Since the reviews I got for that chapter, seemed to suggest that everyone enjoyed the little back story about Roman and Dean going trick or treating. I decided that since its Halloween, I would actually write the story out in full.
For those of you who have joined me on Roman and Genna, and Dean and Roxy's adventures in Natural Selection, you will find that this one is an AU, to my original AU. However I wanted something to happen in this story that the original would have made impossible. So it is best if you can treat this as a standalone story, or a what if story. I do hope you will enjoy it, and if you would be so kind as to please take the time to leave me a review to tell me if you liked it or indeed if you didn't. I'd like to know if you think it worked or it didn't as the case may be, it would be very much appreciated.
As is the case with these stories anyone you recognise is probably the property of the WWE and the men who portray, or have portrayed those characters.
Happy Halloween everyone, and thank you for reading.
Natural Selection
Halloween
It was a nice day in early autumn. It was in fact the end of October, October thirty first to be exact, Halloween, and for the first time in a long time Dean Ambrose had a family. With the way he was treated here, it felt like he had finally gained a family of the kind he had seen other kids with, and dreamed of having himself. It was a few months ago, when he had gotten into a fight with Roman Reigns, and been turned into a werewolf. As far as he was concerned it was the best thing that could have happened to him, with that single bite, Roman had given him everything he had ever wanted or dreamed of as a child.
The young teen knew his life on the streets was not the best, sadly though, like a lot of the kids out there, it was better than living at home. He knew his life had been spiralling out of control though, even at his relatively young age, despite having a place to stay, and a few friends, he had already been flirting with a drug habit and alcohol was a constant in his life. He was always looking to make a quick buck for food, and the things that made life a little more bearable, and if he had to do it in less than legal ways, it was just the way things were. He didn't think he was a bad kid, he didn't beat up on the younger street kids, in fact he looked out for them when he could, he didn't attack old people or women, he had a code of sorts. However when he saw Roman that day he considered him fair game, a rich kid in a place where he shouldn't have been, Dean was doing him a service, teaching him about life. When he tried to roll Roman for his wallet, his watch, and possibly his shoes, he had been shocked by how tough the other kid was, and in the end Roman had bitten him, by accident to be sure, but bitten him none the less.
That bite could have killed him, instead though, he thought it was probably the best day of his life. In the aftermath of his body's battle with the addition to it, via Roman's saliva, he had, had to detox. Something, that the addition to his body made fairly easy on him, there was also that fact that a lot of it went by while he had a high fever, so he was pretty much unaware of the withdrawal. He had to also get used to the fact, that on the full moon he would become a wolf. By the time his first change happened, and drove out of his mind, all thoughts of ravening blood thirsty monsters, he knew he had found a real home, along with a brother in Roman. He was glad to leave the streets behind, though he did mourn the loss of a close friend or two; however he knew he could not go back, it was just too dangerous, both for him and for them. The packs hid from humans for good reason, and if he were to bite someone, the chances were they would not be as lucky as him.
As the younger son of the pack alpha, conceived and born on the full moon, it was already known, and had been since his birth, that Roman was a future alpha, so the pack treated him accordingly. When his youngest had brought the other boy back with him, already sick, and looking close to death, Sika had feared the worst, that they would have to dispose of the boy's body, where no one would find it. However, Dean had proved just how tough and resilient he was by surviving. He had been shocked to find out what they were, and what he now was, however he seemed to accept it easily enough, the knowledge that he was specia;l seemed to help with that. Dean quickly became a part of the pack, Sika's new youngest son, and Roman's closest brother. Where there was one, the other would not be far away, in fact they were pretty much inseparable, and Sika suspected almost from the start with their close relationship, just who would be beta to Roman's alpha.
The pack had come back to the city to take care of some business, they were a family, and despite some not being blood related were a close knit group, with a need to be together. With the deaths of Brian and Suzann Hunter some nine years before, the biggest threat to the packs had been effectively ended, mainly at Sika's hands, for it was he who had killed Brian. Suzann pregnant with a were child had chosen to take her own life. The only family who remained was Brian's Mother, a woman who was horrified by what her husband and son had been, and wanted no part of it. They had made a truce with the old woman, and as long as she left them alone, they would leave her in peace. Sika's business was in the same city that Elaine Prendergast lived in, but he had no cause to go looking for her.
Watching his two sons, the alpha had a feeling they were up to something, heads close together, and they were whispering so quietly, that he could get no hint of what they were up to. He just hoped that whatever it was the pair of them were planning, it would not draw undue attention to them, or worse still cause any problems.
"I've heard about it, and seen kids dressing up, but I never did it myself." Dean said softly looking around, checking where everyone else was, he didn't want to be overheard right now. If he played his cards right, he'd get Roman to go along with his plan, but if anyone else caught wind of it, they'd be sure to stop them.
