Summaries are hard my dudes
Trevor is an Alexander Archipelago wolf specifically (a beautiful black boy); Jared is a European wolf (aka, moon moon); Alexei is technically a leopard (the amount of investigation I did in black panthers is ridiculous considering I only needed their size compared to a wolf)... am I missing anyone?
20. Δραμα
The orchard is eerily quiet, the way only abandoned places can be, but brimming with an energy of wilderness Trevor doesn't know what to do with. Alexei shifts first, nighttime making them all but disappear as they take on their panther form; Trevor follows donning in his own black fur, but as the wolf he is.
Trevor bites back a smile as he runs over the old joke about cats and dogs, and the irony of it concerning his relationship with Lexi; had he said anything the beta would've bitch slapped him so fast his head might do the cartoon thing and make a 360°, metaphorically of course, Lexi wouldn't even hurt someone at gunpoint.
They're not far enough from the city that they need their night vision, but it's just more convenient than waiting for their eyes to adjust; being in animal form also serves to hide them more easily in case there's anyone patrolling. There is a heavy scent of ash in the place, and another that Trevor's pretty sure he smelled on someone at school; he wonders if there's a pyromaniac in his school, his nose sharp enough to tell him it isn't cigarette ash, it could potentially be some sort of drug though, Trevor wouldn't know.
There's another scent in the air, something that lights every last cell in Trevor's body, omega instincts tingling with electricity viciously egging him to follow, and with no clear destination given by his beta friend, follow he does. Alexei does not question him, does not complain in any way, shape or form; just follows silently after him as the scent leads him deeper and deeper into the orchard.
Trevor becomes thankful of his night vision, because he would've otherwise crashed face first against a wall; the building seemed to spring out of thin air, even with all the clear signs that it hasn't, that the orchard has housed it for many years. It's hard to describe through his wolf eyes, but he notes some dark spots most likely caused by humidity both in the bottom and top, and the fact that part of the roof is missing, as well as the door.
Alexei enters first, despite being the follower, because Trevor is momentarily frozen by the familiar scent he had caught back at the entrance of the orchard; bitter like biting into a coffee bean fresh out of the plant, but with a chocolatey aftertaste, and the heady unmistakable hint of alpha, accompanied by the heavy scent of ash. Trevor realizes then that the ash scent is from normal fire, because it reminds him of a campfire long killed, and the ground is covered in burnt patches that look suspiciously intentional.
For the strength of the pull he felt towards this place, now that he's inside he feels utterly repulsed, the scent of fresh grass and nature suddenly invading his nose to the point it almost chokes him. It take Alexei pulling an old but suspiciously well maintained piece of paper out of a pile of rubble for Trevor to realize why he's having this reaction.
"It's a nest"
Lexi comes from a long line of werewolves, being the first feline ever, their alpha mom had to take care of them by herself, after his omega mom had disappeared; they spoiled Lexi almost rotten because of it, which Trevor blamed for his friend's felinity. Being surrounded by wolves their whole life meant Alexei understood and could speak their language even when transformed; Trevor and the rest of the Yearbook committee had been studying panther just to surprise them on their birthday, but for now Trevor spoke in wolf to them.
"It doesn't look like one"
Lexi scrunches their snout as they say it, which makes their fangs glisten under the surprising amount of moonlight coming from the missing bit of roof; for a place abandoned as deep within nature as this one, it sure is well illuminated.
"It was destroyed very recently, I'd even say it was done this afternoon, but it was definitely a nest"
As a beta, Alexei is immune to it, but Trevor can feel the presence of an omega here, and omega with a child, one whose scent was far more fearsome than almost every alpha at school sans-
Oh.
"I really need to get out of here before I suffocate Lexi"
The beta nods, and takes full advantage of the fact that they were the bigger animal to carry him out by the scruff of his neck like he's a pup; which is good because he's been immobilized, and that just brings to question what kind of omega nested here. Alexei does shove the piece of paper in his mouth before picking him up, and Trevor would be disgusted if he weren't in wolf form, but he understands why they do it.
- ... . / - - ... . .-. / - - - / .-. - ...-/ ..-. - / -... .- -.-. -.- ... - - .-. -.-
It was a wonderful time, perhaps the best time she ever had with another human being, and that spoke tomes of how highly she thought of it, because it had also been the worst time of all. It was hiding and fearing for a life beyond her hands to save, it was clever ruses and pretty lies practiced late into the sunrise, it was problem after problem piled into a mountain that would give the Everest a run for its money; it was also a deep and prevalent understanding, a myriad of conversations designed to help them better fit together, shameless laughter in endeavors she hadn't known she could laugh in, and the most caring and selfless alpha she had ever met.
His name had been Leland, Leland Coleman, and Cynthia had all but stumbled into the whirlwind that was his life despite his protests; he had been the only alpha to actively avoid omegas, and that had sparked Cynthia's curiosity like nothing else.
She had tried relentlessly to get the truth of why, but the reality was that she found out accidentally, saw him shift into something other than the wolf he always went to. At first she hadn't thought dragon, terrified when he turned to face her, she shifted and made to run away, leopards were fast, of the fastest animals a human could turn to, but was stopped by a slender white scaly tail covered in sharp looking spines.
He keeps her in place only as long as it takes to explain what he is and why he's hiding it, goes back to human and asks her to give him a head start on police like he's telling himself a humorless joke, like the only possible outcome is for her to out him; Cynthia surprises them both. Everything after that is a constant rollercoaster of gaining trust and falling in love versus becoming paranoid and weary of everyone she knows; and then, there's Connor.
Leland tells her Connor will be like him, she doesn't question him.
Leland disappears one night without as much as a good bye, she doesn't look for him.
Nothing will tell her how to safely bring a baby to the world by herself.
She can't even look at eggs for a full year after it.
She slowly but surely rebuilds her relationship with family, and makes new friends.
She meets Larry Murphy and slowly but surely falls in love.
She does not tell him the truth about Connor, cannot risk her son like that.
She does not tell him what really happened with Leland, for fear it will reveal too much.
She makes up something about a relationship that simply didn't work, but when he asks, she tells him she doesn't regret it, because now she has Connor. Larry does try to get along with Connor, which seems to work for a while, and then there's Zoe, and Cynthia allows herself to enjoy having a family of her own.
Connor presents as an alpha, and shifts into a leopard, but his markings are just slightly off; Larry never notices, Cynthia is glad. But then there's the day Connor gets lost, and she counts her blessing when she's the one that finds him.
She never meant to hide it from Connor, it just sort of happened, Connor had become a little more detached with each passing year; and then, June of junior year he came home reeking of ash.
Now he once again came home with a new scent to him, but this time Cynthia worried for a completely different reason. It was hard to bring it up with him though, because conversation between them wasn't what it had once been, and because ever since adding the new scent he'd looked far more present, almost as if he had found someone to share his load with.
Cynthia wasn't a fool, she knew the scent of an omega when she smelled it, and it was obvious her boy had found himself one. She wanted to ask, wanted to learn about the person that had him attending school religiously, she didn't know how to; she wanted to ask if they were to be trusted, she didn't think he would respond.
It was Zoe that brought it up, who made the comment at dinner, who received a glare that had lost a good part of the viciousness it once held as he answered defensively. The omega was a male boy by the name of Evan Hansen, and according to Zoe, he was a fox; Connor looked like he would physically fight the next person who pointed that out to him, so Cynthia figured he didn't care.
"You should invite him over, I'd love to meet him"
It's a good thing Larry had to go to work earlier today, because Connor responds with an agreeing grumble instead of the other option. Cynthia makes a plan.
