MoonShine

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It wasn't anything she'd ever had to do before, but the theory behind it was sound enough. That was one of her gifts, if truth be told, her ability to think around problems with theory and to bend that theory to new purpose. She was just really rusty and reluctant to take up the mantle. Her Giga had bemoaned her neglect for years and Estelle had dodge conversations on the matter, even as her latent talent turned into an ache like arthritis in her bones while she'd done all she could to be normal.

But now, a bruise healing on her cheek and an ache in her heart as the legacy of her time trying to be normal it seemed well past time to embrace the role. Being home, being around the energies she had grown up around felt so bewitching she realized how foolish she'd been to imagine she could be home and not take up her power. Only now, this stench, this problem were bigger than her experience and theory bent to new ways wasn't going to cut it. What was needed was the lifetime of experience Giga held. Only Giga was dead and stuck haunting the swamp and no cell phone was going to reach her.

So Estelle would have to improvise, which was what she was good at. Blood to blood was her start, then the earth to hold the connection and the runes to give shape to her magic. A simple thing, probably dangerous but once the idea occurred to her, nothing could stop her from trying. Curiosity and cats and their unfortunate association aside. She felt it when the magic connected, a burst of surprise that was so damn gratifying and then a press of unspoken questions. It was like shouting down a long metal tube, the words skittered and bounced and sounded more than a bit funny but they got where they were going. More were sent in return and then, with a whoosh that was felt, not heard, Giga came.

It was the strangest thing, Estelle thought as she felt her Grandmother's consciousness slide into place. She felt like she was pressed into the back curve of her own skull, squished in, but not uncomfortable as her grandmother's very real, very large presence filled her. There was a moment of satisfaction as Giga spread herself into Estelle's body and for the first time in decades felt the joy of a body not weighed down by age and infirmity. Besides the raw ache of the wound in the thigh and the dull ache of blow on her cheek, she felt light and spry.

Now that's the ticket! Giga thought inside Estelle's head.

Estelle found she lacked the means to speak, having never been a passenger in her own body and not having had the time to work the trick of it out yet.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Mars was there, standing over her looking peevish and concerned. She felt Giga swell and stir and then Estelle's perceptions of things dimmed as Giga took more control.

"Well now," said Estelle's body with a new voice. "I'm trying something new." She stood then, her motions just a little awkward as the spirit adjusted to the new body after having not had one in some time. Was it awkwardness of opportunities that had her stumbling forward, bracing herself against him with hands splayed across his chest. The impish grin on Estelle's face made it hard to say. She grinned up at him with a very lusty light in her eyes. The buzz that was usual in their contact was dimmed, as if the energy that flowed between them was confused. It was still there, enough so that the woman before him purred.

"You are much bigger than I thought. This girl's gotta get a move on, hasn't she? So much potential here, isn't there."

Then Estelle's head was craning around to peer behind him and she made a pleased little sound.

"Just as I thought." She purred. "Finest ass these eyes have seen."

She returned her gaze to him and her expression sobered. "I'm Estelle's grandmother, Ida. She's in over her head and she sent for me to do some consulting. I've got a little bit before she tosses me out so if we move fast I'll get some answers and then we can see about having a little fun. I haven't had a young body to play with in a long time and I mean to make the most of it."

She grinned at him, curling her fingers to dig into his chest just a little and apparently liking the feel because her grin broadened. It was unclear whether the body she was speaking about was Estelle's, Mars' or all of the above. But just as quickly she moved onto business.

"Now, take me to the corpse and let me see what I can see. The girl says there's some connection, some stink she's smelled before."
 
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Although he had only known Estelle for a day or so, Mars had already gotten used to the sound of her voice. Hearing another tone from her lips was alarming, enough to raise an eyebrow at, but not enough to really question. When it came to Estelle's connection to the paranormal world, Mars assumed that there were always going to be things he didn't understand, things he didn't want to dig deeper with, and this was definitely one of those things.

Standing, Mars continued to listen, watching as Estelle's normally dream-like eyes took on a far away quality, and her body lost some of its control. The way she fell into him no longer felt so familiar, and instead of the soft blush that was likely to be on her cheeks, a lusty invitation followed. Mars chuckled, perhaps out of confusion for the situation, but mostly from the boldness. He held Estelle's body, though, noting a distinct lack of spark between them. Normally, it was like a strong shock, something that someone might experience after dragging their feet across the carpet, but now it was different. It felt like a prickle that time, with his hands around her shoulders, there was nothing stinging his palms.

The sensation was secretly missed.

"Thanks, but I'll pass," Mars declined easily once Ida explained the truth. Whether or not Estelle truly was in over her head remained to be seen, but Mars was happy for some help. For the moment, the impending phone calls could wait, and he had no problems taking both Ida and Estelle back up to the house. Luckily, it was easy to ignore the weirdness of the situation as long as the old woman didn't speak much, or make too many comments about his body. In a way, she reminded him of his own mother—just rotten in a different way.

The steps creaked beneath their feet as they approached the house once more. "That smell from last night?" he asked, just curious. That was one stink that was going to stay with him for a while, so overwhelming, and so much worse than what was currently radiating from Bette's living room. While Jules' death was very real, what had transpired in the swamp had been otherworldly, smelling evil and thick like a monster that had just crawled out from the depths of hell. If that same smell was hanging around now, it was lost to Mars, and must have been another magic trick.

Upon opening the door, Bette was near Jules' blanket-covered body. Her dark eyes were red, stained with tears, but her expression flashed with anger. "What the fuck is this?" she asked, standing and waving her hand toward Estelle. Whether she didn't want to be seen as vulnerable, or was still against total strangers in her house, Mars wasn't sure, but he did want to keep things from escalating. "What happened to making some calls, alpha?"

"Relax," Mars replied, more firm than comforting. He stepped aside and let the witch enter the house, watching to see what would come of the investigation. "She's here to help—might be able to tell us who did this." It was easier than knocking down doors of assuming Gabriel had gotten a taste for blood. If revenge was necessary, and it was certainly looking that way, Mars wanted to be absolutely sure that he had the right guy.

Beside him, Bette breathed a skeptical scoff and crossed her arms, "I think both of you are full of shit."

Normally, Mars had all the answers anyone could ever want, but he was beginning to think that Bette was right. Letting on, however, wasn't going to happen. "Why don't me and you go outside? Let her do her thing, and you can tell me all about your husband and Gabriel trying to fuck me over." He took her by the arm, a move he used on Delphine much too frequently when she took to making a scene.

Thankfully, Bette was much more cooperative.
 

Ida tsked at him when he told her he'd pass, shooting a sullen, if predictable rejoinder his way. "Your loss," she said as she followed him up the steps. He really did have a fine ass. It filled out his broken in jeans just right and she kept her hands to herself with some difficulty. Estelle's mother, stupid slut that she was, had got her appetite for men from her mother, Ida noted as she followed the fine piece of meat up the stairs to look at a corpse. Ida had never been shy about appreciating a good tumble. The difference was, Ida had never expected anything from it, Renee had. Somehow or other, Estelle had seemingly managed to evade the slut gene and seemed to hold a more conservative view on the matter of men (with the noted exception of that ass that had hit her) and Ida thought that was a damn shame. She might as well do something about it while she had the chance.

Business first, though.

