Between Rubies and Opals
Chapter One

Erin lay on her back, staring at her ceiling in the darkness. The full moon was bright and shone through her window like a street light against the dark blue velvet sky. A small smile ran across her lips as she relished in the thought that tonight was the last night that she was sleeping in her parents’ house. It was about time too.

Her 300th birthday was coming up in a month and her parents had, after much deliberation and a lot of persuasion from Erin, agreed to allow their only daughter to move into her own apartment on the other side of town with her childhood friend, Alex.

It was a beautiful part of town, called Coldora Heights, and overlooked the whole Coldora, Methys and Delkata area. It was a roomy apartment, with white walls, high ceilings and crystal chandeliers. It was perfect for Erin, not like the 900 year old Manor that her parents called home. She needed to be on her own, and her parents never understood that. They were protective beyond all comparison, and that frustrated Erin to death.

She could hear her parents talking to one another on the other side of the manor, in low and hushed voices. She rolled over onto her side, gazing out the window. There was loud barking in the distance and it made her sit up in her king-size four-poster bed. Running her fingers through her dark red hair, she slid off the bed and walked over to the window. The moon was full and there were a lot of dark shadows scurrying around. In the light of the beautiful full moon, she could see the masses of wolves frolicking around the streets of Algarakh. Erin sat down on the broad windowsill and brought her knees up to her chin, still staring out the window at the wolves. They weren’t scary, as she was taught to believe. They were beautiful, majestic creatures, with shiny fur and graceful stances. Something that she would never be.

Unlike other vamps, Erin couldn’t even be graceful if she tried. She was as accident prone as a human, and that frustrated her mother.

“Erina, you are as ungainly as a mammoth! Your grandmother would be ashamed of me,” her mother would say, wrinkling her nose. “Raising a daughter as ungraceful as you.”

Of course Erin knew that was exactly the type of thing her maternal grandmother would say. She was a 920 year old vamp and very true to her nature; surly, tight-lipped and very graceful. She would often stick her nose high in the air at Erin in her younger days, and a constant look of disapproval would be on her pruned face. Her paternal grandmother, however, was quite the opposite. The old woman loved Erin and her unvamp-like ways. Erin absent-mindedly fingered the emerald necklace around her neck that belonged to her grandmother and realized exactly how much she missed the old bat.

A loud howling made her focus her attention back to the celebration going on outside and a sad smile formed on her small mouth. In a way, Erin envied them, being so free, even if it was for only one night every lunar cycle.

Free.

A feeling that she was not sure she would ever truly feel.

Being born a vamp had its certain advantages, but freedom was not one of them. Being bound by family and by blood – in a very literal sense – never resulted in the euphoria of freedom. Also being born into the Lewandowski vamp family, meant that her whole life was planned out for her, from the day she was conceived, to her true mate who she will marry one day, to the day she will have her own vampire family. That was not something that Erin believed in. The only person that was in charge of her life was herself, but getting that point across to her mother, was a daunting task. Her mother was the most controlling person she knew, aside from her brother of course, and rebelling against her mother and the wishes her mother had for her, was dangerous, and disgraceful towards the family name.

She felt her brother’s presence coming down the hallway and as he entered her room, she frowned slightly.

“Those animals are at it again,” he muttered.

“They’re not animals, Niko.”

“Carrying on as they do, I’d say so.”

Erin looked over at her brother and sighed. His dark amber eyes were glowing ominously and his jaw was clenched. Erin hated the way he looked down on the wolves, but he was as immovable as Telstrofe Mountain.

“They’re lucky, being down there without us. Being who they are. Being free.”

Nikolai looked over at her, with a look of disgust and disbelief on his face. “Do not tell me that you are envious of those mongrels?”

“Only a little,” Erin looked at her brother, standing next to her, his arms crossed and his jaw clenched in disgust.

“You are being absurd, Erina. Those mutts need to be euthanized; every last one of them.”

