"Poor Moose…" Veronica heaved.

"Is he okay?"

Jughead chuckled, pushing his fries around, "His name is Moose. He's fine. Right?"

Sweet Pea startled, surprised Jughead was looking at him. He didn't want to be here, under the scrutiny of it all, not how Betty had looked at him as though to ask why she was only finding out about this and was it something bigger than what it appeared.

Fucking hell, of course, it was. Nothing in this goddamn town was simple anymore.

But he couldn't be home either, now he might run into FP and be forced to ask what was happening. That might make him lose his cool.

"Yeah, bumped around a bit, but fine," Sweet Pea choked out.

"Dude? What the hell? I've been texting you!" Archie thundered, standing at the edge of the table, glaring at Jughead.

"Archie, Jug, and Sweets just told us what happened," Betty said with a horrified whisper, "It sounded awful!"

"Moose and I are going to the Southside to find those lousy Serpents, you in?"

"Hey, wait-," Betty startled, "You didn't say it was the Serpents who beat up Moose." She was glaring right at Sweet Pea.

"'Cause we don't know that for a fact," Jughead growled before Sweet Pea could come up with some flimsy response, "Archie, you're getting worked up over hearsay-,"

Of course, Sweet Pea knew it was his brethren, so he was caught. Not Serpents, he didn't think, but maybe wolves. Archie did have a right to be angry, but there was no way he could know without a shadow of a doubt. It was all just hatred and prejudice. And that Sweet Pea was fucking pissed about.

But hey, Jughead was on his side. It was sorta nice to have someone besides just him swearing up and down on the goodness of the Serpents.

Too bad Jughead was wrong at least in some way. If it had been Serpents, the only thing Sweet Pea could figure is a group had gone rogue.

"Worked up? Fuck man, this is about helping my dad!" Archie argued, "So are you in?" He swung his head to Sweet Pea.

"What?" Sweet Pea choked on his milkshake.

"To that bar. Joaquin talked about it once and I figured I could ask him, but you're...you're sorta part of this group and you jumped to help Moose last night and…"

"Dude, I definitely didn't want Moose to get more hurt, but fuck that. I'm not taking you over to the Wyrm on some little self-righteous crusade!" Sweet Pea said hotly, "Let the police do their job."

"No!" Archie slammed his hands on the table, startling a few patrons, "Keller's not gonna do shit! And Moose thinks he can recognize them again-,"

"It was pitch black last night! He's just saying that," Sweet Pea argued.

"And the Serpents are dangerous!" Betty broke in. Sweet Pea's argument deflated, staring at Betty, a bit hurt. She seemed to realize what she'd said because even Jughead was staring at her as though she had offended him, "I mean they're...well…"

You're werewolves! He's a human!

Sweet Pea heard Betty's thoughts and could not disagree. Sure, he knew all of them to be fuzzy and lovable some of the time, but since two wolves had nearly killed him and Jug, she wasn't wrong. And his pack didn't take kindly to people who came into their space accusing people of shit. Even if they were maybe half-way right.

"They're drug dealers," Veronica supplied.

"What?" Jughead looked crushed, "Says who?"

"Polly, right Betts?" Veronica continued, unaware of the unease that everyone sans Archie was now feeling, "Trev told Betty that Jason was dealing. It was for the Serpents, duh."

"Well, hey now-,"

"I'm done waiting!" Archie spun around, "Sheriff Keller blew us off and is just going to sit around. I'm going to actually get to the bottom of this. Joaquin already said he'd take us. Thanks for having my back, dude," Archie finished bitterly, looking at Jughead for one long second, as though willing his friend to follow him, but Jughead just looked torn.

As Archie left, Veronica let out a huff.
"This is all feeling a bit bad crime movie to me, doncha think?" She said, completely unaware of the whole mood.

"Shove it, Princess," Sweet Pea muttered.

"Where are you going?" Betty asked, standing, as though going to follow him.

"I'm going to try to make sure Joaquin isn't about to do something incredibly stupid."

XX

"So, Joaquin," Sweet Pea lounged on the side of the boy's trailer as he slipped out the back, "Going somewhere?"

"Just to see Kevin," Joaquin said, ever confident, meeting Sweet Pea's eyes.

"Oh, huh," Sweet Pea peeled himself away from the wall to follow him, "Doin' anything fun?"

