Moon, Blood, and Wolf's Bane: Kismet

[Diana]

Brown furry paws padded through a light dusting of snow covered dark rich dirt. Between her legs darted a smaller form, all fluffed up with young fur and not watching where he was leaping. When the adult stopped, he'd crash in to her legs and roll over the ground. Suddenly, she paused. Her body lowered slightly as it grew taunt. Her steady stalking pace giving him the hint that he should do the same. Ears twitched this way and that, listening to the sounds of soft humming. Some silly popular tune that was way over played on the radio lately.

There it was. The human. Hanging up laundry that made the wolf's nose twitch from the flowery scent.

The wolf growled, suddenly leaping from the cover of bushes and trees. She landed on the human, causing them both to roll. The young pup bound around them, barking and yipping.

Suddenly there was a click the female wolf found herself nose to nose with a handgun. The human scowling.

"Sara, what the hell are you teaching my kid?"

Snorting, the wolf backed off. She trotted away, her brown fur form disappearing as she stepped behind one of the already hung sheets. In moments, a very naked Sara was leaning her arms over the laundry line and smirking back at Grace. "How to hunt like a proper wolf. He might be good at it one day if he'd stop yipping like a girl."

"I don't yip like a girl!" came a young boy's voice. The wolf pup was now a five year old boy with shaggy brown hair. He didn't seem to mind he was standing stark naked in the back yard, either.

Grace put the gun away and rose to her feet. Dusting snow and dirt off her jacket, she brushed a hand over the boys head and tilted her own towards the door. "Go on inside, Daniel, and get some clothes on. It's freezing outside." He huffed, but he hopped on in the house. Grace then turned to Sara, who wasn't making any motion to clothe herself.

"Do you not give two shits about the neighbors seeing you streaking across the damn yard?" Grace snatched her sheet off the line, almost as if she thought Sara was going to get her cooties all over it.

Sara smirked again and shrugged. "Doesn't matter. They think we're sisters, not lovers, meatbag." Her smirk finally dropped and Sara's expression switched to something more serious. "He's weird. The kid. Not bad though... I'd feel better if I could get my paws on Noel, though."

"As long as he doesn't have that curse you keep grumbling about under your breath, I don't care. We'll manage."

"Yeah, manage..." Sara had some other things on her mind, but that wasn't any of Grace's business. Though Grace had been a part of the pack for the past five years, Sara wasn't keen on the woman. There was only room for one Alpha, and Grace had that way of being a real bossy bitch for a human.

And a human could never understand what is was like being Were...

 

[Alarice]

It was a thick forest but that didn't mean they'd lost them. Or that he had lost him. Or ... shit, this crap was much simpler when he was the one chasing everyone else! They were a flurry of bodies. Four in all. A large dark brown and a smaller dark gray wolf streaking after a large bluish-gray wolf sprinting to keep the small black wolf in sight. They raced through trees, jumped over fallen trunks, scattered snow and dirt as they landed and used the momentum to push themselves ahead.

The black wolf saw the opening up ahead, turned to glance behind him, managed to bare his teeth as if in a grin and sprinted into Grace's yard, right past Sara where it skidded to a halt and turned. Then the wolf promptly sat down and waited for the rest of the group to catch up to him. Meanwhile the other three had also spotted the opening but the two wolves behind managed to find another burst of speed. They split off to circle around the large bluish-gray wolf as they neared the opening.

When the bluish-gray wolf crashed through the trees and landed in the yard, one of the wolves leapt in the flurry of snow. The former wolf rolled, deftly turned and attacked the large dark brown wolf who was still recovering, catching it by the neck. He was forced to let go when the smaller dark gray wolf bit his back leg and scrambled to tear his teeth through juicy flank.

After that, they were a blur of fur and teeth. Blood streaked the snow but in the end, it was the bluish-gray wolf who fought the two other wolves back and sent them running. He licked his wounds, glancing up at Sara from time to time and sending a seething glare at the black wolf sitting just beyond her.

 

[Diana]

Sara could have shifted form and helped. She could have picked up the hose pipe and sprayed them down. There was really any number of things she could have done. Grace was already inside, and Sara was sure she saw the woman peek out the curtains with that crunched up annoyed face she always got. Sara just shrugged at her until she vanished.

Once the fight was over and the backyard looked like some dead animal had been mauled, Sara snatched a shirt and pair of pants off the line to wiggle in to. She was still barefoot when she stalked over to the black wolf, lift a foot and shoved him over.

