Rachelle Sutton - Alpha's mate's Story

Aziel Sutton - Rachelle Sutton - Jason Sutton

A single glare of sunlight pierced the empty blackness through a crack in the curtain. It's shattered the darkness with its ray of irritation, causing Aziel's eyes to scrunch at the unwelcome newcomer. With a short moan and a ruffled kick off his covers, they fell to the floor having been practically off his body which was draped over a three-quarter bed lazily and uncaring. Aziel never slept peacefully, he often shuffled and woke up in some of the strangest positions, he had been known more than once to wake up on the floor surrounded by his covers which always seem to find themselves there in the morning.

A heavy yawn escaped the clasp of his mouth as he rose from his pit and pulled a hand through his messy brown hair scratching an itch on his chest before rising to his feet and hobbling towards his on-suite bathroom. Squirting some toothpaste onto an electric toothbrush he began to clean his teeth whilst looking in a mirror with eyes that could be referred to as zombie-like with his lack of sleep. He had been up late last night, not doing anything special.

He had been working all day as usual on an old worn out motorbike he had found at the scrap yard. He enjoyed seeing it come together. Generally, he enjoyed figuring out the solutions to fixing problems but most of all loved to try out the motorbikes that came in, especially the more expensive ones.

In the evening there had been some party at the pack house, he hadn't been mildly interested in it, something to do with a pack gathering. They happened every once in a while. He soon left the building as quickly as possible and spent the night at his local bar. A favourite hobby of his.
To be honest, the only appearance he made at the party was to steal some food that was being served before disappearing without anyone noticing.

He often did this, jumping on his Yamaha bike he had left the house which he knew so well and throughout the night chose to sanction himself at a bar instead of pitying through a hell hole of a party with his pack. They would surely come up with something to make the night 'interesting' and it was something he wanted nothing to do with, as no doubt they would have asked him to solve it, it was a sure guarantee, and he hated it. As a child, it had never bothered him, until he realised how many people used him for his mind and his connection to his father, the Alpha, that's when he shut himself off from the world.

Combing through his hair and dragging on a simple black shirt whilst leaving the buttons open not being bothered to do them all, he stepped into a pair of loose jeans dropping to his hips showing the tips of his boxes. He had no-one he cared that much about to try and look presentable for, he had lived in the house for a few months now having returned from a five-year trip away. However he had grown up in this house, he knew it just as well as the people in it.

Smoothing over his morning stubble Aziel mulled out of his room at a steady pace to the drawing smell of breakfast, it tingled his nose and senses getting through his groggy awareness, he was never a morning person. As he got the down the stairs he noticed his father sitting through an archway in the living room.

"Morning" he grumbled still groggy with sleep.

"First up as usual once you smell your mother's cooking" Jason chuckled folding the newspaper he had been reading in his brown leather chair. "best save some for the others this time" he joked standing and following Aziel into the kitchen.

As they entered the kitchen Aziel's mother, Rachelle, was frying bacon. It's delicious smell slowly drifted throughout the house. Aziel smiled to his mother before it immediately dropped upon seeing another pack member sat at the black breakfast bar.

"Are your manners getting worse or is that really just your brain getting thicker Calvin? " he said for the heck of it sitting down some seats away. He had been referring to Calvin's unusually early visit.

"I take that as my cue to leave" Calvin glared back at Aziel for a moment before standing. Rachelle and Jason shared a look of apology.

"mind your own manners" Jason swatted Aziel over the back of his head. "Calvin had business with me today."

"pfft" Aziel snorted. "he couldn't get himself home more like after yesterday's gathering" Aziel rubbed the back of his head.

"Yes well. It was lovely staying with you Rachelle, Jason. Thank you for the food" Calvin picked up a plate and placed it in the sink. "I will discuss further with you on our conversation later" Calvin spoke to Jason.

"Yes, it was a pleasure as always Calvin" Jason shook the older man's hand before leading him out. He didn't falter to give Aziel a look which he knew to mean he was angry with his attitude. Aziel rolled his eyes at his father. Calvin was a slithering wimp who brown nosed in his eyes.

"Aziel, that was a bit unnecessary wasn't it?" His mother sighed at the stove before bringing over a fresh pot of coffee and a few mugs.

"never" he shrugged pouring himself a cup.

A frustrated growl hummed in the back of Aziel's mind, his wolf being impatient as always. With an unsubtle sigh, Aziel strolled over towards the fridge grabbing about five slices of ham, grated cheese and a tomato before slamming them into one large sandwich happily taking a bite to satisfy his stomach and wolf simultaneously. As he was eating it was then that he noticed his mother's look.

"What? You know I'm going to eat the bacon too" he stated matter of fact the right shoulder of his shirt slipping to reveal the top of the tattoo that lay on his upper arm.

"I suppose I do" Rachelle mused continuing to cook some eggs and beans for a full breakfast for the house.

Charlie



Paramore blasted through the cat headphones that currently rested on Charlie's head. Her hips swayed back and forth to the music as she alternated between music notes and new lyrics on her window. Blue Expo marker for music notes, black for lyrics. She had a system and to anyone else her room would appear graffiti ridden. From the walls covered in papers to the mirrors and windows written on, everything about her room screamed music. She loved it although few knew to what extent her love went.

The young wolfling paused only when no more lyrics came to her. She looked up at her clock to find that it was morning which made sense since she could smell breakfast cooking. She'd spent the night writing like she did most nights. Scratch that, most of the night. With a sigh, Charlie put the Expo markers down and switched off her music. Last night had been okay. The pack Alphas had thrown a party to which she felt uncomfortable. Like most parties, Charlie snuck down and kept to the edges. She watched as everyone, excluding Aziel who promptly left after devouring some food, have fun. No one really noticed her, not that she would complain. Small talk was never for her. She'd stare at the person, mumble something incoherent, and flee the scene. She was never going to find her mate at this rate.

With a toss of her headphones, she slipped on her shoes, strapped her viola to her back, and headed downstairs pausing when she heard two males talking. It didn't sound happy. Crouching down, she listened as Aziel verbally battled with Calvin. She knew she shouldn't eavesdrop, but she wanted food before heading out to practice. About a month back Charlie decided she wanted to take up the viola. While in the local music store she listened as one of the tracks played an enchanting tune that featured a viola solo. That deep, rich noise it made spoke to her and thus she decided to try it out. It was harder than the other instruments she had learned over the years. The piano required the use of both hands simultaneously playing different keys, while the guitar demanded one hand moving up and down while the other moved side to side and up and down. It didn't help that for some reason she bought a right handed guitar instead of a lefty thus resulting in her playing upside down. Mica, her twin, still gave her shit for it. With the viola however, using a bow proved to be especially difficult. she was used to feeling the instrument under her fingers instead of the vibrations via an intermediate source. There was no way she was going to practice (badly mind you) in a household full of wolves. She was weird enough, she didn't need another thing for people to tease her for.

Once Calvin departed, Charlie took a deep breath and almost silently entered the kitchen. Without looking at anyone and trying to stay off everyone's radar, she stepped up next to Rachelle. "Morning. Smells good." She smiled before retrieving a glass and finding the orange juice. Not wanting to be rude she quietly greeted, "Good morning Alpha Jason. Aziel." She turned her attention back to Rachelle and asked, "Do you need help with anything?" She looked down into her glass and spun in carefully as she waited for an answer.

♫ Touch of Grey ♫

Scented candles filled the air of Russell's bedroom as he sat there Indian style in perfect silence on his bed. He breathed deeply, focusing on the smells of his room, letting everything else drift away. He ignored the sounds he could hear coming from the kitchen as his pack mates began to stir, as well as the smell of Mrs. Sutton's cooking. He continued to breath in and out. "Uniți în ceartă, împreună în pace. United in strife, together in peace." He repeated to himself. It was a sort of a old family motto, one that is often repeated for meditation purposes.

'LET. ME. OUT! YOU WASTE TIME PLAYING HOUSE WITH THESE MUTTS WHILE THE HUNTERS ROAM FREE! BLOOD DEMANDS BLOOD!' The grating voice of his wolf howled in the back of his mind. Russell took in a deep breath, focusing on his sense of smell. 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind Fluffy. We looked for I don't know how long, we lost their scent. There is nothing we can do.' He argued with his wolf. He merely heard a low growling in the back of his mind. 'YOU CAN'T HOLD ME BACK FOREVER! I WILL HAVE A OCEAN OF HUMAN BLOOD!'

After a few minutes of growling, and snarling Fluffy finally began to settle down, well enough so for him to be able to think. Meditation does help quite a bit, he should have a few hours before he gets rowdy again. And then he'll have to meditate more. Such is his life now. Russell hopped up off his bed, and began blowing out the candles in his room. He had been awake for hours now, and he was already fully dressed with his torn blue jeans, and favorite Nirvana shirt. He grabbed his leather jacket, and was out his bedroom door.

Russell put on his jacket, and took out a pack of cigarettes, and his silver zippo lighter. Russell shook his pack of cigarettes, making one pop up. He picked it up with his mouth, and lite up. He placed the rest of his pack back in his jacket pocket. As he approached the kitchen area where everyone was gathering up he continued to flip open, and close his lighter. Once he was in sight he stopped, and put his lighter back up in his pocket. "Good morning. Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Sutton, Charlie, Aziel, Evangeline." He greeted them all with a nod.

Russell made his way to the nearest window, and leaned next it. "I'm not hungry. I've already ate, but thank you for the breakfast Mrs. Sutton." Russell explained. Though Russell has been apart of the pack for about a year now he still refers to Jason, and Rachelle as Mr., and Mrs. Sutton, despite protests to refer to them as otherwise. Russell cracked open the window he was next to so he could blow the smoke from his cigarette out of it. A few complaints have been said to him about his nasty habit.

Russell looked over at Aziel, and Evangeline with a raised eyebrow as she was flailing around on top of him like a child. 'AND THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE ALPHA'S CHILDREN?! PATHETIC! A USELESS DRUNK, AND A CHILD?! THEY COULDN'T BE HALF THE ALPHA WE WOULD BE!' His wolf snarled in his mind. Russell clinched his jaw, and uncomfortably rolled his head on his shoulders as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Uniți în ceartă, împreună în pace. United in strife, together in peace." He muttered softly to himself to calm himself down. He then took in a deep puff of smoke, and slowly exhaled it.

He looked back over at the others. "Did anything interesting happen at the gathering last night?" He asked. Russell hadn't showed up at the gathering last night, not even bothering to make a quick appearance. Nope, he spent most of his time out in the woods, only sneaking back in after everything had died down. Social events weren't his jam. He spent his night just relaxing under the night sky, gazing at the stars. Nice, quiet, and peaceful. Just the way he likes to enjoy his nights.

Aziel Sutton - Rachelle Sutton - Jason Sutton

As Aziel took a second bite of his abnormally large sandwich he saw his sister Evangeline wonder into the fray. Her small quip at Calvin made him smile before continuing his sandwich demolishing. Luckily their mother hadn't seen, her back turned as she cooked at the stove.

Then, as Aziel expected Charlie meekly entered the Kitchen. He had smelled her scent some time ago. She had been hiding out of sight, he wondered if perhaps she forgot in a house of wolves it wasn't easy to hide your presence. Though she probably couldn't know what it was like to smell everything around you yet. The concept of not having a wolf in the back of your mind was now alien to him, it had been many years since he was without his wolf having found his at a young age.

"Morning. Smells good." Charlie smiled before retrieving a glass and finding the orange juice.
"Good morning Alpha Jason. Aziel."

Aziel nodded to her waving his sandwich as a hello before taking another bite.

"Morning, oh-so-glorious parental units," Eve then sang, a bit of sarcasm in her voice but the smile of someone only joking on her face.

"Good Morning Eve, Charlie" Jason gleamed pulling up a seat at the head of the breakfast bar, he had collected his newspaper from the living room showing Calvin out. Unfolding it he leant back in his chair as the sound of the paper crunched with every page turn. "Did the both of you have a good nights rest?" he asked casually.

Rachelle smiled towards them and began to reach for a plate to begin loading food.

"Do you need help with anything?" Charlie asked looking down into her glass.

"Oh don't you worry about me dear, my job is to keep you and these animals" she cocked her head towards Jason and Aziel with a raise of her eyebrow "from withering away. You take a seat and I'll get you served up" she motioned to the breakfast bar.

"Ahem Animals?" Aziel made a face at his mother.

Suddenly a piece of bacon lifted up out of the frying pan Rachelle had been monitoring.

"Hey!" Rachelle exclaimed when Evangeline nifty took a slice of bacon and began to stack a plate of pancakes. "If I've told you once I've told you twice each some vegetables!" she tried to put some roasted tomatoes on her plate but Eve had already escaped her grasp. "Tch" Rachelle tutted at her before chuckling at her daughter's cheekiness. "you'll be the death of me someday" she joked. She's much like your mother her wolf coarsed through her mind.

"Not if I have anything to say about it" Jason replied causing Rachelle to smile. Those children need more disicpline his wolf echoed in his head. Jason tried to ignore it but he knew his wolf was right.

"Old sop" Rachelle laughed shaking her head as she began to plate up some bacon, eggs, beans and tomatoes for everyone.

Aziel was down to the second half of his sandwich when suddenly the sound of a plate dropping on the table disrupted his attention for a moment as Eve his sister plopped down beside him. Her Ukulele made a slight sound as it was placed on the floor along with her bag.

She knocked him on the shoulder to which Aziel decided to ignore. Eve was being Eve.

Bad choice it seemed as her response was to lean completely over and shoved her way onto his lap. He quickly lifted his precious sandwich out of the way of her attack as she sprawled across his lap hands flailing.

"Answer me, oh brother dearest! Darling, loving brother of mine, how I missed you overnight! I yearned to see your loving face once daylight broke," she chorused, her voice echoing in the large room.

Before he could respond however Russell entered the room. Not the best position to be in for a surprise morning greeting.

"Good morning. Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Sutton, Charlie, Aziel, Evangeline." Russell greeted them all with a nod.

"Ah morning Russell its good to see your up" Rachelle greeted him but frowned slightly when she saw his cigarette. She didn't approve but she had mentioned that to him before.

"It's Jason and Rachelle Russell" Jason raised an eyebrow but knew he probably wouldn't get the boy to call them that for a while yet.

Russell made his way to the nearest window and leant next it. "I'm not hungry. I've already ate, but thank you for the breakfast Mrs. Sutton." Russell explained.

"Come now Russell you couldn't have eaten already it's morning?" Rachelle placed a plate of food down for Aziel and Charlie.

"Did anything interesting happen at the gathering last night?" Russell asked after muttering something to himself.

