Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to it's owner. I only own my myriad of OCs and the plot.
October 31st, 2014-
Today was a big day for Moira. Not only was she now a multimillionaire, she was leaving for a meeting between Alphas in Western Pennsylvania. There were only a few; Moira, Annalia, Baron Wolfgang, an Alpha in Tionesta named Rupert, one in Erie named Eric, and one in Altoona named Farrow. Of course, it wasn't just Alphas that were going to be there. Annalia was taking Diederick as he was her Mate, Pierre as he was her Second, Dierdre as she was her Heir, and Sebastian because he was the future second to Dierdre. Annabelle was staying home to watch the kids and make sure nothing happened with the rest of the non-family pack.
Right now, though, her Aunt and Uncle were having a cook-out for Halloween and also to take advantage of one of the last nice days of the year. She'd already told her Aunt and Uncle that she was moving out after staying with them for several months, supposedly having made enough money to put down on a house. They'd been surprisingly understanding, thank goodness, and were excited for her taking the next step in her life. Moira was doubly excited because her favorite cousin was going to be here, and she hadn't seen him in almost 5 years.
David Kowalski was a big man. He'd been an Army Ranger before separating from the military, where he immediately found himself a job amongst the ranks of the Secret Service. After several years working to protect the President, he'd quietly quit his job and moved to Florida, where he found work heading a task force with the DEA to catch drug smugglers coming in from Cuba and Latin America. He'd done it to spend more time with his family, only for his wife to cheat on him several years later. If there was one person in her family that she thought might know about the supernatural, it was him, because of his close work with the President.
Her theory was proven true when, all throughout the party, she could feel his eyes on her. He was studying her, watching her movements with the calculating expression of a professional. She was in the kitchen, getting another drink when he walked in and closed the door to the deck behind him.
"What happened?" He asked, arms crossed over his chest. Moira didn't even try to beat around the bush. "I was attacked last full moon."
He let out an explosive sigh, reaching a hand up to pinch at the bridge of his nose. "Miles McMurphy?" He asked, prompting a surprised look from her.
"How did you know?" Moira watched him suspiciously as he took a seat at the island, taking a long pull from his beer.
"We keep an eye on persons of interest. There was concern that he would act... irrationally after the deaths of his family," he said, gesturing towards her with his free hand. She nodded, having suspected he wasn't as out of the game as he made it seem. "So... what're you going to do about it?" She asked, watching as he leveled a serious gaze on her.
"I'm going to protect you."
Two hours later she walked out of his hotel bathroom, clipping on her left earring. She'd bought a beautiful black Marchesca lace and tulle gown that fit her figure as perfectly as it could, not being tailored. Her hair was naturally curled, falling down over her shoulders in waves while her bangs were swept across her forehead over her right eye, curling back slightly at her temples. Her make-up was simple; eyeliner, mascara, a little eye shadow, clear lip gloss, and a beautiful matching choker and earring set that were silver with emeralds set into them. A simple silver hair comb secured the sides of her hair that were pulled back, just below the crown of her head.
Uncle David had on a very well cut three piece Armani suit, which made Moira wonder just how much money he made.
"I always bring this with me, just in case," he informed her at seeing her raised brow and impressed expression. She wordlessly handed him the matching tie, which was now saturated in her scent (better safe than sorry). He grimaced as he put it on. "You scented this, didn't you." She just smiled at him, grabbing up her little black Chanel clutch, the heels of her black Louboutin's clicking on the tile in front of the hotel room door. It was amazing what one could buy and get express shipped on the internet.
Thankfully, this years gathering was graciously hosted by the Baron Wolfgang. He'd rented out a medium sized room at the Double Tree hotel, and had it tastefully decorated in a Halloween theme.
Moira had not met the man yet, but she had to admit he had style. Though that opinion was tarnished when she actually saw him for the first time.
He was surrounded by what could only be a posse, which mostly consisted of big, brutish looking men and scantily clad women. A whiff of the air in that direction informed her that most of those girls were not, in fact, any sort of shifter, but human. It made her wonder just why they were here, except to maybe make him look better. David scoffed lowly under his breath beside her, before straightening up, suddenly alert. Moira felt the familiar presence behind her and smiled, gracefully turning around and bidding her Uncle to do the same.
"Annalia! Dierdre! How wonderful you two look tonight! And these barbarians clean up real nice, too!" She exclaimed, genuinely excited to see them.
Annalia and Dierdre had dressed much in the same fashion Moira had; of course, it'd been those two who'd advised her on what she should wear. Annalia was wearing a flattering deep purple Vera Wang gown with silver accents and matching jewelry, while Dierdre had gone the daring route and chosen a blood red Yves Saint Laurent number with matching Louboutin's and tarnished silver jewelry with large rubies inlaid in it.
