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Chapter Text

Barden University is a melting pot of people. A place where all species are welcome and plentiful. There are the classics — vampires, werewolves and witches. Sprinkled in are some more obscure species, like warlocks, mermaids and sirens as well as a small group of demon-hybrids. And then there's the regular ol' humans, the majority of the population. So many different activities and clubs, some mixed species and others species-specific. Beca would be right at home!

Beca's dad had laid it on thick, advertising Barden University. She had caved eventually and allowed her dad to enrol her. Not for the reasons he thought, probably, like finally getting the motivation for a nursing degree. ("It's what you wanted to be when you were little!" "The only jobs I knew of as a kid were a nurse, a firefighter and a teacher, dad.") Frankly, she wasn't sure what had made her cave. A deep-seated need to please him, maybe. Or perhaps she really wanted that nursing degree. Perhaps in college, she would find those nurturing, almost maternal instincts her father was so sure she would grow into.

Anything nurturing or maternal had left Beca the moment she and mom left the pack. You'll find yourself again, her dad would say, insinuating she'd lost herself when in reality it was him and his actions that threw her off course. How typical of him to not listen to the women in his life. But what did she and her needs matter when he had a new mate to take care of. Beca hadn't handled her parents' divorce well, much less the severing of the mating bond. She thought it was fucking selfish of him to expect her to just be okay, but she'd never say that out loud. In werewolf grade school the first thing they learn about mates and marriage is that it's forever, unconditional and evergreen. (Her mom scratching the mating bite on her neck till it bled didn't seem very evergreen to 11 year-olf Beca.) Beca tries not to dwell on the past, but when her view on love in all its many forms had been altered by the event — it's hard.

In the midst of her bitterness, the taxi finally pulls to a stop at Barden University. She steps out of the cab and rescues her mixing equipment from a staff's grubby hands. Then, appearing from thin air comes a preppy looking girl. Beca can smell the spice of magic in her blood, so she's probably a witch or something. Some dude is belting Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas on the back seat of his parent's car, pulling Beca's focus from the witch explaining where Baker Hall is. He proceeds to air-guitar the solo to her before a realization cuts his singing short. He tilts his head like a puppy and Beca knows she's spotted a fellow wolf.

"Hey, aren't you-" He points a finger at her and she raises her eyebrows, an indulgently sarcastic smile on her face.

"Jesse! Head in the car!" Someone who's presumably the signing dude's father barks from the driver's seat. This Jesse ducks back in, just in time for the preppy girl to hand her the BU rape whistle.

"Don't blow it unless it's actually happening!" Beca puts the whistle between her teeth while the witch smiles so tightly Beca's sure her cheeks will tear or something.

If it was an option, she would've turned tail the moment she stepped on campus. If the interactions from before weren't a sign, then she's not sure what is. I mean, c'mon, a strange stranger air-guitaring out of a car window and a witch wound so tight elastic would be jealous of her? Sounds like Luna, the omnipresent goddess of werewolf religion, is trying to tell her something. But there was one thing holding her back. Any moment now, her dad could ambush her. There was no way out of this, not when it was this or the step-monster. She shudders at the thought. Beca had been to one dinner at her dad's house since they'd gotten together and the stale casserole had been enough to decide that, no, nope, not gonna happen.

Looking around campus doubtfully, Beca fails to see why her dad gushed about the place so much. How could any werewolf go here or even teach here? Much less a Mitchell, for gods' sake. Their line was famous for their noses, apparently, but no one kept track of lines anymore. Except maybe her dad, who felt it was necessary to lecture her about them every chance he got. Point was, her sense of smell was unnecessarily keen. Crowded spaces, this one especially, filled with sweaty teens cusping on adulthood, were not ideal. She slips a eucalyptus snuff up her nose to make it all bearable. It was an old fashioned way for werewolves to dull their senses to make fitting in with humans easier. It does irritate her sinuses, though, sometimes even causing bleeding. Beca avoids wearing them when she can. She speeds to her room and just as she'd thought, it doesn't take long for her dad to show up.

"You know, James' boy is a freshman here, maybe you could chat with him a bit? See where it goes! Get a bit of action!" He starts as soon as he's entered her dorm room. Beca's blocked out most of his attempts of small talk and dad-humour. She's already on Kimmy Jin's bad side as if it wasn't bad enough she was a vampire. That stereotypical rivalry was formulated by humans to pit vampires and werewolves against each other, Beca knew, but Kimmy Jin just rubbed her fur the wrong way. Even if she wasn't a blood-leech, Beca did not like her. Who decorates their dorm room gold and white?

"How many times exactly have I told you I'm a lesbian, dad?" She's sick of this. Like, really sick. It's not a phase, dad, it's my life! She wants to say but holds back. She has no doubt he wouldn't take her seriously. She wouldn't blame him. That's what she told him when she was going through her emo-phase.

"Oh, we've all had that phase, Beca-"

"Have we, dad?" She sneers at him. "Have we, really?" 

"Don't give me attitude, Beca. You know it's not possible for our species." No, but it literally is! She wants to scream into the air like a velociraptor. There have been gay werewolves since the beginning of time but you and the pack are so brainwashed and bigoted that you'd rather hate than listen! But she says none of this. It wasn't a big deal, she's just in her emotions right now, stressed and tense. She tries to reason with herself so she doesn't bite her own dad. Sometimes she really wishes she hadn't gone to those anger management classes so she could just rage on whatever inconvenience or annoyance she faced. Like Dr Mitchell over here, both an inconvenience and an annoyance.

"Y'know what- whatever. How is the step-monster?" Redirecting his attention was like second nature to her by now.

"Uh, well, she is fine, thank you for asking." She can tell by his bashful tone he's not pleased but also that he's not going to comment on it. "She's actually in Vegas for a pack meeting-"

"No, I don't actually care." She does care. Pack meeting? She remembers when they used to go to those, just her and dad. "I just wanted to say step-monster." Kimmy Jin is glancing between them like she's at a tennis match. Pointedly ignoring her use of the term step-monster, her dad changes the topic.

"Have you guys been out in the quad yet? In springtime, all the students study on the grass. You'll find lots of our kind there." Beca was an indoor person, yet another way she didn't fit the werewolf cookie cutter.

"I don't want to study on the grass with some furballs." Beca distracts herself by unloading her stuff, really trying not to freak out on him like the emotionally volatile she-wolf he probably thinks she is. "I need to move to LA and get a job at a record label and start paying my dues."

"Here we go again. You know, Beca, DJing is not a profession, it's a hobby. It's great you want to explore, it's in your nature as a young she-wolf, but there's a world out there. It won't be easy and you need- you need a good foundation." He sighs, looking all sympathetic and concerned. It makes Beca's blood boil and chest rumble with a growl. She's one step away from snapping her teeth at her dad in sheer frustration.

"That's not... I..." She struggles to speak, so baffled she has to explain this for the hundredth time. "I wanna produce music. I wanna make music, dad." She laughs nervously in between her words and resists the urge to scrape his soft, fatherly eyes out of his skull. Woah, Beca, that was a bit much even for you.

"But you're going to get a college degree first." That's the deal they'd made, but she was wasting time. She didn't do anything with this education. "For free, might I add. End of story." End of story. She really wants to go for the eyes right then and there, but Kimmy Jin picks the perfect time to escape to the Activities Fair. Beca follows after her, throwing some sarcastic quip over her shoulder. It's all she could really do. Werewolves were primal creatures, so solving disagreements physically wasn't entirely uncommon, but challenging her dad just wasn't something she could do. That would cut any and all ties with her father and she couldn't handle that. She still needed him. As much as she wanted to hate him, he was all she had left.

Chloe Beale loved Barden. Oh, she loved it more than life itself! Everyone in her pack had gone to Barden, or at least those who chose to go to college. It'd been her long time dream to go to Barden and become a Bella. The Barden Bellas were the classiest, prettiest wolf-girls on campus and Chloe had dreamt of being one of them since sophomore year of high school. The Bellas were an all-female, werewolf exclusive acapella group. The group was exclusive to werewolves mostly because of the required vocal capacity. Werewolves could howl at 1000 Hz frequency, just like their full-blooded counterparts, but humans could only reach approximately 250 Hz, depending on sex. But there was another aspect to the exclusivity as well, kind of like there were clubs exclusive for LGBTQ people. Werewolves had been oppressed by witches and wizards for decades, demeaned to just familiars or primitive cults. Chloe had wanted to find that solidarity, to share experiences, to find...

The Sisterhood. Chloe had auditioned simply for that, honestly. Having been lured in with the promise of potential packmates and life-long friendships, she'd been stoked. She had come looking for sisterhood, and oh, how she'd found just that. Companionship in the Bellas was just as vile classy and fake pretty as the Bellas themselves. Chloe had hoped to find unconditional love and affection, maybe to even form a pack bond, but had only found shallow waters. The sisterhood of the Bellas was unauthentic at best, toxic at worst.

"Chloe, look at you, you're a mess!" Alice, the former Bella captain, had said to her right before their performance at the International Championship of Collegiate Acapella. "You're unfocused. You're unreliable. And your breath smells like egg. Like, all the time." They were supposed to perform in mere minutes, but all Chloe had wanted to do then was to curl up into a ball and cry. She'd been subjected to these same sorts of verbal beatdowns for so long she wasn't sure how she was still standing.

"I still can't believe the Bellas are being passed on to you two slut bags after we graduate." Alice's words lash at Chloe's ears, but she looks down at heels and promises she's going to be so good of a captain that Alice's legacy will crumble like an ugly, misshapen sandcastle.

"Just don't eff up your solo!" She hisses to Aubrey, who stands next to her unwaveringly. Still, Chloe feels the tremble in her fingers when she reaches for her hand. (It's funny how Megan jinxed her own performance with those words because Aubrey does end up effing the solo.)

But, despite the name-calling and other mean stuff, she was still here. Still a Bella. This was the thing she wanted most, to be a Barden Bella. They had gotten through that performance, not unscathed but they had gotten through. Now, it was her and Aubrey's turn to take the reigns and recruit a new generation of Bellas. A generation she promised herself she wouldn't call slut bags or anything degrading like that. But before even getting the opportunity to call anyone a slut bag, they would have to acquire said not-slut-bags.

"I will stop at nothing to take those ding-a-lings down," Aubrey speaks like a knight but Chloe's gotten used to it. They're both watching as the Treblemakers frolick around, inefficiently trying to appeal to potential new recruits. Still doing better than them, by some miracle. Their captain, Bumper Allen, is the very image of Bellas' anti-Treblemaker agenda, loud and obnoxious, womanizing and smug. Chloe has no issue scrunching her nose at him.

"Hey, Barb, you gonna audition this year? We have openings." Chloe turns just in time to catch her fellow senior. She'd been trying to get into Bella ranks for three consecutive times but had failed each all because her shirt had been a bit too see-through freshman year.

"Oh, now that you've puked your way to the bottom, you might actually consider me?" She snaps justifiably, but Chloe winces anyway. "I auditioned for you three times and never got in because you said my boobs look like baloney!" She puts her hands on her hips, pulling back the cardigan she's wearing and revealing a thin white tee. Under which her large areolas are very visible. Chloe gets being angry, but she and Aubrey hadn't been the ones to make that apt comparison or to reject her audition. Barb was a good singer and had a long dancing background, but the Bellas' conditions were rooted in appearance above anything else. Though, that might have to change this year.

"The word's out. Bellas is the laughing stock of acapella." Barb's smirk is telling and Chloe almost whines. Please, we need you! "Good luck auditioning this year. Douche-b's."

"Oh my god, this is a travesty," Fanning herself desperately and bouncing on the balls of her feet, Chloe tries to calm down. "God, if we can't even recruit Baloney Barb, then we can't get anybody!"

"Just take the dramatics down a notch, okay?" Aubrey tries to calm her like she usually does, harshly and soberingly. Chloe takes a deep breath as Aubrey tries to hand someone a flier and gets brutally ignored.

"You're the one that got us into this hot mess!" Chloe doesn't like mentioning The Incident, but it's the truth. Aubrey's nerves got the best of her during the championships performance and she projectile vomited all over the stage. Chloe gets it, she does, but if they can't get enough wolf-girls for the Bellas, they're positively — aca-scuse my language — fucked!

"We'll be fine!" Aubrey doesn't seem any less stressed than Chloe and they round the table to stand in front of their little booth. "I am confident that we will find eight, super-hot girls with bikini-ready bodies who can harmonize and have perfect pitch. Okay?" The standards are unrealistically high for their sitch, but Chloe chooses to believe. She tries so hard to believe, even as a few people pass by and ignore Aubrey brutally again. 

"Just- just keep flyering. We have tradition to uphold." What tradition? Slut- and body-shaming and internalized misogyny?  Chloe's not too keen to go back to that environment, she's not even sure if she could.

"How about we just get good singers?" She suggests tentatively and already, Aubrey's looking at her with judgemental eyes.

"What? Good singers? What?" A big blonde woman strolls up to them, a lazy Australian accent a perfect match for her vibe. Aubrey's already looking her up and down, silent but clearly disapproving. The indoctrination of Bellas has seemingly hindered her manners.

"Hi!" Chloe greets readily, ignoring Aubrey's elevator eyes. "What species are you?"