It didn't take more than a moment for Ida to catch why Estelle had called her. The stink, lying under the beginnings of rot that came with a dead body in the bayou air, caught at her nose and pricked her memory. She paused in the doorway and took a deep lungful, relishing breath, no matter the stink.

Her eyes flew open when the tired woman spewed her bile and Ida's lips curled in disdain. She was too old, too dead and too long a witch to put up with that kind of shit.

"This is the only way you are going to find out who killed your man you fucking twat." Ida spat out of Estelle's mouth. "So you'd best shut your hole and let me get to work."

She rolled her eyes (a gesture Estelle had clearly picked up from her) and shook her head, making Estelle's forest of curls bob and dance. She snorted as Mars walked the bitch out, appreciating his firm grip on the woman's arm. Not afraid to take charge, was he? That was a fine thing to see.

Turning her attention back to the room, the body and the stink she took another deep sniff, pulling it into her borrowed lungs. She began to walk widdershins around the room, her hands out beside her, spiraling inward until she stood before the corpse. There was a rising suspicion growing in her, one she wasn't quite ready to admit.

"Well now," she said to him as he sat covered with a nappy blanket as his burial shroud, "Let's see what you saw last."

Pulling down the blanket she began to curse long and loud.

She tore out of the house then, a string of obscenities running from her mouth as she marched down the steps towards Mars and his leathery bimbo.

"We got problems." She said, not bothering to soften the words for the widow. "Big fucking problems. You need to get her" she stabbed at her chest, her thumb thumping against her sternum as she spoke, "back to the house. She's not safe and something bigger than we expected is involved and it is picking off werewolves and witches alike."

She slipped her arm though Mars' and pulled him with Estelle's futile strength towards the car, not managing much ground. She looked at the widow and offered thin, paltry courtesy, "If you menstruate on all fours with fur I suggest you get with others of your kind. You probably aren't a target if you are but it can't hurt to be safe."

She gave another impatient tug on Mars' arm. "Come on."
 
A pattern seemed to be developing in Mars' life; a somehow unavoidable arrangement that left him constantly surrounded by horribly abusive women. There would be no apologizing for Ida, however, no time to fill in the gaps for Bette no matter how angry she was. There were things that Mars had to know, bits and pieces that needed to be filled in before Estelle and her grandmother were done instead. Despite how badly he didn't want to recognize his problems, when all was said and done, they were still very much his own, and it didn't matter how much magic he might have on his side—the pack still needed a leader. He wasn't going to be of any use to anyone if Gabriel got another big idea.

"What the fuck was that!?" Bette demanded, the screen door banging closed behind them as they stood on the porch. "You just gonna let her talk to me that way?"

The grip that Mars had on her arm was one that Bette could easily wrench out of, and he made no attempt to keep her still. "Shit's not my job," he claimed, though he felt a wave of anger roll off of her before a hand smacked furiously against his cheek. Maybe if it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have reacted, but Bette was still his inferior and the wolves inside of them snarled to life. He grabbed her, the fingers of one large hand gripping her beneath the jaw before pinning her back against the wall. "Just cause you lost your man doesn't mean you need to lose your head, too."

She was struggling for breath, her nails digging into the skin around his wrists, breaking the skin in a way a could never dream of. "No wonder they wanted out from under you," she gurgled.

Eyes narrowed, Mars pressed her closer to the wall, her bare feet kicking at his legs. "Why don't you try that again?"

The need to breathe properly outweighed her resilience, and a few moments later, Bette released her grip. It had never been so difficult to control the pack before, and resorting to violence, being like Hassun, was a realization that was sure to stay with him for longer than the night. "Tell me what you know," Mars demanded once more, slowly letting go and allowing Bette to return to her feet.

Rubbing at her jaw, she shook her head. "You gonna be disappointed," she warned with a click of her tongue. "Jules never said much—just that Gabriel was tired of you not doing what the last one did, that you weren't a good leader, that you's too young to be alpha, this and that." Bette wasn't breaking any big news, and it was difficult to tell which side she stood on as she lit another cigarette. "They started talking about taking you out months ago, maybe just as a joke at first, but then Gabriel got real serious about it, went to go talk to Hassun or something." She wrinkled her nose, like the name left a bad taste in her mouth among the smoke, "Jules didn't like it, wanted to pull out, I guess."

"And you thought I killed him?"

She shrugged, "Gabriel can't do shit for himself."

That was true, at least. The two had always come as a pair, but that didn't point him any closer to the truth. "So, nothing else?"

After a long inhale, Bette shrugged again, "he wouldn't tell me much, just some shit here and there about deals, about wanting to see that bitch in the swamp."

"Did they?" It was unlikely, of course, Ida probably would have mentioned something when she appeared, or Estelle would have known.

Before Bette could give an answer, the door flew open and Ida came running out, a string of curse-words in her wake. It was the most lively Estella had ever looked—which should have been ironic somehow—but now wasn't the time for such observations. "What did you see?" he asked, confused by the sudden urgency and stayed put for an extra second or two. Whatever was inside, or whoever killed Jules must have been truly evil. However, Ida's warning extended to Bette as well, which meant that the rest of the pack could easily be threatened.

"Don't worry," he told her, taking a few steps off of the porch, an apologetic look in his eyes, "I'll make those calls. Get somewhere safe, alright? You know how to reach me."

Bette didn't seem convinced—understandable, but not anything Mars could currently help. Instead, he took Estelle back to the car, got her inside and wasted little time in peeling out of the driveway back toward the shack. "You wanna explain all this to me?" he asked, glancing over to her, wondering when Estelle would return and Ida would fade once again. "Because I got other people to worry about—I got Gabriel to find."
 
Ida/Estelle was breathing hard, as if the short run (done at considerable speed) had taken more out of her than it should have. After a few moments of silence, over which could be heard the gravel of the drive flying out from under the wheels of Mars' care Ida realized it was fear that made her breathe hard, not exertion. Fear was bullshit. Nothing pissed her off more than fear, especially when she was already dead and couldn't die again. While some of it was fear for her granddaughter (and heir if the girl got her head out of her ass and accepted it) most of it was hold-over for the thing she really didn't want to think about.

She'd been avoiding thinking about it for some time, truth be told. She'd been telling herself she'd died of natural causes. She was old, she wasn't known for taking good care of herself. But now, faced with that stench in the cottage, that sickly sweet scent of rot that was familiar on a deep level, she couldn't deny it any more. She'd been killed. Her, Ida Moreau, had been taken by surprise and killed. And not just killed, taken out by magic. That was what riled her up the most. She'd been out-witched. She ground her teeth and seethed, especially when a bubble of thought from Estelle worked its way towards her. Willa. Willa had been taken out too. Willa whose gift was small and all but useless. Who had a slight knack for fortune telling and herbs and little more. Willa had been killed by the same thing.

She shot a look at Mars when he spoke, her mouth twitching in disappointment. She'd hoped to have a bit of fun with him, young borrowed body, hot werewolf with the look of a dog about him. It shouldn't have taken much to get him into her pants but now there were more pressing matters.

"You can go find your friend, I don't care. This is bigger than you now, though it is connected and you might wanna think about that some."

She leaned towards the open window and spat out it, the wind taking up the glob and lobbing it behind them.