The men all had on tailored Versace, Armani, and Louis Vuitton tuxedos, while Diederick had a purple bow tie to match his wife and Sebastian had on a blood red thin tie to match his sister. Pierre had on a plain black bow tie, already looking bored and slightly disgusted. No one said anything, they didn't need to. Besides, insulting the host would be bad form no matter how much of a fool he was making himself look.
"I'd like to introduce you all to my cousin, David Kowalski. Uncle David, this is my good friend Annalia Loup, Alpha of the Loup Pack," she said formally, stepping back with a slight bow so they could greet each other. They clasped forearms with Annalia giving a slight nod of her head, while David gave a much deeper nod to show his respect. As was custom, Annalia was the one who introduced the members of her pack.
"David, this is my mate Diederick du Commefou, my second, Pierre du Loup, my heir, Dierdre du Loup, and my heir's future second, Sebastian du Loup. We are pleased to make your acquaintance," Annalia said carefully, not completely understanding why he was here. Moira smiled reassuringly to her before saying, "My Uncle David is former Secret Service." That was enough for them to relax slightly. It'd been suspected for years that the highest levels of government were aware of their existence, just never proven. Until now obviously. Suddenly, Pierre's expression went curiously blank as he obviously noted something behind her.
"Ah! The Loup's! Glad you could make it tonight," said a smarmy voice, practically dripping with fakeness. David twitched slightly, as no matter his training he was still human, but at least his heartbeat didn't jump. The rest of them fixed their faces with polite smiles as they turned to the disturbance.
It was, of course, Baron Wolfgang. None of the other guests were as sleezy as he was. If Moira'd seen him on the street when she was still human, she'd have thought he was quite attractive. He was tall, with tan skin, full lips, and a stylishly cut head of brown hair. He had blue eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled and a chiseled jawline that you could cut diamond on.
That said, he also reeked of false pleasantry. His suit was off of a rack, and he wore a clunky knock off Rolex on his wrist. Clearly he'd intimidated someone to set this up for him, because he looked like he could barely afford boxed wine, never mind the Dom Perignon cooling in ice buckets on the refreshments table.
"And who is this? I've never seen you around here before, and believe me, I would've remembered. Baron Wolfgang, at your service," he said as he snatched up Moira's hand, laying a kiss on the back of it before she could stop him. She gently but firmly removed her hand from his, mindful of the posse behind him and the other guests who'd stopped to watch, no doubt wondering the same thing.
"I am Alpha Moira von Albrecht, Alpha Wolfgang. Accompanying me is my cousin, Special Agent David Kowalski," she stated coolly, watching as his face betrayed first his shock, and then the barely concealed fury.
One of the things that Moira had made doubly sure to check on after she inherited McMurphy's fortune was the Territory and Inheritance Laws. One subsection of this was what was basically a grandfather law. It helped in this situation in a very major way.
Baron Wolfgang controlled most of Allegheny County, which fortunately did not included Sewickley Heights, but bordered it heavily. This would have normally made it close to impossible for another Alpha to own property there without the current Alpha's knowledge. However, Miles McMurphy's father was a genius, and he had directed his son to buy strategically placed properties in the Americas at the end of a regime- aka when the current Alpha of an area was either going to die naturally, or was about to be ousted. To do this, they gave a gift to said Alpha, usually in monetary form, to do with as they wished and got permission to buy and use that property whenever they wanted for the rest of time, no matter who was current Alpha and would face no penalties for it. It was a loophole in the Law, but it was legal nonetheless. And because it was legal, Moira would face no retribution for living there permanently, even though it was technically close enough to another Alpha's Territory as to assume it was a Declaration of Intent, which basically meant the intent to start a Territory War.
Eventually she had designs to take over all of Allegheny County as well, but she needed to build up a support base and a pack before that happened.
Therefore, seeing his poorly disguised fury was particularly satisfying, especially since Annalia had confided that he was going to Claim the Heights as his territory, something he couldn't do without inciting Miles McMurphy's wrath. Like a foreign embassy, those homes were considered the property of whichever Alpha owned them, and the area around it neutral. Several Alpha's had had homes in the Heights before selling for whatever reason. Miles was the only one left, and when he'd died without an heir it seemed like no one would inherit. Then along came Moira, who very happily messed up Baron Wolfgang's plans.
"It's... a pleasure to meet you, Alpha Albrecht. Please, enjoy the party," Wolfgang said, not so discretely hurrying away from her lest he make a bigger fool of himself. Moira turned back to the Loup's, noticing their amused faces and offered one of her own.
After that little display, the night went off without a hitch. The rest of the Alphas and their pack members were very nice, if a little aloof. That probably had something to do with Moira, Annalia and Diederick's personal political acumen more than anything.
By far, Annalia and Baron Wolfgang were the most powerful Alphas west of State College physically, with both having quite a large and varied amount of members. Politically, however, Annalia and Moira had quite a bit more power due to their heritage.
