Fates Must Be Kidding

We are the Vipers

From then on we train like never before, like we are going to the Olympics or something. We do combat practice, target practice, survival exercises, simulations, whatever we can to be fitter, stronger, faster and more skilled. We do it separately from everyone else, at 6 am and 9 pm every day, weekends included. Teddy is running his search programs and we are waiting for the first results. In the meantime, we got ourselves jobs, and we are really good at them!

It all started with Lucas naming me, Ricky and Damon his assistant trainers. He is getting ready to retire soon, but before that can happen, he needs to make sure that he has someone to take over his job. We all know it's going to be Damon, he is the perfect guy for the job. But both he and Lucas know that Ricky and I are a great asset, and we can help take their training program to a new level. Trainers and assistant trainers are paying jobs at the pack, so that's how we started making a living. But that got me thinking, each one of us has unique expertise, quite extensive I must add, that can benefit the pack greatly. I pitched my idea to the Alpha at the next meeting we had to discuss security issues. Both he and the Beta listened to me carefully and agreed that it was a great idea. That's how all of us got hired, and not to brag, but we are making good money that we are using to fund our mission.

So now Rose is busy working at the hospital and teaching warriors how to provide first aid, even with werewolf healing they still need medical help, and doctors aren't always around. Knox is an explosives instructor, teaching those interested how to blow up things properly, without losing body parts in the process and creating unnecessary damage, and defuse bombs. Teddy has set up and is running a high-tech command center which is used to coordinate different units and keep an eye on everything happening not only within the Blood Moon borders but outside them as well.

While working on improving the defense system of the pack, we changed and automated a lot of processes making the patrols' job easier and more effective. The Blood Moon is the first pack to have an early warning system, which when triggered sends a signal to everyone's phones. It uses custom made scanners that analyze intruders and determine how much of a threat they are. If it is an animal, the signal is green, in this case no action is required. If it is a human who is lost, the signal is yellow, it warns everyone not to wolf out, and those on patrol are sent to help that person out. If it's a couple of rogues, hunters, witches or vampires who have no business being here, the signal is orange. They are dangerous and need to be dealt with, but one or two patrol units is quite enough. The red signal sends us into a combat mode, those who can't fight go to the bunker, everyone else joins their designated teams and gets into the position - no chaos and panic. This level of threat is engaged only in case of an organized attack by hostiles. So far we haven't had a chance to test it out in real life, so we run simulations once in two weeks to be prepared just in case. We have put in a lot of work and time into it, and we would have done it even if we weren't getting paid for it, it's the least we could do for the pack that treats us as their own.

And I decided not to stop there, and suggested my guys to establish a separate unit that is available for hire by others. Security consultants of sorts. They were up for it, that's how the Vipers were born. Cool and dangerous, right? Teddy developed an amazing website for us through which anyone can order our services. No one knows that we are based at the Blood Moon, but we have them listed as our clients. The Alpha didn't mind, he even provided us with references. Thanks to them our client list is growing fast. We already have ten consultations scheduled for next month, our pack is not the only one bothered by the increasing number of rogue and hunter attacks. 

For now we are doing all the work online. It's convenient and helps us keep our identity a secret. No one wants security consultants who are teenagers and led by a girl. It's not good for business. When we have video conferences with our clients we wear our custom made gear with hoods up and masks on (they look like ski masks), and Ricky does all the talking. I figured he is good for the part because he is a huge male and sounds older than he really is. Our clients might find our desire to remain anonymous weird, but they don't comment on it and respect our wishes. Of course, our gear is not only great for keeping our identity hidden. It's consists of partly bullet proof pants and jacket with lots of hidden compartments for weapons. We designed it to give extra protection to the thigh, chest and back areas. The material used is a prototype from a human lab I read about online. It's stretchy enough not to restrict movements, to it we added military grade plates to protect ourselves not only from bullets, but also from hits. They help dissipate the force of a hit, making it more difficult to do real damage. Also, the gear is all black and looks awesome! I can't wait to test it out in a real fight, for now trainings will have to do.

So, as you can see, we have been extremely busy. The only day we have a couple of free hours on is Sunday. That's when we have a big pack meal, usually a barbecue, and get to hang out with our friends. We are actually on our way there right now.

"There you are! I thought you guys were bailing on us today," I hear Leo's voice booming. 

"Have we ever done that?" I chuckle.

"Nope, but there is a first time for everything! Come here, I want to introduce you to someone." I do as he asks, followed by the others.