"Nothing I know about" Aziel replied glaring at his sister on his lap. "Will you get the hell off me bird brain" he ate his remaining bit of sandwich over her so the crumbs fell on her head. "You can yearn all you like to see 'my loving face' all you'll get is this" he motioned to quickly thwart her strangeness by standing up. With a heave, he pushed back his chair and stood to give her body nothing to rest upon.

Jason looked to Rachelle as they shared a moment of understanding regarding their children before taking a deep sigh and closing his newspaper as Rachelle handed him a plate of food.

"Well," Jason looked at Russell "you missed some of the children running around growling trying to turn into wolves which was rather amusing." he chuckling thinking back to them. "Caroline and Andrew announced their engagement date, Jared got too drunk as always and fell over the garden statue" he chuckled again at the thought before his face soured slightly.

"A few of the older members of the pack mentioned some discrepancies with the human town nearby. Apparently some of our members have been pushing their luck and getting a little much with them. Showing off their superior strength and such. If any of you have any plans to go into town I would advise you don't bring attention to yourselves" he said somber knowing he had to make an action plan to resolve the situation.

Rachelle paused aware of the situation looking to them all to assure their reactions. She didnt want any of them to worry but she understood Jason's reasoning that there shouldnt be secrets between pack members. It was his way as Alpha.

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"God doesn't create a lock without a key. Even the toughest doors can be opened - so long as you hold the ability to open it."

---

"Good morning Eve - Charlie. Did the both of you have a good nights rest?"

Eve paused in annoying her older brother, perking up a bit to see her father over the edge of the table.

"Oh, I slept gloriously, father dear," she sang, easily hiding her lack of sleep - seeing as she was studying all night. Despite her front of a perky and energetic young woman, she was normally running on very little or even no sleep from studying throughout the nights. Whether it was wolf-related or school-subjects related, she tended to pull all-nighters quite frequently. It didn't matter if there wasn't a test or a quiz the next day; she was always determined to remain at the top of the classes. She had, of course, heard the whispers from the other wolf students - that she was only top of the class because of her pull with her mother and father. The fact was, however, that despite her airhead output, she was one of the most intelligent young woman throughout the packs. "I awoke to the beautiful chirping of the bird," she joked, her lips twitching at the corners in a smile.

Glancing up at her mother, Eve courageously fought down her laughter.

"And if I've told you once, than I've told you twice - no vegetables! I claimed long ago that I'm allergic and I'm holding to it," she insisted, pulling down her left lower lip and sticking the tip of her tongue out jokingly at her mother.

When crumbs started landing on her face, she sputtered and swatted at them in the air. "Hey! Rude!" she puffed, Agent tilting his head down at her. The small bird had come to rest on the table and peaked over its edge to see what the hullabaloo was about. "Agent - attack!" she sang out. The bird simply tilted its head to the other side, before turning and walking away with a flip of his tail as if to say, Nope, you got yourself into this mess. Good luck!

"Traitorous leach!" she cried as her brother flipped her from his lap, rising from the chair in one motion. With a loud squeak of surprise, she fell with a thud onto the floor, groaning as she made contact.

"Can't ... Move ... Think I'm ... Dead ..." she rasped dramatically, her arms and legs splayed out across the floor around her. When this gained her no sympathy, she sighed and pushed herself up, pulling herself into her chair.

"You know, you could've really hurt me doing that. I could've died," she drawled out, turning and jutting her nose up towards her brother. When this, too, didn't grant her any attention from him, she muffled out another sigh and turned her attention to one of the newcomers that had arrived during her theatrics.

"Morning, Rapunzel," she sang in greeting to Russell. Every few days or so she would come up with a new name to tease him about his over-grown hair, and every few days he would taunt her back, seeing as more times than naught he brushed aside her joking words. Standing from her chair in a lithe movement, she danced across the room, reaching around him from behind and plucking his cigarette from his fingertips. When he went to take it back, she scampered away and shook it in front of him, just barely out of his reach.

"You know, these things kill you. They don't call him Death Sticks for no reason," she pointed out, waggling her eyebrows. "Plus, they're disgusting to smell. I may not have made my transformation yet, but I still have a heightened sense of smell. The smoke is suffocating," she said. It was obvious she was trying to get on his nerves, while at the same time being a bit serious. Not only were cigarettes bad for him, but they also caused harm to those around him, and the ecosystem. Plus, they weren't biodegradable, meaning that they sat there and would rot for the next few hundreds of years.

Rolling her eyes, Eve skipped back over to him and placed the mouth part between his lips, making sure to get into his personal space. She felt a slight thrumming in the air between them, as though their attitudes were combating each other just as Negatives do when placed with other Negatives, and Positives with other Positives.

Tapping it slightly in the middle so that the ash showered down and and onto the outside of the windowsill, she smirked and gave him an exaggerated wink before scampering off once more.

"A few of the older members of the pack mentioned some discrepancies with the human town nearby. Apparently some of our members have been pushing their luck and getting a little much with them. Showing off their superior strength and such. If any of you have any plans to go into town I would advise you don't bring attention to yourselves."

Immediately Eve's attitude went sullen, a bit of annoyance radiating off of her.

"You know, not all humans are evil," she grumbled, returning to the table but remaining standing. "They just don't understand us is all. If we just offered to educate them, I'm sure that -"

A loud crashing sound cut her off, instantly perking up her senses and causing her to tense alarmingly. After a quick survey of the room, she relaxed, finding it to be Charlie being clumsy as usual and not some unknown assailant. As the surprise began to ease out of the room, Eve went over to Charlie, snatching at her wrist before she could grab the shards.

"Don't just bare-hand them, dummy," she teased, beaming a smile down at her. Dropping into a crouch, her black legs stretching across her toned legs in the motion, she patted the older girl's hand who reminded her much of a mouse instead of a wolf. "You'll just cut yourself. You should never pick up broken glass without anything to help you," she said logically. Releasing the girl's hand, she pushed herself up, skirted from the room, and returned moments later with a broom and a dustpan. Without another word, she quietly began to sweep up the broken glass.

Agent, on the other hand had remained on the table during the commotion. Finally he took off, having puppy-eyed his way into quite a bit of nibbles from those at the table, and dropped down on Charlie's leg. Quirking his head to the side, he peered up at her with his intense black eyes before squawking out, "Don't be sad. Be happy! Happy, happy, happy!" while fluttering his beautiful sapphire wings.

"Happy, please! Happy!"

♫ Touch of Grey ♫

Russell merely brushed the nickname Evangeline gave him aside, paying little mind to her. If there's one thing he's learned when dealing with Evangeline it's that if you just ignore her she'll eventually just tire herself out, and find something else to preoccupy her time. That, and the fact that nothing he can say will bother her as much as saying nothing at all. And oh how she's bothered by it. 'Yeah well at least I don't look like goth metal puked on my head.' He mentally replied in his head. Of course he wouldn't say it out loud, he'd just give her the satisfaction.

When Evangeline came up behind him and snatched the cigarette out of his hand he merely glared her. He tried to take it back but she kept herself out of arm's reach. He groaned in annoyance, he wasn't amused. 'JUST GRAB THIS BITCH BY THE NECK, AND SQUEEZE UNTIL SHE STOPS THIS CHILDISH BULLSHIT!' His wolf growled in his head. Russell closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath, and exhaled to calm himself, and his wolf down. He rolled his eyes when she told him that smoking kills, not like he hasn't heard it a million times before, and will a million times after.

"Yeah, well old age is overrated." He stated in his ever straight, and serious tone. "And smoking can actually be a useful tool for a wolf. Helps dampen your sense of smell, works especially best when in big cities where there's a million and one stronger scents, and keeps you from getting overwhelmed." He added. He was reaching into his jacket pocket ready to pull out another in case she didn't want to give it back. Which wouldn't surprise him one bit. But she was apparently in a good mood as she decided to give it back to him.

As she placed the cigarette in his mouth he kept a straight face, not blinking or reacting to her attempts to get under his skin, even given her exaggerated wink. "Thank you Evangeline." He always made it a point to call her by her full first name, if only to just annoy her. His attention was brought to Jason as he brought up the fact that some of his fellow pack mates have been harassed by some humans. He clinched his left fist tightly, growing somewhat more tense, but not too noticeably.

When Evangeline began to talk about communicating with humans, being more active with them he rolled his head on his shoulders. He was obviously not too keen on that idea. But before he could say something Charlie had interrupted the conversation by dropping, and breaking a plate. The sudden crash of the plate took Russell by surprise, causing him to jump slightly, and grow visibly uncomfortable. 'HUMANS?! HUMANS?! THIS DUMB BITCH WILL HAVE US ALL LYNCHED! BET DADDY DEAREST IS GONNA CAVE IN TO HIS LITTLE GIRL. YOU SHOULD CAVE IN THAT POMPOUS ALPHA'S HEAD, SLIT HIS BITCHES THROAT, AND SHRED ANYONE IN YOUR WAY TO PIECES!'

Russell took in a deep breath, and exhaled. All this talk of humans was beginning to rile up his wolf. "Yeah, historically humans have been so kind, and accepting of those who are different." Russell uncharacteristically snapped. Russell ran his fingers through his hair, and huffed out a puff of smoke angrily. "I must have misunderstood the past.........thousands, upon thousands of years of human history. What was World War 2 about? Oh right! One group of as-" Russell stopped himself from saying anything else. "All I'm saying is if you don't learn from the past you're doomed to repeat it."

"Look, we can't expect them to care about us. When push comes to shove they will always pick there own over us. What we need to do is keep our head down, stay off their radar for awhile. Let things settle back into the norm." He suggested. Russell took in several deep breaths to try and keep his wolf settled down, who was just barking in his ear. "I....uh I'm going out. I'll just be walking around woods, be back later." He stated as he went out the door.

Jason Sutton

Jason leant his head on his hands as he spoke his concern regarding the pack's recent activities with the humans.

As he did Phoebe walked into the room and poured herself a cup of coffee greeting them.

"I would be happy to go down and take care of it" She said with a quiet intensity before she taking a sip of the coffee she poured.

Jason looked towards her nodded in greeting "Morning Phoebe, if you don't mind I think first and foremost some reconnaissance is needed. We need to figure out exactly what is happening and who is doing what before we take any action. I won't just take the elder members word on this, but I do trust your observations" he stroked his chin leaning back in his chair. As he spoke a clatter shattering interrupted his thoughts. Charlie had broken some glass, he was happy to see Eve helping her but her words on the humans caused him to frown.

Expectedly Russell did not appreciate them as he bluntly worded his opinion before leaving the room out of the back door. A voice pushed at the back of Jason's mind as he listened to the argument. 'His wolf has good reasoning for hating the humans. They are weaklings, we can overpower them with ease, their only strength is their numbers, there is no honor fighting that way' Jason's wolf spoke its mind to him.

Pulling a hand through his hair Jason Stood. "Evangeline, I understand your intentions mean well. But we can not educate humans they are not children. They understand their actions just as you and I do. Understanding is not the issue, it is accepting us that is the problem. Like wolves, yes there are those accepting and those not, just as we have pack and Rogues, they have their own internal differences. We must also accept them for who they are first. To do that, we must learn not to push their emotions by showing off our strengths against their weakness. This is easier for some wolves than it others. We all have a past with humans one way or another. Just like them, we need to accept them as they are. It will take both humans and wolves to break the barrier between us. As Alpha, it is my role to ensure we do not push against that barrier out of stubborn pride for what we are. Many of our members refuse to treat humans as equals. Yet, this is what we must do if we are all to have a brighter future with them."

Jason spoke addressing Evangeline but he intended his words to be heard by all of the young wolves in the room. It was a lesson that they needed to hear if they were going to lead the pack into the future.

"Phoebe, please could go you into town and investigate the situation?" he paused for a moment thinking. "In fact, I think it will be of good benefit if you all went into town with Phoebe. Follow her instructions and watch how the wolves causing this disturbance cause issues for our pack. Learn from their mistakes. I am trusting in all of you to grow as people and as wolves." he looked at them all meaningfully.

"Take care of the house and any visitors please dear" he wrapped an arm around Rachelle's waist kissing her cheek before leaving through the back door which Russell had left from.

Strolling towards the woods he followed Russell's scent to find him. Eventually, he came across the boy. "May I join you?" he asked trying to be calming for him. Jason knew of Russell's past well and understood the emotions he was probably feeling.

---

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Rachelle Sutton

As Phoebe entered the room Rachelle immediately began to put a plate together for her. As Jason spoke regarding setting up a reconnaissance she handed Phoebe the plate for her breakfast before moving back to the stove. Picking up the pans she moved to the sink and began to run the tap in order to clean them.

As the water splashed into the sink bowl a shatter made her jump ENEMEY ATTACK ?!? WHAT IS IT? PROTECT THE YOUNG ONES Rachelle's wolf jumped along with her before she turned around to see it was only a smashed glass that caused the noise.

Picking up a clean towel she wondering over to Evangeline and Charlie as they began to clear up the mess. However, she paused as the argument Russell began to make caused some tension in the room. She listened quietly as Jason spoke to them all. Making peace with the humans was something Jason had wanted since he was a boy. She knew he had many discrepancies with them, he understood the pain they caused but he also understood the necessity of co-operation if the future was going to be well lived.

Jason wrapped his arm around her waist as he finished causing her heart to flutter in familiarity for a moment. "Take care of the house and any visitors please dear" he spoke before pulling away.

"Yes, of course, I'll call you if something comes up" she smiled as he kissed her on the cheek before he went after Russell. Knowing Jason he probably wanted to ensure he was alright. He cared for all the wolves in his pack. With a heavy sigh, Rachelle continued walking towards Charlie who had just placed the bag of glass in the trash.

"You're not cut anywhere are you?" She asked concerned holding out her hand as a gesture that she wanted to check Charlie's hands were cut free. "These things happen I wouldn't worry about it" she smiled trying to make her less embarrassed about the whole mess. Charlie was a shy girl, much like she had been when she was a child. Rachelle understood she was probably feeling more than she let on.

---

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Aziel Sutton

"Traitorous leach!" Eve cried as Aziel flipped her from his lap, rising from the chair in one motion. With a loud squeak of surprise, she fell with a thud onto the floor, groaning as she made contact.

"Can't ... Move ... Think I'm ... Dead ..." Eve gasped dramatically, her arms and legs splayed out across the floor around her. When this gained her no sympathy, she sighed and pushed herself up, pulling herself into her chair.

"You know, you could've really hurt me doing that. I could've died," she drawled out, turning and jutting her nose up towards Aziel.

Aziel raised an eyebrow at his sister. "You'll only ever die when this world grows too boring for you" he shook his head at his sister sitting back down at the table.

He immediately began to eat the beans and eggs that had been placed in front of him as Eve changed her attention to Russell. Aziel pitied him for a moment before his father began to tell them what had happened at the party last night. Aziel paused mid eating some Bacon as his father spoke.

