He chuckled. "Well, it is better than no accent. Around these parts of the U.S, there are almost no accents until you head south, then you got country accent starting up," he chuckled. The waitress came by and set down the milkshake in front of Zak and the hot chocolate in front of Holly. After she walked away, Zak grabbed the styrofoam cup and started sucking hard on the straw to get the thick milkshake flowing.

Holly giggled. "There's no such thing as no accent. I can hear your accent pretty clearly." She picked up her cup and took a sip, careful not to get the whipped cream on her nose. "I think the way I talk is weird but... I guess, if you like it, it can't be that bad."

Zak raised an eyebrow. Was it his Romanian accent she heard? He couldn't tell if it was. He was raised by his Romanian tribe, but he tried so hard to hide it. And yet she could hear it? He shook his head slightly, sucking on the straw. He loved vanilla more than anything. He wished he had wolfsbane though. Just a tiny pinch would calm his nerved about tonight. "You talk fine," he smiled. He felt something in the back of his mind edge her to talk about her past, so he could get a glimpse of it through her scent, but the scent of the old cabin was too old for him to catch the memories. He could pick up the scent of Oregon, and the home she lived in. He could see the memories of that, but something made him want to track down this old musky cabin to get the memories of her in it.
"I don't mean to bring up the past... but... in your bad memories... where were you?" he asked. He didn't want to bring up the word cabin and forest in the same sentence. That could have been trigger words for her severe panic attacks. Maybe he could go search for it, if it was here in Michigan.

"I... I don't know." Holly replied sadly, trying to keep away from thinking too much about it. She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself and looking down at the hot chocolate in front of her. "Why do you want to know?" She asked softly, shaking her head. She didn't really like to talk about it and just wanted to get away from the subject completely. Biting her lip, she wondered if he'd go with it if she just abruptly changed the direction the conversation was going. Flickers of memories were already starting to appear in front of her eyes and she had to work to keep calm, her fingers tracing the bumps of scars under the material of her shirt sleeves.

He nodded. He wouldn't ask her anything else for the day if he could help it. She did go through a traumatic experience and had to re-live it earlier that day. He bit his straw until it was flat. "So tell me about your family," he smiled, changing the subject for her. He wanted her to feel completely safe in his presence. He checked his watch just to get a glimpse at the time. It was already 10:30. Time sure does fly on these days.

"My family? Oh... Well, I live with my mum and dad and I have a corgi called Jack. We got him when we moved here so that he could calm me down if my parents aren't there when I start freaking out." Holly smiled, tucking her hair back over her shoulder and adjusting the collar of her shirt to hide the scarring on her shoulder. "What about you?" She asked curiously, realising she knew nothing about him but his name. "What's your family like?"

He shrugged his shoulders and looked out the window. Truthfully, his father was training him to become pack-master once the pack-master retires. He shook his head, thinking of how he would become a pack-master at such a young age. The recent pack-masters since his parents birth had usually been in their 30's, and retiring in their 50's. It was only two decades of reigning over them, but a lot could happen in just a year. He was worried about leading his tribe into failure. He didn't know if he should share his secret with Holly. It would be the ultimate taboo of werewolf life.
"I'm a descendant of an ancient Romanian tribe that settled here a few decades ago. My parents met in Romania, and moved here to the states before I was born. I was raised by them most of my life. We have a house down a trail in the forest, overlooking the lake. My mother wants me to get a good education, but my father doesn't think I should waste my childhood with my head in books," he chuckled. "We also have three large Tamaskans," he swallowed. He usually told anyone that if they asked about his home. It saved their ass when someone randomly saw them in their wolf forms.

Holly smiled. "Your parents must bicker about it a lot, huh?" She took another sip of her drink, finding it easier now the cream had melted into it a little and cooled it down. She hummed in content, licking her lips free of cream. "It sounds like you've had a good life so far." She said softly, wishing she could say the same for herself. Pushing those harmful thoughts away, she shook her head. "What are your Tamaskans like? I couldn't imagine having three dogs. Jack's enough of a handful." She giggled, shaking her head a little. The small dog always managed to get into trouble somehow, regardless of the time or place. Unless he was asleep, he was in some sort of trouble.

Zak wanted to scowl when she had mentioned that he seemed to have a good life. Yeah, the life of a werewolf came pretty easy... If only. But he couldn't comment on that, knowing her traumatic phase probably was not any easy one. When she mentioned the dogs he chuckled nervously. "They are pretty mean. They don't like being around anyone than us, and they like to hunt some pretty big game," he said, sipping on his milkshake. It wasn't that his parents and him were mean, it's just if they were to see a human wandering around the house, they would tend to growl and claim the house as their territory. He chuckled when he remembered the time animal control was called. There were no dogs to be found.

"They sound kind of scary... But as long as they don't bite me or Jack when we're on our walks and happen to run into you, I'm okay with it." Holly smiled, biting her lip softly. Likelihood was that she would be walking through town with Jack, rather than through the forest like he always wanted to. She sighed, wishing that she could just hurry up and forget already. It wasn't like it had only just happened. Years had gone by without so much as a disturbance but nothing had changed for her.