"Furry, scary werewolf!" She gurgles and curls her fingers into claws, which she swipes at the captain pair. The captains glance at one another. Aubrey smiles tightly and offers a handshake. She's partially shifted there, knuckles covered in coarse, grey fur while her nails have grown darker, thicker and sharper. The Aussie smiles and shakes her hand, her hand very much human. Aubrey clears her throat and looks at the girl expectantly, not letting go of her hand. Eventually, she makes an 'ooh' sound and fur explodes from her hand. A bit of untapped energy there, clearly she doesn't shift often enough, but that's a wolf alright. Chloe nods like a bobblehead, eyebrows grazing her hairline. She continues the questions:

"Can you sing?"

"Yeah." The Aussie says casually, fur receding.

"Can you read music?"

"Yeah." She sounds a bit more excited now.

"Can you match pitch?" Chloe challenges playfully.

"Try me!" The Aussie points finger guns and Aubrey seems to have made her assessment: good enough. She nods vigorously at Chloe to sing a note. Once she does, the Aussie follows beautifully. Chloe could cry from relief. She goes higher. The Aussie follows. She goes higher one last time and the Aussie follows through! She holds it for a few seconds, seeming to not have any plans to stop before Aubrey motions for her to stop. Even then, she continues holding it, changing volume and fading in and out until... She finally comes to a stop.

"That was a really good start!" Aubrey's smile is strained but Chloe feels hopeful. Honestly, the Bellas could do with some diversity and this girl seemed great!

"I'm the best singer in Tasmania. With teeth." Great, but strange. So strange, but Chloe doesn't mind.

"What's your name?"

"Fat Amy." That gives her pause. Why would someone call themselves Fat Amy? Aubrey asks that out loud, having the same thought.

"So twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back." Chloe gets it, because honestly if any of the older Bellas remained, that's totes what they'd have called her.

"I will see you in auditions, Fat Amy." Aubrey adopts the knight tone once again. Amy flourishes away with a gurgle-growl and a swipe of her claws (like, her fingers curled up). Chloe's half tempted to do it back but restrains herself. She's just about to turn to Aubrey to gush just how well they did when her nose snaps in the air. The beasty side of her takes control for a bit, honing her senses to catch a delicious scent. That's so good! So good, oh gosh, she can't get enough, what is that-

"Chloe, by the moon, get your head straight!" Aubrey takes her by the cheeks and Chloe shakes herself out of it. "What in the world was that?"

"I just smelled something really good. Can't- can't you smell it?" She takes a deep breath through her nose. Her eyes flutter closed, a tiny moan in her throat.

"There's way too many people here to pick out one scent." Aubrey huffs, sniffing slightly. "Probably just the churro stand. Get yourself together, Chloe." Chloe doesn't think so. This scent was nothing like churros. It was woodsy and deep, warm and all-consuming. It sparked an attraction, a desire to know what — or rather who, had such an alluring smell. Chloe scans the crowd, positive this person was a potential mate of hers.

Potential mates were a thing of the werewolf world. The scents of potential mates appealed instinctually to one another, encouraging mating. They stood out among others and if the attraction was acknowledged, the effect would only strengthen. They weren't uncommon, but if pursued tended to create balanced and fair relationships, statistically more so than just any relationship. Potential mates were always mutual and could only manifest between two werewolves.

"What about her?" Chloe speaks immediately when she spots them, clocking the source of sandalwood, vanilla, cinnamon and something entirely personal to them. Her appearance is as enticing as her scent, Chloe notes. She's got black eyeliner surrounding her lids and metal lining her ears. Her hair is a rich brown and her eyes, the irises are a stormy blue. Chloe thinks they might complement each other quite well. So, she ignores Aubrey when she says the girl is a bit too alternative.

"Hey, any interest in joining our acapella group?" She asks, smiling as pretty as she can. Teeth white and eyes sparkling, hoping to enthuse the small brunette to join. She's a bit aghast by how the brunette doesn't acknowledge the bond, to be honest. Chloe subtly checks her out for any scent blocking patches but doesn't spot any. Strange.

"Oh, right, this is, like, a thing now." Her voice is nice to listen to, Chloe thinks, she must have a great singing voice. She's more than happy to educate this small stranger on acapella. Though, she didn't have much room to call her small when she herself was on the shorter side. She's taller, though, and that's all that matters.

"Totes! We sing covers of songs but we do it without any instruments." The stranger keeps looking at her, oh gosh, her eyes really are so deep. "It's all from our mouths." Luna have mercy, from where else, Chloe!? She screams at herself inside, not showing any of it on the outside. She can't be a stuttery, nervous wreck in front of a potential mate. She's representing the Bellas, stay focused, stay proper! Stay strong, Beale.

"Yikes." The stranger says with a smile that does not reach her eyes. Something about the sarcasm is doing it for Chloe, though. Aubrey's smile is growing less genuine by the minute.

"There's four groups on campus." She begins explaining, honestly just looking for an excuse to keep Mystery Mate around for as long as possible. "The Bellas. That's us. We're the tits." She hadn't explained this all to Amy. So why this one? Don't kid yourself, Chloe, you know why. "The BU Harmonics, they sing a lot of Madonna. They're exclusive to sirens and mermaids. They compete in a different league. The High Notes. They're not particularly motivated. They're mixed species, but mostly witches... And then there's..." Chloe and Aubrey glance to the Trebles who're just finishing an acapella rendition of Whip it by The Dazz Band. The captains smile conspiratorially, turning back to the mystery mate with a slight giggle.

"So, are you interested?" Chloe hopes she is. It'd be great to get to know a potential mate even if they didn't go anywhere like that. Not to mention they'd get a new Bella! Which should've been the main objective here, but Chloe's too distracted to remember that.

"Sorry, it just- it's pretty lame." Chloe's hopes deflate like a sad balloon and Aubrey is offended.

"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey cuts in. "Synchronized lady dancing to a Mariah Carey chart-topper is not lame." Aubrey laughs like a small bell chiming, high pitched and phony.

"We sing all over the world and we compete in national championships." Chloe tries to reel her in one last time, hopefully stroking the competitive streak all werewolves possessed!

"On purpose?" Seems not, heck. Chloe almost pouts her displeasure, but Aubrey's had enough of this ridicule.

"We played the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, you bitch!" Bitch was a serious insult among werewolves. Mystery Mate doesn't seem offended though, but highly amused. Chloe, shocked by her co-captain's foul language, nudges her hard with her elbow.

"What Aubrey means to say we are a close-knit," Yeah, she and Aubrey were pretty close-knit. The two of them. The remaining Bellas. "talented group of ladies whose dream is to return to the national finals at Lincoln Center this year." She finishes her little speech and is almost sure Mystery Mate is sold.

"Help us turn our dreams into a reality?" Chloe delivers the final blow, if that doesn't do it, then nothing will!

"Sorry, I don't even sing, but it was really nice to meet you guys." And then she walks away.

"What was that? Chloe, what on gods' green earth was that?" Aubrey turns to her, nostrils flaring and cheekbones fluttering with coarse fur. Chloe shrugs, resisting the urge to turn her head and submit. They were on equal ground, co-captains, this was not like before. This is not freshman or sophomore or, gods, junior year, when she'd had to lay belly up for the older Bellas. This time it'll be different, better.

"We need to get anyone who has even a little talent in singing to audition, Aubrey!" Chloe windmills her arms for emphasis. "Bellas aren't exactly popular right now." She sighs. "And she's probably, maybe- like, pretty likely, a PM." Aubrey scoffs at that and rolls her eyes.

"Of course." She pinches between her eyebrows for a second before composing herself once more. "You just have an extra hard toner for her. She didn't react to you, like, at all."

"Hmph" Chloe harrumphs but does not deny it. Mystery Mate did seem oddly indifferent to her.

"What." Aubrey takes a deep breath. "Are." Puffs it out like a dragon. "We." Another inhale. "Gonna do." One last, draconic exhale. Chloe hands out another flyer.

"Hey. I know you." Who would've guessed that the nutcase that dedicated an air-guitar riff would be working at the radio station with Beca? Not her, certainly not. She had hoped to never interact with the dude or even to see him. But, here they were, stacking CDs together with explicit instruction not to have sex on the desk. Such a stimulating and challenging task. Exactly what she wanted to do. Totally.

"No, you don't," Beca answers curtly, not wanting to encourage him to talk to her. He doesn't seem to get the hint. 

"Yeah, I do." He insists as if eye contact for literal seconds counted as knowing. "You came in a taxi, that's weird. Is your dad a taxi driver?"

"Nope."

"I do know your dad, then." He doesn't let up and Beca clenches her jaws, but that did get her attention. "You're Rebecca Mitchell. Dr Mitchell's daughter. Our dads are fishing buddies." Oh, of-fucking-course Jesse had to be the James' boy her father had mentioned. The last thing she wanted was to deal with was some über masculine, noisily jockish wolf-boy who couldn't comprehend being told no. That was usually the type her dad tried to set her up with. Boys will be boys, he'd say when Beca would complain, they tease you because they like you. Because calling her a dyke was a definite sign of a crush.

"Look, dude, I'm not interested." She puts it straight out, holding onto the lesbian-card in case he tells his dad. Her dad had been very adamant about keeping this affliction of hers within the family.

"Oh, me neither. Like that, at least." He smiles brightly and some of Beca's expectations are proven false. "I was thinking we could be friends. Y'know like, strict-parents-solidarity kind of friends?" That made her smile a bit. He seemed like a genuine guy if a bit too enthusiastic.

"Yeah? I guess I'd rather stack CDs with... A buddy." She says nonchalantly as if the prospect of making a friend didn't make her, albeit begrudgingly, excited. Wolves were social creatures, the canine sense of 'friend! friend! friend!' was ingrained in her. The way he beams at her, so bright she's sure his metaphorical tail is wagging. (It is actually possible to partially shift so that only the tail was visible. Only weirdos did that, though.)

"Yeah!" He speaks, taking a stack of CDs and moving to stack them onto a shelf a bit further away. "I'll tell you a bit about myself and you do the same, okay? I'm Jesse, I'm a werewolf and I'm gonna score movies! I love movies! And... I'm asexual." Beca wasn't exactly thrilled with sharing about herself, but this all seemed like pretty shallow information so maybe it was fine. Well, maybe the asexual thing was a bit deeper for Jesse. He did seem shy about admitting it. Beca doubted he was out if he had parents anything like her dad. He only knew because she had been involuntarily outed. (Fuck you, Amanda from high school.)

"I'm Beca, also a werewolf and I'm gonna be a music producer. I like music. And girls. I'm a lesbian." Jesse looks surprised at that.

"Is that even possible?" Beca's not really in the mood to explain this stuff to him. She does anyway.

"Why wouldn't it be?" She glances at him, assessing if he's just ignorant or malicious. "Just like any species, mystic or else, werewolves are capable of being homosexual."

"What?" She's tempted to show him gay penguins. "But- but why?"

"Why're you asexual?"

"Oh." Jesse pauses. Then looks sheepish. "I get it." He gets sad for a moment and Beca dreads how much he really resembles a puppy. "Sorry, I should've... I don't know. My dad doesn't allow, like, internet at our house."

"Same." Despite their differences in attitude and overall vibe, it's sobering how similar their lives are. "But I left young so, had time to Google stuff. It's not your fault."

"Thanks. Could you, maybe, teach me some stuff?" He asks with a hopeful smile. Beca's sure if she was straight she'd probably be melting.

"We'll see." Yeah, she will, but she's got a rep to uphold.

Chloe and Aubrey had decided to go on a run. They hadn't gone in a long time, the last time before college. Usually, they'd just go to the Shifter Species Sports Center, but now they'd decided to spend money on a portal warp to Chattahoochee National Forest. Like old times. It was upstate, over an hour by car from Atlanta, but by warping, it took only a few minutes. Chloe hated it, though. It always made her dizzy and almost hurl, not to mention it was so expensive. She missed it when her generation, first cousins and siblings, and some of Aubrey's would go. A weekend camping trip with a bit of underage drinking and a whole lot of fun. To be honest, Chloe missed a lot of things. But there was no way to go except forward.

"Let's do the White-Tail trail, it's the longest and it has the most diversity in terrain— Chloe, are you even listening?" Aubrey gripes, seeing Chloe's dreamy look. She remembers having a huge crush on Aubrey's cousin, Allen, who'd been the oldest of them. And the tallest. And the strongest. She wonders if Mystery Mate has a pack and generation buddies, warm and comforting memories. She pictures them making those kinds of memories together. How fun would that be? Wait, had Aubrey asked her something?

"What? Yeah, totes." The blonde does not look impressed and crosses her arms. They're currently walking towards the changing booths, which are meant for werewolves like them. Chloe smiles innocently.

"Which trail are we doing, then?" Aubrey cocks an eyebrow, not allowing her out of this. Chloe's smile turns a bit more bashful, a tiny pout appearing. She hopes Aubrey will succumb to her pretty blues.

"Uhh, whatever you want, Bree!" Appealing to her commanding nature might work.

"I already picked one. What did I pick?" Or not... 

"Uhm-"

"I swear to Luna if you're daydreaming about that goth again..."

"Piercings and eye-makeup don't make someone goth, Aubrey."

"The little racoon's been in your head for days now, Chlo." Aubrey sighs before walking up to the small booth and reserving two shift-rooms. The teenager sitting in it barely looks up from their phone. "Are you sure she's a PM?"