"A few of the older members of the pack mentioned some discrepancies with the human town nearby. Apparently some of our members have been pushing their luck and getting a little much with them. Showing off their superior strength and such. If any of you have any plans to go into town I would advise you don't bring attention to yourselves."

Letting his fork drop onto his plate Aziel frowned as Eve began to talk of educating humans, before moving to help Charlie as a glass broke. Aziel leant back in his chair as Russell generating some comments in response to Eve's before he walked out of the room. Aziel had barely noticed what had been happening around him as his mind clouded for a moment, he didn't even register Phoebe enter.

The humans were distasteful to him. He had been in many a bar fight with them when they made passing comments to him in regards to his species. However, he had never openly caused the arguments. He always stuck to himself, not going out of his way to make it known he was a wolf. It was unseemly to him to show off his strength to those weaker than him. In fact, he considered that a weakness in itself. To be strong didn't require showing off your strength to those that don't have it.

As his father spoke to Evangeline he began to trail addressing the room more formally. Aziel listened intently as he father spoke about accepting the humans for who they are and the struggle it was going to be. In all honestly, Aziel agreed with his father's statement. But he believed his father was sometimes too optimistic in achieving his goals quite so soon.

"Phoebe, please could go you into town and investigate the situation?" Jason paused for a moment thinking. "In fact, I think it will be of good benefit if you all went into town with Phoebe. Follow her instructions and watch how the wolves causing this disturbance cause issues for our pack. Learn from their mistakes. I am trusting in all of you to grow as people and as wolves." he looked at them all meaningfully.

Aziel sighed pulling a hand through his brown hair, scratching a spot on his chest. "alright, we'll go and 'observe'" Aziel rolled his eyes. He was fully aware of the human world and the way they treated wolves. But he was slightly interested in seeing how some of the pack had been treating them, curious to know who was being such an idiot. "these two are going to be trouble though if something happens. They can't exactly protect themselves yet can they?" he gestured towards Charlie and his sister Evangeline.

Rachelle was checking Charlie for any cuts at the moment Evangeline was being Evangeline. Aziel hadn't noticed any blood on the small girls hands. He hadn't been surprised that she broke the glass, though. He had slowly learned living with the mousey girl that she had a tendency to be a little clumsy. At first, it had slightly concerned him, he was worried she may accidently break something valuable in the house. But now he was just amazed she hadn't managed to injure herself yet.

"I imagine Father wants Russell to join us as well, so what would you suggest be our assault method?" Aziel asked Phoebe. If the two of them who didn't yet had wolves were attacked it would be difficult for Phoebe alone to protect them all and gather information for his father all at the same time. Especially if they were grouped upon by the humans. They couldn't exactly kill the humans, it was a very big No under his father's rules which would make it much more difficult to keep them safe if anything happened. It's far easier to kill someone then knock them out.

Charlie


Charlie had just put the her cup of water down when Rochelle took the younger girl's hands in her own. "You're not cut anywhere are you? These things happen, I wouldn't worry about it." Charlie knew the Alpha was only trying to lessen the embarrassment. She connected with Rochelle better than most because Rochelle had been shy just like Charlie was now. However, this was one of the times she wished no one reacted as they had. She was without a doubt clumsy. Everyone knew it, her family teased her endlessly for it (some more cruelly than other). It made her insides rattle and freeze whenever someone tried to help her or make sure she was okay. Especially when other people were around to watch her. Realistically Charlie understood Eve and Rochelle were only trying to be nice, however the illogical part of her mind didn't see it that way. It made her feel like she was a failure. Nonetheless, she gave a small smile to her surrogate mother (she never admitted this out loud) as a thank you.

Shaking her head, Charlie replied, "No, I have basically mastered the art of picking up broken object without wounding myself. Thank you though." I believe I am the new record holder of breaking things. The least I can do is know how to effectively and efficiently clean up the mess with as little blood as possible. She smiled at the older woman, gently withdrawing her hands. She turned her head to listen as Jason suggested that everyone go into town to investigate the situation at hand lead by the pack's Beta. Charlie couldn't exactly refuse the Alpha's order and nodded. Her eyes drifted down at Aziel's comment about her and Eve being trouble if something happens. Although not voicing it out loud or showing any signs to the differ, she was actually quite offended. I'm not exactly a liability. I may not have the added bonuses that come with being a wolf, but I have learned to protect myself. I walk the town alone often... I know the basics of defend and evade. What trouble is he planning to get into? She thought better of her question however knowing how often he came back from a fight.

Finally placing her cup in the dishwasher, Charlie walked over to her viola case. "Let me change and I will be ready." Her faded well worn sweatpants and shirt were not appropriate for being out in public. Lounging around the house or practicing in the woods: Yes. Being seen by people other than the pack: Definitely no. She would never purposely make the pack look bad. Taking the stairs two at a time, Charlie quickly went to her room and quickly put together an outfit. As she walked back down stairs, she pulled her hair out of its messy bun and put on her beanie. "Ready, when everyone is." She muttered softly, her fingers quietly and unconsciously playing a melody on the kitchen table.

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"Nowadays ... People know the price of everything, and yet ... The value of nothing."

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"If the world ever grew so boring that I were to die, I'd be glad that I did, because living in a boring world is like living in nothing at all," she quipped in response to her brother's comment.

Eve ignored the fact that Russell had called her by her full name, and his lack of response to her taunting. Instead, she focused on finishing up cleaning the broken glass, giving the task back to Charlie as she double bagged and threw it away. Agent teetered across the table, stealing little pecks of food as he went and darting away when he was caught, crying Innocent! Agent never here! Innocent! as he went. Eve snorted a bit in laughter at her bird's antics, rolling her eyes as he took off from the table finally and came to rest on the bird perch that she had built inside of the kitchen. With a fluff of his wings and his beautiful feathers, he tucked his face underneath his arm and promptly fell asleep, despite the loud volume filling the kitchen and dining area.

It was only then that Eve noticed Phoebe's appearance and, without a word, she nodded to the older woman. It wasn't that the two of them didn't get along; they simply didn't pay mind to each other. That didn't mean that she wouldn't be polite and greet her when she entered a room.

"Evangeline, I understand your intentions mean well. But we can not educate humans they are not children. They understand their actions just as you and I do. Understanding is not the issue, it is accepting us that is the problem. Like wolves, yes there are those accepting and those not, just as we have pack and Rogues, they have their own internal differences. We must also accept them for who they are first. To do that, we must learn not to push their emotions by showing off our strengths against their weakness. This is easier for some wolves than it others. We all have a past with humans one way or another. Just like them, we need to accept them as they are. It will take both humans and wolves to break the barrier between us. As Alpha, it is my role to ensure we do not push against that barrier out of stubborn pride for what we are. Many of our members refuse to treat humans as equals. Yet, this is what we must do if we are all to have a brighter future with them."

Eve frowned at her father's and Russell's words, her air of a constant good mood slowly growing sullen instead. Although her father was, for the most part, correct, her pride warred against her ability to admit to such. Whether this was simply her personality or if it was her hidden wolf showing a bit of it's only characteristics was unbeknownst to her, but she honestly cared very little as to which it was. Russell, on the other hand, was clearly speaking out of anger and hatred, not through that of a clear head or logic.

"There's pushing understanding and then there's showing them that they have no reason to fear us," she ground out, her mood obviously one of annoyance and a bit of anger. "Just because I'm not technically an adult yet, and just because I haven't gone through my own change yet, doesn't mean I'm stupid or a child!" she snapped, glaring at the few in the room who had voiced their anger over her opinion. "Maybe if we didn't ostracize ourselves from them and showed them that we aren't going to hurt them unless provoked, then maybe it would help push forward a change between our balances. Because right now, our races are teetering very precariously on the edge of a war - one the likes of which none of us has ever seen or heard of."

"These two are going to be trouble though if something happens. They can't exactly protect themselves yet can they?"

Clenching her fingers into fists, she turned a glare onto her older brother, her anger from the past few years of his absence reaching a boiling point.

"And as for you," she began, approaching the table and placing her hands on the edges, curling her fingers into the wood and nearly breaking her nails in the process. "You have no right to make assumptions on my capabilities as either a wolf or a person. You don't know me. You couldn't possibly know anything about me! I can't protect myself? Oh, I'm sorry. I seemed to have forgotten all about the years of Martial Arts and Hand to Hand Combat that I've been trained in. I've also forgotten about my training in strategics, Crossbow, and Archery, too."

Leaning closer to him, she glared into his eyes, her teeth ground tightly together.

"Don't you dare pretend to know anything about me, Big Brother, when you haven't been there to see or even bother to get to know me," she snapped. "I'm not the one who left, and I'm not the one who abandoned his family."

With that, she turned and let out a soft, short whistle. Agent perked up, jerking awake, fluttered his wings, and quickly swooped from the perch to her shoulder. Without another word and headed towards the door, pausing only to look back and over at Phoebe.

"I'll be outside in fifteen minutes. Right now, though? I can't even stand to be in here. The air's too toxic," she growled, shooting a dagger-eyed look over at her brother. Stepping outside, she slammed the door just shy of hard enough to crack it.

Once on the other side of the door and the breeze began to slowly drift across her face, Evangeline loosened her clenched fists, only then realizing that her nails had dug so deeply into her palms that blood had begun to speckle out of her skin. Looking down and into the creamy white of her hands, she pressed her lips firmly together, her fingers blurring. When she pressed one fingertip to her eye, it came back with a tear on it.

A burst of anger shot through her. Flinging her hands away from her face, she took off towards the small crick near the mansion of a house. She obviously couldn't stay there long - she had to be at the meeting point in front of the house in fifteen minutes - but there was no way in Hell she was going there to meet everyone when she was as angry as she was.

Reaching the crick, she rolled up the bottoms of her pant legs and wadded in so that she was ankle-deep in the cold water. Instantly her skin prickled with goosebumps, a dull ache entering her bones from the chill of the stream. The stones below her naked feet felt smooth, and the sound of nature surrounded her. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back so that her face was to the sky.

Almost instantly she felt her anger and irritation draining from her body. In replacement of that was a mixture of calm serenity and a bit of hurt.

Hurt over her brother abandoning her.

Hurt over the harsh words that Russell had dealt out.

Hurt over the insinuation that she was incapable simply due to her age and lack of a shift from human to wolf form.

Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids, feeling hot and wet against the corners of her eyes. Opening them, she stared up at the still-brightening morning sky. Agent had flown down to the water and splash around in it, chirping and singing in the morning air, and she dropped her head so that she could watch him do so.

Although he was just a bird and there were millions of his species flitting throughout the world, he was one of a kind. He understood more than most birds, and was more in tune with humans and werewolves than people gave him credit for. Even though when he spoke it was the jilted, childish way of a creature with very little advancement in its vocal chords, he still spoke with the literacy of people, and was constantly there for Eve when she needed him to be.

He knew he had his freedom if he were ever to want it, and he was allowed to come and go as he pleased, but he still chose to stay with her.

Unlike those she was expected to call 'family'.

Her brother had abandoned her. Her parents put up with her because she was their daughter. She knew that she annoyed Charlie. Phoebe could barely tolerate her. And Russell thought of her as a child.

Granted, she acted like a child for the most part, but that was only because it helped bring an air of enjoyment to a room, no matter what anyone said about it. Even if people denied it, she tended to brighten a room when she entered it. That was her goal, after all.

Wading over to the bank of the crick, she dropped down into the grass, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"I'm not a stupid, insolent little brat like they all think," she said quietly, staring at Agent as he washed himself in the water. Tears threatened in her eyes again and she tightened her lips so as to avoid allowed her lower one to tremble. "They all act as though they're better than me. As if I don't know anything and I'm lacking in the intelligence department. I'm not stupid, and I'm not a liability," she whispered, tightening her arms around her knees. "I can take care of myself. I'm intelligent enough to do so, too."

Burying her face in her arms, she closed her eyes and spent the next few minutes steadying her emotions and her breathing. She knew she had time to do so - it had only been about five minutes, and she didn't need to change her clothes - so she took advantage of her lull in the morning events.

As Jason left out of the back door after Russell Rachelle focused her attention back on Charlie.

"No, I have basically mastered the art of picking up broken object without wounding myself. Thank you though." Charlie shook her head at Rachelle answering her question if she had hurt her hand.

"Well good then" Rachelle smiled towards the girl "I'm glad you're alright. That's a good skill to have" she chuckled at Charlie's comment in regards to being able to pick up broken objects without wounding herself. That skill only comes from practice, which she knew Charlie must have as things had a tendency to break around her.

Releasing Charlie's hands so she could go and change Rachelle froze in place as the tension began to build up in the room. She listened to her daughter's reply to Jason and her verbal assault on Aziel. Though she understood her daughter's feelings, she must be hurt by Aziel. She loves him so and he was a little cruel doubting her capabilities like that, maybe she should intervene?

However before she had the chance Eve slammed the back door behind her as she too left. It was then she frowned at Aziel's response, she also understood his anger. He was hurt too by his sister's words.

Stepping forward Rachelle moved towards Aziel -

(continued in Aziel's part!)

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Jason saw the apprehension in Russell as he asked to join him. Russell eventually nodded in compliance however so Jason moved to join him.


"I'm sorry I lost my temper. It shouldn't have happened." Russell sighed as he took a big puff of his cigarette. "It's just.....I don't know, with my wolf it feels like I'm on a raft during a hurricane. Just barely being able to keep afloat." He explained. "And Evangeline is just......well you know what she's like."

Jason listened carefully to Russell. "That's a well-put analogy Russell, I know it's difficult for you to keep in sync with your wolf. However, you mustn't be hard on yourself. You have never given up on the human part of you, you are who you are because you fight your wolves instincts. You strive to be better" Jason paused looked out into the forest for a moment. He thought something had moved for a moment, but when he didn't see anything again he decided to ignore it for the time being.
"Evangeline is as you say, she's Evangeline. She always means well, don't forget that. She may act strong most of the time, but she is a kind girl. She can have a tendency to talk before she thinks though" he sighed. "go easy on her. She will grow on you I promise." Jason looked towards Russell with a grin "She's grown on me since the day she was born, but then again I am her father, I could be bias" he chuckled. He had loved Eve from the moment she cried out as a baby. No matter what he would stand by her at her worse times, just as he would Aziel.

"But still, I shouldn't have let my frustration get the better of me. I'm sorry." Russell added. "Focus on what you can control. Everything else will fall into place." He stated out of nowhere. "That was something my mother always told us." He explained.

