The Normal Life
By Didi
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that are recognizable and I certainly don't own the show. Don't sue me cause all you're going to get is lent, and not much of that either.
Rating: R for restricted under 17.
Note: What can I say? I had to do this chapter. It's not satisfying as I had hoped but it's the way it came out. Enjoy now. I'm think I'm going to mess with Kanin some more soon.
~~~~~~~~~~
-Donner's POV-
Over the years, I've learned to hate the night. Dusk , I can tolerate. Dawn will forever be my favorite time of the day. Sophia was born at dawn. Marie died in the night. I met Marie at dusk, a little bar in the next town where she worked to put herself through college. Prettiest girl in town with a smile that could cut a man off at the knees, a smile that she had bestowed upon her little girl.
"Does it hurt much?" Ruby asked in a harsh whisper from somewhere behind me. She was attending to Kanin's wounds. The trap did a nice job in tearing his ankle apart.
"I'm more confused than in pain," Kanin answered in the same tone. Yes, of course he would be confused by all the events that have transpired thus far.
The poor sap was in for the shock of his life. Being married is usually enough to put a man into the quakes but finding out that you married a woman that can transform herself into a wolf at will, that's putting it on another realm. Of course, that's nothing compared to what's going to find out about himself.
Kanin's cabin was the closest to the woods where Sophia had disappeared to, so I had chosen to commandeer it as my head station for now. The woods should be crawling with pack members now.
"And what's Blackstone's comment there at the end? What the hell did he mean, 'welcome home?' I've been in this town for months now." Kanin's cop sixth sense was no high alert now. And so was another part of him.
"John..." Ruby was having some difficulties digesting what she has seen tonight. Heck, I'm still having some trouble getting a handle of being through one curve after another.
I turned to watch them for a second. Ruby sat nervously on her knees, bandaging Kanin's ankle and avoiding looking at his eyes, his glowing yellow eyes. Damn Sherman and his holy-mystic-must-keep-the-pack-secret attitude. If he were here right now, I'd probably strangle the man.
The light footsteps on the porch caught my attention and, disconcertingly, Kanin's.
"Holy cow," our detective's eyes looking ready to fall out of his head. "Is that a wolf? Didn't know they would come this close."
Kanin is going to be blown away with this next one. If what we suspect is true, and since he was showing the signs, he's going to hear. I watched as the red wolf nudged the screen door open and moved into the room with his head high and his legs hitting the floor silently.
"Report!" I ordered, ignoring the questioning look from Kanin. You haven't seen anything yet.
Unblinking eyes stared back solidly and nodded his furry head. Josh was always one of my favorite pack members. *Luke found her about half an hour before the first sighting. He's... with her right now.*
I didn't need him to explain to me what that means.
Kanin was having a difficult time believing his own senses right now. "Did he just..."
"Sh..." Ruby soothed him with a hand to her shoulder and her eyes fixed on mine. It was my responsibility to explain it to him. Had he not been what he is, Ruby could tell him with permission. But now... I really hate this job.
But now he was not my priority at the moment. I am and always will be a father first. "How is she?" Josh's eyes were fixed on the startled face of Ruby's new husband. The rest of the pack was about to get the news now. But first things first, "Josh!"
The muzzle swung back to my scowling face. He lowered his nose with shame. *We did not get close enough to see much. But from what we can see, she appears to be far along in the change. With Luke to push her along...*
I think I must have breathed a sigh of relief. My greatest fear had always been that my little girl would change. But after I knew that she would... I just want her to be okay. Marie would understand. She would want her little girl to be healthy and alive.
"She'll be fine," V said as she touched my arm. I hadn't even heard her approach from behind. "Luke would never allow anything to happen to her."
"I don't think Luke has any say in what her body will allow her to do," I wanted to pace the room but knew that that would be a waste of energy and did nothing to help. "Josh, get the rest to back off. I'll let Luke do this thing to get her through it. The minute there is any distress on Sophia part, I want to know about it. Make sure you keep an eye on her progress. I want to know the minute she makes the complete transition."
A quick nod and the wolf was gone.
It was going to be a long wait for me tonight.
"Um... excuse me," Kanin peeped up with a quick wave of his hand. I turned and was still startled at those yellow eyes staring back at me. "Could someone please explain to me what the hell is going on in this crazy full-moon-year-round town? And Ruby, don't you dare put me off this time."
I sighed. Perhaps it was time. If nothing else, it'll keep my mind off what Luke and Sophia is doing out there in the woods. Oh Marie, watch out for our little girl tonight. She will need your prayers and mine.
~~~~~~~~~~
-Ruby's POV-
Am I scared? Yes. Am I terrified? Yes. Am I afraid that I will lose everything? Yes. Did I think it was all worth it for him? You better believe it.
