Jack Witte's Story

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"Here you go sweetie," Tiffany said gently, handing a pretty little blonde child a vanilla cupcake she had just barely finished decorating earlier today. Although Tiffany herself had been dreading the Bloom Festival on a surface level, inwardly she had felt the first flutter of giddiness upon reading the sign. She liked people more than she her face ever let on and the festival was an excuse to see the interactions; the smiles, the eyes lit with excited pleasure, the laughter.

And there was an excuse to bake cupcakes and be as creative as she and her aunt Mel wanted to be. This year, they wanted to capture the essence of spring. Each batch of cupcakes represented different flowers and each one was a collection of different flavors. A few were strawberry cheesecake, a few we're cinnamon-pumpkin, some strawberry-banana, and even a few lemon-sorbet. There were a few regular cupcakes like vanilla or chocolate, but each fluffy treat's icing designs were specifically created by Tiffany.

To say she was pleased would be a huge understatement.

"Go enjoy the rest of the night," Melanie said, dragging Tiffany from her reverie. She blinked once, twice before she actually absorbed what her aunt said. Melanie winked. "You didn't get all cute and such just to sit and serve cupcakes. Make me a great aunt one of these days." An intern behind them hunched over slightly, snickering, and Tiffany felt the first wave of gratefulness for having a brown complexion so that no one would see the blush that arose on her cheeks.

"Behave, Aunt Mel," Tiffany chided while taking off her apron. She folded the material up and placed it on one of the bins of drinks they had behind their stands. Throwing off her gloves, she ran a hand through the silky strands of hair that framed her face while the rest was gathered in a loose ponytail, pecked her aunt on the cheek (Mel had nearly cried when Tiff picked that up!) whilst glaring at her warningly, and grabbed a strawberry cheesecake cupcake as she proceeded to leave. "Call me when you get ready to leave. I'll help lock up."

After a few moments of idly scanning the crowd and being awarded with a few cautious looks in return, Tiffany took her first bite of the cupcake. Moist and fluffy, her tongue was greeted by a rich batter infused with strawberry sauce. A second later, a few chews gave way to the sweet and creamy icing and the crunch of the graham crackers she had sprinkled on as an accent. Delighted, she swallowed before licking her lips of any remaining icing, which wasn't much. Directly after that, she saw two members of the pack and approached them, taking note specifically of Clayton's agitated countenance.

"Hey, surprised you guys are still here," she said with a gentle smile.

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"Clay! Hey, Clayton! Yoohoo!"

Clayton turned towards Jack, already knowing it was her by the overly enthused greeting from across the crowded walk way. He raised a hand, waving at her while sending a massive grin her way. Ignoring the humans that were milling around, Clayton shoved through the crowd, getting a few angry looks while others just quickly sidestepped out of his way.

"You enjoying yourself?" He asked in a much more relaxed tone once he had made it to her, "I was just about to head out, you know I don't really enjoy these things..."

Just as he spoke, a whiff go strawberry and sugar caught his attention just as he hear the voice of his first beta, "Hey, surprised you guys are still here"

Clayton rolled his eyes at her and released an exhale of nicotine, then removed the smoke form his mouth, "Im surprised I'm still here too. You're Aunt got anymore of those delicious cupcakes?" He asked as he glanced over her shoulder towards the shop. While normally Clayton had no real interest in sweets, the over abundance of smokes he had tonight coupled with the cotton candy from earlier had him hankering for more.

Rotting flesh and blood wafted into the large blonde mans nose just as he was about to crack a smile and offer to grab them some junk food on him and head back to the mansion. He tensed up instantly, his eyes narrowing while his pupil dilated and a warmth of brownish-auburn rushed through the blue of his irises. Clayton turned his head directly to the left; if he was in wolf form his nose would be pointing straight at a nearby food booth where his other beta, Josh, was currently cleaning off a young girl.

Said girl was the culprit of the horrible stench, meaning she could only be vampire.

Clayton seethed, inhaling quickly through his teeth while a crushed cigarette to the ground. He was usually a laid back alpha and had no concern with what his pack did in there daily life. But one of the few rules was Vampires; stay the hell away unless they were in their territory, which in case rip their heads off. The Bloom Festival was neutral grounds, which only meant that Josh was conversing with that thing on purpose...

"Pardon me girls, we have an issue..." Clayton managed to growl out through slightly wolf like teeth as he began stalking towards the food cart and the vampire. He could feel the Change slinking under his bones, trying to to rip through him and takeover. A younger Clayton would have allowed it; he would have Changed right it front of all these humans and ripped that pretty little vamps head clean off. But now, he wanted to do right by his pack. So he resisted, his fists clenched and back rigid.

