Kelvin and Dustin entered the coffee shop. It was the first time either of them had set foot inside the door, although they knew Declan frequented this place at least once a day, when he was home. Neither of them knew that it was also the place Declan first laid eyes on Noelle, and where she first laid eyes on him.

"What’re you gonna have?" Kelvin asked.

Dustin stared at the menu. All the fancy types of coffee were beyond him. Straight up with sugar and cream; and lots of it, had served him just fine, so far. "I want a regular coffee. Strong and hot," he said. "Where is the waiter?"

"Barista, that's what they call them in places like this."

"What a stupid word, why do they call them that?"

"It's Italian, it means pretty much the same thing, and you know, they like to call them baristas. It sounds posh."

Dustin lightly rubbed his fingers up the back of his neck. "Between you and me, it sounds pretty stupid. Can you imagine saying, ‘Hey Barista, there’s a fly in my soup?’" Kelvin giggled as his barista and Dustin's waiter walked to serve them.

"What can I get you two, today?" she asked.

"One black, cream and sugar on the side, and I'll have a creamy latte with a dash of cinnamon."

"Sure thing, if you want to take a seat, I'll bring it over in a few minutes."

Dustin grabbed a table that had recently emptied itself of its customers, and one that was next to the window. He peered outside and surveyed the surrounding streets. Maria was right. The streets were pretty narrow, and from what he could see, they received plenty of light at the ends. If Kelvin used the coffee shop as a reason to be in the area, they could monitor the ends of the street and see who came and went.

"I think this area is going to be where it happens," Dustin said.

Kelvin nodded as he scoured the street. He’d always found a way to read a street, he lived on enough of them as he grew up, and he had been homeless after his mom died. His head pushed against the glass as he looked up the side of the opposite building.

"I think you’re right, there’s only one way in and one way out," he replied as he pulled his head from the window when he heard the barista's voice.

"Your drinks," she said, sliding the tray onto the table.

She left the table as Dustin flipped the plastic cap off his cup and reached for the cream. He poured as Kelvin watched the strong black coffee turn a light shade of beige. Dustin placed the small cream jug back on the table and spooned in four sugars.

"Jesus, I thought you were kidding when you said you liked it creamy and sweet. It's no good for your heart."

"Kelvin, I'm a werewolf, you think a cholesterol problem is going to affect me?" Dustin ignored his words and picking the cup up and slowly sipping the sickly, sweet concoction was done, in bliss. Kelvin screwed up his face as he sipped from his cup and foam stuck to his lip. "Now, who do you think has the weird drink, look at your reflection?"

Kelvin looked at his reflection. He wiped the back of his hand over his lips and noticed a person at the corner of the street looking in the direction of the coffee shop.

"I think we’re being watched."

Dustin glanced from the corner of his eye. He saw the figure that was hugging the corner of the wall. A hood and baseball cap covered their face, but still, it appeared they were being watched.

"That's a female. The body is too big for a man," he muttered from behind his cup.

"Shall we give chase?" Kelvin asked.

"Nah! If we let them know we’ve spotted them, they might not follow you as we want them to," he replied.

Kelvin thought Dustin was right. Getting them to follow him was a one-shot deal. If they spooked the vlads, they would hang back and spring on them when they least expected it. Kelvin thought about all the situations where they’d already encountered a vlad. So far, they’d all been women. The car driver appeared to be a woman, and Kat verified that from the scene in the back of the ambulance. Were women under threat more than men, or was there another reason why no men were involved, apart from carrying the boxes of blood into the forest?

"You want another cup?" Dustin asked.

"God-no, I don't really like this type of coffee, but needs must prevail, and we have to make it seem realistic."

"They have cocoa. A few more visits and it’ll seem as if you’re keen on the stuff," Dustin remarked, now sliding his legs off the brightly-colored bench seat.

"When are we gonna do it then?" Kelvin asked. "Toward the weekend?"

"I think. Three visits here at roughly the same time. When it’s going dark I think, that’ll be the best option."

Kelvin followed him to the door. Dustin glanced to the top of the street where the hooded figure had been standing. There was no sign now, nonetheless, they headed in the opposite direction. He led the way, down the street and around the rear of the block. The sound of the main road began filling their ears. To the right was the back of the town. To the left was the derelict industrial yard that was once a hive of activity. Most businesses closed when the production from the goldmine had reduced its output. A shadow of its former self, it’d now been taken over by graffiti artists, and most of the homeless people that voluntarily moved into the Creek.

