Wolves Reign » Places

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Tonight was a good night for a walk, it was mild out and there was hardly any need for the sweatshirt Jared had over his cotton t-shirt. – It was mid-April. Spring in the Northwest was like a pedulum swinging back and forth between winter and summer weather, often in one day. The smell of petrichor was piquant, rising in a foggy mist from the ground as the sun evaporated it. The snow remained on the mountain ranges in the distance rising into a lilac sky. It was not like last year, the winter seeming to stretch endlessly; stormy and cold; a bad omen of the times. It seemed like years ago even though it had been a little over a year now. The crescent moon showed itself before the sun had even went down, capturing a sigh of relief from residence at its half-shadowed face.

Everything was returning to normal; not in the sense that everything was going to be as it was before; but a new normal … Now he could walk on the surface a free man without being shot at, however that didn’t mean he still wasn’t welcome in all places. In fact he and his kind were restricted mostly to their own neighborhoods... ghettos really seemed a more appropriate term for the walled off segments of shanty towns.

Jared stayed out of the ghetto for as long as he could during the day time when they were permitted to go out. He didn’t care for the glares of humans as they spotted the identifying arm band on his sleeve. The ireful looks from his own kind hurt more; the sneer of “traitor” behind his back. It was exhausting being harassed on both sides, but he was safer amongst humans than werewolves. His former Alpha's request that he be left alone meant little with Daryl still incarcerated, and the only reason he knew he was still alive, ironically, were Adam's followers. As much as they intimidated, bullied, and pushed him, they would not kill him thinking there was a chance he might just lure his mother out of hiding.

The entrance of the ghetto loomed ahead, barbed wire fences stretching several blocks in either direction. Guards stood watch at the gate and intermittent posts along the blockade with silver-loaded guns. On the other side, things were quite louder and more packed than the human side. Most werewolves were outside their residence at this time, emerging from their stuffy projects and makeshift homes of corrugated sheet metal to enjoy the weather. Feral children ran around in scarcely driven streets while older werewolves sat on stairwells and cinderblock walls conversing and keeping a watchful eye on the young. The conditions weren't much better than being underground, in some ways it was worse... but they had to admit the view was a lot nicer.

Besides the wolves pulled up from the underground though, there were werewolves from surrounding areas that had been rounded up into the ghettos too. This thankfully provided some anonymity for Jared, but those who did know him either pretended like he didn't exist or met him with disdain. Therefore he avoided eye contact with most everybody he passed, keeping his head down like some lowly omega and weaved carefully through the crowd to not draw attention. As careful as he was though, out of the blue he was shouldered roughly by another pedestrian, a woman with a bundle in her arms. It almost seemed intentional with the force, but she had kept moving on in a hurry without a remark or excuse. That's when he noticed a little blue cap on the ground and it donned on him the bundle she had been carrying was a baby. "Hey!!" Jared swiped the knitted article off the ground and pursued the woman. "Hey! Ma'am! You dropped this!"

The woman did not seem to hear him, continuing on at a surprising speed for being in heels. He lost sight of her a couple of times in the maze of stands, people, and shanty houses but managed to keep track until she turned into a narrow space between two buildings. He hurried even faster to catch up and not lose her, but as soon as he turned the corner he abruptly halted. The woman stood a few strides ahead in the middle of the alley.

"Ma'am.. Uh... You dropped your baby's hat."
"Thank you I was hoping you would pick it up. If that hadn't worked I wasn't sure what I was going to do..."
"Huh?"
"...I was sure it would work though, you never could resist being a hero."

As soon as the woman came forward out of the shadows Jared wondered how it was ever possible he had not known who she was instantaneously; because here was his own mother. He had not picked up her perfume on the breeze nor recognized her shadowed face. This was the last place after all he had expected to see her, and even with her standing in front of him he had a hard time believing it was her because of the vague resemblance. Her dark hair hung limply around her face which was pallid and make-up-less; she looked forlorn cast in shadows, her eyes reflecting iridescent light in the dark.

“Mom?"

"Yes, it's me." her soft voice took away from her phantom presence, warmed him instead of chilled him and reassured that this was his mother and not some apparition.

"Where have you been?"
"I don't know... Everywhere. The coast, the mountains... I can't ever seem to stray too far from here though..."
"You shouldn't have come back." Jared stated abruptly, glancing over his shoulder and at all of the windows above their heads.
“I know, but I had to see you. I've missed you so much--"
“Who's baby is that?"

Lauren stopped her approach towards her son and gazed down at the baby she seemed to only just remember she held in her arms. She looked back up, jaw set.

"Mine, of course."
"You mean yours and.. and..."

His name hung unspoken between them.

"Would you like to hold him?" Lauren asked moving on after some moments.
"Uh, um.."

Before he could even form a coherent answer she was placing the little bundle in his arms. "His name is Jackson." she told him, stepping back and giving them both a tired smile. Jared clutched the baby uncertainly, looking at the little face staring back at him in the crook of his arm. "Jackson..." he repeated slowly, still trying to acclimate himself to the idea he even had a baby brother. He realized he still had the hat in his hand and placed it back on Jackson's head, who seemed to gaze up at him almost curiously. This was the first time Lauren had handed him over to anyone else.

His baby brother seemed as healthy as could be, despite his mother's own withering appearance, with rolls of fat and plush pink cheeks, bright green eyes and wisps of blond hair. His features beared no resemblance to his mother he painfully noted and he had no doubt of him maturing into the likeness of his father. If it was something she noticed yet, his mother didn’t show it, not an ounce of bitterness betraying her doleful gaze as she looked upon the both of them. He kept his pitying thoughts to himself, but felt the pain on her behalf of having to be reminded every day of her mate’s gouging memory.

