Setting
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Lyra froze as he said this, not hearing the words he spoke but clearly seeing the ones written upon his face. Hate. Disgust. Envy. Rage. Loss. Jealousy. All direct upon her and only her. She stood up slowly as Ares fled from the room, her mind unable to grasp what had just occurred. Her mouth was parted in thought as she rested her hand on Kiyoshi's shoulder for support, trying to take in what she had just seen. Kiyoshi. Lyra looked down to him, understanding filled her mind. She had stolen Ares brother.
Lyra returned her gaze to the empty spot where Ares had rested only moment before, wondering how she could have been blind to this. She was now a threat to Ares spending time with Kiyoshi, the one member of the pack who took the time to protect the injured pup. And now Lyra had come between them, threatening to tear Kiyoshi away for good. I wouldn't do that, she thought to herself. Not to Ares, not to anyone. Even if Kiyoshi was her mate, if he desired to spend his time with Ares instead she would be more than happy to share him. She did not own him, she simply loved him.
You did this, now fix it.
Lyra blinked slightly, unsure if the snarling voice was her own or. . . From another source. It sounded more rugged than her own, more terrifying and driven. But either way, it had a valid point. This was her fault. If she had no revealed herself to Kiyoshi, than Ares would not have felt penned into a corner. She gritted her teeth, screaming at herself for how foolish she had acted. Never once did she consider Ares in this. "I'm sorry, Kiyoshi-san, I did not mean to upset him. Please, forgive me for harming our otouto, I did not want this," she pleaded. Without waiting for him to respond, Lyra lunged forward. It was obvious the trouble soul had abandoned the idea of returning to his room. No footsteps were heard on the stairs. The woods. He must have gone to the woods.
She ran forward, abandoning her shoes along the path as she followed the dark mass into the woods. She preferred walking barefoot anyway, confined by society to wear stupid heels. She picked up speed as the young boy sat (or fell, Lyra could not tell for sure). A few meters away, she froze. Now that she was here, she had no idea what to do. She was not Kiyoshi. She could not tame his soul and calm him down instantly, if anything her own temper would get in the way of that. [/b]"I'm a-a s-selfish b-b-bastard..."[/b]
Lyra's eyes flashed violently to this, her expression falling deeply for the boy. So he understood his emotions, his hatred of her at this very moment. Would that make any attempts Lyra made to comfort him futile as he had already passed judgment upon her? Lyra released her breath that she had not realized she was holding. No, this must be done. He must realize that even mated, he could still have Kiyoshi. Lyra only hoped that Ares would find room in his closed off heart to accept her also. With a soft step forward, Lyra flicked her wrist to send a ripple of chimes fluttering through the air. Even her bells sung a melancholy tune.
"Ares," she whispered, approaching him slowly and crouching to his side. "Ares, I'm sorry. I did not mean to try and come between you and Kiyoshi. I promise it won't happen again." Lyra knew what she was saying. Although impossible to renounce your mate, she would agree to hold back her feelings of affection whenever not in private with Kiyoshi. If that was what it took to make Ares comfortable with himself, then she would be willing to take that path. "No matter what happens between Kiyoshi and I, you are still his little brother. Not even I can change that. That's what makes Kiyo so great, once he's chosen you, that's it. You're stuck with him forever." Lyra smiled sadly, watching the boy whimper softly. She had done this. "I just hope that one day, you might be able to accept me as you have Kiyoshi. I know why you are upset, and I understand. I'm sorry, Ares. But know this, like Kiyoshi, I'm not that easy to get rid of. To me, you will always be by little brother." Lyra cautiously put her hand on his shoulder, wanting to pull the quivering ball into her arms for protection but only acting if he decided to accept her words.
Lyra looked down to Ares, watching as he tried to hug her. When he froze, Lyra smiled softly and finished the action for him. She pulled the young boy closer to herself, letting him rest his head upon her lap as she stroked his black hair tenderly. "Thank you, my brother. Now calm down, everything is going to be all right. No one is going to hurt you. I'm here, shush, everything is all right now," she cooed softly. Lyra gazed down to the boy, wondering how anyone could have been so cruel to him. It didn't make any sense. But he wouldn't have to worry anymore. Not while she was around. . . But how long would that be?