"Wise words indeed" Jason nodded in thought. "Your mother was a wise woman"

They continued to walk into the green lush forest in silence for a short time before Russell broke it. "I should go apologize to her, shouldn't I?" He broke his silence followed by a heavy sigh. "Seeing the good in people isn't something that we should get upset over." He added as he ran his hands through his greasy brown hair. [b]"I'm gonna go find her." He stated as he turned away from Jason. As he walked away he stopped for a moment and turned his head back slightly towards Jason. "If you want me to go with the others into town I'll go."

"I think you should go Russell. I believe it will be a good lesson for all of you too see how our own actions can affect the course of our future. How our treatment of humans will be returned if we do not show them the same respect we ask for Jason said as Russell turned to leave.

He was glad the boy had decided to apologise on his own. Jason knew despite his past Russell, like Evangeline, meant well with his actions. However, they both had much to learn if they were going to grow into capable adults who could help lead the pack into the future.

Looking ahead now that Russell had left, Jason straightening his posture and glared towards the spot in the forest he had seen something move before. It hadn't seemed natural enough to be an animal. He was glad Russell hadn't noticed. Getting out his mobile phone Jason made a call.

"Could you pop by the pack house?" he spoke to the person on the other end of the phone. "now if you can. I'll tell you when you get here Jason hung up after a few moments more. Taking another look back into the forest he gazed at the trees.

Something felt off. He didn't like it.

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“If Russell wants what is good for the pack he will follow his Alpha.” Phoebe said simply in reply to Aziel's question. “I suppose it won’t be that simple," she sighed but then grinned in Charlie and Evangeline's direction "maybe one of these pretty ladies around here can help coheres him...”

Aziel raised an eyebrow at Phoebe, was she trying to lighten the situation? He shook his slightly, couldn't blame her for trying he figured.

"Russell will only come if he truly wants too. I doubt one of these two could convince him" he grinned teasing them.

Aziel then leant back in his chair placing his hands behind his head. As he spoke in regards to Charlie and his sister not being able to protect themselves he noticed Charlie's subtle change in posture as her eyes looked downwards. He could feel her heart rate change slightly at his words. She was offended, that much he could tell. However, her shyness didn't allow her to voice it as she instead brushed him off and picked her viola case.

Protecting the pack is utmost importance. his wolf beckoned at the back of his mind.

“Besides, I believe that if need be these two will do the right thing and run…Your father knows what’s best” Phoebe said muttering. It was a quite voiced opinion but Aziel's wolf ears heard her words.

"Let me change and I will be ready." Chalie said before venturing away from the kitchen to change.
“Meet me out front in fifteen minutes.” Phoebe replied as she scraped her plate and washed it.

Aziel knew what he said may come off as rude, but he meant what he said. He got into fights often in town, he was used to fighting numbers. The humans always fought in groups, never alone. Without training or the strength of their wolf they would surely get hurt some way or another. He also knew that they sometimes picked fights unprovoked if they knew a werewolf when they saw one.
His face was unfortunately quite familiar in the town. He didn't want to risk pulling anyone into his personal history with some of the rougher humans. They knew to take on a wolf they needed numbers, they would use that to their advantage against wolves who hadn't developed their senses yet.

He worried for them, but he wouldn't say so as much. It wasn't in his nature.

However it was clear evangeline did not appreciate what he had said. After shouting at their father she quickly turned her attention to Aziel.

"And as for you," Eve began, approaching the table and placing her hands on the edges, curling her fingers into the wood.

Aziel dropped his hands from behind his head as she did so.

"You have no right to make assumptions on my capabilities as either a wolf or a person. You don't know me. You couldn't possibly know anything about me! I can't protect myself? Oh, I'm sorry. I seemed to have forgotten all about the years of Martial Arts and Hand to Hand Combat that I've been trained in. I've also forgotten about my training in strategics, Crossbow, and Archery, too."

As Eve let out her frustrations Aziel could hear her teeth grind as she leant closer towards him. He only frowned at her, annoyed at her quick response to anger.

"Don't you dare pretend to know anything about me, Big Brother, when you haven't been there to see or even bother to get to know me," she snapped. "I'm not the one who left, and I'm not the one who abandoned his family."

With that, she turned and let out a soft, short whistle. Agent her bird following behind her. Eve only paused for a moment to reply to Phoebe.

"I'll be outside in fifteen minutes. Right now, though? I can't even stand to be in here. The air's too toxic," Eve growled.

Aziel fist had clenched so tightly his short nails had dug into his skin. He rose from his chair slamming his fist on the table causing a shattering noise to echo through out the house. "Bluddy girl" he also growled.

"Does she think I left for fun?! Telling me I abandoned this family. Where did she get the idea I left because I wanted to abandon anyone? Has she not paid any attention to the pack in all this time?!" Aziel shouted in anger at no one in particular.

"Aziel!" Rachelle shouted back at him. "Calm down, she's just reacting because she felt hurt" Rachelle place her hand on Aziel's shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze.

Aziel felt his mother's calming gaze. He sighed his shoulders dropping, her kindness never faulted to calm his anger. "Didn't you tell her why I left?" he asked more calmly removing his fist from the table. A dent now resting on the black surface.

Rachelle half frowned taking a heavy breath. "Your father thought it best that we keep the reason you left private. We didn't want Evangeline to worry. She - " Rachelle paused for a moment. "she can be quick to be protective of those she loves without concerning her own safety" Rachelle pulled up a seat at the table glaring for a moment at the dent Aziel had made. She wasn't pleased about that.

"I figured as much" Aziel guilty looked at the dent. "Sorry." He apologised.

His mother shook her head at him. "You Can apologise to me later. For now, do as your father says and go with Phoebe. Make sure to talk to your sister too."

"It's not like I can refuse too go is it?" Aziel grinned at his mother.

Rachelle pursed her lips "Not if you want to eat tonight" she grinned back at him as Aziel got up and headed to the door way. "Aziel, Rachelle called before he walked away pausing him. "keep an eye on Charlie, she's not as confident as some of you" Rachelle said concerned. She wanted to be sure all of them would be safe, but she knew Aziel would look out for them if she asked.

"I dont have much of choice not to look out for them if their going to stay safe" Aziel replied "I'll make sure they're alright. Phoebe is with us too." he said about to leave.

Rachelle nodded before returning to clean the dishes they were left behind.

However, that's when Charlie returned after changing her clothes as she sat at the kitchen table. Aziel wondering how much she may have heard of his conversation with his mother.

The small girl had changed out of her sweat pants and had pulled her hair out its messy bun. A beanie hat now sat on her head. Aziel couldn't help but crack a smile. It amused him that she cared so much about her appearance that she would go such an effort to change when knowing they were heading to town. He personally was quite the opposite, he didn't care if he looked like a slob. His black t-shirt and jeans were enough for any occasion.

"Come on Charlie, Phoebe's reserved the front seat for you. Russell and Eve will be joining soon enough" he nodded his head towards the porch knowing she probably hadn't heard phoebe's voice from such a distance as she hadn't developed her wolf hearing yet.

Heading towards the porch Aziel felt a little guilt slime its way under his skin. He knew he had hurt his sister, he hadn't meant too. When they were kids he always looked out for her, more often than not he used to grab the back of her dress to stop her from tripping over her own feet and falling into a pile of mud. She was right that he hadn't been there the past 5 years, she had changed in that short amount of time. However, so had he. She was still the same fun-loving little sister she had always been deep down. He knew that, and he didn't like upsetting her, but he still meant what he said. Even if she did have self-defence training, training and using it in real life were two very different things. He wasn't trusting enough to leave her be alone in the human world yet. If she ever got hurt it knew he would only blame himself for letting her out of his sight.

As he reached the porch he saw Phoebe in her car indicating for Charlie to take the front seat.

"Guess I'll take the back then" he grumbled annoyed he missed calling shotgun.

Charlie


One of the first things that Charlie noticed was the dent in the table. She wasn't particularly surprised. Even while changing she had heard someone, apparently Azial, slam their hands down. Someone had said something to anger him and from the little Charlie had caught of the latter conversation the young man had with his mother, Eve had said something. She wanted to get annoyed that Rochelle had specifically asked Azial to look after her, but honestly she wasn't that surprised. Rarely anything surprised Charlie, but it made her feel like she was a kid still. She was 20, an adult too almost everyone but the pack. Granted she was aware she acted younger than most 20 year olds, but at least she wasn't out partying and getting high/drunk every weekend. Hell she barely drank anything, alcohol just wasn't for her. She'd rather play DD than get too drunk to walk.

Her head jerked up and fingers stopped when Azial called, "Come on Charlie, Phoebe's reserved the front seat for you. Russell and Eve will be joining soon enough." It took her a second to stand, her instancts needed to stop being prey behavior, and then she was up. She gave a quick good-bye to Rochelle before jogging to catch up to the other wolf.

Biting her lip, Charlie, clearly not thinking, shot out her hand and lightly gripped Azial's bicep. What the hell am I doing? "Azial?" Her voice was quiet as usual. When he stopped, Charlie's mouth moved as if she was a fish gasping for air. This is rediculous! She lightly scolded herself. Her tongue licked her lip as she managed to stutter out, "Um... I um, I will obviously ah listen to you and Pheobe if... if something happens, but um," Her eyes were cast down as she picked at the non-existant strands on her shirt. Perhaps she shouldn't have picked white today. "I may not... not have claws or wolf abilities yet, um but I am proficient in macing someone." An amused smile spread across her lips as she remembered the hours of learning how to "Poperly use mace" Mica made her do both with regular mace and gel. First with regular mace because that stuff can come back at you if you aren't careful. Then with the gel because it was easier to control and to some degree more dangerous. "And I have an uncanny ability to disappear when I choose to hide." She looked up then with a small entertained smile, for a moment uninhibited by her usual shyness. "Thank you for looking out for us." Then the uninhibited moment was over and she became self-conscious once more. With an uncomfortable nod and a bite of her lower lip, she darted out the door and over to where Pheobe was. "Thank you for looking out for me today." She nodded at the older woman before slipping into the car. Apparently she had picked up a thing or two from the hours of watch anime and reading manga.

As she waited for everyone else to fill the car, Charlie slipped her phone from her back pocket and read the new email she recieved.

Muse,
The Nation Orchastra is holding auditions for a year long contract this coming Thursday. I sent a friend of mine, who is the director *winkwink*, a copy of the beautiful song you composed. He absolutely adored it!He believes-

With a clenched stomach, Charlie swiped the email away to be read later... When she wasn't in the company of others. Letting out a soft frustrated and slightly hurt sigh, she looked out the window head resting on her palm. As much as she liked Jocalyn, the director sometimes annoyed the girl. Unlike many of the teachers at the college, for Charlie was a private girl, Jocalyn knew why Charlie never accepted any of the music schools around the country or world. The woman was there when she recieved her acceptance letter from various music schools and proceeded to decline their offers. She only told four people she got into them: Mica (of course, she rarely kept anything that important from him), Rochelle, Cal, and as metioned Jocalyn. She found no point announcing it to anyone when she was not going to attend any of them. She thought about requesting a year of in hopes of find her mate, shifting, and then convincing said mate to move with her for four years to the school. As the years passed, Charlie was both glad and frustrated that she didn't attened any of the schools. Glad because here she was two years later anxiously awaiting for her stubborn wolf to finally wake up. Then frustrated because she feels stuck. Although she is still practicing, got her associates in buisness, performs, and writes, everything has been done in the small confines of the pack house and the town. She loved her family and friends, but she felt like the mariner after he killed the albatross; stuck.

From years of practice, Charlie shut off the music school train of thought and brought herself back to the present. They would be leaving soon for town and she needed to pay attention to the now not the then or could have been.

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Aziel winced at the pain in his leg as his mother helped up onto the porch and towards the house. It was an awkward combination as his mother struggled a little bit to hold his weight.

Rachelle supported Aziel as they headed towards the back room that had become Dana's office within the house. The medic bay as some labelled it.

As they entered Aziel saw Phoebe for a mere moment as she wasted no time in gathering the troops. He watched her leave, anxiety began to thread its way into him as he did. Charlie and Eve, he worried for them praying they were okay. He couldn't waste any time getting to them. He had too see Eve, to apologise for his behaviour towards her. She was his one and only little sister, he would be dammed if anything were to happen to her or Charlie.

“Alright, next to the table” Dana raised an eyebrow at him as she patted the medic bed.

“Make it quick” Aziel grouched as he settled himself onto the bed.

“It will take as long as it takes” Rachelle glared at his impatience.

“It shouldn't take too long then” Aziel grumbled back to his mother.

“Oh hush hush you two and let the expert get to work” Dana pulled out some medical instruments “Got it pretty stuck in there ain't you?” she tutted as she prodded Aziel causing him to flinch.

“Watch it would you!” he responded at the pain.

“Yes yes don't be such a whiner” Dana said causing Aziel to growl,

“Just get it out” Aziel's agitation could be heard in his voice.

“Alright, alright. Brace yourself this is going to hurt” Dana warned him a brief moment before she suddenly plunged into his leg with her tools.

“Mother Fuck!” Aziel exclaimed as his leg burned.

“Almost there...” Dana prodded some more before she pulled out a bloodied silver bullet. “Ah, no wonder it hurt as much as it did given our stamina” Dana said as she inspected the bullet referring to werewolf stamina.


”What – do you mean” Aziel breathed heavily the pain subsiding somewhat.

“The bullet's coated in wolfs bane. Whoever attacked you really knew what to hit us with” Dana's voice gave away her intrique.

”Explains the pain indeed, on top of the fact I had a bullet in my leg that just tops it off” Aziel twitched a little the anger at such low life tactics irritating him.

“I should tell Jason about this.” Rachelle frowned. “Stitch him up Dana then keep prepared” Rachelle nodded to her friend before exiting the room to find Jason.

“Stitches coming right up!” Dana smiled to Aziel suture in hand.

“Go for it” Aziel sighed preparing for some more intrusion.

Dana finished up the suture quickly and smoothly. Giving it a go Aziel stood and felt the pain was far less severe and he could actually handle his weight again. The wolves bane had made a big difference that much was clear.

”Thanks Dana, I owe you one” Aziel nodded to her before grabbing one of his jackets which hung up nearby.

“Anytime pup” Dana winked at him making him roll his eyes before he left the room.

There was no time to waste, he had to get to his sister and Charlie. He didn't care what his fathers orders were. Shirtless under his jacket Aziel stormed past the wolves that had gathered in the living room.

Caroline was discussing with Jared the plans to keep the place secure. It seemed Phoebe's scent had already left. She must have gone off on her own already. A low growl left Aziel's lips as he realised this, she left without him? He wasn't pleased.

Storming outside Aziel headed towards the garage when he spotted Silver.