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Athena held her brothers hand as they strolled into the entrance of the Bloom festival and she was practically skipping with Glee. The lights, the company, the rides, she could barely contain her excitement. The only thing keeping her rooted to her steady pace was, of course, her brother Arturo. They, of course, couldn't be more opposite. Unfortunately for Athena, Arturo was the sibling born with the brunt of the instincts, his smell, taste, touch, everything was crystal clear. He knew how to act fast and think on his feet. And while Athena was gifted with massive intelligence, her senses were not so great. Luckily for her these "human senses" were only true for her taste and smell. Her sense of sight and touch were still quite vampiric which is as she would say, "All I've ever needed.".
So of course with that being said, Arturo remained the cautious and ever attentive sibling, while she, curious and adventurous. Needless to say that if vampires had the capacity to go into cardiac arrest, Athena is quite certain he would have had his fair share by now.
Athena smiled at all of the people passing by, even if they were her food. She strolled alongside Arturo from booth to booth as humans played games and won prizes, as rare as it may be. Her black hair bounced in ringlets down her back and she adjusted her glasses upon her nose before stopping short. Her squeal of excitement surely gave the passing woman a heart attack.
"Fratello!brother, Look there! It's Maisie! Oh she looks so beautiful tonight does she not? But who is that handsome boy with her?"Her accent was no where near as thick as her brothers, but it was still plainly heard
Athena disentangled her arm from her brother and set off towards Maisie and her new friend, whom obviously was unaware at what she was. She slowed slightly however, when she saw a hulking blonde, ape of a man stalking towards them quite threateningly. Athena looked slightly confused for a moment, perhaps he was mad at the young fellow? That is when she saw the two women behind him. All three, including the boy standing next to Maisie, all had the same demeanor, a predator. Athena's eyes widened even before she caught the faintest scent. They were werewolves. She sped up her steps and reached Maisie's arm just after a few words were exchanged. Instincts weren't her forte, but she had wit and charm, and hopeful both would get them out of this alive.
She threw on her best smile as she reached to take Maisie's arm and draw her close in a hug.
"Maisie! You silly thing!", she looked to the werewolves and smiled while laughing, trying her best not to falter,"You know better than to run off like that! I was so worried mia cara"
Athena smiled again to them, then looked at the large fellow and she swallowed slightly. Perhaps another tactic was in order. So Athena did the only thing that came to mind. She stuck her hand out in front of him, the small pom poms on her sweater swaying slightly as she tried to speak quietly so only those with heightened senses could hear
"Athena DeGari. I'm 375 years old and you are a werewolf. Now that we have been properly introduced, I suspect your intentions with my friend here are ill. Somewhere in the rulebook of nature it states that we are supposed to despise each other, now I have personally never been one to follow rules and I'm not going to bother starting now. You however," she stated looking him up and down unabashedly., "seem just a tad bit eager to do as "nature" intended. Whatever you chose I cannot stop you. But I urge you to think of the repercussions such a display will bring upon your pack as well as the humans in the vicinity."
Athena lifted her chin lightly as a feeble show of strength, but of strength nonetheless. She looked directly into his eyes.
"Now I urge you to take my hand as a sign of good faith and also as closure for the small crowd we've already gathered." She smiled again.

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Clayton ignored Jack, paying little mind to either of the betas that had followed him across the dirt covered ground toward the food stall that Josh and the vampire stood at. His hands were still clenched, though from the pulsing stage they looked more claw like with each step he took towards the vampire.

Clayton stopped a few feet away from them, not wanting to step to close in case his wolf ripped through him and tore apart the vampire right then and there. Although he had a hard time controlling himself, he knew how to stop before he went too far. Ripping her apart would not only damage his pack, but would put the town in jeopardy.

" Um, hey boss, you don't look to happy, what's up?" Josh was one of Clayton's favorite, but he was always a little....oblivious. Despite the fact that he was one of his leading betas, Josh was always more puppy-like then wolf. But either way, he was a good guy and from how he was acting probably had no idea that this girl was a vampire. Which didn't pardon him, but Clayton lost some of his anger at him and turned his attention to the girl.

Clayton cast a hate filled glare over the seemingly innocent girl, taking in her timid and 'sweet' appearance with disgust. Wonderful, all Josh probably saw was a cute girl in need of help. Clayton rolled his eyes and looked back at his beta, "You realize thats a vamp right?" He growled out, his shoulders tensing forward, "You know pack rule Ace, that girl ain't for you to flirt with"

Just as Clayton spoke, the smell of vampire intensified and another female appeared next to the original problem.