"Stop looking so damned asinine! What the fuck was that all about? Where the hell have YOU been?" Then she turned to motion a finger at Rion. She looked ready to lay in to him with a good amount of screaming too. He chased wolves right up on to Grace's yard, and had the woman or the kid been out there it could have been one hell of a bad time for them. Yet he was licking at a paw and she was right back to kicking a foot at the black wolf.

"God damnit Noel! Stop snickering and answer me!"

 

[Alarice]

The black wolf rolled over, right onto his back as if offering her his belly to rub, then rolled over again with a soft chuckle as the black fur receded. It was Noel alright but the body under that fur was much younger. As Noel sat up, his long black bangs covering his eyes, he huffed and grinned. He was a pre-teen, maybe twelve or thirteen years old, long limbs, scrawny. Dark brown skin and laughing black eyes.

"Nice hello after five years, Sara," he replied in a higher voice than she remembered. He shook snow from his hair. "Just a couple of wolves who can't take a joke." He shifted so he could press his knees against his chest and wrap his arms around his legs. "Are you aware that humor is a dying quality in our race? It's really sad. Then again, their lack of humor or intelligence might be caused by inbreeding. They really should get out more. So ... how are you? Rion? You two started breeding like rabbits yet." He even wiggled his eyebrows when he said that.

 

[Diana]

"I'm about to breed you in to oblivion." Sara snarled, ready to pounce on him and give him the thrashing he deserved.

That's when she realized Noel didn't look at all like Noel. The man was supposedly ten plus years her senior and now he was sitting on the snow covered ground, looking barely any older than Daniel. He even almost squeaked like a kid.

This change of appearance threw Sara off so much, she was stuck standing there staring at him so hard she might have bore holes through him just with her eyes. She even shifted, taking several steps away from Noel to stand behind Rion. Eying Noel suspicious.

"What... the fuck is up with all of... that." She pointed and motioned a finger at the teen boy. "I swear to god, Rion, if you brought me some curse-mad lunatic alien Noel, I am going to kill you both."

 

[Alarice]

Rion was in human form, dusting off snow and dirt from his body and hair. He didn't seem to mind the cold but it probably wouldn't be long before Grace appeared and had a fit. She still wasn't used to naked men just walking across her yard. He snorted. "Would've been simpler if I had. Then I could have put him out of our misery and be done with it. But no. This is him alright."

"Yep. Don't worry, I don't have the curse. Have you seen wolves with it? No fun at all. All they want is blood, blood, blood. But anywhos, I doubt you two looked me up just to invite me over ..." He sniffed the air. "And you still got the human woman and the kid." He drew a line in the snow and spotted the smaller pawprints. "What is he ... five now? Man, Sara, it would have been so much easier if you'd let me do what I had to do. But that's neither here and now. It's good to know I didn't piss the Council off for nothing." He shrugged. "By the way, they send their regards. Their usual threats and promises of annihilation. Yadda yadda yadda. Blah blah blah."

 

[Diana]

That was Noel all right. Sara couldn't even begin to comprehend how that was possible. A mention of the boy and the Council brought her thoughts right back to the present and what their real troubles were, however.

"I like that stupid kid." Sara mumbled. She tilted a moment eying Rion's bare rear before focused her stare at Noel. "Frankly, I don't give two shits what the Council thinks or wants anymore. I believed in their law and followed their law, then they slaughtered a bunch of babies including my sister. Our species is becoming extinct and they're killing children..."

Sara could probably rant a whole lot about her feelings on the Council. But now wasn't the time or place for it. She shrugged her shoulders. "I need your help with the boy, though. Someone has to watch him while I solidify the pack. I'm tired of us running with our tails between our legs, waiting for someone to jump out of the shadows and end us. Glendon is our town now, and we'll make our own law."

The idea was ambitious. Not unprecedented and surely tried before over the centuries. But it hadn't been tried by her. And SHE intended to succeed.

 

[Alarice]

He snickered. "You still got the fire. That's good to know." He glanced around. "Well, I wouldn't want to have Rion chasing after me for ... how long has it been, Rion?"

"Give or take, a few years. You're a pain in the ass to track."

Noel gave a wide grin. "I know. Isn't it great? But yeah, wouldn't want all that hard work and dedication to have been for nothing. I just find it amusing you'd do so much to find me of all wolves. But hey, I'm the were if you're looking for an unorthodox teacher. So how many weres you got here, Sara? Any humans beside the kid's mom?"