"But why, what's the point?" Roman asked a sceptical look on his face.
Dean sighed, and looked around; this might be his only chance at this. He wasn't going to admit it, but he had always been jealous of the kids who got to dress up, and go to parties, or just go door to door trick or treating. His Mom was always too drunk, or too drugged up to take him when he was a kid, besides she would never have spent money on a costume for him, not when it could be better spent on drugs or booze. He tried to make something for himself one year, and she had beaten him for ruining good clothes. Clothes that had come from good will, and were almost ragged anyway, still they covered him just, and that was good enough for her.
He was eleven when she tried to sell him to one of her Jon's, Dean had kicked the guy in the balls, thankful that he was too high to do more than make a token grab at him. When he went down, the youngster had grabbed what he could, and run for it, he never went back. Life on the street might have been hard, but he was better dressed, and better fed than he was with his Mother. He quickly found a place to make his own, and made a much better life for himself, than he ever had at 'home'.
"If people like your costume they give you candy." Okay that had Roman's attention, they all liked sweet things.
"Candy?" Yes, Roman was definitely interested now. "We don't have costumes though Dean, and it's too late in the day to make something you know Dad won't let us go to the store to buy anything, we're supposed to stay in at night."
Dean almost laughed; Roman seemed to forget that he had grown up on the streets so to speak. He may have run away when he was eleven, but Dean had always been street smart, he needed to be with his Mother. Still the younger of the two had no intention of buying or making a costume, no he had something much better in mind for the two of them. It was just a matter of convincing Roman that it was a good idea, and getting him to go along with it.
"We don't need to buy or make anything." He said, being sure to be casual about what he was saying. "We already have the perfect costume."
"What stroppy teenagers?" Roman joked; he knew Dean was planning something, and that it was probably something that would get them both into trouble with the adults of the pack. On the other hand, they were talking about candy here, and the pack all liked candy, someone once said, that it had something to do with the high sugar content, and their metabolic rates. Roman didn't really care about that, he just knew he liked sweet things, preferably as much as he could get.
"Funny." Dean retorted. "No idiot." He glanced around again to make sure none of the adults were close to them. "Our were forms, people will freak out they'll think we really put the work in, or know special effects geniuses, they'll love it."
"Dean we can't; Dad and the others will freak out, we'll be grounded till I'm old enough to have my own pack." Roman protested. "If anyone saw us."
"That's the whole point of tonight." Dean cut in. "There will be werewolves and vampires, Mummy's, Frankenstein's Monsters, Gould's, Zombies, you name it, someone will be out there dressed up as it, we'll just be two more teenagers out in costume getting candy, yes ours will be two of the better costumes, but no one will even suspect that we aren't wearing costumes." He gave Roman what he hoped was a sad pleading look. "Come on Ro this'll be my last chance, I'll soon be too old, and I've never done it before, I really want to do this at least once."
Roman sighed and looked at the younger boy, the idea of candy was appealing and using their were forms did seem like a good idea, so longs they didn't get caught. He had been brought up on the horror stories of what had happened to weres in the past, who were caught by humans, to be tortured or killed. Still he was weighing that risk against candy, from what Dean was saying, lots of candy.
Dean smiled to himself; he could see he had caught Roman's imagination, and that the other boy was trying to think of a plan. They were going to be doing this; he was finally going to get to enjoy one of the rights of passage of childhood, yes a bit late, but he was going to be doing it, and with his brother no less, that was too sweet.
"We'll have to be careful." Roman said slowly. "We can't let anyone else know, none of the adults and especially not Rosey and Manu, they'll be sure to run to Dad and uncle Afa."
Though Rosey was fifteen years older than Roman, and could be classed as one of the adults, to Roman he was just his big brother, and the thought that Rosey himself might try to stop him never entered his head. Manu was only a year older than Roman and two older than Dean, still he seemed to think that that made the two younger boys kids, and himself almost an adult, he would be sure to try and spoil their fun.
"No problem, the fire escape is right outside my window." Dean smirked having already put some thought into this, in fact what he considered to be his biggest problem was getting Roman to agree. That accomplished everything else seemed easy.
Roman looked at Dean he had a feeling he had been played here, still there was candy to be had, free candy that people were just going to be giving to them, for no other reason than they thought the pair were in costume. He wasn't sure why humans did this, however the allure of the candy was too much for him to resist. If what Dean was saying was true, then the only thing they had to worry about was getting caught by the adults, and it seemed like his sneaky brother had that covered. Besides, he had a feeling it would be fun to go door to door, and see the other youngsters dressed up. No one had ever told him why they were never allowed out on this one night of all the year, and he wanted to see what it was all about.