---

"Good to see your back Silver, could have been at a better time, though." Silver's eyes snapped away from the shifting Aziel to Jared. "Yeah, what the hell is going on?" Jared gave her a shrug and went to say something but was distracted by Aziel's shift and howl-scream of pain. A few moments later Aziel stepped out of the van, fully nude. "God damn that looked intense." Jared whistled. Silver couldn't help but silently agree. As Aziel and Jared had a mini-argument over whether Aziel needed help Silver glanced between the two of them, a small smirk on her face at the sight.

"What happened?" At Jared's question Silver focused back in. ”Humans. They raided the bar, came fully prepared and somehow knew our weak spots. They stank of Rogue.” The sick feeling in Silver's stomach instantly came back with a vengeance, she having temporarily forgotten it. A moment after he finished speaking Aziel's eyes snapped to Silver's and she had to force herself to keep from flinching away. "Keep your wits about you. They only took Eve and Charlie for a reason, I not sure why, but they didn't take Phoebe so it isn't because their girls. The only reason I could think of on the drive here could be because they haven't shifted yet. So you may be a target too.” For a moment Silver felt like someone had ripped her heart from her chest as ice filled her veins. A moment later Jason called out from the porch but Silver was too busy remembering the van she had seen. "Son of a bitch that van..." Silver turned to bolt towards the jeep she had just exited but before she could take a step Jason said her name, causing her to freeze. "Silver, stick close to Phoebe and Aziel. No pack member is to be alone at any point. We are officially in a red situation."

A war raged in her mind as she tried to decide whether to follow her Alpha's orders or go after Evie, who was practically a sister to her. Biting her lip to contain a scream she turned towards the house. As she passed Aziel and Rachelle she spoke, wiping the blood off her lip where her teeth had cut into the flesh. "Come and get me when you're ready to leave." She didn't even need to look at them to know that Rachelle had shot a worried look at her back.

Once she reached the steps she leapt up them three at a time, every step felt like someone punched her in the gut. 'I wasn't there for her. I should have been there.' The thought repeated on loop in her head as she bolted up the stairs and to her room. As soon as she went through the door three heads popped up from within the blankets of her bed but sensing her bad mood all three dogs immediately ducked down again. Changing was a quick affair, shorts to black jeans and sandals to combat boots. She left on the tank top she wore since it was already tight fitting. Combat fighting with Evie had taught her exactly what to wear for a fight. With a code red and potentially being a target Silver's next steps took her to her dresser, the entire bottom drawer being weapons. One thigh holster and three knives later, one hidden in each boot, Silver grabbed a worn leather jacket and keys and headed downstairs.

Knowing that more than a few people would object to her leaving Silver waited halfway up the stairs until Phebe took off. As she bolted towards the back door she heard Aziel cry out in pain and winced but kept going. Once out the back door, she waited until the next patrol passed before going into the woods. The path was a 4-minute walk but running Silver managed to make it in 30 seconds only to open the doors to an empty shed. It only took a moment for Silver to figure out that Jason had added 'Move Silver's bikes to the garage' to code red.

Without a second thought, she headed towards the garage. Getting there a moment before Aziel she didn't hear him coming over the sound of the garage door opening.

Aziel looked at Silver with a questioning gaze. "Where do you think your going exactly? This isn't a fight for someone unprepared" he said through the open garage doors. He intended to take one his motor bikes since Phoebe had taken the van. Silver jumped a bit at Aziel's voice. Looking over at him she bit her tongue to keep the sharp comment that popped to the tip of her tongue in.

Aziel glanced towards the second bike that sat in the garage beside his own. Jason had mentioned it was Silver's, it was a new addition to the garage since returning home after his time travelling and had peeked his curiosity. "Are you sure about this?" he asked uncertainly if it was a safe idea for her to come. "You may be a target just as they were." he paused considering the situation "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you as well" he commented tightening his fist.

Silver, who had walked over to her bike and started to check everything in case whoever moved her bike had messed something up, stood and looked over at Aziel. "Let's get this straight. There's no way in hell I'm staying here and I don't need you to protect me." Despite trying her eyes shone with anger and her tone was icy.

Aziel raised an eyebrow as he noticed the tone in Silvers' voice. "Well, forgive me for looking out for a pack member" he spat back a little sarcastically grabbing his own motorbike and leading it out of the garage turning to close the doors. Jason no doubt had heard the noise they had made.

"The only reason I've stayed away from you up to this point is because of Evie. I don't trust you."

Getting onto his bike Aziel paused "Avoid me all you want if you don't like me. I don't honestly care. But don't avoid me if you don't trust me, you can only trust a person once' you've got to know them. Avoiding me for that reason doesn't exactly give you the opportunity to trust me does it?" he sighed kick starting his bike.

Starting her bike Silver shook her head and looked at him again. "Whatever. All I know is that I should have been there, but you were there." Silver looked away from him and then took off, already knowing the general direction and figuring she would be able to follow Russel and Phoebe's tracks.

"It wouldn't have made a difference if the whole pack was there." Aziel grumbled remembering the numbers of humans and the back up he had smelled stationed near by. They would have kept coming until they got what they wanted, and they did just that.

Pushing off Aziel leant forward on his bike as it simmered to life. He saw Rachelle from the corner of his eye standing on the porch watching them leave. She was crying.

"Don't worry, I'll get them back" Aziel said knowing she could hear him as he left the compound following Silver.

Silver pulled into the bar looking around at the wreckage and the few people who were still milling about outside of the police tape. Most of them acknowledged Silver, knowing her since the medium sized town only had one auto shop and Silver was the best motorcycle mechanic in a 100-mile radius.

Returning to the bar, its wreckage now blackened and police tape surrounding it Aziel stopped for a moment returning to the spot on the grass where he had first smelt Charlie's blood. The scent was faded, and barely there anymore. Tracking it was going to be difficult. Leaning down he picked up a torn bit of material, it was phoebe's and also had some of her blood on. Probably looking strange to human bystanders Aziel sniffed the material to absorb the scent. Jason had taught him as a tracker well, he had a stronger nose than most because of it.

Silver went and spoke to one of the bartenders she knew had worked at the bar, getting as much info as she could until she heard another bike pull up. Without looking she knew it was Aziel and she wrapped up her conversation to go over to him.

"It's faint, but I have a scent" Aziel stood speaking to Silver. "I can track them" he got back on his bike.

"Yeah, about that..." Silver looked around to make sure no one was paying too much attention. "When they took Evie and Charlie... Was it a white van? Armoured, heading east?" Silver got back onto her own bike as she asked, hoping the answer was no.

"A white van? now that I think about it, it was yeah. Why?" Aziel rubbed his chin as he spoke thinking back. He had been a wolf at the time so it was mostly scents that had engulfed his memory.

Silver started her engine. "I know what direction we're heading." Turning the throttle Silver peeled out of the parking lot, heading out of town on the highway heading east.

Setting off Aziel picked up speed not caring for speed limits. He would deal with any speed tickets later.

---

Silver came to a stop right behind the van Phoebe had taken to leave the house. The ride there had taken 15 minutes, 7 of it speeding to where Silver had last seen the van and the rest heading in the same direction until Aziel caught a scent and took the lead. Getting off her bike she shoved the keys in her back pocket and looked over at Aziel.

"Alright, stick close and follow me. Aziel spoke as he followed the tall wire fence until he found a spot which had already been cut through. "Looks like this is where the others got in" he commented as he climbed through and headed the compound up ahead.

---

---

The car journey was fairly silent as they returned to the pack house. The Allied pack followed in their own vehicles. Russell's glances towards Eve were noticeable, Aziel glanced over himself. She was bruised and covered in dried blood as it clung to her clothes and skin. A sour taste curdled on his tongue as he breathed in the smell of her blood, his baby sister, seeing her in this state, it hurt him deeply.

Looking down Aziel took in the state of Charlie, such an innocent girl, she had never shown any malice or violence since he had met her. Now she lay in his arms dried blood also coating her clothes her injuries unsightly. Her forearm had been bandaged, but the cloth was stained in red. Aziel frowned as he tried to assess her injuries, the blood through the bandage formed a strange pattern. He moved his hand gently over the bandage only to stop as the car pulled up to the house.

Phoebe had gotten them there quickly.

"Dana" Aziel spoke loudly knowing she would be able to hear from the house. Sliding open the van doors Aziel carefully got out being mindful not to bump Charlie.

The moment he did so he was greeted by a familiar face, it was Mica, Charlie's twin brother. The look in his eyes showed his fear as they blurred between human and wolf.

"Charlie?" Mica spoke his voice uncertain.

His voice seemed to reach Charlie as she grumbled. Aziel readjusted slightly in case she moved to keep her comfortable as they conversed.

With fully shifted eyes, Mica looked at Aziel. "Keep watch for me." his had fully shifted now.

"I won't leave her side" Aziel nodded to the wolf knowing he probably wanted nothing more than to protect his sister at this moment.

Aziel felt the same way, but he also felt a crushing guilt.

Eve probably didn't want to see him the moment she woke up, they hadn't left on good terms when they were separated. It would be best if he let Russell take care of her, she still didn't know the full extent to his reason for leaving for so many years. He knew he hurt her, it was the last thing he had ever wanted to do. He didn't want to hurt her any further, it would be best if he left her alone for a while, maybe she would come find him when she felt up to it. But that wouldn't stop him from looking over her from a distance until that time.

"Evangeline! Charlie!" Rachelle's voice suddenly cried out from the doorway. She wasted no time running up to Aziel as she fluttered her hands over Charlie in distress. "Oh my gosh, the poor dear, where's Silver? Is she safe too? What happened? Who did this? Are you okay?" her questions flurried before looking over to Phoebe "Thank you. Thank you so much for bringing my children home safe" Rachelle tried to keep her composure but the relief was all over her face.

"Silver should be on her way, she took her bike, I'll tell you what happened as soon as we get Charlie and Eve to Dana" Aziel nodded to her picking up the pace into the house. He should tell Jason and Rachelle what happened together with Phoebe. Looking back he wondered what his father's reaction to Peter Green would be, he wasn't pack or an allied pack after all.

"Yes, yes, lets get them both to the medical bay" Rachelle tried desperately to hold back her tears.

"Already ahead of you, I've got two beds set up for them both but it looks like i'm gonna need more" Dana appeared as she looked over the group. Russell caught her attention, she had expected a least a couple of casualties but the situation seemed worse than she thought.

"This way com' on" Dana ushered them inside towards her medical room.

Aziel gently laid Charlie down on one of the beds in the 'medical bay' as Rachelle quickly began to gather bandages, water and any other equipment Dana asked for.

"How bad is it? Will she be okay? Is there anything I can do?" Aziel pulled a hand through his hair and stood awkwardly by the bed as Dana quickly got to work.

He felt a bit out of his league here, he wanted to help some way but he didn't know much about medicine.

"She's in safe hands now Aziel, relax" Dana leant across and rested her hand on his arm. The moment she did so Aziel realised that he had been shaking. Looking down at his own hands he saw them shake, listening to his heart he heard the rapid beats as it stressed.

Slowly, he sat down on a chair beside the bed. He had never felt like this before, when he looked at Charlie, a mixture of emotions coursed in him, they ranged from fear to rage. He was unable to control them, to calm down. Taking a deep breath his closed his hands into fists trying to get them to stop.

"Bastards.." Dana whispered in shock.

"What is it?" Aziel looked up and saw the grim expressions Dana and Rachelle made.

"They... they branded her" Rachelle frowned her lip quivering. Aziel wasn't sure it was from rage or sadness.

Standing Aziel looked over at Charlie's arm which had previously been bandaged. There he saw it, the blistering cracked skin burned into a symbol.

He stood silent, his teeth began to elongate, his eyes shifted to yellow. Rage. Pure rage seethed.

"I swear on my life, I will protect her, and Eve from ever having to experience this again" Aziel growled before slumping back down into the chair. He was not going to leave Charlie's side until he saw Richard dead. He would watch Eve from afar until she wanted to talk to him.

---

Richard glared at the pack stood on the hill near his compound. They were outnumbered.

"What happened is you got in the god damn way" Richard spat at Minerva as she pulled herself up. Neil and Kyle rubbed their backs as they followed suit having been the ones to break Minerva's fall. "Useless girl, grow your fangs already" he growled at her roughly slamming his hand into her chest pushing her back to the ground.

She may be his daughter, but she was pointless to him in this state. He wanted nothing more than for her to shift and be of some actual use to him.

Neil hesitated under Richard's glare but as he turned around to head back towards the compound Neil held out his hand to Minerva "It'll be alright, you're not useless Richards just.. upset right now" Neil forced a smile as he lied. He knew Richard only said things he meant, but Neil didn't want the girl to feel bad about herself. If anything, Neil often felt sorry for Minerva, she was tied to Richard through blood and not loyalty.

"What happened?" Cassie's raspy voice shouted across to them all from the doorless doorway, its steel door now flat on the ground from the fight. She breathed heavily gripping onto the side of the doorway trying to catch her breath. Cassie had woken up alone in the hallways, she had heard the fight but it appeared she did not make it in time. Her stomach ached in pain as she held it protectively.

"Oh hear is the other useless piece of trash" Richard shoved her aside "Revene inside! There's much to do, if those Suttons think they've won their insane" he sneered before disappearing into the compound.

"Oh I do love it when Richard's mad" Draven clasped his hands together peering over to the others. "Get up, we shouldn't keep our Alpha waiting" he kicked Kyle in the side as he lay on the ground still.

"Ow!" Kyle complained before pushing himself up off the floor. "I'm coming jeez" he sighed. Kyle had been hoping Richard would possibly let the Sutton's go upon seeing the allied pack take them away. This fight.. it was going to be harder than they originally fought, but Richard... his drive for revenge... Kyle knew he wouldn't stop until the Sutton's were dead. This would only end when they were, it was a naive thought to hope Richard may give in to defeat.

"Luke?" Kye looked over to notice Luke staring up at the enemy. He saluted the Alpha's son, the young girl they had encountered before in his arms. "W-what are you thinking? Kyle hesitantly asked.

Luke turned to face Kyle dropping his arm over Kyles' shoulder as they headed inside. "I'm thinking of the hunt my boy" Luke smiled sadistically "Much like our dear Richard, revenge is such a sweet feeling. I do love a good hunt of rabbits" he laughed causing Kyle to shrink away a little but his eyes sparkled with admiration.

"You're not deterred by them? Despite that new pack getting involved?" Kyle asked

"Pfft, boy, they only increase the fun" Luke grinned.

Kyle was surprised by Luke's confidence, but it also impressed by him. He wished he could share Luke's confidence.

"MOVE IT" Draven's voice angrily shouted to them all but his gaze focused upon William.