As much as Lyra did not want to admit this, she had her own plans of greatness. If she was going to challenge James as alpha, she could not always be looking over her shoulder to protect Ares. Once she received her wolf, her life would no longer be simple. Her training would increase drastically until she was ready to confront James and her father, revealing the pain and darkness that lingered in her heart from the sexist regiment of the wolves. At that time in her life, would Ares be able to walk on his own? Because it was then that Lyra would need Kiyoshi more than any else. Kiyoshi would never abandon Ares, but could Lyra commit herself to such a role? She swallowed in uncertainty, knowing that her path would suddenly become for difficult.
With her free arm, Lyra wrapped Ares in a soft embrace as she continued to stoke his hair. While rocking back and forth slowly, she begun to hum a lullaby that had always comforted herself as a child. And it had comforted Kiyo also, Lyra realized. This was how she knew what to do with Ares. Ten years ago she had done the same thing for her mate, taking the silent boy in her arms to sooth the nightmares that tangled his sleep. Her eyes drifted upward, knowing he was there even if she could not see him. The two most important people of his life had suddenly darted into the woods. . . She would not be worthy as his mate if she could not predict his actions. However, she was grateful that he allowed her this time to connect with Ares. He was probably struggling with the decision not to whisk the boy away into his own arms, the arms that Lyra also wanted to be held by. She laughed bitterly at herself for the thought, knowing that she would never make Kiyoshi choose between them. But still, if the moment came, who would he pick?
Lyra continued humming her soft, rocking Ares in her arms despite the thoughts running through her mind. All of that could wait for later. For now, this was all that mattered. "I see the moon, the moon sees me, shining through the leaves of the old oak tree, Oh, let the light that shines on me, shine on the one I love." Lyra sung softly, recalling the words of her favorite lullaby. It was childish, it was not her style, but it was what Lyra thought Ares needed. After all, it had worked with Kiyoshi, look where they were now.
Lyra did not flinch as the hand was put on her shoulder, there was no reason to. She knew he would be coming, it was just a matter of where and when. Even with the rogues running around, Lyra felt and content. This was her territory after all.
She smiled to Kiyoshi, her gaze met by unremarkable kindness and compassion. Yes, with him around there was nothing to fear. Rather than speaking and disturbing Ares, Lyra nodded her head and shifted his body into Kiyoshi's arms. She was surprised by how light Ares was, barely more than a child half his age. She sighed as she rose from the ground, dusting her hands as she did so. "We wouldn't want him to catch a cold," Lyra whispered in agreement. She looked down to Ares fondly for a moment, thinking carefully about him. "He's had a long day, but I think he will be all right. He has you after all to guide him."
Winter was sitting out in the camp with them, eating the same meat as them but with a look of total contentment and elegance. It drove the others mad. It was so difficult for them to gripe about the conditions when their leader was putting up with the same hardships but with no fuss.
"Wonder what Jason's eating tonight." Craig grumbled, looking moodily at the ground.
"Something with a little succulence to it no doubt." Drake spat, tossing the inedibly hard end of one sausage over his shoulder.
"Well you know," Winter said, leaning back in his camper seat and folding one arm behind his head, picking something out of his teeth with the other, "if it's really such a problem you could go up into the woods and actually kill something. But I've got a feeling that might seem a bit too much like hard work for you lot, eh?"
They ignored him, and scowled at each other instead.
"I bet the slimy bastard's getting his teeth into a rack of lamb right now." Nico grunted, once again turning the conversation back to Jason.
"Oh hell don't." Drake rolled his head back and let his tongue fall out of his mouth at the thought. "Or a roasted duck. Or pheasant. Damn it he can have anything he wants in a town like that I'm sure."
"Actually," a voice came from nearby, "I'd been hoping to find somewhere that served wild boar, but in the end had to settle for an eighteen-ounce rib-eye steak."
Everyone looked up as Jason as he sauntered into the camp with a firm grin on his face. All other faces were contorted in envy...all except Winter, who stood up and approached the older man with a pleased expression.
"Wasn't expecting you back until tomorrow." Winter said.
"Me neither." Jason sneered, glancing around the camp, "But it turns out I had a productive night, so I thought I'd come back and update you."
He looked over at Drake and put on a look of mock sympathy. "Aww that sausage looks a little dry, I should have brought you back some ketchup to dip it in huh?"
Drake and Nico both flipped him the finger.
"Sorry sugarplum," he said with a sneer, "but there wasn't time for shopping. I was too busy running into old friends."
Winter's face betrayed a moment of alarm. "Nobody recognised you did they?"
"No no, not from the pack." Jason raised a hand to calm Winter, "But I did happen to stumble across none other than Evon and Daniel Argentum."
