A/N: So, here's the next installment. It's the longest chapter yet, coming in at 4,421 words, and i think just about 12 pages long. Um, I think this might be about average length for episode chapters, though.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bitten or any of it's affiliates. Anything unfamiliar belongs to me.
The first time Charlie met Pete it was during one of her early morning baking sessions. She'd been standing at the counter, her back to the doorway, when he approached.
Charlie would never say it out loud to anyone, but the growing number of men at Stonehaven made her anxious. While she recognized that these men would rather cut off their own hands than purposely harm a woman, there was a small part of her that worried.
"You must be Charlie." The voice startled her. In the two full days the Sorrentinos had been at Stonehaven, they seemed to ignore her late night habits, and Jeremy and Clay were so used to them that they weren't even fazed anymore.
She ran a shaky hand through her hair and turned to face the voice. He was ginger, slightly above average height for most men, and dressed in a band tee.
"And you must be Pete." She replied, letting a smile tug at her lips. "I'm sorry if I woke you. I forget that some people aren't as heavy of sleepers as Jeremy and Clay."
Pete just shook his head. "Don't worry about it sweetheart. I'm a bit of a night owl myself…" his voice trailed off. "Care for some company?"
Charlie shrugged. "I don't mind if you're down here. Do you mind if I put you to work, though?"
"Not at all. What are we making?"
Charlie smirked. No one had ever out right asked her what exactly it was they were making, but if the man was going to help, then he'd probably end up reading the directions at some point. "Caramel apple better than sex cake."
"Ooh, sounds exciting."
The two worked in general silence for a while. Charlie had put Pete on apple chopping duty while she made the cake batter. When the apples were chopped (and mixed with the batter), the mixture was popped in the oven to bake.
"So, what's the deal with the late night cooking sessions?" Pete asked, breaking the silence.
Charlie paused, debating whether she was going to answer or not. She'd never really told anyone the reasons she had so much trouble sleeping.
"I guess, it all kind of stems from when I was a kid," She explained. "My dad started training me when I was twelve, and then I went into high school. I joined three sports, was in a ton of academics, and had martial arts three days a week. Between all that and studying I never really had time for sleep.
"Not much changed about that during college either. I worked nights at a bar a few blocks from campus for about five years. And now, it's mostly a mix of sleep paralysis and anxiety." Charlie bit her lip. "I've never actually told anyone that I have sleep paralysis, so I'd appreciate it if we kept that between us."
"No problem." Pete assured. "I try not to judge people."
"Thanks." Charlie said softly. "You know, there was once a time when I could go for a run during this time. Clay told me if I even thought of going out at night by myself he'd personally skin me. Normally, I'd think the person was joking, but with Clay you never know."
The timer went off on the oven, signaling the thirty minute wait was over. Charlie was surprised the time had passed so quickly. After putting Pete to work whipping up the creamcheese frosting, and poking holes in the cake, Charlie set to melting caramel and sweetened condensed milk in a sauce pan. Once the caramel mixture was sufficiently melted, Charlie poured the mixture over the cake. Making sure not to drown the mixture, Charlie kept the left overs to drizzle over the frosting.
After frosting and drizzling the cake, Charlie covered it and took a seat at the table in the middle of the room. She and Pete talked until the sun came up. They didn't really talk about anything in particular, they just talked. At around 7, they began to hear the first signs of movement in the house. Charlie deemed it to be sufficiently light enough, so she excused herself to go for a run.
"If Clay gets up before I'm back, please inform him that I am literally running to the gate and back. Twice." Pete nodded his affirmative and Charlie went up to her room to change.
She noticed nothing out of the ordinary when she was out running—no strange smells or anything. She tried to prolong going back in the house as long as possible. In the two days Nick Sorrentino had been at Stonehaven, he'd managed to completely screw up her head, all the while firing cheesy pick-up lines and innuendos at her every chance he got.
She was also nervous about meeting Elena. Clay placed her on a pedestal, and there was something about meeting the only other person like you that was intimidating to Charlie. Her fears were for not though, because when she entered the house after her run, it appeared that Elena was not up yet. It must have been her lucky day, because Nick wasn't in the kitchen either when she walked in to get a glass of water.
Jeremy smiled at her from his place flipping pancakes. "Clay isn't going to be happy when he finds out you went out by yourself this morning." While his tone was kept light, Charlie knew that Clay wasn't the only one upset about her run.
