Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to it's owner. I only own my myriad of OCs and the plot.
Shadows all around you as you surface from the dark~
October 8th, 2014
The sound of waves lapping against the sand was the only sound to be heard this early in the morning. The beach was deserted, the hour late, and even the crabs had shuffled into their holes for their sleep. A calm breeze blew over the dunes, rustling the tall grasses and making them sway, back-dropped by the silent and dark beach houses whose inhabitants rested in cliché themed bedrooms and beds not their own.
A young woman silently stepped over a half-demolished sandcastle, seemingly unconcerned about the silence and loneliness that seemed to permeate the area at such an hour. It was peaceful. The moon would be rising soon, and that was really the reason she was out of bed this late. This moon was special, because this year it was a Blood Moon, occurring just as there was a full lunar eclipse. There was no way she was missing this, even though it was barely 6 o'clock in the morning.
She'd dressed for the slightly chilly weather, with black cargo pants and a long-sleeved green and white striped t-shirt, but no shoes, and the sand was cool as it moved between her toes with each step. She had a hunting knife strapped to her belt that hung at her side, bumping lightly against her thigh as she walked. It always paid to be careful.
It was about 5 minutes to moonrise when she heard it. A slight whuffling noise, like a dog sniffing, and a shuffle here and there like something was navigating the dunes and tall grasses to her left. She ignored it, mostly; the Outer Banks didn't really have a wild dog problem, and the ones that were roaming about were used to humans, as this was a very popular tourist area. 'If I ignore it, it'll ignore me,' she thought.
The breath hitched in her throat as the tip of the fat, luminescent sphere started to inch it's way up above the waters of the Atlantic, casting a bright glow so contrary to the almost complete blackness of before. She watched with wonder in her eyes as it rose, so slowly, bathing the beach in light and rippling off of the ocean like shards of broken glass. It was only as the sun and moon hung above opposite horizons, the moon steadily turning more and more red as the eclipse commenced, that she registered the low growling coming from behind her.
Her breath caught for a totally different reason, now- this was a feral sound, and it sent a shot of liquid fear down her spine. Her hand slowly inched towards her waist, to the hilt of her knife as she turned on her heel just as slowly. 'No sudden or threatening movements, no running, keep your breathing calm and even,' all of this ran through her head until she actually laid eyes on the beast. Two swirling pools of crimson rage were glaring back at her from between the tall grasses atop the dunes. Her common sense eventually overruled the primal fear those eyes seemed to evoke in her and she started to slowly inch away, back toward the way she came from.
Unfortunately, the beast didn't agree with her trying to leave and pounced out from it's hiding place straight towards her. Her eyes widened in fear and amazement, as the dune the animal had leaped from was over 30 feet away and it should've been an impossible feat. The creature knocked her backwards into the sand, its huge paws pushed into her chest, the claws digging into skin and surely leaving deep puncture wounds. That, however, was practically a tickle compared to the jaws that clamped around her shoulder, teeth viciously biting into her flesh, skin breaking and muscles tearing and blood pouring down, hot against her neck. Suddenly, the animal let go, only to immediately clamp down onto her side, cracking ribs as it roughly shook her like a ragdoll. She managed to get a look at the creature now that it wasn't so close to her, and her face twisted into a horrified expression.
It was gigantic, with bulging muscles and patches of wiry brown hair randomly placed over it's body. The parts of it that were hairless didn't look like skin, more like leather, and she thought it looked like it was maybe a deformed version of those Mexican hairless dogs. It smelled awful, like a sewer and rotting body mixed together, and it made her gag as she got a good whiff of it.
She wouldn't remember how later; the vicious attack temporarily shorting out her memory of the event, but she somehow managed to get her knife out of the sheath and thanked whatever deity was watching over her at this moment that the massive, hideously deformed dog-creature had bitten her on her left shoulder and therefore not her dominant arm. It still had a good grip on her side, and she was afraid it was going to start trying to eat her so she did the only thing she could think of- she stabbed it in the neck, right through the jugular and out the other side. She quickly pulled the blade back out, not wanting the animal to run off with her only form of protection as it let go of her and stumbled backwards, trying to roar or growl and only managing gurgling noises as dark blood dripped onto the pale sand beneath it.
She struggled upright, panting at the exertion and somehow managing through the pain and blood loss, and was completely dumbfounded when she noticed the creature hadn't died yet. She scrambled away from it as it staggered towards her, a vicious snarl curling around it's lips, but the most frightening thing about the vision in front of her wasn't the bloody fangs bared at her, or the gore dripping from her knife and it's neck to the sand. The most frightening thing about this animal was the feral intelligence shining in those crimson colored eyes. She was so terrified of that, that she nearly missed when it suddenly lunged at her. Luck was on her side this time as she rolled out of the way, crying out and trying to focus through the pain in her shoulder and side as the beast skidded in the sand, trying to find purchase on the shifting material beneath it's paws. She heaved herself up onto her feet, spinning out of the way again as it leaped at her.
Despite what should have been a fatal wound, the creature was still agile, and she realized the only way she'd be able to beat this thing was to catch it unaware. She glanced around the beach, her vision swimming slightly from the pain and blood loss, and noticed that someone- probably a child- had dug a deep hole in the sand not far away from them. She turned, running as fast as she could, hearing a low gurgling growl behind her that only spurred her on faster. She skidded to a sliding stop in the sand just before the hole, crying out in relief mingled with pain as the creature soared over her and down into the ditch.