"I'm sure. She... Her scent was... It was too good not to be a PM, Aubrey. I hope she auditions." Aubrey only sighs, not wanting to get into an argument about the Bella qualifications again.

"Speaking of auditions, you think we've got enough of them?" Changing the subject always works.

"Oh, yeah, we got enough!" Chloe bounces toward the shift-room, skipping past Aubrey. The shifting-rooms look essentially look like elongated porta-potties. Inside they have a bench and a hanger. Aubrey enters the one next to it and they continue talking through the wall.

"I counted eleven eligible girls!"

"Only eleven? Usually, we'd get more than twenty." Aubrey sighs but Chloe's actually kind of happy with the results. All that had turned up at the booth had at least some experience in singing, while years before there'd been so many pretty girls with no experience. Or skill, for that matter. Not that there was anything bad about being pretty! Well, maybe, but only because Chloe had started to associate a certain type of face with the older Bellas. I should probably work on that. Being scared of pretty girls is pathetic, Beale. Get ahold of yourself!

"Chloe, we have to do the initiation on a full moon. Luna shall bestow Her blessing upon us! No girl must be banished!" Aubrey's knight-like tone gets her to smile. Sometimes Chloe thinks she does it on purpose to cheer her up. She's still amused by Aubrey's obsession with Luna, the most worshipped goddess amongst werewolves. Chloe's own family had never really been religious. Aubrey was the polar opposite of her in that regard. She prayed to Luna every night, listened to god-awful liturgical music from, like, nine centuries ago and changed her workout routine according to moon phases. Chloe could not for the life of her understand why Aubrey would willingly be part of such a cult. Then again, Chloe herself had willingly subjected herself to the verbally abrasive and emotionally abusive Barden Bellas. Maybe they weren't so different after all.

Chloe folds her clothes neatly on the bench, lets her hair down and clips the keychain to her wrist. She breathes in deeply, holds it for ten seconds and blows it out for fifteen. She repeats the exercise a few times. She lets the beasty part of her surface, taking over her mind during the shift. Werewolves were most vulnerable during the full transformation from human to wolf. The animal takes over briefly, blocking most of the pain from overwhelming the brain, leaving it open for attack.

First, her body begins growing coarse fur, her coat similar to the colour of her hair — a warm russet colour. She was lucky in that sense since it wasn't often hair colour translated into the wolf coat. Next, the smaller bones in her body break, merge, elongate or do other gross stuff. As her snout grows new ligaments form, her furred skin ripples as her muscles change shape, swelling and pulsing. She leans forward, catching herself on all fours, hands almost paws. She knows how the transformation happens, she can literally feel it and has seen it happen to others, but she never looks when she transforms. It's pretty disturbing watching your body disfigure itself.

It's over quick. It takes her only two to three minutes to transform. It's recommended, by werewolf doctors, to shift forms fully at least once a month. It's important to exercise both forms equally. Aubrey only takes a minute, if that, to transform, because she does it as often as she can. Her wolf form is a lot larger than Chloe's, who's just a bit bigger than a full-blooded male timber wolf. As her mind comes back to itself, the beasty side having taken care of the transformation perfectly, as usual, Chloe wonders how big Mystery Mate's wolf form would be. Probably as tiny as her human one.

Chloe's broken from her daydreaming, again, by a sharp bark. She pushes the door open with her head and meets Aubrey's unimpressed gaze. It's a bit unsettling how her emotions are clear even when her face is canine. She's sitting stiffly on the ground, looking like a real alpha wolf. (That wasn't actually a thing, another thing the humans got wrong, but it was pretty descriptive.)

She's not quite sure how to feel about Aubrey's very human eyes. The exact same shade of hazel, beady and judgy. Chloe smiles the best she can without lips, hoping to show she's very sorry. (She's not.)

Aubrey knows she doesn't mean it, though. She huffs and trots away, tail swishing behind her sassily. Chloe clumsily locks the door with the sensor-key-pad-thing and scrambles after her. She nips Aubrey's ear and takes off running. What better way to dissolve stress than a good race? Not much! Though, as Aubrey's teeth snap a little too close to her tail, she shuts off her mind.

Beca decides a good hot shower is what she needs. Her dad had come to her room once more to give her one of his sermons. The usual contents hadn't changed. Beca you're not a lesbian, blah blah blah, get a boyfriend, blaaah, stop dreaming and listen to me and only me because I am your father blah bleh bluh. But this time, somehow, blessedly, he had allowed a compromise. If she joined one club and went to college for one year, he'd support whatever she chose to do, even if that was moving to LA to become a producer. She was quite pleased with herself, so pleased in fact, that she was singing as she walked towards the showers.

"You shout it out, but I can't hear a word you say," David Guetta's Titanium had been a constant on her playlist since it came out. "Talking loud, not saying much... I'm criticized, but all your bullets ricochet." She hangs the basket of toiletries on the hanger, takes off her robe and jumps in. She's going to have to take off her makeup, darn, did she remember to take the conditioner? It should-

"You can sing!" A voice, a feminine one, speaks from behind her. Way too close behind her. Beca whirls around and is met with a completely bare, damp redhead with insanely blue eyes. The one from the fair, the nice and pretty one. Not that the blonde wasn't pretty, but not as strikingly as the redhead.

"Dude!" Regardless of how pretty she is, she's still very much naked while Beca is naked as well and she is totally not comfortable with this predicament. For various reasons.

"How high does your belt go?" The redhead does not seem to get the hint when Beca shuts the curtain on her and instead reaches forward to shut off the shower.

"My what?" Beca does not have the brain capacity to understand metaphorical belts and how high they go, especially when the scent of mangoes, citrus and sunshine (what that smells like Beca isn't sure but it's there.) permeate the air. Oh, great, this creep is a potential mate, how fucking convenient.

"Oh my god!" She exclaims both from the shock of the redhead's proximity and the realization that this, this- gorgeous specimen is meant for her. Well, potentially, but some kind of force decided that, hey, those two look good together. That was... Crazy. It also proved that yes, there were gay werewolves.

"You have to audition for the Bellas." The redhead turns serious and Beca cannot resist rolling her eyes. Acapella, seriously? That's so lame and nerdy.

"I can't concentrate on anything until you cover your junk." The redhead looks a bit put off by that and Beca can see why. Werewolves were pretty casual about nudity since shifting with clothes on would inevitably end up shredding them. Beca had left the pack before she could shift for the first time and had lived in a human suburb after. 

"Just, consider it!" She sounds really desperate and the bond thrumming between them is telling Beca to say yes! Say yes! Please, say yes! "One time, we sang backup for Prince." If that was supposed to impress her, it didn't. "His butt is so tiny that I can hold it with, like, one hand." Beca tries to cover herself up with the shower curtain and the shampoo bottle but with the redhead gesturing how tiny Prince's butt is (like, what???) she ends up dropping them all. And all she has to say to that is 'oops' while Beca, fruitlessly, tries to preserve her dignity.

"Seriously. I am nude."Oh, wow, genius, she totally couldn't have noticed! Beca turns her back to the redhead as a last-ditch effort.

"You were singing Titanium, right?" Yeah and she's beginning to regret that dearly.

"You know David Guetta?" The whole PM thing was really getting to her with all these dumb questions spewing out of her.

"Have I been living under a rock? Yeah!" Beca smiles, briefly forgetting that they're in the same shower stall, totally naked talking about David Guetta. "That song is my jam." Beca really can't look away from those eyes, they're so shiny, like pretty blue zircons. "My lady-jam," The illusion breaks. Beca falls out of blue zircon skies back to earth, into this shower stall. Still naked.

"That's nice." She says, chuckling to cover the mortified blush on her cheeks. She did not need to picture this woman listening to her lady-jam doing, well, uh, what you do with a song you call your lady-jam.

"It is! That song really builds." And she winks. The redhead winks at Beca.

"Gross." No, it was perfectly natural and even good to do... What Beca was sure the redhead was implying... Then again it probably wasn't appropriate to be thinking of the redhead jamming to her lady-jam. Nor was it appropriate for the redhead to barge into her shower. Gosh, how were they both so freaking weird about this? It's just the PM bond, just instinctual attraction, nothing more, Beca tells herself. (She's in denial, of course, she is. She's Beca Mitchell.)

"Can you sing it for me?" That proposition was a touch too far.

"Dude, no, get out!" Beca really just wants to shower in peace. Is that so much to ask for?

"Not for that reason!" Chloe puts her hands on her hips decisively. "I'm not leaving here till you sing. So..." Beca contemplates it for a moment. If she was quiet for long enough, would the nameless redhead just go away? Could she change the subject? Talking about the PM bond sounded better than singing this woman's lady-jam. The redhead sighs dramatically, inspecting the ceilings while she waits. She even has the audacity to pick at her nails. Beca caves. She turns around slowly, eyes not leaving the redhead's, even though the bond is telling her to ogle and appreciate. As the other woman's eyes don't leave hers, Beca looks back. Their eye contact feels nearly like a physical caress, the bond pulsing between them and spreading around the room in waves. The fruity, warm scent of this stranger drifts up to her nose and Beca relaxes. She begins to sing:

"I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose..." The stranger joins the next part, harmonizing with her perfectly. "Fire away, fire away..." They sound so good together. "Ricochet, you take your aim, fire away, fire away..." Singing with her, Beca almost forgets where they are. "Shoot me down, but I won't fall... I am titanium," Almost, but not entirely. The acoustics of the place are pretty echoey. "You shoot me down, but I won't fall. I am titanium." And they finish. Beca kinda wants to finish the song. Kinda wants to shoo the stranger out of her stall. Most of all, kind of really wants to say something, anything about their situation.

"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty confident about... All this." She gestures at her body. Without really thinking about it, Beca's eyes drift to watch her hands move around her torso. As soon as she realizes what she's doing, she breaks her neck from looking up so fast. The can see the smug grin on the redhead's face as she stands in the doorway of the stall, stance victorious.

"You should be," Beca admits with a minuscule smile and an embarrassed blush.

"Yeah." They stand there, looking into each other's eyes. It feels good to do just that. The bond feels stronger, the pull Beca feels to know and learn this person tugging harder.

"So, uh, we-" Beca tries to bring it up.

"You have a lovely voice." A random guy shows up, peeking into her stall. Beca's too shocked to try to cover up. He doesn't seem to care about her, though, as his eyes trail the length of the redhead's body. I see how it is.

"Thanks." She speaks, tone harsh and loud in the large room. Getting the hint, the redhead's smile drops and she looks as if she's going to speak, but doesn't. She goes with the guy, hollering 'see you at auditions!' as if she didn't just...

Beca feels somehow cheated. She knows potential mates aren't set in stone. The bond is superficial and not some magical cure to all issues. It's basically a magnified attraction. If a relationship was to be built on it, it would require the same elements as any. PM bonds didn't create trust or security. Still, that doesn't take away how she feels those have been taken from her. If her PM didn't want to pursue anything, then they didn't have to. Just ignore the bond and everything will be fine. Just fine.

"Aubrey, I swear she will come! I talked to her!" Cornered her in the showers, but that's beside the point.

"Even if she does come, it's not guaranteed she'll get in." They both know damn well that there are not enough girls to afford to reject any. Chloe only huffs and watches as the auditioners snail their way into the auditorium. There's a pretty even mix of genders and species, but the characteristic scent of kin, fellow werewolves, isn't as strong as a few years back. The Treblemakers and Barden Bellas are both species-specific to werewolves, the auditions would usually be flooded with them. Not this time, though.

Tommy opens the auditions as he usually does. Chloe's not really sure where he fits in all of this, considering he isn't in any acapella group, but he does have a strange way of hyping up those auditioning. His friend, Justin, who, if he could sing a lick, in any human way possible, would, but can't, collects their information and passes them out to the judges.

It's only after, like, sixteen sets of sixteen bars of Since You've Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, that Chloe wonders if Mystery Mate is coming after all. It had seemed like she would after their little duet of Titanium. Maybe Tom popping his head in had ruined it. Chloe tries to consider it from Mystery Mate's perspective since she didn't know Tom. He was a nice guy, but she probably didn't know that. Oh, could she have... Mystery Mate was pretty odd with nudity. Most wolves didn't mind it at all, but those that had been raised among humans usually adopted the same mindset. Had Mystery Mate assumed there was something going on with her and Tom? Chloe loses focus on the audition, thinking hard about it. Casual sex wasn't uncommon, but she and Tom certainly did not participate in that, considering they both had eyes on different people. Tom was studying to be a hairdresser and Chloe was taking full advantage, allowing him to wash her hair biweekly. Her eyes trail from the person auditioning to the side of the stage. There stands Mystery Mate, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. She's biting her lip, looking around and soon enough she looks Chloe's way.

They meet eyes. Chloe smiles so wide her eyes crinkle. Mystery Mate doesn't seem too impressed, but Chloe can see the way their posture changes. The bond whispers sweet things. The attraction is very much mutual, especially when Mystery Mate's top is so low-cut. Bless Luna, she has such great boobs, Chloe thinks to herself, not that it's the only thing great about her. It's just that... She shuts down her inner monologue as Mystery Mate takes the yellow cup and begins singing.

As far as Chloe's opinion goes, Mystery Mate, or Beca Mitchell as her file reads, is a Barden Bella before she even leaves the auditorium. Aubrey will have to learn to tolerate the ear-monstrosities and eye makeup. She's not budging on this one.

