Posting Guidelines

Please, above all else, use proper spelling, grammar, sentence structure etc when posting. It's extremely difficult to respond to something that's impossible to read.
Secondly, it is preferred that each post is between 3 and 6 paragraphs - per character if possible- though more is always welcome. Each should have a good amount of detail, thought and depth to the character. Just having short, clipped sentences telling what they're doing is really boring.
Third, concerns turn order. Never post unless there are two between your last post and the one you want to type. Tag that which is involved in the proper places.
Forth, it would be nice if you posted location and time as well, considering not everyone is always going to be in the same place at the same time and all.

Time: 9:50AM
Season: Early Autumn
Weather: Clear Sky, Sunny with a few clouds drifting

Locations

As of yet we have three central locations to visit. They are as follows. Of course, you can go other places, provide a picture and I will add it to the list.

Moonlight Manor



A cabin house away from the town, with roughly 6 rooms with two beds each, three floors including a basement and an attic. The main house of the pack though most members have homes of their own, they stay here in times of collective pack danger. The property is closer to the mountains and hidden in the woods as well, with a series of other, small cabins around the place. There's a garden in the back and a set of fields on the other side of the wood where they grow for trade.

Volrath's Forest



A wood said to have house a tribe of natives before the founding of the town though when settlers first arrived they were nowhere to be found. It's a place where humans don't often tred because of the wild life there, the predators strangely aggressive and territorial.

Town - StillWater

Settled on a lake not far from the mountainside and stationed near a safer wood, the folk are usually friendly. It contains a small family owned diner, a library - and book store -, a farmers market that gathers not far from the town every Sunday, a bus stop to school in the next town over and a gas station. As well as various residencies.

The sun shined bright as light and distanced clouds danced about the the sky. The air fresh and crisp with just a tinge of biting cold to remind you that you were alive.
It was dreadful, Ribald quickly draped the curtains, sealed the heavy metal sills and shut himself from the world that reminded him too much of the rolling plains and clear skies of Wisconsin. Fortunately the sun hadn't ruined any of the multitude of volatile chemicals in the room, and for that Ribald was thankful. Fortunately his experiment was going well, the white tiled room was now painted a dark red. The results were surprising, Solution A to F(Heavy Metal Bases) had little effects, while Solution S-V (Carbo-Sulfates bases) held the more... spontaneous results. Ribald sighed, as fun as it was working with tissue and blood samples, he wanted a live specimen. Command wouldn't send him any while going on about 'logistics' and 'civilian safety.' Honestly he was bored, nothing happens in this shit town, the people were too nice, the streets too clean, and he was pretty sure command was bullshitting him when they said 'likely presence of Whiskey Tangoes.' He wanted live subjects and he wanted it now.

He prepped his pickup and opted to bring Cat along for the trip. A truck bed full of metal traps and boxes didn't seem too out of place in a town who enjoyed varied hunting vistas, and he drove out towards the more ancient trees of the Whatsawhosits Forest.

The drear and mossy air in the dark undergrowth sat well with Ribald as he unloaded his truck. It was like a regular old pre-hunt briefing session, minus the yells to get him to pay attention. The blood packs would be smeared along tree trunks, staggered steps with broken branches, and faux antler markings simulated a animal on its last legs. All of this led to the climax, a Thule Society Favorite, a barbed titanium thread snare, certain to trap even a rampaging bull elephant. He read through the town's hunting laws: tags not needed for subsistence hunting, and traps are a-okay so long as they are humane (which his were definitely not, but no game warden comes this far into the woods and enforcement was lax over all.)

Afterwards he spent the morning setting multiple trails and traps, keeping his step light and humming a quiet tune he tried to keep his presence low; he'd rather not meet a beast while he was unprepared and alone. Of course he didn't expect anything substantial from this undertaking. While he hoped for a miracle, a regular wolf or bear would keep his freezer stocked for quite a bit.

He'd come back, but he guessed it was about time for some eats and he called Cat back; if anything this town had great steak and grits.

Moonlight Manor
Damien watched the sunrise, his eyes memorized by the different shades of color that were now coming into view. The dark blue of the night sky began to change its tone from a dark color to a more light indigo with different shades of orange, pink, and yellow mixed together. His eyes focused on the changing scenery much like artist would when he would want to make a stroke just right.
Though the sight was beautiful he turned his attention down below as the mists of the morning fog began to roll in, enveloping and covering everything in its past. It was now morning and the forest began to awaken. The rabbits came from their burrows, the deer drank from the streams, the wind blew and with it a message was sent rustling whatever wildlife in the woods that were still sleeping to wake up. The people in the manor were no different, inside he heard familiar sounds of floors creeking, doors opening, and his fellow wolves getting ready to start their day.
Damien stood there on the balcony of the highest floor of the manor studying the events taking place like much a king does when he overlooks his kingdom. This had become a routine for him long before he had become the alpha of his pack five years ago. No this routine went back to his days in Russia when he was just 10 years and his grandfather finally allowed him to hunt on his own. Every day for 15 years he would watch the sun rise, and every day he would watch it set. Weither it be here or Russia the sun still rose and still set. With a deep breath he howled into the distance, letting it be carried by the winds. It is finally morning

Aurora

Grumbling at the familiar sounds of her family waking, Aurora pulled her covers more firmly over her head, her eyes squeezing shut as the sounds of someone beginning breakfast filled the kitchen below.

The sound of her room door opening causing Aurora to still and pretend to sleep once more.

"Mama!" Aurora playful grumbled and slowly began to pull herself from her nest, her cobalt-blue eyes focusing on the familiar scent of the person who'd released the happy squeal.

"Morning Sena, are you ready for school?" Aurora smiled when Sena's lips trembled and pulled down into a frown, her pale arms crossing across her chest, her matching cobalt-blye eyes narrowing.

"No! Today's going to be boring! I don't wanna go!" She demanded as her foot stomped on the wooden floor, Aurora sighed and slipped free from her bed, kneeling down until she was eye-level with Sena's frowning face.

"You have to pup, it's almost winter break. Then you'll be here all day with everyone and James. I know the last two weeks are boring but you have to attend, how about this? Go and see how the rabbits are doing and then you'll get ready to leave." Aurora offered with a smile, Sena buffs and figited for a full fifteen seconds before beaming and bolting from the room.

"Okay!" Was Sena's reply as she reaches the stairs and landing before she heads towards the backyard where a small burrow of rabbits had been discovered not three days ago. Pausing before entering her bathroom she smiled at the howl of her Alpha filled the air and echoed across their land, the same as any other day in the Manor.

Willard got up this morning feeling rather sullen with a crick in his neck, and to make it worse his coffee maker was being quite an asshole and withholding the black life-blood from him. He left the small suburban house -or urban house he guessed, there wasn't really a traditional urban high-rise district in town- in hopes of heading to the diner. He donned his work jacket and grabbed his wallet as he closed the front door behind him.He began to walk, but his blood pressure rose as he passed that eccentric lads house. It never felt right passing it and the boy was definitely someone from the Society, but that boy never seemed hostile towards him, instead asking if he wanted to watch the game or some other. Willard declined of course, but he was relieved that aspect of his old life had passed him.

