Just so you know, Christmas is usually the busiest time of year for artists :')

So. Many. Dog. Commissions!!!

- Sian



"They're not here!" Michael yelled, storming through the boat for a second time while Rowan, Braiken, and Jack stood by the main entrance, equally as frustrated. "They've gone. They knew we were coming, and they ran like the cowards they are!"

Rowan sighed and decided to leave the boat to tell the others. "The boat's empty," he said to his mother and Jenya.

"Empty? It's bad timing, or they knew what we were planning. Where do you think they've gone?" Jenya asked, staying calm.

"I don't know." Rowan looked towards the water, asking if Kaerius knew what was going on. "We should have had Thalassic Mortals watching the place," Kaerius thought.

Rowan leaned against the railings and stared into the dark water shimmering in the moonlight. "Can you see me?" he asked Kaerius.

"Yes."

Rowan looked around and saw no heads nearby. The Thalassic Mortals must be too far for him to see in the dark. He turned to his mum and said, "If they're not here, I'm going to talk with Kaerius."

"Stay where I can see you."

Rowan wasn't sure if his mother said that because she was used to having a six-year-old or if she was worried hunters would still sneak up on them. Rowan hurried around the dock and down the short pier. The planks creaked, and he crouched at the end to stop himself from falling in the water. The pier wobbled a bit too much.

Rowan leaned over the planks and put his hand in the freezing water. Another hand immediately touched his and latched around his fingers, and Rowan felt all the aching in his chest melting away. "Kaerius," he whispered, and the sea creatures head surfaced. Rowan found himself smiling at the sight of those beautiful purple eyes.

Rowan leaned further down, and their foreheads pressed together. Kaerius's skin was wet and icy cold. Still, his soul eased when they touched.

Kaerius put a wet webbed hand on Rowan's cheek and kissed him. Just for a moment, the world around them stopped turning. The breeze stopped blowing, and the sea stopped waving. Rowan forgot about the hunters and his father's parents. Instead, he focused on reconnecting with his soulmate after a lonely night apart. Being away from each other was harder than they thought it would ever be, and their kiss felt so good.

"What now?" Rowan whispered, pulling back enough to look into Kaerius's eyes. He spotted glowing behind him and twenty other heads watching him. "Oh..." Rowan sat up with a smile. "Hello."

Some heads dipped underwater, but two familiar faces came to greet him.

"What's happening?" Jaiker asked.

"Michael's parents must have known we were coming. They've abandoned the boat."

Laiken sighed with frustration. "How? When?"

"We-" Rowan spun when he heard someone scream. He frowned to look through the darkness. He had to focus to see people rushing around, grunting and crying out. Rowan thought he heard the familiar clink of weapons colliding. When he heard a big splash, Rowan suspected hunters.

He let go of Kaerius and ran down the docks to help. His mother was still on the boat, but on the floor with someone leaning over her. Rowan fumbled to get his weapon and threw himself onto the person. Rowan got the shock of his life when the guy hissed with blood running down his mouth. Sharp teeth pointed over his bottom lips.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rowan yelled, battering him on the head with his weapon. He turned to see what happened to his mum while Jack, Braiken, and Michael ran from the boat. "Mum?" Rowan pulled Mandy up, and blood oozed from the side of her neck. The vampire had taken a small chunk from her neck. "Dad!"

Michael was there when Rowan needed him, crouching over his soulmate. "Who did this?" he asked, so serious, Rowan felt a little sick.

"Vampires." Rowan eyed Braiken and Jack to see their reaction. They looked as shocked as he felt. "Dad, the vampires are attacking!"

"Where's Jenya?" Jack asked in a sudden panic, searching the boat and the dock and then the water.

"I heard someone fall in-"

"She was knocked off by the vampires when she tried to shift," Mandy said, holding her neck.

Jack yanked the glasses off his face and jumped over the side into the sea. Everyone watched, astonished as Jack was swallowed up in an instant.

"Kaerius," Rowan thought.

Kaerius quickly replied by saying, "It's okay, I'm with him. We see Jenya. She's a big ugly werewolf now and sinking fast."

"Kaerius's is with him!" Rowan stopped Braiken from leaping over the side too. "They're getting Jenya. We need to help the others against the vampires."

Everyone looked at each other. They expected to fight angry humans with weapons, not blood-sucking supernatural creatures who could see well in the dark and had unnatural strength.

"We'll lose, Rowan," Braiken warned as Michael helped Mandy to her feet.

"We can't just abandon the werewolves!"

"But we'll die without a fair chance!"

"Has any of this ever been fair?"

A vampire jumped over the side of the boat, and Rowan held his weapon to his throat before he had a chance to get too close.

"Volher," Rowan growled, "you betrayed us!"

"No, my clan betrayed me!" Volher yelled with teary eyes shining in the moonlight. "You need to get out of here!"

Rowan pushed him back against the boat rail. "What do you mean?"

