Making a Mark - Chapter 8
Blaine was still happily humming while inspecting the odd art work dotted around the meeting room he'd placed himself waiting for this areas masters. He could hear them bustling down the hall then pause, composing themselves before entering the room.
"Ahhh Mistress Sylvester and Master Schuster" Blaine smiled warmly, "Very nice to see you this fine night."
Sue looked less than amused, but then when did she ever, at least William had a nervous energy about him in reaction to this unannounced visit.
"Mr Anderson, it was our understanding that the review would be next week, I'm afraid the quarters aren't yet ready for your and the entourages to stay in yet." William began.
Blaine raised his hand and the vampire quickly went quiet, "This is not your review, though the true masters sent me ahead due to your recent news stories, to make sure all is truly well. It is rare Lima has a stir in it and you two have been around a while so it seemed out of character for your area, I am here to offer you support if you need it," Though Blaine's words and tone were kind, Sue did not take kindly to the implications behind them.
"I doubt you realise how much work we do to keep the peace here, though usually we keep a pretty tight lease on our younger charges we do seem to have had a slip up. But it is nothing we can't handle, you think this is hard you should try holding back pre-change pups on a full moon night, single-handed, from their quarry, that's hard!" Sue virtually barked the last few words at Blaine, causing William to sigh and push his hands through his coifed hair.
"What Sue means is,"
"No Blood-Sac, I don't mean anything. The True masters should have some faith in us, while you are here feel free to sing back the stories of our competence and discipline to your Masters, mongrel" Sue Sylvester was towering over Blaine. Blaine's eye's flashed yellow, displaying his true heritage, though to her credit Sue didn't flinch.
"Discipline?! Would you care to explain to me how you have an unassigned Human living outside the compound then?" Blaine questioned.
"Mr Anderson, it was a decision not taken lightly but I assure you she is not unassigned, despite their ages we have formerly assigned her to Rachel Berry, our highest ranking junior pack Alpha" Will rushed to explain.
Sue sat on a chair, almost lounging, "Our best junior Alpha messed up royally with a unremarkable human and she is being punished for her actions, but we had to spin it in such a way that humans wouldn't think that escape was possible, so we may have stretched the truth a little to appease the crowds but insubordinate incidents are down 20% from before the event so it has certainly worked in our favour."
"May I see the two in question?" his eyes had returned to their normal colour as the threatening vibe in the room faded.
"Any time you should wish, though I'm sure you can appreciate this close to a full moon, it will be an interesting time in the junior packs quarters"
Blaine smiled, though his other form could be described as grotesque, he wasn't truly bound to the night as his fully vampire brethren or to the moon as his wolf brothers and sisters he could still feel the pull and understood the tension that often ran through that kind. Perhaps this is why the True masters always had someone like himself on the payroll, not as limited as either but understanding the weaknesses of both. He nodded, "I understand, but I shall be visiting them in the morning. Can't give the True masters a true update until I see them for myself."
"Ahh shit" Came unbidden from Arties mouth as he heard the inspectors plan to visit their new charge in the morning, "Shelby!" He shouted as he turned himself around and down towards to main room.
Shelby met him in the hall having rushed out at his yelling, "What's going on?!"
"We need to get a message to Quinn, an inspectors heading their way first thing, we can't risk her tipping him off, the masters haven't explicitly said that it was all a ruse but they haven't said it was an outright lie either, seems like her safest bet right now would be to stick with Rachel if she can." They entered the larger monitoring room where Shelby usually spent her time. She had kept the monitoring systems trained on the charge they had let down. The large screens were currently showing a rather heated kiss between Quinn and Rachel, Artie blushed furiously and looked anywhere but the screens as Shelby frowned and stated, "Well, perhaps it won't be so hard to get her to sell the story. Just make sure you have something waiting for Quinn whenever they get in to warn her." Shelby's nostrils flared, almost in anger, "Tell her to stay close to Rachel, seems like that'll be her best bet for now."