"Since when do you care, bro?" Joaquin gave a half-snort, looking at Sweet Pea, though from his darting eyes, Sweet Pea knew that the long-haired boy understood the tension that vibrated between them, the reason for Sweet's visit.

"Humor me."

"Dunno, Netflix?" Joaquin offered up, but Sweet Pea cut him off in the road.

"Weird, because I heard from Andrews that you and Kevin and the ginger-wonder with a few others are going to raid the Wyrm. Are you stupid?"

"Back off, Karan. I got orders!"

"Orders to what? Incriminate your own men?" Sweet Pea sputtered, "You're fucking serious. That kid, you're throwing away the pack...for him?"

"If you knew what I knew, you'd be quiet!" Joaquin snarled, eyes glowing gold, "And fuck it to you if we are going. We have nothing to hide."

"Oh, and the wolves will just say 'hey, thanks for accusing us? Want a cookie, Andrews?'" Sweet Pea pinched the bridge of his nose. Joaquin looked at him, almost pityingly. He almost seemed to say something, but then thought better of it.

"If you don't already know, leave it," Joaquin said. Sweet Pea exhaled hard; he had thought he knew everything going on, that it was impossible that any other kid his age had more wherewithal about everything, but apparently, Joaquin was privy to information he wasn't.

"Joaquin!" Sweet Pea spun around, grabbing his jacket, "I don't care. All I know is that this sounds like a fucking bad idea."

"Oh, so you're going to what? Pin me down? Use some of Betty's magic on me? Something worse?" The boy scoffed.

Sweet Pea floundered; he didn't know. He had hoped he could appeal to the sense of the pack, but apparently, Joaquin didn't care.

"You're not fucking going!"

The order came from nowhere, bursting out of his skin not unfamiliar to when a wolf broke through in a fit of emotion. The wave of the order bounced out, settling on their skin, that familiar whiff of magic.

It stopped Joaquin in his tracks, and just for a second, almost so fleeting that Sweet Pea missed it, it made him unable to move. It kept him in place, his goal unattainable, unbreakable.

An Alpha's order.

Impossible .

It had to be some other magic, something different because Sweet Pea could not rightfully explain what had just happened, and fuck it, he was almost glad when the magic broke like two parts of a string, fraying and snapping, and Joaquin walked off, sending dirty looks over his shoulder.

XX

Archie felt a sense of unease walking up to the Wyrm, but why wouldn't he, he told himself. He was walking right into a dangerous biker gang's territory guns blazing. He had the thought, in the back of his mind, that this could be a very bad idea but at the same time...well, he was never one for listening to that voice.

Jughead had called it conscience or common sense once.

Maybe…

No, he was doing this for his dad.

"Play it cool, just like we said. Keep eye-contact to a minimum." Joaquin said, grinning, becoming more and more causal the closer they got. Archie looked around, wondering if anyone else felt that sort of suffocating horror-movie feeling, but Kevin and Moose seemed perfectly fine. Well, scared, but not...not like that.

"If you see the guys that jumped you, we leave and call Kevin's dad," Archie said. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he hoped this would end quickly. Every part of him was telling him to leave right now, like a sixth sense.

Joaquin led them inside. It was exactly what Archie expected a dive bar to look like. There was a snake in the corner and Moose tapped the cage. Kevin was looking around, eyes wide.

"We're all gonna die…" He muttered.

"Oh, calm down, no one's gonna take a bite out of you," Joaquin teased, "You're with me."

Kevin still looked uncertain.

"Oh, damn, look what the dog dragged in," A female voice teased, something young. Archie spun fully around to see a girl with pink hair behind the bar, sitting with a few kids around Joaquin's age.

"You serve minors here?" Moose sputtered, staring.

"We live on the Southside," A boy with a Justin Beiber circa 2012 haircut snorted, "There's a lot to drink about."

"You have to be part of the group," The girl added apologetically, "I think my fur would be skinned if I served you guys, though." She said.

"Toni-," Joaquin growled, looking nervous.

"What?" Toni's grin was mischievous, "Just some wordplay. A metaphor, if you will." She finished cleaning out her glass, "Heard you're looking for who beat ya up, Caribou."

"It's Moose," Moose said, touching his scar.

"Right, well, are you carrying any of us away?"

"Uhm, Not that I see…" Moose said, looking around, "Yet."

