Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 9:39 am

Indy

As Timothy sauntered forward, Jackie did not move but rather watched his approach from the corner of her eye. The only sign she gave of her notice was a raised eyebrow. Timothy had always been a big question mark to the pack. Though not necessarily overwhelmed with the desire to understand him, now given the opportunity she found herself more curious to see what he’d do next than afraid of the flash of his teeth.

A few feet away he sniffed the air, stopped, and drilled his yellow gaze into the back of her head. This was evidently some kind of invitation… although whether it was friendly or not she couldn’t tell. There was nothing unfriendly about it, and perhaps that ought to be enough. The next move was hers. Her curiosity at that moment to see what happened next overcame any attachment she might have to her hands – she lifted her stiff palm and extended it, holding it there just a foot away.

At that critical moment, Jackie might have had a few things to say to Timothy. But that moment was stolen away by the approach of someone above. She was surprised, though still did not withdraw her hand, and instead squinted just in time to see the outline of a figure.

Height was hard to gather when one was sunken twenty feet below the ground-level, but this figure appeared shorter than hers and what little she could make of the details unfamiliar. Had Kratos in fact hired a jailor to make sure she didn’t plan some desperate escape plan? Such might be the kindest compliment he’d ever paid her. With her intrigue peaked more about the stranger than she was about Timothy, she thought the scenario could not possibly get more interesting… and then the feminine voice spoke. Jackie tilted her head, gathering the words.

Bigfoot?

Jackie was not one to be stunned into silence, but even she had to take a few moments to process it. Yet she grinned wide as a shark once she had.

“Oh sure if that’s what ya like to call him missy.” her voice cracked from underuse, but the confidence and bravado was left intact, “Big guy about eight feet tall? Fuzzy? Huge feet and dark fur. Control-freak? Yeah I know the guy”

---

Theo yawned. His back was to the wall and the morning light had just past the wall he was on. At first there was a leisure in waking up… then a panic. He’d fallen asleep on the job! Again. He glanced hopelessly at the door he stood just a few feet away, but to his relief it was still closed and if he listened closely, he could hear the scary woman stirring a little inside. He dared himself a sigh of relief.

On Kratos’ orders, he’d been assigned watch of the scary lady. At first he hadn’t minded listening to the goings of the night and the soft murmurs of other pack members… but before long the day had caught up to him and he’d found himself asleep. The lady had nearly snuck out early the first morning; and had Theo not been the light sleeper he was, he shuddered to think how Kratos would react to find she fled…

But he didn’t need to worry about that now. He stood, stretching his limbs, and heard the muffled chatter of others in the kitchen. He recognized a few of them and some he did not. More than anything he wanted to join them and grab a bite to eat, but duty prevented him from leaving his post without permission. He sighed, slumping his back against the wall. He wished at least Toby could join him in his vigil ; but after the night he’d put him through last night, he wasn’t even sure if the meek omega would want to hang out with him for a while.

 

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 9:39 am

Kim

Cherise watched in silence feeling a bit awkward for poor Bianca who seemed at a loss for words. After a few moments more, she felt it best to speak up for the girl in an effort to ease up the awkwardness of it all. In venturing forward a few steps, Cherise managed to say a few words "Not exactly new here, but-" then things got more awkward.

Bianca had embraced Ulric in a hug speaking as though she knew him. Cherise was quite confused and a bit embarrassed for herself. Nevertheless she simply closed her mouth with eyes wide, slowly turning herself about to face the hallway once again.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 9:39 am

Mae

In the first few moments after speaking his name, Ulric watched a change pour over Bianca's features. He continued to smile as he searched her eyes for what had caused it, but when at last he was taken into her embrace, there was naught to be seen on his face save perplexity.

Confusion, at first, flooded over Ulric's mind as a deep solemnity entered the room and made itself tangible in his heart, though he could not understand it. Then Ulric pieced together the mystery and all at once the confusion dissipated, it vanished away and immediately in its stead was a tenderness that strangers so seldom feel between each other; a feeling wherein all who knew the cause of it were family.