Beca begins to regret her choice of extracurricular activity at the Bella initiation. The room is dark, filled with like a hundred lit candles and there's an ornate chalice filled with something red and thick. Had she accidentally joined a cult or was this just a wolf-club thing? It all seems really, really, really cultish when she has to take an oath — an oath that makes her solemnly swear not to sleep with a Treblemaker, or may her vocal cords be ripped out by wolves. There's so much wrong with that... She doesn't want to think about it. There are more pressing matters, anyway, like the chalice of red stuff being offered to her.

"Dude, no." She tells the redhead, Chloe. Finally, she'd learned her name. Chloe Beale, her extremely pretty and possibly taken slash not interested potential mate. Oh, happy day.

"Don't worry, it's Boone's Farm." And she winks. What is it with this woman and winking?

Before she knows it, they're at some aca-initiation party, as Aubrey the captain calls it.  Beca has no idea what she's talking about half the time. She's either combining something with aca or using some weird metaphors. What the fuck did 'soften the beach' even mean? There's a bunch of acapella nerds with cheap alcohol in red solo cups, stumbling around the cement seats of the outdoor theatre they've partied up. The scent of kin is almost overwhelming, the place swarming with werewolves. She hasn't been around so many wolves at once since she and mom left the pack. It reminds her of happier times when she and her cousins would chase each other around and play fight. With it comes bitterness. Luckily, she doesn't have to think about it for long because Jesse is tripping his way to her. Drunk off his ass, but there.

"Be-caw! Be-caw!" He imitates a bird. "Do my eyes deceive me or are you a Barden Bella?"

"No." She says and both of them know she's lying.

"You're one of those acapella girls, I'm one of those acapella boys and... And we're gonna be great companions." He says, giggling. "I was gonna say we're gonna have aca-children, but then I remembered...

"You're really drunk right now." She's thoroughly amused. "I don't think you're gonna remember any of this."

"No. I'm not drunk at all, you're just blurry." Now, this, this is funny. 

"You okay?"

"Yeah," He doesn't sound very convincing.

"Yeah? You almost fell over." Beca's having a great time poking fun at him.

"Noooo..." Still not very convincing.

"Can you pass a sobriety test right now?" She pushes him by the chest. He wobbles but finds his footing. (Aubrey glances their way. She's got a thunderous expression, for many reasons.)

"Yep." She pushes him again and he leans back on his heels, then leans back in on the balls of his feet. "See how I come right back."

"Can you stand up straight?" She pushes him again, he does the same thing.

"Aaaand I come right back!" She does see. Very good, Jesse, for not falling on your ass!

"Wow."

"Can I get you a drink?" He asks, doesn't wait for an answer and turns his back on her. "I'm gonna get you a drink! You need to get on this level! Woop!" He's way too drunk already. She doesn't get to be alone for long, because the redhead — she's gonna have to get used to her name, Chloe comes up to her.

"Hi!" She breathes into Beca's face and she can smell the alcohol. Oh, geez, that's close, Beca yelps when Chloe pulls her close by the arms. Her hands brush against Chloe's tummy and, panicking a bit (a lot), she grabs at the woollen cardigan she has on. It's a soft material, almost as soft as Chloe's lips look. That's creepy, Beca.

"I'm so glad that I met you!" Chloe croons to her, their faces so close Beca can inspect every single pore on the redhead's face. Oh, gosh, why is she leaning in? Beca's bit of panic is growing into a large, but before it can combust, their foreheads touch. The proximity is unfamiliar and too much for Beca's touch aversion, but at the same time, it feels so good. Beca would blame the bond for this, but she knows that recessive bonds like PM bonds get dimmed down when intoxicated. So, the redhead is here, close to her and touching their foreheads together out of her own free will and not some mystic pull. Beca takes a deep breath. Mangoes, citrus and sunshine squish down the panic.

"I think we're gonna be really fast friends." Oh, fucking damn it. "And... You know..." Chloe's already rosy cheeks flare and Beca's hopes and dreams uncrush. "You can feel it too?"

"I do," Beca whispers, smiling a bit too wide for her liking. "Well, you saw me naked." She winks and Chloe giggles.

"Who was that guy?" Chloe lets go of her hands and Beca pretends she doesn't feel cold at the loss of contact. The redhead sits on the cement bench's back, tugging Beca down to join her. She allows it, though Chloe pulls her much closer. Their thighs are touching and Chloe entwines her arm with Beca's. Seems like she's a clingy drunk.

"Who? Jesse?" Beca's smile is patient. She's not too sure how she manages it, considering this is very much a stranger and they're touching very intimately. She's pretty sure she's never touched even her dad this much.

"The one who was talking to you before." Chloe's voice is pouty and her brows are furrowed. Beca raises an eyebrow.

"And who's that you were in the shower with?"

"That's different! He was washing my hair. Platonically!" Beca hums non-committally, not believing that for a second. "I swear! And Tom likes, uhh, Benjamin? Ben... Bennnnnn... Ben-something. And I like you."

"Oh, do you now?"

"Uhuh, I really do." Chloe giggles all dopey. "You're really pretty and I looove, love love your voice. I think... I think we're gonna be good together."

"Hmmm... Maybe we will." She really doubts Chloe will remember any of this in the morning. "And Jesse's a friend. Nothing for you to worry about, carrot-top."

Chapter Text

"Man, the old Bellas was hot!" Their first practice starts with inspecting the generations before them. Chloe looks at the pictures as well, reminiscing. It's quite sad to look at. Distinguishing the pics from one another at a distance was practically impossible. They all look somewhat the same, with maybe a person of colour or a particularly short girl fitted in somewhere along the edge. Year by year, the same girls, smiling the same smile, in the same uniform.

"Yeah, they kept it tight." Chloe could not agree more with Fat Amy. Oh, it was tight. Now, though, Chloe hopes they can do things differently. Then again, Aubrey's really not on the same page.

"Okay!" Aubrey decides they've had enough time to leer at the pictures. "Sopranos in the front and altos in the back." Chloe goes to stand beside her co-captain. "As you can see, Kori is not here. Last night, she was Treble-boned." Already lost one? Yikes. "She has been disinvited from the Bellas."

"That oath was serious?" Beca pipes in. Chloe glances at her, but yanks her eyes away, not bearing to look at her out of sheer embarrassment. What had she been thinking? Snuggling up to her at aca-initiation night like they were best of friends? Get a grip, Beale!

"Dixie Chicks serious." Chloe's sure no one but her got that reference, but that's sort of Aubrey's thing. Weird words. "You can fool around with whoever you want to, just not a Treble."

"That's not gonna be easy." Stacie — was that her name? maybe. — pipes up. "He's a hunter." She says, entirely serious while gesturing to her crotch area.

"You call it a dude?" Beca asks and Chloe bites her lip to not laugh. She needs to pose a united front with Aubrey.

"Stacie, the Trebles don't respect us, and if we let them penetrate us, we are giving them our power." Even Chloe was a bit iffy with this rule. She could understand it somewhat, but at the end of the day, a collegiate club had little right to decide who an adult person was allowed to sleep with.

"Not a good enough reason to use the word penetrate," Fat Amy says. Chloe turns her head to cough into her fist to hide her chuckle.

"So, does anyone here have anything to confess?" Aubrey speaks again, this time addressing a different girl. The question seems to be directed at everybody, but with the way she's standing over Elise, it's very clear who she's really talking to.

"It- it was an accident. I-"

"Turn in your scarf and go." Elise whimpers, looking positively helpless. Chloe feels kind of bad. Aubrey looks at her with false sympathy, holding out her hand for the scarf. Once Elise has given it back, Aubrey gestures, rather dramatically, with her hands for her to get up and leave.

"Slut," Fat Amy coughs and Chloe looks at her sternly. No name-calling!

"Take your chair." Aubrey commands and Elise does. She scrapes the chair across the floor, noisily might I add, to the exit. Then she runs off, her crying echoing in the large room. Aubrey is satisfied, Chloe is concerned with their dwindling numbers.

"Was that necessary?" Beca asks, seeming pretty stunned at the whole display.

"This is war, Beca, and it is my job to make sure that my soldiers are prepped at go time with three kick-ass songs sung and choreographed to perfection." Chloe knows Aubrey's dad is in the military, but with the way she's constantly referencing the army, a war or speaking the way a man her father's age would, Chloe's growing concerned.

"And there are only four months until regionals. So, if you have a problem with the way I run the Bellas, then you should just-" She gags in the middle of her sentence. Chloe is immediately by her side, rubbing her arms and whispering soothing words.

"Don't stress, Aubrey, relax..." She glances at the young Bellas. They seem confused and a bit worried. "We don't wanna repeat what happened last year." Lily raises her hand and asks something. No one hears her. How is she even capable of talking so quietly? How did they let her in? They don't even know if she's a good singer, they can't hear a word she says. One of the young Bellas seemed to have heard at least something because they end up watching a video of The Incident. The Incident being Aubrey projectile vomiting during her solo at the championships.

"Enough! It happened. It's over." Chloe too wants to change the subject. "We will practice every day for at least two hours, six days a week. Once a week, we're going on a choreographed pack run." Choreographed pack runs were essentially just running in a group in wolf form, but with choreography. Formations, routes, that sort of stuff. "At least every other month, you are expected to come on a night run." Chloe's already used to it, but she knows shifting weekly for an average wolf, who shifts once a month, is going to be hard. And sore. Very, very sore.

"Uhh, shifting weekly? Yeah, no, don't put me down for that." Fat Amy tries to get out of it unsuccessfully. Aubrey ignores her.

"Okay, moving on." Aubrey motions for Chloe to hand out the stack of papers. "This is a list of songs that we have ever performed. And you will notice that we only do songs made famous by women."

"There's nothing from this century on here." Beca notes and Chloe really wants to say: I know right! But she doesn't. She never does.

"Because we don't stray from tradition." Oh, Luna, how I wish we did. Chloe can practically feel the irritation and ire itching under Beca's skin.

"Now, this is how we will become champions." Aubrey turns the whiteboard around. The other side reveals the Bella Building Blocks. And then begins an epic montage.

Aubrey conducts vocal warm-ups, all very necessary and also quite humiliating to do in front of anyone. She still can't hear Lily.

Beca swears she can hear Starships by Nicki Minaj somewhere in the background, but every time she stops to listen she can't hear it.

Then they run around, up and down stairs and on even ground, lifting their knees or touching their butt with their heels. It's not a good time, Beca insists, doesn't matter how Chloe seems to be glowing. She's like a golden retriever, happy to move around and exist, really, and even happier when Aubrey cheers her on.

"Amy! What are you doing?" Beca was wondering just the same. It's a wonder the captain didn't notice the Aussie lay down on the seats.

"I'm doing horizontal running." Psh, as if.

They practice walking in heels. Beca fears for her life. Chloe continues running, a beaming smile on her face. In heels. She's a sociopath. My PM is a sociopath.

When they're put to dance and sing in front of a mirror, Beca's sure this is some form of torture. First of all, the choreo is like a flight attendant showing how to use the oxygen masks and where the emergency exits are. Second, they have to do it in front of each other. And third, Chloe takes every opportunity to get real close and personal to show exactly how it's done. (Beca doesn't really mind it, not really. She already kind of likes Chloe. A bit. Just a bit.)

"Okay, I'm calling it." Her tone is pure distress. Beca is honestly offended. What did she expect from the first practice? She should be grateful they're taking to it so well already. Maybe words of encouragement would work better than passive-aggressive sighing, gosh! Lily mumbles something about going to the bathroom. Aubrey still doesn't hear her.

"Hey, Aubrey, did we just learn the same choreography from that video?" Beca knows the answer. So does Aubrey, since she refuses to answer.

"Okay." She slams her water bottle down on the piano. What did the poor instrument even do to you? "Don't forget to pick up your performance schedules. We have a gig next week." Oh, honey, we all know that's not enough time. "That's right! Next week!" The enthusiasm is admirable, but Beca knows it's going to be a trainwreck.

"Guys, it's Sigma Beta Theta's Annual Fall Mixer." Beca has no idea what that means, but from what she can decipher, it's a frat house. How quaint.

"Okay. Hands in Bellas." Most don't comply. "Hands in, aca-bitches!" Bitch is a powerful word in the werewolf world, so that definitely got the hands in. "Howl on three."

"1..."

"2..."

"3..."

It's...

Surprisingly okay.

Howling was almost an instinctual thing, so without even noticing they kinda fell into sync in a few seconds. Back in the day, before civilization and stuff, howling was a way for wolves to know each other's locations usually within packs. It had evolved into a communal thing, much like choir for humans, when religion had started to take form. Howling wasn't considered an act of worship, not unless it was in a correct setting, that being under a full moon. Beca has an inkling Aubrey's a bit of a Jesus-freak, though not for Jesus, but for the werewolf goddess, Luna. Luna-freak didn't have the same ring to it.

"Okay, we will work on that next thing next time." It seems nothing will please her. "Beca, a word?" Oh, great, what's next? Please, Rebecca, shift and trot in heels. She turns back around to face Aubrey, civil despite her underlying dislike for the captain. She's mature, she's grown, she can be polite.

"What's up?"

"You know you'll have to take those ear monstrosities out for the fall mixer." Dictating their sex lives wasn't enough, so why not appearance too? Beca's not thrilled.

