Gavroche "Gavin" Argentum's Story

Gavin stood in purgatory.

Why does she do that? He wondered curiously, as Jac smiled falsely up at him in a fake mindset that everything was okay. He wanted to be her rock. To tell her she didn't have to shoulder and take all of the weight of the world... Except, she was angry with him. He still didn't know what to say- well he did, but it was all a mesh of ideas and concepts floating aimlessly in his head. Nothing solid. Start small. His wolf advised.

She was so... beautiful, and even that word hadn't done her justice. He found himself wanting to feel her hair, her lips again... Take away whatever pain he caused her. He had this overwhelming desire to simply hold her, and he knew it wasn't because it was so cold out. Her and Lyra both knew... he wondered who else did. Maybe Jac was in a similar situation as he was: she liked him, but her mate was someone else. Or maybe, just maybe...

"I'm sorry if I upset you." He decided not to elaborate- his internal turmoil was something she shouldn't be concerned with. In truth, he was afraid she'd wonder if he would always continue to run away whenever he felt like it. He wouldn't, not any more. He didn't think he could. "I like you a lot and was having some issues regarding the whole mating thing. But even if it's not you, I'm not going anywhere."

His wolf chuckled.

Gavin insistently matched her pace. He said he wasn't going anywhere, and he meant it. "Do you know who yours is?" Her words struck him, and he had to swallow a lump that formed quickly in his throat.

"No," a smile crept onto his face while Gavin tried to make the conversation more light-hearted "males don't get that sort of luxury." While Lyra's tiny outburst had made Gavin see another side of that issue, he still thought the males had it worse. At least the females knew for sure who they were supposed to be with. Their only issue was, what, some insane fear that their mate wouldn't accept them? From everything Gavin knew about it, it was undeniable. Their mate would come to them eventually.

He thought, briefly, of telling her his thoughts about who he wanted his mate to be. Obviously, it was her. Obviously, his wolf laughed somewhat mockingly. Gavin ignored it. "But I think whoever she is, she knows. Someone left a rose in front of my bedroom door last night." He chuckled while he recalled the insanity that stupid rose put him through- all the mental peddlings.

"Gavin... There's something I need to talk to you about--so..."

He felt his heart stop in his chest. His eyes locked onto hers, patiently but eagerly waiting. Hanging on completely to any word she was about to utter. Hope flickered in him once more as she reached out and grabbed his hands. They had held hands before, but not like this.

"...it's kinda a funny thing... It turns out that I'm your..."

Gavin had stopped breathing and waited for her to finish the sentence with a solid knot in his stomach, and the starting pulls of a smile on his lips... Before a soft series of beeps had interrupted her. These things happen. He thought stubbornly, thinking that she would definitely want to finish whatever she was going to say...hoping that she would. This energy, chemistry, or whatever it was, was not something he had imagined. It was definitely there, and in this moment he was more sure of it than anything else.

"Your lab partner... I'm your lab partner." The rest of her statement was deaf to him as he felt himself slam into a solid brick wall.

Jac let go of his hands and he looked up at the sky and shook his head with disbelief. He wasn't even in a lab. She didn't want to tell him. Gavin wondered why. He didn't want to be there any more. This whole stupid thing was so... exhausting.

You aren't going anywhere. His wolf insisted angrily. Watch me. He thought back, letting his frustrations grit through his mental tone.

All of the progress his wolf-half made to subdue his human, freedom-loving side was reversed in that one moment.

"Do what you have to do, then." Gavin said with surprising softness. "I'll be out." His eyes went from her phone in her hand to her, then he placed a soft kiss on her forehead before turning back to the forest and headed back to the beach.

Gavin wasn't surprised at all to see the bonfire still going strong. They danced wildly and yelled. The girls screamed as some guys would sneak behind and pinch them or scare them. The burning scent of alcohol and the numbing effects of some other influencing plants saturated the air. Beneath it was the salty sting of the ocean.

He fought an internal battle for a short while, staring between the lost humans and a pile of giant boulders that overlooked the sea. No. The last thing in the world he needed was solitude. Especially right now. With a lost determination, he made his way back to the insanity. Blondie was the first to see him, and, seeing that Jac wasn't around, quickly made her way over to him.

"Where's Jac?" She asked with a sour tone.

