#what a cute slightly oversized dog i sure hope hes not a werewolf | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bangtancentricsblog · 4 years

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○werewolf in the suburbs○

➣ just your friendly neighborhood werewolf trying to keep his secret, well a secret

❒ pairing: kim namjoon x reader

❒ genre: angst, fluff, slight humor, slight crack (maybe)

❒ alternative universe: werewolf

❒ rating: NC 17

❒ word count: 4.8k +

warnings/disclosures: no edit we die like men, angst but like mild angst, werewolves Jimin and Jungkook, mc is human, cameos from yoongi, Jimin is a dick, self deprecating thoughts, connected universe, Easter eggs keke, old people, fluff is at the end, I’m sorry this is such a mess, there’s nothing too bad in the one, can you spot the song references? clearly namu is my favorite

monster mash ml • main ml • AO3

The trees look beautiful today, Namjoon thinks as he sips his morning tea, but he can’t enjoy it as you bore holes into his head from across the street. He’s lived here for more than two years now and he’s familiar with everyone but you are a complete stranger. A new face in his safe suburban community, and it was a community when the only people who lived here were elderly couples. He didn't mind them after all he was friendly with all of them, hell he did a lot of work for them. Like Norman who owned the farm down the road, he helped with whatever he could and in return Norman would let him have fresh fruits and vegetables.

Lilian from the flower shop let him have his pick of seedlings from the nursery when he helped unload deliveries. Jack the local butcher let him have his pick of meats and cheeses for cheap, while their town's mayor offered his niece’s hand in marriage for becoming a positive member in the community. Youngest member of the community would be more accurate, Namjoon had nothing but time on his hands and so he helped where he could when he could. He liked his quiet life, that is until you showed up with your paint splattered overalls and messy hair. He won't even mention the cute oversized glasses and that infectious laughter of yours because he hated it.

What's more, you ruined his perfect little routine, the house you now lived in used to belong to a woman named Alice, a woman who had nothing but harsh words to say but was sweet even with her glare. He liked Alice, she reminded him of his own grandmother back home and she hadn’t mentioned leaving the last time he’d been over tending to her garden. So he wondered just what exactly you’re doing in her house. There were exactly four houses on the street, all decently sized with dense forest to their surroundings. Namjoon liked his home, the wrap around porch was something his friend Jimin had loved when he’d bought it. Most importantly he liked that the forest behind his home was a direct path to his pack's land 40 miles away.

Somehow when you’d introduced yourself you’d shown a little too much interest in him, and it creeped him out. Since then you’d come around so often he was alway ready to receive you, he’d offer you tea and sometimes you’d accept happily and other times you’d decline a stuttery mess of words slipping past your lips as you’d hurried away from him. Today however you’d just been staring at him from across the street beneath the shade of an old oak tree. The leaves long since changed color to a vibrant goldenrod. The air held a chill as it swept past bringing with it the soft scent that he knew came off you. It was like fresh mint, refreshing but tainted with the lingering of chocolate that always made him shudder. What a weird mix, he thought.

He’s tired of waiting though, so he stands making his way over to you ready to offer you tea. Though he’s surprised to see you fast asleep, your head tilted towards his direction. It’s cute, the way your brows furrow the slightest and the pout to your lips, but there’s something more. The scent of salt on you is strong, more so than usual and it worries him slightly as he drops down to crouch in front of you. He takes a deep breath catching something else, he’s not sure what though. Humans were such complicated beings, scents were easy to tell apart in his kind but with humans there were too many scents that lingered. To many possibilities, and unfortunately Namjoon hadn’t been around humans for long enough to really know.

His wolf whines at him, as he moves closer nuzzling your hair to really get an idea of what's wrong. You sigh eyelids fluttering slightly, leaning closer to him with a shiver. Closer, his wolf hums, but Namjoon moves away, hand going to press against your forehead. You’re warm, warmer than he thinks is normal for humans. Almost as warm as he is, and he’s a wholly different species, it worries him. He’s quick to haul you into his arms and towards his house, to his surprise you snuggle closer to his body, he pays no mind to how his wolf purrs at the contact.

The following day and a half he spends taking care of you, to the best of his abilities that is. Luckily enough for him your fever broke the following night (something he had to look up) and went into town to get human medicine. Delia from the pharmacy smiled politely and had laughed when he stumbled through his explanation for buying so much over the counter medicines. It had been mortifying for him to call you his girlfriend, but he’d rather not tell them it was you he was taking care of. If he’s being completely transparent he has no idea how exactly you’d gotten better but you had and he's happy for it.

“Hey.” he greets over the rim of his coffee mug as he sits at his kitchen island. You look better, even your scent smells better, more minty than chocolatey today it washes over him in an oddly refreshing way.

“Hi, thanks for taking care of me.” you laugh softly tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. Your eyes are squinted, in the early morning light and the strawberry skys are just now giving way to the mango and blueberry that come after the near crack of dawn.

“You’re welcome, would you like some coffee, maybe tea?” he asks.

“No, I’m okay. I should probably head home and shower. I already put the sheets to wash. I hope you don't mind, thank you again.”

“I’ll walk you home then.” he makes to move out of his seat, meeting your gaze at the slight muffle squeak that comes tumbling from your lips.

“No, that’s okay you’ve done enough.” you quickly mutter shuffling your feet before giving him one last thank you and excusing yourself. That’s cute, he thinks leaning his cheek into his palm. The smile that tugs at his lips, is soft, dreamy even but Namjoon is none the wiser. He feels a bit woozy all of a sudden groaning slightly at the way the light irritates his eyes. It isn't often that he falls ill but he hasn't been feeling all too well for the last couple of days since he’s brought you into his home. He hopes it’s pre-rut symptoms but he’s not too sure after all there’s something different about this.

“Maybe I should go home for a bit.” he mutters to no one in particular, as he stands moving to rinse his mug before making his way to his bedroom.

The sun hangs high in the sky by the time you have showered and fed your poor cat Castiel. Who hasn't left your side since you’ve come home, which is odd in itself considering he’s a dick most days. He’s purring on your chest pawing at your face every few minutes to get you to kiss his head, and you do with a soft giggle. His fur is soft as silk as you run your finger through it absentmindedly. Your mind is elsewhere, sifting through the hazy memories of the last two days that you’d been away from home. Namjoon was very kind to you, and sure he was tall, broad, an absolute tree of a man that had your poor simple heart falling for him in an instant.

It’s too bad you couldn't be calm and confident like your cousin sometimes, she would know what to do. Though, you doubt he’d be interested in you either way, he seemed like the type who liked booksmart, ambitious girls. Girls who wore clothes of the latest season, with long legs and big brains, the put together type which was everything you weren’t. Who wanted a bubbly overly clumsy failed artist living off an inheritance in the middle of nowhere? You sigh heavily, heart aching as you realize the little crush you had has probably withered with the little bit of self deprecating thoughts. Well it was a nice little fantasy you supposed, but you really should do something to thank him. You briefly wonder if your cousin has time to help you bake Namjoon something.

To your surprise, your cousin does indeed have time to come help you. She’s at your house a few days later, her best friend in tow, Yoongi’s been a constant in both your lives you’d long since started treating him like family. Though you’re a little sad to not see Suga, her super cute and cuddly black cat, he’s nothing like your Castiel. She mutters something about him being a little too sick for the travels.

“So, what do you want to make?” she asks, tying her long hair up into a ponytail. You do the same though your hair is much shorter than hers. Yoongi goes through your cabinets pulling bowls and the hand mixer to help prep. You smile at him gratefully moving to pull aprons off the hooks in the pantry.

“Smells like a dog in here.” Yoongi says after knotting his apron, and you wince taking deep breaths to catch the scent he speaks of. You don’t find anything out of the usual, just the lingering scent of pineapple from the candle that sits on your coffee table.

“Maybe I should close the windows.” You offer, missing the shared look between your cousin and Yoongi.

“____, sweetie, what do you want to make?” Your cousin asks again as you fiddle with the windows.

“I don’t really know, maybe muffins, how about chocolatechip?” You say, tilting your head slightly, not entirely sure if he’ll even like them. Truth be told you're not sure Namjoon even eats carbs not with the way he was built, not that you were looking. I mean sure you looked, but like respectfully! It was hard to miss anyways especially when his boobs were just as big if not bigger than your own! Again, you had looked, respectfully! She hums in thought and Yoongi moves to stand behind her wrapping his arms around her, resting his chin on her head.

“How about we make a little of everything, I know you like muffins so we’ll make enough so that you can enjoy them too.” She offers swaying slightly along with Yoongi who seems to have grown bored rather quickly. You smile, moving to wrap your own arms around her to squish her between you and Yoongi. She groans, muttering her discomfort but you know she loves it as cold as she may pretend to be.

Jimin and Jungkook are pulling on some shorts before walking out of the forest, beads of sweat shine in the low light of the evening as they move past the foliage and onto Namjoon’s property. They’d come looking for Namjoon who hadn’t answered when Jin had called to check in with the younger wolf, and had yet to return the call. Jimin still loves this wrap around porch, he thinks he could get used to this if he really wanted out of pack life but he doesn't, not yet anyways. They’re coming around the side when they spot you standing at the door a basket in hand, the glasses you wear are comically big on your face slipping down your nose as you mutter to yourself. Jimin takes you in, the chunky cable knit sweater dwarfs you significantly making your look so small, but the whole outfit you wear reminds him of a child.

The pale blue of your sweater adds just a touch of color to your outfit, the tights and booties you wear are black. He’s most drawn to the half pigtails that sit atop your head, cute he thinks. He watches you for a bit longer before your gaze darts up as Jungkook steps closer peeking over your shoulder like some overgrown pup. He sighs internally because of course the pup of their group would step closer at the scent of food.

“Hi, oh my god you’re naked!” you yell dropping your gaze again to avoid looking at their half naked forms. He stifles a chuckle so as not to offend you, humans were so very amusing.

“We’re not naked.” Jimin says watching as you try and shrink away from his gaze, however Jungkook still stands behind you. It’s almost funny how you look like a caged mouse between the two of them ready to be devoured.

“Your boobs are out.” You mumble bringing the basket you hold in front of your face to further hide behind. Jimin pauses, d-did you just say boobs? Jungkook’s eyes grow in size as he meets Jimin’s gaze he can see the way the other man’s body trembles with concealed laughter.

“Who are you again?” Jimin asks, noticing the peculiar way Jungkook has not so subtly taken to sniffing you. Not the basket in your hand but you.

“I’m a friend of Namjoon’s, ____, I live down the street.” you say cheerily.

“A friend you say? I don't think he’s ever mentioned you before.” Jimin quirks his head slightly stepping closer.

“Oh, that’s okay we uh, we aren't that close?” you murmur gaze falling to your feet once more.

“Then are you really friends? You’re kinda plain looking, you aren't too tall, I’d say you’re very average at best.” you flinch back from him after what he’s said. You gnaw on your lip to keep quiet because you know. You offer him a tight smile, eyes glazed over and Jungkook is the one to glare at Jimin, because the pleasant mix of chocolate and mint with a hint of something oh so familiar has soured.

“I should go, please give this to Namjoon.” you thrust the basket into Jimin’s chest, he fumbles with it almost dropping it altogether as you turn on your heel almost tripping down the stairs in your rush to get away from the two. You’re out of sight in an instant, Jimin looks a little smug as Jungkook stares at the space you once occupied.

“That was really mean of you.” Jungkook spits.

“Who cares, she’s human.” Jimin scoffs, narrowing his eyes at the taller boy. He shoves the basket at Jungkook moving to take the spare key from where it’s wedged above the door frame. There’s a soft click before the two make their way inside, the house smells almost the same a little stale but mostly the same. It’s unnaturally quiet as they move further into the house which is unsettling. Jungkook sets the basket down in the kitchen moving towards the lone bedroom on the first floor before something is darting past him. The giant taupe mass that zips past has his lips quirking slightly.

“Namjoon you had us scared!” he laughs as the elder buries his muzzle in Jungkook’s abdomen.

“Why didn't you check in?” Jimin asks as he enters the room, the growl that rips through the room is brief as the giant wolf’s ears flick to the side before he’s bolting out the open front door. The two yell after him running out to follow him but the elder is gone, and for the first time since Namjoon has moved out of pack territory Jimin and Jungkook are worried.

Yoongi stretches out on your rooftop yawning a bit as he watches the giant mutt sprint into your yard. A quirk to his head as he sits quietly and watches as it goes sniffing around the area, well that’s interesting he thinks as a single corner of his lips tilt up.

