Simbawriter82: To be honest, that never really occurred to me. I just figured that as powerful as the originals are they were killing the werewolves faster than they could reproduce in the early days of the war and their numbers never really bounced back. Mind you, in the context of this story the originals have a large number of supernatural creatures other than witches and vampires who owe allegiance to them. Also consider that before the curse came down few people probably survived being savaged by a werewolf and I imagine they had fairly strict rules about infecting others purposely ("siring" them, to steal a vampire term).
Also, it's mentioned that some of the bitten die during the first transformation. That was really nothing more than a way to show how calloused some werewolves are to human life, not even the cursed matter much to them until their first full moon. I suppose the interpretation of that line could be stretched to explain the heavy population hits they're taking.
Twotoe: Of course, I'm going to try and keep Caroline alive in the story, even if she will appear seldom if at all. She's had such a huge effect of Tyler's character, and of course I'll toss the Forbewood fans a bone every now and then. I'm planning on skipping back home every once and a while to give Caroline some face time. I also truly feel that it's important to have Tyler build some relationships up other than Caroline before he returns.
As for Tyler being an omega, he's the youngest wolf. I imagine Mason, in some way either instinctual or otherwise, recognized Tyler and retreated to avoid hurting him if he lost control. Werewolves (in this story, unsure about canon) don't have any special claim to alpha status by birth unless that's the way things work in that specific pack. All of them pretty much come out of the gate the lowest in the hierarchy and have to claw their way into positions of power on their own merits. Some pack alphas do pass on their titles down their bloodlines, but different packs work differently from each other. The duo of the story fall into their position automatically because Tyler is a newbie and Jules is older. Tyler could challenge her for leadership…but it probably wouldn't end well for him. It also probably wouldn't be worth it. Their pack is insanely small.
Again, Caroline is a huge part of Tyler's thoughts right now. Her huge impact on his character cannot simply be ignored but Jules is the one Tyler has to deal with. She's his mentor, and his last remaining lifeline. The relationship between Tyler and Jules is one of the corner stones of the story as she digs her claws in deeper and he fights to leverage any kind of control in their relationship.
This chapter explore said relationship more fully and demonstrates the hold Jules has over Tyler. It's probably going to be controversial so please read to other author's note before biting my face off. :D
It had been hot in Arizona. He liked Maine better, though not by much. He was standing in the cold, musty cabin that Jules had described as a safe house. Presumably that meant that it had been set up by werewolves and any member of the bloodline could stay there. Tyler hadn't asked.
Of course he hadn't spoken a single word to Jules since that night on the road, rounding it up that meant about a week. They hadn't hooked up with any other werewolves. This could have meant a couple things. One possible answer was that all werewolves were like those sadistic fuckers on the road and Jules knew that Tyler had been about two heartbeats away from shooting them all in their evil little faces. In that case Jules was wise to keep him sequestered away from the rest of their sick species until he learned better self control.
There were other answers; maybe she just liked traveling with as few werewolves as possible. Fewer wolves, fewer mouths to feed, easier to travel. The least likely one was that she was a cougar, was grooming him to be her mate and wanted him all to herself until he was nice and brainwashed into being her loyal sex slave. He didn't even know why he had thought that one up. Maybe he was getting lonely. Trips to computers sites of ill repute aside hadn't even seen a boob since his break up with Vicki; presumably the backflow was frying his brain and making him see lust where there was none. In retrospect the young werewolf had come up with that theory not long after a dream involving a naked Jules, a film set from the original Wolfman, and an electric razor.