I love him. There was never any doubt in my mind that I loved every fiber of him. But that still did nothing to elevate the fear in my heart as I watch him listen in stunned silence at what Sheriff Donner had to say to him.
Shock would be a good word to describe John right now. Horrified? Maybe. Disbelieving? Definitely. Until the mirror was brought up to his face and he saw for himself. There was no mistaken those glowing eyes, the same as what he had seen on Sophia not too long before.
To be completely honest, I don't think his surprise was any more than mine. Seeing him with eyes that I've come to hate when staring at myself in the mirror, it scared me. Not that I was afraid of John; he would never hurt anyone. I was afraid that he would have to go through the horror of knowing that your life no longer belong to you, that you were something of a whole and can never be anything else.
John loves his freedom like no man I've known. He lives with this openness that first drew me to him. How can we confine such a free spirit?
"So you're saying that one my parents may have been..."
"There is no maybes here, Kanin," Donner interrupted with a firm shake of his head. "It's in the blood. You don't show signs unless you have the blood. And plus, Sherman is right, you look enough like your father that we should have figured it out sooner without the old bastard playing game with us all."
The lines on Donner's face were etched with concern. He was no doubt as concern for John as I am. With him showing signs of the change in such a late stage in life... Oh please, don't let this be happening, not to him, not to us, not when we've come so far...
Silence fell as John tried to work it all out in his mind. For a man of science and logic, this was putting him to his limits. I put my arms around, resting my hand on his shoulder, and offered him my support, like a good wife is suppose to do, and realized that I was shaking. John turned and looked me in the eyes, and I allowed him to see me as I am. I watched as the surprise came to him and saw the reflection of myself in his eyes.
It may be that something akin to fear showed in my face. It may be that he simply knew me better than I thought. It may be that he needed the assurance as much as I did. But John always did know how to make me feel safe again. Leaning in, he touched his lips to my knuckle for the briefest of contacts. "I love you."
And my heart melted into a puddle somewhere in the region of my feet. I could feel the tears gather. Did I really doubt him? Did I really doubt his love for me? "John, we're going to get through this."
"Was there any other alternative that I should have known about?" he asked tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear. His calloused fingertips brushed against my temple and I shiver with memories of long nights in bed. "Tell me what happens now?"
"Sherman should be here," V interjected logically.
I nodded my head. "He's our Keeper here. We need to ask him what will happen. There hasn't ever been a case of a latent transformation, at least none that I'm aware of." I wanted to tell him about the dangers, about what he may be...
"And the graves?" He must have seen my intent. I have to remind myself that he's a cop, and cops see more than most. "The ones with all those teenagers?"
Donner leaned over the table and grabbed Kanin's hand for a moment. "Most that transform after sixteen don't make it. The human body rejects that change and they...they get stuck between."
"What happens to those that get stuck?" he asked, probably already knowing the answer.
Donner was watching the window again, probably worried about his child, the one that may become stuck. I couldn't tell him, I was too afraid of... something. Vivian came to my recrue, taking the burden onto her own shoulders. "When the body rejects it, the person's human and wolf side battles for control. The body eats itself. It's a very slow and 'painful' death."
John was watching V with those glittering eyes. "That night in the hospital, when So... when someone called me about a girl that was there. She was stuck, wasn't she? You and your late husband was there to... 'help?'" The question there didn't phase V. "I don't buy it. What were you doing..." The consequences and the Alpha's role in the clan finally set in. "You 'help' them along, don't you? End the pain."
Vivian nodded cooling. My stepmother wasn't going to defend her position, not when she knew it's right. "Willard hated that part of his duties. It hurt him more than it hurt the parents sometimes."
John nodded slowly. "I don't doubt that." He turned to Donner. "Sophia..."
"Will be fine," the sheriff turned and watched the night, his eyes glowing in the dark room. None of us had bothered to turn on the light. "My daughter will be fine."
"And if she's not?" Why John was asking the hard questions, I'm not sure. But the look in Donner's eye was enough of an answer. "I see. Okay then." He looked around. "So where's the wily shaman of yours?"
"Ours, John," I corrected him softly, turning his attention to me. "Ours. You are part of this pack when you married me. And now that you've... You're one of us. Sherman welcomed you home, remember?"
He nodded slowly, almost bitterly. "Like I can forget!"
I wanted to take the hurt in his eyes away. I wanted to say something that will reassure him the same way he always seem to reassure me. I wanted to do something, anything except sit here feeling completely helpless and useless.
The footsteps on the steps captured our attention.
Donner got up as the gray wolf emerged from the shadows. "What is it?"
*Sophia is coming.*
TBC....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
R&R, please.