Your cheeks itch, you think as you rub at them with the back of your hands; your nose is runny and unfortunately you don't have any tissues. It’s not like you to cry over something like that, especially when it came from a virtual stranger, a really good looking one at that. You hate that he was so quick to see the things you didn't like about yourself almost as if he knew. It’s stupid really because you had worked past this, had gone all your life being ridiculed and compared to your near perfect cousin. The one who went to a private school, who’d won the gene pool lottery because she was gorgeous, she’d beg to differ but despite all that you don't resent her. Not when she cared about you as much as she did, she doted on you as much as she could.

Still you can't help but wonder what it would've been like to be a little more like her, it’s silly because you don't really want her life necessarily. You just wanted something to call your own, you sigh letting your eyes fall closed as you try your hardest not to fall deeper into those nasty thoughts. Somehow you’d ended up sitting in the forest behind your house back against a tree in hiding. Mostly because your cousin is fiercely protective of you, but also because you don't want her to see the tear tracks that stick to your cheeks. The leaves crunch not far from you, and you whip your head in that direction, heart racing. You shriek as a furry mass collides into your body knocking you over. It whines loudly nuzzling into you and you glance down to see a giant dog?

He’s beautiful, shiny coat of taupe fur shines in the low light filtering through the treetops, big beautiful eyes that literally shimmer as he blinks at you. This dog has stolen your heart and you wonder just where the hell he came from. He’s yipping, bumping his head to your chest, before dropping his weight to lay beside you, head happily nestled between your boobs. He huffs a breath, blowing it into your face and you giggle. The whine he lets out is low almost like he’s crying, it breaks your heart a little.

“It’s okay, big guy please don't cry.” you coo running your fingers through his fur, his rumbles happily almost like a purr but slightly different. The laugh you let out is involuntary as his tongue swipes at your cheeks, you push at his massive head in an attempt to get him to stop but he just won't. He really is beautiful you think as he growls playfully at you pulling at your hair before nuzzling close, but he’s a little too big for you.

“-onie!” you hear and the dog goes stiff, turning and growling at whoever has approached you two. You peek around the dog's massive body to see Namjoon’s friend, the mean one standing there hands out. His eyes dart towards you pulling more growls from the dog as he does so, the other boy comes to stand beside his friend.

“Is this your dog?” you ask shuffling to your feet with a curious stare.

“Yes, he’s very viscous so he isn't usually let out.” Jimin says watching as both you and Namjoon quirk your heads at him at the blatant lie.

“He seems friendly enough to me.” you say running a hand through the dogs fur again.

“He must like you!” Jungkook supplies quickly as if to cover for the elders poor lie.

“Monie, come here.” Jimin says motioning to Namjoon who just stands beside you, as he lets out a sad little whine. He doesn't move, you kneel beside him scratching behind his ears and planting a soft little kiss to his nose.

“Go, thank you.” you smile, and he bumps his head against your face for one more kiss before he walks over, turning to glance at you and sprinting past Jimin and Jungkook. Jimin curses turning on his heel and rushing after him. Jungkook however stays stock still staring at something over your shoulder.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m sure Namjoon will be happy to see you.” he smiles before turning and sprinting in the direction he’d come.

Your cousin stands at your back door, a frown marring her features as she watches Jungkook run off. What was that mutt doing here, better yet what the hell were you doing hanging out with a pack of wolves in the forest no less. This was interesting, she thinks heading back inside before you can see.

“What did you say to her?” Namjoon asks after he’s shifted back to his human form tugging at the waistband of his sweats.

“Why are you assuming I said anything, Jungkook could’ve been the one to say something.” Jimin huffs crossing his arms at his chest.

“I said nuffing.” Jungkook offers around a mouthful of muffin. Namjoon stares at the younger long and hard, because he didn’t have muffins.

“Where’d you get that?”

“Your neighbor brought them over earlier. She’s super cute by the way.” He says, watching amusedly as Namjoon growls at him. It surprises Jimin because Namjoon had never growled at anyone least of all his favorite!

“D-do you like her?” Jimin gags more than a little scandalized at the idea. A human, Namjoon liked a human. Maybe he needed to move back to pack territory, yeah that seemed like a good idea.

“I don't know. She’s different, she smells nice I mean. Like mint and chocolate which is weird already but like in a good way. My wolf likes her too and y’know that's good, maybe?” Jungkook is smiling extra wide, looking almost manic, while Jimin looks like he’ll be sick.

“Maybe you should come back home, Jin would love the help y'know. I’m sure you’re tired of the stench of denture cream and prunes.” Jimin sniffs.

“Not really, I like it here.” he murmurs rubbing at the back of his head.

“Jungkook stop eating and say something!” Jimin shouts almost hysterically.

“These muffins are really good, Namjoon you should have some since your cute neighbor brought them over. Jimin please eat something you can be melodramatic when you’re hungry.” He says waving the baked goodness at the two of them. Jimin is reluctant to take one from him while Namjoon is more than happy to load up on carbs after being stuck in his wolf form for almost a week. He bites into it groaning because this had to be the best muffin he’d ever had, his insides warm at the thought of you baking them and bringing them over.

“I think she might be your mate.” Jungkook offers, biting into a blueberry muffin, it’s his fourth of the batch.

“What?” Namjoon sputters, choking on the bit he has in his mouth.

“Why would you say that?” Jimin says, sounding appalled but still stuffs his cheeks full of muffin.

“I’m just saying, as someone who already has their mate I would know.” he says with an air of arrogance.

“Just because your mate is human doesn’t mean Namjoon’s is.” Jimin huffs with a pout.

“She’s a witch, not a human, and I mean he’s acting a lot like I did when I first met her.”

“Doesn’t her familiar hate you?”

“That's besides the point, what I’m saying is he’s acting like a wolf with a non-wolf mate would.” Jungkook glares at Jimin, for such a small man he sure likes to go toe to toe with someone much bigger than him in every aspect.

“Do you really think so?” Namjoon asks eyes wide in wonder. There’s a glimmer to them, a shine he didn't have before. His wolfs yips happily, the smile that splits Namjoon’s lips is very telling. Jimin groans because of course another one of his close pack mates would have a human mate, it only made sense.

You’re gnawing on your lip when your cousin walks into the kitchen the next morning. She looks slightly disheveled, a scowl on her lips at the way the shine literally blinds her. Yoongi comes in after her, looking no less awake than she does a pout to his lips that tilts your own upwards.

“Morning, coffee?” you ask as both of them nod their head once before sitting at the island.

“Why does the sun have to be up everyday, why can't it be cold and gloomy all the time.” your cousin groans into her palms as she drags them across her face in an attempt to wake up a little more.

“It can’t be that bad.” you laugh hugging her as you put a mug of the caffeine in front of her and repeating the process with Yoongi who whines when you move away from him. You’re quickly plating a light breakfast, nothing that requires a lot because truth be told you’re feeling a little frazzled today. The butterflies in your tummy have yet to settle, you almost feel nauseous, but in a good way. Toasted bagels with cream cheese, and fruit will have to do you suppose, you’re also a little sad that your cousin and Yoongi have to go home soon, because you really liked having them over, it beats living in a house as big as this all on your lonesome.

“What’s going on over there rainbow bright?” Yoongi asks, a hint of concern lacing his tone.

“Nothing, I’m just gonna miss you two.” you smile sadly at them.

“Why? It’s not like we can’t come visit or vice versa.”

“I don't know, I like having you around.” your cousin gags muttering about how it’s too early for all this sweetness.

“Your teeth will rot if you stay this sweet, but I don't think you’ll be alone for long.” she smirks into her coffee cup. You’re about to ask why when there’s a knock at your door, and you hurriedly wipe your hands to see who it could be. You pull the door open, and to your surprise Namjoon stands there a small bouquet of daisies in hand.

“Namjoon, hi.” you say a little too breathlessly.

“Hi, um can we talk?” he asks, scratching at his neck sheepishly. You nod, casting a glance over your shoulder and stepping onto your porch.

“What’s up?” you ask, heart fluttering in your chest as he hesitantly raises the flowers in hand.

“These are for you. I’m sorry if Jimin offended you, he has a way with words.” he winces because Jimin truly was a menace and the main reason a lot of she-wolves steered clear of him.

“Thank you, he was a little harsh but I’m a big girl and I can handle it.” His heart breaks a little and his anger simmers, he swears he’ll make Jimin regret hurting you.

“Still, he didn't have a right to, and thank you for the muffins they were really good.” he smiles a dimple winking out, that makes you internally sigh because gosh darnit he was super cute.

“I’m glad you liked them, it was a thank you for taking care of me.” you mutter warmth rushing to your cheeks.

“I, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out sometime?” he asks, skin flushed gaze glued to the floor. Your skin heats further, you must’ve heard him wrong.

“I’m, s-sorry?” you stutter.

“Would you like to go out sometime?” he asks again feeling embarrassed, maybe Jungkook had been wrong after all.

“Like, a, a, d-date?” you squeak, almost certain you’re about to faint.

“Yeah, like a date, I, I’m sorry maybe I should just -”

“NO! I mean yes of course I’d love to go on a date!” you scream, embarrassment washing over you at the sheer volume you’d used legs suddenly feeling like jelly.

“Great, how does Saturday sound? Seven okay?” he asks, excitement leaking into his tone as you stutter out a confirmation. His smile widens turning on his heel and tripping down your steps, barely catching himself before throwing a smile you way once more, saturday can’t come quick enough.

Jimin and Jungkook laugh in the bushes nearby having watched the whole ordeal. Similarly Yoongi and your cousin muffle their laughter belly aching at just how awkwardly comical the two of you were.

Six months later ~

“I can’t believe Jimin made me think Monie was a dog.” you laugh wrapping your arms around Namjoon.

“Please don't remind me, I will never live that down.” he murmurs into the crown of your head. He’s holding you close, the wall of his kitchen are painted the early morning strawberry of the sky, giving way to the mango and blueberry that come after the near crack of dawn, and everything feels perfect. You’re wearing his shirt, all warm, sleep still clouding your eyes but no less love drunk than yesterday. He takes a deep breath swaying the two of you to a silent tune, you smell of mint and chocolate, a weird mix but also of home.

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dunkshotdreaming · 5 years

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Rouge

Pairing: werewolf!Jaemin x idol/werewolf!reader (mentions of other members ft. appearances by the dreamies)

Genre: fluff (pg-13 at most), fantasy/supernatural au

Word count: 4,391

Summary: Maybe the cute little pup from Rouge territory wasn’t so bad after all. or In which borrowing a jacket turns out to be a fateful encounter.

✎ A/N: Officially kicking off the Nyctophilia series with a story based on the dream that started it all. Hope you guys will enjoy it, and so excited to finally have some time to work on this. (Here’s to hoping the rest of this project will turn out alright~ because I’m not even sure if this one did☺) I also apologize that this one isn’t entirely gender neutral, but if you swap out like that one pet name, I’m sure it could be! I’ll try to keep the other ones more neutral, if I can.

It felt like ages since you’d had some time off, and there was no better way to celebrate the end of your group’s promotional period than to visit your dear friends and kick back like the good old days. You had known your friends, Sayuri and Kaoru, ever since you were children. The siblings were the next youngest of the Blackwolf clan, after you, and the lot of you had many an adventure if your days as pups. Being part of the same clan, it isn’t impossible to think that the three of you had retained such a close friendship over time. They were almost like your right and left hands when it came to running the Blackwolf clan, of which you were the alpha. It was tough being both an idol and the alpha of one of the four major werewolf packs, but all was manageable with the right help and strategies. Incidentally, however, there was once almost trouble caused by Sayuri, who was caught with her mate from a rival pack, the Silveridges. But thankfully, that was then, and this is now; a new era of alphas have taken over since, and the peace treaty the clans came to an agreement over two years ago has yet to be disrupted.

And so here you are, visiting the prestigious company building your friends work at, the famous (and infamous) SM Entertainment. Meanwhile Kaoru had intensive training he couldn’t get out of, since he was still a trainee, Sayuri was off today, having opted for the still-chaotic yet freer lifestyle of working as a composer and lyricist. Though she did some freelance work as well, on occasion, this was where her office was. It was a lot more comfortable for you two to meet here than have to deal with being out in public, or risk running into any eager fans. As much as you loved and appreciated them, everyone deserved their rest now and again.