She wasn't stupid enough to think the hole was deep enough to keep even a toddler inside of it, but she was literally fighting for her life, so she did an incredibly idiotic thing- she leaped on the animal, her knife flying out and hitting home once again in its neck. It was so startled and disoriented by the pain and sudden fall into the hole that she was able to plunge the blade back into it's neck, twisting and jerking it to the side until the serrated edge cut through tissue and skin to imbed in the soft sand wall. She didn't waste any time as she grabbed it by the long, dirty fur on top of it's head and sawed away at what was left of it's neck, blood and fur sticking to her arms and face, dripping down onto her chest, until with a sudden slice of the blade the head disconnected from the rest of the body.
The force of the sudden decapitation sent her sprawling back, the head being flung somewhere behind her as the now headless body slumped over, blood pooling and sinking into the sand as she pushed herself up and out of the hole to collapse onto the ground next to it. As she lay there, bleeding out onto the sand, she wondered how it was that there had been no early morning joggers out, or even people coming to observe the Blood Moon. She then noticed something that could only be a hallucination of her fevered mind- the head that'd been flung out of the hole now looked human, with a mop of dark brown hair with wide brown eyes and a mouth slack with death. She stared into the hallucination's eyes and thought she heard someone shouting and running towards her as she finally let the black fade in from the corners of her eyes and fell into blessed unconsciousness.
Emerging from the gentle grip, of night's unfolding arms~
Sometime Later~
She honestly couldn't tell you what happened next. She vaguely remembers brief flashes of lucidness, of someone carrying her somewhere, gentle whispers as a cloth wiped across open wounds, heated voices whisper-yelling across the room. She felt herself slowly start to come back to consciousness and she braced herself for pain that never came. She kept her eyes closed and her breathing even, listening for any indication of someone being in the room with her as she awoke.
Instead, what she got was a bombardment of everything all at once- pots and pans clattering together as someone started to make bacon, the excited shouts of a couple of kids watching cartoons on the television, a woman asking someone to hand her the butter. She quickly sat up and immediately winced at the bright light of late morning streaming in through the windows, somehow seeming even more vivid than she remembered. She blinked several times, realizing that she didn't even need her glasses to see everything clearly- the individual stitches on the blanket she was covered with, the motes of dust swirling with the air-conditioning currents, and so much more that it felt like a veil had been lifted from her eyes. 'Something is seriously wrong with me,' she concluded, because she swore she could hear the heartbeats of the people upstairs.
Ever so slowly, she flipped back the blanket and turned to put her feet on the floor, needlessly cautious about her bandaged wounds because they didn't even twinge with discomfort. She decided to put that down to some seriously good pain meds and slowly stood up and walked to the stairs. There was a pause upstairs as she stepped onto the bottom step, but she continued up anyway, curious about who these people were because they definitely weren't her family that she'd come here on vacation with.
The smells of breakfast and something else blended together, and it wasn't until she was stood on the top floor, looking into the kitchen and living rooms, that she realized that that something else was the people. She could clearly smell the differences in them, especially the difference between two of the kids and one of the adults. It set her on edge, her muscles tensing, especially the powerful smell of cinnamon and wood smoke that seemed to waft from the slight woman at the stove.
The woman was very beautiful, with short, curly dark brown hair and dark eyes. Her skin was tan with no blemishes, while her nose and lips were small. Despite everything about her seeming diminutive, she exuded a sense of dominance and restrained power.
Sitting at the very end of the island was a man, obviously the slight woman's husband. He was very attractive, also with dark hair cut stylishly to curl around his ears and just above his brow. He had a well groomed beard growing, trimmed to blend in with where his sideburns grew out. His dark colored eyes were piercing as they looked at her.
Sitting next to him was another man, younger than the two but obviously mature. He looked a great deal like the woman, with long brown wavy hair that was swept back from his face and dark brown eyes. He was handsome in a classical sense almost, with an aquiline nose and a carefully maintained mustache, chin strap, and soul patch. He had an intelligent air about him, his seriousness only offset by the mischievous look in his dark brown eyes as he glanced up from who could only be his wife. She was a stunning blonde, with a tall, willowy frame and kind gray blue eyes. She had a petite nose, pink lips, and shapely eyebrows. She was watching little twin blonde girls, most obviously her daughters, out of the corner of her eyes like a hawk.
The last two seated at the island were obviously the son and daughter of the first two, and less obviously brother and sister. The boy looked to be around 20 or so, with wild dark brown hair, sleepy brown eyes, and pale skin. He had several moles dotting his aristocratic face, with a streamlined nose and full pale pink lips. His sister, on the other hand, looked around her age, with lighter brown hair, tan skin, full pink lips, and green eyes. She was tall, unlike her mother, and you could only tell that they were all related because of their noses and facial structure. She was currently telling off twin boys, older than the twin girls, who had brown hair and dark eyes. They'd apparently been told numerous times before not to pinch each other.
As she observed them, they observed her right back, the kids giving her a cursory glance before returning to their show while the adults and older kids looked to be as on edge as she was. The woman at the stove gave off vibes that she knew she was there but just didn't care, too intent on her cooking to give her much notice until she was done. She stood there awkwardly until the woman turned around, rolled her eyes, and said, "Well, don't just stand there, take a seat!"