Gavin forcefully pushed her away. She landed on her back in the sand, scowling up at him, but daring not to get up. Everyone was lost in the moment and no one seemed to pay attention to the very brief interaction. Gavin felt his point was made.

He spotted Ryan, drinking something out of a blue plastic cup sitting on the lowered tailgate of his truck.

"Give me whatever you're having." Gavin replied to his pointed look of offering. Ryan hopped up and over to the cooler to mix whatever-the-hell it was he was drinking. He was moving hastily, probably because he picked up on Gavin's... tenseness. Ryan shoved the drink into his friend's open hand.

Gavin stared at the yellow liquid. "What is it?"

Ryan patted Gavin's back with a firm slap. "Medicine. Nectar of the Gods. Just drink it."

Gavin wasn't in a position to argue, so he did. After a long swig, a red flag came up in his mind, reminding him to not lose too much of himself. He still had a very vital secret to keep. He wanted to say fuck it, but his judgment would't let him. Having an empty stomach, the buzz hit him almost immediately.

"So, what is it?" Ryan asked when enough silenced passed between them.

"I'm in an arranged marriage with a crazy woman." Gavin said monotonously.

Ryan stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"Kind of."

"Dude, she's-"

Gavin gave Ryan such a dark glare he stopped talking immediately. Ryan turned his attention back to the raging bonfire. Another long silence went through them before Ryan hopped off his truck and started to mingle.

"Gavin! Look at what I can do!" He turned and saw some other girl of lesser value spin around in circles with a large glass bottle in one hand and a spilling drink in another.

"That's amazing." Gavin replied without interest, and took another drink. How long would it be until this started feeling good again? He was full of numbness and some faint traces of anger. Anger at himself for thinking she'd tell him- that she'd be the one at all. How could he be so stupid? How could he be so...

Human? His wolf offered, on the brink of rage. Well you're NOT human, Gavin. No matter how much you hang around them or want to be one, you AREN'T. Get back home.

"You need to go." Gavin's face lit up with rage as he muttered angrily back- seemingly talking to himself, not that anyone paid attention.

The girl who had spun in circles suddenly threw herself on him, an herbal scent hanging over her. Her free hand rested on his thigh. His wolf snarled, but Gavin ignored it. What the fuck did it matter?

"You look tense. Chill out." She handed him something. Hesitating only for a moment, Gavin took it with an instant agreement. This party was to have fun, and he was clearly not having fun. It was time to chill.

But it didn't help. It just made him better able to care less. But he didn't. He cared every bit as much as he did before deep down. The only difference was that he could shamelessly partake in the party activities. His wolf seemingly disappeared from his mind entirely.

Got nothing to say? Gavin taunted. But his wolf was silent. Probably for the better, if it pissed him off, Gavin didn't trust himself to not spill the beans. And oh, would those be serious beans to spill... Whatever.

===

A few hours later, the party started clearing out as they started sobering up and driving home or to the nearby campground for the night. Without the distraction, and clearing out of his system, Gavin started feeling angry again. More than angry...

Stupid Jac. Stupid werewolf. Stupid pack. He began to see why his mother left hers, and started entertaining the idea himself- despite the trembling displeasure of his wolf. At the moment, Gavin didn't care. He hardly noticed when Ryan, always the last to leave, buried the last of the used glass bottles in the sand and cleaned up the rest of the trash.

Finally, Gavin was alone on the beach.

The only thing that would set him off right now- and that he hoped would happen- would be if Jac had the audacity to show her face to him now. Oh, did he have a load to say to her right now...

With the beach party long since dispersed, there was only the sound of the tide washing up the sand and the blowing of distant winds. Who would have thought that the lively, warm social scene could leave behind such a wide void? The passage of time became indistinct. Until a new sound filtered into the rolling of the sea foam. Footsteps in the sand. Slow, casual footsteps of someone sauntering closer. The multitude of scents and the brisk breeze would mean that Gavin would not be able to identify the approaching party by scent until they were relatively near. But when he did, he would find it welcomingly familiar.

"Hey buddy." Calvin said with a dozy, crooked sneer on his face. "Looks like I missed a real party down here. Heard things got a little wild...something about a rogue?"

The cold air did not bite Calvin; a mixture of alcohol and haughtiness were enough to keep him warm. Without asking first he dropped himself down onto the sand facing the same direction as Gavin.