You’re both catching up in the lobby, really invested in a conversation (gossip, really) about something that happened within the clan when you hear people incoming. Quickly, you bot shift gears and continue your conversation with much less detail, using codewords when necessary, so as to not risk being exposed while freely out in the human world. Recognizing the passersby as NCT Dream, you rise from your comfortable position in the plush leather loveseat you’d been sitting in to bow to the senior group. They chuckle and tell you not to worry about formalities, all the while worrying you further when they opt to hang around in the lobby. Glancing at Sayuri, you both give a solemn nod, deciding it was better safe than sorry, and saving the rest of your conversation for a later time. Being polite, you make conversation with the group of tired boys sitting on the couch adjacent to you, finding out that they were taking a break from their upcoming album’s dance rehearsals. You nodded understandingly, having just finished your own promotions and knowing all too well the stress of comeback preparations.

You were just about to invite your friend somewhere, anywhere to continue your conversation out of earshot, desperate to hear the end of her story. Humans be damned, you needed to find out if the rumors about fellow wolves in the industry were true! But alas, you’re interrupted when Jaemin, one of the members of Dream, notices you shivering, as the air conditioning vent was just above your spot, leaving you with icy hands and chattering teeth.

“Oh no, I’m fine, really, but thank you so much for-” you start, only to once again be interrupted by the boy.

“It’s nothing, don’t mention it!” he beams at you, grabbing at the sweater lying next to his lap and wrapping it around your shoulders. As you look up at him, you take notice of his features: his pretty eyes, the slight pout of lips, even the grayish streak adorning the midsection of his bangs. It isn’t until Jaemin catches the scent of something familiar that you break from your trance. He grabs at your freezing hands with his own warmer ones, teasing you about how cute the flustered look on your face is at his actions. The other members have tuned out at this point, assuming he was being flirty and no longer held as much interest at your interactions as their conversation about dinner.

As he leans downward to speak to you from where he’s standing, barely an inch away from your own leg, he whispers gently in your ear, “I’d know that scent anywhere.”

Taken aback, you try to clear away the cobwebs forming where your coherent speech normally takes residence in your brain, offering a weak “What?” in response.

“You smell a lot like me, but yet so different. What clan are you from?” And that’s when his words sink in, flooring you at the realization. You’d been so concerned with hiding away from others that you’d forgotten the possibility of there being another like yourself, completely missing the scent of wet dog radiating off him as you’d mistaken it for sweat.

“Blackwolf,” you reply, not missing the way his smile grows tenfold while holding his gaze, “I moved here from the Noire territory up north not even a few years ago.”

“Ahh, so that’s why your scent was so powerful, you grew up within the territory, huh? You must be close to the alpha then, I’m assuming?” Jaemin slides past you to claim the spot beside you on the smaller sofa, both fascinated and intrigued at the revelation.

“Actually,” you rub your neck as your tongue nervously wets your lower lip, “I am the alpha.” A chuckle escapes you at the wide-eyed expression of the wolf next to you, tripping over his words due to the shock. “What clan are you from then?”

“I’m a Redfur, though I didn’t grow up the Rouge territory out west,” he admits, suddenly feeling shy in the presence of someone of such high regard. “You see the blonde boy with the little mole under his eye? That’s Jeno, he’s a Silveridge, we’ve known each other since we were in preschool.” He grins as he tells you this, obviously happy to have a friend and fellow werewolf on his team, never having to worry about feeling left out, and being able to speak to one of his own right from home. You kind of envied him, in a way; sure, you had your two friends, but they weren’t your bandmates, let alone labelmates. As he looks over at you two suspiciously, having caught wind of his name, you wave at him, to which he simply offers a shy smile. Hearing the all too familiar clan name reminds you of an interesting story.

“You know, my friend over there,” you nod your head in Sayuri’s direction on the recliner opposite from your spot, “her mate is a Silveridge. They’ve been together since before the treaty.” Jaemin eyes her curiously, almost as if he had just noticed her presence. The word “mate” clicks, his mouth slightly agape as he puts two and two together.

“So, you’re a Blackwolf as well, then. I knew there had to be more of us in the industry, but to think we’ve worked together before and I never even knew you were a fellow wolf,” he shakes his head as Sayuri laughs, “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”

“Likewise,” she replies in turn, “I had a feeling an NCT member or two had some, how do I put this… otherworldly energy? But I wasn’t sure if any of you were specifically werewolves, much less two of you.”

“There are like eight of us wolves, now that I think about it, though we don’t have a single Blackwolf yet. Care to join our humble Neo Culture Technology, princess?” The pet name sent your way throws you off-kilter, clearing your throat before you speak.

“As sweet as that offer is, I’m afraid I can’t just abandon my own group before we even make it to our second anniversary.”

“Then maybe you can accept my offer to join me in the café downstairs? I’d love to get to know more about the girl who stole my favorite jacket, if that’s alright with you…?” Jaemin is hesitant as he takes his shot, his lower lip nestled between his teeth as he anxiously awaits what words will leave your mouth. You glance over at Sayuri, who simply smirks in response before nodding your way, mumbling for you to “get lost” so that she can go check up on her brother, very likely an excuse to let you two be.

As she passes by you on her way out of the lobby, she sends a playful jab your way, reminiscing about how she had been ruthlessly teased for having a mate from another clan, reminding you that it would soon be your turn, should you end up with the Redfur after all.

The two of you politely excuse yourselves, embarrassed by all of the noise his bandmates make upon realizing that you’d be leaving together. You’re still wearing his sweater, which he refuses to take back, so you slip your arms through the sleeves to prevent the oversized garment from falling off your body. While chatting on your way to the café, you start to reminisce your days as an SM trainee before ending up at Loen. After some back and forth of trainee tales, you both come to the conclusion that the reason you’d seemed familiar to one another was that you used to be trainees around the same time, having had class together but never interacting before today. Jaemin later reveals that most of his bandmates aren’t actually human, and you’re left speechless, in disbelief until he starts listing them off.

“You already know about Jeno and I, but there are about six other wolves, as well as a variety of species amongst us. We had two humans, but one was recently bitten by a vampire, so now we’re down to just poor Mark,” Jaemin laughs, recalling the time Mark found out about that little fact.

“So, wait, mind if I ask who exactly…” you start but trail off, unsure just what you wanted to ask, let alone how to phrase your question. He holds the door open for you, only stepping in once you’ve passed ahead, and gently releases his hold on the door.

“I’ll explain everything you want to know, let��s just order first, alright?” Whispers spread like wildfire when you both walk in, next thing you know, you’re already at the counter across from the barista.

“And how may we help this adorable couple today?” the barista asks, almost smugly. You quickly try to interject, offering a denial, but Jaemin just eats up the attention, taking it almost as praise. He rattles off his order from hell, pardon, his chaotic mess of a coffee, with a sandwich before asking what you wanted to order. You try to insist on paying for your own, but he’s having none of that; realizing that he won’t budge, you sigh as you give in, telling the barista your drink of choice and asking for your own sandwich. The silence as you wait for your meals, if you could call them that, was painfully dull, a complete 180 from your previous time spent together. You can overhear a staff member or two muttering about how you two are “just so cute” and how they “envy young puppy love”, the latter unconsciously making your eye twitch.

“Thank you and come again! Have a great day,” the barista adds as he hands over your orders.

“We’re not-”

“She’s just shy, it’s ok,” Jaemin calmly states, picking up your food and walking off to a faraway table tucked into the lonesome corner of the café. He ignores the glare sent his way, his shit-eating grin plastered nearly from ear to ear. You follow him and sit down in the booth across from him, gratefully accepting your share. As you begin to unwrap your sandwich, he stands up again, decidedly grabbing his things before announcing that he’s got a better idea. “The practice room should still be empty right now, why don’t we sneak in there to eat, so I can tell you all about the others?”

_________

Cross-legged on the floor, you’re both sitting barely inches apart from one another as Jaemin recounts all of his inhuman bandmates to you. “For starters, there’s Taeyong who’s the Redfur alpha, he’s almost like a dad to me. Lucas and Kun are Goldensnouts, the latter being the alpha of their clan. Jeno is a Silveridge, but so is Jaehyun,” he pauses to eat, or rather inhale, half of his sandwich before taking a sip from his murky, liquid concoction.

“What a day, I get to meet another werewolf and find out there’s been a whole horde of you just under my nose. That’s lovely, just lovely,” you dramatize, hearing the boy beside you chuckle into his drink as his knee playfully knocks into yours.

“Relax, it’s not so bad. Maybe you’ve just got a weak nose, for an alpha,” he jests, wiggling his brows at your flared nostrils. “Where was I? Ah yes, the rest of the members,” Jaemin starts off, continuing to list from the vampires through the rest. You find out that Renjun is a pureblood vampire, whereas Yuta who was a human, was recently turned, and therefore needs to be extra careful with sunlight. Speaking of, Renjun’s fascination for aliens comes to light as he explains that Winwin and Yangyang are both actually from a planet known as Scorlirsus, having crash landed and yet to find a way back. Then there’s Haechan, who is apparently a demigod, the sun of Apollo at that, which gives his Fullsun nickname a whole new connotation. From half-demons to sorcerers, from sirens to angels; besides the abundance of wolves, there are so many different species that you end up to losing track of them all. Except for poor Mark, who makes for an exceptionally talented human.

Another moment of silence springs up as you finish your drinks, only this one is a lot more comfortable, enjoying the presence of newfound company between your shy gazes and small talk. “Oh, you have something, right there,” Jaemin points out, breaking the silence. Before you know it, thumb reaching towards the edge of your lips as he wipes at the dried hot chocolate there before licking his finger clean. You’re dumbfounded at how casual he is about it, as if he didn’t just indirectly lick your face, then again, the gesture would be a lot less weird to wolves than to humans, so you simply shrug it off. Just about ready to toss out your trash, Jaemin grins mischievously your way as he aims his straw in your direction.

“Would you like a taste of my coffee, princess?” Two options, you realize, two options are all you have. Either taste his infamous coffee like a champ, or risk another jab at being a weak alpha for not being able to handle a little coffee. You nod, bracing yourself for whatever the taste of that drink from hell may be like, only to be utterly surprised instead.

In the blink of an eye, his drink is forgotten on the practice room floor, one of his hands on the floor beside his leg to balance him as the others lightly grips the back of your neck, holding you in place as he brings his lips to yours. Smooth, is all you can think as his tongue slides across your mouth, indirectly allowing you to taste his drink as he drinks in your lips instead. Once again, he’s teasing you for the blush on your cheeks, cooing at how adorable he finds it; but all you can do is laugh, because it’s not like he was faring any better. Jaemin’s eyes bore into yours, wordlessly asking for permission to kiss you again, to which you respond in turn by meeting him halfway, just as eager.

Rather than one deep kiss, you both share a series of softer kisses, an almost childish air to the way he handles you. As you slide over, wanting to get a little closer, he pulls you to sit onto his lap instead, placing an innocent kiss at the skin of your exposed shoulder before resting his head in the crook of your neck. His hands are running through your hair, the world feeling like it slowed down until only this moment was occurring. In the dead silence, your brain comes up with an idea, and it isn’t long before it uncontrollably tumbles out of your mouth.

“Do something crazy with me?”

“And what would that be, princess?”

“Run away with me,” you take a deep breath before continuing, “just for a little while. Let’s escape this stuffy company, our schedules, everything. Let me show you a beautiful place not far away.” Your eyes are downcast as you play with his hands, unconsciously holding your breath as you wait for a response. To your surprise, Jaemin beams a beautiful smile your way, his crinkling eyes the sign of genuine happiness.

“Lead the way,” his deep voice rumbles low in his chest, no hesitancy as he chooses to follow you wherever you shall lead, placing a kiss on the back of your hand to seal the deal. You’re both rushing to toss your trash out before running downstairs again, chasing each other not unlike the way two puppies would when playing around. It’s already late when you both sneak out from the company, the stars shining brightly overhead as you both shift into wolf forms once you're at a safe distance away from the craziness of the building, safe from any possible prying eyes.

You both run on and on for awhile, playfully bumping into one another on purpose or pushing a snout towards the other, before eventually arriving at your destination; a beautiful field of flowers far away from the city, where all the stars are visible and no one is around to bother you. After cooling off some from the long voyage, you end up laying side by side, still in your wolf forms as you don’t often get to have the luxury to be so free. Taking in the view of the large mass of red beside you, you take note of the beautiful rouge coat Jaemin is sporting, a colorful contrast to the sleek black fur you were donning. His golden eyes bore into your own, a light blue so pale it appears gray, akin the gleam from the moon casting down from overhead.

