Samuel Xavier Pierce's Story

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Albrecht was absolutely ecstatic. In only a few minutes, just about everything was rushing back to him. He was able to, if even for just a few minutes, pretend he simply hadn't left and he was just being greeted by friends. Or, perhaps, that everything was going to be perfectly fine and would go according to the mental plan he'd made up before coming here. As far as he knew, his father was alive. As far as he knew, he was the next in line to become Alpha male. He was absolutely oblivious and he didn't even seem to care.

For example, he didn't even seem to notice how upset Leanna looked. She obviously wasn't as overjoyed as he was by this extemporaneous meeting. His innocent question, which he assumed she'd be able to answer quickly, seemed to surprise her. Lea gave him a look that almost unnerved him, as if she was trying to read his emotions or thoughts. Her anger dissipated and was quickly overcome with...pity? Albrecht's brow furrowed.

"Leanna...?" he asked, cocking his head slightly. "Lea, what's wrong?" Oh God, had he said something that upset her? Had he done something (besides leave the state) that got her angry? But, then, why was she pitying him with that gaze of hers.

"Albrecht...your father, he's-" Leanna cut herself off when Sam entered and, distracted by the other male, Al forgot completely about what Leanna had begun to say. Next, Caroline entered along with the old woman who Albrecht really couldn't think of a name for. He knew the face and he knew she was related to Caro, but he had completely forgotten her name in his time away.

Having greeted Caro, she cried out in joy and threw her arms around his neck. "You're back! God, I missed you!" Albrecht wrapped his thick arms quickly around the blonde, his broad smile still plastered on to his visage. Perhaps it would stick there forever, seeing as it hadn't fallen since he entered the diner. As she pulled away, he reluctantly let go of her and sat back down at the bar. "God, I missed you guys..." he mumbled, laughing lightly in a breathy manner. "I've missed you all..." In his mind, nothing could ruin this moment.

The blow out of the bulbs around the diner frightened just about all of the patrons. Albrecht leapt slightly in surprise, jumping off of his seat for a moment only to land back on it. Instinctively, he held his arms out to shield Leanna from the flying shards of glass. He may have left her for years but he still did care for her like he had before. Even Leanna would be unable to completely deny that fact. Slowly, he moved away a bit and settled back in his seat, ruffling his ebony locks with one hand to clear the glass from it. The kitchen door suddenly opened and Albrecht looked up as he heard an oddly familiar voice. "Everything alright?" The smile returned, yet again as the man's eyes settled upon his younger brother.

"Axel..." he murmured, expecting the younger man to come running over to greet him. The diner was quickly clearing, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, the werewolf studied his brother. The clothing style of the shorter werewolf was still just about the same. All of the Wolff boys had worn flannel and jeans for ages. It was warm and it was convenient. But, his younger brother had, it seemed, aged a bit. His forehead had creased with worry upon entering, but he also just seemed older overall as compared to when he was in his twenties. It seemed like, to Albrecht, that the weight of the world had been dropped on to the shoulders of his only sibling. Why was that, he wondered.

"You..." Axel said softly, eyes wide as he looked at Albrecht. The latter smiled.

"Me," he confirmed, nodding.

"You. You bastard!" Al's eyes widened and his grin fell.

"What...?!" In an instant, Axel just about flung himself across the counter and latched on to his brother's shirt collar, holding it tightly in surprisingly strong hands. He must have really gotten more into shape after I left, Albrecht mused, pulling his head slightly away from Axel as the man only pulled Al's face closer.

"You think you can leave and just come back here?! What the hell are you doing?!" Albrecht roughly pulled back and, unable to completely stop himself, fell from the bar stool. In an instant, though, he was back on his feet and glaring at Axel.

"What the hell, Axel?!" he snapped. "I leave for years and that's how you greet me?" Axel's jaw dropped and then he snickered harshly before quickly coming around the counter to stand before Albrecht. The two men were only an inch apart with Albrecht at six feet, one inch and Axel at six feet on the dot. The shorter man sized himself up against Albrecht would stared back with anger evident in his expression.

"You left the pack. You left mom and dad." He snarled. The patrons who had filled the diner now began to leave completely, quite unnerved by how animalistic the two men looked. "You were supposed to be Alpha, not me! I hope you're fucking happy now..." Axel threw a punch at Albrecht, but the taller male easily dodged it and then kicked Axel in the shin, summoning a sharp cry from the Alpha male.

"What the hell do you mean?" he growled. "Dad's the Alpha, I'll be the Alpha after him." A glare of hatred met him from Axel as the Alpha tentatively stood upon his throbbing leg.