She sighed and downed her water. "Okay, I get it. Running by myself this morning was dangerous. But in my defense, it really was a very human run, and I only ran the length of the driveway. I'm not promising I won't do it again, but I will promise not to do it while no one else is awake."
"Fair enough." Jeremy agreed. "Though I don't understand why running with the pack isn't enough for you."
Charlie smiled. "I was running long before I had my first change. It was always an escape I used to keep in touch with my human side. Plus, running when I was younger was always so awkward. I mean, there's a difference between your father changing your diapers to your father seeing you naked at 17.
"Don't get me wrong, I love to run as a wolf. But when my friends asked me what I did over the weekend, I couldn't exactly say 'Oh, ya know, I got naked with my dad and went for a run through the forest..'."
Though she was excited for breakfast—Antonio was manning the grill, which meant hoards of meats, and pancakes from Jeremy—Charlie really wanted a pepper. It was a weird quirk she had developed when she was young. She'd chop a pepper, usually a jalapeño, and either eat it in strips, or dice it and mix it with her salad.
Because it was breakfast time, and she would be teased mercilessly if she ate a salad, Charlie decided she'd just eat the pepper whole, like she would an apple. As she washed the vegetable, she listened to Jeremy and Antonio barter back and forth while they put food on the table.
They were blessed with the presence of Pete and Nick just as Charlie was taking a bite of her pepper.
"What are you doing?" Pete questioned. Charlie chewed and swallowed.
"Eating a pepper, what does it look like?"
"You know, sweetheart, I thought we were well on our way to being friends after our bonding session this morning, but I don't think we can be friends anymore." Pete teased. Charlie faked a pout.
"Oh darn, and to think I was going to give you that recipe for the cake we made.." Charlie teased back.
"How do you put up with the weird habits, Jeremy? If it were me, I'd have chained her to the gate weeks ago." Antonio teased, a smile on his face.
"It's like she says, she's good with dessert and alcohol. That's enough to keep her around." Jeremy replied, a grin on his face.
"You ass holes are lucky I'm still letting you eat that cake Pete and I baked last night." Charlie teased back.
Jeremy's face suddenly fell into a very serious expression. "Okay, I'll be nice. Pete was telling us about that cake."
The four of them continued to joke about Charlie's strange habits with Nick watching quietly at his place at the table. He liked the way Charlie and his dad got along. The way she and Pete seemed to take to each other like bread and butter was pretty cool too.
There was an awkward pause when Elena entered the kitchen, followed by Clay. Antonio and Pete offered her hugs and teases, before she was introduced.
"Elena, this is Charlie," Jeremy said softly. Jeremy was visibly different with Elena than he was with the others. He talked to her in a softer, gentler voice, and his body language softened. Charlie figured this had to do with Elena's general dislike of what she was.
"Hi," Charlie said, smiling. "I've heard a lot about you." She stood and held her hand out for Elena to take.
Elena looked at her hand in confusion. "I know, not hugging is a foreign concept around here, but I don't like to be touched, and I've never met you before, so.." Charlie trailed off, glancing at her hand again.
Elena gave a slight smile. "It's nice to meet you. I thought I was the only female though?"
"Trust me sister, so did I." Charlie replied. The two sat next to each other at the table. Pete was on Charlie's left and Elena was on her right.
"I'm starving." Pete muttered. Everyone watched with rapt attention as Jeremy took a bite of his sausage, smiled, and nodded for everyone else to begin eating. Charlie carefully piled her plate with pancakes, breakfast meats, and fruit. She noticed that Elena had taken a smaller portion than everyone else.
"You need to eat and get some meat on those bones." Antonio scolded Elena softly.
Elena shrugged. "I've been trying to get my appetite back to what it was like before I changed." She explained. Pete snorted.
"I tell the guys I tour with that I have an immobile pituitary gland, otherwise with all the food I eat, I'd be reality show huge." Pete told her.
"It's easier when you're a guy." Elena answered. Charlie knew she had a point.
"She's right you know. Being a woman in a society that revolves around looks isn't easy." Charlie said. Elena smiled and nodded.
"So, have you heard from Logan?" Elena asked Jeremy.
He nodded. "He's on his way here. We'll start tonight."
"We don't need to wait, I can track now." Elena argued.
"We can't change in broad daylight, it's too risky. And going out as a human is not an option." Jeremy countered. Charlie suddenly found herself very focused on her breakfast.
"So send the guys with me, I can still track as a human."