"Well then...you all have money, eh? In the meantime...who's up for a wager? Anyone good at pool?" A kid with hair longer than Joaquin's asked, pointing to the pool tables.

"Vade! Shove off."

"I'm ready to bet on it," Archie said, trying to squish his worries. Plus, it would give them a reason to be here more than just lingering, sulking in corners.

Toni, Vade, the kid who had first talked, and a boy who looked identical to Vade but with buzzed hair meandered toward the pool table.

"You with us?" Toni nudged Joaquin.

"Gotta stay with my boy here," Joaquin said, winking to Kevin. Kevin blushed a bit.

"Ohh, my heart! How cute," Toni sighed, and she seemed sincere. Maybe she wasn't too bad...Sweet Pea, though annoying, wasn't awful...and neither was Joaquin...maybe the kids didn't know what they were into, Archie considered.

"Pay up!" Vade threw some money on the table, "C'mon Jedi."

"Jedi?" Moose guffawed, "Like...Jedi and Vade r? Star Wars?"

"Your name is Moose. You really wanna throw rocks when you live in a glass house?" Jedi asked, to which Moose shrugged in reply. Joaquin slipped his backhand into Kevin's pocket, grabbing his wallet.

"I'm going to get this back, right?" Kevin hissed.

"You wish, Preppy."

The game itself was fun, and for a second, that feeling of worry vanished and Archie forgot they had any goal at all. The music was questionable and the smell of booze sometimes tickled the back of his throat, but everyone seemed to be laughing and not at all the gruff, unemotional guys Archie had expected. He even saw a dude with tattoo sleeves fawning over a picture of a baby.

Once you looked past the neon and the leather all around, it felt almost...like a gathering place. Not for degenerates, but like his dad's kitchen on Thanksgiving.

Maybe Archie was incredibly wrong? Maybe Polly was lying and maybe he'd been led to believe a lie. Maybe-

"He looks familiar!" Moose whispered frantically, pointing. Joaquin went pale.

"Well, you sure?"

"I mean, I'm not entirely but-,"

"Well, if you're not...it's probably…" Joaquin hesitated, but Archie saw red.

If Moose said it was him, it was him.

He set down his pool stick before anyone could stop him. He didn't even know what he was doing until he was tapping on the man's shoulder.

"You got a death wish?" The man asked, turning slowly.

"You like beating up tee-," Archie's bravado, and all his confident words, vanished as soon as the man turned.

He wasn't a man, though, he was a wolf. A wolf snarling with blood in his teeth and sharp, sharp fangs. And his fingers were icy cold.

"This isn't one of the first time you Bulldogs have come in 'ere, looking for trouble!" The wolf snapped, easily picking Archie up like a mere rag doll, slamming him on a pool table. Archie was frozen in fear, staring up at the wolf. The wolf who, he swore to god, changed back to a man right before his eyes. His face was human again. Normal.

The man stared down and backed off suddenly, sputtering, and trying to form words, a strange reaction.

Before anyone could move, there was a sharp snapping sound from above.

"That's enough!"

Archie flopped off the table in time to see FP descend the stairs, Toni panting hard and at the office door. The people moved for FP like he was Jesus walking on water. He had an air of sureness about him. He sure as hell didn't look like the drunk Jug thought he was.

"Mustang, my office. And you three...outside. Now."

XX

Moose and Kevin and Archie stumbled out into the night, which had set quickly behind them. Moose and Kevin were fine, though a bit shook, but Archie could hardly set one foot in front of another. He couldn't breathe; his chest was heavy and his heart was pounding.

Was this what a heart attack felt like? Was he going to die?

"You two, go wait over there. I need to talk to Red." FP said and the boys listened. He helped Archie sit on the step and offered him a glass.

"It's water, not vodka boy," FP said, almost laughing.

Archie wanted to yell. He wanted to ask if FP was doing this to get back at his dad. He wanted to know why it was the Serpents. He wanted to know...know what he was seeing, but his throat was so closed up that he wasn't sure he'd be able to take his next breath.

"Focus on my voice." FP said, "Kid, hey...name five things you see right now."

"...Huh?"

"Five things. List 'em."

"Uhm...a neon sign, a motorcycle…" Archie felt like he was in a dream state, far away and numbed, "Concrete, stars...my hand."

"Good, four things you can touch."