Diner
He opted to walk the short distance, get some exercise in those old legs of his. A morning fog hung around town, but the school kids and workmen hadn't filled the streets quite yet so getting to the diner was rather peaceful. He moved to open the glass doors of the diner when a ominous wind carrying a feral howl sent chills down his spine, every instinct in his body told him to leave town, that he didn't belong, that he was an outsider. He felt this before, and he dreaded to think the implications of what would come. They hadn't acted upon his arrival yet, he'd have time. They wouldn't know he was even here if he played his cards right. He entered the diner, waved to Becky and ordered the usual steak and grits with coffee for breakfast.

The young woman had slept through the night with the space in the bed next to her filled by the bulk that was her mate and alpha male, Damian. He was warm when he slept, gentle when he touched her and always kind when he could though there was always a part of him that he wouldn't allow her to near, even after the five years since he had become the alpha male and taken her to mate. They had yet to produce an offspring. It was strange in the eyes of the pack and she knew it though she wouldn't pressure him or force herself upon the man who she could tell by looking at him, had lost much more than she could possibly believe. That was why she couldn't force him to do anything, even with her ready and wanting she wasn't the type to force anyone to do anything - regardless of the power she held because of her position. She lay then in bed, wearing a long white t-shirt and her panties, though the man had little touched her the night before other than to stroke her thigh until she fell asleep after dark when he was the most relaxed and comfortable with her that he had been in a very long time. She remembered the soft kiss that he had touched to the top of her head when he thought she was sleeping and a light blush spread across her cheeks as she remembered it. He was just too sweet to not like.

The woman rolled out of the bed with a tired yawn and stood, stretching up until the shirt lifted to to reveal a strip of her stomach while long black hair fell down her back and cascaded in the waves that shone straight and simple on their journey down her back. She looked pass herself toward the balcony and saw her mate outside, watching the sun rising though she had missed a fair amount of it in her slumber. It had been a long time since she had slept so long and instead of doing nothing she found a pair of black pajama pants and pulled them on before walking outside with the male. She didn't reach out to touch him at first, nor did she speak as she leaned against the railing and let the wind play with the tips of her hair, lifting them as they danced in the light breeze. She leaned out over the edge and looked out over the forest, breathing in the morning air as the sun rose and waited for the man to say something though she had never expected him too in the first place.

The Japanese woman tilted her head back and looked at the male beside her, quietly reaching out to touch a soft hand to his arm though she moved her gaze away from him again when she looked and parted her lips while she touched the tense muscle of his forearm. "How'd you sleep?" She asked him, her voice quiet and her accent just barely noticeable while her followed the line of his arm up to his elbow where she wrapped her hand around what she could and stepped slightly closer to him. It was chilly outside this morning, the early fall was showing clearly this morning and she thought of the coming winter. Her son was always eight, and it have been nearly five years to the date that his father had died in a battle for Alpha. Nearly five whole years since she had taken a new mate though in those five years she had rarely been touched and never felt the quickening of a child in her womb again. Already she almost never conceived a child or carried it to term and settling at the peek of her maturity.
@MThePathSeeker

---

The wolf prowled through the forest, large and mottled shades of brown, grey and black with a soft white underbelly and rippling muscle beneath the heavy fur that barely moved in the wind. The wolf lifted it's head, large, black eyes peering over the bushes toward the clearing where the deer were. She could see three of them, all uninjured and at rest and knew that the rest of the herd would not be far off of them; the buck here was clearly the leader of the herd himself. The wolf dropped lower to the ground, paws landing impossibly silently on the soft leaves and the grass while she crept through the shadows until the wolf was crouched upwind of prey animals, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. A sudden change of the wind did exactly the job to cue the waiting predator.

The wolf lunged, flying through the air with surprising nimbleness, landing on the back of the buck and killing it with the claws that hooked around it's body from the massive paws that held onto his back. The two others in the clearing had started to run, one barely making it to the edge before the horse sized wolf found the strangely large deer and caught onto it, tearing it open from throat to groin and following toward the other female. Unfortunately, while chasing it she caught scent of it really, beyond to fear and prey-scent. The deer was pregnant. the wolf ceased chasing and turned away, returning to the clearing where both deer lie dead and bleeding in the grass. The forest itself was just large, and the wild life inside it was different than most others, each seeming to be mutated beyond normal pretense. Few humans entered the forest and left alive.

The hulking beast of a predator crouched next to the body of the buck and drove her muzzle into it's corpse, tearing off a chunk of meat and swallowing it down the great maw. The teeth were long and sharp, like kitchen knives or daggers protruding from her gums. Blood dripped from the creatures maw, colouring the fur of her chest and shoulders, her bloodied paws settling in the growing pool of blood mud comfortably as the beast settled in to eat her kill. In this forest she wasn't in danger of much other than the bears, since humans either wouldn't come here or would die to something else and even the other bears and felines here often left the lone wolf alone. She wasn't a threat to them, her feeding just enough to sustain herself since she had no mate or pups and she rarely stayed in one place long enough to be a real bother.

---

The dark skinned girl spent her morning showering and dressing before leaving the small motel room she had rented three days ago when catching word that there were hunters in the far off, out of the way town of StillWater and had rode into town without another moment of hesitation. Her blonde braids swung around her as she walked, clad in jeans and a plaid button down shirt with good boots and a hat settled on her head she looked like the classic country gal - if she was a native american that is. The girl walked through the town, quietly looking around with a small flake of genetically modified aconite behind her ear to dull the senses of any wolves nearby so that they wouldn't recognize what she was right away - often packs thought they should recruit the girl who had lived in many places, her tribe the first to have settled in this land before leaving and going to Russia where they continued to live in silence for many years. It was an attack by Soviet soldiers and Hunters that had ended that existence and few were left alive at the time, only those that had managed to run and stay out of Damian's quest for vengeance.

She lifted a hand to adjust the hat on her head, the wide brim easily casting a shadow on her features though the red markings on her skin were stark against the tan - natural and acquired - of her skin. They were patterned mostly the same though there were images on her skin beneath the clothes that she had always covered from human eyes, many of these designs of ink had traversed over to her fur colouring when she shifted as well. As she adjusted the hat slightly she slipped the wolfsbane from behind her ear and tucked it into the breast pocket of her shirt and continued onward, her feet following a path that she had never seen before. It was always best to learn the layout of a town when one first entered it, finding all those little things that most people who passed through would miss easily. Cas had always been vigilante when she followed a Hunter trail, careful to find them without revealing herself as well.

The red eyes young woman had scented the men first, before hiding her presence among the common folk of the town and instead of simply hunting them down she'd watched for a while though if she followed this second one into the diner now she might be found. First she had to find his prey and see if there were those that really deserved to be slain. It was an odd role for a wolf to play, silently guiding hunters toward wolves that they could easily kill in most cases though it helped the community fr the most part in the long run. Even if the wolves mourned, a troublesome and difficult to teach wolves had died for it's lack of humanity and that was all that really kept them human at all, apart from the beasts the humans characterized them as when they thought of werewolves. She would never understand why vampires were better to live with existing than wolves. The animals died and lived just like humans, though those who actually had to feed on humans were thought of as misunderstood and romantic? The wolf rolled her eyes as she approached the fountain and sat down on a bench, waiting for the sun to rise.

