Nicole had texted Kendall before they went to sleep. All the text consisted of was the homestead address and the time for Kendall to show up. Wynonna was up earlier than usual, standing in the kitchen making a cup of tea as she mumbled under her breath. Stupid hippie herbs Wynonna thought as she dipped the tea bag in the hot water.
After getting her cup of tea, Wynonna turned and slowly walked towards the front porch. Alright little ass-kicker, I'm getting a little tired of these hot flashes Wynonna mumbled to herself as she grabbed a light jacket and went to sit outside on the porch.
Wynonna looked over her mug to see a black Rang Rover pulling down the driveway.
The Earp heir knew that it wouldn't be a revenant on the land, and after thinking about her conversation with Nicole and Waverly the night before, Wynonna assumed that the blonde getting out of the driver's seat was the Haught sister.
"So… The big bad wolf has come to the homestead…" Wynonna said as if she wasn't phased by the blonde's arrival.
"You must be the infamous Earp heir," Kendall said as she walked closer to the porch giving a smirk.
"The one and only," Wynonna said with a pursed grin, "Guessing you did your homework? Or am I just that famous that even werewolves fear me?"
"I did a little digging," Kendall said as she walked up and put her hand out to shake Wynonna's, "I'm Kendall, Nicole's older sister."
"So I've heard…" Wynonna said as she reached forward and shook the blonde's hand.
"Can I sit?" Kendall asked as she glanced down to the steps.
Wynonna nodded as she brought the mug to her lips and took a sip of the hot tea before glancing down at the blonde.
"You do realize that it's below zero outside… How are you in a sweater and a vest…" Wynonna said as she examined the blonde.
"Perks of being a werewolf. Our body temperature is constantly higher than humans," Kendall said with a grin.
Wynonna chuckled then mumbled, "Ha… Haught dog."
Kendall rolled her eyes but gave a little laugh.
Upstairs, Nicole opened her eyes and glanced down to the brunette who was sleeping soundly on her chest.
Nicole looked at the sleeping Waverly and everything that was happening outside of their world that was wrong seemed to vanish. You're so perfect Waves, I don't know what I did to get so lucky to be with you, but I promise I'll never hurt you again… I'm so in love with you… Nicole thought to herself as she tightened her arm that was around Waverly's side.
"I can feel you staring at me ya know…" Waverly mumbled sleepily as she nuzzled deeper into Nicole's chest.
Nicole grinned and leaned down kissing the top of Waverly's head, "Oh, and are you complaining?"
Waverly tilted her head back and opened her sleepy eyes so she was looking at her girlfriend, "Not one bit" Waverly said with a grin as she leaned forward and kissed Nicole's lips.
The feeling of Waverly's soft lips on hers made Nicole sigh in content the brunette however, had a different feeling sweep through her as she deepened the kiss by slowly running her tongue on Nicole's bottom lip. Nicole moaned lightly at the sensation and gladly opened her mouth to feel Waverly's tongue gliding slowly against her own.
Nicole pressed harder into their kiss as she reached down and placed her hands on Waverly's hips, squeezing tightly. Waverly felt the notion and happily reached her left hand up to cradle Nicole's neck and pull the redhead deeper into her.
Feeling the heat beginning to rise between the two, Waverly moved her left leg over Nicole and swiftly moved so that she was straddling her girlfriend, letting her hands pull Nicole's lips harder into her own, while their tongues battled for dominance. Nicole, feeling her girlfriend on top of her, the redhead slowly slid her hands down from Waverly's hips and down to her upper thighs and squeezing tightly, causing Waverly to moan.
Suddenly, Nicole pulled back from the heated kiss and closed her eyes tightly while tilting her head.
"Nicole… What's wrong?" Waverly said in confusion as she watched her girlfriend.
"I… Kendall's here…" Nicole said as she opened her eyes and looked at Waverly with a scrunched brown.
"How do you know?" Waverly asked as she peeked out the window.
"I heard her talking to Wynonna…" Nicole said as she closed her eyes again and tilted her head, leaning towards the window.
"Nicole, you can hear them talking?" Waverly asked as she slowly slid off of her girlfriend and walked over closer to the window, listening carefully to see if she could hear the two older sister's conversation.
"Yeah, right now they're talking about donuts… Wynonna's bitching that she's craving a jelly donut with powder on top… And she's pissed at you for getting her hooked on hippie shit in a cup?" Nicole said as she opened her eyes and looked at her girlfriend.
Waverly was jaw dropped and looking at Nicole wide eyed. Nicole knew from her girlfriend's reaction that Waverly couldn't hear the conversation.
"What is happening… I thought I had until Friday…" Nicole whispered as she threw her head back on to the pillow.