What would appear to anyone else as barking and whining is the result of both you and Jaemin conversing, talking about anything and everything, and he thanks you for taking him somewhere so beautiful and peaceful. Exchanging a nuzzle or two before ending up turning to lay almost as if you were spooning, only you’re all curled up, just barely laying atop him, you revel in the comfort you receive solely from being around one another. Perhaps the phrase “puppy love” wasn’t as bad as you’d always thought, maybe it was that feeling of finally finding someone they click well with, or a chance encounter with their mate.

You had both unintentionally fallen asleep under your favorite tree, deep in a peaceful slumber as your chests rise and fall with each breath, waking up just as the sun is about to begin its ascent. You’re the first to awake, blinking the sleep from your eyelids as you look down and take note of hands where paws had been, wondering when you’d both transformed back, and silently praying there wasn’t mud all over Jaemin’s jacket. Realizing you better head back in case people had already realized that Jaemin was missing all night long, your attempt to wake up the sleeping boy. Try as you might, it takes great effort to even get him to open his eyes, let alone stand up. He slowly stretches out before laying flat on his stomach, head tucked into his arms, and you’re forced to poke and prod until he lets out a loud whine, almost as if to say just five more minutes, mom. Opting for a different approach, you turn him over so that his head is in your lap, brushing the hair out of his eyes as you do so.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” you quip.

“’s not even sun up yet,” Jaemin slurs, rubbing sleepily at his long lashes.

“We have to head back before anyone realizes we’ve been out all night, do you really want to risk getting into trouble right before your comeback?” He hums as you run a hand through his blonde tresses, looking up at you almost with a sparkle in his eyes at the sight before him.

"Responsible,” he murmurs, “no wonder you’re the alpha.” You’re not sure whether that was a compliment, but choose to take it as such regardless, as being the alpha did require a lot of determination and patience. There’s no rush to the way Jaemin gets up, taking his sweet time as if he had all of it in the world, placing a soft press of his lips to your forehead before he’s on all fours, ready to transform again. Following suit, you join him on the ground, a similar scene to the night before playing once again as the two of you make your way back to the company building.

Things are surprisingly calm as you both shake the dirt off your human bodies, successfully sneaking back into SM and quietly reaching that abandoned practice room in desperate need of remodeling you’d used as a dining room the night prior. It isn’t long before the two of you are crashing onto the raggedy couch together, exhausted from your interrupted sleep as well as all the travelling. This time, when you wake up, your limbs are entangled with your face in his chest, having been found by Jaemin’s fellow members of Dream. Being teased by said Dreamies wasn’t the optimal way to wake up, far from it, really; all four of them were utterly noisy, until Jaemin shoot up and protectively wraps an arm around your shoulders, tucking you into his side. You swear you hear light snores still escaping him as his head lays on your shoulder, half of his chest pressed into his back as he can’t hold his own weight up.

In the meantime, you take to chatting with Jeno, getting to know more about himself and his pack, learning a lot about this giant, intermingled group of beings. When you ask Renjun about vampires because you're curious, you explain that you had only ever heard of them, having yet to meet one in person. He prattles off about basics before getting distracted by Jisung and his haphazard shapeshifting, and you wonder how poor Mark ever dealt with being the de facto leader of this misfit group of teens, let alone doing so while being the only one without supernatural abilities. The boys have to head off again to practice, and you shake Jaemin awake, not gentle in the slightest as you treat him almost like a glowstick. He asks for a moment with you, the others teasingly making smooching sounds before high-fiving amongst themselves and walking out, warning him that if he wasn’t at practice in five minutes that they’d tattletale about his night away from the dorms. The threat hangs loosely in the air after they vanish, however.

“Thanks for letting me nap on you,” he smiles cheekily as he stands up. “I do have a serious question though,” Jaemin clears his throat, “I know we just met and all, but I have a feeling we get along really. There’s still time to figure things out, but I was kind of sort of hoping that maybe you felt the same way and that maybe… you’d like to go out sometime?” A whole nap in a secluded forest later and the boy is still shyly rocking on his feet as he officially asks for you to be his. You disguise the snort you let out as a cough, standing up as well now to look him properly in the eyes.

“I would love to go out with you again sometime, Jaemin.” Quickly exchanging numbers before he has to run off for practice, Jaemin is almost at the door when he comes running back, stealing one last kiss as his hands cup your face, wide awake at the burst of energy coursing through his veins at his elatedness to your response.

“Guess we’re mates now, it’s official,” he jests, winking at you as he lets out a short giggle. Your cheeks are too smooshed to reply, so you opt for jokingly rolling your eyes at him instead. “And the alpha at that… tell me, am I really that charming, princess?” He whines as you swat at his arm, the harmonious laughter of two young souls falling in love oozing in the otherwise dreary room. You’re disrupted by someone clearing their throat, taking note of the figure standing in the doorway.

“Hey Jaemin, I just got back. Renjun sent me to-” the boy you now recognize to be Haechan freezes as he takes in the sight before him, quickly switching into an almost condescending demeanor. “Aww, did the little Reddie finally find is mate?” Haechan freezes mid-laugh where he had been walking over, recognizing you as his idol crush when he walked close enough to see your face. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” His incessant whines fall upon deaf ears, too busy laughing at how quickly his moods changed. With a pat on the back, you usher your now boyfriend and potential mate along with his bandmate out the door, mentally preparing yourself for the berating your charming pal Sayuri was sure to deliver, all the while snuggling deeper into the jacket still clinging to your form, comfortably wrapped in his scent.

While the future is never clear and life may be unpredictable… things were certainly about get a lot more interesting with these troublemakers around, that much was certain.

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asongstress1422 · 5 years

Text

If You Go Down to The Woods Today

Reylo Fanfic -- werewolf au

Read on: AO3

Happy Halloween!!

The prickle on the back of her neck had Rey turning around to scan the area, hand slipping into her coat pocket around the small canister of mace. It was just shy of three in the morning and for what Rey could see of the rain soaked street it was vode of life. Though her instincts had gotten her out of too many tight spots for her to just not listen to them now. It they told her something was out there, it was out there.

So she had two options.

First being go back the way she had come. It was about two blocks, less than five minutes if she ran, to the club where she worked, though she doubted anyone would still be there. On a night like this her coworkers would want to get home just as much as she did. But she could lock herself safely inside and call an uber, though even the shout few blocks to her apartment would send her bank account into the red.

Her second option was walking the four remaining blocks to her apartment. A longer distance, yes, but if things got really hairy there was a twenty-four hour convenience store that she could hide out in. It was Satur-- er, Sunday morning so that meant Bonnie would be manning the counter. Rey bit her lip, weighing the idea of potentially luring her problems to the woman’s place of employment against knowing the older woman had a concealed weapons permit and was always packing. And Rey’s apartment was only another block up from there.

Path decided, Rey buttoned her coat tight around her neck and, on a deep breath, closed her umbrella. The mid-October rain was cold, instantly plastering her hair to her scalp. Shoving wet hair out of her eyes Rey marched forward, impromptu weapon clutched in her hands.

She made it about a block until her body screamed at her again and with little thought she turned, umbrella in a defensive block across her chest, palms and wrist loose, ready to counter just as her Sensei had drilled her.

A deeper shadow along the row of cars froze, yellow-green eyes reflecting the steep lamps. Her brain’s pseudo perpetrator.

Rey’s sigh floated in the air around her as her shoulders sagged in releaf. Then she laughed at herself further revealing her tension. “Good graces, boy, you scared me. What are you doing out here in all this wet, don’t you have some place to be?”

The dog remained pressed up against the red honda that had seen better days, completely motionless. Only its eyes followed her as she crouched on the sidewalk offering a hand. “Come on, I’m not going to hurt you,” she cood. “I just want to see if you got a collar so I can get you home.”

Slowly the animal moved, inching towards her and out of the shadow of the car.

“Wow,” Rey breathed as it cautiously slunk towards her, “you are a big boy, aren't you.”

In the weak light he appeared to be all black, long hair distorting his body as it dripped water. Kneeling as she was if he stood to his full height he his head would have topped hers but instead he kept his body hunkered close to the ground as he stretched out his huge head to sniff at her fingers, warm air curling over them.

Tentatively Rey scratched his chin. After a startled second of tension the great beast ease deeper into her palm. She ran her hands back to his neck. Finding no collar she gave it a good scratch as she looked down both ways of the empty road.

“Well, somebody has to be looking for you. You’re too well groomed to have been a stray long with all the hair you have.” He looked up to her as she spoke making them nearly nose to nose. “My goodness, you are a pretty thing.”

What she was about to do was probably one of her more stupid endeavors but her conscience simply wouldn’t let her leave the animal out in the rain. With a sigh she pushed to her feet.

“Okay, big guy, how about you come home with me and we’ll get you dry, does that sound good?” She smiled when his tail wagged, as if he actually understood her instead of responding the higher pitch in her voice. “Okay, let's go. And you can keep way any other stalkers I happen to pick up.”

Not bothering with the umbrella as she was already soaked, Rey and the animal walked the last few blocks to her apartment building.

“Just three flight of stairs and another door and we’re set,” she got out through clattering teeth. The dog pressed up against her side. “You’re sweet trying keep me warm but you’re probably just as cold as I am. I’ll get us fixed up as soon as we get inside.”

She was shaking so back by the time they finally reached her door it was a tryal to get the key in the lock but she managed. The apartment opened up into the living room, the space just big enough fo the couch to fit comfortably and everything else to squeeze in around. The lights were off inside but the key holder on the wall said one of her two roommates were home.

“We have to be quiet,” she whispered to the dog closing and locking the door, leaning the closed umbrella against the wall and hanging up her own keys. “Our lease says we can’t have animals.”

The dog whined softly once in reply but followed her as she led them into the bathroom. The fluorescents turned everything slightly orange as she shut the both of them inside. Zeroing in on the shower her first goal was turning the faucets all the way to hot.

“Okay, buddy, in you go.” He needed no second promoting hopping into the stall and laying under the hot water with a deep sigh. “Yeah, I bet that feels good.”

With numb fingers she picked at her own clothes, leaving them in a sopping pile on the floor.

“Hey, boy,” she said easing a foot under his rug like bulk, “scoot over some.”

He glanced up at her and nearly brained himself on the tub spout when he scrambled to his feet.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to get warm, too.” She moaned as she stepped into the hot spray. The dog tensed, pressing his face deeper to the seam of the tiled wall.

After a long minute just standing there with the water thawing her out she set about her shower ritual, running shampoo and conditioner through her shoulder length hair before grabbing her body wash and turning on the dog who had remained motionless the corner the whole time.

“I hope the scent isn’t too strong for your nose but we’re also going to need something to cover up that wet dog smell.”

She squirted a great glob of the pink gel in her hands. He flinched at the first touch of her hand and she tried soothing him with kind gibberish as she ran the soap through his long fur. It took some finagling to get him all washed, as it almost seemed as he refused to look directly at her as she crouched before him in the tub, but finally the water ran clean.

“Okay, boy,” Rey said around a huge yawn as she shut off the water. “Lets get dried off then it’s time for bed.”

She stepped out snagging the towel from the bar on the wall and wrapping it around herself, not wanting to give up her warmth now that she had it back. She picked up her wet clothes and hung them over the shower rod to, hopefully, dry by morning. Grabbing a second towel she called for her shower mate who stepped dantaily over the high lip of the tub, seemingly fine to look at her now that she was covered.

“You so funny,” she cooed raking the towel over him, carefully patting around his eyes. Still too wet for her liking she pulled her seldom used hair dryer. Hoping not to scare him she was extra affectionate as she turned it on. Not that she had to worry, he loved it. Turning his face into the heat and sitting contently as she ran they dryer all over his body. She found that he had a cute little white half-sock on his left hind foot. He seemed disappointed when she finally shut the dryer off.

“I’m sorry,” she laughed, “but I need to go to bed.” She look him over with a frown. “Though your probable hunger, aren't you?” He perked up at that. “Okay,” she sighed. “Let me get some clothes on first.”

He followed behind her as she scurried on bare feet into her room across the hall. She quickly unbound the towel from around herself tossing her head down to wrapper her hair up in it. Diving into her dresser she pulled out the first things her hands grabbed; panties, sweatpants, an oversize sleep shirt, and her thickest pair of clean socks.

The dog was busy studying the ceiling when she turned back around. Shaking her head at herself for assigning gentlemanly behaviors to a animal she let the way into the way to the kitchen.

“I need to go shopping,” she grumbled half bent, shuffling things around in the fridge. Giving up on finding anything premade she grabbed out the half carton of eggs, the last tablespoon of foil wrapped butter, and took it to the stove.