"Okay so how are we going to do this then?" He asked, looking at Dean with a smile of his own.
"We say we are going to do something in my room, then we head out the window, and into the city, find an alley somewhere, and change then we go door to door." Dean had a happy smile on his face.
Roman had to admit Dean's plan sounded pretty basic, there was a lot that could go wrong with the idea; however they only needed one thing to go right, and simple was usually the best way to go, less to go wrong in a simple plan.
Now that he knew the plan he was actually looking forward to it, it was already early afternoon, so they only had to wait for a few hours, and then hopefully they would have candy coming out of their ears.
Sika found himself watching the younger pair throughout the afternoon, there was nothing he could put his finger on, there was just something about the pair of them, they seemed keyed up somehow. Dinner was a quiet affair, and Sika found his eyes on the boys throughout the meal, there was still nothing he could put his finger on, they were up to something though, he was sure of that.
After dinner he watched as they helped with the dishes, and then raced out to the back yard, to burn off some excess energy. Finally as it was getting dark, they trooped back in, and headed up the stairs.
"I'm going to Dean's room for a while." Roman announced, looking at his Dad his expression open and innocent.
Looking at the pair of them, the alpha could see nothing wrong with that, and watched them toil up the stairs, looking at the pair of them right now, it looked as if they were more likely to curl up and sleep until the morning than anything else. He smiled at Afa as he too, came to watch the boys heading off to Dean's room.
"They look exhausted." His older brother and beta remarked.
"Just as well." Sika replied, tonight is no night for a were to be out and about.
The two brothers looked at each other, they knew something happened tonight, something the human's did every year, they weren't sure what it was, and preferred to stay away if at all possible. If it had not been for the business that Sika had in the city, they would not have been here staying in this old house, but would have been safe in their own home in the countryside.
The two boys reached Dean's room, and headed inside without a backward glance. Roman flopped down on his brothers' bed and looked out of the window. Darkness, such as it was here in the city, was falling and he could hear the sounds of people on the streets though the partially open window. As Roman lay there looking at the ceiling, Dean was rooting around under the bed, with a smile of triumph he pulled out four bags, and smirked at Roman.
"Come on lets go." He whispered, knowing that his brother would hear him.
"You think we are going to get that much candy?" Roman asked quietly.
Dean shook his head as he headed for the window, pushing it up and stepping out onto the metal, he looked around, before heading to the steps, and starting down.
Roman was a little unsure of the structure, he had spent most of his life in the countryside, and knew little about the cities and towns. Dean on the other hand, was a city boy, and knew exactly what he was doing.
"Is this safe?" Roman asked, not liking the rickety structure.
"Yeah, it's the way out if there's a fire." Dean replied as his feet touched the ground. "I got two bags each, so that we can stash some, in case we get caught."
Roman could not help but smile, he might be part of the pack, but Dean was still at heart a street kid, and he still thought like one, and expected people to try and take things from him.
The pair took two bags each, pushing one inside the other, before looking for a convenient alley in which to make the change, they could already see other children and youngsters in costume, running door to door, and getting treats. Quickly, finding a conveniently dark spot, the pair of them changed, and then the two weres, appearing to be just another pair of kids trick or treating, which tonight was what they were, joined the crowd.
"Hey cool costumes." A vampire yelled as he ran past.
Dean smiled at Roman. "See." He growled at his brother.
The pair of them ran off to join the other kids. After knocking on a couple of doors and leaving the talking to Dean, Roman found himself really getting into it. He stopped watching some of the other kids, and enjoying looking at the decorations that adorned some of the yards.
"Hey, you want to work this side of the street with us?" A ghost yelled over, and Roman was shocked to realise they were being asked to join another group, the fourteen year old looked at his thirteen year old brother, who nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay." Roman called back to the other kid, and he and Dean ran to join them.
"Been watching you two, you're really in character." Another kid dressed as a zombie added. "Those costumes must have taken some work." Dean nodded. "Love it." The kid went on. "We'll get some primo treats with you two along, I'm Sammy, that's Mike." He indicated a boy dressed as a vampire. "Alan." This was a knife wielding maniac, wearing a white mask and boiler suit. "Tommy." The boy dressed as a mummy raised a hand and waved at them.
The augmented group headed down the street, knocking on doors and receiving treats. Parent's oowing and ahhing over Dean and Roman, the boy's bags were quickly filling up. The other boys were chatting away to them, seemingly accepting that Roman and Dean were staying in character, so not saying much. Soon the group had visited every house on that side of the street, so crossed over to the other one. Working their way down, where before they had been going up.
Roman was really enjoying himself, when he saw the two younger girls dressed as a pair of skeleton's, he watched them as they came towards them, laughing together, he guessed they were a couple of years younger than his own fourteen maybe twelve, possibly younger.