The Loup's and the Commefou's were very prominent shifter families in France, somewhat akin to Royalty. Annalia's grandfather Pierre was a younger son of the main line of Loup's who'd come to America seeking new fortunes. He'd risen to Alpha when a local wolf had become jealous of his presence and the deference shown to him by the other wolves, despite his only being a beta, and attacked him. Obviously, Pierre had won, and started his own pack which quickly rose to prominence on the eastern seaboard.
Annalia had met Diederick Commefou while attending the wedding of a cousin in France. He was a younger son of a branch family, so when her wolf identified him as a potential mate, neither family had had any problem with a union if it came to it. They were actually quite thrilled, because the Commefou's and Loup's hadn't intermarried in centuries, and the union, while not of the main line, was celebrated.
On the other hand, the Albrecht's were a very prominent but somewhat secluded shifter pack in Germany. After a mysterious attack that nearly decimated the family in the 1600's, their paranoia had grown to very high levels which lead to the pack nearly stagnating especially in the last century with the wars. If it weren't for Moira's ancestor leaving, the family would probably have wasted away into either obscurity or died out from inbreeding. The act of her ancestor, Archibald Albrecht, leaving had spurred his older brother, Josef, to go out and see the world.
What he'd discovered was a large amount of shifters displaced and disorganized from WWI. Bringing them into the family was what catapulted them back into the upper echelons of shifter society. Because of their tendency to seclude themselves, however, the family hadn't spread to many other countries like the Loup's did. They tended to stay around the area of Germany, with some in Austria, Luxembourg and some in Eastern Europe and the Scandinavian countries. Therefore, while Annalia had cousins spread from Maine to Florida and all over Eurasia, the Albrecht's did not have a foothold in the Americas. Until Moira, that is.
The other Alphas were not very politically inclined, which was another reason for their aloofness. They were content with their businesses and their small but cohesive packs. It was commendable, but ultimately not something Moira would ever consider.
When they left for the night, bidding polite goodbyes to their host and the other Alphas, Moira turned to Annalia and said, "One more thing before we leave, I was wondering if you could send me any information you have on packs in LA? If there are any, that is. I was planning on flying my family out there sometime after New Year's to go shopping."
She was slightly concerned when Annalia blankly stared at her for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. The other's, including David, were also very amused but didn't say anything. Annalia quickly calmed herself before saying, "Yeah, yes, I'll send you everything I know about the packs out that way," before walking away, occasionally chuckling to herself. Moira turned confused eyes to David, but he just shook his head with a smile before leading her to the car.
When they arrived back at the hotel, Moira noticed that the room smelled of strange men and all of her boxes, full of the stuff she was moving to the Heights house that David had insisted she bring, were gone. Before she could work herself into a rage, David said, "Relax, I just had some people take your things to your new house. Here, here's a keycard to the room next door. You can stay here tonight. No use going over there now when it's all dark."
He handed her the keycard, which she took with bemusement before bidding him goodnight. Just as she reached her door, she heard her Uncle Davey say, "Oh, there's a continental breakfast too," which made her chuckle, but also made her extremely glad at least one member of her family knew about her situation and supported her. She was still terrified of the reactions she would get from them whenever she got around to telling them.
When she got inside, she realized there was a duffel bag on her bed with a pair of sweats, a t-shirt, an extra set of clothes for tomorrow, and toiletries. There was also her favorite pair of BCBGeneration leather boots beside the bed. She made a mental note to find out who put these here and send them a gift basket or something.
Slipping off her shoes and unzipping her dress, she traipsed into the standard hotel bathroom with her toothbrush and face wash. After hanging up her dress, she did her nightly routine before returning to the bedroom. She turned down the bed, grabbed her phone and phone charger, and climbed in. She fell asleep that night with odd dreams about a desert and a baby.
And all the light that you possess, is skewed by lakes and seas~
November 1st, 2014-
The next morning dawned bright and early. Moira practically jumped out of bed to get the day started. She hopped in the shower after doing her morning ablutions, going through the motions while her mind was far away.
She'd only seen the Heights House in pictures, so she knew vaguely what to expect. The Colonial style house had 7 bedrooms, 6 ½ baths, a pool, a gigantic kitchen, a family room, and a den. It was all decorated in outdated furnishings, but the woodwork was incredible and the architecture was beautiful. She'd have to hire an interior decorator soon.
Moira got out of the shower, dried off, and got dressed in the provided black Paige Edmont jeans, vest top, black and white plaid button up, and her boots. She put on a black knit infinity scarf and silver studded black knit beret, stuffing her fingerless leather driving gloves into her Chanel backpack purse and packing her dirty clothes into the duffel. She had timed it so when she was ready, Uncle Davey would be just walking out the door. She smiled brightly at him, hitched her purse over her shoulders and followed him into the elevator.