Kicking the burner on high she tossed in half the pad of butter letting it partially melt before cracking in four eggs. Grabbing a fork from the drawer she gave them a scramble in the pan. Dash of salt, hint of pepper, a cursory flip and on a plate. Giving the eggs a change too cool, she didn’t want the dog to burn his tongue, Rey made herself some as well.

Finished she set his on the ground and opened the fridge for some salsa to go with hers. About to dig in when the dog let out a whine and pawed at her leg.

“What?” He looked at the salsa then back at her. Frowning, she picked up the jar she had set on the couter. “You want some?” He yip softly, licking his jowls as he dance in place. “It’s spicy, I don’t know if dogs can do spicy.” It was mild, she didn’t really like spice herself, but she was pretty sure the rule applied to dogs. He yipped again, insistant. “Fine, but I’m not making you anymore if you can’t eat it.”

The sounds of a beast feeding filled the small kitchen. Rey shook her head, forking up a bite of her own eggs. “First dinner date in six month and it’s will a dog.”

Metal ringing against ceramic dragged Rey from sleep. She rolled over to see at her roomate through bleary eyes as actually-to-god sunlight poured in through her crackerbox size window.

“You know we’re not aloud to have pets,” Paige said scooping another spoonful of mini wheats to her mouth.

“It’s just for one night,” Rey said trying to blink the sleep away.

“Don’t let Rose see him,” Paige warned. Rose was Paige’s four-year-younger sister that was in the inbetween stages of moving in with her boyfriend. Meaning most of her stuff was still here and she paid her third of the rent but she spent most of her time over there.

Rey nodded understanding. Growing up Rose had always wanted a pet but Paige had to put her foot down, barely able to make ends meet with just the two of them after their parents death.

“I took him on my run this morning to do his business,” Paige continued, “and fed him a can of tuna. Side note you’re, out of tuna.”

“Thanks,” Rey croaked stretching. She glanced down when her feet hit a large weight. The dog blinked at her, head lounging on his dinner-plate paws. If she had though he was large last night he was huge in the light of day. Curled as he was on her full sized mattress his tail still thumbed her upper arm in greeting. “Good morning to you, too.”

“He’s weird,” Paige said staring at the animal. “I had to bribe him with going outside before he’d leave you and I swear he glared at me when I tied a couple of scarves around him for a leash. But he kept pace with me fine and didn’t try to break free even though he could.”

Rey rubbed shoulder with her foot through the blanket. His tail thumbed again.

“Also, the wet dog towel you left handing in the bathroom?” Paige spoke around downing the last of the milk in her bowl. “Not cool.”

“I’ll do laundry,” Rey promised.

Paige grunted bending down to scratch between the dog’s ears. “Goodbye, mutt. It was nice having a running buddy.”

Rey stood in the kitchen nursing a cup of coffee, trying to figure out what her next steps would be getting him home. Paige had skipped out to work. Rose probably won't be home til late to get ready for school the next day and Rey didn’t have work until five. She could probably take him to the pound but she didn’t like the idea of him being in a cage. And what if his owner never found him?

She peeked over the counter to look at the dog as he munched on the defrosted lunch meat she had found in the back of the freezer. “You wouldn’t by chance be half homing pigeon would you, that way you can just lead me to your home?” she asked.

He glance up and Rey got the distinct impression of a yes before he stood and stretched and headed towards the front of the apartment. She came around the corner to see him waiting patiently at the door. “Well, okay. Let me go get on some shoes.”

Taking a leaf from Paige’s book Rey wrapped a scarf around his neck in an artistic take on a collar tying another on to it for a leash.

“Don’t you look handsome,” she said ruffling his scruff, the grey of the scarf setting off the near blue black of his fur.

“So once we’re out on the street, I’m going to give you an hour to find home, then we’ll need to figure out another plan.” She smiled ryle, “I should probably stop talking to you like you can understand me. I’ll be getting enough strange looks from leading around a hundred and fifty pound dog with a scarf.”

He gave her cheek a lick.

“Aww, your sweet.” She gave him another pat standing. “Let's go see if we can find who you belong to.”

Once they hit street level the dog was a like a man on a mission. He didn’t pull or try to get out of the haphazard lead rope but he did keep a steady pace that Rey had to nearly trot to keep up with. The ground was still wet and the air held the hit of a bite but the sun was shining brightly.

“I thought Paige said she ran with you today,” Rey panted fifteen minutes later. “Her route is like five miles. How do you have so much energy still?”

He gave no reply, even though Rey was half expecting one, diligent on his path. That was another thing, there was no backtracking, no hesitancy it was almost as if he actually knew where he was going. At ten minutes to his hour cut off he stopped across from a little cafe.

“Here?” Rey demanded trying to hide her disappointment. What did she expect? She had allowed a dog to lead her on a merry-goose chase across town. She sighed rubbing her face. “Guess we’ll just have to think of something else.”

Checking both ways for traffic the dog made for the door. Rey pulled back on the scarf. “We can’t go in there. It’s a restaurant, they don’t allow pets.”

He persisted forward. The knot came undone and she nearly stumbled at the unexpected slack. Instead of running off as would be normal, he gave what could only be described as an eye roll as he took the ‘leash’ in his mouth and dragged her to the front doors. She was too surprised to do anything else except let him.

As they crossed the street a waiter taking a couple's order on the outside patio looked up in surprised. “Solo?”

“You know him?” Rey asked, the dog sitting at her feet.

“Yes, well you know, his … owner? Yeah, his owner is a ..buddy of mine. That’s his dog ...Kkkyylo.”

“Didn’t you just call him ‘Solo’?” Rey asked.

“My friend's name’s Solo. The dog’s name Kylo.” He hurriedly turned back to his customers, “let me get this to the kitchen for you and I’ll be right back with your coffees.” He gestured for Rey to follow him inside.

“Can Kylo come in too?” She showed him the scarf, “I don’t have a proper leash for him and I’d hate for him to get lost again when he’s so close to being home.”

He looked down at the dog and flinched. “Yeah he can definitely come in. I’ll give his … owner a call. If you want to grab a table?”

“Yeah, sure. Take your time,” she reassured as he smiled and disappeared into the kitchen. Kylo followed her as she grabbed one of the side tables by the big bay window.

“What was your master thinking,” Rey asked him as she shed her coat, “naming you something as nonsensical as ‘Kylo’.” She ran a hand down his neck, “though I probably shouldn’t be saying that to you, it’s not like you named yourself. Kylo is a wonderful name for such a wonderful dog.” He laid head on her thigh. “I know, I’m sorry. I wont make fun of you anymore.”

The same waiter as before passed her with two lattes in hand. “I got a hold of someone, they’ll be by to pick him up in less then half an hour. If you can’t wait you can just leave him with me and I’ll see that he gets back.”

“No, I’ll wait.” She grinned up at him sheepishly, “I need to be the one to make sure he gets home.”

“I get it.” The man glance down at Kylo then away with a smile. “I’ll be right back to take your order.”

“No, that’s,” she started but he was already out the door, “okay.”

Rey sighed, it wasn’t as if a sandwich would break the bank. And she was hunger after all that walking. And she did get paid tomorrow. With a shrug she flipped open a menu left on an empty neighboring table.

“Does your owner come here often?” she found herself asking Kylo. “What does he usually get?”

She wasn’t sure if she was surprised or not when he nosed at the turkey club.

When the waiter, Paul was his name, came back round she ordered the sandwitch with the chicken noodle soup. She fed the strips of bacon to Kylo as they waited for whoever was going to pick him up to show.

A newer silver SUV style car pulled up to the curb outside the cafe. A woman draped in an elegant black shawl stepped out, her hair expertly coiffured. She set her sunglasses atop her hair as she entered the eatery eyes immediately lasering in on Kylo before flicking up to Rey as she stood.

“I’m Leia Organa,” the woman offered her hand.

“Rey Johnston,” answered shaking it once, trying to remember why that name sounded familiar. “I thought Paul said his owner was a man.”

“My son.” Leia said succinctly her eyes glaring down Kylo. “I told him to be careful when … walking his dog.”

Rey set a protective hand on Kylo’s head. “Yes, your son should have been more careful but its not Kylo’s fault he got lost, he’s just a dog.”

“Kylo?” Leia asked confused. The dog woofed softly at his name. “Right, Kylo.”

“And your son should really get him identification tags. If he wasn’t so smart we would have never found you.”

“I will definitely be having words with my son,” Leia said fastening hard eyes on Kylo. Taking a calming breath she turned back to Rey. “I’m sorry of all inconvenience this has caused you,” she reached in her purse slipping out several bills from her wallet holding them out to her, “please take this for your troubles with my thanks.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Rey said with a smile folding her hands in her pockets. “But if you can ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again that’s all the thanks I need. Kylo is a really special dog, I would hate for something bad to happen to him.”

“As would I,” Leia set the money on the table. “Thank you for taking care of him. Come B...Kylo, it’s time to go home.” Leia nodded her head regaly to Rey before turning to the door. Kylo pressed himself against Rey’s leg before following the woman out.

Rey watched out the front window, trying not to feel depressed as the car pulled way.

“It was less than a day,” she scolded herself. She was usually better with this kind of thing, it was the name reason she hadn't given Kylo a name in the intrume, she knew he would be leaving and she didn’t want to make a connection. And here she was sniveling over a dog.

She let out a gusty sigh, eye’s catching on the money out of the corner of her eye. Leia really shouldn’t have given her anything, it was her son’s dog to begin with and secondly Rey hadn't been looking for a reward. Absently she counted it, blinked, then counted it again more thoroughly.

Five hundred dollars.

She looked up with the half baked thought of running after the long gone car to give the money back. Who the heck just drops five hundred dollars in some random person’s hands. Shaking her head she walked up to the coffee bar.

“Paul?” The waiter looked up from adding a dusting of cinnamon to a drink. “You said you were friends with that woman’s son, right?”

He raised an eyebrow, “yes?”

“Can you give him something to return to her the next time you see him?”

“I don’t see him all that often,” he hedged frothing milk for a second drink and not getting eye contact.

“You can probable send it to her office,” the nice woman manning the Cash register said as she rang up Rey’s lunch.

“Her office,” she questioned handing over her bank card for payment.

“Yeah, the City Hall.” The woman said with a smile giving her the receipt to sign. “That was Mayor Organa.”

Rey went to work that night with the five hundred dollars in a marked envelope just waiting for a stamp. A stamp she wasn’t sure if she was going to put on it, thinking of the horrors of having some much untraceable cash lost in the mail. But it would be presumptuous to show up at the Mayor’s place of work, wouldn’t it?

“Rey,” her shift manager called over the pounding techno beat, “we need more glasses!”

Nodding her head to show she heard, Rey grabbed the bin of Dirties and carried it in the back. Returning with a loaded tray of Cleans she saw a man scanning behind the bar. His eyes immediately locked on her as she stepped through the swinging door, a charming smile on his lips. He was good looking; tall with dark hair just a bit longer than average and an aquiline nose.

Setting her burden down she half turned to ask over her shoulder as she stacked cups, ”can I get you something to drink?”

“No.” For a second it was as if his voice cut straight through all the noise of the loud bar. “I’ve come to return something.” His large hands set a bundle of charcoal material on the bar.

Recognising the material she nearly snorted in derision. He seemed a bit old to be having his mother step in to fix is mistakes but then again some people just never grew up, she’d served enough drinks to them to know the kind. “You must be Solo.”

“Ben,” he introduced, leaning on the bar as he offered his hand. Rey knew it would have been rude not to take it though she disengaged quickly. “I wanted to come and thank you,” his full lips twitched, “in person.”

“Mmmhmm,” she hummed turning her back on him tension in the line of her shoulders.

“You’re angry,” he questioned, “why.”

She slammed the last glass down tucking the tray under arm as she pivoted on him. “Do you have any idea how badly it could have gone with Kylo last night? He had no form on identification, no way to get home. He could have been hit by a car or taken to the pound or worse and nobody would have ever know.”

“Yes,” the smile on his lips died, eyes turning haunted. “Things would have gone a lot worse if you didn’t see him when you did.” Rey was surprised by the seriousness in his voice. But it was gone quickly replace with that same charming smile. “So what do you do when your not working or out rescuing stray dogs?”

“Kylo’s not a stray,” she snapped. She bit her lip wishing she could have bitten her tongue before speaking. She quickly began cutting lime wedges for drink garnish.

“What do you mean?” Ben asked after a pause.

“Kylo was lost,” she emphasize, eyes glued on the cutting board. “He is not a stray. There’s a differences.”

