August pulled at the neck of his t-shirt, grimacing as he trudged across the uneven ground towards the barn. He'd not been out here in a long time, and he'd certainly never been invited out to the farm house the wolf pack called home. The last time he'd been here he'd been practically chased off the land, and he'd never gotten anywhere near the barn. Luckily, he didn't think any of the current wolves had been around to see it. Thomas and William trailed at his heels, Thomas lugging two duffel bags of medical supplies, and William carrying the clunky machine they'd fetched to perform this little experiment in supernatural science.

Inside the barn, the small group of wolves had gathered in their human forms. Kaleb, the Alpha, Jemima, his wife, and Carson, the pack-wife's brother and the instigator of this whole debacle. A few others August didn't know the names of, nor cared enough to learn them, had been dismissed to the house. They didn't need more people than absolutely necessary for this.

The non-wolf, Vince, lay on a long trestle table, one of two that had been set up in the barn. From the smell of it, the thing usually belonged in a green house, the smell of soil and the sharp tang of tomatoes fresh from the vine hung in the air. August was also very surprised to find that the scent of humans was nestled further into the back of the barn, though it was hidden by the overwhelming stench of horses. The trestle tables had been covered in a sheet of plastic, a few cushions propped beneath it to make it more comfortable for the boy who imagined himself prince. The other table had been laid out the same way, but August noted that heavy chains also adorned this second table, curling from underneath and wrapped around the wooden planks. He also noted that the chains were very similar to the ones his vampires had used to detain the wolves on the unfortunate night where the idiots had decided to attempt to take down a wolf for fun. After having William remove one of their arms, not to mention that they had lost said fight rather abysmally, he was sure the idiots would never try something so stupid again.

Thomas sidled past him, waving William forwards to place the transfusion machine on a small crate between the two tables. Large circular pumps stuck out on either side, looking to August like some sort of bizarre old-fashioned jukebox. August kept a small smirk to himself, wondering how entertaining it would be to see blood spin to popular tunes. The seventies and disco would, in particular, be most amusing.

"Bet you thought you'd never be doing this, huh, doctor boy?" Vince asked, propping himself up on his elbows. "Think, you're part of medical history. Creating a new werewolf."

He chuckled, glancing at his parents, and then August, before turning his attention back onto Thomas.

"It was going to happen. Eddie called me a 'dark wolf' not long after meeting me. She must have known your kind would give in and help. All to get back your precious Spencer."

August gritted his teeth and stared resolutely at Thomas, watching the young vampire work hooking up tubes and testing the machine.

"Hey, where is Spencer, anyway?" Vince asked. August could see the smirk out of the corner of his eye, no matter how he tried to avoid it while keeping an eye on Thomas. "I'd have thought he'd be here to see this. He promised to see me turned, after all. I'd hate to think of him missing out. Though, he did nothing to get me here, did he? He let you clean up his mess."

"Vince, give it a rest," Carson snarled.

Even August didn't miss how quickly the boy's mother came to stand in front of her brother, turning her back on him and protecting her son from his suggestions he hold his tongue. Personally, August would have rather seen said tongue ripped from his mouth.

Vince let out a sneering laugh and flopped back onto the cushions, letting his arm fall out to his side, ready for a needle from Thomas. At that moment, August wanted to jab the sharp point through the boy's eye and tell him it worked better this way. But with his parents, wolf alpha and mate, watching on, he figured it was best to let Thomas, and his quiet bedside manner, do the hard work.

Sure enough, William's expression showed the same amount of annoyance August felt when his sire brother retreated from what he did best: lugging heavy objects.

With the two needles were in place, each taped down to Vince's arms in two places to ensure it would remain steady, Thomas came back to August's side. August had to admit that he'd not seen the young man so rattled in a long time, since the very early days of his transformation. He stood close to William, almost shielding himself from the wolves.

"He's ready," he said. "I just need the... the other one."

"Thank you, Thomas," August said, laying a hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently.

A number of blood bags had been lined up beside one of the pumps, and would need to be changed to collect Vince's human blood as the process went on.

Kaleb, having clearly heard the exchange, stepped forwards.

"I'll go get them."

August gave a single solemn nod to the wolf alpha and once the man had left the barn, an awkward and unsettling silence spread over them, only broken by horses munching on hay or scuffing their hooves against the floor. August peered down towards the end set of stalls, a very noticeable absence of any sounds what-so-ever from that end of the barn. He knew what the wolves did on the full moon, of course, how they 'caught' their food for the month, but he'd never looked into the particulars. Knowing Spencer had been here more recently, he pondered asking him about it, but decided it would be something better left for another time.

The screams reached them first. Jemima steeled herself, going to her son's side and rubbing his shoulder as if to sooth the young man. But it was clear from the boy's expression that he needed no such soothing. His expression, barely masked, was almost giddy with excitement.

Carson turned away, rubbing his hands over his face. August understood his reluctance, his regret. He had caused this disaster with his zest for war, but he had probably never expected that one of his own would be the first to fall.

Thomas remained tight against William's side, a child at their father's hip. August was glad that they had accepted each other, formed a bond. William had been so close to Cleo for so long, and actually, the introduction of Thomas had seen a surprising change in the once stoic and brutal man.

The screaming only got louder the closer they came, footsteps paused and replaced with the skidding of boots against hard earth. Venom spat with every screeched word, fury in every syllable. A snap of leather being pulled violently tight rang through the air, and two other voices joined the chorus, telling him to come along.

The man who appeared in the barn doorway between his guards was dishevelled and dirty. He looked remarkably similar to one of his guards, though his hair was longer and matted in places, his eyes wild where the other's was resigned. Even when he stopped screaming for long enough to draw a decent breath, his lips moved constantly.