"Dad died, you idiot...he's been dead for years and you haven't known?!" Al's countenance cleared and he stepped back slowly, processing the information. He was dead? No...no, that couldn't be right. That would mean Axel would be Alpha and Axel couldn't be the Alpha. He just wasn't capable of it! Albrecht had been training to be Alpha for ages and now it was Axel? No. He wouldn't allow it.

"T-then...then I'm Alpha, AJ. I'm back now and I should be Alpha." Axel had leaned up against a table by then, ignoring the pain in his leg. It was definitely going to bruise for a while but, given his wolf powers, would probably heal overnight. AJ shook his head and then snickered again at Al, which just made the older man angrier.

"You had your chance. I'm not letting an outsider run my pack. No, you left to explore the world and you left us here to rot. I'm not just going to let you run my pack." Al's face contorted in an expression one would easily find on a wolf's face. For a moment, Axel feared the man would shift right then and there in his diner. Instead, though, Albrecht clenched his fists.

"Screw you..." he muttered.

"Get out of my diner, you bastard. I don't want to see your ugly mug around this place again or anywhere for this matter. And if you try to take this pack from me, I will personally claw your eyes out." He stood up quickly, the adrenaline coursing through him and allowing him to rush at the older werewolf who simply glared at Axel, looked over at the rest of his pack members sadly, and then pushed roughly against the door to open it.

Axel sighed and then settled back against the table, breathing slowly to try and calm himself. "I...I'm going home," he murmured, his voice monotonous as he started to stand. "Lock it up when you all leave, Sam." A light yelp came from his mouth, sounding very much like a hurt dog, as he limped into the kitchen to get to the back door. "Cat, I'm leaving. You better head out soon. No use working without lights." He didn't even wait for a response from the woman before he exited the diner and slammed the door shut. In moments, the sound of his motorcycle revving up was heard and Axel raced down the street on his bike.

Despite the pain in his leg, he wasn't going straight home. Instead, he'd probably ride around aimlessly for half an hour to try and piece together what had just happened. Then, perhaps, he wold return to the old cabin.

Albrecht, on the other hand, returned to his home by himself. The man who had helped drive his belongings over had, in fact, left the boxes inside and the furniture (or whatever furniture he had already) outside. For a while, he unpacked things and tried to make his new home as homely as possible. Earlier, he'd thought Axel might let him move back into the Wolff cabin but, now, he knew such a thing was extremely unlikely. By the time he'd set up a bed on his old couch, Al's eyelids were fluttering and, so, he laid down and fell asleep swiftly, still plagued with thoughts of that day.

Axel's ride the night before hadn't really succeeded at much of anything. In fact, it only managed to anger him further as he dwelt on the idea of his brother having the audacity to move back here and tell him, the Alpha, that the pack was rightfully his. It was a load of shit and AJ certainly wasn't going to put up with it. When the pain in his leg finally became too unbearable, the Alpha had ridden the bike back to his home and parked it in the driveway without even bothering to notice if Leanna was there. In fact, he certainly wouldn't be prepared for her reaction come the next morning when she called him out for his shameless flirting the night before. Granted, he really didn't think she had heard him from the kitchen, but she was a werewolf and he knew she too had enhanced senses like he did. He did kick off his boots before falling asleep, but he basically neglected to undress at all and fell asleep, like he had the night before, in his full outfit.

It was a new day now and, at eleven in the morning, Axel had finally woken up and decided to hold a pack meeting like he'd said via text. It had taken the Alpha a while to get his bearings but, now, he stood in the clearing behind his own house with the rest of the pack. The only odd part being, of course, that they had all assumed their wolf forms. The young man slowly circled the group, doing a head count and quickly assumed everyone had arrived. If they hadn't, well, it was their fault and he'd certainly make sure they knew it. The brown wolf sat beside Sam and curled his tail over his paws neatly while his ears continued to swivel lightly, listening for sounds.

"I guess you've all heard the news by now that Albrecht's back," he began, the fur on his back bristling as he "spoke" telepathically to the other wolves, his voice filling their minds. Briefly, his teeth bared and he fidgeted in place uncomfortably. "The ditcher just thinks he can come back and be Alpha again." Now, his teeth bared again and he let out a bark. "Well, we'll show him he can't simply leave and expect to be treated the same...from now on, I don't want to catch any of you talking with him, you hear me? He may have been a member of our pack, but he's a traitor and a liar..." The Alpha paused, giving himself time to calm down before he "spoke" again.

"There are other things we need to focus on, though," he said, shaking himself quickly as if to shake off the past topic. "They found the body of a Hunter yesterday and you know the Hunters are going to be all over it, given that one of those fangers did it."