Dustin glanced across the grass frontage. It was littered with glass bottles that looked as if they would shred anyone's feet if they ran or walked barefoot. Old windows received many a stone thrown through them. Beams of light threaded their way through the broken glass, and into the darkness. The darkness that was now home to the eyes that watched the two walking at the side of the street. Low growls filled the damp air. Hunched bodies weaved their way through doors that hung on one hinge. Designer baseball caps and hooded sweatshirts had no home where these eyes peered. Glass cracked under paw as they slowly walked through the darkness. Heads tilted and sniffed the air. The damp and rotting smell could not stop them from smelling what was across the street.

That was what they wanted. The stench was strong. The master made them aware of what they needed to look for. Heads bobbed and weaved as saliva dripped from jaws. The faint sound of primeval sex could be heard from the rear of the units. Empty bags of blood were strewn on the dust-covered ground.

Dustin grabbed hold of Kelvin's arm as they walked. "Can you hear anything?" he asked. "From the units over there."

Kelvin cocked his ear. His inner wolf cut through the loud bustling sound of the cars that ran ahead of them. "I can't hear much, but it stinks like something has died over there," he replied.

"I reckon we have located where the second lot of blood was taken," Dustin replied, now losing his grip on Kelvin’s jacket.

Kelvin chortled. "Well, if we want to make sure they’re going to follow me. This is the street for me to walk down."

Dustin shook his head. "If you walk down here at night, well, I don't think you'll make it to the coffee shop.

* * *

Gabriel sat in the large window that was stationed at the side of the large stone staircase. The one overlooking the lobby of the Towers. Ever since Declan had taken him in, he’d sat and used that position to ponder and think. Although people milled about in the lobby, the sounds of their voices never carried the distance to the window ledge. It was a place to hide from everyone, apart from his thoughts… and thoughts he possessed plenty of.

He’d almost completed the preparations for their trip, and Dustin was the last thing he needed to arrange. Were they going to travel as a pack in the hunt for a shaman, or were they going their separate ways?

The second thought that crossed his mind was Tanya, and the dreams he was having about Jemma from the bar. Was there a hidden meaning behind it, or was it his subconscious mind fantasizing about her and subliminally manifesting into his dreams? Tanya had decided to stick with him, but he still felt unsure. When he was alpha in the Towers, he bluntly shunned Maria, and she was much hotter than Tanya. Not that he settled for second best, he’d simply chosen the one who stood by him. Gabriel tried to think of her reason. Why had she decided to stick with him? I mean, he might’ve never found an opportunity to find out how to get his wolf back, and he was sure that she’d never stay that close if he remained human.

"Hey there," Maria said from the steps, leaning back on the handrail. "What are you thinking about?"

"Pretty much everything that’s happened, and what we are doing now, and where we are all going," he replied. "Do you know much about dreams?"

"A little. I used to hang around with a girl, and she tried to teach me how to read them," Maria replied. "Are you having bad ones?"

"They aren't bad. Two of them were pretty good, but they were so out of whack with what’s happening, I simply can’t get my head around why."

"I don't think you want to broadcast it to everyone, you better come to the office."

Gabriel stood on the windowsill and leaped to the landing of the stairs. That was the other reason not many people knew about that spot. It was a twenty or thirty-foot drop to the stone floor if they got it wrong. Gabriel had been a keen climber, years before, and he had taken on some major challenges with Declan.

Wow, those days seemed so long ago.

Gabriel sat on the handrail and held his arms to the side as he slid to the bottom. Maria warned him not to let Kelvin see him doing that. The last thing they wanted was him busted up with a broken anything.

They reached the office. "Get on the couch, Gab. So, what are these dreams about?"

"The first, I think, was about these vlads. I dreamt that you, Kelvin, and I were in Declan's old house, and it was blowing a gale with snow. It was a horrendous storm, and it was freezing. I glanced from the window and swishes of black were running around the meadow. And then they stopped."

Maria furrowed her brow and wrinkled her nose up. "And that's it?"

"Nah!” Gabriel shook his head and tilted his face to Maria who pulled up a chair at the side of the couch with her arms folded. “Maria, then there was the loud tapping."

"Maybe it was the wind?"

"No! Come on Maria, have you ever seen that movie where that vampire taps on the kid's bedroom window? Geez, that scared the shit out of me as a kid. It was like that on the window, and it went dark like a person had blocked out the light."