"Oh no the freak and her friend." Mike groaned. "Look at the two of them how lame is that?" He walked over, Dean and Roman trailing him. "Get lost you two, we don't want you out here, stinking up the street."
"Leave us alone Mike." The brunette replied. "We can be out here trick or treating if we want to be."
Mike went to push her and Roman found himself blocking the other boy. "No." He growled, angry that the other boy would try to hurt a girl.
"I thought you two were cool but you're defending them?" Mike did not look happy. "You're a pair of losers just like them." Turning away he walked back to his friends. "Lets get out of here; I hear some of the guys are meeting up in the cemetery to see if they can scare up any spooks." He glared at Roman, Dean and the two girls. "You losers aren't invited."
"Kick their asses." Dean growled, as the group turned away from them, running off shouting insults and laughing.
"They're not worth it." The young brunette said looking at the two boys. "I like your costumes, Roxy and I both like wolves, I'd like to go and see them in the wild when I'm older."
Roman smiled at the girl, who was looking at him with a smile on her own face. "Roman." He growled before pointing at his brother. "Dean."
The girls both smiled at them. "I'm Genna." The girl told him, holding out her hand to him. "And this is my sister Roxy."
The young redhead was looking at Dean; she seemed fascinated by him, but a little bit shy. Roman took Genna's hand in his, and she smiled.
"Wow the fur is so soft." She said, smiling even more. "I wonder if a real wolfs fur would be as soft?"
Roman wanted to tell her yes it was, he wanted to tell her just what he was. He watched as Roxy shyly reached out to touch Dean, stopping her hand a small distance from his fur, before he nodded, and she stroked his arm. Roman almost caught himself growling contentedly, as Genna stoked him, stopping himself, he checked to see if she had noticed.
"I guess we should get on." Genna said at last, as she realised what she was doing, and pulled her hand back from Roman.
"Come with you?" Dean asked, his eyes on Roxy, and Roman realised his brother was as drawn to the red head as he was to the brunette.
"Okay." Genna had a big smile on her face. "Why don't we go a street over, we haven't been there yet have you?"
Roman took her hand in his, while Dean did the same with Roxy and the four of them headed off to get more candy. The more time he spent with the young girl, the more Roman wanted to stay with her, and the stronger, his desire to tell her what he was, grew. Her hand fit into his paw so well, and she smiled at him so much, laughing when he growled out, trick or treat, to the house owners.
Genna was surprised by how safe she felt with Roman, she knew there were adults dotted around keeping an eye on all the children who were out tonight. However Roman made her feel safer than knowing the adults were there, there was something about him, his costume was so realistic, and it was either really expensive, or someone had helped him put a lot of work into it. Wolves had always fascinated her. She didn't like the Hollywood werewolves, they were too nasty, and she could never understand why good people would become so evil from a bite. She preferred to think that good people would be good no matter what, it was the bad people that would hurt others, being bitten by a werewolf shouldn't change that.
Dean and Roxy were walking along holding hands the little red head was shy, but when she looked at him out of her soft blue eyes, Dean knew he would do anything to make her smile at him, and keep her happy.
Their bags were filling up fast with candy, and in the end it was a good job Dean had brought the extra bags, as theirs were full to almost overflowing. Roxy and Dean were giggling together, and the blissful look on his face made Roman smile. This was something the younger boy had never thought he would have, if the girl had seen him on the street when he was a street kid, she would probably have ignored him, or run away. Now though with a family of his own, Dean realised he was no longer invisible to people, and some of them were actually going to like him.
"It's getting late for us." Genna said finally. "We have to get home, our Grammy will be wondering where we are."
Roman felt sad at her words, he didn't want to have to say goodbye to her, he wanted to spend more time with her, and he could see by glancing at his brother that it was same with him and Roxy. He didn't know what it was about the sisters, but there was a big part of him that wanted to stay with them. Dean looked over at Roman, he knew it was getting late, and the girls were younger than them.
"Walk you?" Dean asked, and was rewarded by a brilliant smile from Roxy.
"Can you guys drop the funny voices?" Genna asked as they walked along, seeing older kids horsing around on the street, one of the reason some of the adults were out there.
Some of the older kids didn't seem to care that there were younger ones out and about, they ran past the small group, and Genna shrank into Roman, the older boy wrapped an arm around her, and she smiled up at him again, she didn't know why but he made her feel safe. The night was turning cold, and he was nice and warm.
"Okay?" He asked looking down at her.
She heard Roxy giggle, and gave a small one of her own. "I'm good." She replied. "You can stop growling now you know."