"You know," he said, his words slightly slurred, "I'm starting to realise there's something to be said for this...freedom you keep chasin' down here with the monkeys. But actually, I don't think it's because you want to be like them. I think it's because you know that that's how it should be for us, am I right? Free to do what we want? Not pinned down to one patch of land. Not sittin' around waiting for our destiny to be handed to us on a plate. That's their way. The humans are happy if their territory is no more than ten square meters as long as that space contains a couch, a TV and a refrigerator. We're the owners of the wild. You ever get the impression we're meant to be more than we've become?"

Gavin had been so wrapped up in his thoughts and continuously brewing anger that he didn't even notice Calvin approaching until he started talking.

"Yeah," Gavin answered, his tone still firm from lingering emotion. "Never found it though, and he doesn't seem to be here now." He wished he was. It would do him good to beat the living hell out of some one. Some thing. Maybe if he killed one of these rogues Jac'll pay attention to him. More than she had been. Maybe she'd finally get over herself.

Calvin interrupted his infuriated mental ramblings with... words of gold.

In the midst of all his anger, it seemed like Calvin was offering him a way to let it all out. To embrace this... mental debate he's had his whole life. But there was something missing, he couldn't decide what it was.

And suddenly, an urge erupted within him to cause chaos. He suppressed it... for now. "Yeah," He said slowly. "I think that's exactly what I think."

His wolf disagreed.

"I'm guessing you heard about Lyra, then?" He asked, picking up on Calvin's slurred voice and his mind still wrapped around Jac. Calvin- mister 'The Pack is what truly matters', it was surprising beyond belief that he would even breech this subject at all.

Calvin remained fixed with a dozy grin as Gavin answered. He knew Gavin would understand. All this time he'd thought that his friend was misguided, wanting to spend all his time with the humans. When in truth, the whole time, he'd been seeing the way forward. Gavin just hadn't managed to put it into words...like Jason had to Calvin in the bar that night.

Calvin didn't have the chance to respond before Jac appeared out of nowhere and started coming at Gavin furiously. His eyes widened and he edged away slightly, holding his hands in front of him even though he wasn't the target of Jacquelin's wrath.

"Woah-oh." he exclaimed, followed by an involuntary chuckle. "What gives Jac? You feeling a little cabin fever yourself?"

It all happened so fast.

Jac showed up, and once their eyes locked, his heart started pounding.

"You want freedom?! FINE YOU CAN HAVE YOUR FUCKING FREEDOM!" She shoved him, but the second her hands were on him, Gavin grabbed her arms, only needing to take a small step back from her shove. Calvin's voice and presence was suddenly muffled, less than a minute fly in this raging fury inside of him towards Jac.

What the fucking hell was she on about now?

"Well GOOD. I'm SO GLAD that now I have your PERMISSION, Jacquelyn." He held her out at arms length and glared at her a moment before pushing her away and stepping back farther, but not taking his eyes from her. "Because you've been pulling my tail so FUCKING hard the past two days that now I don't know what the hell to think."

He didn't bother explaining any further, she'd know exactly what he was talking about. All of the events, the back-and-forth of the whole damn thing. She had been dragging him around, and now showed up to blame him for it.

"And you know what else? I don't want to. I'm done. I'm sick of you and your bullshit!" He yelled at her, throwing a hand in the air.

"YOUR MATE!"

"What?" Gavin whispered. In confusion. In disbelief.

In understanding.

"If you weren't such a...a... COWARD all the time..."

She hadn't heard him. He hadn't heard her- those two words kept echoing in his ears.

"I'm pulling a Gavin and running the hell away from my problems."

He watched her walk away, still completely stunned and- shit, she was leaving.

The hell she was. Gavin ran after her. She did not just drop that big of a bomb on him and then leave. How dare she! She'd die out there, with the moon this close, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if that happened. Come on, Jac He thought desperately. You aren't stupid.

He found her behind the large boulders and, in another sudden fit of upset anger, ran at her. Gavin gripped her upper arms and pinned her back to the stone wall. He felt her soft, feminine body pressed against his. She wasn't fighting him, not really. She couldn't, no more than he could.