William stood watching the enemy pack drive away. He wrangled his hands deep in thought. "Phoebe.." William whispered as he smelt her scent fade away into the distance. He had never thought of what he would do if he saw her again, he never thought he would. Seeing her... it pulled up feelings he thought he had abandoned many years ago. Just what must be going through her mind right now? She had recognised him, he saw it in her eyes, he also saw the shock, confusion, and anger. There was definitely anger. He never told Richard what happened between him and Phoebe during his time at the Sutton pack house. He knew it was pointless to do so, he had already betrayed Phoebe before he had fallen for her, but had wanted to protect her in some small way.

"William!" Draven's voice echoed behind him.

"Alright, alright" William replied dragging his feet away from the grass he stood on. It was difficult, to pull himself away from her again. But this was how it should be, it was best for her that he forget about her.

♫ Raise A Little Hell ♫

The ride back to the pack house was a tense one. Russell rode in the same car as Eve, with the allied pack having placed her between himself and Peter, laying Eve's head on his lap. Russell gently petted the side of Eve's head, brushing her violet hair out of her face. Russell was still steaming mad over the pack's inaction against Richard, and his rogues. After everything they did, everything they put Eve, and Charlie through they were gonna get away. He already knew they were. And he blamed this pack, and it was clearly written on his face, he wasn't hiding his annoyance over them.

Russell was now feeling the entirety of injuries, and the fatigue from fighting nearly nonstop without rest. His eyes were heavy, and his entire body ached. It felt like his bones were made of glass, and shattered. Breathing was difficult, he felt as though there was an obese man sitting on his chest. He was just so tired. Along the way he would nod off for a few seconds every once in awhile, but he was quick to keep his eyes open, and alert, always keeping a eye on Eve.

Time just seemed to fly by, as before he knew it they had arrived home. From there everything seemed to move in fast motion to Russell. Eve, and Charlie were rushed to urgent care while the pack members surrounded them. Russell hobbled out of the vehicle, there were a couple of people trying to help him walk but he stubbornly pushed them away as he hobbled towards the pack house. But something was....off. There was an odd scent in the air. No not odd, familiar. It wasn't strong, but it was enough to get Russell's attention. He tried to place the smell, but he just couldn't

The closer to the house he got the stronger the scent became. The one good eye Russell could see out of widened when he realized where he recognized the scent. What color in his face that wasn't black and blue soon turned pale white as he realized what it was. He had looked like he saw a ghost, and it wasn't that far off. Russell was in a haze as he followed the scent. He pushed aside anybody that tried to give him any aide. He moved like a man possessed, he had to follow the scent.

Without realizing it Russell was in front of the door that lead to the cell in the basement. He himself hasn't set foot down there, but he knew what it was for. He cautiously pushed the door open, with it creaking open. Before he knew it he was hobbling down the steps, blood was nearly overwhelming his nose. Once he reached the bottom he gasped, and covered his mouth in horror upon the sight he saw. "Well......shit." Jack struggled to get out, and followed with a cough of blood. His abdomen was cut nearly to shreds, burns covered most of his body, with several fresh ones. He was missing a few toes, along with a chunk out of his one good ear.

Calvin turned to face Russell with a scowl. "Get out. Now." He ordered in a stern voice. "B-Ben? Is....is that you?" Russell asked in disbelief. "I haven't been called that for a long time Russ. It's Jack now. Just. Jack. By the looks of it you've had as rough a night as me." Calvin stormed over to Russell, and grabbed him by his arm, causing searing pain to shot up Russell's body. Jack growled angrily at Russell being hurt. "I said get out!"

Russell's body began shaking with anger once more, he glared up at Calvin, his one good eye glowing yellow once again. "Let. Go. Of. Me." He growled lowly. Calvin merely rolled his eyes, and began pushing Russell towards the door. Russell planted his feet firmly on the ground, and quickly sucker punched Calvin, nearly knocking him off his feet. "You stupid stray son of a bitch!" Calvin shouted as he regained his footing. He grabbed Russell by his collar, and threw him against the wall, and followed with a right cross.

Calvin then grabbed Russell, and tossed him across the room, causing him to knock over the metal table that held the tools Jason used on Jack. Russell crawled on all fours, and away from Calvin, he was in no shape to deal with him. "This bastard told us all about you, you little psycho! To think we trusted you!" He said as he came towards Russell. Russell scrounged the floor, pushing aside the tools. "Screw....you. You piece of shit.....I ain't got nuttin to prove to you..." He huffed in defiance. Calvin grabbed Russell, causing Russell to spin around, and drive one of the knives that littered the floor into his shoulder, pushing it as deep as he could.

Calvin howled in pain, and Russell followed up by bashing his head with a hammer he also picked up off the ground. The blow from the hammer caused Calvin to fall to one knee. Russell struck Calvin once more with the hammer, knocking him out. Russell dropped the hammer, and grabbed the keys of the cell, and proceeded to open it. Despite both of their injuries both of them quickly embraced one another in a hug. "I.....I don't understand....how are you.....I thought you were dead." Russell stated, tears streaming from his good eye.

Russell pulled away from their embrace, taking in the full extent of his injuries. "Ben wh-" "Jack. My name is Jack now. Ben Moss died on that night....I had to.....I couldn't go by that anymore. It feels like a whole different lifetime.....just call me Jack." Jack stated, with some slight aggression flaring up in his voice. Russell looked up at him in confusion. "O....ok, Jack. Why are you here, what did he do to you?" Russell asked. Tears began streaming down Jack's face, well the side that could produce tears. "I-I-I don't know! I came looking for you, I caught your scent, and followed it here, they grabbed me, and started saying something about rogues, and missing girls....when.....when I couldn't tell them anything....they.....began cutting on me. Him, and that Alpha, Jason."

"I-I-I didn't do anything Russell! I swear to you!" Jack was balling tears at this point, placing his hands on the sides of Russell's face, staring directly into his eyes. Russell's expression softened as he placed his hand on Jack's forearm. "Of course, I believe you Jack. But Jason has done right by me, his daughter was taken by rogues. He was probably scared. Look, we can talk with him. He's a good man, a good Alpha." Jack shook his head. "No...what he did to me.....I can't.....I can't stay here....and you shouldn't either.....this room.....what he did to me......he can't be trusted....please.....please.....we can both get out of here."

Russell looks away from him, hesitant to leave his new home, his new pack, his friends. And one person kept creeping in his mind, Eve, and her reaction to him leaving so soon after her ordeal. "Please.....I-I-I can't lose you too.....your mother...your father.....Debra...and.....and...." Jack began cracking up, not being able to finish the sentence. "Jack, it's ok....I'm not leaving you." Russell placed his hand on his shoulder. "Debra.....she was.......she was...." Before he could even finish the sentence Russell pulled him in for another hug, showing him that he didn't need to continue.

Russell was boiling with anger. He pulled away from Jack, and placed his hands on Jack's shoulders. "Go. I'll deal with Jason." Russell said as turned away from Jack, heading towards the stairs. Jack's expression changed quickly, one of a mixture of annoyance, and slight fear. "Wait....Let's just leave here." Jack said as he grabbed Russell by the arm. Russell turned his head back, glaring at Jack's hand, and then at Jack. Jack released his arm. "No. You slip out while I deal with Jason." Russell ordered, his voice just oozing authority.

Jack took a deep gulp, and averted his eyes to the ground. "O....ok." He replied, with a touch of fear in his voice. Russell then stormed out of the cellar, and towards Jason. A slick grin struck Jack's face as he looked down at Calvin, who was beginning to stir. He knelled down next to him, and picked up a knife from the ground. "Been real fun Cal. Can't wait to return the favor, and show you how I party." He whispered in his ear, and then ruffled his hair playfully.

Russell marched toward Jason, looking like a man possessed. "Jason! You son of a bitch!" Russell roared as he grabbed his Alpha's shoulder, turning him around, and then slugging him across his face. "You sick bastard!" Russell shouted, and before he could land another finger on Jason his fellow pack mates scrambled to pull him away.

With all eyes on Russell, Jack silently slipped out of the cellar, and quietly sneaked out of the pack house. Jack made it outside, but bumped into one of the allied pack members. As the man turned around Jack quickly slashed his throat open with the knife he picked in the cellar. The man gargled on his blood, trying to say something before he fell over. Jack smiled as he licked the blood off the knife. He quickly searched through the man's pockets, pulling out a set of car keys. Jack quickly ran over to the vehicles, starting up the one that transported Eve, Russell, and Peter moments ago. He started up the car, and quickly drove off as fast as the vehicle could go.

Soon Calvin came from the cellar, holding his bloody forehead. "The damn stray let the rogue go!" He shouted as he stormed over to Russell, who was still being held back by the other pack members. Calvin then punched Russell's already bruised, and bloody face. Calvin grabbed Russell by his shirt, yanking him from the grip of the others, and tossed him across the room. The back of his head hit hard against the floor. He struggled to keep his eyes open. Whatever happened next was just a blur to Russell, he could do little to actually stay conscious, no matter how hard he struggled.

---

FOUR DAYS LATER

For the last few days Russell was kept in his room, like a prisoner. Jason kept a guard outside his door around the clock. Though any real interrogation was stayed off thanks to the combined efforts of Rachelle, who kept reminding Jason of what he went through to protect their daughter, and Dana, who was adamant about his recovery. Throughout this time Russell's mind was racing. He couldn't stop thinking about Ben, about Jack, and most of all Eve's recovery. He hasn't been allowed to leave his room, let alone see her.

Russell laid there on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. 'IS THIS ALL YOU'RE GONNA DO? LAY IN BED, AND SULK? IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER SO BAD GO AND SEE HER! DON'T LET THESE WEAKLINGS STOP YOU FROM DOING WHAT YOU WANT!' Russell's wolf barked. Russell let out a deep sigh. It was right, he did want to see her, to make sure she was ok. Russell rolled off his bed, and made his way to his door. He peaked outside to see his guard. The guard was a slightly older man, in his thirties or forties, with a thick beard that was starting to show streaks of grey. He stood there, obviously bored out of his mind as he idly picked at his fingernails.

Russell quietly closed the door, and began lighting some of the candles in his room. It wasn't unusual for Russell to light them, he often used the sweet scents from them for meditation. He then made his way to his radio on his dresser. He turned it on some heavy metal station, and turned the volume as high as it would go. With the candles going, and the radio blasting Russell opened up his window, and slipped outside unnoticed by the guard.

Once outside he carefully circled around the house until he found an unlocked window. Russell quietly slipped in, and made his way to Eve's room. Once there he stood outside of her door, his hand twitching. He was trying to muster the strength, and courage to knock on her door, but he felt his stomach twist and turn. What was he gonna say to her? How was he gonna explain his situation to her? How he's pretty much a prisoner at this point. He took a deep gulp, and lifted up his hand to knock, but then he heard movement inside, and the door opened.

~'.'~Hero/Heroine | Boys Like Girls~'.'~
"There's always pain before we
get better; that's how we heal"


~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~My Demons | Starset~'.'~'.'~'.'~'.'~
"Sometimes the right path ...
... Isn't the easiest one ..."

---

Eve slipped in and out of consciousness after the escape, having remained completely inert during the process itself. She wavered slightly when passed from Peter to some unknown other who held the faint smell of an allied pack - the Turzul Pack, if she wasn't mistaken. They were the Sutton's top allies and the two packs did quite a bit for each other, leading her to easily recognize their scents.

When she was passed, she murmured a soft protest of pain, but relaxed once more once she was adjusted in the new man's arms, who carried her with the gentleness of someone accustomed to handling those who were injured.

She once again fell insentient, briefly awakening when she was placed in a vehicle between Peter and Russell. The two allowed the man who had carried her to lay her across them, her head propped onto Russell's lap while her legs were placed on Peter's.

The lull of the car helped her to sleep instead of the worse state of unconsciousness, and she did so heavily for the entirety of the ride back to Sutton land. When the car jostled to a stop, she blinked blearily, only to find herself once more removed from the car by the one that had driven it. All of the movement of her body was beyond her control, and she barely registered that she had been traveling. People were dark shapes, face drifting in and out of focus, and voices were a complete blur and incomprehensible. Her skull held a piercing pain, her body ached from head to toe, and she was dead weight, unable to move of her own accord.

Her mother and father's faces came into emphasis, Rachelle's holding worry and fear mixed with relief, tears clouding her pretty eyes, and her father's own usual rough ones were the same mixture of emotions, along with an undertone of complete and utter fury. Once he had assured himself that she was going to be okay, Dana at his side and immediately shouting orders to those who helped her in the medical ward of the mansion, he began to bellow orders left and right - ones both to defend and also ready to attack those that had dared come after those that were under his care.

Evangeline briefly heard her's and Charlie's names leaving Dana's lips before she was whisked away to the medical area of the mansion that housed their clan. Before she could even murmur a protest, her eyes blearily searching the faces around her for the few that mattered most, a small prick pierced her inner arm, and she quickly fell into an unconscious state once more.

She awoke hours later to find herself encompassed in bandages, several tubes entering her arms and sides - undoubtedly draining fluid from her injured organs - and Dana’s blurred form above her.

“Eve, go back to sleep. You’re okay now,” the woman said gently, smoothing down her hair. Blinking her eyes drowsily, she couldn’t fight off the exhaustion that held her immobile on the bed, and once again slipped into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Peter had ridden in silence to the lands that were considered Sutton territory - and area that, up until that day, he had gone out of his way to avoid. He was a man of respect and if anyone could say anything about him it was that he knew his boundaries. He wasn't about to trespass on a pack's lands, and he held to that.

When they arrived, he was all but ignored as the girls were quickly whisked away to be helped, along with the others that needed medical attention. He didn't need it as badly, so he didn't bother to ask for any help, especially from those that didn't know him. Wolves were solitary creatures for the most part, and stuck only to their pack and those that they knew. They were extremely weary of strangers, and for good reasons. Strangers rarely brought good tidings to a pack.

So he simply took a seat on the steps that led up to the porch at the front of the house, staying out of the way but also making it clear that he didn't intend to leave and would stay so long as he was welcome or needed. It was only when the Alpha - at this point he had found the man's name to be Jason Sutton - looked over at him after shouting out orders, that he took advantage of the break in the organized chaos to make himself known.

Pushing himself sorely to his feet, Peter approached the man and, with his hand awkwardly on the back of his head, stopped a few feet away from the Alpha. When the man simply raised a brow at him, he mustered up his charisma and spoke.

"The name's Peter - Peter Pan James Green. A pleasure," he said, holding out one hand in an uncomfortable greeting.



"Now is there anything else that I can get for you, Evangeline?"

"No thank you, Jessie," Eve said quietly, her hands folded over the open book that rested in her lap. Freira laid watchfully beside her on her bed, and Agent was perched on the open windowsill, looking over the room with a cautious gaze. The area of the house surrounding her room was otherwise quiet - orders directly from her father kept people way from her room and those who had been involved in the rescue of her and Charlie and had also been injured in the process. His reasoning was that the group needed to rest and recover, and they couldn't do so when they were constantly being harassed by the loud voices and goings-on of those that lived or even frequented the mansion. The only ones who had really been allowed to visit her were Jessie, Mica, her parents, Aziel, and Silver.