---

The girl had woken up to her alarm clock blaring, just after six o'clock and realized that she was going to be late if she didn't get up and get read to work that morning. She was still on summer hours though she was home schooled for most of the year and only went into town for a couple of classes a semester, usually by way of her uncles horse where she would tie him up at the park across from the elementary school. The town the school was in was just barely big enough that they could have a school, if they took in students from the several other towns in the area because they couldn't fit all of the small town kids into the city schools and it would be impractical to bust them all over an hour when they could walk an hour and a half or bus forty five minutes. So she would take the horse into town for last period, pick up her cousin after she was done school and take her home for dinner most days since the three of them were often ready to eat at the same time and sometimes joined Claudia's parents. Her parents were fine with her staying over at her cousins most days because they knew that her uncle was hopeless with children and needed the help to raise his daughter after his wife had passed away.

Claudia rolled out of bed, landing hard on her hands and thighs, the cool touch of the hardwood waking her quickly as she jumped up and ran to the bathroom to shower, trying to be as quiet as she could since neither of her parents were even awake yet. The water was hot and steaming nicely, unfortunately she couldn't dally since she had meant to be at work when she started this morning, just at seven o'clock and glad she wasn't opening the diner this morning though she was the waitress today until another girl got there around one to help out with the lunch rush. She'd most likely be there until around six or seven and then shed visit her aunts grave and go home like she usually would, with little social life to speak of. Thankfully she had made it to work on time and just as she was walking toward the front, tying on the white apron she wore around her waist over the uniform skirt, she saw Wilard walking in as he usually did around this time in the morning. She saw him wave and shrugged, he never would remember that Becky stopped working here six months ago because she moved, would he.

"Mr. Wilard. Good to see you up so early, just like always."

She greeted him as he took his usual seat near the window and went to put in his order since there wouldn't be a change this morning. She took his coffee and picked up the days newspaper as she walked over to him, setting the mug down next to him and offering the paper as well since some days he wanted to read it and other days he did not. "How are you this morning?" She asked, sweet and naive as always without an inkling of an idea of what and who really lived in the town she had been born and raised inside of. Her pink hair was held half up and half down today, with her big blue eyes staring out at all the people she saw wandering this early in the morning.

@barkmeat2

Damien heard his mate come in from behind him and continued to look into the distance. Her skin felt warm against the slight chill that insinuated that winter was coming. They would have to hunt soon, he saw a family of deer grazing near one of the streams earlier in the week they couldn't have gotten far.
Ah yes. It was fine. You slept like a small child though. His accent could be heard at the end of his sentences. Not too heavy but could be heard. The Russian man smiled at his mate. A small one but it was kind but a little distant.
It may have been a little out out character but he put one arm around her shoulder You seem a little cold." he held her to his chest and kissed her forehead. A slow and gentle peck but continuous one after another, from her forehead to her cheek he displayed his affection. His arms around her waist he held her sharing his warmth, laying his forehead to hers
"Are you warm yet?" he asked chuckling. A small frown on the corner of his mouth. Truth be told but he didn't sleep well last night. He had a sad memory but he didn't want her know. "Sorry but it's been a long night."
@ViolentViolet

A man stood by his truck door, stark still and in shock in the dark woods. "Uh... Cat, you heard that right? I'm not going crazy here am I?" The German Shepard barked in agreement. What Ribald heard had caused his face to pale. Class 10 Packleader, an alpha. He thought of the dangerous situation he was in- but then he realized the dangerous situation he was in. HERE, of all places, an ALPHA. Thats A-L-P-H-A, a bossman, the head honcho, the finest specimen he could ever dream for. He giggled. The lads back at HQ won't believe this. A pack leader meant a pack, which meant more wolves, which meant more juicy, delicious specimens. The science he could do! The samples, the experiments, the interogations! He drooled a bit.

"Okay, Cat, new plan. Skip the grits for now. What- no just grab the trail mix in the glove box- We gotta do some recon."

He drove the truck in the general direction of the sound. When his truck couldn't continue, he footed it, making use of his 5 years of hunting experience. There was definitely an occult presence here. A grizzly, normally pretty passive towards humans unless threatened, got a bit too close... Its about 15 meters behind him now convulsing and choking on its own blood after a single injector bolt. He kept his presence masked, applying a myriad of chemicals to eliminate his scent. Cat, was getting antsy, she knew they were near, but her training kept her silent and close.

Signs of Whiskey Tangoes, were getting all the more intense. There den, whatever it was would definitely warded for intruders. He dared to go no further, but he had a lead. He started to head back, however he noticed the remnants of a hunt not his. Blood, deer blood. 2 dead, eaten. Scratch that, eaten quickly. Definitely a Whiskey Tango, didn't want to stay around for some reason. Probably a renegade intruding. He stopped again, a deer was alive, but scared, and tired. He saw it and it saw he, but opted not to move, it was far too exhausted. Odd, those Wolves could eat, leaving one alive was a new for him. It showed signs of pregnancy, another anomaly, 2-for-1's are highly sought after. Odd, but lucky for him, he took aim and took a dispassionate shot a it, hitting it square in the heart, no need for poisons, for it being an entirely quick death. Hopefully he wouldn't meet anything else out here.



The diner was warm enough, the smell of frying egg and bacon beckoned him to take a seat at the booth while that pink haired -a part of the new youth culture he never understood- girl took his order as per usual. Now, he wasn't the most hip and in touch old man in the town, but he was pretty sure that high school kids should be working, let alone this early. Shouldn't they be off with their friends, or sleeping in, or whatever. This fact of which caused him to feel sorry for the girl as she let slip a few yawns.

"Mr. Wilard. Good to see you up so early, just like always.

"Thankyou," he smiled as he sat, "but I could say the opposite for you. You should sleep in one of these days, take a morning off, I'm sure that one Becky lass can cover for you." He accepted the newspaper from her and took a sip of the good black brew. He meant to read through the daily news, but his mind was still heavy with the message that the wind brought. Surely, he had kept low over the past few months he was here. Sure he was making fast acquaintances with the towns folk, but he tried to not include any tidbits of his past... Would need to skip town or prepare for a confrontat-

"How are you this morning?" A sweet voice broke his line of thought. A plate of grits and steak placed gently in-front of him. He remembered where he was and chastised himself for the uncharacteristic loss of concentration.

"Uh- yeh. I'm fine." He quickly spooned a bit of the grits to change the mood, "Mmmm, finely made. I swear it tastes better this morning. Give ol' Joe my commendation." He didn't need to worry these good folks,and was determined not to be a bother to Still Water.

"How about you? How's school, er- uh- your folks? Your dad get that '78 fixed yet, or does he need me to help out again?" He laughed his baritone laugh, hoping to dodge any doubts from the girl.

@ViolentViolet

Kellen- Center Bookstore 7:00am

Hiding a yawn behind her hand, Kellen gazed tirdly down at the book in her hands, the faint sounds of people beginning to wake filling the streets.

"I wonder...what will happen today?" She wondered out loud, her emerald-green eyes scanning the shelves before falling onto the boxes on books that'd been delivered yesterday, a smile tugging on her lips. Reaching toward the first box, Kellen began to tug each out, skimming the titles before placing them on the correct shelf, her mind going through a few calculus problems as she began her work.

She could multi-task easily enough, she'd stop by the diner for breakfast once she'd finish this.



Aurora- Moonlight Manor 7:00am

Exiting from the bathroom and making her way towards the stairs, pausing at the happy giggles that filled the air, a fond sigh escaping her lips.