"Remember I told you about a friend from school who was going to come for a visit? That's him, Gabriel meet Mia!" Leo points at the guy getting up from his seat at the table. He turns to me and offers me his hand, I accept it with the words "Hi Gabriel, it's nice to meet you!" Only then I lift my eyes from our hands to his face. On my way there I notice that he is tall, fit, with well defined muscles, but not too muscular at the same time. More like a swimmer's build. Next thing I see is his smooth tanned skin, cocky smirk on his lips, straight nose, gray eyes and raven black hair, short on the sides and longer up top. My eyes wander back to his, and I freeze. I have seen those eyes before, I just can't pinpoint when and where I saw them.

"Hello, Mia! I feel like I've known you for a while," his voice low and teasing. My shocked expression makes him laugh. "I've heard so much about you from Leo...And Ryder," he explains. But I can't help the feeling that there is a hidden meaning behind his words. I let go of his hand, so that he can be introduced to the rest of my crew. However, I keep watching him attentively. I snap out of it when Ryder puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me to his seat. It happens to be right across from Gabriel's. I can feel his eyes on me occasionally, but I ignore it trying to find what I'm looking for in my memories. A couple of times I feel like I can almost grasp it, but it keeps evading me. Finally I give up and concentrate on my food and Ryder, who has been trying to get my attention for a while now. We start talking and I lose track of time, he still has that effect on me. Damn it! 

Eventually I look at my phone to check the time and see that we have to leave. We have to change and head out to our practice area. It's half an hour away, but offers us all the privacy we need. I signal to the guys that we are leaving, give Ryder a hug and wave goodbye to everyone else. As I'm about to turn away from the table, I hear that annoyingly teasing voice agains, "See you later, Mia!" I'd love to wipe that smirk off his face! Instead I give him a forced smile. It's like he is laughing at me, and I have no idea why!

"Are you alright?" Ricky asks me while we are sparring.

"Yeah, why?" I respond. 

"You seem a bit out of it." I just shrug my shoulders and focus. In an hour I decide to wrap it up, and we start our track back. 

"We have a problem. It's code orange," Teddy startles us. He takes his iPad out and brings up the interactive map of the pack territory. "There are ten rogues, they just crossed the northern border".

"How far is the nearest patrol unit?" I ask.

"We are closer," is Teddy's answer.

"Let's move! Show our trackers on the map, and let the command center know that we'll handle it." Teddy starts typing and we take off after putting our ear comms in. Isn't it wonderful that we decided to practice in our gear today? I know I shouldn't be getting this excited to get into a fight, but it's been so long, and I've missed it.

"Slow down, they are about 50 meters straight ahead of you," Teddy instructs. I sign the others to disperse, and soon we have them surrounded. Hoods up, masks on, let's dance! I approach the rogues to distract them.

"Are you guys lost?" I ask them mockingly. They look bad and smell even worse.

"No we're visiting friends, so get lost," one of them snarls.

"I don't think so. We don't like intruders here, so I suggest you turn around and leave," I respond calmly, even though I know they won't listen. The talkative guy charges at me and I let him get close, close enough for me to roundhouse kick him. He is not getting up any time soon after that. The other rogues don't appreciate their friend being knocked out, so they growl at me and make a move to surround me. That's when my guys step out from behind the cacti. Ricky tackles two to the ground, Knox does her karate magic on two more, while Rose already has a guy pinned to a cactus with one of her knives. I'm so jealous right now, I wish I had my beauty with me, I'm talking about my sword of course. Oh well! There are four more guys for me to take care of, and one of them suddenly remembered that he has a gun. Before he can take it out and point it at me, I kick it out of his hand and put him down with a punch to his jaw. One of the three still standing uses my distraction and grabs me from behind. But I was prepared for it, so I lean forward and send him flying over me. Before he can get up Ricky is on top of him. I turn around and see that Rose has her knife at a guy's throat, while the last one is on his knees and in a headlock, courtesy of Knox.

"Oh man, couldn't you leave one of them for us?" Alex whines, so the patrol unit has arrived.

"I would have, if you had gotten here faster!" I tease.

"Hey, Teddy told us you had it covered!"

"Obviously," I wave my hand around. "They are all yours!" I tell the rest of the Vipers to go home while I accompany the intruders to the cells, I want to know what they are doing here. When we get there the Alpha is already waiting, accompanied by Leo and, of all people, Gabriel.

"What do you know?" the Alpha asks.

"Not much. It looks like they were sent here. They weren't wandering around, they knew where their target was. I would like to watch the interrogation, if you don't mind," he nods and we follow him in. I point at the leader of the group, and he is dragged into the interrogation room. The rest are put in one of the cells. Leo, Gabriel and I step into the room adjacent to the interrogation one, from there we can see everything through the one-way glass wall. 

"Is everyone okay?" Leo asks.

"Yeah," I reply removing my hood and the mask, and watching the Alpha slap the guy awake. Let's see what he has to share.