Roman looked down at her, and the feeling, that overwhelming urge to let her know that this wasn't a costume this was him, came over him once more. He glanced over at Dean, and then down at the little brunette.
"Can't." He whispered, looking into her green eyes.
"Ro." He heard his brothers' voice and he knew what he was doing was crazy, yet he couldn't seem to help himself, he wanted her to know him as he was.
Genna looked up at him, wondering what was going on as he took her hand in his and lead it to his face. The mask, she had been sure that's what it was, felt warm under her hand, the fur soft, his teeth slightly sharp. He was looking into her eyes, and she could feel herself getting lost in them. Feelings she had no words for, were welling up inside her.
"You're not wearing a mask." She breathed, as she realised this wasn't an elaborate costume, it was real.
For a moment, her mind told her she should run away screaming, however she pushed that urge aside, and looked at the boy. He hadn't hurt her, he had come to her aid, he had been nice to her all the time they had been together, and she smiled. Roman looked at her, as she processed everything, he saw the momentary flash of fear in her eyes, but that was all it had been a flash, then she was looking at him in wonder.
"This is you?" She asked, running her fingers along his jaw.
Dean looked on in shock, as Roman revealed their secret to the two girls; Roxy was looking at him in wonder, her hand reaching out to touch his face. There was a moment where Dean thought the girl would cringe away, for a moment he felt like he had when he was twelve, and people walked past him like he was invisible, then he realised she was looking at him in wonder, her fingers tracing his jaw.
"You're not wearing costumes." The redhead got out, looking up at the were.
Dean shook his head, looking down at her, before glancing at his brother, at least the girls weren't running away from them screaming.
"Are you really werewolves?" Genna questioned.
Roman nodded his head, looking down at her. "Yes." She wasn't freaking out which was good.
"It's not the full moon; doesn't it have to be the full moon?" Genna was trying to process all this. "Can you be wolves too?"
Roman could not help smiling to himself, knowing what she wanted to know, there was a patch of dark shadow, and no was paying attention to them. He pulled Genna into it and let the change take over. Genna watched as the boy went from werewolf to a big black wolf. Without thinking about it, Genna crouched down, running her hands though his fur, stroking him. Roman gave a contented growl, as he fingers instinctively found the right spots, rubbing deep in his fur.
"Wow." Genna breathed out. "Your fur is so soft, you're incredible Roman."
With a sigh he pulled back from her and shook himself before changing back all the way to human. Genna looked at him smiling, and he could not help smiling back.
"Thank you." Genna breathed out, looking into his eyes.
"You won't tell will you?" Roman suddenly realised the gravity of what he had done.
Genna shook her head. "No I won't Wolfe." She smiled, as she said that to take any sting out of her words.
Roman looked down at her, there was something about this girl that called to him, he smiled at her and reached out to stroke her cheek before bending, and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips, she was too young for anything else. Dean watched the two of them, his eyes wide as Roman kissed the girl. Dean knew all about sex, he was street wise, and with how his Mother made her money he knew all about what men and women did. This though was something else though, almost innocent and pure. Genna looked up at the boy whose lips had been pressed lightly against her own; her fingers went to her own lips, before she smiled up at him again. Dean pulled Roxy into the shadows, and made the change to wolf making her smile, and run her fingers through his fur stroking and scratching him, till he changed back to human.
It was a smiling group, who gathered up their treats and walked down the street, both pairs hand in hand. There seemed to be no need for words between them, it was as if some decision had been made for the future.
The red brick stone house stood in a neatly kept yard, the grass neatly manicured, the flowerbeds carefully kept. It was a house that spoke of money, and yet at the same time, was clearly a home. The porch was decorated with the normal Halloween paraphernalia, and an older lady stood at the door looking out occasionally glancing at her watch. A smile lit up her face when she was the two girls. Roman decided he liked her at first glance, she looked nice, the lady waved at them, and Dean and Roman found themselves waving back to her. Genna and Roxy tugged the boys up the path ,and soon they found themselves under the stern gaze of Elaine Prendergast.
"I don't believe I know you boys." She said her voice soft and mild, despite the enquiring look she was giving them.
"No ma'am." Roman smiled at her, earning points for being polite. "We met Genna and Roxy while we were out trick or treating."
"Mike was being mean again." Genna cut in. "He called us freaks, and he was going to hit me, but Roman stopped him."
Elaine could not miss the way that Genna looked at the older boy, with adoration in her eyes. However, she sighed at the thought of the older boy, who seemed to have it in for Genna and Roxy, for no other reason than the girls had no parents. The boy was a bully, it did not help matters that Genna stood up to him, and would not let him push her around. He had hit her granddaughter on more than one occasion, and on more than one occasion, Genna had got into trouble for fighting back. That someone else had stood up for her, was a pleasant change, since the other kids did not seem to want to stand up to Mike.
