The fabric of your flesh, pure as a wedding dress
Until I wrap myself inside your arms I cannot rest
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloodied feet across the hallowed ground
Florence and the Machine, Howl
Tyler knew something was up. Well, deep down, he always felt that there was something wrong with him with all his rage issues but he'd been dismissing that as a result of psychological abuse from his dick of a dad. And people were just naturally annoying and therefore deserved to get smacked as he went unto his berserk angry mode. He was just happy he didn't turn green when it happened.
Of course, he had to have known as well that he couldn't ignore his so-called issues forever, not when they came out more frequently than was convenient anymore often resulting in embarrassing situations that only left him more confused. (That and his dad were going to seriously give him hell the next time he shamed the family name. It all sounded very old-fashioned but the Lockwoods were an old family, old money, old houses and old misguided beliefs that they were a cut above everyone else. No one could really blame him for the way he acted most of the time, he was just brought up that way.)
Fact of the matter was, his eighteenth birthday was coming up and from what newly arrived uncle told hi m – first transformations were a bitch. As in bones and muscles rearranging, painful screaming and downright excruciating pain. It didn't sound half-bad at all. In fact, he couldn't wait.
Okay that was a lie. He could wait. In fact, he'd love to wait for say…forever?
"There's no escaping this." Mason's eyes are grey-blue pools of seriousness. Huh, his uncle meant business. "You're going to shift whether you like it or not."
"But what if I don't want to be a werewolf?"
"That's why it's called a curse, Tyler."
Tyler was on three varsity teams and had an intense daily work out regime. He hardly thought of himself out of shape. But of course, werewolf or not, there was only so much the human body could take and Mason's version of training sessions (A.K.A sadistic torture) was seriously wearing him out. He'd often wake up nowadays, every muscle in his body aching and cursing his uncle to hell and more.
Mason apparently wanted to build up his stamina so that his body would easily take the pain of the transformation better. Kind of like warming up the muscles before you gave it the full work out. Of course, he really wasn't sure how it was possible to really be prepared for having your body twist and break itself into another form but it's not like he could complain. He already tried and all that got him was a growl.
Yes, did he mention his werewolf uncle liked to growl?
"Again." His uncle growled at him for the nth time and Tyler gaped at him in disbelief.
"I just ran fifty laps!"
"And I'm telling you to do another set." Insert growl. "Any day now, princess."
He could only throw his hands up in defeat before doing as he was told.
Caroline Forbes smelled like flowers. Specifically, some girly plant like lavender or chamomile like the kind his mother would occasionally bring into the house to freshen up the rooms and cause nausea for him and his uncle. Strangely enough, instead of making him want to puke, Caroline's scent did strange things to him. Really strange things that made him stare at her like a dying famished man and she was a piece of meat.
Though he really didn't want to think of her a piece of meat because that made him just sound even more like his wolfish alter-ego and with the full moon so close, he wasn't comfortable with thoughts concerning that. It was unnerving how the days were just going by so quickly, the full moon was literally only two weeks away. Of course, he wouldn't admit it within gunshot but his upcoming lunar transformation was seriously freaking him out. And he wasn't sure all that painful preparation his uncle was doing would even help him when the time came.
It was all beginning to wear him out, all the pressure and waiting. And Caroline Forbes' scent invading his thoughts was doing no help at all when all he could concentrate when he was in the same building as her was, well, her. He only had his new super senses to blame. All of which were getting stronger and better by the day.
And as that all too distracting scent pervaded his nostrils, lavender, chamomile, cinnamon and – his eyes widened in surprise as he finally placed that familiar scent hidden underneath in all the others. He'd noticed it before, when the flowery scents were really just starting to bother him but he'd just chalk it into that musky human scent. He'd just left it at that for a while since he didn't really expect, out of all the people there were, for Caroline Forbes to smell less than human. And he didn't really expect at all that she would smell too much like a werewolf.
Tyler tried going at it subtly. Mostly, it was observing Caroline for wolf-like behavior during their classes, dropping hints and double meaning phrases about furry transformations during conversations and even stalking her (he knew it was pathetic, shut up!) but it also seemed futile. Because she still appeared to be really confused or was just incredibly great at hiding what she was. Or maybe she was in denial about her true nature and he could understand. He, himself, had gone on a drinking binge the first time he found out.
Still, he had to confront her about it at some point and he may have broken into her house to have to do it but the end justified the means right? And he was really getting sick of imitating Edward Cullen and he just wanted for her to admit it. So with a few taunts here and there with her in full defensive mode and the interrogation started. She denied everything though even when he pointed out all the strange things he noticed about her, the more than average strength, the hot temper, and her damn scent – she still wouldn't budge.
He got so fed up with her to the point he ended up pressing her roughly against the wall (an act his mother would berate him for if she ever found out) and demanding she tell him the truth. And fuck it all, she still kept denying even when the truth was plain clear to them both. Why was she trying to hide? This just made him even angrier.
His fist loudly hit the wall beside her head, the act causing her to gasp and her heart speed faster as he shouted for her to fess up. All he wanted was the truth, goddamn it. She just needed to say the words, "I'm a werewolf" and he'd leave her the hell alone. Whoops, stupid portrait just fell down to the floor as he shook her vigorously.
He might've gone a bit too far though. Because the next thing he knew, the brightest green eyes, almost the color of neon are glaring up at him as she growled at him and he's too shocked to say anything. She easily twisted them around until he's the one pressed against the wall, her hot breath fanned against his face and did all sorts of things to his body. He doesn't know what to say really.