"You aren't leaving anyone." He whispered in her ear, not quite harshly, but firmly. "You'll die out there without me, Jac. And I'll die without you." He moved his hands from her arms to her hips and kissed her harshly, letting all of his passion pour out. Everything suddenly made sense, it felt right, having her there in his arms. He supposed that it should, and she wasn't exactly resisting, either. She overwhelmed him in all the right ways. Now that he knew, his internal turmoil was silenced. She was his. Giving in to every urge of his body and soul, and every cry of hers, Gavin dragged Jac down to the forest floor.

Exhausted and feeling more at peace with himself than he ever had been, Gavin watched Jac gather her clothing. He leaned against the boulder, but didn't quite have the energy yet to get dressed himself. Watching her move and attempt to de-tangle her hair was more amusing. He would probably never look at that little black dress the same way.

Jac seemed to curl herself into a ball as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "What now?" she asked.

The distance she put between them was a little unnerving, but instead of taking it to heart, Gavin reached over to her and brought her back over to him wordlessly. He wrapped his arms around her stomach and kissed the back of her shoulder closest to his lips. To him, this wasn't an ending- the way she made it sound. He had figured out everything about himself in the course of the past... however long it had been. He was too wrapped up in her to notice or care about the time. This was just the beginning. Of them, and their life together.

"Well, last I heard you were planning on leaving." There was a hint of a playful jab in his voice. "I think you were just angry at me. But if you were serious, I'll go with you." While he seemed to possess no hang ups or regrets about leaving her before- not an entirely accurate statement- now the idea was simply impossible. Not unless... well, unless she wanted to be away from him. But he didn't think she did. He hoped she didn't. "You've done it now, baby. I'm not leaving you unless you start throwing stuff at me." Gavin squeezed her lightly. "Or ask me nicely, but that doesn't seem to be your style."

He removed his arms and ran his hand over her shoulders while he stood up to stretch and make himself decent again. He didn't realize until then how late it was and how tired- and sore- he was. Gavin laughed as he slid his shirt on over his head and wandered back over to her. Instead of sitting down, Gavin took both of Jac's hands and brought her to her feet. "Come here, I want to show you something."

Romantic was probably the last word Gavin would ever use to describe himself, even now. But the past two days were so insane and part of him still felt pretty crummy about how he had treated her. He should have known. Why didn't you tell me? He asked his wolf, who was laying down with happy content, right there in the frontmost part of his mind. I did, he responded, You were just too stubborn to listen to me. Gavin smiled, glad his wolf was no longer badgering him at every other turn.

Holding Jac's hand, Gavin led her back to the beach and looked up at the sky. Without the city lights, thousands of stars shone brightly in the blanket of night. "Pretty, isn't it?" He rested his head affectionately on top of hers, looking out at the distant stars over the sea. After a moment, he sat down, bringing her with him, and laid back. He pulled her head onto his chest, content just being there and holding her in his arms.

Gavin let out a suddenly loud laugh, holding a hand in her hair so she knew he wasn't laughing at her. "For accepting you?" He breathed heavily. "Jac, after the way you screamed it at me and took off running I almost seriously thought you'd rather die than be with me." He leaned up and kissed her forehead. "Thanks for accepting me!"

A moment of silence passed over while Gavin made the rather horrifying realization that Jac would be changing with him on the full moon. It put a pit in his stomach, he hadn't the slightest idea how to help or make it easier for her. The change was... mind-wracking, at best. He was accustomed to it, having done it for over a decade, but she... She could... Jac could...

Suddenly Gavin shook his head at himself. She'll be fine- Adrian will be there just in case. It bothered his pride to admit that he might need help, but Jac's life took precedence and beyond his pride. Maybe he could get Kiyoshi and Lyra to help, Kiyoshi was a master at emotions, always being a blanket of calm.

He was reminded suddenly of Calvin and what he told Gavin before Jac confessed everything.

"You seemed more stressed than normal when you came at me." Gavin said softly, running his fingers through her dark locks of hair. "If you and Dante aren't getting along that well, I'm not opposed to leaving. From what I can tell, you've done everything you could to smooth things over with her. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. And I hate seeing you so upset." He wanted to mention his suspicions of her and James... which was terrifying in a way. Depending on how the thing between Lyra and James worked out, Dante could be in a position of power. He hoped not, he would love to stand behind Lyra. Lyra had earned his respect. James demanded it because of his birth- which really was no reason at all to respect someone.