"Maisie! You silly thing! You know better than to run off like that! I was so worried mia cars"
A rumbling growl threatened to rip out from Clayton's chest, he could practically feel his wolf ripping at his human conscious, desperate to escape and let his jaw loose on them. Clayton's massive form was instantly tense at the sound of her voice, his muscles pulled tight as he stared at them. Well fuckin' great, he knew he shouldn't have come tonight. It wasn't like he did not see vamps from time to time in town, but he was never forced to interact with them unless it was a hunt through his territory.
The new vampire girl and the gall to smile at him, only making his brows furrow more. He stood up taller, towering over her small frame as she began to speak.

"Athena DeGari. I'm 375 years old and you are a werewolf. Now that we have been properly introduced, I suspect your intentions with my friend here are ill. Somewhere in the rulebook of nature it states that we are supposed to despise each other, now I have personally never been one to follow rules and I'm not going to bother starting now. You however...seem just a tad bit eager to do as "nature" intended. Whatever you chose I cannot stop you. But I urge you to think of the repercussions such a display will bring upon your pack as well as the humans in the vicinity. Now I urge you to take my hand as a sign of good faith and also as closure for the small crowd we've already gathered."

Clayton stared into the girls eyes as she made eye contact with him, his withering stare boring into her steady one. He flicked his eyes down to her outstretched hand, already knowing her would not be touching the thing. Quickly Clayton looked back up at her, this time his gaze a tad bit softer. He had to admit, for a vampire she had some spunk. That didn't mean he liked her, but maybe he disliked this one a bit less. His wolf only wanted to tear her head off quickly, rather then take his time.

"Yeah, nature intended for me to hate you, and I for one like to side with nature. I won't be breakin' the territory packed though" He paused, rolling his shoulders to released some of his tense muscles, "I'm just not to invested in one of my own flirting with a corpse. And you can put her damned hand down, I won't be shaking it any time soon"

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Arturo took in the sights and sounds of the festival, it seemed that the human side of the town was intrigued by the blooming flowers of the current season. Athena it seems was just as interested, her eyes sparkling with excitement more so than the children that were running around the fair. Parents seemed to not mind at all at the screaming glee of happiness from there children as most stood watching and talking about the most unimportant things in there lives.

Arturo kept a close eye on his sister and a good enough hold of her so she wouldn't break away from him. Some might of said that Arturo was too protective of his sister, but since she was the only family he had now he had his reasons. That and the promise that his father asked of him when they had too leave them both.

Everything seemed to change then, the atmosphere became heavier and of course Athena being Athena rushed of before thinking. Arturo used his height as and advantage to see over the heads of people to catch his sisters direction and her intentions.

Working his was through the crowd his eyes rained on his sister and the other, the scent was fresh with werewolf musk and vampire as Tiff joined Athena as well as Maisie who was there first. Tiff seemed to be standing her ground with the wolves, but there was no need to potentially send things spiralling out of control.

He tapped his sister's shoulder and spoke
"Atena, quante volte ti ho detto di parlare la vostra mente.persone potrebbero non apprezzare"
(Athena, how many times have I told you about speaking your mind? People may not appreciate it)

He then moved past Athena standing in front of her as well as the other two girls. He stood up straight his muscle tensing Squaring up to the larger blond werewolf, his protective nature coming into force. " This doesn't have to end in a disagreement, not here anyway. If all of us go our seperate ways we can continue enjoying our evenings without bothering ourselves with...a fight"