Ulric returned the embrace upon Bianca, bowing his head, and if his eyes dampened her shoulder just then no one could blame him. Kimberly Robert's sacrifice on behalf of the Calagathorm werewolves would never be forgotten, and though Ulric had known the young officer from Middlecrest for only a small moment in mortality, that moment would stay with him forever.

"I'm sorry for what happened." Ulric said, breathing deeply and withdrawing to gather his composure. "We owe her a great debt of gratitude."

*****
In a split second as Timothy turned, for he had been watching Jackie, his eyes came alive and a flash of white was seen to contrast against the color of his black coat. Then Timothy fled into the shadow of the ditch's wall without a moments notice and seemed to have vanished...

When all of a sudden, a frightening series of growls erupted up the side of the wall along with a dreadful screaming and gnashing of teeth! The sound, more terrifying than the alarming snarl of a dog, and more chilling than the cry of an adolescent, was perfectly haunting!

Timothy may not have made the attempt to escape the ditch, but it was scary how high he could leap, all while he appeared to scale the wall and snap his jaws at the stranger! The viscous assault did not reach nearly as high as it appeared from above, but it was no less savage.

No sooner than he appeared, the black, grey-striped shape retreated like a dart into a shadowed corner, his tail flashing behind him, and for the brightness of the sun he was lost again from sight!

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 9:39 am

Mae

[Meanwhile]

The large red door at the base of the stairs was nearly as large and intimidating as its owner. Seldom had the werewolves of the pack come down the stairs, and those that had always found the door locked, a tight-fisted scrooge for privacy and an impassable sentinel that was loathe to let so much as a word to travel through it.

On this particular occasion, however, secrets were hard to keep. A council of two was in session, and all the pack had seen little old Sophia Buttermilk come up the road with her Granddaughter to speak with Alpha Kratos. Little could be guessed of the context of which they would speak, but surely Sabrina who sat outside that looming door would hear the tone of the two Alphas in council.

*****

"I understand." Alpha Kratos' deep voice replied. Following a long silence that had prevailed in the room, the Alpha shifted in his chair.

The room possessed as unperturbed an air as its owner, who sat with one knee crossed over the other in the only chair suited to his size.

A worn old sewing machine rested on an oval table beneath a dusty sunlit ray, and a jar of pens with a stack of envelopes had a homely place on an office desk not far away.

While Sophia had spoken, Kratos had not interrupted, and when she had finished he said nothing for a long time, but now at last he parted his lips.

"I understand your outrage over this matter, and it is just. However, there is no longer a werewolf pack in Reknab Bend. I laid my claim on the town and its inhabitants to keep it safe from those who I would bring here and others who might seek to claim it, but it is within my domain. I have not disregarded that responsibility, nor do I count the lives of its inhabitants to be less valuable than the lives of my pack. "

"Werewolf genetics are transferred by blood, Jackie was changed by one of the Calagathorm and thus possesses the DNA of family - that makes her mine, and no werewolf whether controlled or feral would desert his own blood. As far as the boy is concerned, I am as inclined to remove him as I would be to remove my left arm. He may be untrained and cause me and others a great deal of pain, but he remains my responsibility with his actions had on my head. Gathen, that murderer who plagued the town before the formation of the Calagathorm pack, would not have been a werewolf if I had been more obedient to my father, and he would not have had the opportunity to ruin that boy's life."

"Dogs can be tamed, and boys can be taught, and werewolves may be brought back from the brink of insanity. I will do whatever is in my power to reclaim Timothy, and I will do my utmost to ensure no further harm comes from him, but he has not yet claimed a life.

Had the girl been bitten on the night of the full moon she would be counted among my own this day, but she was not, and she will be free to return with you to Reknab Bend as soon as you should be so inclined."

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 9:40 am

Kaqurei

A thrill coursed through Sabrina's veins as the tones of the Alpha's voice reverberated through the oak of his door. There is was again, that promise of his. This is what it was that had at the first lured her to his pack. His words, confident and without apology, brought clear to her remembrance the sound of his howl that first night.

His promise was hope for the hopeless.