Winter squinted for a moment, as he strained his memory to put the names to a story, before his eyes widened in realisation. "The two than ran away with the...the 'son'?"
"The very same." Jason said looking pleased with himself.
Winter looked around at the others, then motioned for Jason to follow him into the van. "We'd better talk about this inside for a moment."
Jason nodded, and the two of them stepped into the RV and pulled the door shut behind them. Nico, Drake, Craig and Q ignored them for the most part. Their jaws were too sore from chewing the dried sausage to really voice much complaint about being kept in the dark.
"So," Winter said keenly, "is that why you're back? You think the boy might be a suitable candidate?"
"Not strictly." Jason said, "I've not met Gavin yet, so I don't know where he's at in relation to the pack. But I did meet a young wolf who might just be your boy."
"What's his name?"
"Calvin. He's with the pack house. Unmated. Strong, fit, athletic...has an ego the size of Texas and a real problem with authority."
"Good work." Winter smiled. "And what about the girl?"
"Well there's a problem there," Jason's face fell slightly, "she's run into the pack already, and they've invited her to stay at the house for the night."
Winter cursed and slammed his hand down on the countertop. "Damn! God damnitall...so she's probably going to find out what she is then, right?"
"Is that really a problem?" Jason shrugged, "If she finds out from them then it saves us the problem of having to explain it to her. Let the pack deal with the awkwardness."
"Well we'll just have to hope that works in our favour." Winter grunted, "But...wait...you said this 'Gavin' was living in the pack house?"
"Yes..." Jason said matter-of-factly, before he too realised what that meant. "...oh."
"I think," Winter said firmly, "you'd better tell me the story again, of how Evon and Daniel really came to adopt Gavin..."
"That's what I understand of it. It's different for females, when you get your first shift your mate will be there to help you through it. Males only have whatever guardian is available. First shifts will kill you if you don't get help. Dad had no intention of letting me get through it, or hiding that I was going to die. I don't know why he didn't come home, Tabs. From my perspective, I'm glad he died if he did. Bastard left his only ten-year-old son to die in the woods."
"Is this like Rory?"
Gavin laughed out loud, and didn't really make an attempt to hide it. "No, Rory is delusional."
"Gavin I don't believe in werewolves. I'm actually scared of wolves, I had nightmares about them for years after you and dad went missing... Do... the others here believe in werewolves?"
"I wouldn't doubt it." He shook his head, "After thinking for years that he and I were killed by wolves can do that to you, I suppose. Look, I understand your confusion. You've lived on Earth for seventeen years of your life believing this stuff was make believe. You're skeptical. I would be, too."
"Believe or don't believe- that's between you and your own mind. I don't have to believe- because I lived it. No drugs, no drinking, no weird injections to my skin. Tai and Adrian aren't brainwashing us. It's genetic, but it's not my job to force you to believe in what you don't want to. My job is to tell you the truth."
Gavin leaned up from the railing. "And if you can handle it, I'll prove it to you."
"But you killed him though didn't you." Winter frowned, "The father I mean...Danti."
"Oh you bet." Jason nodded, "And Daniel was holding the boy...we thought he would do the job. He could be a nasty piece of work when he wanted to be, ol' Daniel. But then Evon shouted something at him in French, and next thing we knew they had disappeared into the woods with the boy."
Winter shook his head incredulously. "I don't get it. How did they manage to get away from your entire pack with a boy who'd just gone through his first shift."
"Because all the rest of us were busy taking down Danti." Jasons scoffed, "You never saw him so you couldn't know...but that guy was a brute. Biggest wolf you've ever seen. It was because Danti deserted us that we failed to take the pack house the first time we attacked it eighteen years ago."
"I see..." Winter mused, "...and all of a sudden Evon and Daniel are back."
"They were right there in town." Jason chuckled, "Celebrating their anniversary of all things!"
"Interesting. I wonder why Gavin's stayed with them all this time."
"There's a lot of unknowns." Jason agreed.
"Even so, it's good." Winter smiled. "It means we have twice the opportunity to reintroduce Danti's strength into the pack. So now tell me more about this Calvin guy..."
There was a thump outside near the door to the vehicle. Both wolves looked in that direction and noticed that the door wasn't quite closed properly. Winter scowled, anger welling up in his chest. He knew full well that the guys outside weren't intimidated by him...he wasn't a paragon of fighting prowess, nor was he a particularly daunting sight. But sometimes he wished he could get something more than a begrudging obedience from them. It was nothing short of a miracle that his promises of a grand future had given them a reason to follow him for [i]this[/i[] long.