She blinked in bemusement before she slowly walked to the only empty seat at the end of the island bar, next to the oldest girl, who shot her a wary look until she gave her a timid smile which the girl seemed to relax at. She startled as a large plate of food was set in front of her, filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and hash-browns. She immediately dug in with relish and a relieved sigh. When the plate was gone in less than 5 minutes, she looked up to see the amused and slightly disgusted looks aimed her way as she swallowed the last bite. She ducked her head, a little embarrassed, and said, "Sorry. Um, thank you for breakfast, uh..."
The woman seemed to get what she was trying to say as she smiled a little and said, "Annalia. My name is Annalia."
"Well thank you, Annalia, for breakfast and for patching me up after what happened last night," she replied, obviously fishing for what the hell had happened after she'd lost consciousness. Annalia seemed to get it as she turned to the kids and told them to go brush their teeth and get ready for the day, which they hurriedly complied with.
After they were gone, Annalia turned to her and pinned her with an evaluating stare that she returned. Annalia seemed... powerful, was the impression she got. Sort of like how her Nanna Anna was the matriarch of her family, but this seemed a little more primal and absolute.
"Like I said before, my name is Annalia. This is my husband, Diederick, the one beside you is my daughter, Dierdre, beside her is my son Sebastian, and the two boys are my younger sons Harvey and Henry. Beside Sebastian is my sister-in-law Annabelle, and beside her, my brother Pierre. The girls are their daughters Amelia and Apolline. We're the Loup's." She said, pointing each out to her, and they all nodded their heads politely. When she finished, Annalia looked at her expectantly. She studied her closely for a second more before she said, "Moira. Moira Albrecht."
Because she was looking, she caught the flash of surprise in Annalia's eyes, and then a contemplative look crossed her pretty features. The older woman shook herself, looking at Moira again and said, "Do you remember anything about what happened last night?" She looked at her with an incredulous expression, eyebrows raised. "You mean about how I was attacked by a hideously deformed dog-creature from Hell? Or the part where I cut it's head off?" There were a couple of aborted snorts and a soft gag at that, though Annalia seemed amused and worried about that as well.
"Yes, um. About that." For some reason, the woman looked to be uncharacteristically nervous, and Moira could swear she heard Annalia's heart double beat in her nervousness. Moira leaned back in her chair, evaluating the woman in front of her again. She did as her uncle once told her while talking about what he did during an investigation- put the facts together and draw your conclusions. She was attacked by a demonic-looking animal last night with bright red eyes. She'd cut off it's head after it had attacked and bitten her, and when she was about to pass out she could swear that the head hadn't been animal but human. These people had saved her and patched up her wounds, which didn't hurt at all anymore. When she'd woken up, she could see, hear, smell, taste, feel, and sense things she'd never had before. These people's last name was Loup, which was French for "wolf," like the loup garou. Needless to say, her conclusion was not to her liking.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Moira said flatly as she looked at the woman and her family in a new light. Annalia looked startled, and then narrowed her eyes at her, a red flash going through them quickly. Moira would've played it off as a trick of the light if everything, if all of her senses weren't screaming at her that she was right. "I was bitten by a werewolf." Annalia looked extremely startled, and the others sitting at the island jerked in shock, staring at her.
"And how did you come by that conclusion?" the man, Pierre, said with narrowed eyes. Moira raised a brow at him, giving him an 'are you kidding me?' look, before she looked back at Annalia and said, "Well the facts all fit. Like Sherlock Holmes said, when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. I woke up today with no pain in my wounds, and I bet if I take off these bandages they'll be completely healed, and my senses are all ridiculously enhanced. That demon-dog from last night was a werewolf, wasn't he? And so are you." Annalia gave the younger woman a curt nod, flashing her eyes deliberately at her this time, and she slumped back in her seat, the air whooshing out of her lungs in shock.
"How did you know?" Dierdre asked from beside her. "Werewolf isn't exactly the first thing a person would think, after all. Most would try to deny anything weird had happened at all."
"I'm a realist," Moira said, looking down at her fingers curled on the counter. "My family has also always believed in elements of the supernatural, from stories passed down on my Nanna Anna's side of the family. Said her great-great-great grandma was a Gypsy Seer Princess, and told us to always believe certain things, like intuition, our dreams, stuff like that. It's not exactly a stretch, especially since I've had dreams come true before." Moira sat staring, feeling all of their eyes on her and not even caring.
She'd only recently moved back in with her family after completing her bachelor's degree in business. She'd been excited to spend time with her family, to go on vacation to the place they'd used to come every year. Only 2 days in and she'd gotten turned into a werewolf. Splendid.
"So what's the deal with this? I mean, I specifically recall you coming to my rescue this morning, so obviously not everyone turns into a blood-thirsty killer-wolf on the full moon." It was a reasonable question, Moira thought, and Annalia nodded in agreement. "No, if you have a pack and an anchor, you stay in control of yourself. Alpha werewolves, like me and the one who bit you last night, are the only ones who can turn others, and we are the only ones to have a wolf-like form. The Betas, like everyone else in this room, only have their beta forms, which Alphas have as well."