"Well thank you for that boys, where are your costumes?" She smiled at them both.
"Oh we were getting too hot so we took them off." Dean gave her a cheeky grin and she could not help smiling back at him, she was sure he could be a little imp when he wanted to.
"Well it's almost the girls' bedtime, but they have a few minutes, would you like to come in for a drink before you head off?" Elaine was already turning back towards the door.
The boys looked at the girls, who were nodding yes to them, Roman looked at Dean to see if he wanted to, and the other boy grinned at him his hand still holding on to Roxy's, as he headed towards the door with her. Roman smiled at Genna, squeezing her hand slightly, as they too headed towards the front door.
Inside the house was neat and airy, with old fashioned heavy furniture, which spoke of age and care, while at the same time was not crowding, or cluttering the house. The girls leading them, the boys followed their Grammy to the kitchen, where the older woman poured out four glasses of homemade lemonade, and set out a plate of cookies, which had been made that day, and allowed the youngsters to help themselves. Roman and Dean were eyeing the cookies hungrily, but trying to be well mannered and not grab at them, homemade treats were not that common in their home.
Elaine smiled seeing the boys dilemma and took pity on them. "Help yourselves boys, don't be shy."
The pair of them did not need telling twice, and fell on the cookies like hungry wolves, though she could not help noticing, that they did make sure that Genna and Roxy got first choice.
Roman sighed happily, as the cookie melted in his mouth, and the chocolate hit his taste buds, Dean had a smile on his face, moments like this had never been a part of his life till now, and he reflected on how much better meeting Roman had made his life.
Grammy could not help noticing the way her girls were looking at these two boys, part wonder, part delight, part hero worship, and if they were older she would have said love, as it was it looked a lot like adoration. Maybe the girls had their first crushes? As fast as the two boys were devouring the cookies, and Grammy quietly filled a container with more of the cookies for the boys to take with them when they left, the plate would soon be empty. She smiled to see that they were making sure the two girls had their fair share too.
All too soon though, the lemonade was drunk, and the cookies were gone, and the boys knew they had to be getting back. Thanking the woman and the girls the pair reluctantly headed for the door. Grammy sighed, as she noticed the girls had moist eyes, and the boys did not seem to want to leave. This needed to be handled right, or it could hurt her girls.
Roman looked into Genna's eyes as they stood there saying goodbye, he didn't want to leave her, there was a part of him that was telling him to stay with her, the wolf howling inside him. He wanted to press his lips to hers, and kiss her senseless, instead he settled for leaning in, and pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek.
"Goodnight Wolfe." Genna whispered to him, making him smile.
"I'll see you again soon Genna." He replied, and then glanced over to see Dean kissing Roxy on the cheek.
The pair of them grabbed their bags of candy as they walked out of the door. Looking at the girls though, it was so hard to walk away from them. Looking at the four of them Grammy hid a smile, not wanting to embarrass any of them.
"Would you both like to come over tomorrow for milk and cookies boys?" She asked them with a smile.
The two teenagers stopped as they were walking though the door, and looked at each other, both breaking out in brief grins before turning to face the females.
"Yes, thank you; that would be great." Roman's eyes were on Genna as he spoke, and he felt ten feet tall at the look on her face. "We'll see you tomorrow."
The two boys left with a spring in their step, heading for the building where they were staying. Dean stopped Roman before he could head up the fire escape.
"What?" Roman asked, his mind on his bed, and the little brunette.
"We need to hide some of the candy." Dean glanced at the window of his room. "Just in case we get caught, you know if they do catch us, they'll take the candy away."
Roman looked at his brother, considering his words before nodding, they had gone out when they weren't supposed to, though he couldn't see why they had to stay in on this night of all nights, it had been fun, and they got lots of candy. Still, he knew that if they got caught, Dean was right, the candy would get taken away as punishment, plus everyone in the pack liked sweet things just as much as they did. He made sure the container of cookies Elaine had given them was hidden with their stash, before they headed back into Dean's room, and right into the reception committee, which was his Dad and Uncle, the others were lurking in the corridor, watching what was going on.
"Where have the two of you been?" Sika demanded, the worry evident on his face.
"Getting candy pops." Dean replied cheekily, a happy smile on his face; he had finally gotten to enjoy one of the rights of childhood, better still he had gotten to meet Roxy. There was something about the little redhead, he knew she was too young just yet, but he had a feeling about her, that he might just have met the one.
Sika glared at his adopted son and his blood one. "You know you're not supposed to go out tonight of all nights." He raged at the boys. "Roman what do you have to say for yourself?"