Of course, if she wanted to stay, he would stand behind her. Life without her was not a life worth living.

“You think we should leave?” she asked just out of curiosity.

“It isn’t just MY choice…for fear of quoting a very bad movie…we are in this together. Now and, hopefully, forever.” Jac said her mind going back to Dante for a moment. Dante had tried to let her explain and she blew it…but she was tired of feeling like everything was her fault when it took two to start the war they were in.

“I wont make you leave if you don’t want to” she said meaning every word.

Dante watched everything in silence. She thought about maybe….following her sisters idea, and just ditching, but then she thought about James. Despite her past she liked him….and he seemed to like her….if only as a friend. She didn’t want to leave now, even if people didn’t like her, she didn’t want to leave yet….

Sighing to himself with resignation, Gavin squeezed Jac and rubbed his fingers over her stomach affectionately. "Well, then let's just not worry about it, yet." He didn't know how Calvin's plan would turn out- if he even had one- and decided that he simply didn't know enough about what was going on 'behind closed doors'... so to speak... before he could make the best decision. He had other, more pressing matters to attend to.

Like helping Jac get through her first shift. To keep her wolf from tearing out too quickly, too slowly, too strongly... She would make it through, Gavin only knew Jac as a tough outer shell... But shifting required firm insides as well. And obedience. He was a year older than her, so that should help keep her from internal combustion. Gavin just hoped that whatever training he could give her tomorrow would be enough. It would have to be. Since they had just finally discovered their union, Gavin didn't want to worry about her first shift, but he couldn't help it.

A sea turtle came in with the waves and started pulling itself up onto the beach, not paying much attention to the two of them laying there on the sand. Gavin watched it slowly make its way beyond the reach of the water and start to dig a hole to lay its eggs. It made him suddenly happy that when the partiers buried their bottles, they did so close to the sea. Glass came from sand to begin with, and the intention was that it would either go back to being sand (Gavin was pretty sure that was impossible) or it would become sea glass.

"I won't make you leave if you don't want to."

"I know you won't." Gavin squeezed her again. "I want what you want." Aside from when it came to her protection. If her and Dante wouldn't be able to sort whatever was going on out, Gavin would have to insist on their leaving. Tension between them was too high, and he had doubts about whether Dante would ever believe the truth to begin with- he wondered if he would, if he were in her situation. Then, the other newly forming factor: if the pack was going to break in half. If Gavin had to choose between being in a pack with Lyra or Dante, he'd pick Lyra in a heartbeat. Though he'd probably pick Lyra over James also- Lyra passionately fought to be Alpha, where James mostly seemed to just let it come to him.

As much as he didn't want to get up, he realized how late it was. With the suspicion of rogues, it would be best for them to head home. Not that Gavin doubted his abilities to keep Jac safe if needed, but he would rather avoid danger before running headlong into it. He started to sit up. "As much as I don't want to, we should head back." The party should be over by now, and Gavin felt better about letting the news of him and Jac trickle in (though, part of him scoffed that if the pack didn't know by now, they might have been a little unobservant from the beginning...) than walking into a party and having everyone know (and probably stare) at the realization that he had already claimed her. Talk about potential awkwardness. He also worried about how the other females would take it. Anya seemed on edge already earlier...

Suddenly Gavin thought about Evon and how she would take this news.

“Oh, right…we have to go back” Jac said with a sigh of discontentment. She didn’t want to go…to leave the peace that Gavin’s arms around her brought. She shook her head.

“Okay, I suppose your right.” She murmured as her eyes watched the sea turtle burying the eggs.

“They are all gonna know aren’t they?” she asked her cheeks getting warm at the thought of the whole house knowing that they—well….ya—in the woods….She shook her head and straitened her shoulders then grinned. Let them know. She was publicly claiming her man, and that was how she rolled.

Dante jumped at Tai’s sudden presence.

“Oh…ya, its alright. I just…haven’t been in a big family for a while….” She said with a wobbly smile.

“I think….oh Tai…I think I drove Jacquelyn to leave….I’m so sorry…” She said with genuine sorrow. She didn’t want them to hate her because of this.

