Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 12:18 pm

Mae

"You wave around words you do not understand." The Alpha replied. Though most of his face was silhouetted against the bright window, his features could still be seen as smoothly outlined by the golden light which poured over them and settled in his beard and brow like morning dew. While Melinda had gathered her thoughts his gaze had been turned aside and downcast lest it hinder her, for so it would have, but as now the man turned to face her his features were again concealed and that strange steely glint reappeared beneath his brow.

"Neither of us can appear to the other friendly - I, because of my nature, and you, because of your training - thus we cannot be allies. But do not mistake that to mean that we henceforth must be enemies, for assuredly in order for that to be so one of us must make the first aggressive assault. Let us then, for this brief moment, share an understanding as dictated by our natures, that though we are hunters both and eat game for prey, we do not walk side by side in this woodland."

"As regarding your contempt toward me especially for your treatment, it was better for you to wait on my time than for me to wait on yours. You have been treated kindly though you do not recognize it as so. Your accommodations have been equal to ours, and your watch-care has been of a gentle sort lest you wander as was said before.

Your phone, yes, I was aware of it, and other things you stowed on your person as well upon coming here. But I saw no reason to remove them, as I deemed you wise enough to see their folly; A phone is weak in the mountains, and if the Phantom has afforded you greater reception than it has to me and my people then it may be commended beyond its merit. But it was a place chosen for its secrecy and its unwillingness to yield communication aside from our own. No doubt you have already tried it for yourself.

Now as touching this thing in which both of us are concerned you will speak with Jackie -"

At that moment Logan's voice was heard in the other room and Kratos looked steadily in the direction of the hall. Moments later someone was running up the stairs and the Alpha listened to the approach without any alarm or haste before he moved casually past Melinda and closed the door.

*****

Ulric did not know the reason he was summoned but he had already considered following Logan from the kitchen before she called. Now, he heard in her voice as one might tell something amiss without the tone or the words varying and he came quickly to know the matter.

When Ulric arrived in the hallway the Alpha had just closed the door wherein he and Melinda were speaking, then Ulric, considering only a moment that his arrival had disrupted something, went quickly to Logan's room and there he was halted in the doorway.

Something was indeed amiss... but what exactly?

Ulric naturally became cautious as he entered, but there was no scent in the room save those that belonged to it and the wind coming in off the mountain from the window...

"What is it?" Ulric asked, looking to Logan to know in her glance the answer.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 12:18 pm

Deseree

Bianca looked on in the direction Ulric had gone off, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. The looming clouds over the minds of the pack had begun to grow and now she too could feel them. She perceived it as having offended Logan, and Ulric in turn.

"I think I'm going to get some fresh air.." she uttered, then picked up her plate, and having scraped and rinsed it, made her way to the front door and out into the open again.

At first she glanced to the pits, recalling the events prior to their lunch. Then her eyes were cast to the trees and foliage, and lastly, to the second cabin. How lonely it looked in comparison to its neighbor! Was there anybody living there, she wondered?

---

Saying nothing in reply, Logan only looked to the strange figure on her desk a moment, before at last stepping forward and picking it up. It fit well in the grasp of her hand... though it was quickly made, it was not without detail. She turned it once or twice before enclosing it in her fingers.

"I am worried for you." she breathed at last, looking towards Ulric with a concerned expression. There also was something of guilt, if only vaguely readable. Again she was quiet for some time, before she moved over to the window, once more seeing what she might, before closing it, locking it, and shutting the curtains tightly.

Now she made her way to the bed and sat at the end of it, resting forward with her elbows on her knees.

"Some time ago... when last I ran from the pack, I went into the mountains." she recalled steadily, "I was a wolf then, I think.. I fell asleep. When I woke up, there was a strange man. He asked me questions about this pack, and of you."

Her eyes narrowed. "Mostly, of you.." she added, quietly under her breath.

