Chapter Text
Her eyes lit up with fury, as she slammed the door open, scowling. She grabbed her things, her claws scratching through the objects she shoved into her bag. She knew she wasn’t in the right headspace. She knew running away wasn’t a good idea. But god fucking dammit, she’s was an adult! She shouldn’t have to listen to that coward’s ideology when she was 20 years old. He could have whatever fucking rules he wanted under his roof, but she was over it. She ran her fingers through her blue hair as the weight of what she was doing hit her.
A knock on the door. She flinches, yelling, “GO AWAY!” as she packed (er, more threw) her clothes away. Whoever it was didn’t listen, timidly opening the door and closing it behind them. A pang of guilt hit her heart as she looked back at the short 14 year old boy, looking at her with eyes that bore all the way into her soul
“Pops asked me to check on you..” he mumbled. “‘Said you and him got in a fight again.”
She scoffed, “It was hardly a fight. Dad doesn’t fight. He whimpers like a dog while I ask him any real questions. He’s a horrible leader to us and I just can't ... I can’t take it anymore.”
He eyed the open bag of hers and winced, “You’re not leaving, are you?” She doesn’t say anything. “Rory,” he frowns.
She sighs and looks at his puppy dog eyes, another pang of guilt hitting her heart, “Look, Jacob…I’m an adult. I can’t stay with my dad forever.”
“But what about me?? I can’t lose you. I don’t want to lose you.”
She hisses with pain as he says the words, “I don’t want to lose you.” She knows Jacob has horrible abandonment issues. Whenever a thunderstorm would come, Jacob would snuggle close to her, never leaving her side, hissing and biting, especially when he was younger, when she tried to move. He was abandoned by his parents as a small child. She was too. But instead of growing apart from any figure that told her what to do, he listened to their every word. She remembers listening to Jacob talk about old comic books he was obsessed with, comparing them to a young Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. It made her laugh at the time but he was right. She was the older responsible one who was a difficult child, and he was the rule-following child who thanked the world for taking him with a smile after his life was nothing but cruelty. She hoped he wouldn’t meet the same fate as the character he chose. Rory sat down and let her emotions crash down upon her. He sat next to her, letting the silence eat away at them.
“Please don’t go.”
“I have to.”
“I..I know.”
He leaned against her shoulder and clung to her arm. It was almost enough to guilt Rory into staying. But it didn’t stop her. Rory left a note on the kitchen counter before she fled into the night.
“To the Moonwood Collective
If you are reading this I am already gone, left to the tall mountains that grow up high in this town. I can not stand another day as a member of the Moonwood Collective, much less this family. I have chosen that the best course of action is to start my own Wolf Pack. It’ll be better this way, less chaos caused, less people hurt. And to my father, which I know you’re reading this, I will be a better leader than you ever were. I will lead with pride for my species and without fear of others. I will lead my pack like an Alpha should. It’s time you realize that there are other positions to lead from then cowardice. And to the others, I’m sorry things had to end this way. I wish I could have stayed with you all, but I can no longer bring myself too. I’m sorry.”
The handwriting was messy and smudged, like someone was writing it in a hurry.
Jacob feigned surprise, and held his father and Lily tight that night. ‘Takes one hurt person to know one.
-
Jacob held his breath as he opened the door to Lily’s room. It was quaint, and small. It was like her to choose the smallest room in the house. The furnishings were bare, yet the place had a homey vibe to it. It was neat, with books stacked alphabetically by author and sewing supplies in a corner next to her bed. She sat in a rocking chair, reading some book gifted to her by Wolfgang. It was peaceful. So with his nerve racked mind, he felt out of place.
She didn’t notice him at first, taking a second to process his existence. She often was a bit distant when she was alone, which is why she often stayed near someone where she could. It was a trait she and Jacob shared. Neither of them liked to be alone; they were pack animals, loyal and true. They didn’t leave each other behind, he thinks grimly as thoughts of rowdy blue hair pass his mind. She eventually looked up from her book, and smiled, saying, “Why, if it isn’t the birthday boy! How are you tonight, 宝贝?”