"Oh no ya don't," Waverly said as she ran over to the bed and grabbed Nicole's hand pulling the red head out of bed. "Let's go talk to Kendall about this!"
"But I just was about to get morning sex…" Nicole grumbled as she got out of bed pouting.
"Yeah well you can have sex later," Waverly said with a slight smile as she got up on her tip toes and kissed Nicole's lips softly before turning and throwing on clothes.
Nicole followed suit and the two headed downstairs hand in hand just as Wynonna and Kendall were coming inside.
"Told you…" Kendall said with a smirk towards Wynonna.
"Dudeeeee," Wynonna said with an approving head nod.
"What?" Waverly asked with an eyebrow raise.
"Golden Retriever over here knew that you guys were on your way down, I'm guessing some super-sonic wolf hearing?" Wynonna said with her eyebrows raised in questioning notion towards Kendall.
The blonde gave a smirk and nodded.
"Yeah well, Nicole seems to be picking up on the wolf traits pretty quick, she could hear you two from upstairs," Waverly said with a hint of pride.
"Really?" Kendall asked in genuine surprise.
"Yeah, it was weird… Like I couldn't turn it off and I had to close my eyes to focus on it and the more I focused on it the louder it got…" Nicole said in an apprehensive manner.
"Impressive," Kendall said with a small smile.
"Thanks… I think," Nicole said with a slight frown.
Waverly gave a small and playful smack to Wynonna's arm.
"Ow!" Wynonna said as she gaped at her sister.
"That's for calling my herbal tea hippie shit," Waverly said as she crossed her arms.
Wynonna just rolled her eyes and sighed.
"How about we sit down and I'll answer any questions you guys have about this…" Kendall said as she made eye contact with her sister, who gave a slight nod in agreement.
"To the kitchen?" Wynonna said looking around at the other three women before walking by them and heading to the table.
"I'll make us some coffee," Waverly said sweetly as she leaned up and kissed Nicole's check and followed her sister.
Kendall and Nicole sat across from one another just staring at each other, an awkward silence falling over the kitchen. Wynonna just kept looking back and forth between the Haught sisters while Waverly finished making coffee for her, Nicole, and Kendall and returned to the table to sit beside her girlfriend.
"Thank you Waverly," Kendall said, causing Waverly to give a small smile as a 'you're welcome' gesture. "So… Where do you want to start Nikky?" Kendall said as she took a sip of her coffee.
"How about we start with why it is that you show up and I suddenly am able to hear a conversation outside the house…" Nicole said as she eyed her sister.
"That would be part of why I came to Purgatory a few days before your birthday," Kendall said as she put her cup down on the table and looked at her sister, "As Friday approaches, your senses will start to heighten and your body will start preparing for your first shift. Me being here really is to help you Nicole, but it will also cause some of your changes to start a little early… Most of the time this happens a day or two before your first shift, but… That also makes your first change super painful, like mine was. With my presence here, you'll tap in to your wolf side a little faster, but it will help you gain control over things before Friday, and it will make your first shift easier. It varies from person to person what will start appearing and how soon it will start showing, some positive things then some negative things."
"What negative things?" Waverly asked, her voice clear with concern.
Kendall gave an understanding smile as she looked towards Waverly, "Nothing too bad…" Waverly visibly relaxed at Kendall's words, and the blonde turned her attention back to her sister, "But you'll start running a fever, that's the human aspect of your body fighting the rise in your temperature. As a wolf, your temperature will naturally be higher, instead of your normal body temp being 98 degrees; it will be around 130 degrees. You might have issues controlling your hearing in extremely public places due to your ears becoming extremely sensitive to sounds, loud noises may cause you to feel like your head is going to explode. When you get mad, you're going to have a hell of a time controlling your anger, after the change you're going to need to really focus on reigning it in because in the first few months after your first shift, if you lose control of your temper you'll end up flashing the wolf eyes, fangs and claws and hurting someone."
Nicole sighed and brought her hands up to her face, clearly feeling a little overwhelmed at everything her sister was saying. Waverly could see Nicole's anxiety level rising and she reached over grabbing Nicole's hand from her face and intertwining their fingers to let them sit on the table.
"So… On a brighter note, what were those little positive things you mentioned?" Wynonna said with a nervous chuckle as she stuck a spoon full of Greek yogurt in her mouth and looked around at the other three.
Nicole raised an eyebrow and looked at her sister.
"Well you'll have a heightened sex drive," Kendall said with a wink towards the couple.
Waverly and Nicole's eyes went wide as a deep blush spread across their cheeks.
Wynonna started choking on the large spoon full of yogurt and finally was able to gasp out, "HOLY SHIT! THAT'S DISUGSTING! NEGATIVE… I SAY THAT'S A NEGATIVE!"