"So, is that cake really better than sex?" Pete whispered in Charlie's ear. She grinned and looked at him.
"In my experience, not much is better than sex, but yes, I can truthfully say that the cake is definitely better than sex." Charlie responded, winking.
"See, I don't believe you. You must have had some very unfulfilling bedroom partners if you think a baked good is better than sex." Pete teased. Their bantering caught the attention of Nick.
"What are you two talking about?" He asked, a smile on his face.
"Charlie thinks cake is better than sex." Pete said. Unfortunately for Charlie, he didn't say it very quietly.
"What? Impossible." Nick snarked, smirking.
"I'm only saying that cake doesn't leave you wound up and unsatisfied while it's snoring in bed next to you." Charlie defended.
At some point, both Jeremy and Antonio had left the table, leaving the 'kids' by themselves.
"Oh, honey, I'd never leave you unsatisfied." Nick promised, winking.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Prove it." Pete cleared his throat awkwardly.
"As fascinating as watching the two of you and your strange form of foreplay is, can you please not do it at the breakfast table?"
"Fine," Nick complied. "Find me later, sweet stuff, and I'll show you a good time." He winked at Charlie and stood.
"Who's up for a fight?" Nick asked, rubbing his hands together. "Elena?"
"Hey, take it easy on her, she might be out of practice." Pete taunted. Elena's face quickly formed into a hard mask.
"I don't need you to take it easy on me."
"Prove it." Nick taunted. "Back patio, five minutes."
What was more like twelve minutes later, Nick was attempting to ambush Elena as she walked outside. She was ready for him, though, and the fight seemed to be pretty much even.
After their fight, they teased each other back and forth. Their friendly banter was cut off when Clay walked out.
"Clayton Danvers, spectating on a fight? I'd never thought I'd see the day." Nick taunted his friend.
"I'm not spectating, I'm assessing." Clay explained. Charlie bit her lip to hide her grin. While Nick and Elena had been fighting, she'd been in the corner of the patio, stretching her tired muscles.
"Assessing the ass kicking I'm going to give you?" Nick asked.
"Now why would I humiliate my oldest and dearest friend in front of a beautiful woman he clearly finds attractive?" Clay replied.
"Hey now, Pete may be a woman, but he certainly isn't beautiful." Charlie chimed in.
"Oh, you think so, sweetheart? You and me, after Clay kicks Nick's ass." Pete offered. Charlie grinned and nodded.
"Lucky for you, I don't have a problem with hitting girls." She teased.
"I'm going to shower." Elena muttered.
"Whoa, whoa, don't you wanna see me destroy this guy?" Nick asked.
Clay sighed and pulled is t-shirt over his head.
"Now you done it." Pete shook his head.
Charlie nodded. "Everyone knows shit's about to go down when Clay starts striping."
Nick and Clay's fight was over quickly, ending with Nick's head in his hands.
"Dammit," Nick muttered. "Can't you just let me win once in our lives?"
"That's not in my nature." Clay assured him, letting him go.
"Same thing as we were kids, huh?" Nick asked Clay.
"Nah, this is different," Pete assured him. "This time you didn't piss your pants."
Charlie stretched her arms over her head before pulling off her hoodie.
"Are you sure you and Clay aren't related?" Pete asked her. "The two of you like to strip a lot."
Charlie grinned and threw her hoodie at his head. "See, that's the different between Clay and I. Clay strips because he likes to make others, namely Nick, feel inadequate. I, on the other hand, stripped to pay the bills for about 5 years."
"You'll have to show me sometime." Pete taunted before charging her. Charlie waited until the last possible second before taking a small step to her right. Pete barreled past her and let out a noise of frustration. "Are you going to fight me, or just side step me."
"I just don't want to embarrass you." Charlie shrugged, beckoning for him to come at her again. As he did, she thrust her leg out and wrapped her ankle around his knee, bringing him down. Pete's hand clamped onto her leg as he went, loosening when he thought she was going down with him. Fortunately for Charlie, the years of martial arts her father made her take worked in her favor. She rolled out of the tackle and landed on her feet.
Charlie never really let Pete get his hands on her, because like she'd told Elena earlier, she didn't like to be touched.
"It has long been speculated that women are not sufficiently strong enough to survive the change." Elena whispered, running her fingers over the history book.
"That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard." Charlie commented, leaning against the wall beside Elena. "I mean seriously. Women are strong enough to successfully push a fucking watermelon out of a hole the size of a grape, but we aren't strong enough to be werewolves?"