Perhaps it's was time to give them a little something more. Slowly he got up and walked towards the door...
"You know," he called out, "if you wanted to hear a bedtime story you need only have asked. Otherwise it just looks a lot like eavesdropping on a private conversation..."
As Jac approached and slipped her hand into his, Gavin took it and gave it a squeeze. Before he could answer Tabby more appropriately, Gavin caught wind of Calvin approaching- drunk and tired. He wondered, briefly, if Calvin stayed on the beach after Jac revealed herself to him and then took off into the forest. And if he hadn't, where had he gone?
"Not bad, just misunderstood." He said in a rough voice, his slur and posture indicating he was still under the influence of (undoubtedly) post-victory celebrations. Had Calvin not approached Gavin earlier about such things, he would be certain it was the alcohol talking- Calvin was always (at least, to Gavin) the embodiment of ideals of a perfect wolf pack. That he would think rogues were simply misunderstood boggled Gavin a bit.
"Well buddy, I see finding your mate hasn't stopped you from rubbing folk up the wrong way. Is the party still going on?
Gavin let out a laugh, he wasn't always the best with people- only because he was blunt. But he was thankful for Calvin's joke of putting it mildly.
"No," Gavin shook his head and slid his hand out of Jac's and into the more natural position around her waist. "No it hasn't. This is Tabitha, my sister. Tabs, this is Calvin."
It would be interesting to see them interact. Mister hard-core werewolf and the secret-werewolf who didn't even know she existed in two halves. He hoped Calvin wouldn't make a big deal about Gavin's keeping her a secret, and on that thought, he turned to Tabs again. "They don't know you because I was pretty sure I would never see you again, weird and tragic pasts are common in the pack house among the teenagers. I thought you were safer and better off with mom."
"Oh Danti's dead alright." he grunted. "When the boys finished with him there wouldn't have been enough left to identify."
Winter took a few steps into the centre of the group and crouched down on his haunches, looking from one to another with a suspicious grin, like a man savouring the few moments of being the only person to know the result he was about the divulge.
"But as wolves we know that each of us is an important resource." he explained, "From what I understand, Danti was a powerful weapon who jammed at the moment he was needed. The rogues lead by Farrell became weaker without him. You have to think about the future of your pack. That's what my wolf has revealed to me, and that's what I'm teaching you all now."
He stood up again and folded his arms behind his back. "I promised I'd guide us to find the alpha who'll lead us into a new dawn. I believe that my wolf has delivered us, not only that alpha, but the remnant of the weapon that was lost. Danti, if Jason's stories are to be believed, was a deposit of great strength. We can't get Danti back, but we can get his strength back into our numbers. And that's why we've come here...to get his daughter. This 'Tabby' will be the one to begin a lineage of greatness for our pack.
"And, as it turns out, we have the son too. I don't know yet whether we will be able to acquire him, but if we can, then we will have twice the channel to Danti's strength."
Craig frowned and shook his head, "Wait...you're going to mate this girl to her own brother?"
"No idiot." Winter scowled, "She will be joined to our destined alpha."
"And why are you so afraid of the pack house? They aren't that scary. I was in one just two years ago and there isn't any big bad wolves chaining us down."
"One does well to acknowledge the mistakes of the past." Winter said, closing his eyes. "Farrell lead his pack against this same house, and it turns out they had strength on their side too. We aren't here to take the house. Not yet anyway. We are here to begin the long game...building strength of our own. Patience is something our society had lacked for too long."
"So what are you saying?" Nico growled, "That we're not going to see the benefits of all this work we're doing?"
"Calm Nico." Winter smirked, "We'll see the benefits alright. Maybe no the best of them, but trust in my wolf, for he has guided us this far, and we're already starting to see the fruits of this new enlightenment."
"The reason we are doing this," he said, "is because we are all losing patience with old standards that have caved in on themselves and failed. Strength in our gene pool is simply something that we cannot afford to be without. But from the very outset I promised I'd lead you to an alpha, and now I believe we've found one, I think we can be equally confident everything else will fall into place."
He threw a stone towards the burning brazier, causing it to momentarily flare and kicking up some sparks and ashes.
"This Calvin wasn't coerced, he came obligingly to speak with Jason and from what I hear he's likely to be more than willing to accept our offer. If it is fate's design, I daresay it will be the same with the offspring the Danti."