Tyler shook his head, he was definitely getting lonely. Jules had been perfectly content to withstand his silent treatment and about a day ago had started to give it right back to him. She had dumped his breakfast and dinner in front of him and had otherwise not even acknowledged his presence. She was out, presumably getting dinner. Maybe she was biting the heads off little children and disemboweling pregnant women, who knew? He had soon come to realize that werewolves were not the poor, picked on and persecuted innocents Jules had made them out to be when she was recruiting him. From what he had seen, they were no better than the vampires…no, not even that. What had he seen of the vampires? Stefan Salvatore may have been an insufferable little shit but he loved Elena Gilbert, a human. Days ago he had realized that werewolves didn't even give a damn about humans who had been bitten until their first transformation. And Caroline Forbes, the leech who had manipulated and lied to him? She…she wasn't…she wasn't what Jules had told him she was.
What the hell was he fighting to protect in this war? A race of sadistic sociopaths from…who? Caroline? She was the embodiment of all darkness? Damon seemed like a dick but then again he didn't round up people and shove them into the back of trucks. Jules had told him the vampires were evil, they fed on humans. They persecuted werewolves and hunted them to near extinction. To hear her talk about them he wouldn't have been surprised if Jules had revealed that Hitler was a vampire and Count Dracula had been behind 9/11. \
He had told her, explicitly told her; he would tolerate no more lies when he had agreed to go with her. Tyler suspected that she hadn't been truthful with him once since she had met him. Yet he was at her mercy, for he had no where else to go. He couldn't go back to Mystic Falls. He had no family anywhere else, either. He didn't know anyone outside his home town that was in any way capable of dealing with what he was. Caroline hated him, he couldn't heap this onto his poor mother and most of all he was scared of being alone.
For better or worse, Jules was all he had now. She was his lifeline, his world. Mother, sister, friend, mentor. He didn't trust a word she said but he was bound to her as if they had been chained together. Something had to give, eventually. Either he was going to have to put his foot down or start looking for alternate arrangements. Jules had been nothing but nice to him since they had left, but she could very easily make his life hell if he pushed her. Barely a day and a half of giving him the cold shoulder and he was already running up the walls.
She walked in the front door, didn't even spare a glance at him and then went right for the kitchen. Seven o'clock, werewolf appetite was probably making her impatient. The werewolf appetite was making him impatient but he didn't move from his spot on the ratty couch until he heard the clinking of silverware and the slight crunch as she broke the seal on a water bottle. Jules' preferred brand was Kirkland, Tyler didn't know why. He thought it tasted like sewage himself.
Tyler suddenly shuddered when he realized he knew more about Jules than he had known about Vicki…or Caroline. Or most people he had supposedly been close with in Mystic Falls for that matter. For one thing she apparently suffered from a sore right elbow. He noticed her wincing and rubbing it at least once a day, she had a bite scar above her right shoulder blade he had seen after their first transformation together. Jules hadn't been born with the curse; she had been completely human once. Jules snored, sometimes so loud it actually startled him even if he was sleeping in another room. The blonde werewolf presumably spoke Spanish, or at least understood it. More than once he had walked in on her watching a telenova and either laughing after a line or rolling her eyes. He wondered how much she had picked up about him.
Wolves were pack animals that developed very close personal bonds. Maybe he and Jules were forming their very own miniature werewolf pack of two. Maybe that was just normal after close to three months on the road together, werewolf or not. Tyler wasn't entirely sure he wanted to get close to Jules though. Just because he had been picking up on little personality quirks didn't mean he had any clue was going on in her head. If she really cared about him at all or just though of him as a laky. If she was a woman who had been forced to become calloused by a vicious war or a violent sociopath. He simply didn't know and though he understood he was going to have to find out if this little family of theirs was going to make it he was terrified of what he would find. What he had allowed into his life.
Jules scared him. That was that. She was unpredictable, mysterious and she could probably kill him with very little difficult in either form. She spooked Tyler, plain and simple.
He stalked into the kitchen; she was going to town on a hamburger, which she had cut into four quarters with a knife. Without even looking at him she shoved a hamburger towards him. It had been cut into quarters too. Why did she do that? What past experience or strange compulsion drove her to that? He had to admit, he was curious about Jules. Maybe because he knew if he found out more about her than maybe she would be less scary. Or more scary. He didn't really know. All he could do was take the leap and hope for the best. But not until he knew he could trust her to be honest with him.