Elena smiled and turned to Charlie. "I guess I'd never thought of it that way."
"I mean, I totally understand that the change is super hard to do and everything, but I just think that before now,any time they'd try to turn a female they just picked weak ones.
"I don't know if this is true, but with the guys, they have to become a certain age. With women though, I think it's different. I know the change doesn't happen when you become a woman, because shit, I'd have changed when I was twelve. But I do believe it has something to do with womanhood." Charlie ranted. When she was young, she spent her summers learning about werewolf history. She'd had a long time to form the opinions she has.
"You and Clay were engaged when you were turned, right?" Charlie asked. Elena nodded. "I'm going to go right ahead and assume that you weren't a virgin, because even I can admit that Clay's kind of sexy. Anyway, my point is. I changed when I turned 17, but I think it's more than an age thing. I mean, I'd lost my V-card the day before.
"I think, the problem the alpha that tried to change a bunch of women had, was he was changing the wrong kind of women. I'm not saying you and I are a couple of hussies, but we were a different kind of women. Yeah, I think being a werewolf takes a certain amount of strength, and it is hard to find in women, because of the society we live in." Charlie winced, seeing the look of disbelief on Elena's features.
"I'm sorry, sometimes I just ramble." Charlie apologized.
"No, don't worry about it. It was nice to hear a woman's opinion on this whole thing." Elena assured her. "The only thing I don't understand is how you're so accepting of what you are."
Charlie gave Elena a small smile. "It took me a long time to get where I am today. I was in a pretty dark place after my first change. All the mental shit really hit me. My dad and I trained for years so I was prepared for the physical parts, but nothing prepared me for the self-loathing I would feel after my change." She explained.
"Most of it was in my head. I got really self-conscious about my eating habits, and I started to develop anorexia. Luckily for me, a few good talks with my best friend on self-image and self-love really helped to clear the darkness from my mind. I still struggle with it sometimes, if I'm being honest." Charlie confessed. She'd always hated talking about herself.
"Earlier I heard you tell Pete you used to be a stripper." Elena asked. Charlie snorted.
"That was mostly me teasing Nick. Yes, I worked at a bar, and I picked up a few things during my time there, but I would never be a stripper. I have too many issues for that." Charlie told her. "Now, that's enough talking about me. I'll leave you to whatever it was you were doing before I interrupted."
Later, after the final member of the pack had come home, and been introduced to Charlie, the pack met in the basement to be debriefed.
"A woman has been killed by a Mutt in Bear Valley. Now, we have hunters on the edge of our property. This Mutt needs to be stopped tonight, before anyone else gets killed. Peter and Logan, I want you in West Bear Valley, Antonio and I will take the East. The rest of you I want in the industrial area. You can change if you have to, but obviously discretion is the key." Jeremy gave everyone their orders.
"So, how do you want to do this?" Nick asked as the four of them rounded the street into the industrial area of town.
"We stic-" Clay began, but Elena interrupted him.
"We split up, meet back here if we don't find anything, and howl if we do." Everyone agreed and went their separate ways. Clay and Nick started to take off their clothes.
"We're changing?" Elena asked.
"We'll cover more ground this way." Clay shrugged. While Charlie secretly agreed it was a smart idea, she didn't love the idea of changing in the middle of town.
"Simple fact is, if we find this Mutt I want to be in wolf form." Nick shrugged. Elena gave him a sharp look.
"You're not going to kill him." She snapped.
"Elena, he murdered someone." Charlie said softly. She'd always hated violence, but she understood that in the efforts of secrecy, it was a part of life.
"And he'll pay." Elena snarled. "But no killing while I'm around."
"Okay," Clay agreed. "Let's run." He and Nick were quick to remove their shirts.
"I'm just gonna.." Elena trailed off awkwardly. She kept her eyes trained at the ground.
"Yeah, me too." Charlie agreed. The two girls ducked into an alley and began undressing. Charlie attempted to keep her back to Elena as she removed her top.
"Is that a bite mark?" Elena asked, pointing to Charlie's chest.
"I don't want to talk about it, Elena. Can you pretend you never saw it, please?" Charlie ground out as she began to change. Once her change was done, she took off, sticking to shadows, but keeping her nose open.
She'd almost circled a block when she heard Elena's howl. She'd located Clay and Elena just as Elena was pulling on a spare change of clothes from a clothes line. Charlie changed back and grabbed a white t-shirt and grey boxers from the line. She pulled them on and entered the grimy looking shack.
