Emily smiled at the remarks. She couldn't help it. She looked around at the others. She drummed her fingers against her jean pocket, once more biting her lip.

Tori stared at him, completely terrified he wasn't going to be happy about this. She bit her lip, scarcely breathing as she waited for his reaction. When the smile spread across her face, she smiled and let out a sigh. She closed her eyes momentarily when he kissed her forehead. "I can help, I don't have to go lay down." She told him, shaking her head. Then again when she shook her head the room spun. She steadied herself by holding onto his forearm. She closed her eyes once more willing the room to stop spinning. "Okay... maybe your right... but I don't think I can move." She brought a hand to her head.

Autumn put things back into the first aid kit she she found it and then grabbed all that she could. "It's very nice to meet you Gilthanas and I apologize for not introducing myself, I haven't been all here lately. I'm Autumn, daughter of a nurse and a..." she trailed off at the end and bit her lip at she looked down and thought of her mom. She willed herself not to start crying as she looked up again. "Sorry about that. Uh where should I put the laundry, I'll wash these towels later if you want me to since I'm the one that dirtied them?" She asked him while stepping out of the bathroom and looking back at him.

((I'm soooo sorry for not being on...I had unexpected computer problems and general insanity going on at my house))
"Can you two kill each other somewhere else?" Hope asked, one hand settling on her hip. The words that came out of her mouth surprised her, but she didn't regret them. Neither Luke's nor August's attitude were very amusing to her., especially in her current, high-stress state.

Dan smiled, pulling Tori's hand away from her face, smiling fondly at her, "Sit down then, and once August gets back here to help with moving the food, I'll walk you up,"

Luke whipped his head to the side to glare at Hope. It wasn't what she had said, it was more like how she had said it in a way. Besides, Luke was already in a foul mood and was chomping at the bit to lash out at just about anybody. In retrospec, what she had said was hardly an insult, but he was feeling unusually aggressive, even for him.

"Can you be a bitch somewhere else?" he growled.

. . . . . .

Minnie's attention was on Tori and Dan and not on the squabbling pups.
"Want me to get you some tea or something?" she asked her.

“No” he shook his head. “You go back to the kitchen. I’ll put everything away. You should know, as a nurse’s daughter, that you need to get some food and warmth into you to prevent shock. Do you remember how to get back?” He took the towels from her as he stood with a groan and flexed his hand.

Torri looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks." She carefully got up and seated herself in a chair at the table. She rested her head on her arms, watching all the movement around her. She shook her head at Minnie. "No thank you." She gave her a have smile, but still felt exhausted. She could almost feel her eye lashes drooping.

"I would if I could, but guess what? I'm stuck here, same as you are." Hope spat before she could rein in her temper. She took a moment to calm herself before speaking again, "Listen, why don't you just drop the bad boy image, and we can pretend to get along for however long we're trapped in this godforsaken place?" She said in her best attempt at an apologetic tone, though it still had a bit of an edge to it.

---

Dan watched Tori carefully, feeling the pup's tempers flare up in the other room. He had a feeling that a bit of verbal sparring would help to release a bit of the tension he'd felt radiating off all four of them. "Minnie, tell August to get back here and help set the table after you bring the soup out,"

Luke was seething. He glared daggers at Hope. "Okay listen here little miss perfect. Don't tell me that I'm fake and then apologize and be the peacemaker. None of what I do is an act, alright? You think I'm a jerk but if you knew shit about me you'd realize that I have the right to be the way I am. Now you, you try to be the 'peacemaker' and the 'good girl' but you know what, I'm not buying it. And even when you are trying to be nice, you piss me off. At least with me, I'm doing it on purpose. I could be nice if I wanted to, but I don't. In fact I'm so pissed off that if I knew where my room was I would go in there, slam my door, and sulk. But for now, I'm stuck listening to your self righteous bitching."

. . . . . . .

When Minnie entered the dining room she caught the end of Luke's rant. Trying to avoid meeting his eyes she looked to August. "Dan needs you in the kithen," she said.

"Oh would both of you shut up." Emily groaned. "We're all stuck here, no matter what. There's no point in trying to rip each other's heads off just because you're pissed off. So just calm the fuck down. We're apparently going to have to put up with each other for a while, so get used to it." she said, rolling her eyes and leaning back against the wall.

"Dan, you might have to go take care of them... send them to their room without their supper if they won't settle down?" Tori offered her opinion, closing her eyes. She too could feel the tension radiating from the other room. She wouldn't admit it but it was slowly starting to stress her out. "They'll probably try to rip each others heads off and Minnie doesn't stand a chance... August might." She thought out loud.

"Awww, why'd you break it up?" August teased Emily with a smile "It was just getting good." Watching the pups fight had been pretty amusing. He liked the way Hope and Luke clashed. Hope was subtle and caring while Luke was all restless and fiery. Watching them fight was just plain amusing.

He turned to Minnie. "Yeah yeah I'm coming God, Dan, your working me like a dog here" he muttered sarcastically "Quite literally I might add. Yeah okay, I know I'm being melodramatic and really not making sense, but I had a long rough night and I'm about to pass out so I have a right to be weird."

