Running With the Wolves


"The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives." - Sansa Stark: Game of Thrones


Chapter 8

Ruby never was a fan of awkward silence, and with everyone sitting there—stewing in their irritation and confusion—it was only sending her nerves through the roof. She tried to stay as out of the way as possible, opting to stick by Yang and sitting on the floor in front of her sister where she sat on the couch. Taiyang was in the kitchen making a buffet for breakfast and Qrow was pouring himself a drink.

The new wolves were balls of energy. Not one of them sat still, instead, they wandered around the large living room and looking curiously at their surroundings. Yang seemed bored of everything though, likely since she still managed to keep her spot as next in line for Alpha after Qrow, though that was always going to happen just from lineage. Raven was born a wolf, an Alpha at that, so Yang—another blood wolf—would be the next in line after Qrow, even before her own father who was currently the second in command.

Ruby had lost some pack ranking with the new members of the pack coming in. The only wolf she managed to outrank was Neptune. Part of that really stung, but Ruby didn't mind too much. Before that night she had been the lowest on the totem pole. Now she could at least tell someone what to do.

"Well, I suppose I better start talking before you brats manage to break something," Qrow finally spoke—loud enough to shock Ruby out of her own little wonderland. No one responded to Qrow's outburst, instead just watching him as he flopped onto a leather recliner with a drink of whiskey in hand.

"As you can all tell," Qrow started with a pause to take a sip of his newly made drink. Ruby could tell is must have been some of his good stuff because Qrow let out a low groan as he relaxed in his seat. "You are now werewolves. No, this changing at the full moon thing will not be normal though you will find changing easier around that time. The first change is just so intense that you end up changing anyway. Honestly, I'm surprised none of you died in the process. Must be since you are all fairly healthy with good hearts. I knew a few people back in my tribe that when their first change came around their hearts gave out."

"Are you going to actually explain what happened or tell us what we actually need to know?" It was Pyrrha that had spoken up and Ruby flinched a little at her tone. She hadn't ever heard the red-haired amazon so angry before.

"I'm getting there sweet-heart," Qrow snapped back. There was a hint of alpha pressure in his voice that made Ruby shiver. She knew he didn't like to use it but when he did it was eerie in the amount of authority it contained. He stopped though to take a sip of his whiskey again and Pyrrha shot her head down. Even if she was above Sun, Ruby, and Neptune she still was below Qrow. The further you were behind an alpha the harder it was to resist the commands.

"After the little party you had a few weeks ago, you ended up in a car crash. You remember that much right?" They all nodded in response. How could they forget the freak accident they managed to recover from so easily? "Well, according to my nieces the reason you crashed was that Yang ran across the road and startled the driver into crashing into the tree."

"That was you?" Nora's sudden outburst was enough to make Qrow glare but relieved some of the tension in the room with her child-like disbelief and wonder.

"Yeah, even though I burn of alcohol faster then a human would, I was still a little tipsy and wasn't paying attention to if there was a car coming or not," Yang admitted sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"You are a very pretty wolf," Nora commented with a big smile, which was contagious to everyone else in the room.

"Thank you," Yang replied with an equally contagious smile.

"Am I going to get to finish, or are you two going to keep giggling like school girls?" Qrow interrupted them and Ruby could feel there was some kind of sarcastic comment Yang wanted to say but the situation was too serious to ignore the piercing glare that Qrow was giving her.

"Anyway," Qrow continued after another sip of the drink in his hand. The ice was beginning to clink now since it was lower on liquid content. "After the accident, you were in pretty bad shape, so they called me out there—"

"With a psychic mind link like in Twilight?" Neptune blurted out suddenly, getting way too into the conversation all of a sudden. They, after the realization of what he just said he ducked his head down in embarrassment. "Not that I read those books or anything."

"No, Ruby ran and got me, you dumb ass," Qrow deadpanned. He shot a look at Yang and Ruby as if to ask them where they made these kinds of friends. The two girls could only shrug. "Anyway, after I got there I wanted to leave you four to die. Well, geez don't look so shocked. You crashed, wasn't any skin off of my back. But Yang and Ruby insisted it was there fault and I turned you…. Honestly, death would have been a mercy."

There was more awkward silence but even Ruby wasn't quite sure what to say at her uncle's blunt telling's. She couldn't imagine they hadn't suspected that being a wolf would be easy, but still.

"Being a wolf is lonely. Outside of the pack, no one should know. If the wrong people found out it would result in death or even worse. Because of being wolves Ruby and Yang were never able to make truly close friends." Ruby flinched a bit at her Uncles true words. She didn't like how it made her sound but still. "Your strength and speed have likely naturally increased due to the change and as such, you shouldn't participate in extracurriculars."