"Have you eaten Sen?" Aurora asked as she paused at the end of the landing, her bare feet padding softy across the wooden floor as she makes her way towards the kitchen, the scene of her daughter eating eggs, toast and sausage had a smile drawing on her lips.

"Eating mama! Where you going?" Sena chirps around a bite of toast, Aurora raises a disapproving eyebrow before gesturing to the back doors.

"To run around and maybe hunt an elk or two. You are to stay and get your reading done alright?" She stat a firmly, smiling when she revived an eager nod, placing a kiss on Sena's head before heading toward the glass backdoor, she paused and placed her hand to the cool glass.

Taking a deep breath, Aurora focused on the sounds of the forest beyound their home, her nose twitching at the scent of copper that filled the air, opening her eyes she raises her head and listens to the sounds coming from her Alphas room.

"Good morning Alphas. I don't mean to intrude but...there's the smell of blood coming from within the forest...may I go check it out? No one has set off to hunt yet." She states quietly and waits for a response, her eyes darting back to the doors, her shoulders tensing as she effortlessly catches the the scent again, almost as what was killed was being dragged through the forest.
@ViolentViolet @MThePathSeeker

The female had simply touched the man’s arm, her hand soft against his arm though she had no idea how he would react to her touching him as casually as she had. It was chilly outside, though she often welcomed the cold when she went out to meet him; of course she had always been careful not to upset him. The last thing she had expected him to do was reach out and touch her as well, to pull her close to him and cradle her head against his chest while his arms wrapped around her. She was small compared to him, her body thin and frail in comparison to his while he held her. She was at least a foot shorter than him, his arms large and well-muscled where her own were small and lean, more for caring and holding then fighting and killing. She closed her eyes and leaned against him, allowing the heat of his body to seep into her, warming the skin that had grown cold because of the wind and its lack of coverage. The shirt she wore only covered her a quarter of the way down her arms, loose and light over her body and the pants were still those that she would have worn in the summer, a soft black silk that fell past her ankles. She often stepped on the fabric when she walked around, though it never torn and it wasn't worn enough to pulling it apart though she wouldn't have enjoyed that much at all in the first place.

. . . Like a small child. . .

Yuki heard him speak, his accent brushing lightly against his words though it wasn't often that she heard the Russian in his voice, the same with her Japanese though her accent and heritage had always been more clear to see and hear than his. He looked like an American man, even though his parents had both been Russian, perhaps it was the time he had spent here with the people, learning to act like them that had changed him. Perhaps it was the need to be different, to get away from them. The young woman looked up at him, thinking for a moment, how they would be if he would only let her in as well and be together with her. Yuki sighed quietly, the sound and breath muffled by the man’s chest that her cheek rested on. The phrase itself made her think of her son and how peaceful he was when he was asleep, so very quiet and lovely. The child would always be hers, regardless of whom his father was and how he had died, the boys blonde hair so fair it was so unlike hers that few really believed that she had given birth to him, even when they didn't know that he was eight years old. “I’m not a child.” She responded, her voice muffled as well though she hadn't made much of an attempt to be very loud in the first place.

She felt the touch of his lips on her forehead and she felt the heat rising in her pale cheeks, turning them a soft rose that seemed to extent all across her cheekbones toward her ears, the tips of which were slightly pointed even in her human form. She couldn’t stop the small smile the curled up the corners of her mouth, soft lips pulling quietly on her face while she moved to look up at him. Her back was to the railing of the balcony, her cool metal against the small of her back and the front of her body pressed against him in a way that rarely happened for the two of them. He’d kissed her though, more than once in the last twenty four hours and she took that as a sign that he was getting closer to ready to open up to her. Yuki giggled, almost girlishly, and reached up, stretching to reach his throat with her face. She brushed her nose affectionately over his throat, her lips brushing against his jaw as she nuzzled him quietly.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Yuki had never enjoyed hearing that he was not alright and more often than not she had wanted to hurt what it was that pained him though much of it was too far in the past and in such a far off place that she was never going to be able to touch it; let alone kill it. His forehead against hers and the soft touches of his lips were dancing still across her skin, warm and sweet with his affection though it was not often he was so open with his love and kindness. She loved him, really, and wanted to best for him as much as she wanted the best for the pack – more so even. It was when she was most focused on the man who held her in the cold that another made her appearance, Aurora, the Beta Female, was awake and already biding for their attention and approval. She had scented the blood on the wind earlier though she didn’t mind much at all that someone was killing deer in their territory. Both she and Damian had known of the loners’ presence for a while and neither had chosen to speak of it or do anything about it.

She looked over Damian’s shoulder at the girl who had walked through their top floor bedroom into the doorway of the balcony to see them, her eyes a soft grey as she glanced between herself and the male who held her now and knew that it was a rather intimate situation though the Japanese woman looked at the girl and smiled again. “I don’t see why not. What do you think Damian?” She asked her mate, though she didn’t want him to let her go or for him to go off with her. Aurora and her daughter and mate were the only others currently living inside the house, with the children occupied downstairs with books and games and toys, and the two Beta’s away, it would give the two time alone that they rarely got from the pack and instead of simply running off together like a pair of irresponsible teenagers they often owned up to their responsibilities of the roles as the packs leaders.

---

The wolf had fed, tearing nearly everything that could be gathered from the large deer by claws and jaws alone, since the predator would much rather not have to change back and forth between human and lupine forms. Her muscles rippled beneath her thick coat as she turned away from the kills, leaving the large corpses behind for smaller predatory animals and scavengers to finish off and tear apart. She was huge, comparatively, and even larger than most of the members of the pack nearby whose territory she trespassed on right now. The wolves born in this forest were always larger, more ferocious, savage and smaller, stronger and faster than those who were not; they thought it was because of the ancient native magic woven into the forest though no human ever really believed it was true because none of them even thought that werewolves existed in the real world. The wolf moved, great paws landing almost silently on the forest floor while she walked away from the place where she had eaten enough for this morning, her taste for blood sated though she could always eat more. Like a wolf that was just a wolf in the wild she had spared the pregnant doe, hoping that the prey animal would carry to term and continue on with the population of her primary food source. Unlike a wolf in the wild, she would never go after the injured or elderly of the herd, leaving the easy prey for those who couldn't kill bears.

The wolf heard the sound of an angry grizzly, one of those who were closer to normal and when the wolf stopped to swing a massive head around to look over one shoulder it saw the animal, quite a ways off, convulse and die apparently because of a set of poisons injected into its system. Or, perhaps, it had eaten a plant it should not have, or the corpse of an animal who died of said poisonous plant. It wasn't entirely uncommon, for animals to die of the plants in this forest, because if one was not careful, the strange flora and fauna could kill when one is least expecting or playing the less of the attention. She stared for a moment longer, eyes narrowing as the breezed picked up and brought her the scent of a human nearby; her ears perked slightly as she listened to the sound of the creatures breathing, quick and hot as if he was excited by something. Was he one of those hunters that sometimes came to their woods? The wolf turned again, this time turning to prowl in a large circle.