“And what is that difference, Rey?” Her head shot up at his intimate tone. Again it felt like his words surrounded her, cutting out the other sounds.

“‘Stray’ means your not wanted, ‘lost’ means somebody cares enough to look for you,” she found herself answering without really thinking. Annoyed with herself her tone turned caustic, “And how do you know my name?”

He sat back as if she had physically snapped at him instead of just verbally. “My, uh, mother. She must have mentioned it when she was dropping off Kylo.”

“Yeah, your mother Mayor Oranga. I can’t believe you didn’t even care enough to come pick him up yourself,” she shook her head.

Remembering that afternoon and Leia made her remember the envelope she had in her bag. Rey flagged down her manager from across the bar, tapping her wrist twice then mining cracking something in half. The other woman nodded turning back to her own customer.

“Stay there, I’ll be right back.” Rey glared over her shoulder at Kylo’s owner before as she turned away. She returned in under a minute with the money filled envelope which she handed over the bar to the man. “Can you see that your mother gets this? She forgot it when she picked up your dog. And keep the scarf, it looks better on Kylo then it ever did on me.”

Curiously he drew the paper under his nose as if scenting it. There was an amused curl to his lips when his eyes flashed up to hers. “My mother is not a forgetful person,” he said sliding the envelope back across the lacord finish wood. “I’m sure whatever this is, she intended for you to have it.”

Forcefully Rey set her fingers on the opposite edge and pushed it back to him, eye’s hard. “I don’t let others make up for someone else’s mistake.”

“How about you let me make up for it.” That curle turned into a full blown grin. “Dinner?”

Her eye’s raked over him. If she had met him in any other way, in any other place, she would have said yes.

When she got back on after her break he was gone. Tucked next to her cutting board was the envelope with a newly inked seven digit number on its corner.

“Is there something I can help you with, miss?” the secretary asked in a chipper voice with a kind smile.

“I, uh, have a letter. For Le-- Mrs. Ora-- the Mayor?” Rey stuttered wanting the tasteful beige carpet to swallow her.

“If you’ll give me just a second I’ll check if she’s in.”

“No, that’s okay. I could just leave--” the woman was already up and though the frosted glass door that lead to what Rey assumed was back offices.

Fidgeting awkwardly with the envelope Rey resigned herself with waiting. Catching the ten-thirty bus into the center of town she had been half hoping to catched Leia when she was out on lunch, wanting only to drop off the money and then move on to do her grocery shopping. She wanted to make Paige dinner for being so cool with the Kylo fiasco. She was thinking spaghetti and then they could take the leftovers for lunch--

Rey nearly jumped out of her skin when the secretary returned. “Leia will see you now.”

Leia Organa was seated behind her chrome and glass desk paperwork spread before her. She look just as regal today as she had yesterday, the gold beaded jacket adding a seasonal flare to her wardrobe. She frowned slightly behind the glasses perched on the edge of her nose. That quickly cleared when she recognised who had walked through her door.

“Aw, Ms. Johnston. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I just want to make sure you got this,” Rey said walking up to the desk and laying the envelope down before scurrying back to her place by the door. “I also wanted to ask how Kylo was.”

“He’s fine,” Leia answered absently running her fingers over the several scratch marks that blackened the bottom corner. “Is this my son’s phone number?”

“Uh, yeah,” Rey winced. She knew she should have put it in a new envelope but she had gotten that one from work and hadn’t wanted to ask for a replacement. “He stopped by my place of business last night. I tried giving it to him to give to you but he wouldn’t do it.”

“That sounds like him,” Leia sighed. She waved the envelope infront of her before setting it on the edge of the desk. “But that doesn't change the fact that I gave this to you for helping my son.”

“I helped Kylo and him getting back home is all the thanks I want.” Rey nodded her head, only just stopping herself from actually bowing. “Sorry for taking up your time. Have a nice day.” Before Leia could think of stopping her she turned and bolted.

Rey didn’t like being around politicians. Something about all that artifice made her skin crawl. It always felt like they were three steps ahead and lying through their teeth about it. And as cordial as Leia seemed Rey hadn't missed the pinching of the older woman’s lips when she had recognised the random sequence of digits or that her first instinct had been to throw money at Rey for her services.

Nodding to the security guard on duty as she steps through the glass front doors Rey is distracted enough that she runs right into someone trying to enter. A starbucks cup goes flying, spilling its contents on the concrete.

“I’m so sorry,” she starts mortified.

“Rey?”

She looks up. Of course it was Kylo’s neglectful owner looking like a poster child for Menswear Monthly. His glasses and the professional looking laptop case on his shoulder made the look more human instead of airbrushed but Rey still wished she could just disappear. She’d taken some care with her appearance but she still was only planning on going to the grocery store.

He seems just as surprised to see her as she was. “What are you doing here?”

She tried not to flinch at the shock in his voice still feeling a bit raw from her appointment with the mayor. “I came to see your mother.” She frowned, “but if you were going to see her today anyway you could have saved me the trip.”

“You returned the money?”

Rey’s hand’s went cold with the knowledge that he new his mother had paid her. “Yes,” she bit out.

“You didn’t have to,” he said softly closing the space between them.

“Yes, I did.” She took a deep breath tried to shake her defensive anger. “Look, I’m sorry for your coffee, let me spot you for another one.”

He held up a hand, “it was mostly gone anyway.” He got a sly look in his eye, ”though if you really want to make it up to me, you can accept my invitation to dinner.”

“I’m not doing this.” She dug in her pocket and counted out five ones, grabbing his hand and slapping them in it. “Buy your next coffee on me. I’m sorry I crashed into you.”

She turned and walked away knowing it was just her furtive imagination that made her think he said, “I’m not.”

Halloween was busy at the club, something about alcohol and costumes seemed to draw the weird out of people. Last year, a month into the job, Rey had dressed to the nines as a forest spirit, spending days making her costume from thrift store finds and random things she had at the apartment. She had walked home defeated with her broken paper mache antlers smelling of a medley of spilt drinks and one woman’s throw up.

This year Rey new better. Her minimum hassle costume consisted of a black tank top and short-shorts that she already owned and a tail and headband set she had picked up from the dollar store.

“It’s crazy tonight, must be the full moon,” one of the servers, Sasha, said coming up to the bar for a new round of drinks. She cast concerned eyes over Rey, “you do have a ride home tonight, right?”

Rey smiled over at her, touched, in the midst of making Frankenstein’s Monster a haunted martini. “I only live a few blocks up, I’ll be fine.”

“North or south?” A cheesy dracula, already two of his three sheets to the wind, asked from perch at the bar. “I’ll be more than happy to walk a pretty girl home.”

Sasha and her shared a look as Rey loaded the tray with a dozen shot glasses, filling them with tonight’s cotton candy colored special. They were cheap to make, tasted disgusting, and were selling like hot cakes.

“Thanks,” Rey gave her customer service smile, already use to this song and dance, “but I already got a boyfriend.”

“He doesn’t have to know,” the man slurred drunkully.

Rey chose to ignore him as Sasha took up her tray to wade back in the fray. Instead she turned to get the order of the third ‘Jake from State Farm’ she’d seen that night.

The rest of the night was pretty much a blur of progressively drunker people. She had started early and didn’t have closing so it was one-thirty when Rey stepped out of the back doors of the club. Just like she had predicted she had a whole tray of those cotton candy shots tipped on her when a zombie cheerleader and an awesome Princess Mononoke’s San had been started making out a bit aggressively. So instead of doning her coat, she was carrying it and freezing her butt off.

“Hey pretty girl, need someone to warm you up.”

“Your place or mine, kitty cat?”

She ignored the group drunken fools standing outside the front of the club smoking cigarettes and kept walking, way too tired to deal with their bull shit. She did, however, turn when they screamed.

One man was in the middle of the sidewalk on his ass. A large hulking mass radiating menice stood over the the terrified man. His friends stood frozen against the wall not knowing what to do. The dog made a step forward, a silent snarl shaking his body. This wasn’t good.

“Kylo, come.” The animal went rigid at the command. Slowly its great head turned away from its prey to eye her over a massive black shoulder. Rey’s eyes narrowed, she was having none of that, “I said come.”

Not waiting for him she turned and continued up the sidewalk. After a tense second she heard his nails on the cement as he stalked to her side. Not looking down she laid a hand on his warm head, icy fingers sinking into thick fur.

“Yo bitch! I was just trying to be nice, you didn’t have to sic your dog on me!” One of them men yelled, out of danger their drunk brains turned back on.

Kylo hesitated at her side as if he understood. She kept walking keeping her hand in his fur and he kept pace so as not to loose contract with her.

It took half way to getting home for Rey to lose the tension keeping her body going. She would have collapsed to the concrete it an early rain hadn’t wettened the ground, she didn’t want a wet but on top over everything else. So she locked her legs taking several deep breaths and letting them ghost around her as she let them out slowly. Kylo whined.

“I’m alright, boy,” she reassured rubbing tiredly at her face, it was just the adrenaline crash that was making her eyes tear up. She looked over to him and force a smile, “Paige is going to be so pissed at me when she sees you.”

He bumped up against her leg warming the chilled skin.

“It’s okay, I’m used to it. But, as Sensei says, its better to walk away instead of escalate things.” She patted him on the head. ”You never acted aggressive before, should I be scared of you?” she wondered aloud.

He licked her fingers, burying his muzzle in her palm and looking up at her with big puppy dog eyes.

She smiled, for real this time, and gave his chin a good scratch. “Let’s go home.”

#werewolf #werewolf au #mine #fanfic #reylo #reylo fanfiction #reylo fanfic #fanfiction

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ajricci · 7 years

Text

Activation || Amadeo & Noah

While Noah walks Haukea through the woods, he runs into AJ right before he is attacked. Then things get really weird.

AJ finally had the information he needed, the next step was figuring out what he was going to do with the information. He could try to find the families of the victims or the witnesses that he now had access to, but he couldn’t be sure that any of those people would be interested in talking to the son of the man accused of murdering their daughters. So that was out until he could think of a better plan. He also needed to get medical records from the hospital of the victims, but without access and with Blanche a little busy avoiding death by poltergeist he figured that would have to wait for a while too. Far down his list were revisiting crime scenes looking for anything that the police might have missed from the original murders. It had never been a priority because two years later the chances of finding anything were almost slim to none. But he had nothing better to do today, so that was how he found himself out in the middle of the woods just a few miles from the university wondering just what he thought he was going to find at this long forgotten murder setting.

Hooking Haukea’s leash onto her harness Noah closed his truck door smiling down at his happy puppy. In all his days at the barn this was probably the thing he missed most, Haukea’s little face doing one of those Labrador smiles up at him. Ruffling her fur a bit Noah picked his water up from off the side of his truck bed and they were off walking across the parking lot towards the trail. He didn’t really know which one they were going to take yet, but something was pulling him towards…. The left one. Yea they were going to start on the left one and then work their way back, or around, or whatever. He wasn’t to fussed about where they went as long as he was with his dog. And that’s how he found himself walking through the forest with his pupper on her lead in front him not a care in the world.

Not surprising to AJ in the slightest, there was nothing at this crime scene to find. Besides a short string of crime scene tape weighed down by a fallen branch, AJ would have been unable to tell that the place had once been the scene of a murder at all. There had just been too much time between now and then for anything noteworthy to be left over. There was always the possibility that the police had done their jobs efficiently and found everything that had been noteworthy. He kept his cool and made sure not to lose his temper. This was just the first crime scene after all. The first step in a long investigation and he knew that not turn he took could lead to the end of the rainbow. A twig cracking in the distance made him spin and pull his pocket knife free from his back pocket. Maybe he should start bringing his dad’s gun with him. But the guy walking his dog through the woods barely looked like they intended on hurting Noah. “Hey” AJ said, folding the knife back up and stuffing it away, “How’s it going?”

Looking down at Haukea as she barked a small warning Noah held her leash tighter as the boy approached. Normally Noah wouldn’t have given him a second thought, no normally he would have just given a nod and walked past. But it was late afternoon and the kid was folding up a knife and stuffing it in his pocket, a movement that wasn’t exactly alarming but not exactly something that gave him a happy rainbow feeling. “Hey” Noah replied with a small little wave as Haukea tugged at her leash a little. She wasn’t usually a puller, but she was quite the happy-go-lucky pup, always trying to put her nose in potential danger. “Kea heel” He commanded making his dog swing her body tighter towards him as he slowed his pace down before the boy. “And it’s going good, you know out for a walk and everything, how’s it going for you?” Noah asked hoping his face wasn’t as full of suspicion as his chest was.