"I do not know, what I said, I did not feel myself - ehh - he gave me something.. I did not consider my speech so carefully. And,"

She placed a fisted hand over her face. Her shoulders trembled if slightly, though her face was yet tearless. She trembled with frustration.

"I am sorry. I betrayed you. He gave me something I had lost, and I traded it, for answers."

She looked up now, "Ulric," there was a plead in her tone of voice, "I meant to tell Kratos - I am sorry." she looked to him to see what she might in his expression, before looking away again and opening the hand with the small totem.

"Someone has been here."

---

"Someone has been here."
A hand was lowered, and the speaker of the walkie went quiet.
Eyes like ice picks pierced the dark as they glanced up to meet another.

"Someone indeed.." the words were nearly a phantom of a whisper, and he again lifted the device to his ear.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 12:18 pm

Aim

Chime had listened carefully to those around the table, for a moment she forgot the troubles within the pack and just enjoyed the company of those who she now longed to be closer to.

Though all things must end, and so did this.

Logan's abrupt leave seemed to have left an empty space, whether if she was the only one who felt it or if it weight hung on others shoulders, she did not know, but the words spoken after were both distracted and empty.

Retreating into her mind, she thought over the events that just took place. Not only the actions that took place, but her own feelings..

Glancing to Bianca, and then a glance Ulric, she studied both briefly, before Logan's call and Ulric's quick response disrupt it, she then found herself looking down at her hands.

It wasn't long after that she felt the one who sat beside her got up as well, a few words and Bianca was leaving them too.

Looking at her retreating back, she then glanced at those left around the table. A small smile, and she got up as well.

"Ah, thank you for sharing all that, I feel that more then my body has been given strength from this meal."

A bit embarrassed by what she said, she bowed her head, excusing herself, then remembering her plate, she grabbed it. Turning, she quickly headed towards the sink, rinsed it and just as quickly headed out.

Coming to the outdoors, she slowed. She looked in front of her, at Bianca. And for the first time, she wondered, really wondered, why she wanted to be apart of such a broken pack..

Taking a breath, she took that last couple of steps and stood aside her. She did not speak, but her eyes asked permission to stand with her.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 12:18 pm

Indy

The door closed with a soft click. Melinda remained standing as she was before in the stoic mask of determination, yet her features were frozen, even her breathing. Only her grey eyes moved and shifted, held wide and wary as her ears listened closely to the retreating footsteps. At last she determined the footsteps had drawn far enough away, and so with a harsh release of air the mask lifted. She sunk slowly to the ground till she was sitting on nothing but the wood floor, for her feet would not even bring her as far as the bed in either fear or exhaustion, and her arms shook as she rested them in her lap. Her heart throbbed in her neck like a dull aching pain and a weight she’d not known existed before had settled on her chest so it seemed as though she could not breath.

The woman bowed her head, inhaling slowly in measured breaths. In. Out. She steadied the shudder of her palms against the floor. She thought hard on the grooves in the baseboard of the wood, the song of birds outside, and even the murmuring of voices down – though she did not try to distinguish those words. With each measured breath the quiver of her arms receded and so when at last she opened her eyes, though there was still a faint tremble, her gaze took in the sights of her prison with calm clarity. But she did not move to stand. She would be just as much imprisoned by standing as she would by sitting, so she merely readjusted herself to be more comfortable.

Instead she turned inward, drawing both her hand upward till it rested just beneath her collarbone. Her hands softly entwined over the crinkled folds of her unwashed blouse, as though she were grasping something between them, and once more she took a measured breath in and out. Yet in none the same way as before for her eyes were open and seeing; her gaze rotated from the crimson petals of the rose in the windowsill, the cold grey color of the sunlight washing over the front of the room, and the single bag left unpacked in the room. When her eyes had seen all there was to see, she closed them once more and bowed her head downward like she were warming her breath in her hands. At last she released her palms so they slid to her side.