Freya followed the river nearby, walking with her paws in the water to leave little scent trail and no paw prints she swung around in a wide circle to end up upwind of the male who looked as if he had planned on doing little other than set a trap. He certainly looked the part of a hunter, though he fit the mad scientist persona as well, as far as the beast was concerned. The girl inside the beast was sleeping and in fact she had not wanted to wake again after this last shift to come to the forest where none would ever find her. She was better at hiding than the packs here, better at hunting. She was the beast where she was not human, she’d been raised the animal instead of the human and in turn she had lived this way with little real curiosity of the outside world. She didn't care much for it at all and instead of looking for ways to kill insignificant and boring prey like humans, she had found the perfect hunting grounds in another packs territory where none would go against her. Not when she knew their forest better than then.

---

The girl had settled into place next to the man, leaning on the side of the bench across from him with her fingers in the apron pocket, playing with the pen she kept there with the notepad for easy use when getting orders from the customers. She saw him look at her before she spoke, him staring at her hair for a moment and she lifted a hand to brush a lock behind her ear nervously. She’d never once died it before, her mother had always told her that the pink was a trait she inherited from her fathers’ family, red mixed with the broken genes of an albino to create the pink that shone as an odd natural pigmentation for her hair colour. Her father on the other hand said it was because of all the time she spent with strange herbs and native magic that her uncle had known since he was actually a Cherokee man. She heard him speak in response to her, commenting on her lack of a social life or sleeping habits.

“I don’t have time to sleep in. I have school work, tutoring, chores.”

She just barely started the listen to answer what he had said, though she hadn't wanted to bore him and instead she’d turned and walked away to see if his sandwich was finished yet though this morning, like all others, she knew it would be done by the time she went back to get it for him. When she walked her hips swayed, as if she was older than she really was, although much what how she acted and many of the things she did often gave that impression as well. In truth she was only sixteen years of age, and had gone through a lot more than most girls her age and instead of the normal things like having friends and going to the movies and talking about boys and dating, she spent her time working and doing homework, tutoring and taking care of her cousin and uncle. She had a family that she had to help, and little time for strangers. Especially after that wolf had attacked and killed her aunt.

“Of course, it took him a lot longer than I thought it would but he finally fixed it.”

Claudia responded with a smile, sliding into the booth across from him with a mug in her hands, a spoon and tea bag inside of the warm white mug as well as she sat down. She was tired and he was the first familiar face to walk inside today as he always had since first coming here and she quite enjoys their normal morning conversations. He was older than her, surely, though she didn't mind much at all, so long as he didn't talk to her as if she was meant to be some flighty teenage girl from a back water town so far out of reach that she would never have seen a city before. She yawned, her jaw snapping shut loudly in the quiet diner and she rubbed the sleep from one of her eyes while she looked at the man with his sandwich.

“Do you mind if I sit?"

Damien began to think deeply on his next decision. He knew of the loners precense for the last few weeks. He was always there. Watching, studying, she was cocky, arrogant, a threat to some of the humans in the area but not to him Yuki, or the Betas in his pack.
"Watch from a distance." He had told Aurora his accent heavy in his moment of leadership authority "Study her movements, if she attempts to be hostile, fight in defense not offense. Try to lead her to us. I will join you shortly. Do not engage Young Aurora." He said making his decision and his order.
He looked to the distance on where the scent of blood had come from. He had no problem with someone hunting in his territory, after all she had been relatively quiet only a stray hunt every now and then but this loner was getting arrogant hunting more frequently as if challenging them "And Aurora, if you must. Show her...why we are the kings of forest..." He said holding onto Yuki his eyes filled with a strange emotion, serious, anger, but compassion and understanding in its mix. He did not want to fight if possible but he knew he would kill this loner if he had too.
@ViolentViolet@Arista

Aurora

Nodding at the words that seemed to breeze over her skin, shifting her gaze from the glass doors to her quietly eating daughter, she crouched down and opened her arms in a silent request.

Sena jumped down from the stool she'd tugged towards the island counter and raised her arms, Aurora allows a soft, soothing rumble to fill her chest as she draws Sena's small firm closer to her, a quiet giggle filling her ears.

"Go to the study and finish your reading, then draw or work on your math. Whatever you feel, you are to stay here and alright?" She states softly, her arms tightening when Sena nods against the crook of her neck.

"Okay mama, I'll behave." Sena states softly, her head pulling back to reveal serious cobalt-blue eyes, Aurora places a kiss to her forehead before placing Sena down and gesturing her towards the first floor study.

Standing and rolling her shoulders, Aurora turned toward the glass doors and pulled them open, allowing a cool breeze to fill the kitchen before stepping outside and closing the doors behind her. A grin escaping her lips as she quietly pads her towards where the entrance of the forest begins. Rolling her shoulders and popping her neck, Aurora lunged forward and allowed the shift to take her. Pausing just before passing the small creek that provided water for most of the creatures, the white wolf raised its muzzle and sniffed the air. Ears twitching when the scent of blood filled the air, she took off and focused her attention on the copper smell, her glowing cobalt-blue eyes scanning the familiar trees for strange signs of another wolf living there. Continuing forward as the scent on the wind shifts from east to west, she gracefully jumps over a fallen log and changes her direction with ease.

The faint scent of an unfamiliar wolf suddenly fills the air and she stills, her head lowering and tail going ram-rod straight. Lowering herself to the forest floor, she took a moment to pinpoint where the scent was coming from, raising to her feet she took off.

The other wolf was near, she would protect her family. @ViolentViolet @MThePathSeeker




Kellen

Putting the last book on the shelf, Kellen moved towards the front of the bookstore and focusing her gaze on the diner across the street, her stomach giving an audible rumble. Chewing her bottom lip and tapping her fingers across the wooden front counter, Kell took a moment to think.

Nodding her head, she moved towards the front door, she flipped the 'open' sign to 'closed' and made her way towards the diner, her lips spreading into a grin when she reaches the door, pulling it open she step inside and takes a moment to scan the menu.

The store wasn't suppose to open until eight anyway, moving toward an empty booth, she slipped into the seat and grabbed the menu in the center of the table, her emerald-green eyes scanning the various options slowly.
@ViolentViolet

"Oooooooooooover the river ,and through the woods to the pickup truck we go. Cute Cat will know how to carry the slain-"*snap*

Ribald stopped his parody of the popular thanksgiving poem when he heard the approach of something fast. And big. It was the foot falls of an enemy he was all too familiar with. He dropped his quarry and dove into some threshes on the wayside. Thankfully the concoction masking his scent was still in effect as he slid into a ready position, his crossbow leveled in the direction of the disturbance. Should it stop to investigate his deerly beloved bounty (hah, puns) he'd unload a powerful tranquilizer round just above the heart to put it in a quick, if not immediate, comatose state. If it didn't go for the bait, he'd have to count his blessings and not risk a trailing shot, of which may not even result in a quiet apprehension. A good ol' fashion game of stalk the prey, would do him and Cat some good. Plus, getting to find out what it's such a rush to get to would be a nice bonus.



“Do you mind if I sit?"

"Uh-no, not at all." He lamely returned. Willard fidgeted a bit with his food as she made herself comfortable. He didn't really expect her to continue the conversation, being the person Willard was.

"So he got it fixed, huh? Well that's dandy," he combed through the classifieds in his newspaper when her yawn made him realize what she had said earlier.

"Wait, tutoring and work again? And you're still this tired?" He set down the paper, hoping to look more dignified in the following spiel. "Now, pardon my nosiness, but believe it or not I was your age back when the dinosaurs roamed," he looked to lighten the tone with that joke. "And I wouldn't have wanted to spend my days like that, and I don't think you should either."