"They don't attack unless commanded," he assured her.
Zak could tell she was thinking about that time in her life when she was traumatized. He bit his lip, wondering if he should hold back what he was going to ask. He did not want to ask her what happened until she felt ready to tell him.He turned his head sharply towards the window, hearing a faint howling from the north end of the forest. He felt a strong urge to jump up and rush off. He stared at Holly, not wanting to leave. His packmaster was calling everyone to the forest, and he couldn't ignore this, even if he was in school. He stood up from the booth, and pulled out cash from his pocket, placing it on the table.
"The hot chocolate is on me," he said then winked at her. "Sorry to rush off, but I feel as though I am needed somewhere. I'll catch up with you later," he quickly said, then jogged out of the door of the diner, running up the sidewalk until he found one of the trails leading into the forest.

Holly looked up, surprised and confused. "No, it's okay. I can pay..." She said, a little flustered and with a slight blush on her pale cheeks. She waved a little as he left the diner, wondering why he ha had to leave so abruptly. She took a sip of her hot chocolate. It had been neglected throughout their conversation and had cooled down too much. It was only once she went to leave that she realised he had left his coat with her. Running her fingers over the soft fur, she looked up and bit her lip. Hopefully, he would be in class the next day so she could return it. She pulled it on, not really seeing sense in just holding the jacket when it was so cold out. Picking up her bag and tugging the soft fur closer, she left and headed back towards her home.

The walk was silent and bitterly cold, though the fur did make her feel better. She came up to the house, unlocking the door and was instantly greeted by Jack. Holly smiled, shaking her head a little. "Hey buddy... Anyone else home?" She asked as she dropped her bag and shrugged off the large jacket. "Guess not, huh?" She mumbled, reading the note her mother had left for her. Psychiatrist appointment. 4pm xx She sighed, dreading it already. "Come on, Jack." She called, beckoning the dog away. He had been curiously investigating the coat she had been wearing and Holly guessed it was because he could smell other canines or something similar. He scampered over to her once she sat on the sofa and turned on some mindless daytime TV, settling at her side to cuddle with her.

Zak stopped at a spot in the forest and started shrugging off his clothes. He shifted into the white wolf. He held his clothes in his mouth as he started to quickly run towards the howling sound. The scent of new wolves were in the area. He wanted to growl, but of course he couldn't. They could have been packmasters themselves.
Arriving upon the large group of werewolves, he noticed the three newer ones. He stood next to his parents.
"What's going on?" he asked. His parents whined.
"We don't know," they said. Zak lifted his hears, listening to all the conversations of the pack of wolves, but soon heard his packmaster, Adony, howl, to quiet them down.

"We have our brotherhood joining us today. This packmaster has come a long way, in search of someone," he said. From the other side of the trees, a black wolf and two unshifted wolves were walking next to him, holding traveling bags.
"Thank you," the black wolf said to Adony. Something seemed familiar about the scent linked to this packmaster. "My name is Jericho. I am part of the Canadian Wolf tribe that settled here so long long ago. In our pack, it is in the rulebook that we may own one slave for a lifetime. Mine has escaped, 5 years ago and moved quickly. I had no luck finding her up until a few weeks ago, but her family moved her here. I've tracked her scent here. This is a photo of the escaped slave girl, ." One of the unshifted werewolves pulled out a photo, and started showing it to the wolves. Zak tried not to freak out when he saw it was Holly, chained up in a cabin. He breathed normally, unsure if Jericho saw him flinch. He needed to get her scent off of him before he catches on that he knew that he seen Holly.
"Please don't attempt to capture or kill this girl, she is too terrified of me to move a muscle. I would like to be the one to bring her back home," he chuckled. Zak almost growled and took a stand, before realizing this werewolf was much, much older than he was. Looking at the length of his tail, he has to guess he was over a hundred years old. Only those who could go through a full moon without shifting was granted the power to stop their aging.
"You're all dismissed," Jericho said, then looked quickly at Zak. "May I talk with you?" he asked, then looked at the other teenage werewolves. "All of you," he said, then backed up into a clearing of the forest. The boys followed him, and knelt down in the clearing, a sign of respect. Jericho chuckled, loving this feeling of power.
"This slave girl's name is Holly. She is old enough to be in high school, maybe in some of your classes," he began. Zak stared at the other werewolves, knowing that a few of them had in fact seen her this morning when she freaked out. He hoped they wouldn't snitch her out. "Have any of you seen her yet?" he asked.
Zak kept his head down, as did the others. He felt grateful, that they were not going to hand her over. Jericho snorted. "Keep an eye out. She will be a new student sometime this week. You are all dismissed," he said. The pack split up, including Zak who grabbed his clothes and quickly ran towards town. He stayed in the boundaries of the forest line as he searched for Holly's scent. Jericho must not have been a good tracker, or didn't understand the mechanics of scents. When moving to a new place, the new area usually changes the scent of a person. He found the scent he had earlier, and followed it to her home, staying in the backyard forest line. He would wait here and make sure no one showed up. He was claiming her, and no one could touch her if she was claimed.