"On that note, since it doesn't concern us, stay out of it," said Axel nonchalantly. He's already decided the day before to not involve his pack. They shouldn't have to pay for what the vampires were doing anyway. They had already suffered enough with the Hunters moving into their safe-haven, hadn't they? "I don't care if they kill off all of the vampires, really. It would save us a lot of trouble and then, perhaps, they'd leave us alone. Until they, stay low and play it safe. Last thing we need is someone going into wolf form in public."

Finished, AJ stood and stretched, his tail swaying slowly back and forth before he sat down again. "Questions? Comments?" Sure, he was the Alpha, but this certainly wasn't a monarchy or a dictatorship. Besides, Leanna also had the right to speak, along with his Beta couple. Still, he'd most likely make his decisions law. They were in the best interest of everyone.

Albrecht had never been a sound sleeper in the years he was away from home. In fact, it shocked him when he woke up on the ratty, old sofa the same way he'd fallen asleep. A more superstitious or, perhaps, someone who read into such odd events would have said he was feeling better simply because he was home now and he felt safer. The thought actually caused him to laugh. Oh, he certainly didn't feel safer. The incident in the diner last night had proved to him that while he had missed the people of the town, the people of the town certainly didn't miss him as much. Well, actually, that wasn't completely true. Really, it was only Axel who didn't miss him at all.

Still mulling over these thoughts, Albrecht dressed in basketball shorts and a t-shirt to go out for a jog that morning. As his feet hit the pavement, causing a tap, tap to echo around him, he still thought about the pack. Perhaps he should say something? Maybe Axel would be willing to accept him back and then, if things went well enough, he might even be able to reclaim his position as Alpha. It was a wonderful plan in his mind and he was actually extremely eager to put it in motion. Still jogging, Albrecht turned his face a bit upward and drew in a breath, smelling the air for any trace of werewolf.

When it finally came to him, half a block down, it was faint but he was certain that was where they were, for there were so many scents mixed together. His pace quickened eagerly and he veered off of the sidewalk, on to the grass, and then into the woods just to follow them. It took what seemed like ages to find the group but, of course, it was mere minutes if anything. It seemed a bit odd to him at first to be watching his old pack mates in the clearing. And, it also seemed disheartening that he was no longer part of their pack telepathy. He knew not what they were saying, only that they must have been meeting about something. What they were discussing, though, he had not the slightest clue.

Crouching in the dense brush down wind from the wolves, Albrecht simply watched and waited. Thoughts bounced back and forth and he wondered if he should simply blow his cover now to speak with them, or wait for them to be in a less...threatening form.

[center]There was an obvious pause between Axel's decree and when the rest of the pack began to chime in. Some of the lower ranked wolves were mumbling to each other, ears pulled back, eyes darting around. The alpha shuffled his paws subtly in a gesture that hopefully looked normal, but certainly stood out. As Alpha, he knew his word was close to law, basically. Yet, there were constant stories of corrupt Alpha Males who had abused their power and were overthrown and replaced. He was trying to do what he thought was best, but he certainly didn't want to be killed in the process.

To his surprise, Leanna stayed silent. She'd been that way all day, it seemed, for when she returned to the cabin in the morning, she only told him where she had been and nothing more. Was she angry? He could basically sense the emotion radiating from her and he knew she was thinking deeply about something. What is was, though, he had no idea. By the time the comments and rebuking had begun, Axel had almost thought they wouldn't even occur.

“Axel, you know I am loyal to you as alpha, it is rightfully your position, not his. B-But I cannot just ignore him like that, he’s my friend too and you can’t ask me to do that.” Axel's ears, which had been pulled back, stood up suddenly at the sound of Caro 'speaking'. Quickly, though, they pulled back in an angry way, his tongue flicking out slightly as his upper lip pulled upward slightly. It did not end there, though, for Sam soon stood up and paced before the group of wolves.

"I'm wondering if it would really be smart to completely shun him. Can we really turn down another wolf at a time like this? The Hunters could use this incident as an excuse to come after us as well. The more numbers we have, the safer we are. I'm not saying we have to trust him altogether, but we shouldn't turn him away either." His muzzle opened for him to speak, but he was promptly cut off by Leanna.

"Having Albrecht isn't an advantage, it's a weakness. He's a weakness. He's disloyal and unreliable! How can you still regard him as a friend when he left the pack behind without a second thought for me or you or any of those he'd cared for? Axel is our Alpha... He know's what's best for the pack. It's his decision." By the time she'd finished speaking, the Alpha's ears had stood up again in shock, this time. He had heard Leanna speak up before during meetings, but this was certainly a rare occurrence for her. In fact, he'd thought she had missed Albrecht the most out of all of them. Perhaps he was wrong? Obviously, from the way she spoke, she did not. It can as a relief, in fact, for it had certainly concerned him that she would have left him to be with her child hood sweetheart, his brother.