A few years of sweat and blood and having to go on a wild wolf chase. When Rion had found Noel, he'd been the teenager he was now which had confused the hell out of him. Then Noel had given him the slip and he had spent more time tracking him down again. Even when he'd managed to corner him, he wouldn't tell him why or how he became a teenager.

 

[Diana]

Sara wrinkled up her nose in annoyance. Noel even talked like a pre-teen, in that most obnoxious way she wanted to slap so many of the young pack for. Whatever happened, he was one hundred percent in to it.

"Maybe two dozen of our own pack. Half the town seems to be native or fugitive weres, and have no problem being part of a pack under somebody with balls enough to keep order. There's more of us than there are humans now. But they're here all the same. Most of them don't have a clue about us. " Sara put a lot of time and effort in to getting to know the native people of the town. Weres and humans alike. She didn't force anyone to join her pack, which helped win her a lot more respect than if she had flat out taken over the area. With so many wolves just grateful to have somewhere safe to live, someone claiming to be the new Alpha wasn't an issue.

The humans she was a little concerned about. It's not like they could chase them all out of town. Not to mention there was the meatbag Grace to be concerned over. Sara brought that up. "...We could get rid of the humans, but Grace isn't exactly... settled to our life. The boy is still half human too."

 

[Alarice]

Noel grinned and, unfolding his legs, scratched his crotch briefly. "Yeah ... Humans are a weird bunch but ah well, they're here to stay. Someone had this plan to wipe them off the entire planet but you can see how that plan went." He stood and stretched. His stomach growled. He grinned. "But I'm hungry as hell now. How about we get something to eat and then you can tell me all about your adventures for the past five years? You guys got a decent place to eat or does one of you want to attempt to cook?"

"Before we do anything, we have to get some clothes. We stick here any longer the human's likely to shoot us." Rion started for his house. At least he knew he had clothes there. He figured he could give Noel some clothes, too.

 

[Shan]

LATER THAT EVENING; 3AM - OUTSIDE OF TOWN

It was three in the morning as Remmi sat at the small table smoking, wrapped in a floffy towel, in the motel room that she decided to purchase for the night. There was still about half a day before she reached Sara's home. Her hair was still damp from the scalding hot shower. Her hair fell to the bottom of her waist now and was now a rich deep brown. It had taken her a while to get all the tangles out but now she had nothing left to distract her with and soon became lost in thought. Lighting herself another cigarette, before she put her last one out, she sighed. Since the incident a few years ago she hadn't seen or heard from the pack, but now what was left was joining again.

During the initial incident they had almost made it safely away but there was an awful accident. Remmi could not remember for the life of her what had happened, but what she knew was she was flung from the vehicle and landed in some trees. When Remmi came too there was no evidence of anyone, not even the accident itself. All she could remember was the screaming.

Over the years Remmi actually met people and took the time to grow up a little bit. The past could never be undone and the most important thing was to make sure it never happened again. Remmi never thought that they would ever be safe, that there would always be something. Some new enemy, some new problem, something. There was always something, that was just life, always changing.

Shaking her head with a smile on her face Remmi started rubbing the back of her neck. She was exhausted, but sleep was like a fleeting reality for her. Lighting a third cigarette she stared at nothing as she got lost in her thoughts.

 

[Zypher]

NEXT EVENING - THE BANE BAR

Ethan Deveraux had just finished his final count of the money in the deposit box before locking up the safe and closing the bank down for the night. Tucking the jingling keys in his pocket he walked down the quiet street towards the bar. It wasn't like he was in any rush to get back to an empty house.

Ethan rounded a corner and turned on his heel as he came across the front door of the bar and pushed it open and stepped up to the bar, straddling a barstool and plunking down. "Bartender, the usual please." He smiled, gesturing to the bartender. A quick glance around showed that there weren't too many people out this late but a few local faces. With a sigh he turned back to the bar and placed down a few bills to pay for his drink before grabbing the beer and taking a swig. With a bored sigh he turned and looked down into his beer, closing his eyes.

 

[Shan]

It was lat when Remmi finally arrived to town. She had underestimated the time, but what mattered was that she was here. So what now? Nerves flooded over her relief about being here. She bit her lip and decided to recompose herself. Remmi pulled into a small bar of the small town, called Bane. The town seemed quiet and very small.

She was sure this was one of those towns that everyone knew everyone and news would travel like wildfire. Turning off her motorcycle she noticed the deafening silence of the town. Perhaps it was a ghost town? Well she could smell people and clearly see the signs of life. Sighing she took off her helmet letting her hair flow to her waist freely. She set the helmet on the bike and walked into the bar.