He noticed that some of the other males we shuffling uneasily. Perhaps, he thought, they were uncomfortable with all these references to strength...as though their own strength wasn't sufficient. Winter grinned to himself. Let them squirm. The more they would worry, the less he personally had to worry about.
Life's harmony at its best.
Lyra smiled and nodded, agreeing to his idea. "Breakfast in town would be nice. Come on, we will just see where our feet lead us, sound good?" she said beginning a casual stroll forward. She stretched her arms and looked up into the sky, noticing the moon's faint outline still in the sky. "It's weird to think that the next time we run together. . . it may be on four feet," Lyra sighed with a mixture of longing and hesitation.
Lyra frowned, a darkness clouding her eyes to this thought. You need him, but he needs your strength more than anything now. He is still that small, mute child beneath his aged shell. Do not give up, do not become weak.
Lyra blinked, her body stiffening to the growl whispering inside her mind. Was that her. . . Wolf? Lyra thought back to the voice but found the action futile. It was gone. She sighed, not realizing she had been holding her breath. For that moment, the voice seemed as if it would overpower her, even though the moon was still long away. Something did not feel entirely right.
Still, Lyra knew that truth had been spoken. She would remain strong for herself and for him. It was the least she could do. She put a smile on her face and swallowed the ting of fear that she felt. Kiyoshi did not need to share her own worries. "We should keep going," Lyra urged softly, resting her head against his chest for a final minute of protection. "The breakfast places will be getting crowded soon. And Senpai," she added, proving the respect she felt for him as she meet his gaze, "I love you. Nothing can change that. Turtle or wolf. . . You will always be Kiyoshi to me. My Kiyoshi. Now come on, we don't want to miss out on anything, and the others will be curious if we are out for too long." Lyra smiled and slipped her hand into Kiyoshi's as she stepped back slowly.
Before Lyra's tongue flickered with rage, her mind spoke loudly. Perhaps it was even a creature from inside her mind. Save your pride for when you need it. Now is not the time. Lyra blinked and looked down, ashamed by herself instantly. Of course he had meant no harm in his offer. To many, it was expected that the males behave this way. Why. . . Lyra could never understand. But for now she would comply. She knew that Kiyoshi would never intentionally wound her pride. "All right," Lyra agreed calmly, realizing she had drawn upon his teachings to calm herself down. It was one of the first lessons he had given her, for obvious reasons. "But I'll cover it next time, deal?" she said with a grin.
Lyra smiled and led him to the bakery, ordering a German chocolate muffin for herself and tea. Lyra rarely splurged on sweets, but chocolate was something she could never turn away. It was the one stereo type that she allowed herself to fall victim to. Passing to the casher, Lyra also grabbed an apple for herself to munch on. "Do you have any plans for the day?" she asked, settling into a table by the large window and sipping from her hot tea. Lyra smiled to Kiyoshi,
"Up'n'attem ladies." he said, "It's another wonderful day on the road to glory."
The others stirred slightly, creaking themselves out of whatever awkward positions they'd worked themselves into overnight. Jason was already throwing a few items into a bag and hauling it over his shoulder.
"The hell...you Winter's prophet now are you?" Drake grumbled, picking up a stone and tossing it into the woods in frustration, not much caring if there happened to be anyone taking a piss out there who might get hit.
"There's work to do." Jason said breezily, ignoring the remark.
"Pah!" Nico scoffed, "There's always work to do, and never any damn results."
"Yeah yeah yeah," Q-Ball piped up, suddenly getting a bee in his bonnet, "we've been here a week now, nothing's happened. What are we doing?"
Jason put his hand to his chin and looked around them all one at a time. "Hmm, well I need to make a good first impression on someone today, so I'm not sure any of you ugly mutts is really gonna be up to the job. Where's Ash?"
The guys growled in annoyance.
"Fuck you Jason!" Drake barked, "If you don't need us then let us sleep."
Craig glowered at Ash reclining on the car hood. If he'd known she'd been bathing in the woods he might have made the effort to get up a little earlier. Sure, she'd have fought him and hand tooth if he'd caught her naked, but even an aggressive roll in the grass would have been more of a sniff than he'd had in over a year. Damn tease...there was a reason most rogue packs didn't put females in their forwards patrols...
Jason smirked and smoothed back his hair which was also washed, since he'd been able to use the RVs shower. One of the perks of being Winter's guest of honour for his efforts. "We need to snare ourselves an idiot." he said cheerily, "And snaring an idiot isn't a fighting-fire-with-fire affair, so I need something with a shred of sense. And that killer smile of yours won't hurt either."