"Well, this place is pleasant." She muttered sarcastically.
"This place smells like death." Elena whispered. Charlie nodded in agreement. "How did you find it before me, Clay?"
"I didn't, I followed you." Clay replied. Charlie sighed and continued to wander the shack, avoiding the argument that was surely about to form between Clay and Elena. She looked up when she heard movement only to repress a snort of amusement.
Nick was standing awkwardly in what was obviously a woman's t-shirt and a pair of briefs. "Lookin good, killer." Charlie teased.
Nick shrugged. "What? It's a little East Village, but I'm not putting on that negligee out there."
"The Mutt isn't here." Clay decided. Charlie nodded slowly.
"Wonderful observation, Dr. Watson." Charlie muttered, crouching by the bed.
"Any beat on this scent?" Nick asked, sniffing.
"It's new to me." Elena replied. Charlie looked up to see her three companions looking at her.
"I don't know why you're looking at me. The only werewolf I came in contact with before coming to Stonehaven was my dad, and I can assure you that this is not him." Charlie defended.
"It almost smells newly turned." Elena said. Charlie shrugged. Her hearing was much better than her sense of smell, so she had no idea what Elena was talking about.
"You're telling me you can smell newly turned?" Nick deadpanned.
"I'm telling you the smell's different." Elena replied.
Nick walked over to the other side of the bed and pulled a piece of cardboard from underneath it. Lying on the cardboard was a chunk of scalp with a long section of hair attached to it.
"Oh, that is disgusting." Charlie wrinkled her nose.
"No wonder it smells like death in here." Nick answered.
Elena closed her eyes. "Another killing." She looked at Clay, worry written all over her face.
"Let's get back to Jeremy with this news." Nick suggested. "Unless you want to stay and wait for this Mutt, snap his neck?"
"No, no, no. He might smell us." Clay responded. Elena's look of anguished quickly faded from her features. "Best thing is to change and head home so we can regroup."
Elena crossed her arms over her chest. "Change.. again?"
"Oh, you want us to walk back?" Nick asked. The pair shared a look.
"Right." Elena nodded.
The boys gave Elena and Charlie the bedroom to change. Both of whom changed quickly and met the boys outside.
The four were back at Stonehaven in record time. After relaying the news to Jeremy, Charlie excused herself to go to bed.
Things at Stonehaven were tense the next morning as they discussed the situation. Elena was quick to inform everyone that she wasn't staying any longer.
Charlie was wandering the halls after breakfast when a hand dashed out of a room and pulled her in. It didn't take much to show her that it was Nick that had ambushed her.
"I don't know how to act around you." He confessed, running a tired hand through his hair. Charlie smiled at his obvious anguish.
"You could try acting like a normal human being?" She replied. His head snapped up and his eyes met hers.
"See, that's the thing though! This is the first real conversation we've had, and I already know that the way I feel isn't something normal human beings feel." Nick explained.
Charlie slid down the wall to the floor. She reached up and grabbed Nick's hand, bringing him down too.
"And what is it that you feel, Mr. Sorrentino?" She asked. She hadn't let go of his hand when he'd sat down, so she lightly brushed her fingers over his knuckles.
"I can't think straight, and I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach." Nick confessed.
Charlie smiled softly. "I'll tell you what, Nicholas. After all this Mutt business is taken care of, I'll help you sort out that feeling in your stomach." With that said, she leaned over and kissed his cheek before standing. As she was about to walk out the door, she turned around and winked at him.
"Maybe if you're a good boy, I'll consider it before the Mutt business is over."
Charlie wished she could have carried on her blissful cloud for the rest of the day. Having Nick confess that he felt something for her, even if he didn't know what it was, had put her on a cloud. Unfortunately, the rain to her parade had started to fall when Antonio discovered there had been another killing. This time, a child.
A/N: So, there's the end of the chapter. Let me know what you think. Since I haven't really gotten into the Charlie/Nick relationship, I really enjoy writing her developing friendships with other pack members. I hadn't even planned for her and Pete to bond, but it just sort of spoke to me. I'm particularly partial to the flirting that went down between young Mr. Sorrentino and Miss. King.. (:
As usual, let me know if you notice anything blatantly wrong, and I'll try to fix it. (I noticed today as I was watching the second episode that Steve Lund has kind of bluish eyes, but we'll pretend they're hazel for the sake of the story.)