Moira nodded slowly, and then, "Can I see?" Annalia nodded and then turned to Dierdre, who suddenly wasn't the pretty 23 year old anymore. Her ears had grown to a point, fangs descended from her gums, her eyebrows almost completely disappeared and her forehead became ridged. She grew sideburns and her fingernails lengthened into claws, while her eyes glowed a beautiful golden color.
Moira studied her closely, slightly amused to see Dierdre looked kind of self-conscious about it, but she couldn't help it. Moira was a serious lover of all things mythology, after all, and to see a real live werewolf, never mind the fact that she was apparently a werewolf now too, was too awesome to even contemplate.
"This is seriously cool," she breathed, completely forgetting the fact that she'd previously been unhappy about it in light of this incontrovertible evidence in front of her. Suddenly, she heard her name being called from what sounded like only rooms away. "Oh shit! Sorry, I gotta go! My family's probably wondering where the heck I'm at!" Moira scrambled out of her chair and rushed down the stairs to the door to the pool area out back. She heard Annalia call out, "Come find us later! We still have a lot to talk about!"
What she didn't hear was Pierre's speculation about how strange it was that she had such excellent control already, considering the circumstances of her turning.
Darkness, darkness everywhere, do you feel all alone?
As soon as she exited the house, Moira must have realized that her destroyed shirt was still on, as were the bandages. She immediately peeled the shirt off, internally thankful for the fact that she'd worn her bathing suit underneath it, and tore the bandages off as well. Just as she'd thought, all of her wounds were completely healed. Not only that, but a lot of the weight she'd gained after she'd started college from eating too much fast food and drinking too much alcohol was gone. So much so, in fact, that she had to adjust the strings on her bikini top to keep from accidentally flashing someone.
Moira idly mused to herself how she was going to pass this off; this thought immediately led to what the hell she was going to tell her family about the whole werewolf thing. It was a 50-50 situation, they'd either be safe and oblivious if she didn't, but then again they may be even safer not being oblivious and more prepared, just in case. Moira had no illusions about there being no danger, she did remember just how she'd gotten into this situation in the first place, and even now she could feel the wolf in her mind, wanting to get out and run.
Pushing off these thoughts, she jogged up the ramp that led down to the beach and immediately spotted her family. The were out en force, shouting her name and drawing looks from the other beach goers. She waved and could hear the audible sigh of relief when they finally saw her. She jogged the rest of the distance easily, not even winded or off balance at all, and fixed them with a bright smile.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Acting innocent was actually one of Moira's better talents, and besides the side-eye she got from her Nanna Anna, everyone looked relieved to see her. "Moira, where have you been? We've been looking for you everywhere! Why did you just run off without telling anybody?" Her Aunt Meredith questioned. Moira was annoyed, because really, she was a 23 year old woman who yes, may have screwed up when she was a teenager and did a lot of unsavory things, but that was a long time ago. Give her a break.
Moira leveled a look at her aunt that told her exactly what she thought about that. "I woke up early and went to watch the Blood Moon. I met this really nice family down the beach on my way back and talked to them for a while before they insisted I join them for breakfast, so I did. And before you get on my case about that not being safe, I had my knife on me. Seriously, I'm 23 years old. You'd think you could trust me just the tiniest bit." With that said, Moira stalked down the beach, ignoring their calls for her. Why was she so angry? Moira focused herself, breathing deeply and evenly, pushing the anger away and slowing her fast paced clip. Instinctively, she thought of something that she'd once read, 'Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.'
Moira had gotten aggravated over this trust issue with them before, but she'd never thought about punching them in the face over it. 'I guess it was just really good luck that the one person that werewolf could have bitten last night was me, because I have seriously good self-control,' she thought to herself, now significantly calmed down. It was a necessity in her family to have emotional control, what with her being the oldest of 9 siblings and having to deal with all of the drama her family thought was necessary on a daily basis.
She walked up the stairs to the beach access, stripped her cargo pants off, and jumped in the pool. The pleasantly warm water made her muscles loosen and she just floated on the surface, listening to the sounds of her family all trooping into the house, talking quietly (or so they thought) about her and how they hadn't realized that she was that annoyed by their tendency to keep tabs on her. She sighed and swam over to the edge of the pool and pushed herself out of the water, picking up a towel someone had left laying out overnight to dry. She hurried through the downstairs level past the bar and pool table and walked up the stairs to her room. Absently, she noticed that it didn't seem as cold in the house as it usually did. She wandered into the bathroom and turned on the hot water in the shower. There was still some blood clinging underneath of her fingernails so she was in definite need of a shower.
Stepping under the hot spray, Moira relaxed even further. The still tense muscles gradually loosened under the beat of the water, and she found herself thinking hard about what she was going to do about this new issue in her life. What was she going to tell her family? How was she going to learn to control this? Most importantly, though, she thought about how she could use this to her advantage. Moira was not the nicest person to people outside of her circle, and she knew and accepted this. She could be manipulative and a bitch. 'Now literally,' she thought with amusement. She could think clearer than she had in a long, long time. Moira wondered why this was. She was so deep in thought that as she ran her razor over her leg, her newfound strength unexpectedly came into play and she cut into the fleshy underside of her calf deeply.