Athena let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Her head flipped forward as she placed her hands on her knees and exhaled loudly. She straightened herself quickly, her long hair flying everywhere and her smile was genuine
"Wow is that a relief. You don't know how worried I was," she chuckled slightly then she sized him up fully. "It is a shame though isn't it? How cruel mother nature can be? Why if I had any indication that you wouldn't separate my head from my shoulders given the chance, I might even dare to say that I find you quite aesthetically pleasing to the eye for someone so....oh what's the word?", she placed her knuckles on her chin in deep thought and squeezed her eyes before sighing,"Preditorial? I guess." Athena looked to Maisie halfway clutching the now known to be werewolf and tilted her head slightly, her face looking quite sad as if remembering a sad time in her life. "No one's called me a corpse for quite sometime..."She looked back at the blonde werewolf before looking directly at Maisie. "I don't feel dead..." She remembered that one of the wolves in the group vocalized a curiosity in her uncommonly long life span, "I'm not sure that any one vampire knows exactly how it is that we have come to survive this long or how we came into being. But we do feel. We can eat, sleep [during the day of course], rub, paint a picture, compose a symphony, even love. We just have a lot more time to do it in, it seems."
Athena's suddenly solemn mood was instantly lifted however, at seeing her other spunky vampiric friend Tiffany. She smiled brightly in greeting. Tiffany, as usual, was being Tiffany in letting anyone knew exactly how she felt no matter the consequences so in fearing a not so nice retort from the large werewolf she laughed nervously and faced Tiffany fully. "Now Tiffany, Me and this gentlemen were just having a small discussion. There is no need to be rude, he doesn't absolutely HAVE to shake my hand. I am not offended." She turned back to the group of werewolves with a reassuring smile but it fell once she caught the smell of her brother as he sauntered, none too happy, towards the small gathering seemingly orbiting the strange couple and Athena. Her mouth clenched shut as she turned on her heel, preparing for the lecture. "Atena, quante volte ti ho detto di parlare la vostra mente.persone potrebbero non apprezzare"
She let out her breath and stepped closer to her brother, "Arturo, non c'è lotta qui. Queste persone pregiati e io stavamo avendo una piccola discussione. Non c'è niente da preoccupare più. Io sto bene, così come il resto dei nostri amici."(Arturo, there's no fight here. These fine people and I were just having a small discussion. There's nothing to fret over. I am fine, as well as the rest of our friends.) She tried to turn back around, but found it impossible because her brother was now standing in front of her and the other female vampires, protecting her as usual. She fought hard, but eventually lost the battle with her emotions as her eyes rolled at his instincts. "Fratello, ho già disperso la situazione"(Brother, I have already dispersed the situation) She placed a hand on his shoulder hoping it would ground him.

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It was actually a struggle for Tiffany to not say anything for a long time. When Clayton became distracted by the smell of the vampire girl Josh was interacting with, she lost the battle to sighing, knowing his temper and attitude towards vampires. Glancing at Jack's wary expression, she followed the two silently. She even managed to offer Josh a gentle smile though he might not have been able to tell that she was smiling due to the fact that she was known so fondly as the "Ice Queen."

Once three more of the vampires became involved, Tiffany's hackles rose. Especially when the blonde made a retort and the male appeared. Hearing the black-haired vampire speak to her brother, Tiffany took a few steps forward, eyes trained on Clayton though her words were directed to the male vampire.

"He's right. The night is young and I for one want to have some fun," she said coolly, voice surprisingly gentle towards the one deemed to be her "mortal enemy." Her eyes, however, held an edge in case the vampire decided to make a move. "The situation does not call for hostility, especially not here. Not with all of these people." She pointedly directed everyone's gaze to the humans, some of which who were idly staring at them. Their hushed whispers were curious and speculating. Hoping that that was enough to get Clayton to calm himself, she turned her eyes to Josh. "Come on, Josh. Clay wanted some cupcakes a few moments ago and my aunt has an entire container for the pack. Let's go get them." She knew that the other Beta meant no harm and that this was probably just a harmless encounter. The vampire and werewolf seemed to have been having a conversation before they were interrupted and she had no doubt there was no hostility there.

But she understood that lines were drawn and no matter how badly she wanted to cross them and end this feud, there was only one way they could end this. And bloodshed was the last thing she wanted.

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Where were they all coming from? Yet another female vampire appeared before Clayton and the pack, causing Clayton to stiffen from apprehension rather then anger. Sure he was hot headed, but he knew a sticky situation when he was in one. At the moment his wolf wanted him to gather his pack and get out of this vampire invested area, but his ego forces him to remain his ground.

"He's right. You don't have to shake his hand any time soon. He looks like he's about to flip shit, anyway. Wouldn't want your hand to get bitten off." Clayton stared at her as she spoke, his eyes practically twitching with irritation. But, Clay could sense a taunt now that he had calmed a bit. While she may appear dangerous, Clayton had a feeling she would rather not deal with a wolf attack tonight.

"I'd have to agree, you don't want to deal with me tonight and I don't think dead meat goes with cotton candy....though I wouldn't mind a bite" He let a dangerous toothy grin spread across his face, wolfish fangs from his almost-Change still present.

"Wow is that a relief. You don't know how worried I was," the second female said in a bubbly voice, cutting into there conversation, "It is a shame though isn't it? How cruel mother nature can be? Why if I had any indication that you wouldn't separate my head from my shoulders given the chance, I might even dare to say that I find you quite aesthetically pleasing to the eye for someone so....oh what's the word?"