The continental breakfast was disgusting. Moira ended up getting a fruit cup because she could actually smell the foul chemicals in all of the food. Even the fruit cup was tainted, but she pushed through by sheer force of will. She hadn't noticed how gross she now found a lot of food as her aunt and uncle had a tendency to eat healthy, and since she'd started buying the meat, there hadn't been any processed foodstuff in the house. She wrinkled her nose at David, happily munching on bacon that contained very little, if any, actual bacon in it.
When they were done, David gestured her out towards the parking lot.
"All of our stuff is already in the car," he said with a mysterious smile. Moira let him have his moment, having noticed the two suit-clad men carrying their things out a half hour ago.
"What is it that you do exactly? I can't imagine a grunt would have minions like you do," she joked, smirking at his eyeroll.
"That's classified," he said blandly, but by the way his heart jumped, she knew it was a lie.
"Liar liar pants on fire!" Moira sang out, using overly dramatic jazz hands to illustrate her point. David side-eyed her, looking slightly concerned for her mental health, before getting in the car. "They gave you claws and fangs and millions of dollars?"
Moira fake-pouted, crossing her arms petulantly over her seat-belt. "I'll have you know that I am the picture of sophistication and maturity. I'm just really excited to see the house."
They chatted idly on the 15 minute drive, the GPS droning in the background every once in a while. Finally, the reached the long drive and turned onto it. It took about a minute for them to reach the house, and Moira was very impressed.
The exterior was a brown and gray stone with a terra cotta colored tile roof. White columns held up the front porch roof, while the front porch itself was wide with dark wood flooring. The drive came up beside the house, leading to a covered side entrance and continued back to an ivy covered stone garage. From there, you could see the back courtyard, the covered pool, and pool house, all covered with fallen leaves that hadn't been cleaned up yet. David didn't bother to pull back that far, stopping just outside the side entrance. Moira leaped from the car as soon as it was in park, forgoing the side entrance. She wanted to see what guests would see when they came in through the front door.
The entrance hall was just as beautiful as she thought it'd be. It was completely paneled in wood with wood flooring. Moira didn't like the decorations, already thinking about what she'd like to replace them with. It continued this way throughout the house: Moira absolutely loving the architecture but hating the décor. Unfortunately, the master bedroom was one of the ugliest in the house; she didn't know what possessed McMurphy to have floral print everywhere, but the master bathroom more than made up for it.
Since the master bedroom and bathroom were in the attic, the ceilings were vaulted, leading to a fairly open floor plan. Off to one side, a small door led into a huge walk in closet with enough room for 4 people's clothes. The carpeting was ugly, but underneath it the wood flooring was in good shape. There was a stone fireplace on one side with room for a small sitting area in front of it.
Beyond there, a door led into an absolutely massive bathroom. The white marble tub was as large as a king-sized bed, with white columns attached to the ceiling like a four-poster bed. There was a his-hers white marble topped vanity to the right side, and on the left, continuing the marble theme, there was a rainfall shower cubicle. All of the fixtures were gold plated, glinting off of the light. It was like heaven.
All of her boxes had been moved up here, set by the closet door. It was slightly creepy, and it annoyed Moira's wolf that strange men had been in her territory without her permission. The house also faintly smelled of the McMurphy family, though it was dulled, as if it'd been a long while since they'd been here. Well, after the interior designer came, she planned to change that!
Thankfully, all of the utilities were turned on, including wifi and DirecTv or she'd have gone insane. She plugged in her laptop in the office downstairs, synced it to the printer, and started searching for interior designers while David roamed around, poking and prodding at various things.
"Hey Moira, have you seen some of these books? This must've been part of his private collection," he said as he was browsing some old, leather bound books on the shelves in the office. She got up, coming over to look. Picking one up, she started reading through it, eyes widening in recognition.
"This book's a treatise on the Homo felinus subspecies Homo panthera onca, or the werejaguar," she said in awe. It was an old book, handwritten and dated in the 1830's.
"This one's about werelions," David said, equally awed. They both looked at the books with a new light.
"I have to find out if the other houses have these as well," Moira decided. "Do you know how valuable this information is? It can't just lay around like it's been for who knows how long."
"No way," David breathed, having picked up another of the books.
"What is it?" Moira asked curiously, peeking over his shoulder. "'The Originals and Their History: As Told By A Childe by Monroe McMurphy, 1598.' Who're the Originals? And what's a childe?"
"Vampires. The Original Vampire Family. A childe in this case would mean a vampire personally created by one of the Originals," David said, still stunned. Moira was intrigued because vampires? Seriously? But she had bigger things to worry about right now. Besides, only the title was written in English, the rest of it was in Gaelic, which she decidedly did not know.
Going back to her computer, she printed out the list she'd come up with. After calling around and settling on one to come in one week, she hung up, surprised to see her Uncle Davey still enthralled with the book in his hands, now sitting in one of the comfortable chairs in the corner.