"See the trouble is, whatever killed your friend back there killed me too. Killed my friend Willa as well if Estelle's insight is any good." She said it like it might not be. Oh Estelle had the instincts but she'd turned her back on her birthright for to long for her instincts to be taken seriously.

"Whatever killed those three, was there at the swamp last night. It sent that thing, it knows about Estelle and that means she's next. That wouldn't be any concern of your except for the fact that it killed your buddy. I don't know why, but the way it was done doesn't seem all that arbitrary does it? So you go do your wolfy things and watch your back. I need to get Estelle somewhere safe and then figure out what to do next. I don't think whatever it is got the better of me on sheer power alone…" She didn't finish her thought. Not wanting to admit to anyone, especially not her granddaughter or this poorly housebroken puppy that she'd been taken by surprise. Nor did she want to give voice that her biggest conflict was whether the loss of her granddaughter would be greater than the loss of her hard won territory. She couldn't just let Estelle walk away, would she?
 
The winds of change were often slow-blowing through their neck of the woods, but there were always exceptions. In just a matter of hours, everything had been turned upside down, and Mars could quickly feel the situation getting away from him, growing larger than necessary and threatening to drown him under circumstance. Despite being a sick product of magic himself, such an ancient curse that most people had stopped trying to understand it, there was no way that he could fight back against the powers that be on his own. Worse, Ida seemed to be at just as much of a loss. The future was looking bleak, dim like the sky above them and growing darker as the minutes passed on.

"I thought you just died cause you're old," Mars said, not bothering to try and sugar-coat anything. With the exception of his mother, elderly people died all the time and Mars had never thought much of it when he heard that so-and-so had kicked the bucket. Though, he had no reason not to trust Ida's word, and considering the way she had bolted from Jules' house, she felt the danger as well.

There was a lot to consider, even with the go-ahead to look for Gabriel. Even though he wasn't close with Estelle, barely knew her from any other woman on the street, he didn't want anything to happen to her. If she died, succumbed to whatever mysterious circumstance had taken Ida, Jules and Willa, he was never going to get to the bottom of anything—and he could be next. Where would the pack be without him? Their territory would be lost in weeks, and joining up with others was out of the question. It was better to be a loner than an outsider.

Up ahead, the road was starting to break apart into a fork. One way lead toward town, and the other took a deep turn toward the outskirts, back toward the swamp and further still toward the land that his own house sat on. "If whatever's out there is looking for Estelle, your place ain't safe," Mars said, stating the obvious, which he was sure Ida wouldn't appreciate. "I'll take her to my place. Maybe it'll buy us some time to figure this shit out."

There were no magical protections around his house or on the land and the only warning was a verbal caution, something that said outsiders weren't welcome. It may not have been much, but if Ida had been taken by surprise, and Jules and Willa were the same, Estelle would be like a sitting duck back at that small house. For now, it was the best that Mars could do for her, and after all she'd done, he felt like he at least owed her some protection.

Taking the right fork, a bit of loose dirt and gravel slid out from under the back tires, but Mars kept control. The ride back to the house was shortened a bit thanks to his steady pace and the smallest glimpses of anxiety that showed through his hands. Normally, he gripped the wheel loosely, aloof in almost every way, but now, his knuckles were tight, not quiet white, but just about.

Soon enough, they were pulling up the property's long driveway, wisps of dust flying up behind them as the sun continued to set. The house looked dark from far away, no lights on in the windows to make it look like a home, and Mars had to assume that Delphine was passed out from her afternoon activities. It was probably better that way, he told himself, only just now realizing that he hadn't considered his wife in his decision.

That seemed to happen more often than not.

"Don't call my wife a twat, alright?" he asked before they went inside, almost laughing as he parked and looked to Ida, whom he assumed was still occupying Estelle's body. "I'll never hear the end of it."
 
Ida sneered at Mars, twisting Estelle's pretty face up into a look that dripped disdain.

"No, I didn't die because I was old, though it sure as hell was made to look that way. That's why no one looked too deep into it. Not that any of the fucking cops around here would be able to see what was done, it was all magic, see. Magic that stinks like that place and magic that stinks like that thing last night. That means someone wants what was mine and is now Estelle's."

She spat out the window again, the foul taste in her mouth would simply not go away. She'd turned to watch the trajectory of her spit and so almost missed when he turned and took the fork that would not get them back to town. Ready to protest she narrowed her eyes when he spoke. Scoffing at his assertion that it wasn't safe at her place. The fuck it wasn't, he had no idea of the years of protections she'd laid down, the wards and charms, the bones buried here and there that sloughed off negative energy like rain of a fucking duck. But how would he know about that, she sneered to herself, he was probably barely even house-trained.

Still, part of her whispered into the storm of irritation that she'd been killed at home, maybe not in her cabin but on lands that should have been safe. If that was the case, Fido might have a point. Some peevish impulse made her hold her tongue and let him drive her and her granddaughter away from the town towards his home. It wasn't dark yet, that was when things would get real dangerous and she found, now that she'd had a taste of flesh again, that she wasn't eager to give it up.

She eyed him in his seat beside her and considered the possibilities. He certainly wanted the body she was borrowing, she could have fun with that and maybe, just maybe if she played the part well enough he'd fuck her thinking it was Estelle. Do her a real favor getting things started for her.

"Fine," she muttered, to keep him thinking she was merely irascible and not calculating and irascible. "Take me to your place and we'll work something out." What that something was remained unsaid but ripe with meaning. She folded Estelle's arms under Estelle's breasts and seemed to slouch in the seat but was in reality arching her back, putting the goods on display.

It wasn't a bad house, as far as houses went in the area, well enough maintained but with an overgrowth of vegetation that was only avoidable with the utmost dedication. She doubted Mars was the dedicated sort. Her grin when he spoke about his wife was a wicked, toothy affair that seemed very out of place on Estelle's pixie face.

"Of course not, not even if she is a twat. I'll stick with cunt, that work for you?"

Without even a lick of remorse she slid out of the car and followed him up the steps, her eyes sweeping across the landscape of his ass where it filled the worn jeans to perfection. Feeling peevish and impish all at once she reached up and smacked his ass lightly and then frowned at the stirring inside where Estelle resided, a passenger in her own body.
 
Although it didn't read on his face, Mars was shocked to hear that Ida had been murdered. From all the rumors that had circulated over the years, the old woman in the swamp was as powerful as they came, and knowing that there was another force out there, a different kind of evil, didn't bode well for the future. As much as he liked to think otherwise, the pack wasn't magic, and they were hardly equipped to fend off whatever was out there that wanted Estelle as dead as her grandmother. Unfortunately for fate, Mars wasn't the type to give up without a fight and would, eventually, untangle the complicated webs that had roped him into this mess.

For now, they needed to come up with a plan to keep themselves safe and alive until morning now that night was beginning to settle in. That plan needed to start inside, away from whatever prying eyes might have been in the area. "Not that either," Mars said, eyes more serious as he too exited the cars and shut the door behind him. The windows were left down, a habit that he had never really managed to break, and didn't think twice about as he and Ida (and Estelle) approached the house.

At one time or another, it had been a grand place, a jewel on the crown of sugar plantation that had been passed down through Delphine's family for generations. Now, and without all of the extra help, the house had fallen into a bit of disrepair, looking just as shabby as the rest of the town and finally matching the dirt road that lead up to it. Growing up with nothing, crammed into a dirty trailer, Mars couldn't say that he minded the way the shutters were hanging off their hinges, or the way the front door clattered in the breeze. He felt the same indifference toward the copious amounts of weeds and vegetation, and that second step that was rotted and creaky, always threatening to give way, but still managing to hold out.