"Go on… there has to be more."

"Well, the door was buckling and bending in the wind. I stood to wedge the shovel under the door handle —and then it started."

"What started?"

"Scratching and tapping on the door. The wind pushed it open at the top, and I was sure I saw someone peering through the gap."

Maria crossed her legs and leaned forward. "Did you see anything?"

"I'm not sure. I might be thinking I did, but in the dream, I didn't. It was so damned lifelike, though."

"Tell me, what did you think you saw? Eyes? A face? The thing we are searching for?"

"Well, that's why I'm uncertain. I think I saw eyes pushed against the gap. The scratching got louder, and the door bowed inward. I sort of recognized the eyes. That's my problem."

"Hmm, someone you know was scratching at the door. Maybe they wanted to get in from the cold?"

"Nah! There was no voice, and then the scratching turned to a thud, it echoed around the whole house. It was like a heartbeat."

"Now, who was the person you thought you recognized?”

He shook his head, and Maria could see his concern-filled eyes glossing over with what wasn’t a full tear, although, it was enough to dampen his eyes and catch the light.

"It was Tanya that forced her head and pushed against the door."

"Well, there you have it. She was trying to get in from the cold, it's obvious."

"I don't think so. I've seen a look in eyes like that before, and I'm sure you have too. That moment as you’re about to take down your prey when you're on a hunt. Death is in your eyes. Death… and the taste of the future blood you will get from killing. That's what I saw."

"Gab, it has to be a simple nightmare, a bad dream and nothing more. You’ll find that you put Tanya in that position just to fill the role of the bad guy (or girl) in this case. You can't dream of someone you’ve never seen, it’s not really possible, subconsciously.”

"I'm not convinced. That look and that long, blonde hair. It was her. I'm sure of it."

"So, you’re not one hundred percent certain of it?"

"I'm certain that whatever it was, gave their best effort to get in that door and taste blood. Kelvin's blood, I reckon."

"You never know. It might be a concern for Kelvin, or it could be relationship issues.” Maria uncrossed her legs and leaned forward with her writing pad held tight to her knees. “Now, do you have any issues with Tanya?"

Gabriel looked up. "No, not that I'm aware of. There was..." he started to say before he drifted off into thought.

"What else is there?"

"These are personal dreams, and both of these include another woman," he remarked, watching that the door wouldn't burst open.

"Relax, it's locked."

"Well, the first dream was when I went to the biker bar and ended up in the back office. Jemma made a pass at me. She kissed and nibbled my ear before she unbuckled my belt and well, you know, her hand went south."

"And you did what?"

"I pushed her away. I said I couldn't do it."

"Did you want to?"

Gabriel gulped again as he swallowed, and then he felt a warmth wash across his face. "Of course I wanted to."

"Maybe you like her more than you like Tanya?"

"God no! Jemma's hot alright, but I like you more than her or Tan—" Maria sat up straight as Gabriel realized what he’d blurted out. "Oops! Sorry."

"It's okay. So, the second dream. Who was this about, Jemma or me?" Maria chuckled, and Gabriel felt uncomfortable for talking so candidly just moments before.

"It was Jemma again, but this dream wasn't as bad, apart from the timing."

"What was wrong with the timing?"

"I was wide awake and kind of daydreaming in the biker bar when I had it. This time, I dreamt Tanya upped and left me to go to the jukebox while Jemma stood massaging her breasts across the bar. She doesn't wear bras, so you can guess what it was like."

"Ha, ha," Maria said, clapping her hands together. "I know what your problem is."

"What's my problem?"

"Are you getting enough sex?"

"You’ve got to be kidding me. Tanya has a large appetite," he replied, now with a wide smile on his face.

"It’s either you aren’t having enough sex, or it’s getting boring, you have to spice it up a little," Maria explained.

Gabriel swung his legs and placed his feet onto the floor. He leaned on his knees and looked at Maria. "I can do that! I'll take her up to the woods and give her a real good—"

"Whoa, hang on. Time out; time out."

"—afternoon. I was trying to say," he replied.

"And here was me thinking you were going to get into sordid details," Maria said, standing and throwing her pad onto the desk with a smile.

"So, I have nothing to worry about?"

"Nah! Nothing at all." Maria hoped she was right. But in truth, she wasn’t altogether sure.

“Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.”