Erin narrowed her eyes and shook her head in disapproval at her brother. “I do not understand the condemnation you feel for them.”

“Much as I do not understand the compassion you feel for them, sister,” Nikolai hissed at the wolves outside in repulsion.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” Erin mumbled softly.

He turned towards her with a frown. “Then do not force yours onto me, and I won’t force mine onto you.”

“Yours isn’t an informed opinion-”

“And yours is?”

“Niko, I do not wish to bicker with you on the eve of my departure from the manor,” Erin’s voice softened and she broke her stare, gazing out the window again.

“Erina, you are very dramatic.”

“Well, that is one of the key traits of our race, Niko.”

There were a few moments of silence as the two siblings observed the celebration from the safe confines of the manor. The clouds momentarily darkened the sky as they glided smoothly over the bright full moon and Nikolai turned to Erin, tilting his head.

“What?” she asked.

“I still cannot believe that Mother and Father are permitting you to move out of the manor and into Coldora. What exactly did you tell them?”

“The truth. That I feel suffocated here, that I need some independence in my life,” Erin shrugged nonchalantly.

“You cried in front of Father, didn’t you?”

“Not blatantly,” Erin smiled slyly.

“You may not be the most graceful vamp in your movements, but you definitely have a well-trained silver tongue,” Nikolai frowned. “Or should I say silver tear ducts, which might I add, is completely strange, even for you..”

“Whatever do you mean?” Erin giggled and wrapped her arms around herself. “Oh, Niko, I’m as excited as a bite-let before the annual Bloodmoon.”

“I do not doubt that for a second.”

“Why have you never considered moving out of this musty old place?” She looked over at her brother and he raised a fake offended eyebrow at her.

“Musty?”

“Yes.”

“I rather like the confines of this fine place of residence. Musty or not.”

Erin giggled and looked at her brother. “I am going to miss our midnight discourses.”

“I am merely a whisper away, sister.” He placed his hand on her head with a slight smile.

“I know the two of us are very different, Niko, and we’ve had our share of petty bickering in the past-”

“Which usually originates from your radical opinions,” Nikolai smirked, interrupting Erin.

“Whatever.” Erin rolled her eyes and playfully smacked him against the arm. “I’m really glad that you’re my brother.”

“You should get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow.” Nikolai backed away from her and smiled tightly.

A smile that was as fake as they came.

Erin knew that Nikolai was not a very emotional vamp, and any affection from her side would make him retreat into his coffin. Not because he didn’t share his fondness for her, but because he was a self-admitted emotion-phobe, that believed emotions were for the weak and ignorant.

“I’ll wait for the festivities to die down,” she said with a nod, and turned her back on the window, briefly looking at her room. “Even though, I doubt I would be able to fall asleep, the anticipation alone will keep me awake, plus Lex will be here as soon as dawn breaks.”

“Thank you for the warning. I’ll be sure to make myself scarce before her arrival,” Nikolai grimaced.

“Wise choice, my dear brother. She’s after your blood.”

“Apparently that is not the only thing she is after.”

Erin giggled and her brother paused by the door. “She’s a good person, Niko.”

“A good person would never do to you, what she did. I know I wouldn’t want her anywhere near me.”

“That was a long time ago-”

“I can see it still pains you, sister.”

“It does not.”

“You are a terrible liar, Erina,” Nikolai frowned. “Unlike Alex.”

“Maybe that’s what makes us get along so well because we are so different,” Erin shrugged. “She makes up for the things I lack, and I make up for all those that she lacks.”

“Which may be a lot more.”

“Careful with your words, Niko, she is still my best friend,” Erin warned, narrowing her glowing green eyes.

“You know I don’t apologize.”

“It won’t kill you, you know.”

“I know,” Nikolai nodded slightly. “Dobrej nocy, Erina.”

“Good night, Niko.”

Erin watched her brother disappear into the night and looked out of the window again. A deep, lonely howl came from Almedor Heights and Erin looked out through the window, spotting a single wolf with snow white fur, sitting on the apex of the hill, howling at the moon.

