Chained to the Mafia

The world of Zazoris is home to many kinds of humanoid races. Humans, werewolves, and the most powerful among them, vampires. Each race lives in their own areas, though the Creseon Empire, home of the vampires, is also filled with many of the other two races, thanks in part to the huge trade in mortal flesh there.Far to the south of the Creseon Empire is the Forest of Thesuron where the now homeless werewolves have made their home. Many tales have been told of the werewolf city of Thesuron and its downfall to the vampires who used their dark powers in order to sink the grand werewolf city to the ground.Many people debate if this was the truth about why the city no longer exists, or if some other force sank the grand city. However, what is known for sure is that the werewolves now mourn their lost city and the culture tied to the city.The werewolf ancestors spoke of the terrors of what happened. The sky turned as red as rivers of blood, trees uprooted by an unseen force, ground swallowing structures as their homeland crumbled and sunk into the ground.One small pack of werewolves banded together to explore the forests of Thesuron, a compromise few of their kind would have taken with the risk of being captured and sold into slavery to those in the Creseon Empire. However, the goal was to find any relics or hidden secrets that would help them reclaim any lost knowledge of their past and the remains of their lost city.The Luna Bella Arthfael was curious and careful as she took her pack further into the forest. Her first-born son, Andras, scouted ahead of the pack to find a safe passage into the forest. He stood about average height and had short, well-maintained, light-brown hair and sun-kissed skin. His physical build was of one who spent his time honing his strength and power. He was the obvious choice to take over as Alpha of the pack.Her second-born son and the one who would become his brother’s Beta, Faolan kept close to her for her protection. The two had been born as twins, though they were far from the same, both in looks and in personality.Faolan’s true name was actually just Lan, but a few years ago, he had helped a lost wolf pup, returning it to its pack. An act very few werewolves would usually do. Most wolves view werewolves as rivals to their territory and will often defend their land violently. Because of this, the rest of the pack added ‘Fao’ to his name, the meaning behind it being ‘little wolf’.Andras would have just left the pup to find its own way or even killed it for meat, but Faolan had compassion enough to spare even the enemy’s skin. Or so it was joked.Bella worried this would separate him from the pack, or cause them to say hurtful things, but he didn’t seem to mind the nickname, and the pack only ever seemed to use it as a sign of endearment despite what his nickname implied.The Luna watched as Faolan shifted on the spot anxiously. She could tell he was ready to join his elder brother in scouting ahead for potential danger. However, she kept him beside her, for she knew the mischievous nature he had, and the dangers his brashness would often land him in.Unlike his brother, Faolan’s skin was much lighter, like that of her own. He had blond hair that he usually left in a complete mess, though he kept it short, so it rarely bothered him. It bothered her, however, and often she would tell him to tidy himself up if he wanted to be respected.“They love me enough as it is, any more respect or love and I’ll surely drown,” he would often say, a big smirk on his face. Today he seemed unusually serious, however. A stark difference in his usual attitude.The Luna hoped this was a sign of Faolan becoming maturer, but she doubted it would last long. Bella did not yet think of Faolan as an adult. She felt that he still had a long way to go before he took over as Beta of the pack.The other pack member that she had at her side was a female who was a couple of years younger than Faolan. Braith joined the pack only two years ago when Andras and Faolan had found her being harassed by bandits, whom they could only guess what horrors they had planned for her.Braith’s pack had been killed in the skirmish, leaving her as the only survivor from their attack. She was smaller than others of her age, and her skittish nature only made her seem even smaller than in truth. Her raven-black hair was usually tied up in a ponytail, as she preferred to keep it long. Her skin was darker than any of the others in the Arthfael pack, and many outsiders noticed the difference right away. However, skin colour was never an issue with Bella and her pack.There were other werewolf packs in Zazoris, but after meeting up with a few various packs, none seemed to know who Braith was. Nor did they know what pack she had come from, and with so many other packs of werewolves hidden across the world, it was almost impossible to find any relatives. Braith also refused to leave her saviour’s side. She had grown quite attached to the twins.Seeing as there were no other packs with potential family members, Bella made sure that her pack had accepted Braith with no arguments from the other pack members. Not that she needed to worry, they accepted her from the moment it was said that Braith would stay with them from now until she wished to leave.As usual, Braith was nervous, and she stayed close to Faolan’s side because of it. The reason for the uneasy atmosphere; was that Andras had spotted a group of vampires in the forest a few days ago. The Luna only hoped that they had not noticed her pack and that they were not slavers tracking them. She could only hope for the best in this situation.Ahead of the pack, Andras scouted the woods with proud steps. He had transformed into his wolf form, though felt that there was no danger close by. However, he didn’t let down his guard. He felt one could never be too cautious about these things. Perhaps the vampires had simply been near the area hunting, or maybe they had gotten themselves lost. They did not have to be slavers, or anyone dangerous.However, something nagged at him to not trust his thoughts about the vampires being lost or friendly. To him, the vampires around this area of the world were simply ‘dirty, bat-humping, deer dung’.After a while, Andras found a clearing beside a small stream. There was still no sign of any vampires in the area, no tracks, sounds, nothing, and thus, he brought the pack here for the night.

A few days went by without the pack seeing any sign of the vampires which they had spotted previously. This gave them a little room to relax and let their guard down a little. However, Andras kept vigilant. His trust for the vampires was lower than most in the pack, but he knew what would happen if he relaxed too much. He didn’t want to put his pack in any danger of being surprised by an attack. It didn’t matter what kind of person they ran into; vampire, human or other werewolves.As Andras paced his way slowly along the camp’s outskirts, he kept close to the others. However, he kept far enough away to keep tabs on the forest surrounding his pack. At times, his gaze lingered on his brother, Faolan as he caused some mischief in a playful attempt to keep the pack’s tensions low.Their mother often became frustrated at Faolan’s pranks. This time, he had slipped a make-shift pretend spider, made of twigs and dead leaves, near the log she was using to sit upon. It wasn