The only thing Mars wasn't indifferent about, however, was that hand on his ass. He raised an eyebrow and snorted a laugh, somehow finding the harassment amusing. "I know that's not Estelle, by the way," he pointed out before getting the door for her, "but nice try." If he was going to take the bait, it would be from the woman herself—the one whose electric connection had been on his mind since the previous night.

Once inside, they were greeted by a stillness, soaked in humidity and fragments of dust that wafted through the air. Mars listened closely, sensitive hearing picking up on the sound of shallow, even breathing from the parlor, but he assumed Delphine wouldn't be asleep for long. "You want anything?" he asked, looking to the woman beside him. If they were going to form a plan, it probably needed to be done with a drink or two.

Before she could answer, Mars motioned for her to follow along, leading Estelle and Ida away from the grand foyer and deeper into the house, back through a short hallway and into the kitchen. He flipped on a light, but the yellow haze didn't make much difference with the setting sun just outside the window. The kitchen was on the smaller side, meant for workers the house no longer had, but it still served its purpose just fine. From a small cabinet, Mars grabbed a half-empty bottle of whiskey and two glasses. There was no ice to water down a good drink.

"So," he said, elbow leaned against the counter, hand around a glass as he looked at Estelle. "You're the expert here—you got any big ideas?"

Down the hall, Mars heard Delphine stir and the quiet sound of uneven footsteps began to approach. His shoulders stiffened slightly, brow furrowed and trying to prepare for what his wife was going to assume. Of course, who wouldn't have assumed the worst?

When the door swung open, Delphine was rubbing at her eyes, trying to work off the lingering sleepiness of a nap. For a moment or two, she looked happy, at ease and more agreeable than she had been earlier that afternoon—not so drunk. When she laid eyes on her kitchen, however, Mars felt a stab a guilt hit him right in the stomach as her face fell.

"Are you out of your mind?" she asked, voice steely, but soft, green eyes hurt.

Mars shook his head, "it's not what you're thinking." Grabbing another glass, Mars poured her a drink as well. That was what she liked best, and if he was going to explain anything to her, she was going to need something to wash it down with.
 
"Oh no, Sugar," she said unrepentantly. "That was all me. Estelle would if she dared, so I thought I'd take the initiative for her."

She stepped into the house after him, her face twitched a little when the door swung shut behind her just a little loudly only for the sound to be swallowed up by the still air of the house. It was dim inside, the sort of dimness that tricked one into thinking it was cooler than it was. Heat never bothered Ida, she had been to pickled and baked after a life spent in the sticky heat for it to reach her any more. However, riding along in Estelle's young body she felt the discomfort her flighty granddaughter felt after a few years in cooler climes. Darned fool girl to have run away like she had. Ida could understand it on some level, her Ma was a piece of work that somehow Ida never managed to take credit for, but she condone Estelle's flight, not even a little. Not even if she was thinking of encouraging the girl to leave if their efforts to combat whatever bitch had gotten her mind set on Ida's turf weren't effective.

Ida looked around the house as she followed Mars, looking for signs of his twat-wife, feminine touches that would lift the run-down place above the level of bachelor pad. She saw little in the way of signs of a feminine touch. What she did see bore the marks of age and she surmised that likely whoever lived here with him hadn't done a thing to change it once they'd landed it. It began to paint a picture for Ida of his wife, but also of him. It wasn't a pretty one, but still not ugly enough to offset the appeal of his fine ass and even sweeter body.

She followed him deeper into the house, still seeing nothing encouraging about his wife and held her tongue until he was handing her a glass of whiskey and leaning all casual like against the counter. Ida, who was feeling the ache of that cut her foolish granddaughter had made in her thigh hooked a foot around a battered chair leg and pulled it out from the table, plunking her own sweet (borrowed) ass down into it. She took a hearty sip of the whiskey and nodded approvingly, not her moonshine but it was better than a poke in the ass.

"Ideas, maybe," she began but was cut off by the sound of someone approaching. She paused, clearly waiting for the someone to approach. Watching Mars' face was enlightening. A window into his marriage and the impending scene. How very interesting. In preparation Ida shifted just a little in her chair, twisting her hips and arranging her shoulders in just the right way to put Estelle's body and face in the proper light. Her granddaughter was a fetching creature and sometimes nothing needed to be said to get some fun started.

His wife was a pretty thing, Ida reflected, but she clearly lived hard and didn't take care of herself. It was the sort of life that was going to burn her youth up real fast, leaving her haggard and weathered well before her time. You could see it in the skin around her eyes and just a little long the soft jaw. She was just about Estelle's age but wouldn't look so for long. There was a dull hardness to her eyes that spoke of deep poisoning that would leech out into the body before long.

"Oh no, Honey," Ida crooned in Estelle's honey-thick voice. "He's not out of his mind, least not about this."

She stood up, deciding that having her head below the woman's wasn't the approach she wanted to take. The woman seemed human, if a little pickled, but living with a werewolf she likely had taken on some of the habits and mindsets of them. Status would be key and Ida wasn't about to let this neutered bitch think she was lower than her, even if she wasn't going to call her a cunt.

"I'm…" she hesitated, to introduce herself as herself or as Estelle? It wasn't about honesty, mostly about ease. "Estelle Moreau, local witch and helper of werewolves when the price is right, which it is. So don't worry your pretty little head, he hasn't fucked me yet."

She turned her attention away from the woman as if she'd ceased to be of importance and picked up her conversation with Mars as if the woman hadn't ever walked in.

"I still think my place is the safest to stay while we sort this shit out, its little minion didn't get past my wards so that's something. And I weren't looking for it when it got me-got my grandmother," she moved past the fumble as if it hadn't happened.

"I'll be looking for it this time around so it won't have an easy shot again. Then we see if we can't convince your remaining buddy to cough up the bitch's whereabouts and take the fight to it. Or if you puss out and don't want to go after your friend I'll lay out a little trap and put out some bait."

She ran her free hand over her borrowed thighs indicating just what would be used as bait.

"I know a few more things than my gr-than I showed before, things that will do some real damage and level the field. So what are your plans or thoughts on the matter?"
 
Marriage was anything but easy, but even by that old standard, his was on the rocks. When he and Delphine had first met, she had been an outsider, the wild daughter of a wealthy widow, hanging out in places that she didn't quite belong and for obvious reasons, Mars was drawn to her spirit. She was a pretty woman, and she knew it, once sharp and witty, alcohol had dulled the fire that used to burn so brightly inside of her and some days, Mars barely recognized her anymore. Addiction, or rather, weakness, was common throughout the area, but Mars had always thought himself and his life to be invincible. Delphine was miserable most days, and Mars had stopped trying to make her better years ago.

For one reason or another, however, Ida seemed determined to gut the other woman where she stood, using Estelle's body to her advantage. Frowning into his glass, Mars watched his wife, seeing her fingers curl into a first, her pretty eyes narrow into a hateful glare and there was a part of him that wanted Ida to get what was coming to her. The old bitch was poisonous, just as bad as his mother, and he'd had enough bullshit for one day.