Quinn was grateful that her hair had twisted around and covered her face with the speed that Rachel was running, it was hiding her face and the confusion she could feel was written on it. What the hell had she just done? Quinn could hear the wolf's heart thundering from was she was cradled, and it wasn't going to be from exertion. Quinn knew she'd at least cast doubt in the other, truly obnoxious, Alpha's head but had she just made things a million miles worse for herself. The Alpha she now apparently belonged to wasn't exactly known for her prowess when it came to matters of the heart; in fact it was all work no play when it came to Berry. Quinn had been no better despite Santana's pushing. God, her newly found tendency to act before thinking was really starting to get on her nerves. Quinn wasn't completely naïve, she knew how tightly wolfs bonded to their mates, how they were more susceptible to their base needs around the full moon, she could feel how close to the surface Rachel's alternative persona was, Quinn couldn't quite explain it, perhaps it was a primal instinct for preservation from before the blood suckers and dogs were top species, but it almost felt like pins and needles against her skin. Not entirely unpleasant but not all together comfortable either. Maybe Quinn was over-reacting, Rachel knew it was all a ruse and was just as much as an adult as she was and as wolves go not a bad person. They just had to get though however long it took for the whole situation to blow over and she'd be sent to a compound elsewhere, most likely, and who knew what would happen to Berry but it couldn't be as bad for her could it?
The moon was singing to her, literally singing. It felt like it took all her strength to carry Quinn home and not throw her to the ground and mark her as hers only. Logically, in her head Rachel knew what this was an act, trying to lessen the punishment that was surely going to be headed the human's way when the attention on them waned. Sometimes Rachel wished that she lived in simpler times before the reveal, though she'd have to live her life half hidden from the world, not everything would be micro managed by the powers that be. One mistake wouldn't be the defining moment of her life; her fathers would have been her shelter until she felt ready to face the world. She could have been guided gently into the world of lust or love or whatever the hell this was, not just thrown in the deep end with an apparently unstable human. Rachel managed to keep her arms from shaking as she carried Quinn and her crutches back, her home quickly coming into view. Rachel knew that whatever she was feeling was more than likely one-sided, Quinn's distaste in wolves apparent but it didn't make it feel any less real to her or her wolf. Rachel slowly came to a halt as they reached the light that bathed the path from the Packs porch. Rachel gently placed Quinn back on her feet; hands staying on Quinn's waist until the crutches were safely in place on the ground ensure Quinn was steady on her usable foot. Rachel slowly took her hands away, drawing a deep breath as her alpha made it's unhappiness at the break of contact know to her, crawling restlessly around her mind, though the scent running through her nose at the deep breath soothed it slightly. Both girls were silent as they approached the house.
As soon as they were in Rachel headed to the kitchen, leaving Quinn feeling truly alone for the first time since she arrived at the house, Quinn caught herself before she could follow Rachel into the kitchen and turned herself and went into her room. The sight of her few belongings from the compound now here brought the previously suppressed tears straight to Quinn's eyes, what had she done? Before she could wallow too much in self-pity, Quinn noticed a note on her pillow with Q written on it with a familiar scrawl. Quinn smiled slightly and sat on the bed reaching for the note.