"You really don't like me." She chuckles humourlessly, hating that she has to look up at Aubrey to talk to her. It's a dominance thing. Werewolves were pretty big on that, though mostly structured on seniority. Aubrey being older than her didn't affect Beca's disgruntlement to her practice, not at all.

"I don't like your attitude." Sounds like something her dad would say.

"You don't even know me."

"I know you have a toner for Jesse." That's a new word. A new word she's never heard before and she's pretty sure it's some form of boner. Also, it has to have some sort of significance, because Chloe turns their way so fast Beca kind of expects to hear her neck snap, crackle and pop. Like a glowstick.

"A what?" She's sure her mirth is reflected on her face with how Aubrey's breathing turns heavy and the tendons around her neck grow more and more visible. Chloe approaches them, remaining quiet.

"A toner. A musical boner. I saw it at Hood Night. It's distracting." While Aubrey may be right about one thing, she's wrong about another. Maybe, perhaps, someone might say mayhaps, she does have a toner. But not for Jesse, that's for sure.

"Yeah, that's not a thing. And-uh, you're not the boss of me. So..." She makes finger guns at the captain and turns to take her leave. Chloe waves at her minutely from behind Aubrey and Beca smiles her way.

"You took an oath," Aubrey commands her attention again.

"That oath cost you two girls already today." She points out, relishing the way Aubrey's gaze wavers. "I'm pretty sure you need me more than I need you." She has nothing to say to that. Good. Beca turns one last time to get her stuff and go.

"I can see your toner through those jeans!" Really, Aubrey? Really? Beca turns as she walks, ready to quip back when she sees Chloe nudge Aubrey with a 'what the fuck, dude' -expression on her face. Right, the potential mate thingy they've got going on. It was considered pretty disrespectful to pursue other relationships when a PM bond was developing. Aubrey insinuating Beca'd do that was pretty rude. Of course, being in a relationship beforehand doesn't count and making a mutual decision not to engage with the bond cancels it out.

"What? You're- you're seriously accepting the bond with her? Chloe what in the world are you thinking!?" Wow, so that's how it is.

"Just my dick, cap, don't get your panties in a twist." She snarks, secretly hurt by the words. What was so wrong with her? The ear monstrosities? "Call me, or whatever, carrot top!"

"You gave her your number!?"

The Beta Sigma Theta -whatever does not go well. Their performance was a trainwreck, as predicted. Chloe has vocal nodules. (At least it's not herpes.)

"How's being a Barden Bella treating you?" Jesse asks casually when they're hanging out on the grass. Beca hates how her dad kind of got her to cave, again, but consoles herself with the notion that it's no longer spring. It's already November. Winter in Atlanta is nothing like Seattle, the grass is still green and there's no need for a winter coat. Beca quite likes it to be honest.

"Oh, you know, barking at squirrels with the girls. Dancing in heels. Singing a lot of Ace of Base." They had the morning shift together at the radio station, mostly messing around with records while Jesse played errand-boy for Luke. Beca left her newest mix with the older guy, but with the accumulated USB sticks, she doubts he's listened to any.

"Hmm, same, pretty much. Trebles don't shift together though. Is that nice?"

"Weren't you raised in a pack?"

"Yeah, but in our pack, you aren't allowed on runs before you 'prove yourself', whatever that means."

"That sounds like a movie you'd watch."

"Maybe I would make it. I'd make the soundtrack the best part of that shitty, shitty movie."

"Sure you would."

"I would!" He's indignant. "And I would acquire the help of my genius mixer friend Beca Mitchell."

"She would charge you a pretty penny."

"Worth every cent."

"Careful there, pretty boy, that sounded too flirty for an ace." He looks at her for too long, eyes empty and void of recognition. "Dude, how the fuck don't you know this shit? Ace as in asexual."

"Oooh!" The realization on his face is adorable. "Oh my gods, an ace. That sounds awesome. But like I said, no internet at our house."

"Public libraries? Your friends? Surrounding civilization?"

"Homeschooled. My dad blocked, like, most sites on our home computer." Beca's dad had done the same, but since he wasn't very tech-savvy, he didn't notice when Beca disabled the parental controls. "There was a small, private library around the block and we weren't allowed to go to the one in the city. All my friends are generation buddies. So, we were all kind of stuck."

"That is... Really horrible. I'm sorry, Jesse."

"It's okay. Well, no, since I'm getting that, that's not normal... But, uhm, it's fine? I guess." Beca saves the file and turns to face Jesse instead of her laptop.

"What do you wanna know? I'll be your pop-culture guru." He laughs, the puppy suit recovering from under the rainy melancholy.

"What does asexuality really encompass? Like I got that it's a lack of... Sexual desire?"

"Yeah, but there's a lot of different types. Dude, I'm gonna introduce you to the divine god of all college students — Wikipedia."

"Okay, Bellas! Welcome to this month's night run." Aubrey claps her hands together, addressing the Bellas who've gathered around in a semi-circle. "November's full moon is named the Beaver Moon. That is because beavers begin to take shelter in their lodges this time of year! Fascinating, right?" Aubrey's enthusiasm is as synthetic as PVC plastic.

"Yeah!" Chloe answers enthusiastically while the rest nod along. She wants to be a vet or a park ranger or a wildlife researcher or anything to do with animals. She loves them! The young Bellas are yawning and stretching, trying to stay awake. This was only the second night-run they had been on and the first one had been more of a tour of BU's wolf grounds. They were about to experience what it really meant to run with the Bellas.

"So, tonight we are going to be running a trail close to bodies of water. Fitting for Beaver Moon as well as November's symbolism as a moon cycle. November means longevity and loyalty." Aubrey hands out maps for each Bella as she tells them all this. The Bellas had always been somewhat religious, even Alice the She-Devil had kept the tradition, but this level was new to even Chloe. She scans the crowd, assessing their reactions. Most don't seem to mind. Amy's pretty much sleeping standing up and Beca has taken her piercings out. Her ears look odd without them. Speaking of Beca, the small woman had managed to worm her way out of communal runs. This time she had been left with no choice. (Aubrey threatened to make them practice only Ace of Base songs.)

"A trail in red is running, black is trotting and blue is walking. Green is where you might have to swim. Is everyone an adequate swimmer in second-form?" Aubrey, while a strict hard-ass at times, is an attentive leader. She would never actively neglect the Bellas or put them in danger.

"Uhm, I haven't swum in second-form, ever." Stacie raises her hand shyly. This is the first time Chloe's seen the woman be anything less than self-assured. Aubrey seems to be shocked as well but quickly recovers.

"Let's see what we'll do then. We'll go around or I'll get you over." Aubrey scans their crowd. All of them are present, Chloe's already counted. "Do you all remember the signals?" Signals were non-verbal sounds to direct the pack where to go, for turns or obstacles, for example. "Good. I will be leading. We'll be running in pairs this time. I'll decide who goes with who." Chloe doubts Aubrey's going to let her go with Beca, but she crosses her fingers. I love you, Bree, I really do, but stop cock-blocking me.

"If you're uncomfortable shifting out in the open, you can set up a tent for yourself." Beca makes a beeline for the exemplary tent Aubrey had built. Stacie, Jessica and Ashley just start stripping. Lily wanders into the woods (and seems to climb a tree like a spider?) while Cynthia-Rose stays to ogle Stacie for a bit.

"C'mon, Black Beauty, let's get this party started." Fat Amy tugs her away. Aubrey sits on a travel chair and waits for the girls to get ready. She'll remain in first-form to supervise. Chloe joins Stacie, Jessica and Ashley in stripping naked.

When she's unclipping her bra, she hears a sad, pitiful whimper behind her. She turns and sees a huge wolf head poking out from the entrance of Beca's tent. Her jaw drops as she watches the humongous beast. How in the heck could Beca have such a large second-form when she was such a midget as a person? Another whimper stirs her in action.

"Awe, puppy, are you stuck?" She kneels before the wolf head and takes its big, smushy cheeks in her hands. Beca growls low, but Chloe only giggles. She can't see the pattern of her fur too well because it's so dark but it's very soft. Chloe babbles to and pets the titanic beast until it melts under her hands. She scratches behind Beca's ears and the growl, or purr(?) that resonates is a clear indication that she should continue. So, she does. Laying Beca's head on her lap, she almost forgets they're not alone.

"Okay, love birds, we should get the little giant from her polyester prison, yeah?" Fat Amy strolls to them, a towel wrapped around her body.

"Aren't you supposed to be shifting, Amy?" The warmth and weight of Beca's head on her thighs was so nice she kind of didn't want to get up.

"Yeah, but we ran out of tents. I'm not revealing these goods to no boogie man in these woods. Hell no." Chloe laughs and tries to lift Beca's head from her lap. Gosh, she's heavy. One dejected whimper later, the wolf complies. Now, to get her out of the tent.

"I'll pull the tent, you pull the wolf." Amy rounds the tent and grabs it from behind. Beca stands up and tries to push through. Chloe tries to stretch the opening so the zipper doesn't snag on her fur. It does anyway, but Beca doesn't seem to care. It must feel pretty claustrophobic in there.

"There we go!" Amy hoorays as Beca's hips wiggle out. The wolf stands as tall as Amy, their heads level with one another. Oh, sweet messenger of Luna, this is... Chloe doesn't know what to think. Abnormally large second-forms usually happened as a result of premature shifting. She's sad to know that Beca had to endure that. Premature shifting was most often triggered by extreme emotional stress as a defence mechanism.

"Woah!" She stumbles as Beca butts her head to her tummy. 'Hurry up' she seems to say. She pushes the behemoth's head away from her and takes the last of her clothes off. The wolf's turned away, but Chloe can see the way her ears are twitching and turning. How cute.

Soon enough, another wolf, the colour of old copper and much smaller in size brushes up against the giant. They sniff each other, slowly getting to know each other. Other wolves pop around them, some uncannily their human counterparts and others not so much. Cynthia-Rose's second-form's coat is chocolaty brown and she's quite small, about the same size as Chloe. Stacie's quite big as well, but not as big as Beca. She's taller than wider, where Beca's strongly built. Chloe quite likes her in this form.

"Alright, ladies, I'll divide you into pairs. Big ones with small ones, mid-size with mid-size. Pace each other, make sure no one falls behind." She walks around the eight wolves, looking for adequate pairs.

"Cynthia-Rose with Stacie." Stacie trots over to the smaller wolf, tongue lolling out of her mouth.

"Jessica and Ashley pair up." They're already side by side, smiling the way dogs do.

"Lily and Amy." Aubrey pauses. "Wait, Amy, is that you?" She kicks the large wolf gently. Amy barks at her. Aubrey sighs, yeah that was definitely Amy. Lily looks more like a fox than a wolf, but no one comments on it.

"Chloe and..." Aubrey sighs when she notices the last two left are Beca and Chloe. "Chloe with Beca." Aubrey eyes the large wolf warily. "You better not lose her." She warns. Beca rolls her eyes the best she can in wolf-form.

She lost her. God-fucking-damn she's so small I can't keep track of her! Beca had dropped her pace immediately when she noticed Chloe was missing. They'd been the last pair of the group so Beca presumed no one had noticed her and Chloe's disappearance. For as long as they didn't, Beca's little slip up could go unpunished by Aubrey.

Sniffing the ground and trotting forward, Beca desperately tries to locate her mate. Potential mate. Potential. Important keyword there. She had no place to claim Chloe, they were barely even friends. The bond meant next to nothing, it was just biology trying to make babies, nothing more and nothing less. Speaking of biology babies, Beca looks up when she hears the bushes rustle. Out hops a family of bunnies. At seeing the humongous wolf, they freeze. Seems she's downwind, so they didn't smell her.

She lays down, her head thudding on the ground as she lets them pass. They shuffle hurriedly, still agitated, but taking the mercy without hesitance. This was probably the highlight of this night. Mother bun and the kits on a night walk. Beca yawns, maw wide open and teeth glinting in the moonlight. Well, what to do now? I lost Chloe. I can't catch her scent. Tonight was the first time she'd smelled Chloe in wolf form, so she wasn't familiar enough to track. God how she hated night runs. It was too dark and mucked up her sleep schedule. Her dad's pack always made difficult choreography and the pace was brutal, from what she could remember. She wasn't allowed on many runs due to her age and the fact that she technically wasn't in the pack anymore. Aubrey's runs were rigorous and challenging, but Beca could admit they were... Enjoyable, to a certain point.

Not that she could say much. This was her first run with the Bellas as a pack and she'd tapered off maybe halfway. Still, this was better than bitter he-wolf's snapping at her heels 'cuz she was bigger. Dumb boys didn't realize why she was this way. She'd gladly give the psychological trauma to those boys if they so wanted it. Fucking dumbasses.

A sudden weight on her back and a yelp startle her out of her musings. She bolts up, the thing on her back digging its claws into her sides to stay on. She turns her head, already snarling, but is met with the dopey face of Chloe. Chloe's second-form, to be clear. The wolf's mouth is open and panting, tongue lolling out as its eyes twinkle like fireflies. Looking into those eyes feels like falling into mist, climbing a ladder into a cloud and drowning in fog.

Werewolves were incapable of procreating in second-form, due to a lack of certain anatomy, and the fact that these animals were only mystically present. The wolf was sort of a physical representation of the soul. Because of this, feelings translated very differently in this form. 