"You read Gaelic?" Moira asked, bemused. "I speak and read several languages," he replied vaguely, flipping the page. Rolling her eyes, she pulled up the number of a local pizza place that delivered, rattling off her address before hanging up. Seeing that David was still immersed, she went upstairs to start unpacking. A lot of these clothes would be given away because they no longer fit or to make room for the new wardrobe she was surely going to be getting sometime soon.
November 6th, 2014
Tonight was the full moon, the first one since she'd been turned. She'd woken up way too early today, the feeling of something in the air keeping her from sleeping later. She'd made a cup of soothing herbal tea which did nothing, gone for a run which only seemed to make her more hyper, sat down and tried to read one of the large tomes in her library which only succeeded in making her frustrated because she read a single line 8 times before giving up.
Uncle Dave was highly amused at her predicament. Moira knew that she'd been (over)confident the last month about her control, but right now she felt like she'd go insane. His knowing little smirk only irritated her more, so she hopped in her car with her overnight bag, speeding off towards Washington. Annalia would know what to do.
Apparently, Annalia was a sadist. Her idea of working off the full moon jitters was to spar, so she'd set Moira up with a 30-something werecheetah named Margo. She'd started off by testing Moira's skill, harshly, before settling down and teaching her a little. The woman seemed pleased that Moira was a quick study, ending the session with another spar, which wasn't as humiliating as the first one.
When the full moon came around, though, Moira was instantly glad that the Loup's compound was exactly that; a completely fenced area with 20 foot high electrified metal walls and enough security to make the President jealous. She'd initially argued with Annalia about keeping her confined from the rest of the Loup pack, but she saw now what a good idea it was.
She went crazy for the first hour, Annalia later told her. Annalia had tried to get her under control by using her family's mantra- vivre, combattre, mourir, but it didn't help at all. It wasn't until Annalia had her pinned on the ground, snarling and thrashing, to find the words that calmed her down, the same words she'd used a month ago on the beach when her aunt had annoyed her- 'Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. '
Annalia had made her keep repeating it over and over until she'd finally reverted back to human form. She'd limped back to the house, supported by Annalia, only to collapse on the first available seat she could find, bruised and bloody. There was an important lesson in humility to be learned here, and it was a hard pill to swallow for Moira, who had been convinced she was invincible ever since getting the Bite.
November 8th, 2014
Today was Moira's brother Shiloah's birthday. Since the interior decorator and her team had kicked her and Uncle Dave out earlier this morning, Moira had spent the past 3 hours scouring all over for a present he'd like. She'd been dead tired yesterday from the full moon and the beatdown she'd received, so now she only had 3 hours left before she had to be at his mother's house for his party. Uncle Dave was watching, highly amused, as she nearly tore her hair out in frustration. A watch wouldn't work, she didn't know what style of clothes he liked, and he'd gotten over his fascination with birds like 3 years ago. What the hell could she get him?
"Why not get him a car?" David asked, mostly sarcastic, and groaned as a light lit up in Moira's eyes. "Yes! That's perfect! Actually, I think I'll get everyone cars for their birthday!"
The car salesman was bewildered when the young woman dressed in designer clothes practically stormed into the dealership and demanded he show her all of their compact cars.
She ended up getting him a nice silver 2014 BMW 320i sedan with a black leather interior. She drove off the lot $43,000 lighter, but she couldn't wait to see the look on his mother's face when she tossed him the keys.
It was delightful. Shiloah nearly cried tears of joy, while Isley looked excited to get her own, and their mother looked like she'd sucked on a lemon.
"Only one condition, Shy, and she's yours," Moira said with a smirk, before leaning in. "You change your last name from Cutling-Albrecht to just Albrecht."
"Done," was all he said, making grabby hands for the keys. She chuckled and handed them over, accepted his crushing hug, and watched him and Isley go to circle it reverently.
"Why did you do that? You must know he can't afford to pay for it," Tara, their mother, snidely said. Moira blinked innocently at her once with a sweet smile before saying, "Oh, didn't you know? I won the lottery," she lied. The expression on the harpy's face was beautiful.
That week they stayed at a hotel, as the decorators wouldn't be done with the massive house for a few days. When she went home, she was very much pleased at the work the decorators had done. Everything was now more modern, but still extremely classy. She nearly cried when she saw her bedroom, which was bathed in golds and greens and was truly beautiful. Her bathroom was absolutely gorgeous as well, with shimmering gold and black drapes and a black and gold chaise lounge against one wall.
Uncle Davey was pleased with his room as well, done in masculine browns and greens with a plush brown carpet underneath the four-poster bed. "You planning on moving in permanently or what?" Moira joked, watching him unpack a couple of boxes that had come out of nowhere. "Yup," he replied cheerily. "I got a good job offer at the FBI Field Office in Pittsburgh, and this house is big enough for the two of us." Moira just shrugged, because honestly, she thought the house was too big for just one person. Now to convince Emilia and Micah to move in...