"Oh and kid" he called, addressing Luke "If you're still in the mood to go pout in 'your' room you can do it in your new room - my old room - strike that, our room. Yes, we're roomies. I'm sure you're very excited. I know I am . . . So looking forward to babysitting you 24/7. It's just super . . ."

"Yeah, well, just trying to keep us all alive for a little while longer." She said, returning the smile. She looked at Minnie and gave a half smile before chuckling at August' comment on sharing rooms with Luke. "Good luck with that." She muttered under her breath, still sort of smiling.

Hope was about the inform Luke that she quite frankly really didn't give a shit if he thought he had any right to act like a jerk. As for her 'self-righteous bitching', well, there was one words she'd thought when he'd said it: hypocrite. Unfortunately, Emily thought that enough was enough and stepped in before she could say anything. Looking back, that was likely a good idea, especially when she was being so...volatile.

***

"August, quit complaining and help get dinner set," Dan called, chuckling at Tori's suggestion. "A little arguing will do the pups some good, help them get out some tension," He said, "Of course, if it gets out of hand, I'll do something,"

Luke gave Hope a venomous glare and repressed the strange urge to bare his teeth and growl at her, just barely though. He already knew he and this girl were going to have issues. She was a people pleaser, and Luke couldn't stand people pleasers. The only person he ever tried to please was himself. He didn't care about anybody else at this point in his life. The pack seemed okay for the most part, but he'd only known them for an hour. Dan wasn't mean, but he was authoritative, and Luke was always wary of anybody with power of any kind. Tori didn't seem to dislike him or the other 'pups' (as they were constantly being referered to as) but she didn't seem to care for them either. He knew nothing about Gilthanas since he'd only seen him for a few minutes. Minnie was nice but a little too hyper for his tastes. August was a jerk but Luke couldn't really resent him for that. Hope was an optimistic little miss perfect who gave him a migraine. Emily and Autumn both seemed okay, still a little shell shocked from being taken from their homes. Still, he had no inclination towards any of them.

He glared at August's back. "Don't call me kid," he snapped, sitting down with a huff and crossing his arms, "And you're not my babysitter."

He was in a horrible mood. He felt sick. He could feel the blood pounding through his head and every little noise sounded like a jackhammer. And now that he was all fired up and angry, everything seemed even more amplified. He put his head down on the table and knotted his fingers tightly into his hair, moaning quietly.

Tori nodded slowly, listening to Dan while keeping her eyes closed. "You think Gil will be all right? That was a nasty cut." She murmured, finally opened her eyes. Worry filled them as she looked up at her husband.

Autumn smiled a little and wasn't about to argue, though she slightly wanted to since she was a little anal about cleaning up after herself. "I suppose you're right, thanks and yeah I'm pretty sure I can first d my way back." She said with a giggle. "Well I'll see you later." She said with a smile as she walked out of the bathroom. Finding the others wasn't too hard since she just had to follow the arguing.

Once she found them she looked around awkwardly, not sure what had just happened and then sat down next to the boy she was pretty sure named Luke and looked at him. She wondered if she should say anything to him, but wasn't sure if it would make things worse. Finally after a few moments of debating with herself she said something. "Hey are you alright? Can I help with anything?" She asked him in a soft, sweet, and kind tone hoping it would calm him down a little or something. Knowing her though it would probably make matters worse.

Luke lifted his head at the sound of the voice, to see Autumn sitting next to him. Looking vaguely concerned. He was about to respond angrily but reminded himself that Autumn hadn't done anything. Just because he was mad at Hope didn't mean he could take his anger out on anybody.

"I'm alright," he said, massaging his temple, "Just a headache."
That was partially a lie. He had a headache, but he left out how he could feel pressure building on the back of his skull and that it was aggravatingy painful. What he needed was some cold pill induced blissful sleep and maybe some food. Then maybe he wouldn't feel like screaming at every person who talked to him today.

Autumn continued looking at him while he spoke. She could tell that he didn't just have a headache and that there was more too it, but she didn't want to press on and find out what else was wrong with him because that was annoying and had a large possibility of ticking him off more. "Oh well I'm very sorry you have a headache." She said while giving him an apologetic smile and then she thought of something that might help. "Oh I know, may I see your hand really quick. I can do something that may relieve you of your headache some?" She asked him, her smile turning to a sweet one. She was doinfmg it again, putting others before herself like shoe always did. Her father used to say it was a good quality at times, but she needed to put herself before others a little more often. She had tried, but she always felt bad when she did so and so things never really changed much with her.

He raised an eyebrow at her, not understanding how that would realive a headache but what did he care? If it worked, it worked. If it didn't, he'd be no worse off then he was right then.

"Yeah sure, why not?" he said, holding his hand out to her.

Autumn took his hand and found the pressure point she was looking for. She then began to massage it and the rest of his hand. "There's a pressure point in your hand that relieves the pressure that's causing the headache. " she explained to him as she continued massaging his hand. "Oh I don't believe we actually met, I'm Autumn." She said with a friendly smile.