For example, the sizzling attraction in first-form Beca felt for Chloe melted into a spiced caramel of fondness and contentment. What was nervous and staticky calmed into a steady buzz, a thundering beat of drums in her chest. How she felt and all the societal, learned norms that came with those feelings — insignificant, forgotten. Here was this pretty thing, here she was, looking upon her. There was no greater pleasure than to witness her.

So, Beca's ears perked up and her expression mirrored that of Chloe's. Tongue lolled out and eyes like the stars. She laid back down and Chloe got off. Their fur rubbed together, scents mixing. It felt good to be around this one. It sounded like a great idea to spend time with her. The more beasty side of her took control and soon they were back on the trail. Running alongside one another, bumping into and shoving each other, dancing an ancient dance like the one Luna had taught all of wolfkind. It was pure. Beca had to go a bit slower to match Chloe's short legs, but they found a rhythm soon enough. They fell into sync, movements following the forest's melody.

It sounded like glass breaking when the spell they cast fell through. They made it to the river, where the others waited for them. Beca glanced at Chloe. She would've baulked if she had the facial muscles for that. Letting go in second-form was a thing for newly shifted pups yet to learn to take the reins and mated couples. Even for mated couples, it was taboo. Letting go was dangerous, reckless and altogether stupid, Dr Mitchell had said, never do it no matter what, Rebecca Mitchell! Look at me now, dad.

Chloe bounced to the group as if nothing had happened. Aubrey was pacing the riverside. Lily was nowhere to be seen. Cynthia-Rose and Stacie were laying on some moss. Amy was splashing in the river, bullying Jessica and Ashley who were desperately trying to stay dry. Beca knew she fucked up the moment Aubrey turned their way. Just to appease the elder, she laid down, putting herself lower. Aubrey glowered, clearly angry as her snout wrinkled and her ears were tight against her head. This isn't over, her eyes seemed to say, but let it go. For now.

(Beca had to carry Stacie over the river as punishment, though.)

Chloe was sure they were meant to be. At least in some way. Be it friendship or a romance, she just felt a connection. There were lots of different bonds in the werewolf world. Then again, everyone experienced these things, like a kin bond was the closeness you felt with your family or friends, pack or coven. Among werewolves, these bonds came with an intuition, like recognizing a compatible person before even knowing them. That was the function of the PM bond. Chloe was sure that that's what this was. She couldn't come up with any other reason why she'd be feeling this way.

I mean, if it was an intuition of a kin bond, she wouldn't want to kiss Beca so badly, all the time. Since the Beaver Moon run, she'd been trying to get the shorter-than-average woman to... Do something. But it seemed Beca wanted nothing to do with her.

Whenever Beca sang, whenever she talked, whenever she even breathed — Chloe wanted to steal whatever song, word or air that touched those lips. Chloe so badly wanted to sing with her again, like that one time in the showers. She wanted to join their voices and let her heart sing its truth. You belong with me, do you feel the same? Perhaps her heart singing Eternal Flame by The Bangles was the result of Aubrey's sadistic training regime, but the lyrics still resonated. Am I only dreaming? Or is this burning an eternal flame? She needed Beca's answer. No, she literally did. There was a reason why potential mate bonds shouldn't go ignored.

Beca seemed to be going through similar emotions, though at the opposite end of the spectrum. Chloe was irrationally sad when she had refused to harmonize with her unless all the Bellas were training. This petulance put even more strain on Beca and Aubrey's already strained relationship. She was shaken, scared and avoiding Chloe like she was the plague. She had a funny way of showing it, though, with mean and bitter words and even meaner, cruel comments. It reminded Chloe a bit of Alice. She hated that it did.

But she had a plan. The riff-off would be tonight. Tonight she would sing with Beca (and the Bellas) and talk to her. What they'd talk about, where it would put them, Chloe didn't bother to think about. She'd go where the wind took her. (Or where Beca lead her.)

This would've been a great spot to switch perspectives.

I mean, this is exactly where I probably should open up Beca's thoughts on this whole shebang. How she doesn't even know what's happening, not really, because right when she was supposed to start learning about her kind, she'd been forced to leave left the pack and her mom had been too fucking depressed to teach her how to function. But we'll get to that because right now the Bellas are ascending into the riff-off pool. And that's more important, right?

Chloe was buzzing with pent up energy. The Bellas had lost the riff off two consecutive years and last year they hadn't even participated. She knew even Aubrey was thrilled about this too, because not only did they get to establish dominance over Trebles but it was also fun! Impromptu acapella was also a great test for the new-gen Bellas. Fun team-building creativity and a taste of Treble-blood. Aubrey was trembling in her ankle boots.

Not that Chloe wasn't the same. While not as bloodthirsty, she did want to step on some Treble-toes. The riff-off could also act as a bonding activity. A bonding activity that they didn't all (all but Aubrey) hate. Don't get me wrong, Chloe backtracks a bit, the weekly runs did build their bond, it also left them sore as all hell. Ligaments tearing, sinew stretching and bones fracturing wasn't something the human body was meant to endure on a weekly basis. And then add to that everyday practice and monthly night runs — yeah, it was... Challenging. Being a Bella was challenging. Chloe wished she could give her girls a bit of reprieve, but she couldn't without Aubrey's permission. Now that Chloe thought about it, Aubrey didn't really treat her like a co-captain. Or even a vice-captain. She was more like her secretary than anything.

"So... We just pick any song that works?" A voice and a twinge on the metaphysical leash on her neck shakes her out of autopilot. It's Beca. Beca is asking her, as in her and her alone, a question.

"Mmh, yeah..." So articulate, Beale. Great. In the middle of the riff-off wasn't the time to talk, but if there was a way to soften the blow when the time did come...

"And you just... Go with it?" They're picking another category at the front. Time is running out.

"Uhuh, yup." So articulate. The time is up, the bell rings and Justin announces the category: songs about sex. Aubrey is scandalized. Stacie is in her element. Beca has weird tension with a Treble-boy and Chloe is pretty sure this particular Treble-boy was the one hitting on Beca on aca-initiation night. Chloe doesn't take her eyes off of him for the rest of No Diggity by Blackstreet (which Beca rapped. Which was totes hot). He, in turn, doesn't take his eyes off of Beca. Chloe catches his eye one time when she practically drapes herself over Beca. Mine, she conveys to him through the meanest glare she can muster. It's not very effective, though, because Beca's looking at her weird and the Treble-boy seems just confused.

And they lose. They fucking lose, because Justin, the gracious host, is a shoe-licking Treble boner extraordinaire. Chloe would still say it went pretty well, the young Bellas were totally into it and did well! Save for the last bit where that Treble-boy was eyeing her girl- Woah, Beale, not so fast.

"Calm your pits, Beca. We still lost." Aubrey's all or nothing attitude isn't very relatable. Chloe can see the way the new-gens visibly shrink.

"Yeah, but it was spontaneous. It was awesome." Some try to nod along, but Aubrey's stern eyes cut through them like a hot knife through butter. "We were actually listening to each other-"

"Okay, hands in, howl on three!" Aubrey cuts Beca off, as she usually does. The younger girl rolls her eyes, as she usually does. Nothing is changing. At least their harmony has improved. The acoustics in the pool are awesome so their sound is that much more amplified. Their song halts the chatter, calls everyone's attention and establishes just who they are. They turn their backs on a silent crowd and gloat in the small victory, that despite the Trebles beating them, the Bellas were far from submitting.

Chloe loses the guts to have a talk when Beca rushes to her dorms. There'll be the next time. Surely, there will be.

Jesse insists Beca watches the end of The Breakfast Club. She doesn't see the point. Even she knows that the end won't do anything for her. Like, at all. And it's major spoilers if she ever did end up watching The Breakfast Club. 

"-Billy Idol song... Blah blah... Beautiful and sad... Blaaaaah."

"Fascinating." She should really be listening, considering this is something important to Jesse. Stomping down on something he's passionate about just because she's feeling all over the place isn't fair. But she can't help it. Maybe her brain is broken, a kicked around and ancient boombox. The course of thought plays coughing and wheezing and a chain of related memories corrupt the track. A wide smile of ridiculously perfect teeth, blue zircon eyes, red hair that looks like actual gold in the light of the setting sun. An echoing voice, something so new and enticing, but familiar in a way that it belongs. Beca doesn't want it to go away, but she does. Or she doesn't. She doesn't know. It feels nice and that scares her.

"Hey, you're not watching the ending," Jesse remarks.

"Right." She answers non-committally. She's been feeling under the weather lately, since Beaver Moon, and Jesse's — or anyone's — presence isn't helping.

"What's up with you? You've been even more doom and gloom than usual."

"I'm not doom and gloom."

"That- that right there was doom and gloom."

"Not wanting to talk about my inner-most feelings isn't doom and gloom. It's called self-preservation, Jesse."

"That's what you call it? Self-preservation? I'd say it's more like, like keeping people at arm's length so you don't get hurt." Beca scoffs. "No, I'm actually serious. Keep this up and you'll end up a lonely thirty-something businesswoman only to be swept off of her feet by a younger, conventionally attractive and eligible bachelor playboy with mommy issues who'll love you like you've never been loved before but you can't be together because-"

"Do you ever ask yourself 'hmm, maybe I should say less'?" Beca's getting a headache with all this noise.

"You're just proving my point." Jesse sounds different now, angrier. "I try to open your walls and I open mine. Do you know how important movies are to me? These used to be my only escape in that damn house." He pauses and Beca can't look at him. "I know it's not your fault. I get that. But I wish you'd try just a little bit."

"I'm sorry, dude." She sighs. Emotional talks weren't really her thing. "I've always been like this. I mean, maybe since I was maybe eleven. I don't really remember what it was like before. I try not to." She takes a deep breath, listening as Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds plays on Jesse's laptop. "Mom and dad divorced when I was eleven." Jesse gasps like a teenage girl. She can't help but laugh at that. Divorce was very uncommon among werewolves.

"The mating bond was severed not long after. Mom obviously didn't take it well and since she didn't have anything to fall back on, it was sort of up to me. I had to take care of her for a bit." She swallows on a dry mouth. She's never been this vulnerable with anyone. "It's hard to trust anyone when... That kinda stuff happens."

"Yeah, I don't think I'd be alive if that happened to me," Jesse says seriously. He doesn't sound like he's joking, but that was a weird thing to say. "That's... That's so horrible, how-... How your parents could do that is, it's..."

"What?" She chuckles breathlessly, not really getting why he's so freaked out. "Divorce isn't the end of the world."

"But severing the mating bond? That could've seriously killed you. How don't you know this, we learned this-" He stops abruptly. "Wait... Did you ever go to werewolf-specific health classes? That's in middle school. And then some in high school."

"That's a thing?"

"By the moon, Beca." Jesse looks possibly horrified. "You haven't ever had those classes? Like, no one ever taught you about, like, bond frequencies or shift theory or stuff like that?"

"There's actual theory to shifting?"

"Yes! Beca! Luna's sweet messenger, Apostle's left toe— how!?" Jesse looks frantic and Beca's beginning to panic with him. "That's so fucked up!"

"What's fucked up, why would I need classes? I know how to shift just fine, thank you very much."

"That's not the point, Beca." He licks his lips and turns to face her head-on. "I assume you were born when your parents were mated because our families are alike in that sense. Babies born to parents with a mating bond are statistically healthier and tend to have fewer complications during pregnancy." He's speaking almost robotically as if he's reciting a textbook. From what Jesse's told her of his parents, he probably is. "However, the mating bond also channels into the baby. This means that in stages of childhood development the mating bond is pertinent in the child's mental growth." Beca doesn't know what to say, so Jesse continues:

"Severing or damaging the bond, for example via abuse or neglect, will reflect on the child heavily. Worst case scenario, it can cause premature shifting and so irreversible damage, possibly even death. The mating bond will cease to affect the child once they have shifted for the first time."

"Dude..."

"Do not call me dude right now." Jesse's the most serious she's ever seen him. "How? I- to be honest, Beca, I'm really freaking confused and also scared for you."

"I dunno... I don't know what you want me to say." It's been a long time since she felt this overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted. She did not miss the feeling. "I never went to any classes like that. Mom just woke me up one night and told me we're going to get Krispy Kreme in secret. I fell asleep in the car and I woke up when we were in Seattle."

"Did you ever go to a healer? Or even a therapist?"

"No. Social workers did visit once or twice, but mom got herself together for those times so. And it wasn't that bad. It wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself." Barely. She could barely do even that. There was no one taking care of you. "I'm fine. Just a bit emotionally unavailable, but aren't we all?"

"Beca, for the love of gods, take this seriously-"

Kimmy Jin couldn't have picked a better time to enter the room. Jesse flees the room, low-key kind of scared of vampires, but yells for her that their talk isn't over. So, she'll just avoid talking to him until he drops it. He'll give up eventually. They all do.

Chapter Text

Bellas practice the next morning is going as well as it usually does. They sing warmups, do some stretching and begin the set. A three-song medley, consisting of The Sign by Ace of Base, Eternal Flame by The Bangles and Turn the Beat Around by Vicki Sue Robinson in that respective order. Some are unbothered by the arrangement, but most have at least some issue with it. Chloe included and despite this, Aubrey refuses to adapt. Beca dislikes it because it's boring. Most of the other Bellas just feel off doing it, maybe because of the agenda it portrays. Flight attendant uniforms, ultra-feminine everything and digestible setlist — it feels like they're catering to the masses. An idealistic portrayal of the Bellas rather than who they really are. Wow, that was deep. They goof around regardless of the performance being for the male gaze, even make fun of it, much to Aubrey's displeasure. Chloe looks around her and observes her girls proudly.