Jessie and her mate Mica had been saviors the past few days, coming and going to check on not only Charlie but herself and the others several times each day. Other than work, they had quite a bit of free time seeing as it was the summer time and school was out for the humans, so they figured that they would swing by to help out Jason and his mate with everything that had been happening,

Jessie paused in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder at the girl who was barely two years younger than her.

"I know ... We're not very close, Eve, and that I may be overstepping my boundaries when I say this. But ..." The elder girl hesitated, gnawing on her lower lip, clearly deeply thinking about her next words.

"Go ahead and say what you want to say, Jessie. I won't be offended," Eve assured her gently. After a few moments, the young woman cleared her throat and refocused her doe-eyes on Eve's strikingly purple ones.

"Over the past few days, you've told me what happened at that compound, and you told me everything to a fine detail. And you've also told me that since you returned, the young man that came to rescue you ... Hasn't come to check on you, since you've been confined to bed rest. I think that what you did, while noble and something the Alpha of a pack would do in that exact same situation, wasn't right. I understand why you did it, and I can see where you were coming from ... But at the same time, you didn't take a single moment to think of the ones that you would be hurting by attempting to create that pact with the Rogue Alpha. I think ... That you owe everyone an apology - and by that ... I also mean your brother and that boy," she said quietly, her hand resting on the door frame. When Eve remained quiet, Jessie began to fidget a bit, the gaze of the younger girl steady and a bit unsettling.

"Like I said, I don't mean to offend you. But if you think about it ... You probably really hurt everyone by offering that without even speaking to them first. What you don't seem to understand ... Is that you aren't the Alpha, Eve. Everyone in the pack knows that you strive to become so, but none of them expect you to act like one. You still have several years ahead of you under your father's reign, and for now ... Everyone ... That is, I mean ..." The girl drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "No one expects you to sacrifice yourself or your youth simply because you plan to follow your father. No one expects you to act as though you are the Alpha. When the time comes, yes, they will. But for now ... Just enjoy yourself, okay?"

After several moment ticked by, Eve lowered her head to look down at her folded hands. When she finally spoke, there was a slight catch in her throat.

"You're right. Thank you for saying what needed to be said to me. I'm not angry, and I still consider you to be a good friend, and appreciate your and Mica's concerns. But for now ... Could I be left alone, please? I believe ... That I need some time to think."

Jessie nodded and gave the girl a small smile.

"If you need anything, you have both mine and Mica's phone numbers. Don't be afraid to text or call us. We'll come as soon as we can, okay?" And with that, the woman was gone, leaving the door slightly ajar behind her.

Gently closing the book, Eve leaned back against the mass of pillows pushed up to support her from behind. She tilted her head back, her gaze fixated on the beautiful ceiling that was in her bedroom.

Like most teenage girls, her bedroom was her safe place. She had decorated and designed it so that it matched her personality to a T, and she found it to be an extremely calming place. From the bookshelves that lined most of the walls, to the sparkling white lights that were strung along her ceiling, it held a soothing air to it and often times had those that lived in the mansion visiting it for its calming effects. It was of average size and cozy, holding a small cast iron fireplace that was often lit and cast a glow throughout the room. The only window in the room was large and overlooked the back of the house, which was a great open plain encompassed by thick yet welcoming trees. She could easily see for miles above the trees, seeing as her room was on the top floor of the mansion, and she often would climb from her window and onto the roof to look up at the stars at night, or even read a book during the early mornings.

It was in her room that she remained after Jessie's exit. She had been ordered to bed rest by Dana - who else was on bed rest, she wasn't sure - and had for the most part followed her directions. Her body still hurt, and would undoubtedly continue to for a few weeks to the better part of a couple of months. The injuries she had sustained weren't minimal, and Dana had even told her that she was lucky to have lived. If she had arrived even a half an hour later, she probably would have bled out or at least gone into shock. Most of her injuries were non-life threatening, other than the amount of blood that had escaped them, but the main concern for the pack's doctor was her head wounds. She had received repeated blows to the same part of her head, and the woman had made it very clear that she was worried over any internal bleeding or long-lasting issues, such as memory loss. So far, there hadn't been any drastic losses in the memory department - at least not from events thing had happened before the injury was sustained - but Eve had been finding it difficult to remember things that had happened since she had returned to Sutton lands. It was little things, of course - she had forgotten where she had set her book a few times, and had gotten up to use the bathroom and found that she couldn't remember where her tooth brush was. She had forgotten to feed Freira and Agent once, but her mother's gentle reminder sent her scurrying to do so, along with the light pawing of the hungry animals. These things, while minor, were a bit worrisome for Dana, who told Eve to document anything she couldn't remember. Obviously that only worked when it pertained to her losing things, and not any actual memories, but once Eve was healed enough to be up and walking around, she was going to be starting a memory enhancement program with Dana every day.

Healing was going to be a long and painful process, but she was determined and stubborn to become normal again.

Jessie's words briefly flitted through her brain once more.

... You didn't take a single moment to think of the ones that you would be hurting by attempting to create that pact with the Rogue Alpha. I think ... That you owe everyone an apology - and by that ... I also mean your brother and that boy.

Eve tilted her head back down, gazing at her hands folded atop her legs.

The other woman was right, of course. Eve had been selfish and had thought only of what she thought was right without any concern for the other's feelings, but only what she thought was their well-being. While she owed an apology to the entire group, she knew she owed two of the people in that group a bigger apology than the others.

Biting her lower lip, Eve tightened her hands in her lap. Aziel's face flitted across her brain, followed by Russell's, and when the latter appeared she felt an odd stirring in the pit of her stomach. It was a nervousness mixed with a bit of butterflies, and there was a small nauseousness mixed in with those feelings. Her inner wolf, which had been pushing against her since the events at the warehouse, rolled restlessly within her, urging for her to do something - but whatever that was, she didn't quite know.

Casting a look to the side, her eyes landed on Russell's jacket. It had been laid neatly on the chair that sat before her desk, ready to be returned to its rightful owner. Her inner wolf moved impatiently once more, pushing and begging for release - or that was the only thing that she could think of it wanting, at least.

Her concern was clear - if she wasn't twenty-one, than her wolf shouldn't be begging for liberation. Not unless it had recognized a mate.

Clenching her fingers in her blankets, Eve went still. Her heart skipped before thudding hard within her chest, and she felt a something lodge in her throat.

It couldn't be ...

---

It was less than an hour later when quiet footsteps were heard in the hallway. The sound of the footfalls were instantly recognizable, along with the scent that slithered its way through her door. And before she realized what she was doing, Eve had thrown back her covers, sending her book flying, scrambled from her bed, completely ignoring her injuries in the process, and had hobbled quickly on her cast foot to the door, where she swiftly yanked it open.

A surprised Russell had stopped mid-step outside of her room, having been in the process of passing it, and when she met his eyes with her own, the lump in her throat returned. Instantly it began to ache, tears threatening at the back of her eyes.

Hot liquid began to trickle down her cheeks and over her bandages, which encompassed a good portion of her head and about half of the area of her face. Sniffing a bit, she raised her equally-bandaged hand, those stretching from her fingers and all the way up the lengths of her arms, to wipe futilely at her eyes.

"I ... I'm so ... S-sorry," she managed to choke out, her tears causing her words to hitch and catch. "What I said ... What I did ... Was so very, very selfish of me," she whispered, still rubbing at her leaking eyes. "I never should have ... I mean, that is ... I shouldn't have ..." Her lower lip began to tremble uncontrollably, and she quickly lifted her gaze once more to lock with his, her entire expression crumpled and tears soaking her bandages.

"I'm so sorry, Russell. Please ... Please don't avoid me anymore. I can't ... I won't ... I won't let you," she managed to say. Reaching out one hand, she weakly snagged the bottom of his shirt between her index finger and thumb, her entire grip trembling against it.

"I ... I miss you, Russell," she breathed, a small sob hitching on it and a broken sound escaping her throat. A new onslaught of tears escaped her eyes, and she dropped her head so that shadows were cast across her face, her shoulders shaking a bit. "Please ... Please, don't leave me alone. I miss you so much."

Russell fidgeted slightly, uncomfortable with Eve crying once again. He looked her over, this being the first time he's seen her in several days. His eyes immediately went to her cast. He himself wasn't in much better shape. He had bandages all over his torso, hands, and as well as his face, and his left arm in a sling. His face was still rather bruised, but the swelling in his eyes had went down, and he was at least able to see clearly enough.

Russell let out a sigh, and pulled Eve closer to him. He wrapped his good arm around her, and pulled her in for a hug. He placed his hand on the back of her head, and began gently petting her. "It's ok. It's ok. You're stuck with me remember?" He said in a comforting voice. "Eve I'm not mad at you.....not anymore anyways.....I know our options were limited back there. If I was in your position I probably would have made the same offer....I get it. There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep the people I care about safe."

After good minute of hugging Russell backed away slight, and placed his index finger, and thumb on her chin, bringing her gaze up to his eyes. "Come on, you need to get back to bed. Besides, I want my jacket back." Russell smirked slightly as he led her back to her bed. Russell sat on the bed next to Eve. "I'm.......I'm glad you're ok....I was.....worried about you." Russell said as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Eve....if you want to.....uh.....talk about what happened.....I'm hear for you....I understand if it's hard to talk to people you've known your entire life......to be.....vulnerable to them.....especially as the Alpha's kid......but I'm here for you.....if you need me."

Russell brushed some of his hair out of his face, and then looked over at Eve. "Um...... look..... Eve......I......um......about what Richard was saying.......I don't know how he knows anything about me....I've never seen him before in my life." He stated, and followed with a sigh. "My.....last pack.....my family.....they were killed by a bunch of thugs because of what we are......I barely made it out.....I don't wanna talk about it....the wounds are still fresh.....I understand that you're curious about it....but.....I just.....can't.....I hope you understand."

Russell brought up his hand, and wiped away a single tear that started to form. Talking about his family was rough for him.

Eve had already lifted her hand before he had finished speaking, pressing one finger against his lips.

"You don't have to push yourself to tell me anything. I don't expect you to, and I never have. You don't seem to understand that I can tell when a person has been wounded. I've known from the moment you showed up with my father that you had fresh ones that you had buried deeply inside of you; but I never pushed or tried to convince you to tell me, because I know that you will once you feel that you're ready to."

Dropping her hand, Eve lowered her gaze, gnawing gently on her lip. Her earlier discovery weighed heavily within her, and whether or not to bring it up to Russell was something she hadn't yet decided on. The events of the past week were the only thing that pushed at her to tell him, seeing as they had proven time to be a short and beautiful thing, but the obvious fear of rejection or frightening him were what caused her to hesitate. Those and the possibility that he might think that she was misunderstanding her feelings.

But her inner wolf was enough for her to know that she wasn't.

"Russell ... I ..." Pausing, she felt her cheeks warm as they grew red with nervousness and embarrassment, and her arms did the same. The blush would be extremely noticeable if it weren't for the bandages hiding it - something she thanked the Gods for - due to her extremely pale skin.

Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath through her nostrils before puffing it out slowly from between her lips.

I understand if it's hard to talk to people you've known your entire life ... to be vulnerable to them, especially as the Alpha's kid ... but I'm here for you.....if you need me.

Setting her jaw and clenching her fists, Eve squared her shoulders. Lifting her head, she met his eyes once more.

"You said that if I need to talk to someone, I can talk to you. That if I need to become vulnerable, I can do so with you. If I want to bare myself to someone - anyone - you're here for me to do so. So please ... Don't be mad ... And don't be upset ... Or scared ... Or anything of the sort ... Because this is ..." she hesitated, fighting back tears of nervousness and fear. "This is something that is really, really hard for me to tell you. Because I'm scared ... Of how you'll react. And I'm scared of what will happen ... Of what will change between us ... Because I like us how we are right now ..."

"... But I'm not stupid. I know enough about our race to know that when this becomes known, it must be told. I know ... That you deserve to know, too," she ended on a whisper. Lowering her gaze again, she steeled herself. Her fear made her not want to speak, so pinching one of the bared spots on her leg that wasn't covered in bandages, and forced herself to say it in one large rush of a breath.

"My wolf wants yours, and the only thing that that can mean ... Is that you're ... You're ..."

She cut off in her hesitation, her nails digging into her bandages in her palms. Letting out a loud breath, she muttered the words, "Ah hell," before lifting her hands and pressing them to his cheeks, cautious of his wounds. In a quick movement she had pulled his face to hers and connected their lips in an intense yet untrained kiss - because how was she supposed to know exactly how to do something like that, when she had never been even remotely interested romantically in anyone in her life?

After a few moments, she pulled back and released him, looking to the side with a blazing red covering the small amount of bare skin on her face.

"I believe ... You're my mate, Russell."

Russell sat there for a moment with the wheels turning in his head, him just trying to process what was happening. Ever since Peter suggested something deeper about his feelings for her it's always been in the back of his mind. A thousand things went through his mind. Ranging from wondering if Eve's feelings were actually true, and not some kind of byproduct of him rescuing her from Richard, to her possibly misreading her feelings for him. But no matter holes he tried to poke in this there was one lingering thought that kept creeping back to him. The kiss. It felt so right, so natural to him. Nothing like he ever felt before.

"Eve....I......I don't know what to say...." And he truly didn't. Russell looked into Eve's eyes, and noticed her blushing underneath her bandages. Russell took in a deep gulp, he could hear his heart racing. It was all he could hear, the thumping like drums in his head. "Eve..." Without warning Russell abruptly leaned forward, grabbing the back of Eve's head, and pushing her into another kiss, but this one much more passionate than the last. The initial touch to her head caused a small whimper of pain to escape her lips, but it was quickly extinguished when they met his, and she felt none of the twinges as his grip on her gentled.

After a good minute or two, honestly they lost track, Russell pulled away gasping for air. He let out a small chuckle, and couldn't stop smiling. Then without a word he went right back at her, planting his lips on hers for a moment before he pulled away slightly, and began planting kisses on her cheek, and then moving down her neck. A faked cough then abruptly interrupted them. Russell jumped slightly, and abruptly pulled away from Eve, who was left almost in a daze at what had just happened.

Standing at the door was the pack's doctor, Dana. "Sorry to interrupt. But I should remind you two not to strain yourselves. You don't want to rip those stitches now do you? I might not be so gentle resewing you two up." She said with a smirk before she moved on. Eve had barely registered Dana's presence, but enough so to be slightly embarrassed. She fidgeted a bit as she came back to the present. Russell awkwardly looked at the floor. "Um.....this is awkward.....sorry....I got carried away."