"Mom, you're being looked for... Almost everyone thinks that you sold out to Wolfsbane."

Lauren chuckled as she fond over Jackson in his brother's arms, tickling his nose.

"Well then... almost everyone would be right. I did."

It was said with such offhanded nonchalance Jared was unsure whether to take her confession seriously. Even with all probability leaning towards that answer there had always been an ounce of doubt that she could have done it. His silence said it all and she expounded some more, still not looking up:

"I gave Wolfsbane the location of the above ground headquarters in order to receive passage out of the city. I also gave them Daryl and Charlotte... It was all me. I knew I was pregnant and was afraid if I didn't get out soon that he might find out..."
She finally looked up at him. "Are you ashamed of me?"
He swallowed,“No.. Uh, I just didn't think you had it in you. You really... You really did all that? And Rose...?"
"Yes. Rose too... I didn't mean for that to happen if that counts for anything..."

A smile cracked across his face. Even as she spoke of cold-blooded murder his mother still had a way of sounding completely innocent.

"Why are you smiling? I don't see the humor." Lauren scolded disapprovingly. "I really didn't mean to..."

He shook his head, trying and failing to stop grinning. He laughed,"No, I know. I'm just happy you got out. You and this little guy. I had no idea... You have to be the baddest wolf in history now since you killed the Big Bad Wolf and all.

The corner of her mouth crooked up despite herself and she looked away to hide what might have been the slightest look of pride, "Oh please..."

They stood there for a little while longer, the alley growing darker and darker. A street lamp flickered to life outside the alley reminding them both of the time.

"We shouldn't stand here too long. It's almost curfew."
“…Yes, I should go."
"We can still see each other. Everyone once in a while..."
“I don't think that's wise...”
"What do you mean?"
“It's too dangerous, for both of us.. And I have decided Jackson should know nothing about where he came from, who his father is."
"So he can't know me...?" Jared looked down at his baby brother; he had only just met him but the thought of being separated was already tearing him up. "That's unfair...”
"I am sorry Jared, I hate to do this to you. But I just can't..."
“I mean to him.” Jared said, “Don’t you think he has a right to know who his family is? Even if it is all messed up… At least he will know who he is.”
She replied with unexpected sharpness, “--And who will he be? The bastard of a traitor or the prodigal son of the Alpha?"

Before the argument could go further they were interrupted by the sound of footfalls stopping at the end of the alley and they ceased to speak.

"HEY." A uniformed ghetto guard called down to them. "What are you two doing down here?"

Jared handed his brother back to Lauren and turned to answer. "Nothing, we were just talking, sir."

"Well you can talk out in the open. Time to go home anyway."

They both obeyed him immediately and began exiting the alley, the guard held out his baton after Jared had passed though, stopping Lauren. "Wait. What do we got here...?" Her blood went cold. Did he recognize she wasn't from here? Had she not stitched her arm band to every last detail? Jared was looking just as nervous as she did, watching helplessly. She stood stiffly, eyes staring at the ground as he reached out with his baton and moved the blankets in her arms aside. His face scrunched up in disgust at the sight of the baby. "...Fucking animals -- breed like rats. Do you even know how to take care of one of those?" Lauren said nothing in response, feeling more relief than offense at the present. The guard clucked his tongue disappointedly at her and removed the baton out of her way. "Worthless... Get out of here."

Lauren's knees felt like they had been fused together on the spot and Jared had to grab her by the arm to get her to move again. About a block away they stopped once more and Lauren dug in her pockets for something. Jackson was perhaps the quietest baby Jared had ever seen, not fussing in the least as he was shuffled from one arm to the other. His mother finally fished out a folded piece of notebook paper and handed it to him. "An address to send letters to. Make everything out to Karen Kastner."

He took the paper, but did not remove his eyes from her. "So this is it? I won't see you again? Either of you?"

"For now, this is how it has to be. For your safety and ours." Lauren pecked Jared on both sides of his face in a hurry, knowing her time to get out was quickly sifting away, "I'll miss you - I will think of you everyday as I have since I last saw you. You must write. Promise me?"

"Yeah..." He turned his attention to Jackson placing his hand on top of his head. "Good bye little brother." Jackson's tiny hands reached up and grabbed hold of his fingers as he went to pull away and it was with much pain Jared removed them from his grasp.

Lauren backed away, pulling the hood of her coat over her head. "Good bye darling. I love you."

Jared didn't say anything, the words lodged in his throat behind a dam of emotion. All his words came to him a moment too late as she had already turned and gone with his brother. It seemed everything he had wanted to say during their short encounter now came to him and he felt somehow cheated; he wasn't sure immediately by whom or by what, but he felt angry towards it. It didn't take long for his mind to come back to Adam though as the one to blame. From beyond the grave it seemed he controlled everything; he was not just a man anymore, he was an omnipotent figure, a movement, a zeitgeist. His vision lived on and along with it his vengeful spirit, making sure he and his mother would never know peace again.

Jared all of a sudden realized he was clenching the paper in his hand tightly and uncrumpled it, looked it over, then folded it back up carefully. He would dispose of it later. He walked through the thick, unsettling silence back home, the streets all but deserted in contrast to just a few minutes ago.

11 more days until the next full moon. The whole world seemed to be waiting with bated breath for it.Then there would be 7 more cycles that year and 214 more before Lauren would ever step foot in the city again, and counting the 16 cycles before that made it 230 that she would ever be seen by anyone else...

But it wasn't Jared who was counting.

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