"This ain't no old bitch from the swamp," Delphine spat, ignoring Ida's misplaced presence as she strode across the kitchen. "This is where you been?"

Almost everything was a fight with Delphine, she was just angry and always looking to take it out on someone. Most days, Mars had a high tolerance for the antics of others, able to stretch his patience well beyond its breaking point, but a lack of proper sleep, combined with the stress he was feeling and Jules' death made it harder to be diplomatic. "She died," he explained, setting one hand on Delphine's waist, "this is her granddaughter—sort of."

"Sort of?" she asked, breathing a scoff, "what the fuck does that mean, Mars?"

As much as Mars might have enjoyed Ida's game before, he wasn't going to let her humiliate his wife. Among the werewolves, there were ranks and although magic came before humans, they were in his house. "It's complicated," he said, and managed to set his drink down in time to catch Delphine's wrist before she smacked him. He'd gotten good at that trick over the years, having tolerated those weak slaps since before their marriage. "Look," he went on, "Jules is dead—something killed that witch in the swamp and it wants Estelle too."

As Ida went on, now ignoring Delphine's diminishing outrage, Mars raised an eyebrow. "You're going to let that happen?" he asked, not taking the bait. There weren't many things that he was afraid of, and although the night before had revealed a side of life that he wasn't quite used to, he wasn't going to back down from whatever the hell was going on. Even if he did want to remove himself from the situation, however, he wasn't going to let Estelle be used that way. Letting Gabriel draw the thing out was better than putting Estelle in harm's way—she had already been through so much.

"He's really dead?" Delphine asked a moment later, reaching for Mars' glass.

Nodding, Mars didn't try and stop her. His hand stayed on her waist, hoping that it was comfort and security enough to keep her from jumping across the counter at Ida. "Whatever it was, it got his eyes."

Feeling Delphine shudder, he turned back to Ida. "I'll take you back there, but that's gotta be plan B." Estelle wasn't going to be bait as long as he could help it. He glanced toward the window, seeing the last bit of orange daylight clinging to the skyline. "If we can get Gabriel before dark, will you be able to get the truth out of him?"

That left Delphine on her own, though, and Mars felt plenty guilty. They may not have had a good relationship, but he didn't want anything bad to happen to her. If Gabriel really was wrapped up in something magical and that beast wanted him dead, his wife would be an easy target.
 
Ida smirked at Mars and with a deft flick of her wrist tossed the drink back in one go. It burned on the way down in a satisfying way. She could feel the warmth of it hit her gut. The resulting warm vapors rising upwards was a familiar and missed sensation. She'd never expected to have a drink again and thanks to Estelle's loan she got to have just that. It was decent whiskey but not her moonshine which held not only a potent amount of alcohol but a touch of the magic she had tied to herself and her lands. That was shit that would put you on your ass. She would just have to keep hold of this body until she got back there and got one more taste of the good stuff.

"Plan B?" she said holding her glass out to Mars, wanting a refill. "If you are gonna man up and take me to your friend it doesn't even need to be plan C or D or so on. She's my flesh and blood, the last drop of it until she decides to squirt out a brat and so I don't want to risk her if I can help it. But this thing coming after her? Well I'd rather Estelle here goes down fighting than be taken out without a whisper like I was."

There was bitterness and fury in that statement, but also unmistakable love despite the fact that she was hijacking Estelle's body.

"So yeah, we go talk to your buddy and I'll get the truth out of him. I'll try the back door first, sneaky like but if that don't work out—and it might not—then I'll need you to hold him down while I put the fear-a god in him and then rip it out."

It wasn't hard to see where Mars' thoughts went. With his pickled bitch. Goodness Ida hoped she wasn't going to be dragged along for the ride. As much fun as bating her could be, it would complicate things. Ida figured she knew some things owing that she fucked a werewolf, but that didn't mean Ida wanted her in on her own secrets, not with the way she was glaring at Ida and looking like she wanted to pull Estelle's hair and fight dirty.

"You might want to send Princess here away to safety for a few days. Get her out from underfoot until things are settled. She got family somewhere she can visit? If not just get her a wad of cash and send her as far off in a direction as the cash will carry her. If it isn't settled in a few days then it isn't ever going to be."

"I'm right here, hag," Delphine said as Ida went on.

Ida considered pretending that she hadn't heard her but it felt too childish for her to follow through with so she turned Estelle's pale eyes onto her and lifted her chin haughtily.

"Yeah, I see you, you're real hard to miss but I didn't think you had much to add to the conversation. If you do, then speak up. We got us a heap of trouble. Some swamp bitch is after my lands and seems to be looking to get all the other folks who aren't what they seem into the palm of her hands. That's easiest done by getting the competition out of the way before they know they are competition. We know now, so we have a chance to do something about it, but not if we have deadweight along for the ride. So if you got some way to help, Princess, I'd sure like to hear it."

She managed to smile while she spoke and not a completely snarky smile either. Because for all that she was talking confident she knew just how little she knew about the opposition.
 

Sharing was said to be caring, but Mars was quickly losing patience for Ida. The frown on his face, a look that creased his eyebrows and wrinkled his forehead, didn't stop him from refilling the woman's glass, however. The deep, golden liquid splashed into the glass as Ida continued, attempting to goad him into proving that he was a man. It was a phrase that Mars endured from Delphine more times than he could count, something that he often let slide because he didn't want to hurt her—she was only human. Ida was different, though, just as evil as his own mother, but wrapped in a beautiful body that wasn't her own. Estelle's face chased away the urge to be all of the horrible things that were repeatedly slurred at him.

"You better figure out who you're talking to," he warned before refilling his own glass now that Delphine was done with it. He took a sip for himself and listened as Ida revealed the plan. It sounded too simple, too easy to fuck up somehow, but they didn't have many other options while racing against the setting sun.

While part of Mars didn't really care who or what had stolen Ida from this world, he did want to get to the bottom of things with Gabriel. This mess seemed to stem from him—the distrust, the questions from the pack, Hassun's wariness and now Jules' death. Mars wasn't going to let his former friend get away with whatever he was planning, and if this was all a scheme for more land and a higher rank, well, it would be gained over Mars' dead body. Finally having to question his own mortality caused Mars to take another drink from his glass while he ignored Delphine's protests over leaving.

The house that they lived in had come from Delphine's mother, now deceased like her father and there was nowhere else for the woman to go. She didn't have family, no one to protect her but him. Skeptical, Mars glanced to his wife, her pretty green eyes looking softer, filled with more emotion than he'd seen in the last five years. They may not have had the best marriage, but that didn't mean that Mars felt good about taking off to some magical...whatever "I'll come back for you," he said, eyes still on her as Ida managed to avoid everyone's least favorite name for a woman—though princess wasn't much better.

"Come back when?" Delphine asked, the worry from her eyes finally bleeding into her expression. She was usually so controlled, either a mask of neutrality or openly sneering, but in the dying light of day, her nerves were palpable. "I don't mean to burst your crazy bubble here, but you don't sound prepared."

If that was a shot at Ida, it was a mild one wrapped in a bit of truth. They weren't prepared, but standing around and talking about it wasn't going to do anyone a bit of good. "Call Bette, alright?" he asked of her, throwing back his drink before setting the glass aside. "She shouldn't be too far away, and you can stay with her at the lake." It was more like an overgrown pond, but the old house that sat on the land was a safehouse, a place to gather and regroup. If this turned out to be a bigger deal than just some other magic bitch, they were all going to need the downtime.