The shattered surface, so imperfect, is all that you believe~
November 13th, 2014~
Moira struggled to contain her fear. Her wrists ached from where they were chained to the wall, chafing and bleeding from some viscous mixture of wolfsbane that the shackles were coated in. She didn't know how long they'd been here, all she knew was that most of her family was locked in a cage in the corner, forced to watch as she was tortured by insane hunters that were convinced she was raising an army to do something nefarious with. She grit her teeth in pain as an electric current flowed through her body and she clenched her fists, determined not to let her family find out what she was like this.
Earlier-
Moira smiled as she got out of the car, waving as her nephew came running towards her. They were all meeting up at a place that catered to kids that Elias and Novalee loved. She was just about to scoop him up when several large black vans screeched to a halt, surrounding them. Immediately Moira placed herself in between Elias and the closest van but could do nothing more than open her mouth when she was hit with a dart of some kind that instantly knocked her out.
"Show them, demon! Show the people you've been deceiving into thinking you're their family what you really are!" Yelled the leader, pushing the modified stun gun into her flank. She let out a loud yell, the first sound that she'd made since she'd been captured. Elias gave out a frightened wail and Moira did her best to keep from shifting at the sound of one of her pack in distress. The hunter growled in frustration, stalking over to the cage and unlocking it before ripping the door open and grabbing Elias by the arm, pointing his gun at Emilia's head when she lurched forwards to try and stop him. He didn't get more than three steps away when two things happened in quick succession- one, Uncle Dave burst into the room with two other men, shouting at the hunters to drop their weapons and get on the ground and two, Moira found a hidden well of rage inside of her at Elias' rough handling and ripped out of the shackles, grabbing onto the young boy and flinging the hunter into the concrete wall hard enough to break bone. She swept Elias up into her arms and he clung to her, not even frightened at her shifted face before she was tackled by both Emilia and Micah holding onto her and Elias while babbling about having known what was going on with her for a while now and thanking her for saving Elias.
The background noise faded out as Moira breathed in their scents, calming and grounding her enough that she stopped the unconscious growl that was rumbling in her chest anytime one of the agents got too close. A hand on her shoulder made her look up and seeing her dad's face she finally broke down, the pain and fear from the past hours (days?) taking it's toll on her body and mind. She slipped into blessed unconsciousness, only the feeling of her pack and safety allowing her to do so.
When she woke up again it was morning and she was in her bed. There were other people in the room, the soft murmurs of her family talking and deep breathing indicating that they'd mostly all stayed despite what they'd learned about her yesterday. She'd feared that they would think of her as a monster or worse when they found out, which is why she'd put off telling them as long as she could. Of course events would force her hand on the matter, not even allowing her to choose when and how to do it.
Well, as the saying went, make plans and God will laugh at them. If there even was a God, and if she even had the right to think His name after what she'd done.
Moira opened her eyes, blinking at the bright rays of sunshine streaming in through her windows. A glance to the side showed Emilia curled up with Elias and Novalee on the bed beside her, one hand stretched out to curl around Moira's bicep in a surprisingly strong grip. Gently Moira pulled her arm away and moved the hand to wrap around Em's children instead. She sat up and five pairs of eyes snapped to her instantly, roving over her figure to assess her injuries or lack-thereof. Werewolf healing really was a blessing.
Nanna Anna stood up from her seat in the dark green armchair, sitting down on the edge of the bed while Moira watched her, sad and a little bit wary. All Anna did was brush a hand across her forehead, the now familiar feeling of something sliding over her senses. Annalia had told her this happened with any supernatural, that feeling of kinship to something other when they met. It hadn't explained why she felt that with her Nanna but Moira had given up thinking anything in her life was normal the moment she saw her red eyes in the mirror.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Nanna said, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as she looked over Moira's face. Moira just looked at her, her expression saying everything that she couldn't say, didn't want to put out there and poison the air with her insecurities. "Oh, Moira, I'd never think of you like that."
"Where's Aunt Meri and Uncle Daniel?" Moira asked pointedly, nodding when Nanna's eyes flicked to the side, her lips pursing in anger. "That's why, Nanna."
"You know how she is," her dad said conversationally but Moira could smell the disappointment curling through his scent. "Anytime her worldview is knocked around she becomes hysterical and unable to cope. Dan said to give her some time. She loves you but she can't fit this new facet of information into her perfect world."
Moira closed her eyes and breathed, the scent of pack washing over her and calming her hurt. These ones, at least, accepted her for who and what she was. She wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Who all knows?" She asked, almost dreading the answer and sighing when Theo said, "Everyone, honey. Your mum was beside herself with worry, having sensed that something was wrong. We had to tell her. She's waiting anxiously to talk to you."