AJ knew that he must look crazy roaming through the woods and pulling his knife on the first person that happened to walk by. So he tried to diffuse the situation by letting a smile to slip across his face and laughing nervously. He brought his arm up and scratched at his neck. “Sorry I’m a little jumpy. Never know who you’re going to run into out in the woods after all.” He was making sure to sound extra friendly and extra awkward. Awkward was always the best way to make others less suspicious. “Cute dog.” He pointed out, hoping the dude would welcome the misdirection in conversation.

Looking from him to his hand Noah just let his face do the talking, lips pursed in a small line “Yea” He nodded not knowing exactly what else to say to that. Because if you wanted to set someone at ease that was probably not the way to go about it. But then again if this wasn’t like some sort of ambush the Boy was probably a lot smarter than Noah with his knife. Although Noah guessed having brute werewolf strength could be comparable. Noticing the other boy change the subject to something better Noah though calmed down a little. Ok woodland serial killers didn’t usually call dogs cute after all. Right? “She is,” Noah agreed looking down at his dog and smiling softly “Name’s haukea,” He continued as Haukea’s wagging tail made him feel better about the situation. “It means snow white in Hawaiian” He didn’t exactly know why he was offering that information up to the boy but you know, why not. It was friendly information about a safe subject after all.

“That’s adorable.” AJ wasn’t sure how much longer this small talk was going to go on. He didn’t have a lot of experience talking to random strangers in the woods. He hated small talk, he found it useless and time consuming. But the last thing he needed was some concerned civilian calling the police about some suspicious character in the woods. The police department and the media would have a field day if they got the opportunity to tote a Ricci into the station. “You must be a Disney fan? Or a Grimm’s fairy tales fan.” Maybe quoting those ridiculously dark horror stories wasn’t the lightest of conversation. “Uh AJ” He offered his name up, closing the gap between them to hold out a hand in introduction.

“Yea, I was pretty proud of myself for that one” Noah quipped back with a small smile. He was happy this was going better, but then again how could things not go better when they were on the subject of dogs? It was Noah’s favorite. Standing there shifting his weight from foot to foot, Noah gave Kea a sit command, seeing the ‘I want to jump all over this stranger and lick him to death’ action in her yes. “And it was more of a I wanted a princess name for my little princess, and that was the one that seems to stick” He could feel the blush start to rise in his checks but he fought it hard. Men can want to name their dogs’ sweet things, and know about princesses, and put dogs in sweater when it’s cold too ok. It’s not like. A thing or anything you know. Shaking it off though Noah was grateful when the kid decided to introduce himself “Noah,” he replied to the boy before gesturing to the excited dog struggling to stay still and sitting while there was a new person to greet just inches “Oh and she knows how to shake too if you wanted to be really formal about it”

AJ didn’t want to shake the dog’s hand. He had nothing against dogs or cats or really any pets in general, but he also had no desire for one either. His parents had never had a pet, said that they travelled too much for it to make sense. AJ vaguely remembers asking them for one when he was younger but as the years went on he enjoyed the freedoms no pets allowed him. Plus, he wasn’t an overly sentimental enough guy to really get attached to a pet. “Uh shake” AJ did as was suggested though, because that was how polite small talk went. Surprisingly, the dog listened and soon AJ was holding her paw and shaking before letting go and giving the dog a good pat on the head. “She’s well behaved” AJ complimented, impressed by her skills. Another reason his dad had never wanted a pet, didn’t want to take the time to actually train one. “I never had any pets growing up.”

Watching Kea get to show off her hard work with a lovely shake had Noah practically melting in his tennis shoes. And even more so when AJ remarked on her being well behaved. It had been and still was a lot of work keeping up with her training, but Noah knew in the long run it was all worth it to have the best behaved dog around. “Thanks” Noah nodded at the boy before putting his own hand on his dog’s head to silently praise her for being good. “It was a struggle at first but she’s learning, aren’t you girl” She wagged her tail on up at him. Looking over toward AJ though Noah’s smile fell slightly when he told him he didn’t have any pets “Wow, that sounds rough. I mean my dad was a Vet so we always had animals around.”

AJ shrugged, “It wasn’t too bad I guess. My family and I travelled a lot so we never really had time for one. Wouldn’t be much of a pet if he was locked in his cage all day.” Another bonus of never owning a pet was the lack of fur floating around his home. He still found cat hair on the clothes he had worn to Blanche’s that night. He would have to be careful to make sure to never wear black to her or the Parrish household again. Cats were the devil. He heard the crunching of leaves and glanced behind him but was met with an empty forest. He had been careful to not pull his knife this time around. It had probably just been a deer or an oversized squirrel. This was the forest after all. “You two seem close though.”

“Yea I feel real guilty about putting her in her crate while I go to like an hour class so I can understand that.” Noah commented with a slight wrinkle of his nose, looking down at his puppy for a moment. But then without warning she stood, tail straight out body ridged. It maybe only took a split second before he felt it too, the little prickle on the back of his neck that made him feel uneasy, and the sound of crunching leaves. Looking around Noah squinted into the forest along with the kid, wishing that for once he’d actually had werewolf powers so his low light vision was better. But he didn’t. And if he was being honest it was probably some brave forest animal anyway, coming over to see what all this ruckus was about. Placing a hand on the back of his Neck, Noah gripped Haukea’s leash a little tighter the feeling still lingering on. “Yea, she’s helped me a lot like emotionally with things” He shrugged out hoping that whatever it was would pass quickly so he could stop feeling like he was on edge and ready to rip someone’s throat out with his teeth.

Emotions was a conversation that AJ did not touch. He wasn’t comfortable with people talking about their feelings to him and he definitely wasn’t comfortable talking about his feelings to others. Before he fell down that rabbit hole AJ decided that it was time to cut the conversation off and get out of the woods. He hadn’t learned anything from the crime scene but AJ was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to find anything out either. It was too old, too weathered to hold anything useful. “Well I should start heading back towards the campus I was just looking for some good running trails.” AJ still faced Noah but began taking a few steps backwards and pointed back in the direction of the college. “It was nice meeting you though. And your little dog too.” He laughed politely to try to maintain the friendliness.

Still feeling on a little on edge Noah just nodded at the boy when he said he was going to head back toward campus. Noah should probably head back to the parking lot too, but he’d wait until the teen was at least out of eye shot before doing that. Didn’t want to be a creeper after all. Especially in these creepy woods. Laughing slightly at the wizard of Oz reference though the older boy waved at the teen “Nice to meet you too knife boy, and be careful with that ok, wouldn’t want to scare anymore hikers” He quipped back feeling like an old grandpa, but a you know like a caring old grandpa. Not a weird one.

“Knife boy. Nice” AJ laughed before giving a slight wave and then turning around and starting his hike back towards where his truck was parked on the campus. It wasn’t too long of a walk, though without the path students would usually follow the hike would take a little longer, but AJ had been hiking his entire life so this would present no real challenge to him. He had only just barely crossed over the long forgotten string of caution tape still on the ground when someone crashed into him from the side and slammed him into the dirt. He was rolled onto his back and his throat pinned by a hand that connected to a woman in her mid to late twenties. Her skin was fair but her hair was pitch black and although the face seemed familiar he knew he had never seen this woman before. Thewo man had crawled on top of AJ, pinning both hands above AJ’s head and using her knees to pin AJ’s legs to the ground. “How fucking dare you come here after what your father did?” Great. Another fan of his father. What the hell was she doing out here then? AJ tried to speak, to say anything, but he couldn’t talk with the hand pressing down against his throat. Instead, AJ focused his entire attention on getting free, choosing to squirm against the woman’s weight crushing down on him and trying to get anything, an arm or leg or something free. “Your father kills my sister. I guess I’ll return the favor.” She freed her hand from AJ’s neck and AJ took the opportunity to take a much needed breath. The relief was short lived however, when the woman held the hand up and AJ watched as her nails began elongating to the point that they were longer than the knife currently unreachable in his back pocket. That’s when AJ truly began struggling.

Something was not right, Noah could sense it the second that AJ disappeared along the trail. It was as if the air was charged with uneasiness more so than when he first felt it. Standing there though Noah didn’t know what to, If he was a real werewolf he probably could sniff, or track, or just figure it out himself. But he wasn’t. He was just a man with way above average strength and olfactory senses for his body, a man with doubts. Luckily for everyone though Haukea had no doubts, and while Noah stood motionless his loyal dog used her instincts to charge off after AJ, a sharp growl dissipating in the air after her. “Haukea!!” Noah shouted sprinting after her only able to watch for now as his dog sunk her teeth into some woman holding AJ by the throat.

The dog had been quick and in all honestly had probably saved AJ’s life, but she hadn’t been quick enough. AJ couldn’t begin to describe the pain he felt as the man pressed his elongated nails against the surface of AJ’s stomach and then slowly began forcing them into his skin. The move had been deliberately slow, a show of power. He wanted to take his time with AJ. The pain became only more intense as the nails sunk deeper into his gut. AJ was careful not to scream, he ground his teeth together but forced his mouth to remain closed. He shut his eyes so tight he felt he would pop a blood vessel. Then he heard the man scream. Peaking an eye open he sound the dog- Haukea- biting at the man’s arm and as the man readjusted to get free of the dog’s teeth AJ finally felt his opportunity. In as swift of a motion as he could in the pain that he was in he used one leg to kick one of the man’s knees out then levelled his other against the man’s chest and kicked. AJ was expecting to have enough time to scramble away from the man, instead he watched as the man flew across the air and cracked against a tree at least fifteen feet in the air. The fall from the tree to the ground seemed to move in slow motion and as AJ and the man both looked bewildered from what had just happened, it was short lived as the man found his footing and took back off the way he had come.

Still running towards the situation Noah tried not to let the acrid smell of blood wafting off of the younger boy dissuade him from his goal. Which you know was save his dog and AJ. But apparently the kid had it all covered, as the woman flew backward, Noah’s tennis shoes skidding to a halt near AJ’s head. Ok that was. Well. That was interesting to say the least, this whole unexplained superhuman strength thing. But he couldn’t overthink it now, not when it could just be a fluke of human ability. Listening to Haukea bark the intruder away Noah stood ready above AJ till she came back toward him muzzle covered in blood but tail wagging. Yea she really was a good girl. Crouching over the boy Noah let the adrenaline take him eyes assessing the situation quickly and efficiently “Hey we’ve got you now, just breath alright” Noah ground out as he swiftly pulled his own shirt over his head bunching up the fabric and pressing it into the gash on the boy’s stomach.

The next thing AJ knew another figure loomed over him and then pain shot through his body as he realized pressure was getting put on his stomach. His arms flailed out in defense and caught against skin. His vision was blurry, but he wiped at his eyes and finally focused in enough to see Noah kneeling beside him, shirtless. Why the hell was he shirtless? Further investigation revealed the shirt Noah had been wearing balled up and being shoved against AJ’s still bleeding stomach. He mumbled his protests and knew exactly what a gut wound meant. It meant that he was in deep shit right now, depending on how deep the wound went. It had sure felt deep in the moment. “You’re ruining your shirt” Was the first coherent thing that he got out of his mouth.

Mind running a mile a minute as he tried to go over all of the first aid protocol he knew, Noah looked down at the shirt in his hands the edges already tinged red. His shirt was not going to last long, and he knew time was crucial. But luckily for the pair AJ was coherent and talking so that gave them a little extra time. “It was either this or my pants. So you’re welcome” Noah retorted hoping that would keep the kid talking a little bit as he racked his brain for what he could do, but there was really only one thing they could do right now. “Alright so based on what I know about gut wounds we are going to need to get you to the hospital ASAP ok.” Noah said calmly looking down at the boy and hoping he wasn’t in the mood to complain. I mean Noah could probably keep him contained long enough to get him to his truck…. But then again there was that fluke of strength thing. Yea it was probably best if the kid came along quietly “So if you can hold this close to your stomach, I can carry you to my truck. Sound good?”

As a kid, AJ’s father used to take him hunting. AJ had never been a fan of the sport personally. Found it unnecessary in a world where they could buy meat at a grocery store minutes away. He liked to leave the killing of animals to those that were actually stranded in the wilderness. But he remembered they used to sit up in the trees and talk about his father’s cases. One particular case talked about a wife who shot her cheating husband in the gut and left him in their house alone for hours. It was his father’s final words on the subject that stuck with AJ. “It’s just like a deer if you shoot it in the gut. The best cure is a headshot.” That sentence kept ringing in his ears as Noah was giving him instructions. He definitely didn’t like the idea of being carried though. “Nobody is carrying me anywhere” He grumbled and swatted at his hand still pushing against the wound. AJ put pressure against it himself and then held his hand out to Noah, “I got the wound just help me up.” Maybe refusing help from someone offering was dumb, but his dad had always taught him to put pride first. AJ knew it was bad advice but still had always seemed to follow it.