Qrow must have been able to see Pyrrha about to protest because he added, "unless you want to accidentally hurt someone or expose yourself." The red-heads mouth snapped shut before any sound could come out.

"I have a question though," Sun said with no wavering fear in his voice. He was the only one that seemed unfazed by all the new rules Qrow was telling them. Either because he had nothing to lose or the more likely scenario, he had no intention of following them without a direct order telling him otherwise. "You told us how we became wolves but what about you guys? How did you end up in this mess?"

Ruby could feel Yang tensing up behind her. Yang was always sensitive to the topic of their family and their origins. However, Ruby couldn't deny the fact that they deserved an answer as well. As a pack, they were going to be expected to trust each other and keep each other safe. If that trust wasn't there they would split apart and a civil war between packs wasn't something they could afford in such a big back.

It was already detrimental enough when it happened to their family shortly after Yang was born and even before Ruby was thought of.

Qrow must have agreed with Ruby's train of thought because he placed his drink of a coffee table nearby and began to tell the story.

"Long ago, back when I was about your age, my sister and I were part of a Romani caravan of cars that would travel the country called the Branwen's. There was old magic in the group and well, my sister, Raven, and I, were some of the kids born to be wolves. Out of our generations, we were the only two to survive. The older wolves had all been killed, either by those who thought it was a curse or by other packs we came across. My sister and I left the caravan for a long time and ventured out on our own, and we found a town to settle in when we were around your age." He paused for a moment and his eyes got a little misty as if he was remembering a fond memory. "My sister, even though she was older and should have been the alpha, wanted nothing to do with the title so it naturally went to me. Only alphas can turn other's so keep that in mind for later in the story. The first member we ever added to our pack was a girl named Summer Rose. She had been in the forest and got caught in a bear trap that had been laid to catch my sister and me. I felt so guilty that I turned her. Later that winter, Tai was found freezing to death. He had been flirting with my sister for a very long time and she had developed a soft spot for the bumbling idiot. So, Summer and she begged me to turn him and I did. Good thing too, I don't think I could live with all this estrogen otherwise."

"That's not what you said at the time," Tai shouted from where he was in the kitchen with a laugh. Qrow joined him, though there was a hint of sadness in both of their laughter.

"No, I suppose it wasn't," Qrow admitted before reaching for his glass and finishing off the rest of the contents. "For a time, we were happy—the four of us. Raven and Tai even officially got together with Summer following along like a lost puppy. I just watched from a distance. However, something changed in Raven and to this day I'm still not sure what it was. After Yang was born she suddenly fought me to gain independence from the pack, claiming she wanted to go back to the caravan. It broke Tai's heart but he still had Summer. Two years later, Ruby was born. Then one day, Summer went on a run and never came back. We still aren't sure to this day what happened to her, just that she's gone."

They could all tell it was getting harder and harder for Qrow to tell the story so no one said a word.

"Anyway, Yang and Ruby first turned when they were eight years old and it's just been the four of us ever since."

"So why did you move here?" It was an innocent enough question that Nora asked but it was enough to get a bit of a laugh out of Yang.

"I broke a guy's arm, got expelled for it and we didn't want to risk exposure," Yang explained in a tone that seemed way to proud for the actions that were committed.

"I like you," Nora said suddenly and all the teenagers laughed. Even Qrow let out a small smile in response to the ginger's outburst.

"Hey breakfast it ready, come get it," Tai said from where he was in the kitchen and all the kids went running into the room with various comments about how hungry they were. As they entered, Tai exited with food for him and Qrow. He handed a plate of eggs and bacon to the greying man that he took with a grateful smile.

"You didn't tell them everything," Tai noted as he shoveled some food into his mouth.

"What they don't know can't hurt them," Qrow replied and the two of them left it at that. They both knew there were darker things in this world than those mentioned to the teens, but for now, they were just teens. They didn't need to know about all the monsters in the closet just yet. And if Qrow and Tai had anything to say about it, they never would have to deal with those monsters in the closet.

"Ozpin called," Tai said and it was enough to make Qrow stiffen. "Their moving again."

"Then," Qrow started as he set his half-eaten plate down, having just lost his appetite. "We will just have to make them stop moving."


BRK: So this is early because I'm taking a flight to Florida later tonight. Sorry, I didn't update last week though, I got swamped with work and was still recovering from the fact I had finals that week. Speaking of which, now I have the first chapters posted for all my fantasy/supernatural AU Stories that I'm going to be working on this summer. I hope you check those out. Until next time, later gators!