"I'll talk to her when I talk to everyone else. Thanksgiving. You have to let me have time to prepare, okay?" Moira said, fingers picking at the comforter in worry.
"You have all the time in the world, sweetie. We'll let everyone know to give you space, alright?" Nanna said, leaning in and giving her a kiss on the forehead before wrapping her in a bone crushing hug.
"Thank you," Moira whispered, wrapping her arms around the elderly woman and just breathing past her panic and sadness.
November 27th, 2014- Thanksgiving
Moira had insisted that Thanksgiving be held at her house this year. She'd gotten up early, handed Uncle Dave a shopping list and kicked him out of the house. By the time he returned, she'd already decorated the entire first floor with fall themed items and candles. She practically mauled him when he walked in the side entrance near the kitchen, taking every bag out of his hands easily before handing him another list of outside work to do. He sighed and complied with only a few grumbles.
This year, because there were so many people coming, there were 2 nice-sized turkeys. Moira prepared them her favorite way- poultry herb butter rubbed on the outside with quartered lemons, oranges, and an onion inside in a roasting bag with 2 cups of water. Turkeys out of the way, she once again ventured through the house to check that Mr. Meow hadn't knocked anything over or accidentally caught himself on fire (he was a neurotic black and white Persian who was known to do stuff like that).
Satisfied, she checked on Uncle Dave's progress to find he'd already swept the front porch, hung up the autumn wreaths and set out the pumpkins, and was working on sucking up all of the leaves in the front yard. They'd leafblowered the patio and pool area yesterday so that was already done. Happy that everything was going to plan, she went upstairs to shower and change.
An hour later she emerged from her room dressed in the outfit she'd bought specifically for this occasion. It was a brown pleated silk calf-length dress with an embroidered cream bodice, a long golden cardigan, and over-the-knee brown leather riding boots. Her hair was down and curled with a golden fern headband holding back her bangs. She had hanging vine shaped earrings, a golden leaf and bronze arrow cuff bracelets and matching golden rings.
When she got to the kitchen, she laid the cardigan over the back of a barstool and started taking out the ingredients for her freshly homemade apple and pumpkin pies and green bean casserole. She was just starting them when Uncle Dave walked in, greeting her as he went upstairs to get changed.
When he came back downstairs, she was just putting the finishing touches on the pumpkin pie and was about to start the green bean casserole. She immediately put him on mashed potato duty, waving him towards the two giant pots of boiling potatoes. They finished around the same time, with Moira asking him to set up the serving tables and telling him that the brown and bronze table linens were in the washroom.
Moira was supremely glad that the house came with double stacked ovens like Paula Deen had. Each oven held a turkey with enough rack space underneath for the casserole dish and both pies.
20 minutes later, the pies were done and her dad had arrived. Uncle Dave answered the door and ushered him in, taking his coat and hanging it up. Moira was still in the kitchen, transferring everything to the golden serving dishes she'd bought.
"Hey sweetheart," Theo said as he walked in. "Hey dad," Moira said, smiling at him in relief. "Everything good?"
"Of course," he said, "you've really got a beautiful place. I didn't get to appreciate it as much the last time I was here."
"Thanks," Moira said with a smile.
People continued to trickle in after that, Moira's mother coming with the four kids, then Nanna and Pappa, Emilia, Micah, Elias and Novalee pulling up in 2 cars. Shiloah and Isley showed up about 5 minutes later in his new car, Amanda pulling up a minute later. Her aunt and uncle were the last ones there, looking surprised and impressed at the house but a little wary all the same.
"Hey guys, let me get your coats. The dining room and den are down the hall on the left and right respectively, and there's appetizers and drinks if you want," Moira said with a small smile, completely unprepared for the bone-crushing hug she got from her aunt.
"I'm so sorry sweetie, I didn't mean to freak out. I was just surprised and confused is all," Meredith said tearfully, Daniel putting his hand on her shoulder in support. Now that she was so close to her aunt, Moira could faintly smell... something, like clouds maybe? She'd never noticed it on her aunt before, only on her Nanna but it intrigued and concerned her. Pushing the thought away, she hugged her aunt back. "It's alright, I know it's a shock. How do you think I felt?" Moira replied, pulling back to look at her properly. "Come on, everyone's waiting on you two! Don't want the food to get cold."
Dinner that night was nice, compared to some family dinners over the years. The turkey was all practically gone which saddened Uncle Dave especially, because turkey leftovers were the best. Before anyone could get up from the table, Moira clinked her knife against her wineglass (judiciously sprinkled with the wolfsbane extract she'd been experimenting with; it was stronger than the powder).