He yanked at the leather straps that held him, twisting and writhing between the two sane men. Beyond the stall doors, horses whinnied and shuffled as far as they could from the reek of madness. One step, two, they drew the man further into the barn. He resisted with every breath, pulling back as if he knew exactly what was to become of him.

Suddenly, he changed tactics, launching himself with full force at William. Thomas scuttled back, August stepped to the side, but William held his ground. He met the man—and his skidding guards trying desperately to keep hold of their straps—head on, wrapping a large hand around the man's neck, forcing his head back and keeping his teeth away from his skin. August had never found out what happened if a wolf managed a decent bite on a vampire, but he was not willing to find out right now.

The man was forced back, lifted bodily onto the table where he continued to writhe and spew obscenities as the thick chains were looped over his body. Three leather straps were attached around his arm to hold it still.

"Could you not sedate him?" August asked.

Thomas turned away from the men on the tables and sighed a deep breath.

"I could, but the drug would be in the blood, it'd be transferred into Vince. More dangerous, transferring extra drugs." He glanced over his shoulder, and when he looked back to August, his expression was deadpan. "Personally, it might be preferable."

August only just stopped himself from laughing. He smirked, and then William was waving Thomas over.

Thomas hesitated, his eyes wide. Stepping behind him, August laid his hand again on his shoulder and eased him forwards.

"Do your job, Thomas," he said. "Let them do theirs."

William remained at the man's shoulder, shielding Thomas from his venomous anger as he hooked up the tube that fed into the machine. He glanced over his shoulder, waiting for August's nod of approval before he took a deep breath and flicked on each of the pumps in turn. A whirring became a backdrop to the screams, and the murmur of Darren, who had helped tie his brother down.

"I'm so sorry, Jack," he murmured. He tried to brush his hand over his brother's head, but Jack whipped back and forth so far that he never gained purchase.

Dark red blood spread down the tube and disappeared into the machine until it was a constant stream. All attention—except Jack's and Darren's—lay on the second tube, and it wasn't long before that was a rope of ruby red as well, and finally, the third, discarding the human blood.

"Don't do this to me," Jack cried. "Don't kill me. I didn't do anything. Please!"

Tears streamed down Darren's face, dripping onto sawdust and concrete. He gripped his brother's free hand and clung on for his own life.

"I know," he murmured. "I know you didn't. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Please, stop them, Daz! Stop them!"

Darren choked on a sob.

"I'm sorry."

August turned his gaze away from the bothers and onto Vince, laying casually on his table, an expression of something much like smug triumph on his face. August's eyes narrowed, and when the blonde boy looked at him, it was without an ounce of sympathy for the man being bled dry beside him. He looked like he couldn't even hear it, like it was happening somewhere far away, or to someone he had never met.

August had never spoken to Edeline Arneson, but he was sure she was right. This boy was a dark wolf.

Used to standing still for long periods, he didn't really take note of how long it took, but slowly Jack's screaming and pleas became less frequent. His eyes drifted shut, only to open again in panic, renewed cries on his lips. Even these became quieter, until they faded completely. His head lolled to the side, and he didn't wake again.

Darren's silent sobs shook the air.

"I didn't think this would happen," Vince said suddenly, his voice tired but cheerful. "I figured you'd back out. Some problem or another. I suppose Carson was right after all, you can trust a vampire to do one thing right... kill people."

Darren shoved himself to his feet, and without a backwards look at any of the wolves, he walked out of the barn.

At the machines, Thomas checked the levels of blood in each of the spinning pumps. He changed over the bags, drops of blood hitting the air as little escaped. After being told of Thomas' almost slip at the hospital, August had been worried about his working so closely on a transfusion of this nature. Yet the boy's concentration never wavered.

"Are we done, Thomas?" August asked.

He didn't even glance over his shoulder as he nodded.

"Then unhook the machines."

The boy's mother, Jemima, jumped forwards.

"You're not staying to make sure he's alright?"

August shook his head.

"We have until daylight to get back into the city, and we have completed our part of this bargain we struck. We will leave you to tend to your new wolf... and your dead."

"How will you know if it worked?" Kaleb asked.

William snorted.

"If he ain't dead by the end of the full moon, it worked."

Kaleb's expression twisted and he opened his mouth to begin raging, but August was faster, placing himself between Kaleb and William.

"As I said," he said sternly. "We have completed our part of this bargain. We gave you a chance, not a certainty. The boy is alive. He is here, and unharmed. We are done."

It didn't take long for Thomas to unhook the machines. William gathered up the power cable and grabbed the large device, hauling it out of the barn. Thomas gathered the last of his supplies, shoving them haphazardly into the duffel bag.

The bags of Vince's blood lay on the crate, untouched.

August waited until both men were past him before he nodded to Kaleb, Jemima, and then Carson, and turned away. He didn't even look at the new possible wolf before he left the barn.

"We're really not staying to see if it works?" Thomas asked, turning to William as the larger man dumped the machine in the back of the van. William grabbed a few trash bags and hastily tugged them over the machine to keep as much of the smell from the van as possible. It wouldn't work, of course, they'd all be smelling blood for the ride back into the city, but this was better than leaving the machine open to the air.

"I have no intention of staying out on this farm until the full moon and then being surrounded by a pack of wolves," August replied.

He glanced back at the barn and waved Thomas towards the front seats of the van to climb in. William closed the back doors with a loud slam.

"Plus," August added. "I never want to see if that little shit gets what he wants. Personally, I'd be happy if I never saw that disgustingly smug face ever again."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Dun dun duuuunnnn!

I don't really have anything to add here. I just wanted to dun dun duuuun at you all.
Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know. 
And see you next week!

Chele