"Shit!" Moira scrambled for a washcloth to stem to flow of blood, but as she turned back she watched in wonder as the blood trailed back up her leg into the wound, the flesh knitting over quickly just behind that until it didn't even look like she'd cut herself at all. The realization came at that moment and she nearly cried in relief.
When Moira was a teenager, she was into some heavy stuff. Drugs, alcohol, sex, you name it, she probably did it. She didn't realize how bad it was until she'd gotten arrested and immediately quit everything cold turkey. With that came the realization that her mind, her once genius-level intellect, had been severely diminished by the hard drugs and copious partying she'd done. Moira could admit to herself that the things she'd done were really bad, but they'd shaped her into the person she was now, which was fine by her- she didn't have any problem with herself. Being cynical had helped her realize the realities of the world and the problems within it.
What had bothered her the most was the loss of knowledge she'd suffered as a consequence of her wild and youthful actions. To know that now, because of a supernatural fluke, she could remember every single thing she'd ever learned, experienced, or heard, any last resistant thought to her new existence disappeared. She could finally, finally do what she wanted, get the education that she wanted without being afraid her diminished mind would fail her and she'd spiral again.
Moira quickly jumped out of the shower, wrapped her body and hair in clean towels, and went over to look in the mirror. The first thing she noticed was the humungous, bright white smile that greeted her in her reflection. What was amazing was that her teeth were ridiculously white, where before they'd been stained by too many cigarettes and poor dental hygiene. They were also straighter than before, and as she ran her tongue across them, she realized that her wisdom teeth were not going to have to be removed because they were perfectly aligned instead of pointing slightly out to rub against her cheek.
The next thing she noticed was that her skin was absolutely clear. No pimples, no white or blackheads around her slightly upturned nose, even the scar above her left eyebrow from that one night of too much wine that resulted in 7 stitches had been reduced to a small white line, leaving her eyebrows to once again arch naturally even. The roundness of her face from the weigh-gain had gone, leaving her features angular once again, with her high cheekbones and smooth jawline. Her wind-chapped lips healed, leaving them plump and pink and her eyes, ringed dark blue around the rim that faded into ice near the pupil, shone brightly against her flushed skin.
Moira pulled the towel out of her long, dark chestnut colored hair next and absently towel dried it, focused on her reflection. She'd never looked or felt this good in her life. She dropped the towel in her hand and decided to let her hair air dry next, to see if it frizzed up as usual or if it would finally naturally curl how she wanted it to. From the short amount of time that passed in between realizing how much weight she'd lost to now, the rest of it had disappeared. Moira figured that a higher metabolism to account for the strength and healing was probably to blame for that and thanked her lucky stars, yet again, that this had happened to her.
However, with this thanks, also came a fair amount of exasperation. All of the clothes she currently owned would swim on her slim frame now. She sighed, resigned, and pulled on a pair of cloth shorts and a tank top, thankful that they at least fit somewhat well.
The next thing that she did was sit down on her laptop and begin to research. She easily discarded the mythology that she knew was utter crap and focused on the admittedly small amount of information she'd gotten from the Loup matriarch. Even still, a lot of that information was garbage or speculation. Finally, she sighed in resignation and shut the lid of the laptop, instead going over to the mirror on the dresser. She absently noticed with pleasure that her hair had, indeed, curled naturally the way she had always wanted it to; loose, soft curls that framed her face very well. She pushed that aside though to try and change like she'd seen Dierdre do.
It was a lot easier than she'd thought it would be. Barely half a second had gone by before she was staring at her fully transformed beta form. Pointed ears stuck out from her curly hair, claws curled from her fingertips, fangs descended from her top and bottom canines and her forehead was ridged. The most disconcerting thing for her, though, were the red eyes.
She stumbled back in shock, mouth slightly open as she stared into the crimson pools that were her eyes. So far, the only red eyes she'd seen belonged to Annalia and the Alpha who'd bitten her. Dierdre had gold eyes, didn't she? Did this mean she was an Alpha too? Moira quickly reigned in the change, dashing out of the house in a panic.
The subtle grace of gravity, the heavy weight of stone~
Moira sprinted down the beach, skirting around sunbathers and children alike in her haste to get to the Loup's vacation home. She was in such a rush that she didn't notice the ease and grace of her movements over the shifting sand, and almost passed up the wooden staircase leading to their fenced in backyard. With nary a thought, she leaped into the air, clearing the 5 foot tall gate with ease, only skidding to a stop when she noticed that the entire family had congregated on the back patio to cook out. She wasn't even out of breath as she blurted out, "I have red eyes."
Annalia sighed, before gesturing to a bar stool and saying, "I thought you might. It's rare, but not entirely unheard of for someone who was just bitten to manage to kill the Alpha that bit them, especially if the Alpha was in a rage like... he was last night."
Moira was not stupid. The slight pause Annalia made was very telling.
"You knew him," was all she said, keen eyes trained on the small woman, observing as she let out a small, sad sigh and nodded her head.
"Yes, I knew him. He was not a friend, exactly, more of an acquaintance. An ally, if you will. It's part of werewolf hierarchy and politics, which I'll tell you about some other time. His name was Miles McMurphy, you may have heard of him?"
"You mean the multimillionaire Miles McMurphy? The guy who accumulated like, $50 million in a single quarter Miles McMurphy? Who lost his wife and kids in a freak car accident not long ago?" Moira was shocked. The face staring back at her last night hadn't really looked like him, after all. That may be because she'd only seen pictures of him. When he was very much alive. She suddenly felt very, very sick. There was a reason she'd tried not to think about that.