"Can I have everyone's attention please? I promise that I don't have anymore life altering news, just a few things to say. First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for coming today. It really means a lot to me and Uncle Dave that you could join us here. Secondly, I have a gift for Aunt Meri for her birthday," she said, pulling out a manila envelope and passing it down the table to her. She took it curiously, opening the tab and upending it. A set of keys plopped into her hand, which she stared at wide-eyed. Reaching back into the envelope, she pulled out several sheets of paper, eyes widening as she read them all.
"You got me a brand new ML400 and bought and paid off all of our debts," she whispered, Daniel's eyes widening and reading the papers over her shoulder.
"Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks, and I wanted to thank you for everything you've ever done for me. I know that when you took me in we thought it was going to be for a year, because no one could ever anticipate something like this happening, but I wanted to thank you anyway," Moira said before continuing. "You're all not only my family, you're my pack. Pack means everything to a shifter; a pack only works by utilizing and recognizing every member's strengths and weaknesses. A pack is an anchor for a wolf, one that keeps them from going feral. The Omega wolves, the lone wolves, they never last long before becoming violent and going insane and having to be put down either by shifters themselves or from hunters for the safety of everyone. So just the fact that you're all here is keeping me from potentially going crazy, and I just wanted to say that I love you all and thank you."
As Moira finished her heartfelt speech, she felt a sensation she'd never felt before in her chest, like a piece snapping into place. Gasping, she looked around and noticed that everyone in the room also had a hand to their chest in shock and confusion. Concentrating on the feeling, Moira realized she could feel every single person and their well-being at the moment. Some of the bonds were brighter; she could metaphysically see, almost, that the bonds connecting her to her Nanna, her aunt, her mom, her siblings, and her niece and nephew were more tangible. A flare of power swept through her, and she could practically feel herself become stronger. She noticed that her Nanna was sitting up straighter than ever, looking down at her hands in wonder and suddenly knew.
"That was the pack bond reacting to my declaring you all pack," she said, amazed. She'd read about it, of course, but feeling it was a completely different story. "I'll always know where you are and we'll all be able to tell if another of us is in danger now."
It took several minutes before everyone was focused enough to continue talking. "Are there any questions or anything?" Moira asked.
"Yeah, I have one," Emilia said. "I've thought long and hard about this, discussed it multiple times with Micah, but I want the Bite." There was a shocked silence, cut through only when Shiloah piped up and said, "I do too."
Moira blinked, not really shocked, just unprepared. She looked carefully at them both, judging their sincerity and nodded. "It'll have to be during a time when you have no obligations for at least a week, two weeks tops. Every emotion and sense you have will be heightened, though it will be easier for you two to transition."
"Why's that?" Micah asked with curiosity, glancing between the three of them. Everyone else was listening intently too.
"Well, the only reason that I actually survived the transition in the first place is because the Albrecht's are a prominent pack in Germany. One of our ancestors was born human and stayed human, and now we carry the gene for it. Usually, people only survive the transition before the age of 20, and even then it's not certain. Anytime after and they usually die very painfully. Since myself, Emilia, Shiloah, and Isley carry the gene, we all would have an easier time with the change and at control, too. And no, Isley, you can't get the bite until you turn 18." Isley pouted as everyone absorbed this, Theo looking absolutely shocked at this tidbit of information.
"Well since I'm too old, what can I do then?" Micah asked. Moira smiled at him and said, "You can stay human. Humans are essential to a pack. There are certain things that can harm us that humans are needed to handle. If a wolf is trapped in a circle of mountain ash, a human can break the line so we can get out. For the different types of shifters, there are plants and herbs that can harm us and heal us. Humans are needed to cultivate them to make antidotes and medicines. Usually this is left to the emissary, but since there isn't an overabundance of Druids or Sparks around I haven't found one yet. And since all of us have enhanced physiologies, claws, and fangs, humans can help guard us by using actual weapons. They remind us that, while we have a fierce predator sleeping within us, we're still essentially human as well."
There was a contemplative silence before Uncle Davey clapped his hands. "Okay everyone, who wants a tour?"
It turned out Moira didn't even need to convince anyone to move in. Nanna and Pappa fell in love with one of the rooms she'd had designed, as had Emilia and Micah. Shiloah decided that, since he was going to be taking the Bite and was planning on moving out of his mother's house anyway, he'd take one of the rooms, too. There was also a bedroom designed with Elias and Novalee in mind, which made it perfect already. All they needed was their things.
"Don't look so down about it, Theo. She thinks I don't know, but she's planning on buying a huge piece of land up here and building a freaking mansion on it that'll house everyone one day," David said to Moira's dad, who looked shocked, and then delighted.
2 weeks later, everything was squared away. Moira had hired people to help everyone pack their essentials, 'Don't pack too many clothes, you'll see why later,' and then pack up Nanna and Pappa's house. She'd bought a large storage unit for all of their furniture that they'd not need but may want in the future, making sure all of the things they wanted to sell were closer to the front. Everyone was settled in, just in time for Emilia and Shiloah to receive the Bite.