"Hey Ash," Drake hollered from his spot where he had settled back down again, "let me put a killer smile on your face some time, I promise it won't hurt."
Jason rolled his eyes and continued, "We're gonna go into town..."
At that point thre was another chorus of protests.
"The fuck??" Nico yelled, "When do we get to go into town?"
"When you look less like something the cat coughed up." Jason hissed. "Like Winter said, we're not here to advance on the town or the territory. This is more subtle."
"Yo ho where is the big guy anyway?" Craig sneered.
"He left hours ago." Jason said with a smirk. The other guys looked at each other in confusion. Jason went on, "Yeah, he's taking care of things. You guys should have more faith in out illustrious leader."
"Leader my ass." Nico grunted, "Nobody's ever called him alpha."
"He's never asked you to call him alpha." Jason said bluntly. "But you ladies better start practicing your curtsy, because by the end of next week, it may well be that we have an alpha and some new members who will whip your bitch asses into shape."
Lyra smiled, admiring the nature they passed as they neared the house. They had walked through the forest part of the way so that they faced the porch. They were still hidden by distance and foliage, but Lyra could all ready see the shuffling of morning chaos. Yes, she would treasure these last few moments with Kiyoshi. “Lyra,” he murmured. Lyra looked to him, smiling and wondering what he could have to say. Despite their connection, she would always have trouble reading the thoughts he wanted to keep hidden from her. “Have you ever considered what you will do if James wins?”
Lyra blinked, her golden eyes flashing with confusion and rage before slipping into hurt. She stopped dead in her tracks and broke their gaze as she suddenly found the ground more interesting than Kiyoshi. At this moment, perhaps anything could be more interesting than Kiyoshi. The only thing that kept her calm and resisting rage was the fact that their fingers were still entwined. "I.. I don't know," she muttered, somewhere between a sigh and a growl. "I... figure.... "
Lyra groaned, her brain flickering with a million thought waves at once. What would she do? Did Kiyoshi have so little faith in her, his own mate, that he felt the need to bring this up now? What the hell had they been training for all these years if he thought she would fall before James?
Stop this, Lyra. He has a valid point. You have everything against you, Lyra. Do not take this out on Kiyoshi. Lyra moaned softly, her hand drifting from Kiyoshi's grasp to hold her own head as she turned away from him. The voice. It was like an earthquake shuddering in her mind. Painful, loud, and deadly. And it was also her wolf as it edged nearer to the full moon. Lyra closed her eyes for a moment, trying to hide the shattering migraine from Kiyoshi. In her mind's eye, she could feel the wolf's lips curling into a malicious smile. Take it out against James.
Lyra opened her eyes slowly and was instantly blinded by the sunlight. She blinked slowly, dizzy, and desperately wanted Kiyoshi near. However, she remained on her own feet. He did not need to feel her slight tremble from only the wolf's voice. He did not need the extra worry that Lyra had felt since her wolf began to enter her mind. He did not need to know that, somehow, it was getting stronger. "I haven't thought that far ahead," she admitted slowly, her buzz ebbing away as the wolf retreated. "Until now, I thought I would have longer to wait before receiving my wolf. If I fail... I'll lose everything," Lyra said. Her eyes drifted longingly over the pack house, the house that belonged to the alpha. "I suppose I would not be able to continue living here. If I do fail, I don't know what I would do. That's why I can't fail." Lyra looked up to him, determination settling in. "if I go through with this, what else could I do if I fail?"
"Now sit, and watch."
Lyra looked up to the voice of Aziel. She did not expect someone to come out now. What was he doing? Lyra squinted in the sunlight as he dragged someone after him, someone that it took Lyra a moment to place. Tabby?! What did he want with her? She watched the pair and saw the girl's resistance. What was he-
Lyra knew that face. She recognized what he was going to do. She would never be able to become alpha if she did not recognize her packmate's patters. And now it could save a life, or at least the mentality of one. "Kiyo, I don't know," she admitted. "But I do know that if I want to become alpha, I have to stop this. Now," she said, sprinting forward and running to the porch. Lyra was thankful that she was in her running sneakers as she came up on the two. She could not know what to do if she lost, but she knew what to do here. Her mind ran through the different steps she could take. Aziel. Temper. Keep him calm. Reason with him. As she ran, Lyra flicked her wrist to alert her presence, the chimes of bells floating from her bracelets.