Frowning slightly as the kid professed his slightly morbid ideology Noah looked for something to tie the shirt onto AJ. But there wasn’t anything really, unless he tied Haukea’s leash around the boy, “Well it’s a good thing that I believe in modern medicine then and neither of us have a gun” He replied back with a wink, un-hooking his amazingly patient dog from her tether. He wouldn’t tie it around the boy yet but he’d keep it handy just in case the kid couldn’t keep it together. Especially when he was insisting on walking himself. “You walking by yourself is not going to help your chances any, trust me on that one” Noah said taking the boys arm with one hand while also scooping his other against the kids back. “On three ok, one, two three” Gently Noah pulled the boy up letting him decide on how upright he really wanted to be.

AJ had to hold back the groan as Noah lifted him up off of the ground. He had been lucky the guy with him had been plenty strong in his own right and could basically lift AJ up with little help from AJ himself. He wasn’t sure how easily he could pull himself up off of the ground at the moment. He had been injured plenty of times throughout his life. Multiple injured ankles plus a broken bone from hiking accidents. Open wounds from self-defense training taken too far. Getting jumped by the kids at school. None of those injuries had hurt this badly. “I can walk.” AJ argued, dragging his feet across the dirt mostly supported by Noah, but still convinced that he needed to do this on his own. The weirdest part was that as he dragged his feet across the dirt worrying that the hike was taking too long and he was going to bleed out, he could tell that walking was starting to become easier. He felt his feet actually catching the surface and soon he was supporting himself. “I bet this isn’t how you planned on spending your day. Certainly not how I planned on spending mine.”

Supporting the kid as they walked Noah looking back to make sure Haukea was following, giving her an easy ‘follow me’ command while he was at it. If he was being honest she probably didn’t really need a command, as never strayed to far from his side normally. But the last thing he wanted was to get AJ to his truck and suddenly have his dog be nowhere to be found. Focusing his attention back on AJ Noah gripped a little tighter as AJ tried to argue “And I can definitely carry you, but I don’t think either of us are going to get our wish.” Noah retorted wishing the kid wasn’t as stubborn, help was a good thing after all, especially if you are at a risk of bleeding out over the carpet. Loosening his grip a little as he felt the kid get the hang of walking like this (although Noah did get a little tingle of strangeness about AJ’s sudden and new found walking abilities) Noah just scoffed playfully at the boy. “Nope. But Thank god you cleared that up for me, because I was getting a little concerned that getting attacked by a strange woman with creepy nails was some sort of kink of yours” He joked hoping that would keep the boy talking.

As AJ continued to walk he could tell that something was not right. Or rather, maybe something was too right. While walking put most of its stressers on leg muscles, the stomach was definitely being exercised too which meant that with a wound like his he should be in searing pain to the point of passing out or at least needing to be carried by Noah. There was no logical explanation as to why he was up walking. The wound still hurt and blood was still leaking from it, but the pain was bearable and red was not pouring from his stomach like it had before. “Well she completely ignored my safe word, so that was fucked.” Chances were she had recognized AJ from the news and saw the opportunity, but what the hell had she been doing there in the first place? And most importantly, what the hell was she? Not human, that was for sure. “Thanks. By the way. Your dog too.”

Snorting slightly at AJ, Noah felt the edges of his lips turn upwards. Yea this kid was going to be just fine. “Hope you used a good one for that,” Noah retorted as they walked “My go to is monkey slut” He grinned at the other boy now, anything to keep him talking and coherent, though it was starting to seem easier as time went on. Though there was the thank you that made Noah have to turn away a little bit. “Well I wasn’t going to stand by and watch you die.” He pointed out trying not to make a big deal out of it. Because It wasn’t like he did it for the thanks or anything, he did it because. Yea. He wasn’t going to watch another person die on him without being able to do anything. He wasn’t going to have that blood on his hands too. “So you know no need to thank me, or her, she already gets enough treats. But um are you ok?” Noah asked changing the subject as he looked down at the rag Aj was still holding to his stomach. He was leaning less on Noah now, which was not some sort of adrenaline fluke that should be happening. If anything Noah should be carrying the boy by now, with him screaming in pain, or like passed out, or something that wasn’t practically walking by himself.

“Monkey Slut? That’s a new one.” AJ sincerely hoped that that was a reference to some modern production that AJ he was unfamiliar with and not just some random thing that Noah had come up with on the spot. Or worse, his actual safe word he used for BDSM. Personally he cared little about what people were into sexually, he just felt bad for anybody that Noah may sleep with that had to actually hear the phrase Monkey Slut used during intercourse. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.” The better his stomach was feeling the more he realized that this was not normal just as the strength he used to kick that woman off of him wasn’t normal. The same way that the woman that had attacked him wasn’t normal. The strength could hypothetically be explained by adrenaline; the same way that the woman who lifted the car off of her baby had. The healing didn’t make sense though. It either had to be AJ’s or something that the woman did, and AJ wasn’t guessing healing was not the girl’s endgame. Either way, his wound wasn’t normal which meant that a hospital would be of no use to him. But he had an idea who might be able to help. “I can’t go to the hospital.” AJ said suddenly, happy to be get over the awkward conversation that entailed thanking others. “I need to get back to my truck.”

“Yea, helps as a password too. You know if you think all your friends are clones or something” Noah replied knowing that AJ probably wouldn’t get the reference. But that was ok. Anything to keep him talking, especially since this was starting to get weirder and weirder as they kept walking. Stopping Noah looked straight at AJ as he mentioned not being able to go to the ER. “Like I can’t got to the hospital because my parents will find out, or like I can’t go to the hospital?” Noah questioned with a raised eyebrow the signs all starting to make sense. Weird people after him, super strength that seemed to come from nowhere, high pain tolerance, probably super healing ability. This kid was not a normal kid, and instantly Noah felt himself become even more protective of AJ.

“What friends?” AJ asked, the pain still pulsing at his stomach making him seem more serious than he had actually meant to be. AJ hadn’t kept the company of friendship in almost two years. The closest thing he had to friends now were a few people he had driven home from Prom night when they got wasted off of some mysteriously tasteless spiked punch. Sure, he had learned some pretty crazy things about each of them over the summer, but the fact remained the same that the only times he had seen them had been in situations when one of them needed the other’s help. That sounded more like a partnership than a friendship to AJ and that was exactly the way he preferred it. Friendship was messy and only opened him up to letting his guard down and being stabbed in the back. “You can pick whichever reason you want, but I can’t go to the hospital.” He fidgeted and pushed himself free from Noah’s support. AJ swayed for a second but by some miracle managed to stay upright. “I appreciate your help. But my truck is that way.” He pointed off in a different direction.

“You talking to me on that one punk?” Noah questioned with another raised eyebrow, not knowing if the kid was trying to make a joke orrrrr what? Or maybe this kid didn’t actually have any friends, there was that. Pushing it out of his mind though Noah tried not to hold AJ too tight as he squirmed away from him, but part of him didn’t want to let go, even as he was finally forced to. Standing there as Haukea whined at the both of them Noah didn’t exactly know what to do. Because he wanted to make sure he got to where he needed to go, that he didn’t die or something, that he had, well a Pack if he needed it. But of course admitting that could prove to be the thing that pushwd the kid away, and he knew that, which is why he found himself backing away slightly, holding up his hands in a non threatening way. “Look I don’t know why you don’t want to go but if it’s for the reason I think it is I just want you to know I’m not going to hurt you.” He stated calmly “Like I honestly just want to help. And I know people who can help if you let me” He continued already pulling up Eliza’s possible schedule in his mind.

AJ stared at Noah as if he were insane. “Punk? What are you, forty? You’re like three years older than me.” AJ didn’t have the time to deal with Noah right now. He didn’t seem like a bad dude. He was understandably concerned about letting a boy who had just been stabbed in the gut wander off by himself without going to a hospital. If the situation had been reversed AJ would probably be doing the same thing. As little as AJ cared about the personal lives of others he had less interest in watching them bleed out to death while he did nothing to help. He could be an asshole, but he wasn’t heartless. “I don’t have any friends.” He decided to clarify, not understanding why he would think some random kid in the forest would be making fun of him while still leaning against him for support. “I get that you want to help and that’s real White Knight of you and all, but I don’t fucking know you. And I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” AJ was began up slowly while still facing Noah. If Noah refused to let him go off on his own AJ couldn’t outrun him, not with his stomach in the shape it was. “I am going to figure it out myself.”

Ignoring AJ’s qualms about calling him a punk (because he didn’t know punk was an old man word now?) Noah stood his ground next to Haukea the dog still whining her displeasure at the both of them fighting. “Friends or no I’m sure as hell not going to just let you go off by yourself” He crossed his arms across his bare chest. Because yea, no sir Noah was not leaving his side until he had to, friends or not. And especially not. Feeling himself get more frustrated by the minute Noah took a breath knowing that time as precious here. But of course that was when Aj decided to make a comment about him “white knighting” the situation and it all went downhill from there. “This isn’t me white knighting, this is me trying to make sure a young man like yourself doesn’t end up dead in the woods.” He snapped wondering if the thought of dying was just absolutely a foreign concept to the boy. And that when Noah felt it in his chest, the sudden realization that no this kid probably didn’t know just how fragile life was at time. He didn’t know that he was being helped by a person who had been through not one but two horrible near death experiences, one of which left him an orphan and a werewolf. Gathering himself though Noah tried not to project these feeling onto AJ, knowing he was growing too invested into this to be of any good assistance. He needed to stay sharp and focused after all, not emotional. “Your strength, your healing. I know where that might come from, and I know people who might be able to help. No hospitals involved.” He said quietly, hoping that would convince the boy. But they just sort of stood there at a stalemate for a few breaths and Noah couldn’t take it anymore. “Please. Please just let me help you to your truck. Or like. Drive you somewhere. I don’t want to wake up next week to your obituary knowing I could have done something” he whispered looking up at AJ a desperate pleading in his eyes.

Jesus, what the fuck had happened to this dude to make him so fucking dead set on helping a random stranger in the woods? One that clearly had no interest in being helped. “Aren’t you White Knighting? I don’t even want your help and you’re still trying to gallop in and sweep me off my feet.” Quite literally, considering he had planned on carrying AJ through the woods less than twenty minutes ago. It was obvious this was becoming personal. Yet AJ had no clue why the hell he seemed to know about strength and healing. AJ was curious about it himself. Almost curious enough to follow along with him. But once again the knowledge that AJ knew next to nothing about Noah, didn’t even know if that was his real name. For all AJ knew Noah could have been working with that freaky chick to get AJ on his side. Noah clearly knew something AJ didn’t about this apparent strength. There was no way that an injured AJ was going to trust him with little to know knowledge on the guy. “I don’t have any fucking clue what you’re talking about. But if you’re so sure about this shit then you shouldn’t need to worry about me dying anyways.” He needed to go, but couldn’t without some sort of head start. The dog wouldn’t be too happy about this, but AJ started forward back towards Noah. He didn’t hate the guy, not from what he knew of him. But that was very little and AJ wasn’t willing to risk it. Once close, AJ tried to summon the same rage and fear that existed in him when that bitch was on top of him and shoved Noah to the ground. The dog went wild, and the sudden strength forced his stomach to sting and his ears to begin ringing. But AJ ignored all of that and turned on his heels and took off into the forest hoping that his adrenaline would kick in quickly and take the pain away.

Opening his mouth to respond, Noah closed it getting the feeling that there was nothing he could do to change the kid’s mind. Though that wouldn’t stop Noah from following him to make sure he was ok. Surely the kid couldn’t object to that right? Right? But before Noah could even say anything more on the subject AJ was launching forward at him, hands coming at him. And if he had been ready he could have withstood most of it, he could have dug his heels in the ground and refused to be budge like he did in football. But the cruel fact of the matter was he hadn’t been ready. He hadn’t been standing his ground like in football so he went over landing on his ass and skidding slightly against the dirt, the force of AJ’s pushing feeling like. Well feeling like exactly the way his uncle would have pushed him, only confirming Noah’s fears. There was something supernatural about that boy and there was nothing he could do about it.

@hawaiianhalfwolf

#c: noah #chatzy: noah #chatzy #touchofchatzy #Activation

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