Amy, her character meant only for comedic relief, does her job perfectly and everyone loves her. Even if she does steal the spotlight and is an obnoxiously loud singer. Classic theatre major, so Chloe hadn't expected anything less. Cynthia-Rose, another character taken for granted, is painfully under-appreciated, blending into the background despite all that she brings to the table. If Aubrey wasn't so focused on winning the champs with their bland, potato-soup setlist, she could've appealed to Cynthia-Rose's ever-growing fanbase. She has a true-crime podcast! Lily, yet another token, doesn't talk much due to the fact that no one freaking hears her, but luckily it was discovered that Stacie knows ASL. So, they sign to each other and Stacie interprets. Lily's actually pretty funny, though her sense of humour is really... Weird. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Jessica and Ashley are very much background characters, but without them, the Bellas wouldn't be whole — in every way possible. Without their voices, the Bellas' sound was off. Without their constant presence, it didn't feel the same. Runs without them in the middle made everything fall apart.

Chloe is so proud of them. She loves these girls. This feels like home, like the sisterhood she'd been looking for. The wounds from the older Bellas aren't gone, but it's getting better. Chloe is still cautious with certain types of pretty girls, flinches every time Aubrey raises her voice and almost weeps when she receives criticism, even if it's constructive. But it's fine. And she believes that, truly. Because:

When she goes to Stacie and Lily's room to hang out, it's always a fun time. Stacie does her nails and she attempts to do Stacie's, too, though she's nowhere as good at it. Lily usually is either studying with huge, cat-ear headphones on or sharpening the battle axes on her wall.

Chloe listens to CR's podcast every Saturday and they talk about it after practice. It's literally horrifying, but it's interesting from a psychological point of view. If Chloe didn't love animals so much, she probably would've probably pursued a psychology degree, like CR is. She's actually double-majoring in psychology and criminology. Insane! Cynthia-Rose's like a superhero with how much stuff she can handle. Double-major, a podcast and a highly competitive singing club — sounds like a ball of pure, unmitigated stress. Chloe's a bit worried about her but trusts when she says she'll manage. 

She's taken the habit of dragging Amy to the gym to do some cardio so the woman doesn't die, either by a heart attack or Aubrey's wrath. The Aussie is not impressed and has taken to calling her Red Drapes. It's a weird nickname. Chloe prefers carrot top, honestly. She's not sure why. (Don't act dumb, it's because Beca calls you it.)

She one time caught Jessica and Ashley kissing in a coffee-shop-by-day-bar-by-night sort of place near campus. She accidentally blurted out that she's bisexual to reassure them that she doesn't mind their lesbianism. They go to said coffee-shop-bar every other Thursday since on Thursdays it's LGBT+ night. It's pretty fun, though third-wheeling a madly in love lesbian couple isn't exactly Chloe's idea of a crazy good time.

Beca's really the only one she doesn't talk to outside of practice.

Before she knows it, practice is over. Nothing new happened except, of course, Amy got her solo. She's not too upset about it, but yes, she is, although she knows it was necessary. She couldn't hit the note. Beca would've taken the solo if they'd sing something else, but Aubrey's stubborn, so obvs that did not happen. Amy took the solo.

Okay, fine, Chloe's upset about it. She loved singing, she loved the Bellas, losing her solo felt like failing. And everything around her feels like it's ripping at the seams.

The Bellas are unmotivated, Aubrey is on the brink of explosion, her studies aren't doing as well as they should, she can't go home for Christmas because she doesn't have enough money saved up and her Potential Mate won't talk to her unless it's for professional purposes. She knows it's not that bad. The Bellas are doing fine, they just need a morale boost. Aubrey's matter is a bit more complicated but she'll sort herself out. She isn't failing any classes, except maybe for Russian Lit but who cares? Staying on campus for Christmas was a bit sad, but she'd seen them on Thanksgiving so it wasn't like it had been that long. Christmas wasn't celebrated much in her family anyway since they weren't even Christian. It was the whole PM bond that fucking everything up.

Potential Mate -bonds were annoying like that. The bond was needy and required feeding almost constantly. If it wasn't taken care of, which was basically just succumbing to its demands, it would punish those it connected. Emotional sensitivity and mood swings, hormonal imbalance and even cramps. It was basically PMS, but for everyone and perpetually happening. Ignoring it only made the symptoms worse.

"Kimmy Jin, if Jesse knocks, don't alert him of your presence. But if he comes in anyway, uhh, don't tell him where I am." Chloe was just visiting Baker Hall to see Stacie and Lily. She'd promised to help Lily build a target she could practice throwing her axes at. She knew Beca was dormed here as well, but she hadn't expected to bump into her. This has to be a sign. I'll talk to her.

"Why would I?" This Kimmy Jin, probably Beca's roommate, has a low and pleasant voice. She sounds incredibly bored, though.

"I'll... Hmm... What do you want?" Beca sounds desperate to get out. Chloe stifles a giggle at how the small woman slumps against the door.

"Be gone Friday night. The girls wanna play Wii. You suck so you'd just ruin it." Kimmy Jin is sassy. Chloe kind of likes her, despite not even having seen her face.

"Gee, thanks, buddy. Appreciate the honesty."

"Of course, Becksy-boo."

"I hate you. I hate you."

"There's someone creepily staring at you to your right." Beca snaps her eyes to her right and sees Chloe standing there. They stand there for a while. Chloe waves with a bashful smile.

"How do you do that?" Beca turns back to Kimmy Jin. She keeps glancing at Chloe and past her, probably trying to figure out if she can go without talking to her. No can do, Becksy-boo, you're stuck with me, Chloe thinks to herself. Really? Becksy-boo? Genius.

"Scram." Kimmy Jin's voice is back to bored. 

"Fine." Beca rolls her eyes as she closes the door. Their eyes meet again. Beca seems nervous, fidgeting with the straps of her backpack.

"I wanna talk," Chloe says straight out.

"Sure," Beca says tersely. Chloe's getting annoyed at how naive she's playing.

"Well, your vampire friend can still very clearly hear us so..." She trails off. Beca looks confused.

"What? She can?" A muffled 'yes' from their dorm answers. "Oh. I- I guess we can." It's Chloe's turn to be confused. How did Beca not know that? Knowledge of other species was one of the first things taught in school. At least for werewolves. Education was species-specific for werewolves to the end of middle school. Only in high school do they get to go to mixed-species schools.

"Let's go." Chloe smiles invitingly, gesturing for Beca to follow her. The shorter of the two catches up to her quickly. As they walk out of Baker Hall, Chloe can't resist the urge to take Beca's arm between both of hers. She tries to ignore how the bond sings in her chest, heart inching closer to Beca, and how it stings when the other stiffens and recoils. It's fine.

This is not fine. Beca's plans to go to the unpopular hipster café off-campus to mix and fuck around with mashups have been foiled. Chloe had totally ambushed her. Like really snuck up on her. Probably because she could barely smell anything but blood and eucalyptus. The snuffs she'd been wearing every day to not feel the bond were taking their effect. Her sinuses were infected and she kept having random nosebleeds. But that's not the point here, the point is-

What was Chloe even doing in Baker Hall? She didn't even live there. Now Beca was revealing her secret spot to this person who she'd been trying to avoid for weeks. She was steadily growing more and more annoyed. With herself mostly. Chloe was on her arm, hugging it close to her chest. Once in a while, she'd forget she wasn't supposed to like it and would relax into the redhead's hold. Then she'd remember 'oh, I don't like her' and tense up. She didn't want some otherworldly bond to dictate who she got and didn't get to be with. She had no idea what Chloe was like and yet she wanted to kiss and rub all up on her! What if she's, like, an axe murderer? Or maybe she harbours a deep hatred for fluffy baby animals? She could be a horrible person but every bone in Beca's body wanted to wrap around her.

"Ooh! Let's go there! They have awesome hot choco!" Chloe pipes up suddenly, pointing to the lame hipster café up ahead. Beca wishes she had her snuffs with her, even if they did cause sinus infections and nose bleeds. With Chloe so close her scent is practically wrapped around her throat. Oranges and grapes weren't supposed to be appealing in wintertime, but oh, well, here we are.

"Sure," Beca responds coolly, allowing herself to be dragged by the redhead. She's like a bulldozer, Jesus Christ.

Chloe drags them to the counter and orders two hot chocolates. She goes to pay for them, but Beca elbows past her and hands her card to the cashier first. She turns to Chloe with a smug grin, like she just won something. Chloe looks right back at her like she gave her a cluster of stars and the best chocolate in the world. Beca regrets. (No, her heart did not skip a beat, thank you for asking.)

"How've your classes been going?" Chloe starts with small talk. Probably trying to disarm her or something. Beca won't fall for it.

"Good." Keep it concise with no unnecessary words.

"You've been doing really well in practice!"

"Thanks."

"You do realize I'm not going to leak any and all information you give about yourself to the CIA, right?" Beca's shocked by the sudden change in tone. "I think it really sucks you're denying the bond. Y'know we could be good! Really good together!" She leans back and crosses her arms, eyebrows furrowed and a pout set on her lips. Beca would think it was adorable if zircon eyes weren't impaling her with an ice-cold death glare.

"I'm not-"

"That really sucks too. That you'd deny something that's so clearly there." Chloe leans forward, bracing her crossed arms on the table, bringing their faces closer together. "It hurts. I've been having such bad cramps for the past week because of this. Do you really hate me so much you'd- you'd do this?"

"What?" Now Beca's really confused. What did cramps have anything to do with anything? "I don't hate you. I- I barely know you. That's why I don't want this. But- cramps?? Are you on your period, dude?"

"What? No?" Chloe sounds just as confused as she is. "The bond is causing the cramps. That's how it works."

"A Potential Mate -bond causes cramps," Beca repeats, tone deadpan and disbelieving. Now, Chloe really looks confused, perplexed, even.

"No? I mean ignoring it does. If you ignore it, it creates symptoms similar to PMS." She says this as if it's obvious. Well, to her it probably is, because she probably went to those Werewolf 101 classes Jesse mentioned.

"Okay, uh, how? That sounds, like, really fucked. I don't want to... Mate with you, sorry, but- but..." If it's causing you pain I can. No! No, I cannot. Ignore the scent. She couldn't try as she might.

"You don't have to mate me," Chloe says taking a calming sip of the choco. "If we decide we don't want to... Pursue, or- or make something of the bond, we don't have to. It can be dissolved. How don't you know this?"

"I dunno, I just don't." She gets defensive. She didn't know, that was the thing with being ignorant, she wasn't aware she was. "Jesse said something about some werewolf classes in middle school. Didn't have... Those. I guess." Chloe gapes at her, much like Jesse had. Beca finds it only a peewee less annoying. Maybe because Chloe's so much prettier when she's annoying. Her lips are a perfect 'O' shape, her blue, blue eyes wider than dinner plates and her forehead scrunched up by her brows. She's so pretty and Beca's never been so pissed to be attracted to women.

"You... Okay, wow... That's... That explains a lot."

"What do you mean by that?" Beca snaps, tone accusatory and angry. Did she honestly just insinuate Beca's stupid? (No, she didn't, but Beca really wanted to feel anything but insecure and she's really good at anger.)

"No, I mean, like... This might sound weird, but, uh, I've noticed how you don't behave like... Us? Like werewolves usually do." Beca does not say anything, only tilts her head sharply and raises her eyebrows once as she sips on the hot chocolate. It's pretty good. She wouldn't pay five dollars for it, but it was okay.

"You don't use our words. You don't say 'by the moon' or 'Luna have mercy' or stuff like that. You never stay after night runs to hang out and, sorry, but you're really bad at formations." Chloe smiles in a way that tells her she isn't saying this with bad intent. "You're getting better, though, so don't worry about it." Beca knows she's bad at formations, but only because she's never run as a group in second-form. 

"Awesome. Thanks."

"You're so welcome! And you, like, don't smell things." Chloe smiles ruefully. "Like the bond, for example." Beca fights the urge to whine at the sad look that crosses Chloe's features. "And also other stuff. It's like your nose's always stuffed."

"Not too far from the truth," Beca mumbles as she sets the mug down.

"Huh?" Chloe tilts her head and Beca smiles a bit. It's very cute. Chloe is cute. Or maybe Beca's just so hopelessly attracted to her that anything she does is attractive and/or cute.

"I have a sensitive nose. I use snuffs in crowds and when it gets... Overwhelming." Chloe's eyes widen comically. Great, was this another werewolf thing she didn't know?

"Snuffs? Like, spearmint and eucalyptus?"

"Yeah. Eucalyptus."

"Beca, that's like cigarettes for your nose." Chloe's concerned. It can be seen in her eyes, a sincere gleam, and the way she grabs for Beca's hands and squeezes. Oh, she has such cold hands. From her sunny disposition and the funny ole stereotype that werewolves run hot, Beca had expected Chloe to be a walking radiator. Beca does run hot, uncomfortably so. It's hell during summer, but now in winter she rather likes it. And holding Chloe's icy fingers, she can see how this could be a good thing.

"Yeah, I've noticed. I keep getting nose bleeds."