He placed a gentle fist in the table as he sighed, "I know you're much more mature than your age lets on, and I commend you for your diligence, but there's a limit, girl. Sometimes it's okay to act a bit selfishly. I know I'm not the most credible source of advice, but just listen." He paused again to take a breath, his rant being a lot more ranty than he thought. "You don't have to go around masquerading with the other kids doing whatever they do, but take a break, relax on a park bench or read a good book. Hell, that nice girl at the book store could probably recommend ya' something."

Willard collapsed back into the booth, out of breath after his tirade, did he over step his bounds again? Bah, whatever, kids need to learn that being an adult ain't as good as it's chalked up to be. He sure as sin knew how quickly one can lose their happiness and youth. He donned a gentler tone, "Look darlin', if you spend too much time acting 20 years your senior, you'll only regret it. Let the adults do their job once in a while, you know? If you're worried 'bout that cousin or uncle of yours, don't be afraid to ask for help, your family and friends are there, hell even I'd lend a hand." He chuckled at the last bit. Hopefully he got through to her, having given her no time to retort throughout the speech. He sighed again and stretched as the diner doors opened to the young bookish girl.

"Now I'm gonna beg my leave here, I've got quite a few things to think over myself" finished with the meal, he beckoned the bookstore attendant over to take his spot. "Hopefully, Miss Thomas will be a much more pleasant conversationalist than me." He started to saunter out the diner doors.

@Arista@ViolentViolet

woman listened quietly, her breathing light and quiet as it had been before the other girl had walked in and she listened while her mate gave his orders to the girl, saying he would catch up with her soon enough. She nearly growled at the interruption, and gladly the Beta did not dally near the two Alpha as Yuki turned around in her mates arm so that she was facing away from him and looking out over the forest again where she could smell the blood coming towards them. She could understand why he was hesitant to allow the girl to go alone and to let the loner run wild in the forest; she was getting closer to their home every day, hunting more and caring less after the wolf they had sent out after them two months ago had died in a fight with a grizzly. She remembered finding the body next to that of the bear after the lone wolf had called out to them, though the female hadn’t been anywhere for them to find that was safe for even them to go to. The packs here, their wolves, were the size of large ponies though this one wolf, this girl was so much bigger than them. She was bigger than a horse, bigger even than they could have imagined a wolf could get and yet not one human had ever spotted her and no pack had ever seen her in human form. She would make an amazing asset to the pack if they could take her but something told her that this single loner would never be tamed, and it would take too many of the pack to kill her.

After the woman had gone Yuki looked over her shoulder at the male who held her tight against him now and she saw his eyes looking out passed her, angry and scared, lonely and despairing though she could see a hint of hope therein as well. “What will you do if she does not leave?” Yuki had to ask the male though she had turned her gaze back out to the autumn when she did, her grey eyes looking over the dancing leaves. They had begun to turn orange and yellow, brown and various shades of green still hung from the branches of the trees not too far away from them. She could see the trees still that stood, far away; tall and proud after growing in the same place for hundreds of years, and part of the forest that had become this packs home. They had not begun here; they had come here long before Yuki had been born though the wolves here had never once grown as large as the girl who prowled deeper in the forest than even they dared. It was Volrath’s Forest and few other than the wolves born there and the creatures that grew there had ever gone so far into it.



Yuki had questions for him and the universe and as she turned around in his arms again, this time leaning back as much as he would allow though she remained pressed tightly against him, as if he was afraid of her going somewhere. She could understand why he was protective of her, though it wasn't often her showed it either. Sometimes, she thought that the male loved her as she loved him, though there was little between them that would really suggest that they could or would at any point in time and she wanted it though she wouldn't ask for it. The Alpha Female didn't wait for an answer as she reached up on her tip toes, and wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers tracing along the sensitive skin between his shoulder blades and the other hand on the back of his head as she tilted her head up and kissed him, softly on the lips.

---

The wolf crouched in the grass, paws digging into the dirt while she waited for the man to realize he was being watched. She had seen her trap on the way here, set up so that any wolf looking for an easy meal would wander up and walk right into it. Freya was not the type to do so; she had never enjoyed hunting dead or injured game. She left the weak for those who could not compete with the beasts here, for those who could not hunt the other predators of the woods. She was by far not the smallest of those here, but more definitely not the largest of the predators that had ever walked through these woods. She remembered, as she lay, how large and monstrous her father had been, his head had been above hers and she took after him greatly whereas her mother had been smaller than them both but no less the hunter. The three of them had been born deep in these woods, and Freya was the only one left alive that still wandered far enough for the pack to see them. She turned at the scent of another wolf and stood again, this time walking toward the scent and sound of the small female.

The hulking beast walked, nearly silent as her sides rubbed against trees and her paws crushed bushes while she walked in the direction of the she-wolf that had tried to stalk her. She did not howl, nor growl, or snarl at all. She looked and acted completely relaxed as she approached, muscle rippling beneath a thick pelt that blended into the forested background perfectly. It had been a long time since she had seen another wolf, though this one was small in comparison to her and while she spotted the ball of white fur she found herself a nice spot and sat down, her tail curled over her paws. Her eyes trailed through the area, dark and large, alert and passive while they waited for the girl to actually make her appearance. The wolf lifted her head and parted her jaws, yawing as if she was bored and her claws dug small trenches into the ground again.

---

Claudia had sat across from him, answering his questions as she usually would for the early morning customers though she hadn't expected him to talk to her about her habits and life choices, and in fact it had left her stunned and fumbling for something to say to him. It was such an unexpected speech that when he stood and turned to go she didn't say anything until after he was gone. “But what if you’d seen what happens to people when they’re about to die?” She whispered into the air, her brow furrowed as she looked down at the mug she held in her trembling hands. With his rant he had reminded her of the scene that had been laid out before her, when the wolf tore open her aunts’ chest and the dying woman had begged the beast not to harm the scared little girl and not for her own safety for her life was forfeit when the animal descended upon her. Her pink haired girl stood quietly, taking the man’s empty and dirty dishes in her hands while she sucked in a breath and smiles at the man and waved him good bye.

She turned away then, the sadness in her soft blue eyes clear to those in the kitchen as she hurried back and brought the dishes to dish, clearing off the plates and setting them on the metal counter with the mug in the rack before she looked in the mirror over the sink and looked at herself. There were tears in her eyes again and she shook her head, fixing her hair and wiping away the tears until she was alright to go back out front of the small diner. She came around the corner slowly, her flats clicking on the tile floor as she walked over to where the woman sat alone at a different table, a menu in hand. “How are you this morning?” She asked, as was customary for her to whenever she greeted a new guest before asking what it was that they wanted to eat today. In a small town, a diner like this was always the best option for food or conversation aside from the ability to mingle in a safe, family environment. The bar down town was often busy and rowdy after dark, with lots of characters that lived out in the country.

Aurora
Volrath’s Forest

Stilling at the scent of the wolf filling the air once more, she lowered herself onto her belly and allowed her tail to thump twice on the ground. Remembering the order of her Alpha, she dropped her head onto her front paws and allowed a soft huff to escape from her nose.