Gingerly, Axel swept his tail behind himself and brushed it against her back in a way that could be taken friendly or affectionately. Either way, he hoped the gesture wasn't frightening or weird. Slowly, he stood and pulled his ears back against his skull, trying to show he meant business.

"I do not believe Leanna could have explained it better," he praised, his tail lifting off of Leanna's back to raise high in the air as an expression of dominance. His teeth pulled back again, but only for a moment before he continued. "There's nothing beneficial to us letting a traitor in. You saw him yesterday, you heard him say he wanted the position of Alpha, didn't you?" By now, he had strode away from his position and was eyeing Sam and Caro, eyes narrowed slightly at the Beta Male and the Delta Female.

"A true wolf would stay with his pack...not run away like the coward Albrecht is," he continued, his voice basically a snarl now. "He shouldn't even be able to call himself a member of the Wolff family...he's a disgrace." His tail flicked back and forth sharply, showing his agitation. As much as he wanted to get over this petty feud and welcome back his brother, he simply couldn't. He sighed mentally and it telepathically traveled to the other wolves.

He hadn't even been awake very long and he was already exhausted and angry. Besides, he had the lighting situation in his diner to work on. "Pack dismissed..." he muttered telepathically, pacing in slow circles. "Steer clear of the Hunters and don't interact with Albrecht." With that, he turned and hurried off into the brush, making his way back home where he would change into clothing before making his way out to the diner. One there, he sent a text to Cat, calling her in to help out with the clean-up.

Once he'd tossed the shards into the waste bin, Axel turned and leaned up against the counter, broom in one hand and dust pan in the other. Cat, after her quick response, had looked away from him, which only managed to confuse him and evoke a raise of an eyebrow from him. Why wasn't she looking at him? Had he done something to upset her yesterday? When she smiled, though, he seemed to relax slightly and returned the smile in a much broader fashion.

"I'm glad to hear that," he replied."Especially since you've only been working here, what, a day? Not even?" He chuckled softly and then turned his attention to the electrician who seemed to have forgotten he was being paid to assess the situation, not stare at Axel's Italian employee. The werewolf's eyes narrowed subtly and a low, almost inaudible grumble sounded in the back of his throat. "Hey, buddy, you done here? I'm paying you only to look at the lighting." The electrician blinked, surprised that his "subtle" staring had been noticed.

"Whatever," he replied, slowly climbing off of the ladder to fold it up. "I was going to look at the transformer box anyway." With a roll of his eyes and a glance at Cat, the man left. Axel had almost zoned out completely, but the mention of yesterday caused him to flinch subtly and turn quickly as if shocked.

"W-what?" he asked at first, until he'd realized what she asked. "Oh, him?" His brow furrowed, his jaw clenched. How was he to explain this to her without compromising himself and his identity? Instead, he chose silence...for now.

"I mean, I just wanted to know in case we aren't supposed to let him in the diner or something. Black list. I'll put the poliziotti on speed dial if I have to..." He gave a brief smile and laugh. Her plan had worked and he couldn't help but tell her who the man was.

"Nah, he's...well, he's my brother, actually," he admitted, slowly rubbing at the back of his neck in a worried fashion. "He hasn't been here for, well, years...he skipped town and we thought he left for good. Left our family high and dry." His jaw clenched again as he averted his gaze from hers, trying not to show the way his eyes turned slightly animalistic or how his canines grew briefly and then reverted to their usual size. He couldn't risk her finding out about his werewolfism. What kind of Alpha let a human know about his pack? In the meantime, though, he couldn't help but notice the way she peered up at him in an irresistible manner that might have caused him to kiss her or...more...had he not had some self control still. Leanna never looked at him like that, and they'd known each other for ages. On that note, would Leanna leave him? If she did, what then? Would she go to Albrecht? Oh God, so many questions, so few answers.

When her expression hardened, he was both surprised and taken aback. Had he done something, said something to make her suddenly upset or...whatever? At first, he opened his mouth to speak. But, the sound of the door opening caused him to stop suddenly with his mouth opened in a comedic-looking manner as he glanced at Sam.

"Well shit," said the Beta, causing Axel the raise an eyebrow as he got a hold of himself and turned back toward the man.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, trying not to sound gruff. Of course, he knew what

"I figured I'd come help clean up the diner..." Axel gave a slow nod in response, already sensing the tension that was forming in the room. He wondered what Sam had been thinking when he walked in, for he certainly looked as if he'd been distracted by something. For a while, silence ensued as Axel picked up his broom and swept again. After a while though, he stopped suddenly and turned to face Sam, lips pursed subtly. "So, what's up? You're more quiet than usual..." Other than that, he was extremely silent, not knowing what else to say in Cat's presence.