Clayton turned his attention to her with a raised brow, a snort escaping him at the thought. Yeah, vamps were usually attractive creatures. It probably had to do with their mutual supernatural nature, but Clayton knew better then to think about their attractiveness. Better to focus on his bone-deep hatred then their body's.

Just as he was about to take his exit, deeming this over and wishing he had decided to stay home like he planed, a male vampire cut in front of the two females. Where the others seemed more feisty then dangerous, this new male reminded Clayton of the real reason he hated vampires; they were dangerous creatures specifically designed to kill and enjoy it. The male stood up talk, almost the same height as Clayton (which was uncommon).

" This doesn't have to end in a disagreement, not here anyway. If all of us go our seperate ways we can continue enjoying our evenings without bothering ourselves with...a fight"

"I couldn't agree more" Clay rumbled out, shifting back but keeping his head held high and eye contact strong, "You can all just keep your distance and we will keep ours. The humans don't need to see your bloodshed tonight"

"He's right. The night is young and I for one want to have some fun," Tiffany spoke up behind Clayton. Fun, right. He had meant for the night to be a break from all this, not a stress case that was going to end with him spending the next few nights wild in the forest. He sighed, agreeing with her like he usually did.

"Come on, Josh. Clay wanted some cupcakes a few moments ago and my aunt has an entire container for the pack. Let's go get them." Clayton nodded his head in agreement, already taking a few steps back but making sure to keep his eyes on them before the rest of his pack was a safe distance.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, something wet and squishing slapped against his stumble covered cheek. He blanked, his brows furrowing, but he knew it was none of the vampires because he had no taken his eyes off them yet.

"Hey, Fur face is there a problem here? Shouldn't you be picking on someone your own size blondy?"

Clayton turned is gaze down to a young female, werewolf by her smell, that he did recognize.
"What the hell was that?" He growled, glaring down at her as he whipping the substance off his cheek and smelled it, "Frosting? How old are you?"

As she mentioned Josh being her brother, Clay was reminded of his beta whom he had yet to reprimand. He sent a withering glare at the kid, knowing he would get it, and then turned back to the new female, "I don't know who you are or where your from, but you do realize this is pack territory. Lone wolf out on her own shouldn't be picking a fight with an alpha", Clayton paused, glancing at the vamps still gathered, "but I'm done here tonight. It's the festival, and this is technically neutral territory. Come tomorrow if I find you wandering around, then I'll deal with you" He narrowed his eyes at her, sort of impressed that she had the guts to stand up to him but equally as annoyed.

"Now Tiffany, that cupcake..." He grumbled, turned, and stalked away towards her aunts stand.

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Louise absolutely adored festivals - Mainly because she's been around a long time and went every single festival there was. Even if she hated it, she still found a way to love it. She was up before anyone else and emerged herself from a steamed filled bathroom, her body covered up with towel. She scanned her room then walked over to her closet, looking for something to where. Louise stood back and tapped her chin, pondering on what to where to this Bloom Festival. With a soft shrug of her shoulders, she pulled out a recent red dress, which she had just purchased, that had black roses on them in different little areas. She also pulled out her black heels and lace stockings. Louise was set now as she did a quick change.

Before leaving the house, she applied make-up to her face and tied her hair up into a bun. Her ears twitched slightly when she heard some of the younger members of the coven leave already. Her eyes fluttered back over to the mirror as she reviewed herself then gave a soft nod while leaving her room and walking down the stairs and eventually leaving the house. She could see the fireworks and her face gleamed up with excitement as she continued on walking towards the festival.

Upon her arrival, she felt that something wasn't right. 'Already? At least let me get into the festival good.' She thought to herself but this feeling pulled her away from her thoughts as she saw members of her coven standing around. She also saw the Kastner's Pack leader leaving their side. Louise walked by Clayton and gave him a side eye then rolled them while approaching everyone else with a soft smile. "Hello everyone." She said sweetly towards them while eying two people that she didn't recognize and her nose immediately knew their scent.

"Ah, werewolves are in our midst, eh? Well, keep your grubby little paws away from my Coven, got it?" She said firmly while looking towards a select few members of her coven. "Now, shoo or fetch or whatever it is you guys do." She swatted her clutch purse at them, hoping they would leave some time soon. Louise turned back towards the members of her coven. "Are you guys enjoying the festival?" She asked with a soft smile.