Timothy. Her own mother. These were wolves anyone else would have given up on. Any other Alpha would have sentenced them to a "merciful" end. Yet, these were wolves he promised he could and would help. How could he still sound so confident, after everything they had been through the past few months?

But in that moment, she believed him all over again. Until she cut the thought short. His words were beautiful, but she had seen little action in the time that they had together thus far. He had it in him, she did not doubt. But why did he bide his time? What was he waiting for?

Her eyes wandered towards Levi, standing still stolid by the bench. She thought a few things less than kindly of him, and rolled her eyes.

Levi did not miss it. But he pretended to, for her sake. Her disdain was no secret to him, but it did little to change the mission given him of his Alpha. Until further notice, he knew he would just have to bear with her.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 9:40 am

Cat

Granny Buttermilk lifted an eyebrow at Kratos' response. She could not deny that his words, and the tone in which they were used, recalled to memory the first night she heard them and all the potential she saw in their bearer. Nevertheless, the events leading up to this confrontation had left her in a very sour mood. She was mad- And getting madder by the moment due to being a hypoglycemic old person that had missed breakfast.

The Calagathorm pack leader had no sooner finished speaking than the little clock on the wall began to chime the hour. They had been at this longer than Granny had originally intended, but she would not call the meeting to a close just yet. She sat in silence for a time, going over the Alpha's words in her mind and carefully choosing which final points she would address. She recalled Gathen's little reign of terror with disgust. In her mind, his defeat has been what earned Kratos his position and the mountain, though she hadn't known beforehand that Kratos felt responsible for Gathen becoming a werewolf.

As the clock fell silent, she began again. I may not have a pack anymore, but I am still a werewolf, so Reknab Bend is still my territory-- In spite of you laying claims every which way you will. Now, granted; my little patch is in your very big patch, and you've got first bid on it when I'm gone, but until I die I ask you to respect who I am and what I expirience I've got. Though she had started calmly, she couldn't help but snap the word 'die'. She couldn't argue about the good this pack had done- She wasn't able to stand up to Gathen, so by all rights, they won the mountain fair and square. But she didn't want to be discluded as a factor simply because she was old and partially blind.

Following a grumble from her stomache, the old woman finally conceded that this could not go on any longer. So, she hopped off her chair and looked at the towering man's face.

I don't mean to be fussy. I know we've already been at this for an hour, and I'm ready to call it now. But honestly I feel like you're just waiting 'til I've had my say, so I can hobble back to Nowheresville and let you get back to doing what you do. I didn't come here to rant. I came here in hopes of geting something resolved, yet I've done all the talking while you just sit there and listen. She huffed, turning around and indeed 'hobbling' toward the door.

That's just fine. You're right; you are the working alpha here, you got the territory and the pack. I'm just a little old nobody. She stopped just by the door and looked back, pointing the end of her cane at the alpha. But as long as I'm here I might as well say it: You've bitten off more than you can chew, Alpha Kratos. You brought too many in too quickly, and you ain't the expirience you needed to deal with them yet. You and your Betas should have already been a unit before you started welcoming in others. Now, you're outnumbered, and your untrained pack is out running amok. Bringing the cane down with a thump, she continued; Oh, you can take all the blame; You can claim that Jakie woman as yours, say you protect Reknab, do everything you can do to prevent disaster and say it's your fault when it happens-- They'll let you do it-- But let me tell yopu something right now: It's only going to get worse. This here pack of yours don't look to you and they don't even look to each other. Lifting her fingers to count, she went on; Every member of every pack should know who's in charge, how far they can push it, and that they can rely on one another. then with a wave of dismissal at the door, she said; This group of misfits you're leading don't even consider one another as friends. 'It's every kid for themselves, we all just share the same affliction': That's their mindset, and it's what's gonna get 'em all killed.

Finally, it seemed she was done. Granny turned and twisted the knob, swinging the door wide open. But just as she was heading out, she looked back one last time.

