drink." Yang must have looked puzzled because Jaune continued, "There's no alcohol in it."

"The human cheated," Junior said to Yang and the twins. He turned to Jaune. "That's cheating."

"Normally, I wouldn't do that to a paying customer." Jaune shrugged. "But in a contest I don't see a problem."

"Wait, the reason I couldn't taste the alcohol was because there was none?" asked Yang.

"A strawberry sunrise is a drink that masks the alcohol with overly fruity syrup and juice. It's more a smoothie than anything else." He rolled his eyes. "So why try to hide the alcohol in the first place?"

Junior, the twins, and several members of the pack who came to watch the fireworks looked aghast at the idea of a drink with no booze, but Yang could only laugh.

She heard her sister rush up even before Ruby spoke, "Yang, we're about to start and you're not even in costume!"

Yang raised her paper bag. "It's right here."

"A paper bag?"

Yang thunked her sister on the top of the head, or at least tried to as Ruby slipped out of the way before she could. Instead, she opened the bag and slipped on the contents. First was a navy blue jacket with dozens of buttons, embroidery, pockets, and the seal of Vale scribbled on her right shoulder. They matched her shorts and gave off a crisp, uniformed look, though no uniform would hug so tightly to a person's body. Finally she slipped on the officer's cap and a pair of large, black sunglasses.

When Yang clipped a pair of horns to her hair, Ruby asked, "A police officer?"

Melanie added, "A slutty police officer."

"With horns," said Miltia. "I did it first."

"Hey, you're speaking to a ranking officer," Yang said, pinning a plastic badge to her chest. "That's a slutty police captain to you."

"What's with the horns?" asked Jaune.

Yang placed both hands on her hips and posed for the peanut gallery. "I'm also a dragon."

"A Captain Dragon?"

"That's right."

"Oookay…"

"You look great," said Ruby, tugging her sister to the stage. "Now get up there, you wanted to go first."

Grinning, Yang ascended the steps with her fragile looking drink in hand and walked to the edge of the stage, where a single mic had been set up. Without the hum of the blender she could clearly hear Jaune talking with her sister.

"What's going on?" he said.

"Pack bonding. We used to do this in Patch, where each member had to do a small act. It helped everyone grow closer."

"An act?"

"Anything they enjoyed or were good at."

"Why are you putting in ear plugs?"

"Being good and enjoying something does not always mean the same thing." Ruby was always a critic.

Yang grabbed the mic and paused to look over her audience. The entire pack had been required to come in costume, and most resisted at first. She explained and calmly said that attendance was mandatory, one of her first orders. Now her pack milled around the stage in costumes that must have been the last on the shelves. Yang saw a mummy made of toilet paper, far too many Werewolves or people with wolf ears, and a scattering of witches, vampires, and faires.

"This will start the first pack bonding of the new Vale pack." Yang paused for some polite clapping. "What a good day for our little talent show, you all look great by the way. Happy Halloween!" Mumbling came from the crowd, much better, though it hadn't even started yet. "Have I ever told you all the story when a Werewolf, a human, and a Vampire walked into a bar? No? Well, let me tell you, it gets pretty hairy."

Groaning this time, which to her was the best applause.

"Yeah, the Vampire wanted a bite- I know, you all must be howling with laughter, but wait until the punchline. I promise you're in for a treat, no tricks I swear."

Louder groaning, someone shouted in pain, and another had the nerve to throw a wadded up ball of paper.

"Alright, alright, how about this, a while ago I got a call from my fellow cops that one of our wolves was chasing people on bikes. At first I was worried, but then I said that he was being ridiculous . Our wolves don't even own bikes! Eh, eh? Come on that one was pawsitively funny." She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Phew, that one is furever funny. If you're not laughing by now, I must be barking up the wrong tree, but my wonderful jokes are not the only reason we're here."

Recently repaired spot lights blazed on, illuminating a single spot on the entire dance floor, right on top a very shocked Ruby. Her costume, complete with basket and a long, red cloak, fit all too well now as an entire room of wolves surrounded her.

"W-what?" she stuttered. "Yang, what's going on?"

Yang ignored her sister. "Today is a special day for my dear sister. Due to how busy we were I think she may have forgotten that normally, she'd be prancing around trying to milk dry anyone who would listen because today is her birthday."

Ruby's panicked expression turned bright, but she hadn't let Yang finish.

"And as her big sister I feel it is my honorable duty to do the following." Yang's smile filled with teeth and she bellowed the song out as loud as she could. "Haaaaaapy Birthday to you~" Yang was terrible, her pitch out of tune, more passion than skill, but she sang the second line louder than the first. She pulled on just a bit of an Alpha's power and gestured to the crowd of Weres. "Sing."

"""Happy Birthday Dear Ruby~"""

The entire room sang, some having to be forced, but most with various levels of enthusiasm. If the members of her pack were enjoying Ruby's suffering as she slowly turned red as her cloak ... well, she was just doing her job as a big sister.

The song reached its end and Ruby passed through a violent rainbow of colors in her cheeks, until she meekly bobbed her head in thanks. She didn't receive many gifts, Yang didn't expect her to, though she had tucked one away to give to Ruby privately. Jaune's small box was polite, Melanie's was nice considering the two had begun to talk more and more, Miltia followed her sister, but Junior was a surprise.

The big man approached and offered Ruby a huge box, wrapped with multiple bows, setting her off into another spat of embarrassment and panicked twitching.

The scene was nice. The revelation shocked Yang. Maybe, just maybe, she could get used to this.

She took a swig of her drink and did a quick check. Over the pain of her jokes and exasperation, the bonds had the barest hint of amusement. Yang grinned, bopped the mic, and announced her comedy skit wasn't over. She dived into another one of her prepared jokes, the clinking of the iron chains covered up by louder groans and booing.

Author's note

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday to our favorite red hooded girl.

Why did I do this scene?

Because it's fun dammit … and I wanted to add little character shorts at the end of books that flushed out a bit of things I doubted I would ever get to explore in the normal plot. Basically omakes and we even got a bit of a bartender off that someone else mentioned a while back in comments. Ah good laughs.

I posted this story, as a one shot, last year on Halloween, so this marks the official one year anniversary of this story! Happy claps.

With the end of this chapter I'll be starting a one month planning session.

I know not all of you were happy, maybe even most of you, with how I ended book one, so I'll be taking this time to refine what I have planned and maybe rearrange some things. I'll be back, hopefully better than ever.

See you all in a month!

Until next time,

Mkspotlights