Her ears twitch at the breeze that filters through the trees then, her claws extending only to dig into the moist earth before retracting once more, her gaze locking onto the larger wolf ten feet away. She knew she seemed small in her form, but she made up for it in speed and stamina, rising to her feet she shook her body out and sat on her haunches. The scent of the wolf had her instinctively scenting for the remaining scent of her pack, her nuzzle peeling back to allow a yawn to escape.

The sound of her stomach rumbling had Aurora'sAurora's ears perking, a soft huff escaping her nuzzle at the reminder that she hadn't eaten yet. Shifting until her head lay on top of her tail Aurora focused her gaze again on the intrider, now it was time to wait, who would move first.



Kellen
Town-Diner

Blinking at the sound of the door closing behind an older man, Kellen shifted her gaze from the menu to the girl, her head tilting at the girl reached her.

“How are you this morning?” Kellen offered a smile and placed the menu down.

"Hungry but fine none the less, school is taking a lot out of me as of late." She offered with a shrug, her hands lifting and reaching back to tie her hair into a bun.

“Anything I can get you to drink?” Kellen offered a nod before tapping her fingers against the tabletop of her booth.

"Coffee would be great." She stated softly, her gaze shifting around the diner, this wasn't her first time here, she didn't come here often and she now wished she did, it was relaxing. Almost like he bookstore, focusing her gaze on the girl once more, she offered another smile. @ViolentViolet

Moonlight Manor
Damien was surprised by her sudden change in action. He felt her hand lightly push his head lower to hers as her lips softly touched his. Her lips felt soft and he scent was sweet like fruit ripe for the the picking. It intoxicated him as he broke away with a small chuckle "That was unexpected." He said jokingly as he his arms wrapped around Yuki hugging her affectionately
His instincts has told him that the full moon would soon arrive. Meaning every wolf within 50 miles would be affected by its rays reverting to their most primal instincts. He had hoped to catch this loner before that happened. There's no telling what he or this loner would be capable of under the full moon.
His brow scrunched in worry as he tried to think of the possibilities all of them not so good. The one thing he always never liked about being an alpha even before he became the leader of this pack was that he had to worry about every little detail and danger.
Still it was nice and quiet in this land so he didn't have anything to complain about

Well, well. What's all dis' gubbins den. Woops, wrong accent. Anywho, Ribald might be a little up shit-creek without a paddle, considering two abnormally large wolves were squaring off in front of him. Honestly, his chances weren't good, he was sure the bigger one, now deemed Biggun', had seen him, but had chosen not to act upon it. The white one, now deemed NotasBiggun', was fortunately preoccupied with this Mexican standoff. None of them was content in making the first move which did Ribald no favors. He could just play the part of innocent bystander, the dumb mundane human act. Something along the lines of, Oh, golly goodness, oh lowdy doncha hurt me, ya devils. Ah just wanted a meal for tonight with Fido the German Shepard o'er here, please don' hurt us. Wow that sounded more racist that it should have, its not even the local accent!

Or he could wait for a fight he wasn't really sure would happen, and take out the weakened victor, and get two prizes. The only probably with that fight is Biggun' catching on to the plan and getting 'NotasBiggun' to gang up on him.

And then there was option 3: Liberal application of experimental chemicals that may or may not cause severe unintended side effects...

He like 3, but he'd need to be really subtle-like to pull that off and honestly that wasn't his strong suit. To make it worst Biggun' occasionally shot a glare at his direction and would probably tip him off to NotasBiggun' soon. He needed to act quick, and he did what any rational man would do, wait it out, adn hope for the best.



Willard trudged along the sidewalk, just trying to clear his head. Recently finding about an unknown population of Werewolves kinda drives an old man's heart rate up and the whole deal with Claudia just wore him down. Even now, he sorta regrets getting up in her business, but that kid was suffering, always tired or stressed never really smiled a genuine smile. She was holding on to a heavy burden that shouldn't have been placed on her in the first place.

Willard's wandering took him to a local square. A peaceful fountain, in the middle of town. He'd come by here occasionally to feed the birds, or chat up with the other relics of the past (hah!) He noticed a lady resting on the bench he usually sat on, and being a man of tradition and habit opted to just take the seat beside her rather than taking another bench.

"Morning, sorry for the intrusion." He smiled and took to his seat.

@ViolentViolet@Arista

Jacob - Lone Wolf
In person Jacob has aspects of his personality that make him seem like the older one of the two, even though they were both mourning the death of their family and friends he always seemed to be happy. He buried his feelings deep down in an attempt to try and be brave for his brother. He wanted to show him that everything would be okay.

As they were walking through the forest Jacob pulled out a map and said to his brother “I think we are getting close to somewhere called Moonlight Manor. hmm i do hope its a hotel i’d like to sleep in a bed again.”
He turns to look at his brother who just looks over his shoulder and nods in agreement, but doesn’t say a word. Jacob was beginning to worry as he had barely spoke two words to him since their family's tragic death.

Josh - Lone Wolf
The three claw-like scars across his nose marr his appearance slightly but he was proud of them, in his opinion it showed his bravery, but of course he would never say it out loud. He was a quiet lad for his age and because of this people thought of him as mysterious or depressed. in truth it was shock. Shock that his whole entire family and friends that understood him were dead. His mind just could not seem to understand it. His whole entire world was flipped upside down in an instant. His mind kept reflecting on the mutilated bodies of their families and what made it worse was that none of the kills by the hunters was quick. He shuddered at the thought not understanding why they would go out of their way to hunt werewolves, it just seemed so cruel to him.

He sighed lightly as he lifted his head from the ground and began to use his bright light blue eyes to look at something other than the brown muddy ground of dirt. As he scanned his surroundings he noticed all the beautiful colours around him and how fresh and green things were. He was just mindlessly following his younger brother, whom of which has kept him safe these last few months.

Leif– His apartment > Diner

Early mornings had never been his strong suit, even when he spent most nights prowling around on all fours. Really, you’d think that after becoming a wolf, you’d acquire some instinct that allowed you to function properly before 9am. That wasn’t the case with Leif, who was already bumbling obscenities as he pulled on a clean pair of jeans. He’s had to wake up at this time every morning for the last two or more months, and yet he still couldn’t manage to adjust. Whatever, he thought, he’ll just use it as an excuse to stop in at the diner for coffee before heading out.

It was only about 7-something am, so the sun had only just begun to peek out from underneath his thick, starched curtains, lighting the room just faintly enough for him to manage without knocking something over. After a few more minutes of tugging on clothing and minor hair fluffing, Leif meandered through his bedroom door, down the darkened hall, and into the apartment’s tiny kitchen. His hands greedily reached for a bag of bagels on the counter and quickly tugged one out, shoving it in between his jaws like a dog with a bone—he laughed at bit at the irony—and then headed for the front door.

His apartment sat just a few blocks from the local diner, so the walk was never long. The sidewalks were just beginning to fill up with people around this time in the morning, which Leif actually found kind of nice. He’d only moved in and begun to talk to people in town recently, so he hadn’t had the chance to piss anyone off yet; the yet hung in his head for just a moment more and he smirked somewhat sullenly before turning off the sidewalk and through the diner doors. He was quick about where he chose to sit, favoring a booth towards the back wall, by a window. He smirked at anyone who caught his eyes while he walked to the open booth, sliding in quickly and waited for a waitress to come along.