Smiling Remmi remembered the Hippo, it was somewhere she held dear. Bane was nice and it did remind her a lot of the Hippo. She glanced at the man staring into his beer at the bar, as she walked up and sat down. The bartender had walked up as she took off her sunglasses revealing her honey brown eyes as she ordered a diet coke. She took her riding pack off along with her jacket as she surveyed the bar and the few people in it. She had a feeling that they were staring at her. Then again she was new and this seemed to be a very small town she should expect such a reaction. Biting her lip she took a small drink of her soda.

 

[Zypher]

Ethan looked up for a minute when he heard the roar of a motorcycle die down just outside the bar and the door open. That was strange, he didn't know anybody in the town that had a motorcycle, let alone a loud one like that, he quickly put his eyes back down on the beer and started to ponder what kind of person would ride a motorcycle like that. Maybe it was part of that new tribe of wolves that moved in, the woman he had taken note of seemed rather strong and it wouldn't be crazy to think that one of them would have a motorcycle.

As he heard the footsteps cross the bar floor there was a hush before a rapid current of whispers circulated. Bien, looks like somebody new is here. He was pleased that his first guess was correct but when he looked up to see what this new person looked like he was taken aback for a moment. She was very beautiful, strange sights for this area. Well if nobody else was going to be nice at least Ethan would.

"Bonsoir Madame, I see you're new here. Je m'appelle Ethan, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He smiled and extended his hand for her to shake.

 

[Fluffy]

Just the three of them were headed to Glendon, Canada to live amongst the other wolves. Bradley Parker insisted on driving the rest of the way, ever careful in doing so because it was rightfully Sean's car. In the back was their son, Aidyn. The boy was snoozing with his head leaning on the seat belt, his arms around a plush rabbit sitting on his lap.

Parker smiled at the sight as he glanced at the windshield mirror. Since the day they found that little one, he's treated him like his own. He would continue to do so as long as they lived. They were their own little family, a separate pack, but knew where they rightfully belonged. Getting to know other wolves would be beneficial to Aidyn and Sean wanted to do some investigating. He was determined to discover a cure for the werewolf curse, which Parker was fully supportive of.

They were peacefully driving through the country after showing their passports, eyes open for the right exit to take. "Almost there, I reckon," he said, feeling dumb for saying that in the first place. Sean probably already knew that! Mostly, he just wanted to break the silence. The radio wasn't even on.

The years spent with Sean, Parker matured significantly. He got a job more challenging than selling trinkets at a shop, though less physically demanding than farm work. His life skills were strengthened too, especially since he had a pup to help look after. Small as their pack was, it meant the world to him.

Smiling to himself, he turned the wheel to guide the car towards Glendon. They were almost there.

 

[Shan]

Remmi had smiled when the stranger has taken the time to speak to her, perhaps this town might not be so bad. It didn't hurt that he was rather cute too. She had forgotten that French was a prominent language in these parts and didn't catch some of what he had said. Thankfully he was well mannered and actually repeated what he had said in English for her. The only French she knew she had learned from Lady Gaga songs.

"My name is Remmi. It's very nice to meet you. Thank you for not staring and remaining silent." As she said that she looked around the room at the remainder of people still staring at her. She brushed some of the hair that had fallen in front of her eyes out of the way. "So tell me what you do here, in this lovely town."

She had shifted turning more towards him, knocking her glass onto the floor. She had tried to catch it before it shattered, but had only managed to stumble to the floor after it. She quietly swore to herself as she felt the glass cutting into her hands. She thought that she was over this clumsy stage damnit! "I'm so sorry.." She had said as she started picking up the bits of broken glass. Her face turned down as she was blushing a bit over her embarrassment.

 

[Zypher]

Ethan smiled warmly, it hadn't occured to him that she probably didn't speak French but she seemed to take it in stride which made his grin grow just a little bit wider. She was very beautiful to be sure so he repeated everything in English again.

"Ah Remmi, that's quite a beautiful name. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance as well mademoiselle. The others will warm up to you in time, they're just a bit xenophobic at first. No worries mon cherie, you're quite safe though." He smiled, grabbing his beer and taking a swig out of it. He was just about to answer her question when she knocked her drink to the floor and stumbled past him to grab it, he quickly grasped her and helped her back up, looking at the small gashes on her hands. "Oh mon dieu! Come, let's get you fixed up." He waved for the bartender, "Pierre, le verre est casse!" He called out as he stepped over the glass and helped Remmi towards the entrance of the bar.