“I tried to talk to her…to get along…and we just…ended up fighting—then she said she was leaving. She packed her stuff and…well… left.” Dante whispered

"Yup." Gavin answered, blushing a bit himself. He wondered if all the girls would know, or just Lyra and Tai- or some other girl, if she's gotten her wolf. Or if it would just be the guys. Would Adrian look at him differently now? The notion was odd, but made sense to him. He felt more like a man now.

Not a man. His wolf interrupted, a werewolf.

He looked up at the moon, then, and it was a rather odd time to remember the date. Tonight was Evon's and her husband's anniversary. Mom and dad. It was a good thing he had remembered to mail them a card earlier that week, in anticipation of forgetting. He tried to remember little things like that. It was the least he could do.

As Gavin laced his fingers in Jac's, he thought of all the stuff he knew about her, and was greatly surprised to see how little it was. How had he spent so much time with her in the past two days and even went as far as claiming her without even knowing the most basic information? He knew about her and Dante, which he supposed could count as family interaction. But Dante was just her sister. He wondered about her parents, how she came to know Adrian and Tai in the first place.

"Hey, Jac?" He asked, "how did you come to live with the pack, anyways?"

Gavin listened to her story and felt the pain in her words, and never interrupted. When she mentioned her various guardians dying, he squeezed her hand in weak attempts of comfort without being rude. As she spoke, he lead her through the woods back to the house. When she reached up to kiss him again, he returned it happily.

"What's your story?"

What was his story indeed. In truth, Gavin hadn't though much about it since he joined the pack about four or five years ago. "My parents kept us in the dark about being werewolves. I got my wolf when I was ten, and my dad took me out to help me through..." Gavin stopped and took a breath. "Well, I thought he was going to help me through it. But he left me there instead." Memories of the physical pain and aggression of his wolf's first emergence flashed through his mind. "Left me to die. If Evon and her husband hadn't found me I would be dead. So I went to live with her and abandoned all ties with my parents, took Daniel's -that's Evon's husband, Daniel- last name."

But Gavin left more than his parents... and he'd do almost anything to see her again.

Talking about it was pointless, and would probably give Jac useless worry, so he continued. "Then, after about five or six years I started going human, as Evon called it. I wanted to join a pack, mostly because of social norms and she wouldn't leave me alone. To my surprise, she let me go. So I introduced myself and Adrian and Tai let me come along."

Wow, how lame and boring was that? They arrived finally in the back yard and Gavin opened the porch door for her. He sighed, glad to be back home. It felt more like home, he supposed it was because he was now mated. The party was still going on, and the excited but nervous pit came back to his stomach.

"You first." Gavin grinned, opening the door to the house. "Ready for the awkward stares?" He teased.

"Was the lady running the music group..." Tabby asked cautiously, suddenly noting a similarity, "...by any chance your mom?"

Lyra smiled to Tabby with her question, nodding in response as she glanced around the room quickly in search for her mother. "Yes, Tai is my mother. I was helping her with the music group after school. There usually aren't too many people that go to it and, well, you can always count on family," Lyra said with a smile, although the words felt bitter on her lips. Her gaze fell upon Mr. Dean, a silent chuckle passing through her at the panda costume. He was a good teacher, one of her favorites. It was rude for Ray to trick him like that. But then again, it was her party. And there was always a surprise at anything Ray attented.

Lyra's gaze shifted slightly, noticing in dismay as Adrian whispered to Duncan and met her gaze. So he knew, or at least expected. She had hoped to catch her father blind, to be the one that told him with Kiyoshi. Things never went as planned, she supposed. Even so, they still needed to formally announce themselves to Adrian and Tai, not just as Alpha but as her parents also. This was something that Lyra was unsure how to approach. She had no idea what they would think of Kiyoshi as their daughter's mate. But that was a matter for another time, Lyra decided, turning her attention back to Tabby, Anya, and Kiyoshi as they discussed Lance, wondering slightly how that topic had been reached. For now, however, she simply wanted to enjoy the night in peaceful bliss. Everything else could wait.

"Do you live in this house or down in town?" Tabby asked, diverting the conversation away from herself, "I was saying to Lyra, there's a similar kind of place to this in my town. I mean, like, a house where a whole bunch of kids live and there's a kind of patriarch guy who's a big cheese around town. Never been in that house myself but it's interesting that you seem to have the same kind of set-up here."