Luke was barely paying attention to what the chick was saying. He was completly fixated on whatever the hell she was doing to his hand. He had no fucking clue, but he didn't care. It felt really freaking good. He didn't know much about pressure points or any of that stuff. He knew a lot about emergency medicine, seeing as he'd been in the emergency rooms more times then he could count thanks to his dad. But doctors and hospitals always made him nervous so he would never pursue a knowledge in medicine.

"I'm Luke," he said, when she introduced herself as Autumn. He really didn't care that his voice was on the verge of a moan. He was suddenly in love with the idea of pressure points. His headache seemed to be fading but whatever the hell she was doing to his hand felt pretty damn good anyway.

Autumn could tell that he was liking what she was doing a lot and it made her giggle a little. "Well it's nice to meet you Luke." She said as she softly grabbed his other hand and began doing the same thing to that one. She didn't say much else after that since she figured he wasn't paying much attention to her talking, but more to what she was doing. So if he wanted to talk then he'd have to start the conversation.

After a few more minutes she let go of his hands and looked at him. "Feel at least a little bit better?" She asked him with some curiosity.

August grabbed some plates out of the cupboard and headed for the dining room. On his way, he purposely brushed up against Minnie. He had always had a bit of a thing for her. Probably because they lived in the same house and spent so much time together. But he'd never been able to pursue it since Gilthanas, Tori, and Dan were always watching them like hawks. But now that there were four new pups in the house to occupy their attention, August and Minnie could have a little more freedom.

But why limit himself to just Minnie, he thought as he walked into the dining room. Autumn, Emily, and Hope. They were all pretty. Probably underaged . . . But hey, who gave a damn about laws when you were a werewolf? Dan had been into Tori when she was like twelve, sure they hadn't done anything then, but still.

Autumn, Emily, Hope, Minnie. It was like a banquet of girls all of a sudden. The only one he had to share with was Luke, maybe even Gilthanas. Although Gilthanas never seemed big into relationships. But hey, you never know.

If given the choice, he wasn't sure who he'd pick. Minnie was a woman and these girls were just . . . girls. But they were girls every bit as pretty as Minnie. Emily had a kick-ass body and Hope had a very pretty face. And Autumn was all tiny and girly, which he had always liked for some reason.

Sadly though, he knew he couldn't have all of them. It seemed as if Luke was already interested in Autumn, or maybe the whole opposites attract thing would happen and he'd get involved with Hope. Either way, August was sure he'd probably pick Minnie . . . But Emily . . . She really was something. . .

"Hopefully we'll be eating soon" he said as he set the table, "You know, before we all starve to death."
He turned to the two girls by the wall and did a mock bow. "Care to sit ladies?" he asked with teasing formality, smirking his signature smirk at them.

Luke nodded in response to Autumn's question, slightly upset that she had stopped massaging his hand. It'd felt nice.
"Yeah. It does," he said, "Thanks . . . So uh how do you know so much about pressure points and stuff?"

. . . . . . . . . .

Minnie smiled slightly to herself when August brushed up against her. She knew he was a total flirt, but she thought that maybe they had something more going on. Or that it could turn into something more.

August wasn't exactly her idea of a perfect guy. He was younger, childish . . . bratty even. He had a flare for temper tantrums when he didn't get his way. He was a bit of an attention whore, but she guessed that that wasn't his fault. He was manipulative with his good looks and charm. He never thought long term; just here and now. He only ever cared about having a good time.

Still, he was her best bet at any kind of relationship at this point. It was hard to date outside of the pack, impossible even. She would have to lie about being a werewolf, not to mention that it was hard to stay away from the pack for long.

There were only four guys in the pack. And only three that were avaiable; Tori would literaly rip Minnie's head off if she ever tried anything with Dan. There was Gilthanas though.

He was nice. Older and kind of stoic, but mature and responsible at least. She'd tried to pursue a relationship with him once; flirting with him shamelessly. She'd been unable to get a response out of him though. She'd eventually given up, assuming he didn't reciprocate her feelings.

There was Luke now. She knew nothing about him, only that he had a hell of a temper and was even more childish then August. Not only that, but he was younger then her. She wouldn't mind dating a younger guy; August was four years younger then her. But Luke was much too young. He was the youngest in the pack. She was seven years older then him. He was only sixteen. A baby.

Even though it seemed like she was settling for August, that wasn't really the case. She really did care about him. He was every bit as carefree as her. A little more reckless, albeit, but she could handle him.

Minnie went into the dining room, carrying as many glasses as she could. She saw August smiling at Hope and Emily. She didn't feel jealous though. These girls were just girls. She was a full grown woman. In a flirt off, she could take any of them any time.

"I think dinner's almost done," she chirped as she placed the cups around the table. She smiled kindly at Luke and Autumn when she was in front of them. She went over to where August was standing and got close to him, very close.

"Are you going to help me bring it out?" she asked with a flirty smile, pressing her chest against his. She knew that she was hardly being subtle, and usually she didn't flirt this shamelessly, but she was sending a message to these girls; He's mine.