"Yes, that's him. He lost his entire pack in one single blow. His mate, his 4 children, his bodyguard and his driver... I have a feeling he knew, just knew that he'd go feral this full moon, and that's why he was here... I think he was hoping that I'd kill him, or restrain him. I'm so sorry I didn't get to you in time, Harvey and Apolline were having trouble controlling their shifts because of the eclipse and by the time we got there it was already too late," Annalia said, looking pained and apologetic.
Moira could smell the emotions wafting off of her, somehow instinctively recognizing them as guilt and sadness. She shifted in her seat, uncomfortable, having been pushing away the horror and sickness and guilt that came with the knowledge that she'd killed somebody. These people had known him, had interacted with him and that made him seem much more human than the beast that had attacked her did. He'd had a family, a job, a life and because of her he was dead. It didn't matter that he'd attacked her in what she now knew was a grief-enraged state, he was dead and it was all her fault.
Leaping out of the chair, she darted over to the bushes, heaving out half-digested food from breakfast and bile. She remained bent over until there was nothing left, gagging both at the smell and taste of her mess. She vaguely registered that there was someone holding back her hair and rubbing circles on her bent back, while another hand offered her a bottle of water. She gratefully took the bottle, unscrewing the cap and taking a mouthful. She swished the cool liquid around in her mouth and spit it out before taking another gulp to ease her rough and parched throat. Seconds later, the feeling associated with vomiting vanished and she was never more grateful for her advanced healing than now.
"Come over here, that's it, sit down right here, you're fine, you're okay," was the sound she registered next. She flopped into the proferred seat, breathing deeply to help control her still roiling stomach. Once she got herself under control, she looked up into the concerned faces of Annalia and Annabelle, who respectfully stepped back when her hackles rose without her permission. Squashing down the feeling she got with another Alpha so close to her, she croaked out an apology which was dismissed with a waved hand.
"It's alright, dear, it happens to everyone their first time. If you hadn't guessed, our world, the world you now belong to, is very violent. There are only a few ways to gain an Alpha's powers, after-all, and the most common is through death, by killing the Alpha to take their powers, outright stealing them, or if the Alpha dies, the next in line inherits. This isn't even counting the hunters, which we'll teach you how to avoid, and other supernatural threats as well," Annalia said, small smile on her face but sadness still behind her eyes. "If you don't mind my asking, where exactly are you from?"
"Just outside of Pittsburgh," Moira said, closing her eyes briefly before opening them again. She noticed the surprised, pleased, and worried expressions around her and raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Well, I was going to give you some tips on how to get by if you happen to live in established packlands and how you should deal with the Alpha without fighting, but this'll be much easier. We're from Washington, PA. Do you live in Allegheny County?"
"No, I live in Butler County," Moira replied, surprised and a little excited to know that they didn't live all that far away. If anyone could help her control herself, it was this family.
"That's perfect, then. The Alpha of Pittsburgh and most of Allegheny County is a brute who controls his packlands with an iron fist. He's egotistical, irrational, greedy, and doesn't compromise for anything. The moron even calls himself Baron Wolfgang," Annalia finished with a snort that Moira copied, breaking down into laughter next.
"Baron... Baron Wolfgang? Seriously? He named himself after an evil comic book character? Oh my God, what an idiot!" She was shocked out of her laughter when Sebastian jumped up, pointed at his mom and yelled, "SEE! I told you!" She started laughing again, rubbing at her right eye a little before calming down.
"OK, so, should I expect any trouble from him? I have a sister who goes to Pitt, and I was planning on enrolling, too. Also, I live pretty close to Allegheny borders. Should I prepare for an attack or something?"
"No, you should be fine. Our Laws are very clear on Territory, and if you Claim Butler County as yours, he can't attack without retaliation from any nearby pack whom you ally yourself with," Annalia said succinctly. "Also, if you plan on attending Pitt, you'll only have to give him an obligatory warning. We change with the times, see, adapt to our surroundings, so when shifters started wanting to travel for school, we had a Conclave Meeting of every Alpha in the US to establish that rule. If he attacks after your warning, the same Law applies- he can expect retaliation. I don't believe he'll do anything, though. He covets his power too much to risk losing it. Plus, Dierdre goes to Pitt and she's not had any problems."
Moira let out a sigh of relief. She'd ask about the minutia later. At least this was pretty straight forward. She glanced at the clock and was shocked at just how much time had passed.
"I'm sorry to run out on you again, but I have to get back for dinner tonight. Should I come here tomorrow?" She asked, slightly uncertain. She didn't want to burden them on their vacation, after all, and there were things she would want to do while here too.
"You can come here whenever you feel like you need to, please don't hesitate. I mean that seriously," Annalia said with a smile. Moira returned it, before thanking them all for putting up with her, and left.