"Aziel," Lyra mummered as she approached the two. Carefully, Lyra put her hand on his shoulder. Arguing with him would not help. She leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "Not now. Please." With a smile, Lyra looked to Tabby. "I hope Aziel hasn't been too much of a trouble to you. He is just a bit headstrong at times." Her smile faded as she turned back to the boy and shook her head sharply. She did not raise her voice or question him, but her eyes glittered with the determination that only Lyra could hold. "You are not her brother; this is not your responsibility," Lyra said softly for his wolf hears only. "I know what you are trying to do, but this is not the way. Please," she said, gazing into his eyes and pleading him to understand.
Craig, more than any of the other boys, was feeling get up to the eyeballs. It had been days since they'd been called upon to do anything except wait on the 'promised alpha' to be delivered. And then what? A lifetime of being ordered about by someone else other than Winter? This whole deal was starting to seem less attractive by the day.
Grumbling to himself, he advanced a little further towards the back of the spring. There was something that struck him about the cliff face in front of him. The vegetation was different...the whole rock-face was extraordinarily verdant. Like you'd normally expect behind or alongside a waterfall.
And then something else caught his eye. It was a small entrance - only large enough to crawl into - near the bottom of the rock face, that seemed to go quite deep in.
"Hey guys..." he called back, a grin forming on his face, "...we're not supposed to leave the mountain right? Well, I think I may have just found a little adventure that doesn't involve breaking the rules..."
Jason was pacing back and forth with a smug grin on his face. To think that today could be the day all the plans finally come together. He knew what Ash was off doing. Her job wasn't a pleasant one - to charm a dishevelled ape of a human - but there was an even more unpleasant task awaiting the both of them when she arrived with the man.
He was deep in the woods on the Khöller territory. It was all too familiar to him; this was exactly where they had set up camp eighteen years ago when good ol' Farrell had brought them here. Not the best of memories to be sure. But in a way, today would make amends for everything that went wrong back then too.
Voices. One famiar female voice, and one confused, completely forgetable male voice. Good work Ash. He stood himself in the middle of the clearing and turned to face the directiion of the voices, waiting for them to emerge from the foliage. And before long, they did. Jason smiled as Lance and Ash emerged into the copse.
"Good to see you again friend." Jason said smoothly.
Immediately Lance's face dropped in quizzical amazement. "You!" he exclaimed, "Ash...are you in on this? What the hell has your game been? Nobody's heard of this studio of yours..."
"I know I'm really sorry." Jason said calmly, holding an apparently apologetic hand up. "This hasn't gone to plan at all. Terrible misunderstanding. See, I had hoped all along that you'd entrust Tabitha to me to bring her back here at the time I originally offered."
"I don't get it." Lance frowned. "What did you want with us if there was no studio?"
"Buddy there's nothing I wanted you for at all." Jason sneered, "I was only interested in the girl. Which is why I'd hoped you'd just let me take her away to 'send her on her ascent to fame and glory'."
"You bastard." Lance growled, "You were playing on her hopes and dreams? Where is she now? What are you going to do with her?"
"Oh we haven't got her yet." Jason said.
"And you think I'm going to help you?" Lance scoffed.
"Nope." Jason shook his head. "And as to your question, we already know full well what we're going to do with her. It's what we are going to do with you that I'm having to make up as I go along."
"I'm not going to let you get your hands on her. You'll have to kill me if that's what you're threatening me with."
"I don't need you to help us get to her." Jason said, matter-of-factly, "You weren't meant to be here in the first place. However..." he took a few steps forward with a nasty smile, "...I do think there's merit to your suggestion."
For the next few minutes the silence of the wood was broken by the sounds of an inhuman transformation, cries of terror, growls, screams of agony...and then finally silence once again.
"Good to see you again friend." Jason said smoothly.
Ash stepped back and chose to remain silent for the duration of the exchange. She had not been told what would happen to Lance once she brought him here, but Ash had not survived on her own for more than a year by being a fool. And Jason was not the most creative of creatures. Ash leaned against a tree and watched the horizon boredly. She almost felt bad for the human. But it was his fault, really. He had gotten in Winter's way. No one could survive that. Even Ash knew her limits when playing with his master plan.
Ash felt a shiver run up her spin to the crunch of bone. It was a sound she would never get used to, even if my some miracle Winter could find away to unlock her own wolf. Ash was surprised by how much the fact she may never shift did not bother it. It was disappointing, but not the end of the world. No, her world would have ended if she was tied down by her suppose mate from her home town. The thought sent another shiver down her spine as Lance called out, his fear drowned by Jason's inhuman growl.