Lyra smiled to Tabby, aware of her attempt to change the subject. She did not impose, however. Tabby would tell them when she was ready. "Yes, we all live here. Most of the students between 14 and 20 do. It helps form. . . community bonds," she said after a pause, not wanting to reveal too much of their society to the clandestine wolf. "It's fun, everyone gets a lot closer than we normally would, not like we have much of a choice. My father, Adrian, would be the patriarch that you were talking about for this town." Lyra laughed slightly to this, thinking of teasing Adrian with this title. Although Lyra had a different mentality than her father, she believed that he was a good alpha. She only wished that he could see the same qualities inside her, or at least stronger in herself than in James.

"So, make yourself comfortable, Tabby. I still have to give the birthday girl her gift, want me to introduce you to Ray?" Lyra asked. Her voice trailed off slightly as she was diverted by the door opening. Lyra smiled to see Jac and Gavin, glad that neither one had managed to screw it up.

"Guess I won't be alone for the moon," Lyra said, squeezing Kiyoshi's hand as she leaned against him tenderly. So what if Adrian figured out they were together before they had a chance to tell him? He was going to find out eventually, she surmised, deciding that for tonight she could loosen her reigns not calculate her next ten steps to a tee.

Gavin subconsciously jumped when he stepped in behind Jac and saw Lyra smiling at them before she muttered something to Kiyoshi. Gavin took in a breath, overwhelmed by the comforting scent of home... Stronger, for some reason. He wasn't expecting such a concentration of people to be right there at that particular moment, especially-

Behind Lyra and Kiyoshi stood a familiar face. Brow furrowed in concentration, Gavin's eyes kept darting back to her. Why did she look so familiar? Why couldn't he put a name on her face? Even his wolf was silent, drawing a blank. It started to frustrate him, before...

He suddenly slid his arm out of Jac's hand and pushed past his packmates, beaming with the innocent boyish grin of his. Gavin went right up to Tabitha, paying no further attention to anyone else in the room, and embraced her. "Oh my god!" Gavin exclaimed happily. Holding her tightly, Gavin managed to lift her off of feet and even swung the girl around in a circle. "Tabs, it's so great to see you!"

Setting her down on her feet, Gavin took a step back, held her at arms length and looked at her. If he had his math right she'd be about seventeen, and she looked it, too. She changed a lot since they last saw each other, but that was to be expected. Being around her brought back so many memories he hadn't thought about since he got his wolf, and even her scent was homely and reminded him of days before he knew any of the reality of himself... Oh, how he missed her. Gavin brought her back into him and hugged her again. It had been so long.

But there was no recognition in her eyes as she stared back at him. Gavin blinked awkwardly, his face flushed.

"You don't remember me, do you?" Oddly, her lack of recognition didn't upset him. In fact, it was logical that she had forgotten him. But it still hurt. If she had remembered him, though, her hurt might have been worse. "That's alright, it'll come back to you." He hoped, giving her head a playful nudge that made some of her hair fly out of place, much like how one would to a younger sibling.

Tabby listened in wonder at Lyra's account...all the kids ages 14 to 20? Surely she didn't mean all because she'd seen a lot more around town after school hours than could possibly live here. More likely Lyra was referring to some cultural group, although it was difficult to pin down what precisely. Especially since Lyra's boyfriend was clearly both ethnically and culturally Japanese, in contrast to the others. Which reassured Tabby that if it was a cultural group, at least it didn't seem to be exclusive.

Questions were forming in her mind faster than she could ask or Lyra could answer them, but they all went on the back burner when Lyra offered to introduce her to Reina, the 'birthday girl'.

"Yeah, for sure." Tabby answered, "I didn't know her name so I didn't bring a card or anything I'm afraid, but I'd still like to wish her a ha-aii-woah!!"

Her body tensed and her face flushed a deep red as all of a sudden some guy scooped her off her feet and swung her around. She tried to smile and laugh it off as she was placed back on her feet. Her mother hadn't given her a great deal of freedom to socialise, but she'd been to school just like everyone else and knew how boisterous guys could be, and probably this class-act had had a couple of beers and was just being over-exuberant.

Except that when she turned to get a look at the guy, she barely had a chance to say anything before he hugged in a way that seemed a little too 'familiar' for someone she'd never met, and then things got even stranger when he questioned about her remembering him.