You don't see what you possess, a beauty calm and clear~
October 11th, 2014
"Okay, so, weaknesses. Any variant of the wolfsbane plant affects us, but only some are fatal. Most wolfsbane petals and their derivatives force us to show our true form. Some are used to paralyze, like yellow monkshood, some are used to kill, some are used to heal, and some, when added to alcohol, can get us drunk, because apparently alcohol no longer affects me because of my new metabolism. Yay," Moira said sarcastically. She'd come to the Loup's vacation home (because they were rich as hell and could afford a ten million dollar beach house) for lessons on werewolves and other shifters. "Also, high voltages of electricity, beheading, which is obvious, fire if they can't escape in time, also obvious, and... seriously? They cut us in half?! Do they still do that?!" She said, feeling equal parts nauseous and outraged. They think werewolves are savages, and they do that?
"Some traditional families still use that method, yes. Can you guess which ones?" Annalia was, apparently, a retired History professor. When she taught, she took on a particularly teacher-like tone.
"The Argent's, the Calavera's, the Mortenson's, and the Grimm's, not to be confused with the tv show," Moira guessed.
"You're mostly correct. I know that I taught you about the Argent's, but that family has been reduced to a single member, Christopher Argent. Rumor has it that his daughter, Allison, the heir of the family, became very good friends with several werewolves after they relocated from San Francisco to Beacon Hills. She hadn't known about her heritage at the time, and by the time she figured it out, she was already in love with one of them, the True Alpha Scott McCall. After a series of events, including the supposed death of Kate Argent and the apparent betrayal of Gerard Argent, the decimation of the Alpha pack and the defeat of a Darach by a mysterious ally of theirs, one of her friends was possessed by a dark spirit called a Nogitsune. He used the tails of a Kitsune to control a group of demons called Oni, and she died in the melee, saving her friends. She had, by that point, changed the Argent family code from 'Nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent,' or 'We hunt those who hunt us,' to 'Nous protegeons ceux qui ne puevent pas se proteger eux-memes,' which means 'We protect those who cannot protect themselves.' Not all of the hunter families supported this change, however. The Calavera's and the Mortenson's refused to change their code, while the Grimm's, who were usually more relaxed about who needed to be hunted, embraced the change wholeheartedly. That probably had something to do with their eldest daughter, Gretchen, marrying a born wolf she'd met. This, ironically enough, all happened within the last several months," Annalia lectured. It was a fascinating and also sad story, just showing that this world wasn't a kind one.
"Now, describe to me what the following emotions smell like..."
Three days later-
October 14th, 2014
"I'm leaving tomorrow," Moira said sadly to Dierdre. They'd formed a fast friendship, bonding over werewolfisms (as Moira called it) and other common interests. Dierdre had shown her, personally, how to dry and crush a certain strain on wolfsbane into the powder they put in alcohol so that they could feel it's effects. They'd had to test it to make sure it worked, of course, and that produced some very hilarious pictures and probably (most definitely) blackmail.
"My family also wants to meet you," she continued. "Well, not just you, your entire family. They said, and I quote, 'We've not seen you so vibrant since high school!' I think they want some tips," she said with a smirk.
"We'd love to come!" Annalia said from the kitchen. It still amazed Moira that she could be all the way out here, on the beach, and still hear and be heard from that far away. Thank God none of her family were wolves. It was awkward as it was since she was turned and her Aunt Meredith and Uncle Daniel's dog, Brisbane, had been following her everywhere.
"Well! That settles that then. What time do we have to be there?" Dierdre asked with a smirk. Moira rolled her eyes before saying, "7 should be fine. There's tons of us going to be there so it'll take a while to cook tonight." That was an understatement if there ever was one. Her family had had to rent two houses, side by side, to fit everyone. Besides Moira, there were her Aunt Meredith and Uncle Daniel, her Nanna Anna and Pappa Lewis, her dad, Theodore Albrecht, Moira's sister Emilia and her boyfriend Micah, their son and daughter, Elias and Novalee, Moira's other sisters Isley and Amanda, and her brother, Shiloah. That wasn't even her entire immediate family, either! So add on the Loup family, there were going to be 23 people stuffed into one house tonight.
"Alrighty then, we'll probably be by at 6:30 or so. Should we bring anything?" Dierdre asked with a bright smile. Moira just shrugged.
"I'm sure it won't matter, but if there's anything specific you guys like, you can bring it. We don't really cook French."
"Okay! See you then!"
Dinner that night was, to put it kindly, hell. There were children everywhere (a 3 year old, a 5 year old, two 6 year olds, and two 10 year olds). Sebastian was instantly enamored with Isley, who thought he was 'just the hottest', which Theo definitely didn't like but Amanda agreed with, so they sat in a corner giggling the whole time while Sebastian sat in another corner, mooning. Brisbane fell in love with Dierdre (it had nothing to do with her feeding him pieces of food). Nanna Anna, Annalia, and Annabelle got along splendidly, but Meredith didn't like Annalia for some reason (aka Annalia was around her age and looked 30 at the most).
Pappa Lewis, Theo, Uncle Daniel, Micah, Shiloah, Pierre, and Diederick hid away with cigars somewhere to escape, while Annabelle, Moira, Emilia, and Dierdre tried to herd the children while Nanna Anna and Annalia helped in the kitchen with Meredith snarking at them the whole time (Nanna Anna later told Aunt Meredith she should be ashamed of her behavior over such a petty thing; Aunt Meredith was appropriately chastised).
The good news was that no claws or fangs came out, the children were (mildly) well behaved, with friendships made between Elias, Amelia, and Apolline, who were thoroughly charmed by Elias' wide blue eyes and golden curls. No one was stabbed with a fork OR a knife, either, which actually could happen with Moira's family.