Turning to Ida, who was still using Estelle's body, Mars nodded for her to get up. Racing against the night wasn't going to be easy, but it wasn't impossible. "Gabriel's place ain't far."

"Be careful," Delphine said before he could leave. She reached for him, her small arms wrapping around his neck, tight in a way they hadn't been in years. Mars paused, but hugged her back and gently accepted the kiss she pressed to his lips.

"Don't worry," just one more kiss before everything went to hell.

It was hard to leave Delphine, but Mars quickly ushered Ida back toward the car. His mind was on Gabriel once they were back outside, full of anger and questions that needed answers.
 

She watched the tender domestic scene and managed not to gag. She didn't smirk either though, she didn't want to off-put her best chance of help just out of spite. Estelle's best chance of help, she reminded herself when she felt the stirring of her granddaughter's awareness deep inside her. She felt a wee bit of guilt for having hijacked the body from Estelle when she'd come to Ida for help and she'd exploited her vulnerability. Still, she told herself, it would teach the girl to remember limits when getting ridden by anything, be it loa or grandmother, there should always be a term limit. She'd give Estelle back her body, in time. It was better in the long run that the experienced woman should be in charge.

Princess let the big ole Alpha go after a bit, sniveling a little before shooting Ida a glare. Ida still refrained from sneering but couldn't resist donning an overly innocent expression as she sashayed out after Mars, letting the skinny bitch see the round curve of Estelle's ass as she followed Mars out the door. Let her chew on that!

She slipped into the car after Mars, slamming the door shut and scanning the skyline through the trees for where the light was coming from, to get a sense of direction. She said nothing as he started up the car, merely leaning back against her seat and regarding him while rubbing the spot on her borrowed thigh where her granddaughter had displayed her level of inexperience. She'd never had a wolf before and, if she was truthful with herself, wasn't likely to have one now. He knew who she was and she could see a dislike so great when he glanced at her that she was certain there was nothing she could do to get him into her. That didn't mean she wouldn't take some great satisfaction in trying. She didn't acknowledge the part of her that was okay with his irritation with her bleeding over onto Estelle. Estelle wouldn't know what to do with him anyway. Like her Ma, she didn't know how to handle men. Speaking of handling men…

"We get to your buddy's house, you let me try my way. But is he going to bolt when he sees you? Or will he want to whip his dick out and scare you with it? If you want to whip yours out too, go for it. Just don't get into a physical fight until either he's pressed the point of I've given you some sort of signal. Who knows, he might wanna monologue on us. That'd be handy."

Handy but unlikely. She wondered if this Gabriel was a patsy in this matter or if he was equal partner. Reading between the lines it was clear that the one rotting without his eyes had been a patsy. She wished she could have got to him before he lost his life and his eyes, not for humanitarian purposes, but she was confident she could have pulled something from him worth knowing. Spilled milk would curdle fast in this heat, she reflected.

"You think this Gabriel bitch is an instigator or just a tool?"

 
For as much as he might have wanted to, it was important not to worry about Delphine as he and Ida pulled away from the house. Although she wasn't a werewolf, she was accepted among most of the deltas, Bette especially due to shewolves being rare, but Mars was sure that she would be taken care of and that he would see her again. Their marriage was fucked, crumbling and falling apart by the day, but if anything happened to her, Mars was never going to forgive himself.

Driving toward Gabriel's, which was nothing more than a broken down trailer with flat wheels on a plot of land, Mars regarded Ida's speculation. Gabriel changed himself so often that it was hard to tell what they might walk into, but one thing had always been glaringly clear about the other man—he wasn't shit. "He's small," Mars said, a smirk tugging at his lip as Ida continued to question what kind of man he was. "He's always needed some muscle to make his threats stick—that's what Jules was for—and since Jules is dead, I'm guessing Gabriel is just a tool." Whatever he was caught up in remained a mystery, and although it clearly had something to do with Hassun, Mars was willing to bet that Gabriel would talk with some convincing.

"So what's the signal?" he asked, taking a rough turn and feeling the car lean on its wheels. Cops never came out too far past town, not unless someone was really dead, and Mars wasn't worried about getting pulled over. Rules didn't apply to him anyway, not when he so often made his own. "You gonna wiggle your nose or something?" he raised an eyebrow, sure that his lack of seriousness and Bewitched jokes weren't appreciated, but some things were just too easy to pass up.

By some kind of miracle, they made it just before sundown, but the time was cut extremely close. Whatever Ida's plan was, it needed to be fast. Luckily, it looked like Gabriel was home, the crooked front door was open, letting in a little bit of breeze through the hole-ridden screen. None of them lived lavish lives, and Mars supposed that was where some of the frustration came from. He had always tried to sympathize with Gabriel, agree that their situation, the lack of real power in the world, was a crime in itself, but talk was cheap. People were dead now, friends and lovers that no one was ever going to get back and that was so much worse than just being challenged for his position. There were few things in the world that Mars would have given up alpha for, but he would have packed his shit and left if this mess could have been avoided.

Getting out of the car, the sound of the door shutting echoed through the area and although the element of surprise should have been on their side, Gabriel soon appeared in the doorway. He was willowy, standing there in a thin t-shirt and ripped up jeans, and his narrow face was obscured by the screen, unreadable. "Mars?" he asked, but his voice gave it all away, that twinge of nervousness that he could now smell in the damp air. "What are you doing here?"

Gabriel opened the door and stepped out onto the makeshift porch, the wood creaking beneath his bare feet. He eyed Estelle suspiciously, but quickly softened as his eyes fell to her pretty face, and he gave a low whistle. "You didn't tell me you was bringing a girl," he laughed, though his shoulders remained tense, "and it ain't even my birthday."

Slipping his hands into his pockets, Mars resisted the urge to go after the other man. Ida had already warned him, and he didn't want to risk spoiling the plan with such limited daylight. He looked to her, hoping that they were seeing the same tells, that she wasn't falling for Gabriel's slick mouth.
 
"Wiggle my nose? No, for you Sugar, I'll wiggle my ass." She rolled her eyes and mused over what he'd said. Gabriel was small, was he? Well so was Estelle for that matter and when she'd been in her own Skin, Ida was too. That hadn't stopped her from doing what she'd needed to. Meanness could certainly make up for a lack of physical size. Magic certainly gave an advantage but it didn't exactly offset physical weakness. Magic, good magic, took preparation and wasn't always flashy. For certain there was flash and bang that Ida could do but her best work was laid down over the course of seasons, such as the wards around her house. Estelle wasn't so skilled as Ida and though Ida had control of her body, it was still Estelle's power she was using and so she was limited by that. Innate power was good, Estelle had great potential, but it was atrophied and neglected.

Not for the first time, nor the last, Ida mourned her own death. Her body may have been old and withered, but she'd been powerful.

She eye the trailer skeptically when they arrived. For a pack of apex predators they sure lived like rodents, she mused, not even blinking an eye at the irony of looking down her nose at their hovels when hers wasn't much better. Gabriel made his appearance, early, if the tension in Mars' shoulders was any indication. Had the thin man been listening for them? He certainly wouldn't scream werewolf! to anyone looking his way, but even from a distance Ida could feel the vibrations in the air that told her what sort of creature she was dealing with. His feral nature bled off of him just as it did Mars. Almost as potent too, which was interesting.

