She walked through and sat outside. Jackson shrugged while turning back to Sarah and Connor. "You two coming or not?"
Sarah stayed back, still reticent, but Connor pulled her by the hand. "You saw what she did to Victor. I think we'll be safe."
The foursome hiked deep into the woods behind Fairhaven. Once far enough from lights, they stopped to fully appreciate the night sky and wonder at nature's brilliance. Jackson patted Elisabeth's head. "She said December's is called the Full Cold Moon. Beautiful, isn't it?"
Sarah gushed, "Oh, my. It almost looks artificial; it's so perfectly round and bright."
Elisabeth broke from the group, stopped about twenty feet away and growled. The vampires approached her, and Jackson made out four sets of eyes in the distance. "We're not alone." The wolf turned and yelped at them in warning before setting her focus on the nearing eyes. Her growl grew more menacing as the vampires caught the scent of the four black werewolves that came into sight. "It must be the rogues she came here to find." They were smaller than Elisabeth and their coats were not as plush, mangy in comparison.
Sarah grabbed Connor by the waist, burying her head in his chest. Jackson tried to move closer to Elisabeth, but she snapped at him in warning.
One of the werewolves moved in front of the others and stopped within ten feet of Elisabeth returning her growls. They stood face to face for a moment, Elisabeth let out a lengthy howl. The lead werewolf held his ground, but the other three dropped their heads and tails in submission while back-stepping. She growled again, then attacked the challenger.
The fight was over in seconds. Elisabeth shook the wolf by the scruff of its neck and sent it sailing into a nearby tree. It lay motionless and the other three scattered. She stood over the injured wolf and howled once more before facing the shocked vampires. She rubbed up against Jackson's leg as she passed him and trotted back toward home with the remainder of the group following close behind.
They remained silent on the way back to Fairhaven, but Jackson turned once to see the last wolf limp away.
Once safely home, they discussed the event. Sarah was still shaking. "You were right about her protecting us, but I for one do not intend to ever go through that again. That was my last full moon, no ifs, ands, or buts."
Jackson sat rubbing his temples. "She's going to kill me."
Connor laughed. "You got that right."
"Skippy, why in hell do you always find my distress so amusing?"