Holly looked over at her dog in surprise when he struggled out of her arms. He had been lying so still earlier and had been so relaxed but suddenly, his ears had swivelled around to the back garden and he had scampered towards the door. "Jack... I can't." She said, watching as he pawed at the wooden door. She avoided even looking at the back garden that ended just before the edge of the forest, let alone going out into the area. It was too close for comfort. Sometimes, even her house was too close for comfort. "Did mum not walk you or something?" She asked, going to get his leash. She clipped it on with a sigh, trying to pull him towards the front door. The corgi growled and struggled, biting on the leash and tugging back towards the front. "I can't... You know I can't..." She tugged again but he refused.

Eventually, she took a deep breath and shut her eyes. She picked him up and kept him close, opening the door nervously. She was shaking and already, her eyes were brimming with tears. As soon as it was open, Jack leapt from her arms and ran straight to the back gate. He backed loudly at whatever was there but Holly was too terrified to go after him. She stood in the doorway, pale and shaking and unable to move.

Zak watched Holly come outside with a barking dog. /He walked forward slightly, but watched that her dog had leaped from her arms. He hunkered down in a defensive position, then watched the dog get closer to him, still barking at his. He snarled and leaped towards the dogs, barking and snarling, trying to keep it out of the forest. He knew some werewolves that like hunting small dogs for fun, but he was not one of them. He tried to scare the dog back to the house. He felt so much bigger than the small dog, considering he was almost four feet tall, and six feet long. He was big for a normal sized wolf.

Jack was the kind of dog that thought he was larger than he really was but even he knew that he would stand no chances against this one. He growled, his lips curled back from his teeth but he moved no closer. From the house, Holly could hear as another set of backs and snarls filled the air and worry for her companion grew. It intensified when she saw white fur. "Jack!" She called, fear for her dog clouding her fear of the past and the forest. She sprinted towards the gate, scooping him up in her arms again where he growled and barked still. Holly wasn't paying attention to him though, scrabbling back when she saw exactly what he had been backing at. Her heart leapt to her throat and she stumbled back, her eyes wide with terror.

Zak whined and knelt down in front of Holly. He wanted to show her that he meant her no harm. He kept his eyes on Jack, the small barking dog. If only that dog had taken the hint and rushed back to Holly like he was supposed to. Zak stayed kneeling to the ground,l wanting Holly to feel like she could go home safely. He couldn't shift in front of her. He looked down, forgetting that the clothes he had on was right underneath his paw. He scrapped them behind him, hoping she wouldn't find out his secret. He would be shunned, and she would possibly be killed. He couldn't have that.

Luckily for Zak, Holly was too scared to actually take her eyes off the wolf. When the wolf knelt before her, she took more steps back. She was fast, Jack finally quietening down when he recognised the scent as the one on the jacket Holly had worn home. He licked her cheek, calming her down a little as he always had. She took a deep breath and turned away, sprinting for the house and slamming the door behind her. "Great. Forest AND wolves." She mumbled, sliding down to the floor with her back against the door. "Please don't make me go into the garden any more, Jack." She kissed him softly on his forehead, trying to calm her fast heart.

Zak took a deep breath then grabbed his clothes in his mouth. He wandered farther into the forest, but close enough to see the house. He shifted and quickly pushed his clothes back on, and sat on a tree stump, watching the house. He heard another wolf running closely in the distance. It was his comrades from school. They caught up with him, in human form. He looked at Kale, with an eyebrow raised.
"Why did you not tell Jericho about Holly?" he asked them. Kale looked at his brothers and back at Zak.
"Those laws have no jurisdiction here. According to our laws, we don't associate with the enslavement of humans, and before Jericho got here, Adony told us not to release any information about the enslaved girl. We knew it was the new girl, because of the timing. We thought you were going to tell him," he explained. He looked over at the house. "This house has her scent all over it. And Jericho has no tracking capabilities what-so-ever. Just keep her hidden as much as you can."
Zak looked up at the boys, taking a deep breath. "I'm claiming her. She is mine," he said. The boys looked at him, almost in shock.
"You're claiming a human!?" Terrie asked, standing next to Kale, who was speechless. Zak looked back at the house, nodding.
"If it protects her, then yes. You should've seen her when I mentioned that cabin he kept her in," he said. Kale shook his head to both sides.
"You need to think about this before it gets back to Adony. Claiming her will only get you in trouble. It's taboo, and you yourself said that it was morally wrong," he said.
Zak huffed and growled from deep in his chest. "This is different!" he shouted.

Holly sighed, shivering a little as the cold from being outside caught up with her. "Come on, buddy. Let's go back to the sofa." She let him go, scratching the top of his head before getting up. Resisting the urge to look out of the window to see if the wolf was still there, she walked through her house to the front room and curled up on the sofa. Jack trotted after her dutifully, his head snapping in the direction of the garden before he continued and hopping up onto the sofa beside her.