"Q, you are a complete idiot. Jesus Christ, ice queen you literally couldn't grab me before acting like a loon, at least then we could have been together to get another plan together to get you out of there!" There were smudges on the paper but Quinn couldn't imagine Santana crying "We were meant to get out of here together; I hope you are safe Q. None of the wolves will actually give us any information and none of Berry's pack will sneak me in to see you, so I'm hoping you get back here before they send you packing so I can slap you myself for being such an idiot! Miss you, don't forget to watch out for me on the news somedayif you don't get back, because if anyone is getting out of here, it's me. Especially since you fucked up your chances, Love Santana"
Well that was suitably blunt and even from miles away her best friend could still make her smile even if it was just from picturing her mad face. Well maybe of Finn fucking Hudson hadn't put his giant body in the way they would be in this together but fate had intervened in that plan so she was stuck alone in a wolf packs house, Quinn's thoughts were interrupted by a faint tapping on the window to her room. Quinn cautiously made her way over to the window, she couldn't see anyone through the glass, the darkness from the outside and light from the inside making it like a mirror as her own eyes blinked back at her. Quinn slowly opened the window and quick as a flash a small drone-like machine flew in, deposited another note on her bed and swiftly exited the room. She quietly shut the window, not wanting to make any noises that might bring Rachel running. This note was typed and also very brief
"Stay Put. Will get word to you when we can. Stick with Rachel and the story. Review early. Will be there in the morning. Do Not Risk yourself. Stay safe."
Quinn's eyes widened in shock, an inspector was coming here? Previous reviews had purely consisted of slightly stricter patrols and a role call actually being watched by the Masters and an accompanying party, she had never had any personal interaction with the day to day running of the compound. But she couldn't go to Rachel and ask what the etiquette for these scenarios was, it would give away that she was somehow privy to information that she shouldn't be.
"Stick with Rachel and the story" Quinn's thumb ran over the words again. Seems simple enough, but had Quinn just pushed things too far for Rachel? Would Rachel be able to keep up the ruse or would it be too much for the young alpha? Quinn sighed, and tucked the note in her bra, last she heard strip searches weren't part of a review and nowhere else would be completely safe from prying eyes. Quinn supposed that she could eat the thing but that would just be gross. She'd find a way to get rid of it properly soon enough, Picking up her crutches and getting herself sorted Quinn made her way back through to the living room, knowing that Rachel was somewhere through there as she could smell something cooking as her stomach rumbled in reaction to the smell.
Rachel couldn't think, she was going through the motions as she prepared and began to cook a meal, enough to satisfy her hunger and that of her packs when they eventually made their way back to the house once their hunt was over. Her hands had even hovered over Pucks bacon, tempted to rip into the pack and devour it. Rachel shook her head trying to clear the fog that was settling in there. She avoided the meats and managed to stick to her beliefs, Rachel wasn't a slave to her desires, not matter how natural they seemed to others of her kind. She'd push through the instincts Quinn seemed to have flicked the switch on. Rachel would do enough to appease the Masters and get back to her normal life, just has Quinn been doing. Hands were still on auto-pilot as the meal started to come together. A small sigh came from Rachel as she served up two plates and made her way back into the living room, where Quinn was already coming through the door.
"Perfect timing" Rachel gave Quinn a small smile, "Just take a seat and dinner is served, sorry it's the same as last night, we have not got much in and with everything that has been going on"
"Rachel" Brown met hazel briefly, "its fine thank you." Both girls began to eat; it was almost a comfortable silence if you could ignore the growing tension in the room. Rachel finished her meal first having wolfed it down. She placed her plate aside and fidgeted with her hands that were clasped in her lap.
Quinn sighed and put her plate down, she might as well try and break the tension, and it wasn't like she was going anywhere any time soon; she had to keep Rachel on side even after what she had just done.
"So" Quinn began, "you know about my life in full, same as any other human. Can I ask about yours?"
Rachel nodded, "Of course you can Quinn and I can't believe your life has been run of the mill, not every teenage human girl sticks up to an alpha, not once but twice" and makes a break for it was left unsaid, "My life has been unremarkable up until now. Same as any other wolf I'd suppose. We start off our lives remarkably similar to you humans. Staying with our parents until we are fourteen then sent for a yearlong assessment until we are assigned our packs and I ended up here. I'm lucky that I've known half of my pack since childhood some of us get placed with complete strangers. My status, well it just meant that I got put through the more advanced tests" Rachel unconsciously held herself at the memory of some of those tests, "Sometimes I wonder what I would have been if I'd have lived before the revolution. Would I still be with my Dads or would I have run off to live with a free running pack or"
"Dad's?" Questioned Quinn
The smile that kept on to Rachel's lips was rueful, "Yeah, dads. They decided to have me when a young wolf approached them asking them for help. She ended up acting like a surrogate for them. I never met her; she had been assigned to another compound before I was old enough to search her out. She was killed by a rebel group just before I got sent to an assessment centre. That year was tough. The tests are less than pleasant, but they help the packs form a strong bond so it's for the best I suppose."