His assumption that she'd been brought for him told Ida a few things about Mr. Alpha and his buddies. Dogs in truth. Still, it worked for her and so when she circled the car she did so with an extra sway to her hips. She affected an eager, slightly simple expression as if she'd had no plans in her day other than coming to fuck him.

"Not your birthday?" Ida simpered in a voice that was much closer to Estelle's usual tones than her own acid ones. "Well that don't mean you can't get a present. Your friend here," she paused to giggle and grab a hold of Mars' ass (and a fine ass it was), "said you needed some cheering up and I said I was happy to cheer anyone up if they made it worth my while."

She let go of Mars' backside and sauntered towards his friend running a hand up and over Estelle's breasts, pulling his gaze towards them.

"I was told this might even be a two-fer. You two wanna bond over me, that's fine. But first, let's see whatcha got."

She rose up on her tiptoes and pressed herself against him, irritated with the ache from the cut in her thigh but not enough to let it stop her. She slid her arms over his shoulders and tangled her fingers in his hair. She felt his hands come around to grip Estelle's hips and made a pleased sound that wasn't exactly an act. Gabriel was no Mars but she'd never been shy of fun.

"There we go," she encouraged, licking her lips to encourage him to kiss her. All she while she was beginning to send out the tendrils of her power that would hopefully wind their way inside of him, plucking out bits of what she needed to know without him even aware of it. No nose or ass wiggling needed just yet.
 
Truthfully, Mars would have preferred that Estelle wiggle her own ass, but that was neither here nor there. Depending on what Gabriel had mixed himself up in, Mars knew that he should have counted himself lucky to have Ida on his side. By all accounts, she was more powerful than any witch in the area, rumored to cure every ailment from poison ivy to a cheating spouse and because of Estelle, Mars trusted her to get to the bottom of his problem as well. Of course, he could have done without all of the touching, but it was a small price to pay if Gabriel fell for the easy way.

Hanging back by the car, Mars watched as Ida sashayed over to Gabriel, swaying Estelle's hips as she walked. She was a beautiful woman, and Mars hated the stirrings of jealousy that bubbled within him, instantly reminded of the electric connecting he shared with Estelle. He told himself that it was stupid, that he was losing focus, and that Estelle wasn't even the one throwing herself all over Gabriel's lanky form—Ida was—and for a good cause, too.

"Is this a joke?" Gabriel asked, his voice a nervous chuckle as his hands palmed Estelle's ass. "Girls this pretty don't give me the time of day." Standing there, Mars couldn't help but snort, because that was the fucking truth if he'd never heard it before. Even when they were younger, out of high school but still just stupid kids, women would sooner gravitate to Jules than Gabriel. He was thin, didn't look like he could handle himself if he needed to and Mars supposed that was what drove women away. It may have been a bit old fashioned, but most of them just wanted to feel safe.

"Ain't no joke," Mars shook his head and managed to keep his jaw from clenching. Ida's plan was torture, making him feel guilty and sick all at once. "We've done this before," he reminded, recalling a party at the beginning of the year just after the full moon; another indiscretion that Delphine didn't know about. Although, he and Gabriel hadn't exactly been sharing, not in the way that Ida was implying.

Still looking skeptical, Gabriel didn't seem ready to look deeper and miss out on such an opportunity. Untangling himself from the woman, he wrapped his arm around her slim shoulders instead and turned to head inside. "Why don't you get out of here for a while, Mars?" he suggested, "maybe see if Della wants you for something."

That was the problem with Gabriel, always running his mouth before he thought to really consider the facts. "Don't worry about her," he said, outwardly calm and not missing a beat. He stepped away from the car, silently letting on that he wasn't going anywhere. "Don't you know sharing is caring?" he asked rhetorically, "you can't go taking everything for yourself." Everything like land and titles, Mars wasn't going to be shaken off that easily.

Frowning, Gabriel didn't argue with the alpha. He pressed his lips to the woman's cheek instead, dangerously close to her full lips and ushered the company inside.
 

It was quick thinking on Mars' part to follow up on her implication that the two men should share her. It saved her from being alone and show something like flexibility in his thinking. For a brief moment Ida savored the thought of actually being shared. She purred and rubbed herself up against Gabe, fondly remembering a great many nights when, fueled by drinks and drugs she had run rituals to raise power and lay down the foundations of the protections that rimmed her lands. There had been many souls to help with that work and though most of them hadn't known what, exactly, they were doing, not a one of them complained. Orgies were messy things, but stellar for raising power and pouring it into channels already laid out.

But Gabriel was one of the things they needed to crack and getting in his head wasn't going to be as simply if he were actually in her pants. That took some concentration that Ida was sure would be lost if she truly indulged instead of playing the part. Which was a pity, really. Mars certainly looked like he gave a good romp, though with his arrogance she supposed he might be the sort to think that penetration was gift enough for a woman.

When Gabriel gave in and leaned to kiss her cheek, Ida turned her head, sliding his lips over the velvet of Estelle's cheek to the soft, honeyed lips. She didn't let him pull away but parted her lips encouragingly, flicking her tongue lightly against his mouth all the while she wove her web, spider like, thickening the strands she was working into his thoughts.

Once she felt him kiss back she pulled away, giggling and nudging him with her shoulders to go into the house. "C-mon now," she urged. "Let's get somewhere we can all be comfortable. We aren't savages, you know."

He laughed, confused and dazed by the circumstances, but resumed leading the way into his hovel. Even as they walked, Ida kept up her work, little needles of power and thought worked through his innate defenses, worming their way into his skull. Perhaps she was frustrated, or simply distracted by the intensity of arousal in a young, healthy body but they weren't far past the doorframe, when she resumed kissing him. She was beginning to get flickers of images from him, Hassun whom she knew from Estelle's thoughts and something… green. The green was important, she knew, it wasn't the green of verdant growth, but the green of moldering rot. It was important and so she pressed both her mouth and her powers to pursuing it. Gabriel made a surprised noise that turned pleased at her onslaught but there was the taste of suspicion on his tongue. A taste which increased when the door closed. Ida didn't know if it was Mars closing it or the wind, but something about the sound of it clicking shut woke something in Gabriel. His eyes, half-lidded in response to her kissing, flew open and he looked down at her, then towards Mars. He pulled away, his face twisting into a suspicious grimace.

"Hey, what the fuck is going on here?" he asked and she felt the snapping of her strands as he pulled away from her, she tried to follow but he was spooked enough he instinctively shoved her back. She went flying and clattered against a rickety counter.

"Fuck!" she shouted and then growled, "That count as Ass-wiggling pretty boy?"

 

The lust in the air was from more than just Gabriel thinking he was about to get lucky. Mars could only hope that this was all for show and that Ida wouldn't actually use her granddaughter in such a way. It was bad enough watching Gabriel with hands all over Estelle's body, and worse seeing the two kiss. A flare of jealousy mixed with the heady air, but not enough to distract Gabriel, whose mouth was plenty occupied after the three of them entered the trailer.