Now Melinda saw purpose to stand and so she did. She walked into the grey sunlight by the window, her steps in perfect metronome. She casually opened the latch of the window, left unlocked, so the crisp air of the day filled the room. Was it merely air she desired, or something else perhaps ? It would not be difficult to pry the screen, yet she very well knew it was a height too far to jump. This had not been her purpose. Rather she peered deeply from the corner of the window, trying to catch sight of the pit from this side of the cabins.

But instead she caught sight of something else entirely different. Something that did not belong.

---

As the others cleared away from the table, Theo did not say a word though smiled politely as each person left. He’d long ago finished his meal, and had been contemplating all the dirty specks on his plate for some time. When it looked as though he wouldn’t be rude, he washed his plate into the sink like the others. Then he started off in the same direction Ulric had left and began climbing the stairs.

But Theo turned the other way down the hall, away from Logan’s room. Instead he sat frozen in front of the opposite door. His face was turned down, flushed. He curled his hand into a loose fist then rapped against the surface of the door…

She was going to hate him, he knew it. Left alone in a house of wolves, there was no way she’d want to talk to him ! Yet Theo had known the second he heard her wake up there could be no denying this meeting-- duty would not allow it.

“I um, Tammy ? Can I… come in ? Or I mean, if not, I mean, that’s… o… yeah”

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 12:19 pm

Cat

Toby perked up at the mention of his name just shortly before Theo's story. He had indeed read this story as Theo had written it for him, but had not reflected on it recently due to the anxieties it gave him: He did not like to think of having a wolf as being part of an ancient curse, nor did he like the idea of a woman burning in a forest for being upset about her husband, or the idea of her husband eating the flowers of her ashes-- In his mind, it translated simply as Werewolf = Bad, spirits are mean to lonely wives, and the first werewolf was a cannibal! .... Then again, those man-eating werewolf rumors had to come from somewhere. Toby shuddered.

His wolf and his human had always been one, except when it came to this: His wolf wanted to be part of a unit and embrace it's rich heritage. His human side thought it was all freaky and did not want to know more than was innocent.

At Ulric's mention of a strange plant, Toby suddenly jumped. Phantom Plant! he blurted before he could stop himself. Then, glancing around at the others, he flushed pink. Since he had such a habit of becoming lost in his own thoughts and fantasies, he had trained himself to subconsciously listen to the professors in class and answer any questions they asked. This had helped him do well in school despite his daydreaming.. Now, it just made him look like a fool.

Toby fell quiet and remained quiet for the rest of the conversation, though he blushed even deeper and shrunk in his chair when the subject of being shot was brought up. The scars in his leg and torso would not be seen in civilized company because his socks and shirt concealed them, but his ear had a very distinct hole in it which Toby found incredibly embarrassing. He was quick to hide the offending ear with his hand to keep it from Bianca's view. Nevertheless, he did his best to finish his food.

When Logan's call rang out for Ulric, Toby's mind was automatically drawn to the meat he had left in his drawer. Had some raccoon or other critter gotten in and caused a mess because of it? Toby bit his lower lip nervously. He would deny everything unless they found evidence-- No, Grammy had always taught him not to lie....

...Okay, he would say nothing unless accused, then he would plead guilty but tearfully beg to be put into solitary instead of in the pit.... Not that his tears would be intentional, but Toby had no doubt they would come when faced with the prospect being trapped in a hole with Timothy The Mentally-Unstable-Criminally-Insane-Person and Jackie the Seemly-Innocent-Sadistic-Lunatic-Lady... Oh, why couldn't he be like other people and have friends that didn't plot ways to kill him without his knowing what happened?

Bianca left the table shortly afterward. Her movement drew Toby from his thoughts. Then Chime left. Toby looked at those remaining at the table and wondered if he should excuse himself. Theo was a pal sure enough, but there was also that strange Levi guy, and Sabrina.... Beautiful as she was, Toby was not unconvinced that Sabrina did not have latent maniacal tenancies that would manifest in the attacking of random pack members sooner or later. She just had that freaky keenness in her eyes, and that false calm. It was.... Disturbing.