There were thankfully no drunken shenanigans, property damage, or fighting, and the food turned out absolutely delicious, thank goodness. Before they left, Annalia made sure that Nanna Anna, Uncle Daniel, and Theo had her number just in case, and made sure that Moira had all of the Loup's numbers, e-mails, their address, and Skype, also just in case. What exactly the 'just in case' meant, no one but Moira knew, but it was better that way, for now at least.
It floods the sky and blurs the darkness like a chandelier~
October 24th, 2014-
The past two weeks had gone by surprisingly fast. Outside of work, Moira had spent most of her time writing everything she learned from the Loup's into a leather bound notebook she'd picked up at a yard sale for 50 cents. She kept in constant contact with them via Skype, and went to their compound in Washington to learn control, history, politics, and the Law from them
One thing that she learned that intrigued her was that, while an Alpha had to be well versed in all of those things, usually the keeping of their history and the upholding of the Law went through the Second of each pack. As Moira had no second (yet), she was filling all of those roles right now.
Another thing she found out that delighted her was that her family, the Albrecht's, were apparently descended from a prominent werewolf pack in Germany. Sometime back after World War I, one of the sons of the Alpha at the time, who was born human, decided to stay human. He married, had human children, and those human children had come to America around the time Hitler was rising to power, eventually culminating in Moira and her siblings. Pierre speculated that it was this reason, that she had a latent werewolf gene in her blood, that allowed her to not only survive the transition this late in life, but for her to have almost as much control as a born wolf had.
One thing that she learned that she did not like one bit, was that there was no protection for supernatural creatures outside of themselves. As evidenced by the massacre perpetrated by Kate Argent 10 years ago, it was easy for hunters, especially from the Four Families, to infiltrate and bribe the government to look away from some of the horrendous things they did in violation of their own code.
Apparently, when America was founded, the Founding Father's were completely aware of the supernatural. Back then, the various groups governed themselves fairly well, with hunters only being necessary some of the time. Trusting the two groups to keep each other balanced, the Founding Father's didn't write anything into the constitution to help if there was one day an imbalance of power. With the high rate of growth to the supernatural population of the Americas and the near eradication of the hunting families here because of rising tensions, a proper way of governance was needed.
Sadly, no one else had thought of this as a viable solution, or if they had, had no means to implement it.
Besides learning the history and ways of the supernatural community, Moira had also been contacted by a law firm concerning Miles McMurphy. Specifically, his demise.
Apparently, Mr. McMurphy had revised his will a week before the last full moon, stating that in the event of his death, all of his assets and properties were to be bequeathed to whoever succeeded him. Namely, Moira.
So here she was, two days later and still in a daze, sitting in the law offices of Mink & Walthers in Pittsburgh. She'd hired Alfred Walthers to represent her in this, in case there was something in the papers that would incriminate her in Mr. McMurphy's death.
"Well, everything seems to be in order here," Walthers said with a big smile, pushing the massive folder of papers towards her. He'd, somehow, managed to go through the folder in only 4 hours.
"So, when I sign this, I get... how much exactly?" Moira said, still faint, certain that this was all a dream. Hell, she'd probably been dreaming the past month up, stuck in a coma or something.
"When you sign that, you will receive approximately 638 million, along with 17 properties scattered over the world. One of them is actually in Sewickley Heights, so you'll be able to move there easily if you so wish," Walthers said happily, no doubt thinking about how much he'd be paid for this.
Just another thing she'd have to tell her family. Oh God, what if the news caught wind of this?
"Mr. Walthers, after I sign this, do you think there'll be any way to delay the news from getting out? There are certain... things I need to tell my family that they have no idea about," she said shakily, picking up the fine golden pen he'd pushed towards her.
"Certainly, certainly! It'll be quite easy to bury these under something less important but no less news worthy, such as the news that a benefactor for the will has been found. Take the time you need to let your family know about this and, uh, the, uh, other thing," he said, sweating a little around the collar. This instantly got Moira's attention. She focused in on him, noticing that his heart was jackrabbiting in his chest. So. He knew then. She took a deep breath, but no, he was totally human unless he had mastered concealing his scent, which Moira didn't think was likely.
"So you are... aware, then, about my true nature?" She asked, a sickly sweet smile pulling at the corners of her lips.
"Ah, yes, yes, I'm in the know about... that. My sister is a panther. Bitten, of course. She lives in Florida with her husband and 2 kids, who love their uncle Alfred very much," he babbled nervously.
Moira gave out a low chuckle that made him shiver. "Don't worry, Mr. Walthers, I have a feeling I'm going to need a good lawyer, preferably in the know, to keep on retainer from now on. I just became a multimillionaire, after all."
Walthers sighed in obvious relief, not only that his life had been spared, but that he had such a high profile client keeping him on retainer. "Thank you so much, Ms. Albrecht."
"It is no problem, Mr. Walthers. I actually have a question for you. Is there any way for you to file this under my mother's maiden name, perhaps? My family's not exactly on the up-and-up of my situation, and I'd rather tell them myself than have them find out this way."
"Yes, that should be fine. Is there any particular name you'd wish for it to be filed under?"
"Frances Hastings, please." With that, Moira picked up the pen and started signing.