He sat down across from her and took a bite, chewing slowly. He swallowed.
Take the leap.
"Two days until full moon." He tossed out. His voice was oddly hoarse and he suddenly realized he hadn't spoken in a week.
"It speaks." Jules said flatly, peeling the now triangular bun pack from the paddy and looking down at the sandwich. Apparently it was not to her liking but she ate anyway.
"Jules?" He asked, trying not to sound like a child daring his parent's wrath.
"The cellar is reinforced to deal with feral werewolves." She said quickly. "There's a set up I can lock you down in, it's like a straight jacket. Not very comfortable, but it'll get the job done. I'll circle the cabin; make sure no one comes sniffing."
Jules had been a werewolf for a lot longer than he had been. Years, maybe even decades. Hell, maybe even centuries. The werewolf had all but told her charge she was older than she looked. Whether that meant werewolves were ageless and would never die unless killed or if they just had greatly extended lifespans he didn't know. Maybe she was old enough to be his granny, or his granny's granny. Tyler was clueless; Jules didn't talk about her past and at the time Tyler hadn't thought to quiz her on werewolf biology. So far all he knew was the real important stuff. Like how the only way to kill him dead enough to keep him from regenerating was to separate his head from his heart. Decapitation or the vampire's favorite way of killing his species, impromptu heart surgery, were to be avoided. Mind you, Tyler generally avoided having his head cut off and his heart ripped out before he was a werewolf so his life hadn't really changed in that regard.
Still, Jules' age as a werewolf meant she had more control than Tyler. Again, the specifics were unknown to him. How much control did she really have? Was she in complete control of her own mind while in wolf form? Was her wolf just a smarter, older, less violent being than the thing he became? Was it somewhere in between? How long before he didn't have to be locked up like that?
He had so much to learn. They were going to have to build up some trust if he was going to live with this and learn how to do these things.
Tyler knew, deep in his heart, that he was going to have to clear the air between them. So he went right for the jugular.
"Never again, Jules." He said, his voice and the conviction and downright anger he had felt rising hot in his blood. Giving his words strength. "I will never do anything like that ever again."
Jules stopped eating.
"You'll do what has to be done. This is a war." She said icily.
"I'm not a soldier." Tyler insisted. He was a teenage football player from Mystic Falls.
"We're all soldiers. Each and every one of this." Jules threw her hamburger on the table. "Because this war concerns every werewolf alive. You still don't get it do you? You still don't realize what's going on out there." She shook her head as if Tyler was an idiot refusing to understand would should have been obvious.
"Then tell me, Jules! No more lies! No more half truths!" Tyler shouted.
Jules stood up, her chair falling over and clacking against the cheap tile. Tyler flinched and leaned away from her.
"Tyler if we lose this war the vampires aren't going to take our rights away or make us sign a treaty or-or enslave us." She took a step towards him. "The originals will not be satisfied until every single one of our kind is dead. You, me, everybody. And they aren't alone, they have witches and warlocks and other things under their command. This fight isn't about money, or religion or politics. There isn't going to be any peaceful resolution, and you can't just switch sides." As if his relationship with Caroline made him susceptible to becoming a double agent for the vampires, Tyler noted bitterly. "This is about survival; there are things out there that want us extinct. Plain and simple, and they've almost succeeded."
She righted the chair and pulled it closer to him. Sat down in it so she was just inches away from him. She held his face in her hands and turned his head until he was looking her in the ye and spoke softly, but with passion. Conviction. She could have been an orator. Tyler flinched a bit at her touch, but he couldn't escape her words. Or her gaze.