~ ~ ~

Lucio – his apartment

Lucio was up pretty early this morning, early enough to catch the sun just as it began peeking over the horizon, and early enough to catch the familiar howl of his pack leader on the wind. He’d spent the whole time awake in his garage, working on a neighbors busted up lawn mower as a favor he’s been meaning to return. It was how he preferred to begin his mornings anyway—working, and then relaxing with breakfast.

As if the pure mention of breakfast brought it, right on time, the house door cracked open just an inch and a small head of matted down curls poked out. “Dad, I’m hungry.” Came the tired chirp of his son, Lucio, who was still half wrapped in a forest green comforter. Lucio’s attention was drawn immediately to the child, and he promptly smiled softly.

“What ya want for breakfast, huh bud?” Lucio began, rubbing his grease stained hands into a handkerchief before heading over and scooping the small boy up, heading for the kitchen. Said child poked at his cheek for a moment before mumbling out that he wanted pancakes and sausage. Lucio quickly set the child down in one of the counter chairs and quickly began to get things started, letting the little boy chat his ear off the whole time. He isn’t sure exactly where his son, Draco, gets all his energy so early in the morning, but he’s always thought it was funny; he swore sometimes the kid was more on point than most alarm clocks.

“Mm, Dad, les go outside today.” Draco chirped after Lucio set a plate of pre-cut pancakes and sausage down in front of him, making the father smirk a bit curiously.
“Outside? Where do ya wanna go, buddy?” Lucio asked before preparing his own plate. Draco took a moment to reply, minding the manners his father taught him and not talking with a mouth full of food.
“To the Moon House.” He smiled happily. He’d been calling the manor that since he could speak, and it never ceased to make his father laugh a bit. “I wana play n’ the garden.” He continued between bites of pancake. Draco’d always liked being outdoors, and the garden behind the manor was his absolute favorite place, even as winter neared.
“If you can be good and wait for dad to finish work, then we’ll go, alright bud?” Lucio offered, hoping he could get his neighbor’s lawn mower fixed before the end of the day.

Yuki
Moonlight Manor
7:42AM
The young woman giggled quietly, smiling as he looked for words, flustered by her actions toward him. It wasn’t often that the woman had managed to take away her mates ability to speak in response to her kissing him softly. She rarely did get to kiss him, because he always turned away from her first or wouldn’t let her get as close to him as she was right now and she wanted to spend more time close to him, being allowed to touch him in the simple ways the two normally lacked between them. “I have to keep you on your toes don’t I?” The mother wolf said in response to him, smiling teasingly as he wrapped his arms closer around her. He pulled her close and held her gently against him, as if she would break because of his strength even though he knew full well that she wouldn’t break if he squeezed her a little bit more than what he did now.

“I’m not that breakable Damian.” Yuki laughed quietly, tickling the back of his neck as she touched him, his dark hair curling slightly around the nape of his neck where hers cascaded down her back and over his arms. Of course when she had gotten comfortable she saw him frown and look out over the forest again, worry creasing his face as he thought and she knew that he was worried about the loner in their territory this close to a full moon. They both knew what untamed wolves were capable of when they let the moon influence them as heavily as it affected them now; the effects that left the wolves chaining themselves up in basements to hide from the moon and their murderous urges by night and closer to the day they wanted little other than to breed or hunt. She had scented the female before and knew as well that it wasn’t a wolf like them; she was one that would allow herself to luxury of not caring and slaughtering everything that got in her way.

“Go.” Yuki’s smile faded and she looked out over her shoulder toward the area that the scent was coming from, no new blood was on the wind but she didn’t doubt that there would be more at some point in the near future. “You’re worried about the wolf.” She stated, sighing and pushing him away from her enough that she could lean back and have a half foot of space between the two of them and look at him more fully, her eyes darkening slightly in annoyance but she understood his need to go look into the problem with the stranger. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

---

Claudia
Town – Diner
8:00AM

Claudia had expected the girl to answer as she had, for the girl had said the same thing every time she’d come here regardless of how few and far between her visits were. The waitress nodded quietly, smiling still though she didn’t receive one in return from the customer sitting in the booth seat near the door, close enough that she could leave without trouble though she didn’t look as if she really wanted to quite yet. The pink haired girl could tell that the other was relaxing where she sat and she tapped the back of the other side of the booth quietly. “Coming right up,” She responded as another walked into the diner, a young man who walked with that city boy swagger that most people here lacked. He smirked at her when she looked at him and she rolled her eyes, heading toward the back to get a mug of coffee for the girl who sat not too far away from him now.

She came back with a white mug of coffee on a small white plate with a spoon and a few creams, milks, sugars and sweeteners so that the girl could pick and choose her combination as she liked. “Here you are; wave me over if you decide on something else,” Claudia referred to the menu still in her hands and set the plate down in front of her before going to attend to the young man who had walked into the diner. Picking up a menu on the way she made it to the table and set it down in front of him with a sweet smile. “How are you this morning?” She phrased the question just as she sat the menu down on the table and stood back up with her hands clasped in front of her, holding onto the pen and pad of paper that she often wrote orders on to keep track of each table and what for where she needed to bring it. It was a small place so it wasn’t usually a problem, but when it got busy it was a good way to keep track of everything that went on around the place.

The high school girl hadn’t really met the man who’d walked in today and considering the size of the town that was very strange for her not to know someone since everyone either came here for coffee in the morning or food later in the day at least once a week. A lot of the time the families came in to eat during the summer to avoid cooking inside their house in the heat or just to not have to cook that day. Her eyes were big and blue as they looked at him, staring and studying for a moment before she spoke again, pale pink lips parting around the soft words. “What brings you to town?”

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Cassiopeia
Town – Square – Fountain
8:00AM

The young woman had taken lifted up her feet so that one of her heels was on the bench and the other was lifted slightly on the ground while her toes dance across the cobblestone, her shoes sitting beneath the bench where she left them before. Her head rested on her arm that lay atop her raised knee, her eyes closed and her breathing slow and soft. It appeared that the young woman was sleeping on the bench after a restless night of travelling. She’d had to get her own mode of transportation several days back when she’d left the city and ended up with an old car that someone had fixed up and given to her after she’d saved their life from a serial killer. The bench she was sitting on was wood, warm in the morning sunlight but damp from the spray of the fountain; her light hair was damp and several strand clung to her features as she shifted in her sleep. The sun was rising behind her and the light cast a light glow over her halo of light hair against her darker skin.

She was snoring quietly when the man came over and sat next to her, though the action of doing so snapped the young woman awake and into action without hesitation or a moment’s notice. It was good that there weren’t many people around either because when she’d actually opened her eyes she was standing with one foot on the ground and one knee on the bench with a knife pressed against the old man’s throat. Her eyes were an odd red colour, something rarely seen in anyone but an albino, but she clearly wasn’t such with her dark skin and the red markings on her face. She glared down at him, looking at the one who had sat down next to her until she realized that he was entirely harmless; He was just a man without a pack.

The young woman moved back, taking the knife away and closing it pointedly before sliding it back into her jeans pocket. “Sorry about that sir.” She said as she sat back down where she had been before though this time both of her feet where on the ground and she was leaning against the back of the bench quietly. She assumed the man had always sat on this bench, because those who often stayed in one place grew comfortable and developed a routine that they always stuck close to. It was one of the reasons it was so easy to point out rogue wolves like her.