Especially not with that suddenly wolfish smirk on her pretty face as she told him, "I'm a werewolf, Ty."
And he barely had the time to bask in his victory before she's kissing him with a hunger that surprised him. He's quick to match her ferocity, marveling in her taste and scent and that undeniable feeling of rightness. His thought were all white noise as he twisted them around until he had her pressed up the wall again, her body soft and wonderful against him as she tangled her fingers in his hair. And he swallowed her moan as left butterfly kisses on her neck, his hands quick to undress them both.
Tyler hadn't expected to end up having hot wall sex with a pretty blonde werewolf girl but it wasn't like he was complaining. All in all, things could've gone worse or couldn't gone better, depends on your perspective of things. But he wasn't unhappy about anything. He was quite content actually. And he'd prefer to keep it that way.
And maybe it was a bit weird because he didn't really know what to call what he had with Caroline. They were a little more than friends but nowhere near to call her his girlfriend. And despite that one afternoon of hot sex, he didn't think he had enough possession over her for her to be his mate. From what Mason told him, having a mate was a pretty binding thing for werewolves. And Caroline Forbes would sooner look ugly than agree to become his submissive mate for life. One thing Sheriff Liz Forbes taught her daughter was to have a backbone. Something he remembered all too well as she'd pushed him against that wall, her green eyes bright while she growled at him.
Still, they were something, weren't they? And he really didn't want to question whatever it was because he liked having her around. Heck, his entire family was ready to adopt her. His parents adored her and even Mason thought the sassy blonde was good for him. That and she frequently made fun of Tyler and made Mason laugh at her borderline abusive insults. It's nice to know his family liked seeing him humiliated.
"Again, Tyler." Mason barked at him.
Tyler could only sneak a glance at the pretty blonde sitting by the tree, her blue eyes focused on him. He chanced a smirk at her, ignoring his uncle talking and she rewarded him with a suggestive smirk of her own. God, he couldn't wait till the end of practice at this rate. Well, he couldn't wait till the end of practice on any day. The full moon was a week away and he was quite sick of running around the forest of the old Lockwood estate and listening to Mason growl and shout at him like there was no tomorrow. He was getting quite impatient of all this waiting really.
"Hey! Stop salivating over Werewolf Barbie over there." Mason abruptly interrupted his daydreaming. "She already went through this stuff. And do you seriously want your girlfriend to do better than you?"
Well that was a low blow. Caroline had her first full moon weeks after her father left town. Apparently, her father wasn't gay or had a boyfriend named Stephen. Caroline just had way too much fun coming up with a lie on why her father had to leave town and her mother. And the fact her father was a werewolf didn't sound too safe to reveal.
Of course, when Tyler thought about all of it, a lot of things certainly made sense now. Mr. Forbes mostly reclusive nature, Caroline's frequent visits to see her dad, the disappearances and the tempers – it all went straight to Werewolf Boulevard. It was almost comical how the town had no idea that they had werewolves living right under their noises. He could almost imagine the headlines.
"TYLER!" A sharp push from Mason almost had him doubling over and falling to the forest floor but he recovered in time and started his run with a mild jog. He sneaked one last glance at the blonde werewolf smiling at him before going off to start his laps.
They'd told him it would be painful, excruciating but he didn't really understand just how much as he lay moaning on the floor of the old Lockwood estate's cellars. His skin felt impossibly hot, his bones aching as they rearranged themselves, muscles straining and stretching, tears leaking in his eyes as the sensations never seemed to end. The cold of the chains on his neck, arms and legs were cold against his feverish skin and he concentrated on these little things as he waited by the minutes.
Caroline entered his cell, lamplight in hand and dressed in her usual sexy self. He has half the mind to ask why she was there and not in her own cell as Mason decided that crowding three werewolves in one cell would be more than disastrous. And he could see how she was starting to strain against the shifting as well. Her skin looked clam, her eyes tears and her lip trembled every so often.
"I'm here for you." She replied as he asked why she was there again.
Her answer made his heart swell and he has to swallow as the sensations heighten to an almost unbearable degree. He listened as she knelt behind him, placing her lamp near them and gently, ever so gently, pulled him into her arms. The effect is immediate and he relaxed the most he's had the entire day as she comforted him with all her sweetness and softness. For a moment he can almost forget the pain and the sound of her whispering encouragements into his ear was almost melodic. The pain doubled as he remembered of course and he grasped her hand tightly as they rode through the pain together.
"I'm here. I'm here." She chanted to him like a mantra and it was almost enough to lull him to sleep.
Tyler woke up naked on the cold floor of the cellar, feeling sore, exhausted and strangely satisfied. He briefly wondered about this until he took notice of the soft pale equally naked body he held in his arms, her blonde hair like a halo in the peeking sunlight and it almost took his breath away. For a second, he did nothing. His hand only coming up to stroke the stray curls covering her face and in her sleep, she sighed into his chest. He's mesmerized for that moment, just feeling at peace and not caring of what he was and what he just became last night. All that didn't matter because it was just him and her – Tyler and Caroline.
Blonde eyelashes flutter as she started to awake and he found himself staring into sky blue eyes and smiled affectionately at his, yes he was sure, mate. Her smile was immediate. "You made it." She said.
"I made it."
This was for Day #1 of The Month of Caroline challenge. I wanted to start with Forwood and here it is.