A deep and raw sadness filled her heart as she could feel the loneliness enveloping her and as she went back to bed, she wished for the dawn to approach, before her heart broke from the heart-rending weeping of the lone white wolf.

Sam stared out at the wolves, hounding around in the streets, clambering up trees and barking incoherently at one another. At least they were behaving themselves tonight. No damage to property, and no fires. Not like last time.

The mutts nearly burned down the entire Waterfront, along with a section of the boardwalk with the previous lunar cycle. This time, however, there were helicopters circling every now and then, making sure that it didn’t happen again.

“There you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” a voice behind him said.

Sam looked over his shoulder at his best friend Gowan, clambering up the hill on his all-fours, his black fur extra fuzzy and his pink tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

One of the good things of being an Algharakhian wolf was the ability to communicate in exactly the same way as they would if they were not in their wolf form. They still spoke clearly to one another in their ‘human voice’, making verbal conversation easier. They had no telepathic abilities of communication while in their wolf form, and only individuals with the telepathic ability could read others’ mind. Each wolf, from the day that they are born, are bestowed a special ability, ranging from telepathy, to telekinesis, to invisibility, and is not hereditary in any way. Special abilities are based solely on the individual, and their personality traits.

“I needed to get away for a bit. It was getting too rowdy down there,” Sam answered.

“Judging by your expression, you’re not feeling any better then.”

“What do you think, Gowan?”

“You shouldn’t allow her to have such an effect on you, Sam.”

“Easier said than done.”

“I hear you, Sam, I hear you.” Gowan sat down next to his best friend and stared out into the darkness. “But she was the one that was playing hard to get.”

“I’m tired of games,” Sam sighed miserably and stared out into the darkness.

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“I’m getting too old for this crap, Gow.”

“Oh please, you’re still a pup, Sammy.”

“It doesn’t always feel like it.”

“You age gracefully, like we all do.”

Another good thing about their race was that they aged at a much slower rate than usual. They aged 12 times slower than the normal aging rate, as a century to a human was twelve years to a wolf, and a vampire for that matter. So even though Sam and Gowan were more than 300 years old, they still looked like they were in their late 20’s.

There were a few seconds of silence between them as they watched the organized chaos down below.

“Fool Moon sucks,” Sam eventually muttered.

“The name sucks more than anything. It leaves the door wide open so that everyone thinks that we are the fools.”

“They’re definitely acting like a bunch of fools.”

“I hate this depression that you’re in, Sam.”

“Dude, I would do anything to get rid of it, trust me.”

“Want to go for a splurge?”

“I doubt that is going to help me feel better,” Sam frowned, placing his paw on Gowan’s shoulder. “But thanks for the effort.”

“I’m here, whatever you need, my friend.”

Sam looked at his friend and sighed drearily. “I’m so over this, Gowan. All of it. What’s the point in this so-called celebration? To show the world how free we are? How liberated we are? That’s bullshit. Everyone knows we’re not free. We’re not liberated,” Sam snarled and motioned to the rows of dark estates on the left side of him. “Why do you think they’re locked up in their castles? Because they’re scared of us, they know we’d kill them in a heartbeat. Those damn vamps are the fools, they should be down here. Fucking cowards-”

“Ease up, Sam. You know what happens when you get hostile,” Gowan warned. “It took us almost a week to find you last time.”

“Maybe I didn’t want to be found,” Sam muttered. “My fur is just disrupted, Gow. I got a text from Selena-”

“Don’t even say that name.” Gowan stood up with a growl and grabbed the loose skin between Sam’s shoulders, pulling him up from the grass. Sam let out a yelp and shook his fur, straightening himself out. “I hope you didn’t reply to that text, and deleted it.”

“She’s told me that she was sorry. That she never meant for it to end like this.”

“Vampshit,” Gowan growled and spat onto the grass. “She knew exactly what she was doing.”