"I told you that some of my members were working undercover with the hunters, but they were traitors and reported everything that we were doing. My whole clang had plotted behind my back because they knew I'd put a stop to their madness, and they can't disobey their leader."

"Well, stop them now!"

"I can't." Volher looked down to his stomach. Rowan saw a dark patch on his t-shirt. "I'm going to die. The vampire who challenged me will be the new leader." Volher collapsed to his knees, and Rowan caught him.

"You're not dying, just-"

"Rowan," Volher hushed him and pulled on Rowan's shoulders. "Michael's parents and the hunters are watching this. They'll be far away but not far enough that you still can't attack. Go, finish what you came here to do." Volher gasped in pain, holding his stomach. "I believe that we will find peace one day. With you as a ruler, you can do anything."

Volher started panting as Braiken jumped onto the dock to help Jenya's beta wolf stop the vampires from reaching them.

"Dad, I don't know what to do," Rowan said as the vampire leader lay dying in his arms. Michael and Mandy were next to him, doing nothing, and Rowan quickly realised that there was nothing to be done. "Volher, you need to put pressure on it."

Volher's blood-covered hands softly rested on Rowan's. "I'm almost gone," he whispered. "Say goodbye to your sea creature for me. I liked his wit."

"Volher-"

"Hush Rowan. Let me die peacefully. It's time now."

Rowan watched the life leave his eyes. He had to rest Volher on the boat floor to stop himself from completely falling apart. Rowan had tried to prepare for death because a fight with Hunters meant that he could lose anyone. Volher died because of betrayal, and that harmed everyone around him.

"Find your parents," Rowan said, angrier than intended, but Michael looked equally as enraged.

"Mandy, go in the water where you're safer," Michael demanded, pulling out his sharpest spear.

"Michael, I don't want to leave you again," Mandy protested. "Don't make me when this is our fight, not just yours."

Michael didn't have time to argue, but he wished Mandy remembered how to fight. "Don't leave my side," he grabbed her hand, and they started running to the other end of the boat. "Rowan, come on, we need to go around the rocks. Get Kaerius to search for hunters. They'll be close."

Rowan didn't want to leave the werewolves, but when he looked behind him, all he saw were big distorted shapes in the darkness. The werewolves sniffed at the bodies all around them, and Rowan knew they had won their fight.

He ran with his parents around the docks and onto the rocks, looking everywhere for the evidence of hunters. "Kaerius, is there any islands nearby?" Rowan thought, almost passing Jack. Jenya had changed to her human form, though she was coughing a lot and shaking from the cold. "Stay there," Rowan said, almost slipping on seaweed. "We're going after Michael's parents. Volher said they're close enough to be watching."

"No," Jenya wheezed. "They turned the vamps on us. I came here to help resolve this, not sit and watch my friends fight." Jenya stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled so high-pitched, Rowan and Jack winced. The rest of the werewolves galloped along the rocks, leaving claw marks where they slipped.

"There's an island not too far from here. I've sent some Thalassic Mortals to check it out. You don't think they'd be stupid enough to be there?" Kaerius replied, and Rowan scanned the ocean, hoping to see him.

"Well, they were daring enough to think the vampires would beat the werewolves." Rowan continued over the rocks, thankful for the boots he wore and the trousers. He would have cut his knees and hurt his feet if he were in the usual sandals and board shorts.

Rowan and Jack followed the werewolves across the rocks, squinting in the darkness, watching their step, the water, and their surroundings in case the vampires or hunters crept up on them.

"Kaerius?" Rowan thought, stopping on the edge of the rocks, staring down into the water metres below. Mandy stood next to him, scanning their surroundings with Michael. "The hunters, where are they? Do you see them?"

Kaerius's head disrupted the surface of the water. He looked up at Rowan who stared down on him with the stars all around his silhouette. "See no hunter," he said.

Jack stopped to look in the dark water. He couldn't see Kaerius, but judging by Rowan's fixed gaze, Rowan could see him and longed to be with him. "I can't see any hunters. Rowan, wherever they are, I bet they plan on going far for a few days, so they've got a getaway if we get too near. I hate to say it, but I think we should go before things get messy."

"It's a bit too late for that," Rowan mumbled, thinking of Volher and his brave face trying to hide how scared he was to die. "We need to see this through, or else Wez died for nothing." Rowan walked around the top of the cliff and Kaerius followed him in the water. Rowan's eyes stung in the cold, the wind whipped his cheeks, and the gushing water below called for him. Rowan looked all around, taking the time to see lights, movement, unusual outlines. He saw nothing. Rowan was slowly losing hope the longer they stood in the night with no plan.

Rowan looked to his mother with dried blood all over her neck. Were they in too much danger? Was he risking too much for a tiny taste of peace, that would most definitely end in tragedy? Rowan almost opened his mouth to express is concerns, but Kaerius's thought sent their mission on a new path.

"Rowan, we found the hunters. They're on the island with speed boats all around it. They'll go the minute they see us. What should we do?"