Boys and dogs can neither be taught nor trained if it's done in mass. There's always that one school drop out. You gotta find yourself a system that works, and a little bit of support won't hurt you none either. Then she turned and continued her hobbling down the hallway. Glancing at Sabrina out of the corner of her eye, she mumbled to herself the finishing; Support you can trust.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 9:40 am

Indy

The shark-smile from Jackie’s features dropped like a stone in water and her hands slumped. It had been easy to forget how savage Timothy could be when he had been perfectly content to lounge like an overgrown dog. There was not a second’s hesitation. She made a quick move to stand the moment she thought that dark maw had come to close to the fence-line…

… only to feel a sharp knife of pain stitch down her back like cracks in hardened earth. Her face squinted in barely contained pain and nausea. For a moment she thought she may very well pass out, but by leaning heavily against the walls of the ditch managed to keep herself upright. As the darkness in her vision receded and the sharp pain faded to a dull throbbing, she once more set her gaze on Timothy’s – although this time without glancing away the moment she found it.

“Knock it off Timothy,” she growled in a voice stronger than she felt just then, “We’re just having a friendly chat”

---

The time spent in that small room had been a productive one. As the hour neared the common waking hours of most businesses, Melinda had swiftly solved one matter: her abandoned car on the side of the road. She had elaborated little to the man on the other end of her cell phone, only mentioning that a stag had somehow been involved and she had spent the night at a kindly rancher’s home. She had wisely chosen not to tell the reality—a large werewolf had smashed the hood with his bare hands to strand her and she was presently hostage to their pack until they finished interrogating her.

The insurance company did not press for more details and promised the tow should arrive in the hour. As she hung up the phone, Melinda allowed herself to appreciate the small victory, though did not release her breathe.

No, the real battle had yet to begin. It was not often Melinda found herself in a situation where she was at such a disadvantage. She was alone amidst a group of people with greater strength and perception than herself. Not only that, they were angry and she was the center of their unhappiness. They wanted answers and she wanted not to give them.

With such stakes weighing heavily on her mind, Melinda retreated to the one power that was still her own. She selected a spot on the floor to sit, closed her eyes, and slowed her breathing. There she collected her thoughts and allowed calm to wash into the deepest corner of her mind. There were some secrets she would need to keep at the risk of her own life, and for that she needed complete control over her own emotions. The alpha had used fear against her before and she could not allow him to use it against her again.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 9:40 am

Deseree

Bianca shook her head lightly, smiling sweetly even as beads of tears adorned her neatly manicured fingernails, while she tried in vain to clear them from her face.

"Please don't feel that way," she began, drawing in a shaken breath as she struggled to regain her own composure, "It's how she would have wanted, to - uhm..." she trailed off, her smile fading a bit now as she glanced at Ulrics shoulder, "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, there's ah - here," she stepped over to the counter and tore off a paper towel, offering it to Ulric while pointing at the dampened sleeve of his shirt. Then stepping back, she gave a passing glance, paired with a fleeting smile and halfhearted wave to Cherise to signal their conversation had ended, and dismissed herself out the back door.

Quote from Adriana on August 25, 2018, 9:41 am

Deseree

Bianca might have met Logan in the backyard just then. A moment earlier the woman had been idle beneath the tree. However, a terrible series of snarls and screams rang out from the front of the cabin, and immediately she had jumped from her place and wasted no time in dashing off towards the ditch!

Gravel had dug it's way into the soles of her feet with the heavy strides, and upon reaching the area she cried out Jackie's name, already expecting to see the worst had occurred within the confines of the stony pit. And likewise ready to go into it herself, believing she had every reason now to make sure Timothy would never again have the opportunity to hurt anyone.

"Knock it off Timothy..."

Her concern was replaced with perplexity; Jackie was well, and seemed relatively at ease. Timothy was not in her immediate line of sight. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, and find the reason of the disarray she had heard only seconds earlier.

"We're just having a friendly chat..."

Logan's eyes widened a bit. Jackie was talking to Timothy, but about who? Just then she might have feared that the red head had lost any grain of sanity she had left, and had made company of herself.

After all, there was nobody else in the area - only now she took a moment to examine her surroundings, and realized she was wrong in both assumptions, for her eyes settled on the young woman directly across the ditch from her.