Ash did not watch as the murder was committed, her head only turned as the stench of iron wafted in the air. She coughed into her fist and approached slowly, her sharp eyes surveying the corpse. "How much longer can we hide from them now?" Ash asked, her hand resting on Jason's wolfed head. Her eyes tilted back to the tree line casually, not wanting Jason to sense her uncomfort. She was grateful that she only had a mortal's scent. She did not want to smell the death any more than she all ready could. "They will scent him before the forest gets his body. What are you going to do now? Leave him here? They will find him. What else does Winter want from me? I did not just led a man to death to sit around like a pretty bird afterward."
Ash looked down to his wet muzzle and turned with disgust, tossing his clothes at him as she passed. "Just tell me you aren't going to eat him. That is below even you, Jason."
With another deep growl his initiated his shift back into human form; the first throes of it would have been Ash's cue to look away unless she wished to observe him getting dressed. The shift left him exhausted. Wolves weren't meant to shift both ways in such a short space of time, but time was something they didn't have an unlimited supply of.
"Yeah there's more." he grizzled between gasps and pants as he pulled his clothes back on. "But we need to wait for the right time. Gotta wait for the signal from our inside boy before going ahead. Hopefully he won't take too long...he seems pretty keen alright."
"How old is he anyway? My age or younger? I ain't taking any bs from some little kid now, no matter how much Winter says I gotta." Ash shivered slightly, her stomach turning from the scent of blood. "If you don't need me for anything, I'm gonna take another bath. I think that Lance guy touched my arm or something. I just feel grimy standing here with what used to be him."
Ash shivered again and scratched her arm with disgust. Rouge or not, she was not accustomed to witnessing murders. Even she had to draw the line somewhere. It made her feel better that he didn't have any kids. "Need anything else or am I dismissed, Sir."
"Sid's right!" she said, "If you think we're 'lame' them maybe you should be the solution. Maybe it's you who need to bring something to the table for a change?"
Her face fell as she realised she'd gotten a bit bold in what she was saying, and suddenly blushed a little. Perhaps, she thought, it was because she knew that her and Ray were supposed to have been pranking Calvin that day, so she was already accepting of the fact that by tonight he might have ended up being pissed off with her. But that dread fascination of the boy was still there pricking at her mind.
"What do you think?" he said, "Local back got a little mountain hideaway?"
"Yeah and you know why that's not good?" Drake whispered as visciously as he could manage.
"No, why?"
"Because for all we know they could be using these caves to watch us in our camp. They could know about our plan!!"
"The fuck?" Nico snorted, "Even we don't know about Winter's plan, how much could they have heard from these caves?"
Craig scratched his head and looked back towards where they'd come from. "We should go back and tell Winter."
"No!!" Drake said forcefully, "We need to go and see who it is, and take care of them."
Q-Ball and Nico nodded in agreement, and Craig reluctantly continued deeper into the crevice behind the other three. The voices ahead seemed to have stopped, and the rogues cursed to themselves as they entered a small chamber with seemed to run downwards into a flooded area, offering no obvious way forward.
"I don't get it," Nico muttered, "if there's no way forward, how could we hear the..."
They were interupted when something broke the surface of the water, and a small figure crawled out onto the stone floor. The four boys watched in wide-eyed disbelief as the small female flopped onto her back, gasping and wheezing desperately. They looked at each other in confusion. Was she having a fit or something? The one thing they knew for sure was that the drenched girl was, without a doubt, one of the local wolves. Slowly the realisation crossed each of their faces, and they paced forwards, forming a semi-circle around the soggy young wolf.
"Hey little girl," Craig said aggressively, "guess you're not such a surprise. A little runt like you's probably only useful for spying."
"Yeah," Q-Ball chuckled, "how long you been watching our camp from these caves huh? You know if you wanted an introduction, all you had to do was ask. Cute little thing like you is always welcome on our patch."
"Can it." Drake barked, "She's coming back with us, Winter's gonna have to know about this."
"What's the rush?" Q-Ball said, his giggling becoming almost maniacal, "Look at her she can scarcely breathe. When's the last time you had a female at your mercy?"
"Keep it in your pants Q." Craig retorted.
"Fuck you!" Q-Ball spat, "Who made you the boss?"
Unexpectedly, Q-Ball lunged at Craig and pushed him in the chest, knocking him off balance. Drake and Nico braced themselves, trying to decide if they could afford a few seconds to break up the fight at the risk of their 'captive' escaping...
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