"It was fun Dad." Roman didn't meet his Fathers eyes, he wasn't ready to challenge his alpha just yet, one day he would though. "We went door to door, and they gave us candy, and we met some other boys, they weren't so nice though, then we met." He trailed off not sure he wanted to tell his Dad about Genna just yet, there was something about her, his wolf insisted that she was theirs.
"It's not safe out there." Sika growled. "What were you thinking?"
"That kids get dressed up, and go door to door trick or treating." Dean replied casually pulling a piece of candy out of his bag. "I always wanted to go, but I never could before."
"Dressed up, no you two didn't?" Sika wanted to grab the pair of them and bang their heads together.
Roman stayed silent, as Dean dug them deeper into an already deep hole. "Everyone thought we had the best werewolf costumes they saw, outside of the movies." Dean went on, regardless of the look on Sika's face. "We got so much candy."
Sika grabbed the bag from Dean, before the teen could grab more candy out of it to eat.
"You let people see you in your were forms, do you realise what could have gone wrong?" Sika was beyond cross, as he handed the bag to Afa, who at once pulled out a piece of candy and started eating it, it was candy after all. He could hear the others in the hallway, stirring restlessly.
Roman hung his head slightly, tightening his grip on his bag, which Sika was now eyeing.
"Pops everyone thought we were the best, the other kids wanted us to go with them, so they'd get more candy." Dean protested.
Sika grabbed Roman's bag of candy and glared at his boy. "The pair of you are grounded." He did not miss the look that flashed across Roman's face, or the way that he was going to argue. "Don't!" He stated. "You are grounded the rest of the time we are here." Yes Roman was not happy about that. "And if I find you sneaking out, I'll ground you for a month when we get home." Dean opened his mouth, but Sika spoke over him. "Apart from the full moon that is." Dean shut his mouth again.
Turning away from the boys he saw the faces of the others in the hallway, they were all salivating over the candy he could tell that, and Afa was chewing happily, in spite of the risk the boys had taken.
"Get to bed you two." He growled, knowing the boys were both looking at him, the loss of their candy and being grounded, probably wouldn't make them think about not doing something this stupid again. The loss of whatever it was that Roman was going to argue with him about, on the other hand, probably was.
Walking out of the room he shut the door firmly behind him, before smiling at the rest of his pack, as they all headed down the stairs to have a feast. Inside the room Roman and Dean looked at each other, they had actually lost only a fraction of their haul, however being grounded meant no Genna and no Roxy. Roman flopped down on Dean's bed; he wasn't sure if his Dad meant for him to stay here, or if he just hadn't thought about separating the two of them.
Dean headed for the window, and shimmied down the fire escape, grabbing the hidden bags hauling them back to the room, before pulling out Elaine's gift of the cookies. Both boys wasted no time in digging in, before starting on the candy.
"What are we going to do about Roxy and Genna?" Dean questioned as he chewed contentedly on his candy. He wanted to see the little red head again.
Roman looked at him with a sad expression, Genna called to his wolf. "Maybe we could sneak out." He suggested, he knew his Dad would be furious but at the same time he wanted to see Genna again, and that felt more important to him than obeying his Father right now.
Dean nodded his head, and the pair hid the remaining candy away, before Roman changed into his wolf and curled up on the end of the bed while Dean did the same and took the area near the headboard. Both of them dreaming of the two girls they had met that night. Not so far away, two girls were also dreaming about two boys who could become wolves.
It was to be a two long days before the four of them met up again, everyone kept a close eye on Roman and Dean over the next couple days, so the pair of them could not get out, to visit the two girls.
Roman was staring moodily out of the window in Dean's room, when he saw a familiar face walking along the street. He knew Rosey was outside, lurking in the hallway as per his Fathers instructions. Grabbing a chair he hooked it under the door handle, he knew it wouldn't last long against his brother, but it would be long enough. Wrenching up the window, he jumped out onto the metal structure, while Dean stood there watching him in shock. He could hear his brother shouting how much trouble he was going to be in, even as he tried to break into the room.
"Hey, up here, it's me Roman from the other night." He called, hoping the older woman would hear him.
Elaine looked up at the sound of the voice, and saw the young man from Halloween night. For a moment she felt a wave of anger wash over her, Genna and Roxy had been so sad when the boys hadn't shown up, then she saw how desperately he was trying to attract her attention.
"Roman." She called back, and saw him smile.
"How's Genna?" He called down to her returning her smile, when he saw her smile up at him.
"Missing you." She called back; her granddaughter seemed very taken with the teen.
"We got grounded." He glanced back over his shoulder, hearing the wood of the door splintering. "I wanted to see her again, tell her I'm sorry."
Rosey grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and pulled him back off the fire escape. Elaine watched in shock, as the boy was dragged away. She knew how hurt the girls had been when the boys had not come to visit. Turning away she made up her mind, heading home to talk to the girls.