"I've never been outside of Lima" Rachel looked at Quinn and their eyes met as Quinn continued, "My parents were moved, not me. At least you get to travel and life some kind of a life before you have to live out a life in a cattle pen waiting to be picked out by someone who will have the ultimate control and decision making power in your life."
Rachel's eyes narrowed at the accusatory tone which had come into Quinn's voice. "I am not sure I appreciate the insinuation that my life has been an amazing walk in the park Quinn. You have no idea what the pressure is like, if you live like you are supposed to your life is safe, no pressures, peaceful. My life has been anything but peaceful, Quinn. It may have been different to yours but I truly can not say that I am any more free than you."
"At least you can become someone!" Quinn almost shouted, "No matter what I do, nothing will make an impact, you were just born to make a difference if you so choose. By being born the way you are you have a voice, you're"
"NO Quinn" goose pimples rose on Quinn's arms as the wolf got close to her, getting in her space, looking up at her. Rachel brought their hands together, "You are truly naïve if you still believe that we are in fundamentally different positions, we are no more free than you. I have spent my whole life trying to be perfect then in one night, one girl with more strength and power than she realised broke free under my watch. In that instant the leash was around my neck. All my previous actions, marks in all the trials they put me through, have meant nothing. If one thing has become clear to me over the last few days is that no one can truly be free anymore, especially me. But you aren't trapped; I've seen you in the compound. With your friend, trying to scheme your way out and I never understood the desire before now. But I believe I do now Quinn, and all it took was one human to make my world come crashing down around me." Quinn was captivated by Rachel's eyes that as the power that impassioned her speech became stronger, started to swirl and change between those of a true predator to the sweet brown eyes of a girl, "one human who still believes she hasn't and can't change anything."
Quinn ripped herself anyway from the contact, "Rachel, all I have done is make my life worse and dragged you and your pack through the mud, not exactly revolutionary. Just stupid really"
Rachel didn't let Quinn keep the space she'd made and stepped back towards the girl, "Well, I'm not giving up and you are along for the ride now Quinn so grab a hold and don't let go." Quinn saw Rachel's eyes completely change in the second before the wolf crashed her lips into Quinn's in an almost frenzied kiss. Rachel broke the kiss as quickly as she'd initiated it, "I apologise Quinn, it's just, ugh, I apologise. I know what this is, I didn't mean to"
The door slammed open and four wolfs came piling in skidding to a halt when they spotted the two in the living room, Rachel almost immediately composed herself. "Ahh now that you are back I'll go for my own run. I'll see you in the morning Quinn."
Rachel ran out of the house not even waiting for an answer. Quinn watched her go then slowly looked at the four large wolf beasts currently sat on their haunches gazing at her, heads tilted to the side like confused puppies. Quinn shook her head and retreated to the bedroom they had given to her, the clack of her crutches on the wooden floors reverberating in her ears. She virtually threw herself on the bed, so now she had a confused alpha on her hands and an inspector coming for a visit in the morning. Never mind the fact that her lips were still tingling from contact that Rachel had initiated for no other reason than that she couldn't help it. "Ugh!" Quinn covered her face with the pillow, what the hell had she done?!
AN:these two just wouldn't let me move the story on much further! it was originally planned to be about 11 chapters but might be a few more if they keep being sneaky! Anyways thank you for anyone who has come back to this after years and the new follows, favourites and reviews they are truely appreicated! Love Socks x