“Gowan, you don’t know her like I do.”

“Oh, so she’s not a two-timing whore that played you like a fiddle?” Gowan frowned. “Seems like I had it all wrong, Sammy.”

Sam glanced at his friend for a few moments and shook his head with a sad whimper.

“Enough with this moping about. You and I are going to do something crazy, even if it kills you.” Gowan looked at him, his eyes sparkling.

“Remember; don’t upset the senator with any erratic behavior,” Sam mimicked his father’s deep voice, rolling his eyes.

“Fuck that! Nothing you do is going to taint his perfect image.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Okay, tell you what. If there’s trouble, then I’ll explain to the old dog.” Gowan held out his paw at Sam.

Sam narrowed his eyes momentarily at Gowan, and then pounded his paw against Gowan’s. “Deal.”

Sam was the only child of Senator Franklin Morton, leader of the Worldwide Organization for Lycan Freedom political party, appropriately also known as W.O.L.F. The city of Algharakh was at the dawn of a political shift that will change everything and Senator Morton was determined to give wolves the same rights as the rights given to vamps.

As they headed down the hill, they passed a sign on a lamppost, with a campaign poster of W.O.L.F.

“Fucking vamps…” Sam muttered angrily, and looked up at the smiling face of his father on the poster, thinking about all the discrimination that occurred in Algharakh, and the injustice that there was in the city. A deep growl came from inside him as he crossed the street, following Gowan into The Water Bowl, the local bar on the corner of Elemad and Tolodok Street.

A few hours, and more than a few drinks later, Sam and Gowan stumbled out of the bar, with wolfish grins on their faces.

“You know what, Gowan?” Sam leaned against the pole of a nearby traffic light.

“What, Sammy?” Gowan eyed him with narrow slivers of brown.

“I’ve realized something.”

“And what is that?”

“If you can’t be happy, at least you can be drunk, right?”

“Drunk with your best friend.”

“Absolutely.” Sam pointed a drunken paw at Gowan. “You’re my best friend, Gowan.”

“And you’re my best friend, Sammy.”

The two wolves drunkenly embraced one another and Sam chuckled to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Gowan slurred.

“I’ve realized another thing, Gow.” Sam looked at Gowan and his smile faded slightly. “If Selena-”

“Hold up, do you really want to go there?”

“Hear me out.” Sam held up his paws in defense and let out a wolfish laugh.

“Okay, okay.”

“If Selena had the choice between me and him, and she chose him, which she obviously did, then she never really loved me in the first place.”

“Because if she did love you, then there wouldn’t be a choice in the first place.”

“Exactly,” Sam slurred with an exaggerated nod and pointed a shaky paw at Gowan. “You are the best mind-reader ever.”

“True, but that’s logical, Sammy.”

“You think?”

“I know. You deserve someone better than her, buddy. Someone that brings out the hunter in you, not the predator.”

“Aren’t they the same thing?” Sam frowned, the skin between his eyes crinkling deeply.

“Predators are ruthless, pitiless and cold-blooded; hunters are compassionate, kind-hearted and humane.”

“I don’t feel very humane.”

“You won’t, you’re totally legless.”

Sam frowned and stared down at his hind legs. The white fur on his feet was covered in mud, resembling his brown boots and he chuckled to himself, clearly amused. After a few seconds he looked back at Gowan. “You want to go do something fun?”

“What did you have in mind?”

Sam pointed to the darkened estates in the distance and smirked. “Let’s go rustle some vamp fuckers’ feathers.”

“Don’t you mean ruffle?” Gowan burst out laughing, but Sam looked at him, a serious expression on his wolf face.

“I’m serious, Gow.”

Gowan stopped laughing abruptly and looked at Sam with wide eyes. “But Sammy, we could get arrested.”

“Only if we get caught.”

“Let’s do it,” Gowan smirked and Sam put his paw on his best friend’s shoulder, and the two of them walked across the street.

Two wolves on a mission.

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