..Then Theo left.

Excuse me! I have to go too! He said quickly, almost tripping over his chair in his haste to escape and hobble from the kitchen.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 12:19 pm

Mae

The door closed with a soft click. Kratos stood with his hand on the knob and listened in the hall to the voices of those in the next room over, but when Theo came up the stairs the hallway was found dark and empty.

Kratos reached the bottom of the stairs opposite on the main floor and looked into the dining room where all except two chairs were now vacant. Before leaving out the back door the Alpha exchanged a fleeting glance with Sabrina which left nothing to tell.

***

At first Ulric had appeared confused and worried, yet steadily as Logan went on explaining, the gravity of the situation increased and Ulric's face became solemn, but his heart was instantly forgiving.

"It's okay, Logan." Ulric said.

There was a compassionate smile that passed sweetly over Ulric's features as he now entered the room with ease, the feeling of immediate danger had passed and he could now enter undeterred. He came into the room and sat on the edge of the bed beside Logan, offering to take the small wooden figure from her hands.

"I think Kratos already knows." Ulric said, his voice was full of quiet reassurance. "Last I spoke with him... he sort of told me that my past might try to catch up. Anyway, I feel like it's been on my tail since I came here."

Presently Ulric took and turned the notched piece of wood over in his hands, inspecting the character with careful consideration as he searched for some clue from the person who left it behind.
"... I wonder what it is?" He commented lightly. "I don't recognize it."

Ulric squinted his eyes at the totem and furrowed his brow, it seemed there were holes unnecessarily deep in certain ridges of the design. He offered the wooden figure back to Logan and looked very seriously at the window whereat he could see the branches of the trees swaying in the wind. Presently he stood up and looked out the window to see how the intruder might have entered the room.

****

Things outside had fallen quiet, too quiet. Timothy had not moved from the base of the cement wall for a long time, but after awhile it became clear that he had not stayed there out of self-pity... Subtly in the dark his ears could be seen moving, flickering to and fro as he listened over the wall, and every now and then his face would be turned to the side and his mouth would open, and a slow breath would be drawn.

****

Tammy closed the sock drawer after having replaced the cellphone back inside there to be found again by its owner.

Three days had gone by while Tammy recovered in the werewolf den and although her mind scarcely believed it she did not dare to waste another second. Tammy got her shoulder bag off the floor where it had been left by the door and inadvertently pushed up against the wall when the door was opened, and she began to search its contents. There was much and to spare in the bag by way of remedy, medicines and medicinal herbs, wraps and bandages, home remedies and strange remedies such as small tea packets of crushed leaves and some things for a strong fragrance.

While searching her bag, Tammy made use of the bed to unpack a multitude of things, among which her hands strayed over the pages of a borrowed story and she took pause to consider it. How had the story ended up in her bag? Did she have the bag while running in the rain that night when she was chased? Tammy knit her brow. Clearly the bag was with her now, but she couldn't remember having kept it with her, and now something intended to be returned the very night was still in her possession, and presently appeared doomed to stay there unless she track down its original owner.

Tammy fingered through the pages as she considered them and she had just caught herself absentmindedly reading over them when a knock came at the door and her heart took a leap!

Tammy quickly and quietly set the pages aside and turned toward the door. Somehow the voice was familiar, and who here knew her name?
"Who is it?" Tammy asked in a voice venturing, she came to the door and drew it open though not without first a deep breath.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 12:19 pm

Deseree

Logan did not turn her head up when Ulric had moved away, although she had taken the totem back and rotated it again in her hand while her gaze yet remained downward. She was far too ashamed, in spite of the reassurances she received from her friend.

Ulric might search in vain for there was no vantage point from Logan's window. To scale the side of the cabin might prove a challenge and still not impossible for one who was skilled... the only other possible method was that he had gone in through the house, which was clearly not the case.