It was a mess inside, but Mars supposed that observation was easy to make when he was left to stand there. There were newspapers strewn across the kitchen table, though, empty cans of beer left in cup holders, or crushed and lying in front of the television. It wasn't often that he stepped foot into Gabriel's home, but he couldn't recall the place ever looking so disheveled before. It was the mark of a nervous man, someone who was worried about something, or waiting for a coming storm. Just being there when he already knew some of the truth was annoying, and without meaning to, Mars clenched his fists. If Ida gave the signal, he wasn't going to hesitate.

When the door closed behind them, either by the wind or something else, Gabriel's eyes opened. Something changed inside of him and Mars didn't like the look that came into those shifty irises. For a moment or two, nothing happened, but a quick, agitated question had Gabriel shoving Ida back into a flimsy counter.

"That's what I wanna know," Mars growled in return and reached for Gabriel. He was smaller, weaker and Mars didn't have any trouble picking him up and pinning him against the opposite counter. The man's head knocked back against a cupboard, the door rattling with the kitchenware inside as Mars shoved him harder against the imitation wood. "You gonna tell me what you did, or are we doing this the hard way?"

Struggling and pinned by his arms, Gabriel kicked his legs out and caught Mars in the shin. "What I did?" he asked, eyes wild and voice pitchy. "What the fuck are you talking about!?"

Jules was dead, didn't Gabriel understand that? The other man's refusal to own up to anything, along with decades of scheming and lying had finally come to a head, and Mars would be damned if he let it destroy the pack. It only took one punch to break Gabriel's nose and send blood pouring down his front—the three or four extra were just overkill, frustration that came spilling out and if this were just about Jules, Mars might have kept going until his old friend was dead. Instead, he just threw the man onto the floor where his back his the old stove and caused the door to fall open.

"Did you get anything?" he asked, looking to Ida. If Gabriel tried to run, Mars wasn't above hitting him until he found his place again.
 

Never one to shy from violence, Ida watched, interested as the two men went at it. Or rather she watched Mars beat the shit outta Gabriel. It was in no way a fair fight and Ida could see as he thrashed the smaller man that there was more than simple anger behind it. Something fresh put extra relish in his punches. She wasn't an idiot and knew full well there was an iceberg of tangled emotions behind the struggle, but she relished the presence of Jealousy.

Her arousal from the carnal contact with Gabriel didn't dim watching the fight, seeing the blood. She knew his kind, she knew that sometimes violence was nearly as arousing for them as some good foreplay. This little mission with Gabriel might turn into a two-fer of a different sort. When Mars finally tossed Gabriel down Ida sauntered up to him, standing behind him but not in a blind spot and looked around him at the crumpled man, a bloom of crimson on his stained t-shirt. She put her hand up onto Mars' bicep, which was quivering and hard from exertion and rage. Simply delicious. She resisted the urge to lean in and lick the sweat off of his skin.
"I didn't get much, just some flickers before he caught on." Caught on or she'd grown clumsy in her lust. She wasn't about to admit to that to anyone. Stroking her thumb along the curve of muscle in a slow, rhythmic way she looked down at Gabriel.

"We coulda had a fun time with this, but no, you had to put up a fuss."

Without taking her eyes off of the downed werewolf she said to Mars, "Hold him down."

She waited impassively if a little impatiently while Mars secured Gabriel, her eyes flicking towards the lowering dark, a fact that hadn't seemed so important when she'd been kissing Gabriel and trying to slip into his mind. Now she was very aware of the vulnerability of her granddaughter and herself so far from the protections of home.

When Gabriel was as secure as Mars could manage she knelt down beside them and took a hold of the smaller wolf's head. "This won't hurt," she lied as she stabbed her power past his wary defenses and began to fish through his thoughts. She might have laughed, she might have cried, this man's life was one of selfishness and frustration, yearnings and the inability to bring them to fruition. Finally though she found a hard knot of thoughts, something rimmed in green and rot. Something protected. She smiled, Estelle's face stretching into a rictus of wicked glee as Ida began to peel away the layers of work around it. He knew, Gabriel knew who it was, he knew where she had been last time Hassun had taken him. Ophelia. The name meant nothing but the flavor was unmistakable. The face in Gabriel's memory was little more than a corpse's. Thin, emaciated with leathery skin and only a bit of hair over a nearly bald pate. The withered ribcage filled an over-large green house dress under with hung withered breasts the shape and consistency of fried eggs. She could taste Gabriel's disgust and she could taste the creature's hunger, even in a memory. Then, under Mars' hands Gabriel began to scream, bucking and writhing. Ida fell back onto Estelle's ass as blood began to pour from Gabriel's eyes and ears, joining the drying river of red that came from his nose.

 

The softness of her hand on his arm was almost enough to make Mars forget that Estelle wasn't truly there. It was hard to tell if she would have approved of such violence, if her panties would have gotten wet from the sight of fresh blood and wolves doing what they did best. Mars only felt sick, nauseated deep inside and down to his bones as he looked down at Gabriel. Their friendship had always been something of mystery, always had its ups and downs, but Mars hadn't ever thought that a time like this would come—not when Jules was dead, and something more sinister was at play. Breathing heavily, sweat clinging to the back of his shirt and one hand still curled into a fist, part of him wanted to end the other man. That was the worst part.

As Ida stepped away, no longer stroking his arm so lovingly, Estelle's velvet voice filled the small kitchen once more. Her request was a simple one, though not one that Mars truly wanted to comply with. Fate had twisted his arm, however, the same way he was about to hold Gabriel down and keep him from squirming like the snake he was. As alpha, many challenges had come and gone from his life, but it was hard for him to accept that such a plan had developed right under his nose. Why hadn't he caught on sooner? Why hadn't he wanted to see what was right in front of him all along?

Wordlessly, Mars snatched Gabriel up again, frustration, anger and disappointment rolling off of him in waves as the man struggled weakly in his grasp. He had always thought of Gabriel as harmless, just a schemer, the kind of person who might steal a watch and then sell it back to the owner—but there was evil inside of him now, a destructive force that had earned him every last bit of whatever he was about to get.

The air was tense as Ida resumed her tactics, and Gabriel's body stiffened and thrashed in his arms as the old witch drifted off into another world. Mars watched, horrified and beside himself as Estelle's face twisted into a humorless grin. Again, Gabriel thrashed, his wiry legs kicking out and arms attempting to flail, but Mars held him down. However, his grip faltered when the man began to scream, loud and pained, the sound unlike anything Mars had ever heard before. Ida fell back and Mars let go, kneeling beside his former friend as blood poured from his eyes and ears. Gabriel tried to stop it, shoving his hand against an ear and then an eye before his movements became weaker.

It was like he was in a trance, off somewhere else and just watching this happen. Mars shook himself free and grabbed the collar of Gabriel's t-shirt, yanking the cotton fabric up to wipe at his eyes, and mumbling a string of curse words under his breath. He didn't even know what he was saying, but soon enough, Gabriel was gone—dead just like Jules. Suddenly, Mars' world felt incredibly small and for the first time through this entire fucked up experience, he was scared.

Hands stained from the beating and attempted revival, Mars looked to Ida. "What was that?" he asked, dumbly, quietly. It dark outside now, the sun finally set just moments before Gabriel's death, and Mars didn't think it was wise to hang around the trailer for too long. Whatever was out there, whatever Ida saw inside of Gabriel's mind, waiting around for it to come out and play was a bad idea.
 
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