"I can't…" Archie began to wheeze again.

"No, touch. Four things."

Archie swallowed hard, trying to fight back tears, "This glass. My jacket. The steps. Gravel."

"What can you hear? Three things." FP's voice was soft, comforting. Just as he remembered it, back when he and Jug were seven and he'd torn his knee open playing outside. The memory came back suddenly and Archie wished he could be seven and things were simple again.

"Bar music. Your voice. Crickets." Archie mumbled.

"Okay, kid, you're doing great. What're two things you can smell?"

"Uhm, alcohol," He said, scrunching up his nose, "And that weird grass smell." He said, looking over to a patch of tall grass near the edge of the property.

"Right, one thing you taste."

Archie took a swig of the water, "Tap water."

"Feeling better?" FP asked. Archie had no words but nodded.

"It was a panic attack and I doubt it will be the last unless you get your head straight." He was looking at him with pure sympathy, "If I'd known…"
"Known what?"

FP just looked torn, "Red, you're not an ocean. You don't have to do it all alone, okay?"

There was the sound of a car. Archie looked up to see his father. FP helped him up.

"How did you know?" He asked his dad.

"I called him as soon as you walked in. Nothing was going to happen to you." FP said quietly, "Fred."

"Thanks, FP," Fred sighed, "Archie...get in the car."

XX

"So you're a Serpent now?"

FP turned, chuckling. Like father, like son...Fred couldn't help his curiosity. He did remember those times he and Fred had discussed that he was never, ever, going to follow his father, back in high school.

"Can't run from family expectations sometimes," FP sighed.

"Did you. FP, look at me and tell me to my face. Did you do what Archie thinks you did?" Fred asked.

FP wanted to offer Fred a beer and fix everything, but that would be putting him in danger, not to mention his son...his son who was more dangerous to them than they were to him. Though, he had sympathy for Archie. It was like turning into a wolf with no one around. He must feel lost right about now.

"You think I'd come after you? That I'd put you in danger after all we've had...after what you're doing for Jug?" If Fred seemed surprised that FP knew his son's whereabouts, he didn't show it, "Naw man."

"Right," Fred relaxed.

"I'm sorry for your troubles. Honestly. I'll ask around. See if I hear anything." FP said earnestly.

Fred, easily pleased and wanting to see the best, smiled, "Thanks."

"But you might want to keep an eye on that boy of yours."

"I know he's going through a rough patch, but I can't seem to reach him."

"Yeah, mentally, he needs help. Real help…" FP almost laughed, "But I also mean literally."

Fred spun, cursing as he realized Archie had slipped from his car.

XX

Betty was trying to be...carefully optimistic.

Jughead was here, being a darling.

Her mother had arrived and she hadn't gotten in a shouting match with Hermione, her mother, Penelope, or Polly yet so that was...good.

Cheryl was being her usual slightly insufferable self, but Betty was glowing from the request to be the godmother (and part of her did want to rub it in Cheryl's face, but she held herself back).

Sweet Pea was around, being perfectly nice and Veronica said she was 'allowing it', as though she had any actual say. He was mostly restocking the food, staying out of sight. He seemed like he wanted to talk to Betty about something, that he was on edge, but they hadn't found a chance.

The most important thing was that Polly seemed so happy.

Polly was literally glowing, and apparently, it was infectious. Sweet Pea had pulled Betty aside and asked that she try to be a bit more depressed because otherwise, people would notice her witch's gleam on her skin.

"This necklace reads the baby's aura," Nana Rose said and Betty slipped back to sit next to her mother, "Predicts the sex."

"Nana has dementia and witch's blood," Cheryl announced proudly to Nancy, winking at Betty. Betty nearly choked, as did Polly who startled, until Betty realized that Nancy just passed it off as usual Blossom strangeness.

One good thing about living in a gothic old house and acting like you were half-way insane? You could go about being a witch pretty openly and no one suspects the wiser.

"Oh!" Nana Rose gasped.

"What?" Polly grabbed her stomach, "Is my baby okay?"

"Babies! It's twins...one of each!"

Cheryl clapped and Polly looked stunned.

"This is occultism out there in the open," Alice muttered.

"No one really believes it."

"I don't trust her. Can you...double-check?" It was the first time Alice had ever acknowledged the fact that Betty was a witch. She would take that little sliver as far as it could go.