He grits his teeth at the mention of his birthday, “I don’t really know how to describe how I am, I guess I’m just conflicted, is all…How about you, though? Are you any better?”
“Hm..I haven’t been particularly either which way, I’m not concerned about you, though; are you okay, 我的天使?” She tilts her head with concern.
Jacob sat down across from her on her bed with a sigh. He really had nothing to lose by telling her what was wrong, so why couldn’t he?? He bit the inside of his cheek with anxious intent. He looked down at his hands, fiddling with his fingers. After taking a deep breath, he started, “I don’t know,I’m just a bit jittery about my birthday.”
“Is it about getting older? ‘Cause I can tell you, you’re young, it doesn’t get much better than that!” she giggled.
He laughed, “Ha…No, it’s not that. I’m…I just…I don’t really know what’s wrong, I just know that something, well, is! It’s frustrating…to say the least. I just want things to go back to how they were.”
“ 宝贝, If I had it my way, everything would go back to how it was when I was 19. And that was over a century ago. I know it’s hard to miss times gone past, but we can’t live in the past dear. As much as I’d like to be with my cousins again, goofing off like we were still children, I wouldn’t trade a single second of being here with you and your father. You both matter more to me than all the moon and stars combined, and I mean it. Nothing will change that, okay dear?”
He nods, not even noticing the tears forming down his cheeks. Lily smiles and wipes them off of his face. “Thank you, Lily. Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
He feels a bit more at peace after that. A bit less alone, if that’s even possible. Even still, The sinking feeling in his chest hasn’t gone away though.
“Lily,” he asks like a puppy looking up to its owner, “are you sure everything will turn out okay in the end?”
“Why, I never said I think things will be okay. I don’t know, and I never will. That’s the thing about us wolves. We’re not as magical as vamps or spellcasters, so I can’t tell you your future. But I can tell you this. Me and your father, heck, even Wolfgang, we’re all going to stick by you. And we’re not going anywhere, you hear me?” she replies softly.
Lily had since moved closer to him, holding him closer, just like she had done when he was younger.
“Lily?”
“Yes, 宝贝?
“I miss her.”
“I know, dear, I do too.”
“I miss her a lot…”
“I think we all do. Grief is normal though. “
“Even if they’re still alive?”
“Yes.”
He snuggled closer to Lily, holding her close as the cold salt of his tears swirled in his mouth as if in a dance, melancholy and all encompassing. With this he lets himself fall to the cruel mistress of sleep.
—
Rory took a deep breath, letting the world slip by her as she laid on the couch of the Grimtooth bar’s bunker. She knew what day it was. June 22nd. The day before her brother’s birthday. She winced as she sat up like a puppy in pain, taking a deep breath in.
She remembers the last time she saw her brother. She and her father had a disagreement on the territory of the Collective and The Wildfangs. It was something she had rehearsed over and over; she was never good at diplomacy. Not like her father, it was one of the few things she commended him for. She came alone, not wanting Lou to compromise anything. Lily and Jacob were there, staring at her as they negotiated things. Her pack was very small at the time, consisting of her and Lou. Most werewolves in Moonwood Mill were either packless or a part of the collective, so she felt a bit embarrassed to meet up with everyone after defecating. She made eye contact with Jacob after everything was settled. Part of her wanted to talk to him, but her fear of saying something wrong got the better of her. She remembers the betrayal in his eyes. It hurt her heart.
She pulled a joint out of her pocket and lit it, taking a hit. She wasn’t a frequent smoker, concerned for the health side effects, but she used the drug recreationally even still. Mostly when she wanted a break from her own thoughts, wanting it all to be replaced with the bliss of a high.
“Everything alright, Boss?” Lou, the other member in her pack, chimed in. He was a sweet soul, one who wasn’t very booksmart, but one with a wealth of knowledge anyway. He simply used it for simpler things. Like stealing! And girls!
“I told you to not call me that, Lou,” she sighed, “It’s personal stuff. It doesn’t concern you.”