She glanced around to see what everyone else was making of this, expecting to see someone rolling their eyes or giggling...something to confirm that this guy was just engaging in tomfoolery. But it was obvious from the faces of anybody who was looking, that this boy was being entirely serious. When he nudged her she smild and squinted at him, suddenly blushing with embarassment that she couldn't think who he was. Especially considering she hadn't met a huge amount of people in her life...certainly not from outside her own town! There was perhaps something familiar about his smile, but she couldn't be sure she wasn't just telling herself that in her efforts to remember.

"I'm really sorry," she said, "it's not coming to me. I've been sleeping rough a couple of nights, my mind's probably not running at full steam...where have we met?"

--------

Adrian looked blankly at Duncan for a moment.

"Oh I am happy!" he said, "No no, yes, I mean yeah I absolutely am. Sure, indeed, I just don't wanna hover over them or anything...just need to let them...yeah, you know what I mean."

He laughed uneasily, looked back over at his daughter, but a group of them seemed to have been caught up in some sort of levity with the new girl. It was good to see a group of them all interacting together for a change.

"No problem buddy," he said as Duncan went off to 'mingle'. Adrian turned to talk to Jeff, but found that he too had moved on to talk to other people. Turning around awkwardly for a moment, he felt a tap on his shoulder and looked to see Tai looking at him with a crooked grin and holding up a plate of finger food. Gratefully he took it and stood next to her.

"Have you spoken to her yet?" Tai asked him in a low voice, looking over at Lyra.

"No no," Adrian said quietly, "no point pouncing on them."

"Not as though it's a huge surprise though is it."

"You're not wrong babe." Adrian chuckled, "If I didn't see it coming it's perhaps because it seemed too obvious! Anyway, it's good, it's all good. Kiyoshi's a good guy. They've been a double-act for years."

"Yes." Tai said with a subdued nod, "I just hope James doesn't see it as too much of a threat."

"Well maybe having a mate will help her feel like she's found her place in the pack, whatever happens with regards to succession."

"She knows she has a place." Tai shrugged, "She just hates that her place is affected by the fact that she's a girl."

"Mmm I know." Adrian sighed, "That's the times for you. We're going to get to the point where alphas pray for children of only one sex, because we're going to see this more and more."

Tai wrapped her arm around his and leaned her head against his shoulder, nodding thoughtfully. "What if it didn't have to be that way?"

Adrian glanced down at her with a raised brow. "I don't wanna yank that chain." he said, "If we start changing or ways because of the zeitgeist, where does it end. Besides, if there weren't traditions dictating succession, then it would be up to me to decide which of my two children were best suited. I don't want to have to choose."

"I know." Tai said with a tone of fondness and regret. "Just...when the time comes to talk to her about her mating, let her know you're proud of her."

"I am proud! She does know!" Adrian objected, before meeting his mate's eyes and relenting. "I'll make sure."

It wasn't until Tabs actually confessed that she didn't remember him that Gavin realized how incredibly sad his story was. They had been inseparable in their youth. With a small smile he said, "These guys know me as Gavin Argentum. But you know me as Gavin Davio."

He waited for the shock of her to realize where that last name came from to hit her. With his hands still somewhat affectionately on her shoulders, Gavin's mind flooded with memories that he hadn't thought about for years. Good and bad... He recalled hoisting her up on his shoulders and tromping through the forests. And, years before that, her fondness for throwing blocks at his head. It aggravated him then, but when he thought of it now, he couldn't not smile.

Get Jac over here. His wolf suggested.

Gavin hesitated, but then turned around and, with still an enthusiastic grin, motioned Jac, the love of his life, over to him. When she took his side, he slipped an arm around her waist. It wasn't until then that he realized how awkward and confusing the whole thing must have been to everyone standing around them- especially Jac. He didn't want her to worry. He wanted them to get along. Two of the most important women in his life should get along.

"I don't blame you for forgetting about me, Tabs. I left when you were about eight." He wondered if she knew what she was. Probably not. He didn't know until it happened, and then his father up and left him. He wished he could have brought Tabs with him. But something told him she'd be fine, and things would be better this way. Still, he felt like he should be the one to tell her.

"Even a little sister could forget about her older brother if she hasn't seen him for nine years."