"I can try."

The rest of the night slipped into the gift opening. Betty was sitting next to Polly when Sweet Pea pointed to the door, catching her attention.

A second later, Archie walked in, looking white as a sheet. Jughead, Veronica, Sweet Pea, and Betty all moved at once, knowing that look on his face.

Jughead maneuvered him to a side room.

"You were protecting him! That's why you didn't tell me!" Archie snapped, shoved Jughead a little.

"Sweets coulda," Jughead muttered.

"Sweet Pea isn't my best friend. You are. It matters," Archie insisted.

"Wait, wait, what?" Betty asked though she had a bad feeling where it was going.

"Did you know that Jughead's father is a Serpent? The leader too, from what it seems?"

Betty's breath hitched and she saw everyone's eyes on her. She knew she had to play it off.

"What? Pff...no.. of course not!" She said. Sweet Pea knew it was a lie, Jughead was scrutinizing, Veronica didn't believe her at all, but Archie- who was the one it really mattered with- seemed to buy it. Or, he was so angry that he let himself think so.

"I went there and I saw…" He became pale again, "I…"

"What did you see?" Sweet Pea asked frantically.

"You tried to stop me!" Archie ignored him, pushing down whatever was troubling him, "So I wouldn't find out!" He accused Jughead. Jughead was speechless, trying to figure out how to respond.

"I can explain-,"

"Not right now! God, this is Polly's day, so you two need to check yourselves," Veronica hissed, "I mean it!"

"We're going to talk about this later," Archie grumbled, exiting, sending distrustful looks to Jughead, who looked crushed by his friend's tone.

"What do you think he saw?" Sweet Pea asked, looking right at Betty. More pointedly...did he see a wolf change?

"Whatever it was," Veronica said, clasping her hands, "It can wait."

Though Betty seriously wanted to believe that, right now, she wasn't sure it could.

Jughead looked forlornly at the space where Archie had left through, finger clenching like he wanted to follow after him.

Betty stared at him, trying to breathe in, wondering if they needed to talk about the occurrence that had just happened. Sweet Pea brushed her arm and she startled, turning.

He motioned for a room away and she realized that now might be a time to see what he had to say since something was bothering him a lot, but as she started to follow she could feel something magical and charged wafting from the present-gifting area. Sweet Pea felt it too, spinning around and goosebumps raised.

The magic furled around them like vines, squeezing, tensing.

"She's sure as hell not coming to live with you two!"

Betty had expected it to be her mother snarling down at Penelope, but instead, it was her grandmother, standing in front of Polly and staring down at the Blossom mother like she wanted to kill her and bury her deep in the woods.

Which, hey, everyone had thought that of a Blossom once…

"The child would want for nothing," Penelope continued what Betty assumed had been an offer of living conditions, and it seemed she wasn't fazed, until Betty saw the shake to her hands, "You would want for nothing. What is it you desire? Power? Money? Affection. Come, dear, your own mother didn't want you. When do you think she's going to grow tired of you too?"

"Why I-,"

Betty saw Hermione move incredibly fast and she thought that the vampire among them would put it to rest, but something else did. Polly stood, face red and puffy as she tried to hold back tears, body vibrating as she tried to stay calm, to no avail.

"How dare you!"

Before anyone could do anything, a shock wave rocketed out and nearly knocked Grandma Smith down and sent Hermione off balance. The rest of the patrons who were not in the supernatural know seemed spooked, in the sort of way they just witnessed something they could not explain.

Cheryl seemed at a loss for words, but Penelope? Penelope looked like she just had her cake and ate it too.

"Polly?" Betty whispered frantically, but Sweet Pea swallowed hard, face white.

"I've never experienced...not her. The babies." He whispered back. Betty blinked, overwhelmed. If her children could already do this…

Anyone who liked the idea of magical power, and liked using dark magic to get what they want...Betty narrowed her eyes at Penelope. She didn't know all the information, but Penelope's reaction had given her almost what she needed.

"Polly…" Alice gasped, grabbing her hand. Polly was staring down at her stomach, fingers hovering inches above the swell of her body, and let her mother drag her away. Penelope and Cheryl stood to follow but Hermione blocked them.

"I would sit down if I were you, or else I'll throw you out." She warned. Grandma Smith turned to Betty and the two women jogged after Polly and Alice.