The awkward air between two individuals who had only just realized and admitted their feelings for one another hung heavily between them, pushing Eve to fidget a bit more in embarrassment. It seemed to her that her nervousness had only grown worse instead of getting better after telling him, her expectation being the exact opposite.

After several distinctly awkward moments ticked by, she huffed out a breath, the hair in front of her face ruffling a bit.

"Well ... Now I suppose that I need to tell my parents ... And make it known ... Before, of course, I change," she murmured, almost as though she were talking to herself. Turning her attention back to him, Eve placed her hand on his thigh and let her head come gently to rest on his shoulder.

"I promise that I know what I'm saying and doing. I'm smarter than most people tend to think, and I know how I feel and how my wolf feels. The fact that I can feel my wolf at all is enough of a sign that it's true," she pointed out, closing her eyes in order to rest them. The small amount of movement she had done was enough to make her exhausted after all of her injuries and medications. It made sense that Dana had ordered her to bed rest and had told them to calm themselves; they were nowhere near ready for anything active, especially Eve who, while stubborn, felt pain more keenly than Russell.

"I'm sorry ... I'm falling asleep," she said as a stifled yawn escaped her lips. "Can you ... Stay until I fall asleep?" she asked, opening her eyes long enough to look up at him. The past few nights she had woken up feeling odd and, even weirder, in different places from where she fell asleep. While she had remained in bed and fallen asleep there, she had awoken to find herself in the kitchen, the library, the classroom, and the lab. She wasn’t afraid - undoubtedly she was merely sleep-walking - but a small part of her was telling her that something wasn’t quite right. So, needless to say, she was more than a bit nervous when it came to sleeping, and having Russell there made her nervousness fade just a little bit. After a moment, she lowered her head and once more closed her eyes, easily making herself cozy against his side.

And within moments, she was asleep, her breath puffing out gently.

"It's ok, just rest." Russell said as he gently caressed Eve's cheek with the back of his hand. "I'll be here for as long as you want me to be." He watched as she slept, smiling at her slight snoring.

After he was certain that she was fast asleep, he shifted out from underneath her sleeping form, gently laid her across the bed, and pulled the plush comforter over her body. Rising, he left her room, casting one last glance over his shoulder before quietly shutting the door behind him.

---

“Now now then. What are you doing out of your room hmm? I do hate it now when my things disobey me. I suppose I should teach you some manners?.”

“No ... Don’t ... Don’t touch me!”

“Insolent little ...”

A hard slap greeted her cheek, sending her to the floor and reeling. The world was dark, causing immense fear to well up within her, and the only thing that she could see in the empty abyss was Richard’s large form towering above her.

The fear threatened to swallow her as she attempted to move away from him, crawling backwards, and when she went to scramble to her feet, she found herself stopped by a painful grab to her long hair, which was oddly blonde in opposition to the black and purple it was supposed to be. That should have been her first indication that this was nothing but a nightmare, but she was unable to concentrate on that.

She was too scared to.

She was yanked to her feet and held there by the rough yanking of her hair, causing tears to prick at her eyes, and she was forced to face the large man that had become one of her greatest fears in less than a week.

“Let go!” she managed to whisper, her screams nothing but soft wisps from her lips. A small sob escaped her as he released her hair only to grab her by the throat and lift her into the air, her legs kicking futilely in an attempt to escape.

“You will obey me. You’re nothing but my toy now, and I will turn you into my own little weapon,” the man snarled. He then threw her to the ground, but instead of hitting floor, she went directly through the darkness. It felt as though she were falling from a building - one as tall as the Empire State. Her hair whipped around her face, and in depressed acceptance of her fate, she wrapped her arms around herself, her tears sparkling in the air above her. Her hair whipped around her face, the blonde locks sticking to the tears that remained on her cheeks. It was still a black abyss around her, but before her eyes appeared the faces of those she knew best.

Charlie. Phoebe. Her father and mother. Aziel. Peter. Russell.

The faces looked at her with disappointment, as though despondent that she had chosen to simply accept what was about to happen instead of fighting against it.

“No!”

---

Shooting up, Eve let out a loud cry of pain as the movement pulled at her wounds. The sound echoed in the trees around her.

Trees? That ... Wasn’t right. She should be in bed in her room, right where Russell had left her. The last memories that she had were of her room, at least. She couldn’t remember leaving it, let alone to go to the forest surrounding the mansion.

In an instant the darkness that was the nighttime engulfed her, sending fear cascading throughout her body. Ever since that day when she was little, she had been extremely afraid of the dark. It was something that if she were around anyone other than her fellow wolves she would receive criticism and bullying for, but since they were wolves and their pack was always extremely close, she had been given only support. Some people may have thought it silly, but she had even painted the ceiling of her bedroom and installed little lights as stars to give herself the visual of a night sky while also having light while she slept.

“No ... No, not the dark,” she whispered, her voice trembling. Tears gathered in her eyes, and she wrapped her arms around her injured knees, completely ignoring the pain that doing so caused her. The darkness seemed unfathomable, and it encompassed her, wrapping her in a suffocating, thick, unbreakable blanket.

There wasn’t any way out of it. She was going to stuck inside of that darkness for the rest of her life.

“Eve? What are you doing out here?”

Jerking her head up, Eve let out a small sound of fear, before her eyes met those of the person who had spoken.

“Peter?” she whispered. After a moment of simply staring, she scrambled to her feet and threw herself at the man who was just barely past being a stranger to her.

“Please ... Please take me home,” she whimpered out, her shoulders shaking and tears drenching his shirt.

Peter, on the other hand, had been patrolling the grounds - most specifically the trees - when he had heard the shout of someone in pain and afraid. He hadn’t hesitated to locate the source, and was more than a little surprised to find the Violet Princess huddled on the mossy floor of the forest that surrounded the mansion that was the Sutton Household. Not only that, but he barely recognized her by her suddenly different hair color. But it stood out in the dark, so that helped.

After they had returned, he had spoken with the Alpha - Jason - and his mate - Rachelle - and told them everything that had happened, beginning with when the group of young adults had entered the bar. Despite his being an outsider, once they had verified his story with Phoebe, Russell, and Aziel, they had agreed among themselves that due to the current circumstances they could use all of the man power that they could get. He had been asked to stay to help them and despite him not necessarily needing anywhere to stay, he had agreed. Why? Not even he really knew, but if asked he would simply respond that he was bored and wanted a change of pace.

So there he was, with a frightened teenage girl crying against him. Her eyes had been swollen, hinting at an earlier crying - do girls ever do anything else? - and she was covered in brambles and branches from the forest.

What in bloody hell had she been doing out there, and what had she been doing before he had shown up?

Shaking his head, he turned her and hefted Evangeline into his arms. Now clearly wasn’t the time to be asking her questions. Instead, he needed to return her to her parents.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Looking over his shoulder at the man who had appeared through the trees, Peter shook his head.

“I’m not quite sure; I heard her cry out and found her trembling on the ground,” he responded. When that garnered him a suspicious look from the other wolf, he rolled his eyes. “If it were I that had done it, than why would I tell you that I found her here?”

The man’s look didn’t fade, but after a moment, he nodded and disappeared into the trees, presumably to return to his own patrole.

Turning his face to Eve’s, he shook his head.

“You’re quite the handful, aren’t you? Russell has something to look forward to,” he joked.

And with that, he set off to return her to the mansion.

It was a quick trek back, especially since Eve was actually conscious and he was able-bodied enough to carry someone this time, and when he had reached the large building, he found a dark figure standing in the open doorway, light encompassing her. It was Dana, the woman who had found out to be the Pack’s doctor, and she stood there with obvious knowledge of what was happening in her eyes.

“Follow me,” she said simply, before turning and starting down the hallway.

When she finally stopped, it was before the resting area in the medical ward, and she motioned for him to put Eve on one of the beds. When he had done so, she quickly shooed him away. At the doorway, however, she spoke.

“Don’t mention this to anyone. I don’t want to worry Jason and Rachelle any more so than they already are, and if Aziel or Russell find out, everything will be made out to be bigger than it actually is.”

After a brief moment, Peter nodded and left to return to his patrol, but the weirdness of the events lingered in his mind for the entire night.

Turning back to face the young woman who had sat up on the bed, Dana sighed and pulled a chair over to the side of it.

“What happened, Eve?” she asked as she lowered herself into it.

The young girl fidgeted slightly on the bed, her tears now dry and her fear dissipated completely.

“I ... I’m not sure,” she whispered, clenching her fingers against her dirt- and grass-stained pajama shorts. They were slightly torn along one-side, hinting at them snagging on a tree branch, and her bandages were dirtied beyond recognition. When Dana noted so, she immediately rose and began to change them out and once again clean Eve’s wounds, pausing as she did so when, as it always did, the names carved into her arms and legs caught her off-guard. She quickly went back into action, however, so as not to distract Eve.

“Tell me everything you remember.”

When Eve didn’t immediately respond, Dana paused in her ca-retaking of the wounds to look up at her. “Do you not remember?” she asked slowly, and the paleness of the girls features were more than enough of an answer. Looking down at her wounds once more, she shook her head.

“I want you to lock your door whenever you go to sleep, and document every time this happens. Has it happened before?”

Pressing her lips together, Eve hesitated before responding.

“Other than in the past couple of days, the only other time was when I was little. Do you remember when I went to the town with my parents and I got lost?”

Pausing a brief second in re-bandaging her, Dana nodded.

“After I came home ... I think ... I think I was sleep-walking. But that just ... Never sounded right. I would go to sleep in my bed and wake up in different places. I began to have really bad nightmares ... And whenever I woke up, I was always extremely afraid, especially since it was dark outside. I would wake up with cuts and bruises and my clothes would be a little torn, and I never knew where I was. My parents were the only ones who knew anything about it because the patrols would always bring me to them. It happened every night for two years, before it abruptly stopped happening.”

Finished, Dana returned the leftover bandages and scissors to their correct spot before reclaiming her seat before Eve.

“I’m going to install a camera in your bedroom and have you use a sleep monitor whenever you go to bed. With your current injuries, I’m afraid you’ll only hurt yourself more with this ... Sleep-walking,” she said slowly. A moment ticked by before she spoke again, and when she did, it was extremely gently.

“I know you’ve been acting tough since you came back home, but I can tell what happened at that compound really scared you, Eve. You don’t even seem like the same person as before. I’ve known you since you were born, and I can say right now that you aren’t acting even remotely the same as you did before the events. You’ve always been stubborn and adventurous, sarcastic and daring. You always had a smile on your face, and you always tried to make everyone happy. But since you came back ... I very rarely see a genuine smile on your face. And your eyes ... They used to be full of life, but now ... They’re dull and dark,” the older woman said, her concern that of a close friend or family member instead of a doctor. “You’re like a niece to me, Eve, and as your Godmother I can’t help but voice my concerns over your well-being both physically and mentally. I want you to know that you can talk to me, as something other than a doctor, okay?”

When Eve looked down at her lap, it took only a few seconds before she dissolved into a crying mess, her sobs echoing in the empty room.

“I don’t understand what’s happening ... What’s wrong with me, Auntie Dana?” she whispered, rubbing futilely at her leaking eyes. “I-I’m scared of what’s happening,” she sobbed out.

The older woman rose and wrapped her arms gently around the girl, pressing her into her side.

“Shh .... It’s going to be alright ... We’ll figure out what’s happening, I promise,” she murmured, smoothing a hand over Eve’s hair. In an effort to calm the girl, she smiled a little bit. “I like what you did with your hair. When did you dye it back to blonde? Your mother will be happy.”

The young woman went rigid in her arms, and when she pulled away a bit, Dana let her. The look of confusion mixed with horror on her face was enough to cause chills to go up the doctor’s arms.

“M-my hair? What ... What are you talking about?” she asked. When Dana struggled for words, Eve launched to her feet - or as close to a launch as she could manage in her state - and hobbled to the nearest mirror. Her reflection caused her to go cold, her skin blanching and her eyes widening.

“But ... I didn’t ... Dye it ...” she rasped, lifting a trembling hand to her hair. More tears welled in her eyes, and she whirled around to face Dana.

“What’s happening to me, Dana?” she whispered, her hands clenching in the bottom of her dirty-blonde locks. Releasing her hair, she stared down at her shaking hands. "What's happening?"

Dana crossed the room in a few quick strides, grabbing Eve’s hands and clutching them between her own.

“Shh, Angel. It’s okay,” she soothed. Pulling the young girl against her, she looked over her head at their reflection in the mirror, attempting to arrange her worried expression into one of neutrality.

But to no avail.

---

After Dana had calmed Evangeline enough for the girl to go back to sleep in her room, she hurried down the halls to the study, where Rachelle and Jason were in deep conversation with two Alphas from other packs, their second-in-commands watching from the sides of the room. Knocking lightly on the door, Dana took a few steps inside.

“Excuse the interruption, but I really need to speak to Jason and Rachelle,” she stated, the authority of a doctor in her voice. When her words gained a disgruntled response from the visitors, she squared her shoulders and met Jason’s and Rachelle’s eyes.

“There’s something very wrong with Evangeline. I’m worried about her safety, both mentally and physically, and what those monsters did to her at that compound. I don’t think ... I don’t think that they only tortured her. I think ... They did something to her. She isn’t the same person she was before, and there have been some ... Ah ... Issues,” she said, obviously withholding information until they were in private. When the visiting allies heard her words, the Alphas nodded at their men and they left the room, shutting the door behind them. In one movement Dana was across the floor and stood before the Alpha and his mate, her concern evident in her features.

“I’m saying this as both her doctor and her Godmother, Jason - Rachelle,” she said, looking at both in turn. “There’s something very wrong with her. I don’t know what it is, but she’s having major lapses in memory, chronic night terrors, she’s sleep walking again, and she’s doing things during these lapses in memory that have me extremely concerned. This is the third night in a row since their return that she’s been brought to me by a patrolling party, and this time it was by Peter. He found her in the middle of the forest, huddled into a ball and crying. She doesn’t remember dying her hair back to its natural color, for God’s sake,” she said quietly, leaning against the desk that separated her from the couple.

“There’s something seriously wrong with her, and I cannot, even as a doctor, figure out what. The only thing that comes to mind is that that despicable and disgusting piece of shit did something to or put something inside of her that is making her do things against her will and without her knowledge. If they were sadistic enough to carve names of their pack and pack members into her arms and legs, than they were sadistic enough to put something inside of her,” she finished, tightening her hold on the desk. Her anger was evident, and her eyes were ablaze when she looked up.

“We need to find out what he did to her, and soon before she hurts herself ... Or someone else. Who knows what she’s been doing in these random rifts in her memories, and who knows what she’s capable of.”