By Didi
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that are recognizable and I certainly don't own the show. Don't sue me cause all you're going to get is lent, and not much of that either.
Rating: R for restricted under 17.
Note: What can I say? I had to do this chapter. It's not satisfying as I had hoped but it's the way it came out. Enjoy now. I'm think I'm going to mess with Kanin some more soon.
~~~~~~~~~~
-Donner's POV-
Over the years, I've learned to hate the night. Dusk , I can tolerate. Dawn will forever be my favorite time of the day. Sophia was born at dawn. Marie died in the night. I met Marie at dusk, a little bar in the next town where she worked to put herself through college. Prettiest girl in town with a smile that could cut a man off at the knees, a smile that she had bestowed upon her little girl.
"Does it hurt much?" Ruby asked in a harsh whisper from somewhere behind me. She was attending to Kanin's wounds. The trap did a nice job in tearing his ankle apart.
"I'm more confused than in pain," Kanin answered in the same tone. Yes, of course he would be confused by all the events that have transpired thus far.
The poor sap was in for the shock of his life. Being married is usually enough to put a man into the quakes but finding out that you married a woman that can transform herself into a wolf at will, that's putting it on another realm. Of course, that's nothing compared to what's going to find out about himself.
Kanin's cabin was the closest to the woods where Sophia had disappeared to, so I had chosen to commandeer it as my head station for now. The woods should be crawling with pack members now.
"And what's Blackstone's comment there at the end? What the hell did he mean, 'welcome home?' I've been in this town for months now." Kanin's cop sixth sense was no high alert now. And so was another part of him.
"John..." Ruby was having some difficulties digesting what she has seen tonight. Heck, I'm still having some trouble getting a handle of being through one curve after another.
I turned to watch them for a second. Ruby sat nervously on her knees, bandaging Kanin's ankle and avoiding looking at his eyes, his glowing yellow eyes. Damn Sherman and his holy-mystic-must-keep-the-pack-secret attitude. If he were here right now, I'd probably strangle the man.
The light footsteps on the porch caught my attention and, disconcertingly, Kanin's.
"Holy cow," our detective's eyes looking ready to fall out of his head. "Is that a wolf? Didn't know they would come this close."
Kanin is going to be blown away with this next one. If what we suspect is true, and since he was showing the signs, he's going to hear. I watched as the red wolf nudged the screen door open and moved into the room with his head high and his legs hitting the floor silently.
"Report!" I ordered, ignoring the questioning look from Kanin. You haven't seen anything yet.
Unblinking eyes stared back solidly and nodded his furry head. Josh was always one of my favorite pack members. *Luke found her about half an hour before the first sighting. He's... with her right now.*
I didn't need him to explain to me what that means.
Kanin was having a difficult time believing his own senses right now. "Did he just..."
"Sh..." Ruby soothed him with a hand to her shoulder and her eyes fixed on mine. It was my responsibility to explain it to him. Had he not been what he is, Ruby could tell him with permission. But now... I really hate this job.
But now he was not my priority at the moment. I am and always will be a father first. "How is she?" Josh's eyes were fixed on the startled face of Ruby's new husband. The rest of the pack was about to get the news now. But first things first, "Josh!"
The muzzle swung back to my scowling face. He lowered his nose with shame. *We did not get close enough to see much. But from what we can see, she appears to be far along in the change. With Luke to push her along...*
I think I must have breathed a sigh of relief. My greatest fear had always been that my little girl would change. But after I knew that she would... I just want her to be okay. Marie would understand. She would want her little girl to be healthy and alive.
"She'll be fine," V said as she touched my arm. I hadn't even heard her approach from behind. "Luke would never allow anything to happen to her."
"I don't think Luke has any say in what her body will allow her to do," I wanted to pace the room but knew that that would be a waste of energy and did nothing to help. "Josh, get the rest to back off. I'll let Luke do this thing to get her through it. The minute there is any distress on Sophia part, I want to know about it. Make sure you keep an eye on her progress. I want to know the minute she makes the complete transition."
A quick nod and the wolf was gone.
It was going to be a long wait for me tonight.
"Um... excuse me," Kanin peeped up with a quick wave of his hand. I turned and was still startled at those yellow eyes staring back at me. "Could someone please explain to me what the hell is going on in this crazy full-moon-year-round town? And Ruby, don't you dare put me off this time."
I sighed. Perhaps it was time. If nothing else, it'll keep my mind off what Luke and Sophia is doing out there in the woods. Oh Marie, watch out for our little girl tonight. She will need your prayers and mine.
~~~~~~~~~~
-Ruby's POV-
Am I scared? Yes. Am I terrified? Yes. Am I afraid that I will lose everything? Yes. Did I think it was all worth it for him? You better believe it.