He groans.”Everything concerns me, Ror! I’m the second in command,” he pauses, “and your best friend! So you have to tell me,” he said with a toothy wolflike grin, leaning into her. She pushes him off.
“I’m being serious, Lou! This is something very important to me!!
“Well, Ror, I don’t know what’s going on with you! Because you won’t tell me!”
She groans and frowns, left in a state of conflict. He stares back with big eyes as she looks distantly at the wall. She hasn’t seen her brother in over 6 months, and before that, a year. Would he even want to see her on his 18th birthday?
She remembers the first birthday they shared together. It was nice, the kind of air that makes you forget your inhibitions and just be, y’know? He was 8 years old and she was 14. Normally, most kids wouldn’t want to hang around their little kid brother, but Rory wasn’t most kids. They were best friends, practically attached at the hip. She misses that so dearly. She misses cuddling with her brother and protecting him from bullies and all the little things about her family. She wouldn’t trade her wolf pack for the world, but the Collective is still her family. And she wishes she made the choice to keep them as such.
Lou frowns at his best friend as she takes another hit of her joint distantly. Lou was never too bright, so in a brilliant display of the particles in his brain colliding to form a singular thought, he got an idea. He yanked the pillow he was sitting on away and threw it at his pack leader.
Rory scowled bitterly as she shoved the pillow off of herself, “OW! The fuck was that for, Lou!?”
Lou laughed simply and sheepishly, “I don’t know! You’ve been in a funk recently, I can't help you when you’re brooding and as your best friend it is my responsibility to deal with you when you’re stuck like this. Also don’t lie, that didn’t hurt.”
“So you threw a pillow at me??” she asked incredulously.
“Maybe! You don’t tell me anything when you’re brooding– It’s annoying.”
She sighed, pinching her temples as the fury stewing in her body lessened, “Look, I’m just….thinking about my brother.” she mumbled.
Lou tilted his head, confused, “you have a brother?”
“Watcher help me…. Yes! I do, his name is Jacob. We haven’t seen each other in years, not since I left home to create my own wolf pack. His birthday is tomorrow and l…feel bad. He’s turning 18. And everything feels like I made the wrong decision. But I know in my heart it was the right one, I just wish it didn’t cost me my family. Sorry for being all moody about it, it’s nothing to do with you.”
“Why don’t you go visit him then??”
“It’s not quite that simple. I’m not on the best terms with my father and my aunt. I don’t want to make things worse after I left so abruptly.”
Lou was caught in thought once more, trying to find a solution to this kind of problem. He was much better at emotional problems than physical ones, “I think you should go for it, honestly? I don’t know, I think that you’re going to regret it infinitely if you don’t do it now. Plus, you’re family. Dude, I’d kill to be close with my family at all, at any point in time... You have a perfect chance, so I don’t understand why you’re not taking it.”
She sighs, “you’re right…thanks man, I needed that.”
“Anytime, Ror's” he smiled.
She smiled sourly and threw the pillow back at him with a , “Also, never throw anything at me ever again. I’m serious.”
He smiled sheepishly, “Aye-aye captain,” he moved over to her and elbowed her, “You wanna go upstairs and get a drink?”
“Fine, sure. Nothing alcoholic though, I have a big day tomorrow.”
“Gotcha, it’ll be my treat. Maybe I can even buy Celene a drink and—”
Rory let out a hearty laugh, “Don’t push it.”
—
Jacob awoke unceremoniously the next morning, at 5:39 am. Lily must’ve moved him to his own room. He slept like the dead so this wasn’t a very difficult task. He yawned, his arms in pain from the position he slept in. He wiped sleep from his face like a puppy as horror struck his mind.
Today was his birthday. June 23rd, 2019. His birthday. He swallowed thickly as he wrapped his blanket around himself to forget. He’d been dreading this day for the past 3 months. He felt the cold air on his skin as he got out of bed and got ready for the day ahead of him.
He wasn’t ready for this, wasn’t he?