Logan meanwhile came to some resolution, for the next she spoke there was a determination, conviction in her voice as she went on to speak.

"I do not know why these people seek you, and it is not my place to ask you. However - I have been careless to take responsibility for my actions since I left my village. This time will be different." now she stood and held an open palm out towards Ulric.

"You are my friend, Little Alpha. Let me help you."

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 12:19 pm

Mae

Behind the den houses a large retaining wall held up the the sloping mountainside. Kratos withdrew the letter from Logan and climbed the ashlar, gripping the thick, muddy grasses that slumped over its ridge and lifted himself into the forest. Now the river passing through the tunnel underground could be heard clearly and the rustle of the pines several miles higher up on the mountain was unobstructed.

Kratos remained crouched over at the top of the ashlar where his yellow eyes could level with the higher windows of the cabins as he opened and read the folded letter.

****

Ulric turned away from the window and locked eyes with Logan and it would seem in his eyes that there was concern, not on his behalf but for Logan.

"Alright." Ulric said at length and he extended his hand. Upon reaching and shaking a hand larger than his, Ulric spoke again.
"But you should know this is family. I can't be sure how obscure the lines are yet, people don't usually break away from their packs. So you're going to need to be careful not to become too involved if something happens, okay?"

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 12:19 pm

Deseree

The paper was meticulously folded. The creases of it like skin had gained new folds and wrinkles with time. What might have once been a clean white page was yellowed and faded. It was otherwise undamaged, saved for the marks of red that now stained it...

"Good morning my dear Logan,

Sixteen years ago an old, weary man was met with an unusual fate, when you were placed in my care.

What a blessing I received. You were so forgiving, as I, long having said goodbye to my own children as they had gone in search of better places, struggled to remember how to cradle you in my arms, or to warm a bottle just so. I thought my hands too rough to nurture, and my voice too raspy to console a crying babe, and still in spite of it you were so patient with me.

I thought my time had come and gone, yet I was given the fortune of watching you grow into a strong young woman - as steadfast as the mountains that look over us, and ever contemplative of those quiet things so often overlooked.

I am sorry to have silenced you so many times when your questions exceeded the bounds of my knowledge. I'm afraid your mind was a vast ocean where mine was an old dried up well - I could learn much more from you than you ever could from me. I implore you to keep asking those questions so long as you breath.

As I watch you now, I see beyond that stillness - there is a great strength inside you, and though you are quiet, you are not unlike a steady wind that carves its path in the mountains. You too, will carve your own path and find your valley in this world.

Until that time comes, I am here for you, and so proud to call you my daughter. My home will always be yours, no matter where the road leads you from this moment onward. My prayers will always have your name.

Happy birthday, Logan Ash Geronimo.

-Vincent (August nineteenth)

P.S: There is something waiting for you outside. I won't tell where, so don't ask. It's up to you find it. "

When opened, there was something else to be found inside.. a small paper stub fell out. On it was various schedules and dates, but the most prominent letters read:

"SINGLE PASSENGER - ONE WAY TO BLACKRIDGE"

The departure date had only recently been passed...

---

Logan was uncertain how to accept the handshake at first, for it had not been intended.. so she clasped her other free hand over Ulric's and kept it there while he spoke. Her expression softened and when he finished, and stepping forward while leveling herself with him, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

Withdrawing, she nodded firmly. "Very well." the totem was then tucked into a pocket and she turned to leave the room.

---

Bianca, who's curiosity could not be restrained, had made her way to the second cabin. She examined the doors and windows briefly before deciding it was certainly intended for the pack as well.

"Has anyone even cleaned it lately, I wonder.. here goes nothing haha!"

She pondered aloud, and reached to the doorknob to peer inside. The resemblance to it's neighbor was uncanny, and she had to look twice to reassure herself it was not indeed the same home.