"Tyler, it's them or us. And if we want to survive we must make some sacrifices. If that means a few humans have to be sacrificed..." She let him go and leaned back. "Tyler, I don't like what we were doing back there any more than you do but our numbers are dwindling, we are being hunted down. They're creeping into our strongholds on the full moon when responsible werewolves who don't want to hurt people have locked themselves down. They smother our children in their cribs. They go after our human families to draw us out and make us vulnerable." Tyler noticed her voiced breaking a bit, was she speaking from experience?
It was the same things she had said before. Vampire war crimes, werewolf children mounted on walls like prized hunting trophies. The vampire originals sent their powerful agents to kill their men, rape their women and sell them life insurance. Things he hadn't seen but had to take Jules' word on and damn it, she made him believe. If not for that instant only, the conviction in her voice was proof no different than evidence for he himself to see.
It was history repeating itself. God help him, she talked and he listened.
"You lied to me, Jules." Tyler said, but the strength in his voice has gone out like a light. His conviction, his certainty and his anger at Jules had been smothered by her words whether they were genuine or more subtle manipulations. "You said we were just going to help a few people who had been newly cursed not…not round them up like cattle. People died that night-"
"What did you think was going to happen, Tyler?" She asked with a sigh. "Did you think it was going to be like some werewolf counseling seminar? That there would be coffee and donuts and everyone would stand up and talk about their feelings? These are hard times, Tyler! The vampires outnumber us a hundred to one! We need more-"
"Jesus Christ! Those people came here to clean toilets and do gardening! They're not exactly werewolf super soldier material, Jules!" Tyler stood up and began to pace. "Why them? How was anything about what we did to those people right? No one deserves to be treated like that!"
"Tyler." Jules said quietly, standing and approaching him. "I might not agree with the methods, but the fact is we have no other choice. This is about survival, those people…it's sad. But it's necessary. And some of them will survive, Tyler! We must keep fighting if we're to see the end of this, this nightmare."
Tyler sighed and leaned against the counter. Survival. That's what it was about, survival. She made it sound so easy, the way she spoke. Them and us, them or us. Tyler had to admit he could preach about morals all he wanted but if it came right down to it was he really ready to accept not just his own death but the extinction of his entire race? Why shouldn't he do everything in his power to avoid complete werewolf genocide? Could he really be the only non socipathic werewolf in the world?
There were those out there, fighting for their lives he had never met yet. Who was he to look them in the eye and tell them that their lives and the lives of their families were not worth the lives of a few people?
This was a war. He was a kid. Did he really have all the answers? Enough to decide that the werewolves should just roll over and die?
"It's hard." Tyler said, looking down.
"This is a hard world. We must make the hard choices so our children won't have to."
Children, the future, a bright shining tomorrow. She made it all sound worth it. A monster he would have to be so a monster he would not one day become. They were good words, spoken with a strong voice and even though not even a few minutes ago Tyler had been sure she was playing him like a puppet she made him a believer in that moment.
She put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"It'll get easier." Jules reassured him.
"When?"
"When you see what they do. When you see what they really are."
What sparked Tyler's 180? Desperation and fear has a lot to do with it really. Tyler essentially gave himself up to Jules willingly and it's implied that he's gotten over his head. He knows intellectually that he has to stand up to Jules but as I illustrated in the story she's really his last meaningful contact in the world. He wants to believe he made the right decision and he's not alone even if he suspects that Jules is a complete monster (she's not, btw. This Jules is a bit more complicated than that). He needs that justification.
As smart as Tyler is, he's still a kid. Of course Jules is dominant in their relationship.
Also, before anyone says anything yes I did make an effort to at least hint to Tyler's sexual attraction to Jules. He's a teenage boy and Jules…well, she's pretty hot. I'll try to keep this crack pairing on a leash though, at least this early in the game. If it comes to that though, the train wreck of an ending to that particular affair would be to much to pass up. I'm totally going to Joss Whedon this up and put the characters through their paces.
It'd probably drive him right back to Caroline anyway, so rejoice if it does happen! It means a return to Forbewood and healthy, non creepy relationships soon!