"No worries mon cherie, I know the doctor, he'll get you patched up in no time." Ethan smiled as he held the door open for her. He felt bad that she had gotten hurt so quickly in her first night here.

Sean was resting his head against the window with his eyes closed. Parker had insisted on driving and over the years he learned not to get in the way of what Parker wanted. The two of them had to grow up a lot since they left Raymond, especially since they had found Aidyn. Sean and Parker did their best to raise their newfound son, and it was in New York City that they learned a lot about each other.

Sean smiled as he opened his eyes and turned in his seat to look at the sleeping pup and then to Parker who announced that they were almost at their destination. "That's good to hear, Aidyn will probably be happy to get around and stretch his legs. You contacted Sara and the others about our arrival right?" Sean thought about where they were staying, and if he'd even be able to work on his research with the pack's blessing, of course that would mean that someone would have to donate their blood, but if the rumors were correct and Sara had a half-were child his blood would be the perfect blood sample.

Shaking the thoughts he looked back to Aidyn once again as the child slept soundly with his stuffed animal and a warm grin crossed his face. Almost there. Almost home. Sean thought, looking back out the window.

 

[Shan]

Her cheeks were flushed as he helped her up. She laughed in a nervous manner as he offered to take her to let the doctor fix her up. "I..it's fine, r...really." The damn stutter made her blush even more. "It's just a few s..scratches. There is no n..need." She looked at him she was flushed as she still followed him back behind the bar.

She had been doing so well she hadn't really have very many of her "moments" in a while. Sighing she bit her lip as she gave into his wishes as he seemed so sincere in helping her. So she did what anyone would do and followed that handsome man with the delicious looking ass. What the hell was wrong with her?! She just met him for like five minutes and was already thinking inappropriate comments about his lean anatomy. Shaking her head she tried to clear her thoughts as she followed him.

 

[Fluffy]

The mention of stretching out reminded Parker of how anxious he was to step out of the car. Long drives made him restless. To this day, he still preferred to get around with his own legs. There was nothing more exhilarating than running with the wind in a secluded field where no one could judge you. With Aidyn, he had that opportunity. Him and the pup could run as wildly and freely as they wanted, allowing Parker the excuse that his kid was the reason for them being so juvenile.

That thought made him grin so widely.

"Yup, I called that girl, Sara. Left a message when we got into the country, too," he answered with a nod. Phone conversations weren't easy for him, so he was quite proud of himself for taking that initiative. No one in that pack of wolves was a friend to him, really. Acquaintances, maybe... At the very least, he trusted a good majority of them.

"Just about there. Do ya have directions for where we're staying, exactly?"

 

[Zypher]

Ethan chuckled a bit at Remmi. She was doing pretty well at being tough, that much was sure but he wanted to take her to the hospital for multiple reasons, he wanted to make sure that she didn't have any glass shoved into her hands and that he could talk to her more personally without having the ears of the bar patrons centered on them.

Small town people were always too nosy for their own good sometimes. He led her to the small clinic and knocked on the glass door a couple of times and waited. "He should be here, if not I suppose you can come to mon maison, my house, to take a look at that. We wouldn't want pieces of le verre in there now would we?" He smiled warmly as he knocked a couple more times to no avail. How strange, he's usually in all nuit...ah c'est pas bien, alors, looks like she'll have to come with me. He smiled and shrugged, pointing the other direction.

"Well, my house is just down the block if you don't mind accompanying me there? I couldn't just let you walk around with glass possibly in your hands. I have a first aid box there, and after we do that we can come pick up your motorcycle. Bien?"

Sean smiled as he watched the grin spread across Parker's face. He was thinking about either him or Aidyn, or possibly both. That's the only time he really smiled like that, and it always warmed his heart. Sean was truly grateful for both of his boys, and he would rather trade his life than let any harm come to either of them.

"Okay good, I think we're taking one of the empty houses up there. I think it's on Forge Street? You know how small towns are, old people die and their houses stay empty because they don't have any family to move in after them or something, so there should be a nice place for the three of us to settle. One of the ones I read about has a large field behind it and than a river followed by some woods. I think that'd be the perfect place for us." Sean smiled warmly, thinking about them living in enough space that they didn't constantly have to climb on top of each other.

Sean turned in his seat again and gently rocked Aidyn's knee. "Hey bud, we're almost there, do you want to be awake so we can look at our new house?" Sean spoke just soft enough that it wouldn't disturb the boy.