Sika was not sure what to do about Roman, technically the boy had not left the property, however he had been talking to a woman in the street. Rosey was not happy since he had to hang a new door on Dean's room. The knock on the door was a welcome intrusion into his thoughts, opening it he stood there in shock, seeing who was on the other side. Roman and Dean, who had come to see who was knocking, were not so reluctant as their Father. The two boys ran to the door, grabbing the smaller girls who stood there with their grandmother.
"Elaine what are you doing here?" He asked in shock, while the woman seemed as shocked to see him, as she was to see her.
"It seems your boys met my girls." She said softly, there was no turning back now; she had never expected to see the past looking at her. She had lied to this man, and she was not sure how he would react.
"Your girls?" Sika asked, watching as Roman hugged the little brunette, while Dean embraced the redhead.
"My granddaughters, Genna and Roxy, can I come in?" Elaine looked at him, realising the time had come for him to know that Brian had not been the last Hunter.
"Roman, Wolfe." Genna had the biggest grin on her face, as Roman shifted to his wolf form, and the girl leapt on him, rubbing and stroking him, much to the shock of all the adults watching them.
Dean looked at Roxy with a grin, before shifting too, almost inviting her to come and make a fuss of him. Sika and Elaine looked on in shock as the youngsters played together, Genna and Roxy giggling, and Roman and Dean giving wolfish grins, as they raced off down the hallway. Sika gestured for Elaine to come in and pushed the door shut.
"They're Hunter's." He questioned, watching the two girls playing with his sons.
"Genna is yes." Elaine told him, with fear in her eyes.
"We don't hurt children." Sika told her absently, as he watched the youngsters playing together. "Besides anyone who wanted to hurt her would have to go through Roman, not an easy thing to do since." He broke off, not sure about her reaction to what he was going to say, but she was looking at him from wide eyes. "I think my son found his mate."
Elaine looked at him in shock, as he led her into the kitchen, and gestured for her to take a seat.
"His mate?" She asked, understanding better than some would what he meant.
"You hid her from us; did you really think we would hurt her?" He asked, as they watched the youngsters. Genna had her fingers buried in Romans fur, and was cuddling up, to the obviously very happy wolf.
"I was worried what would have become of her if you knew." Elaine admitted, watching as Genna inspected Roman's teeth, laughing when he licked her.
Sika sighed; he had missed nine years of the girls' life, a girl he would have been happy to raise, despite who her parents were. Elaine could see his mind working, and felt a spike of fear, wondering what he was going to say.
"I'd like to take them back with us." He said, making up his mind, they had lost nine years, and he wouldn't lose the rest. He saw the look on Elaine's face, as if she was already feeling the loss of her girls. "Will you come with us, you're their family?" He could not help smiling at her. "You can't be happy here in the city, you once said you were a country girl at heart."
Elaine smiled, and looked at the girls, the boys had changed back, and were looking hopefully at their Father. Elaine looked at her girls', a Hunter and a were, maybe things were finally going to work out for the best. "Yes." She replied quietly. "We'll come." She could not miss the look of joy on her granddaughters face.
Sika smiled too as the rest of his pack trooped in, it looked like in the end Dean had talked Roman into a good thing going out on that fateful night. Watching the two couples together, he had the feeling that the core of a new pack was forming and he looked forward to seeing just what would happen.
A Few Years later
Genna stood on the back porch, looking out over the back yard, her hands resting on her pregnant stomach, as she watched Dean and Roman playing in their wolf forms, with Roxy. Sometimes she wished she could join them playing like this, though even if she could change, she doubted Roman would let her play, not as far along as she was. Any day now there would be a new member of the pack, her son, or she could hope daughter. It was funny she reflected, if not for Dean wanting to go trick or treating that Halloween night all those years ago, all this might never have happened.
Roman changed and came over to her, wrapping his arms around his mate, his hand resting on his son, he knew however unrealistically it was, Genna was hoping for a daughter, he looked into the eyes of his wife. They had married shortly before she became pregnant with his child. Even finding out who she was had not lessened his feelings for her, and he had never been in doubt of hers for him. Kissing her tenderly, he looked over at Dean with a smile, they had just found out Roxy was pregnant too, and he was determined when they were old enough, their children were going out trick or treating on future Halloweens. After all the best thing in his life had happened to him when he had gone, and he could hope ,that even if such a momentous thing did not happen to his son and Dean's, they would at least have fun, not to mention lots of candy.
So what did you think? I'd really like to know your thoughts. I really wanted to imagine a different way of Roman and Genna meeting. Did it work or would it have been better off un-written? Please take a moment to tell me your thoughts. Thank you in advance.