Kendall laughed and rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to her sister.
"You'll start feeling a little stronger, your body might actually tone up some with the body temperature adjusting. You'll be hungry all the time, but since your body is burning up, you burn calories quicker and you'll stay lean. You'll be a hell of a lot faster, you won't be winded when you run. You'll notice your eye sight improving, your sense of smell will be heightened, and you'll notice that your body will start healing faster…" Kendall said with a proud smile.
"Dude, now that's what I would call fucking bad ass" Wynonna said with an excited laugh, causing Waverly to look at her wide-eyed. The Earp heir cleared her throat and mouthed sorry as she returned to eating her yogurt.
Waverly rolled her eyes at her sister and then looked over to her girlfriend, who appeared to be deep in thought. "Those positives did sound pretty positive…" Waverly said with a slight grin and an eye-brow raise. "Especially with the heightened sex drive," Waverly added with a whisper and a wink, causing Nicole to blush and give a genuine smile.
Kendall could tell by watching the two that Waverly was Nicole's world. Even right now the brunette was able to make her sister smile.
"Becoming a werewolf really isn't that bad Nikky. The worst part is going to be Friday, then yes, it will take some learning to get a handle on things, but it really isn't going to change who you are and it won't affect your life as much as you think…" Kendall said with a small grin and nod towards Waverly, "You'll still be you, just a more durable, faster, stronger version of you who occasionally has fur, fangs, and claws."
"So speaking of the fur and fangs, what exactly does a werewolf look like? Like is Haught-pants over here going to have a tail?" Wynonna asked with squinted eyes looking at Nicole, as if picturing what the redhead would look like with a tail.
Nicole gave Wynonna a look that read, why the hell are you looking at me like that.
"Well, it will depend on if she is an alpha or a beta. Our mom is a beta…" Kendall said with a look over to Nicole, who was now listening carefully with Waverly appearing just as engaged. "Beta's can shift to the first two stages of the wolf, but only alpha's can shift into a full wolf. We won't know which you are until Friday. Our family is primarily alphas, but there are a few betas mixed in so it really could go either way."
"What are you…" Nicole asked eyeing her sister carefully.
"I'm an alpha," Kendall said with a soft smile.
Nicole nodded and just kept looking at her sister, taking in all the information.
"I mean, I'll be the one to ask… Can we freaking see you as a dog?" Wynonna asked, completely enthusiastically.
"Wolf…" Waverly corrected her sister, and receiving an eye roll from Wynonna.
Kendall didn't reply, but she stood from the table and moved to stand in the middle of the kitchen, all 3 women now watching her closely.
"The first stage we can shift in to is generally what you'll see when new wolves lose control of their temper, or when you have different wolves together and they are identifying their status, alpha… beta…" Kendal said as she closed her eyes.
When Kendall opened her eyes they were shining a bright yellow. The blonde rolled her neck and opened her mouth to reveal two prominent canines hanging down.
"Alphas will have yellow eyes, while betas will have blue eyes. This week, until you reach Friday, if you lose control of your temper, or if you start tapping in to parts of your wolf that are growing, your eyes will turn red. It's said that this occurs so pack members know when you're accessing your wolf. New wolves are the strongest kind, you'll be stronger than me and any other wolf for a few months, so from a pack standpoint, your eyes shifting red is method of protection…" Kendall said as she looked at the 3 women.
Waverly and Wynonna were jaw dropped and looking at the blonde in fascination, while Nicole sat there, gazing with an unreadable expression.
"The second stage is a beta's maximum stage. When they 'fully shift' it will be into this…" Kendall said as she closed her eyes again and took a deep breath.
Kendall clenched her fist tightly and when she opened her hands, her nails had grown into full claws. Kendall opened her mouth and released a small growl as she exposed her mouth, now showing a mouth that resembled a wolf's with sharp teeth and pronounced canines; she couldn't fully shut her mouth, leaving the teeth exposed. The blonde's face seemed to have changed, her cheeks had seemed to morph so that they were flowing with her nose, creating an image that you think you'd see on Teen Wolf. Fur seemed to be appearing on Kendall's hands and slightly on her face.
"Dude… Badass…" Wynonna whispered as she slapped Nicole's shoulder.
Waverly was looking in shock, but didn't want to speak; she just kept a hold on Nicole's hand, reassuring her girlfriend that she was there for her.
"What's the final stage for an alpha?" Nicole asked as she eyed her sister.
"It's best we move this show and tell outside…" Kendall asked as she rolled her head, cracking her neck.
Wynonna didn't even wait, she and her tub of Greek yogurt were up and racing out to the front porch.
Waverly smiled and rolled her eyes at her sister's excitement and got up, holding on to Nicole's hand.