I love him. There was never any doubt in my mind that I loved every fiber of him. But that still did nothing to elevate the fear in my heart as I watch him listen in stunned silence at what Sheriff Donner had to say to him.
Shock would be a good word to describe John right now. Horrified? Maybe. Disbelieving? Definitely. Until the mirror was brought up to his face and he saw for himself. There was no mistaken those glowing eyes, the same as what he had seen on Sophia not too long before.
To be completely honest, I don't think his surprise was any more than mine. Seeing him with eyes that I've come to hate when staring at myself in the mirror, it scared me. Not that I was afraid of John; he would never hurt anyone. I was afraid that he would have to go through the horror of knowing that your life no longer belong to you, that you were something of a whole and can never be anything else.
John loves his freedom like no man I've known. He lives with this openness that first drew me to him. How can we confine such a free spirit?
"So you're saying that one my parents may have been..."
"There is no maybes here, Kanin," Donner interrupted with a firm shake of his head. "It's in the blood. You don't show signs unless you have the blood. And plus, Sherman is right, you look enough like your father that we should have figured it out sooner without the old bastard playing game with us all."
The lines on Donner's face were etched with concern. He was no doubt as concern for John as I am. With him showing signs of the change in such a late stage in life... Oh please, don't let this be happening, not to him, not to us, not when we've come so far...
Silence fell as John tried to work it all out in his mind. For a man of science and logic, this was putting him to his limits. I put my arms around, resting my hand on his shoulder, and offered him my support, like a good wife is suppose to do, and realized that I was shaking. John turned and looked me in the eyes, and I allowed him to see me as I am. I watched as the surprise came to him and saw the reflection of myself in his eyes.
It may be that something akin to fear showed in my face. It may be that he simply knew me better than I thought. It may be that he needed the assurance as much as I did. But John always did know how to make me feel safe again. Leaning in, he touched his lips to my knuckle for the briefest of contacts. "I love you."
And my heart melted into a puddle somewhere in the region of my feet. I could feel the tears gather. Did I really doubt him? Did I really doubt his love for me? "John, we're going to get through this."
"Was there any other alternative that I should have known about?" he asked tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear. His calloused fingertips brushed against my temple and I shiver with memories of long nights in bed. "Tell me what happens now?"
"Sherman should be here," V interjected logically.
I nodded my head. "He's our Keeper here. We need to ask him what will happen. There hasn't ever been a case of a latent transformation, at least none that I'm aware of." I wanted to tell him about the dangers, about what he may be...
"And the graves?" He must have seen my intent. I have to remind myself that he's a cop, and cops see more than most. "The ones with all those teenagers?"
Donner leaned over the table and grabbed Kanin's hand for a moment. "Most that transform after sixteen don't make it. The human body rejects that change and they...they get stuck between."
"What happens to those that get stuck?" he asked, probably already knowing the answer.
Donner was watching the window again, probably worried about his child, the one that may become stuck. I couldn't tell him, I was too afraid of... something. Vivian came to my recrue, taking the burden onto her own shoulders. "When the body rejects it, the person's human and wolf side battles for control. The body eats itself. It's a very slow and 'painful' death."
John was watching V with those glittering eyes. "That night in the hospital, when So... when someone called me about a girl that was there. She was stuck, wasn't she? You and your late husband was there to... 'help?'" The question there didn't phase V. "I don't buy it. What were you doing..." The consequences and the Alpha's role in the clan finally set in. "You 'help' them along, don't you? End the pain."
Vivian nodded cooling. My stepmother wasn't going to defend her position, not when she knew it's right. "Willard hated that part of his duties. It hurt him more than it hurt the parents sometimes."
John nodded slowly. "I don't doubt that." He turned to Donner. "Sophia..."
"Will be fine," the sheriff turned and watched the night, his eyes glowing in the dark room. None of us had bothered to turn on the light. "My daughter will be fine."
"And if she's not?" Why John was asking the hard questions, I'm not sure. But the look in Donner's eye was enough of an answer. "I see. Okay then." He looked around. "So where's the wily shaman of yours?"
"Ours, John," I corrected him softly, turning his attention to me. "Ours. You are part of this pack when you married me. And now that you've... You're one of us. Sherman welcomed you home, remember?"
He nodded slowly, almost bitterly. "Like I can forget!"
I wanted to take the hurt in his eyes away. I wanted to say something that will reassure him the same way he always seem to reassure me. I wanted to do something, anything except sit here feeling completely helpless and useless.
The footsteps on the steps captured our attention.
Donner got up as the gray wolf emerged from the shadows. "What is it?"
*Sophia is coming.*
TBC....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
R&R, please.