"Can you bring a blanket out?" Kendall asked Waverly as she headed towards the front porch.
Waverly looked confused but nodded anyway as she and Nicole started towards the front door, Waverly breaking off quickly to grab a fleece blanket and her winter coat as she laced her finger's with Nicole's and they walked outside to join Wynonna and Kendall.
"Do you have some clothes I can borrow?" Kendall asked as she looked over to Nicole. The blonde was in the process of taking her vest off and sliding off her boots.
"Yeah… Why?" Nicole asked with a scrunch of her brow.
Kendall didn't answer. The blonde lunged forward, diving off of the front porch. As Kendall's body lunged through the air, her jeans and sweater were tore off as the large body of a growling golden wolf landed swiftly in the snow in front of the homestead; turning to show the bright yellow eyes of an alpha.
Waverly and Wynonna both jumped in surprise, while Nicole stepped off the porch and slowly walked forward towards the large wolf standing before her.
Kendall stood tall, proud and still as Nicole walked up to her. Nicole's eyes were racing all over the large wolf in front of her. The redhead slowly began walking around the wolf, reaching out hesitantly to touch the fur. Nicole had walked in a full circle around the wolf and was now standing on Kendall's right side as the wolf looked over to Nicole and the two made eye contact.
"Everything I'm about to go through… They are things that you went through before mom and dad came and took you from the house?" Nicole asked softly.
The wolf nodded up and down.
"All these years Kendall… All these years… We were so close… You didn't even tell me you were going through any of those changes. It makes me question just how close we really were… You might have spent your childhood alone, but I had you ripped away from me and spent my life alone before I came here…" Nicole said, tears welling in her eyes and the pain in her voice.
Kendall's wolf lowered its head.
"What makes this even better… Mom and dad told you not to come here… Which means they wanted me to suffer through this alone, not having any idea what I am… I could have killed people Kendall… I could have hurt Waverly… Why couldn't you have just told me after you changed… I needed you, I still need you… And I'm really trying to trust you and take this all in… But damnit… I'm still so mad at you. I'm still so hurt…" Nicole said as tears started to fall.
Nicole sniffled and started to walk back towards the porch where Waverly and Wynonna were huddled together and giving Nicole a sorrowful look indicating they heard what Nicole had said to her sister.
Half way back to the porch, Nicole stopped in her tracks as she heard a loud, pain filled, howl coming from behind her.
Nicole couldn't move. It was as if Kendall's howl hit her full force. Nicole swore she could feel her sister's pain in the howl; it was so much heartbreak and regret. Nicole closed her eyes tightly and let the sound continue to wash over her. Nicole opened her eyes and looked forward as she panted from the raw emotions in the howl tearing at her heart.
Wynonna and Waverly weren't feeling the effects like Nicole, but anyone around to hear the howl could sense it was one of sadness. What was most shocking to Wynonna and Waverly was that as Nicole opened her eyes during Kendall's howl, Nicole's eyes were a bright and beaming red.
"Holy shit on a stick…" Wynonna mumbled as she looked at the sight before her.
"Wow…" Waverly said breathlessly, taking in the incredible sight of her girlfriend's red wolf eyes staring towards them and her sister's large powerful wolf directly behind Nicole.
The howl was long, and as Kendall finished, she looked at her sister, praying that Nicole felt how sorry Kendall was, and that Nicole knew she felt broken for what had happened between the two of them; Kendall was holding out hope that Nicole might forgive her after feeling her pain for how she treated her.
Nicole closed her eyes tightly, still not moving. After a few deep breaths, Nicole opened her eyes again as they had returned to their soft brown. Nicole started walking towards the front porch, her back still facing her sister.
Kendall's head dropped, feeling as though her sister couldn't see past her mistakes and forgive her.
Nicole walked up to the porch and reached down, grabbing the blanket that was sitting at Waverly's feet, then turned and walked back out in the snow towards Kendall.
The wolf looked up and saw Nicole coming towards her with a blanket in her hand and a softened expression.
As Nicole got within feet of the wolf, Kendall slowly shifted from her wolf, back to her naked human body, her knees on the ground and her hands covering her face as she sobbed. Nicole quickened her steps to her sister and wrapped the blanket around her, then reaching forward and hugging Kendall tightly.
"I'm so sorry Nicole… I'm so sorry for everything…" Kendall cried.
"I forgive you…" Nicole said softly as she held her sister tightly and looked towards the porch to see Wynonna give a slow understanding nod with her lips pursed together, and Waverly clutching her hands to her chest and displaying a small smile.
It was in that moment, Nicole knew that everything was going to be alright, as long as she had Waverly and Wynonna supporting her and Kendall helping her, she could do this.