"Oh no!" She sounds genuinely sad. "Do you need help? There's a specialized nasal spray for wolves that don't irritate a sensitive nose. We can run to the pharmacy and get it."

"I think I'm fine. I'll just get other scent blockers or something. I guess." Chloe still hasn't let go of her hands. Beca does not mind, not really, but she's getting nervous.

"Okay... If you're sure." Chloe speaks gently and it feels as nice to her ears as the hot chocolate tastes — even better.

"I'm sure." Beca smiles and then, looking into the prettiest blues, she knows she has to bite the bullet. "So... How do we dissolve the bond?"

"Oh." The redhead's smile drops and she pulls her hands, which had just started to warm up, to herself. "You- you want to dissolve it?"

"I mean- I just mean that I don't want a bond, like some- some, uh, kinda... Supernatural pull to decide who I mate with- or date with. Who I date. I'd like to choose on my own. Y'know?" Stumbling through that sentence was mortifying. Chloe smiles but it's not nearly as genuine as it was before. Beca can see the disappointment and she hates how guilty it makes her feel.

"I get that. But the bonds aren't between just random people." Chloe tries to explain it. "It's a real connection, chemistry we would've had even without the bond. Everyone has them, but they can't smell them or feel them like werewolves do. It's a tethering of the souls, inevitable." She sounds really knowledgeable about this topic. She probably has some experience with this or something. How common were potential mates, anyway? Was this a common occurrence in wolfkind? Beca felt out of depth, standing on unstable foundations.

"We can see for ourselves if that's true by dissolving it and then seeing how much was real," Beca suggests, not entirely open to letting these strange sensations push her. She'd never been in an actual, committed relationship or a relationship with a woman, so this was all new to her. Not to mention there was this whole bond thing between them.

"But dissolving the bond will erase all that!" Chloe gestures with her hands and Beca's breathing picks up.

"Then it wasn't there in the first place. The bond makes it, it's an illusion." She insists and flinches back when Chloe explodes:

"No, it's not!" Her tone is indignant and her voice loud. She's very passionate about this particular topic, it seems. Beca tries to calm down. "Potential Mates are scientifically proven to have better communication, longer-lasting relationships and even to have fewer complications during childbirth!" Taken aback by the vigour that Chloe has, Beca stays quiet. Her eyes search for something, but Beca protects herself thoroughly.

"The bond is dissolved by ignoring its demands-" Chloe casts a hard glare at Beca when she goes to interrupt. "But not by complete avoidance. We stay friends and it'll just... Simmer out."

"... Got it." Beca lets out the breath she was holding. Chloe's ardent speech had left her speechless. And, though she vehemently denies, in all-consuming anxiety. Note taken: Don't start a fight with her, never ever. You'll lose.

"Okay." Chloe chirps, voice so cheery Beca knows it's forced. She kind of feels bad, for both herself and Chloe. A relationship with her would probably be awesome because honestly, Chloe seemed like prime girlfriend material. Beca didn't want a relationship because of perks like smooth childbirth. She wasn't even sure if she wanted kids. Hell, she wasn't sure if she could ever be in a real, actual relationship because of how not practical she found the entire concept of love. (Or, rather, how the very thought of it evoked bone-chilling terror.)

"I, uh... Nice talk. I gotta go now. See you at practice, carrot top." And Beca dips. She doesn't even take her half-empty hot chocolate with her. Chloe is left sitting alone.

Time crawls by. Bellas practice is what it is, growing more and more hectic as regionals creep closer. They run together and, more often than not, Chloe and Beca end up as a pair. They don't stray like they did on Beaver Moon. Classes resume and Beca is as bored as ever. Luke doesn't play her songs, Jesse won't stop pestering her about Werewolf 101. Y'know, the usual.

It's funny how sometimes the universe draws parallels. Like, right after practice, two women walk to their dorms almost in step with each other, lay down, still sweaty and sticky, and don't move for a good half an hour. And both in totally opposite ends of campus. And, right as they try to gather themselves to at least change clothes, they're caught.

"Stop moping. You look miserable." Kimmy Jin doesn't look up from her laptop, tapping away at some essay. Beca's pretty sure she's a lit major, considering how much she seems to hate Dr Mitchell. She says this at 6:07 pm, right when Aubrey looks down at her wristwatch and sighs, deciding Chloe's been marinating in her own sweat for long enough. 

"I'm not moping. Or miserable." Beca insists, propping herself up on her elbows from where she's laying on her bed. Chloe gets up from the couch she'd fallen on first thing as she entered the Bellas house. She's just going to her room when Aubrey steps into the entrance of the kitchen, blocking her path.

"Please." Kimmy Jin is not convinced. Chloe knows Aubrey will grill her for Mystery Mate Slash Beca Mitchell updates. While Aubrey isn't fond of Beca at all in the professional sense, she still is Chloe's PM, so she can't be a total douche. Maybe. Hopefully.

"I'm not!" Beca's really not in the mood to argue. Neither is Chloe. Kimmy Jin and Aubrey very much are, though.

"Sure." Letting Kimmy Jin win isn't an option, though.

"I said I'm not." and "We've decided to be friends." Ring around the universe at exactly the same time.

"You don't say a lot of things." and "I should've known." Might be different words by different people, but they still hold the same underlying message.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She sits up, facing Kimmy Jin who still has her back to her. Aubrey has her hands on her hips, looking down at Chloe like she's her disappointed mother. Chloe shrugs helplessly.

"You know." She says as if Beca's the dumb one. Aubrey thinks she is.

"No, I don't." and "It's fine." They're both lies.

"I've come to notice you are exceptionally good at denial and wallowing." Her tone is impassive as it always is. "Don't let her walk all over you, Chloe."

"I- I'm not in denial-" Kimmy Jin hums. "And I do not wallow!" Chloe stutters the same way:

"I'm not! She doesn't know a lot. Apparently, she's never had Werewolf 101-" Aubrey gasps. "I know! So I get she's a bit freaked out. And it's not like PMs are set in stone. It'll go out naturally. Don't worry about it." She rambles, frantic about explaining herself when she doesn't have any obligation to, and Aubrey knows. She pulls Chloe in for a tight hug.

"Then what's this you're doing right now, Becksy-boo?" Beca stays silent. "It's funny how much you complain about the captain and the stick up her ass when you're just as bad." She finally turns to face Beca. She doesn't look much different from how she usually does, serious and stern, but not there's definite tension to her features. She sounds angry when she continues:

"For the love of God, touch some grass, meditate, anything but this. You could even talk about your feelings, but since that's so hard, just- anything else. You're ruining the vibe." As Kimmy Jin speaks the longest sentence she's ever had to muster up to Beca, Chloe tries not to cry. It's fine, it's just not meant to be, it's okay. It's as if Aubrey can hear her inner thoughts.

"What fucking vibe, dude?" and Aubrey's "She's a bitch." happen at the same time. Chloe tries to protest, but Aubrey shushes her like a fussy baby.

"One, call me dude again and I'll inject you with silver." Beca was unsure if silver was actually dangerous to werewolves or if it was yet another thing curated by humans. Chloe could supply that injecting any metal into any person would be dangerous.

"Two, the vibe which you are spoiling with your sad little existence." Beca rolls her eyes and lays back down. She closes her eyes and takes the fifth nap of the day. Kimmy Jin continues typing, the click of her acrylics on the keys pointedly loud and hard. Aubrey pulls Chloe to her room. They'll do something fun and familiar to feel better. Chloe picks they play Uno, just like when they wouldn't be allowed to attend Bellas movie nights. Then they both end up crying because this is their last year and they never got to attend Bellas movie night. Their cheeks are soon dried as Aubrey smacks down three +4 -cards. Oh, it's on!

Beca tries to nap. And fails. The silver thing keeps bothering her. Actually, everything is bothering her. Had she really missed out on so much education? How had she slipped through the cracks? Why hadn't her mom gotten her to those classes if they were so important? So many questions that she doesn't have the answers to. Or anyone who she could ask. If she asked dad, he'd probably get mad and insinuate something about her being incompetent and then something mean about mom. If she asked Chloe, she'd be subjected to the PM bond, which was the very root of her problems, or at least that's what it felt like. Chloe was yet another mystery she had yet to solve. Did Beca like her or was it just the bond? Was Chloe even attracted to her or was it just the bond? She's getting desperate.

(Chloe sneezes.

"Somebody's thinking of you," Aubrey mutters as she places down a yellow 0.

"I bet it's your mom." She mutters right back, slapping down a green 0. Aubrey glares, Chloe smiles.)

Puppy Boy Swanson

hey
how do potential mate bonds work

???
Do YOU HAVE A PM????+?!?!?11+1+

answer the question.

So that's a yes.

stfu

What does that abbreviation mean?
Anyway that's a really really broad question

how could one go about dissolving such a bond
hypothetically

What?? Don't dissolve it!!!

don't tell me what to do
also this is hypothetical, quit freaking out

It's not hypothetical, I'm not a Himbo, I'm actually pretty smart

i regret teaching you what a himbo is

Only because I use cooler lingo than you now!
But about PM bonds, I'll let you know right now that they don't just disappear

so then how am i gonna get rid of it???

You don't :D
I mean, you can, but it's a really expensive procedure.

i was under the impression it would just go away

I mean kind of. Not really. That depends on the people. I'll put it like this:
Person A and Person B are Potential Mates. However, Person A is in a relationship with Person C
and has no desire to pursue the PM bond. Person A and Person B remain friends and the effects
of the bond (the scent affinity, separation symptoms, etc.,) with dull eventually. But it's still
there, they're still romantically compatible, it just isn't detectible.

wouldn't that be hella awkward for person c?

PM bonds are really common. Two in ten people are Potential Mates. So, it's not really alarming.
Also, Potential Mates don't always work out. It isn't like some love magic.

wow.
what if person c isn't in the picture?

If they don't want to date, then they won't. It's like any other relationship.
Except you know that this person is extremely romantically compatible with you.
And it's kind of irresistible.

cool. i guess.
thanks for the hypothetical conversation.

Anytime! LOL

why lol?

Doesn't that mean Lots Of Love?

lol

(Chloe wins Uno. Aubrey has to pay for takeaway.)

The Bellas made it. They made it through the performance and also got into the next round. Sure, they lost to the Trebles. That hadn't come off as a surprise to anyone aside from Aubrey, who was still hiding beneath a thick, dense wall of denial.

But, at what cost?

Things had escalated in a matter of seconds. It was after the competition when everyone was exiting the building. One moment Jesse was trying to tug his trophy from some old acapella man, inspiring Beca to go to his aid, unleashing Amy. Beca had growled at the guy, who was a human, and he'd been disgustingly into it. His enthusiasm had shocked Beca, so she just stood by as Amy attacked. She punched him, grabbed the trophy from Jesse and kicked the old guy in the balls in quick succession. When she threatened to shove the thing up the masochistic old guy's anus, through his pants nonetheless, Beca had stepped in. And, next thing Chloe sees is a cop handcuffing Beca. She was pretty sure it'd been Amy who'd flung the bigger part of the trophy to the window. Beca had been left standing there as the Aussie ran, incriminated.

They'd made it, but oh, at what cost? Chloe had to do something. Beca couldn't go to jail! Did she have anyone to bail her? What kind of people were in prison- what if they hurt Beca!? She was not going to stand for this! Chloe tells Aubrey she has to go and before her fellow captain can say anything, she's high-tailing it towards her car.

By the time she makes it to the Metro Police Department, still donned in the flight attendant uniform, Jesse's already there, pacing at the reception area.

"Luna's grace, what am I gonna do? What do I do? What- what do I do?" He's muttering to himself, looking like the world is crumbling around him. Chloe ignores the possessive imp bouncing on her shoulder and squares up. Beca needs help, it's not her right to claim her spot as the one who does.

"Hey, Jesse-"

"Oh, my stars, you're here!" Jesse whirls on her and takes her by the shoulders, looking down at her like she's Luna's vision. "We need to bail her out. We can't call her dad, he'll literally kill her or something. Her mom is in Seattle, I don't know any other relatives — I don't have money! Oh, oh god, what're we gonna do, Chloe!?"

"Okay, first, we need to calm down, Jesse." She gently guides him to a seat and kneels in front of him. "It's gonna be okay. Beca's going to be okay. I'll pay her bail, okay?" Jesse takes a deep breath as she instructs. He cradles his face in his hands and nods that he heard her. She pats her knee before going to the desk.

"I'm here to bail out a, uhh, Beca Mitchell?"

"Rebecca Mitchell?"

"Yes, probably."

The car ride to The Bellas House is as lively and lovely as you'd expect. Neither of them has much to say. Chloe is probably really bummed to have spent so much money and Beca's just gotten out of jail. Well, a small holding-cell she had to share with a sleeping homeless person. It wasn't too bad. She's just grateful her dad wouldn't know about this. Worst case scenario, he'd make her move back to the pack.

"I'll pay you back." She says, the awkward silence getting too much even for her.

"Huh?" Chloe looks as if she hadn't even considered that.

"I'll pay you back. For the bail." It was, like, a lot of money.

"No, you don't have to." Is she insane? Accept the money!

"I kind of do. Just, let me, dude." Beca hates being indebted to anyone.

"You don't. My savings are for this exact purpose. It's what friends do, yeah?" Beca knows this is the olive branch. A peace offering. She'll take it. Friends. That's good, that's safe. (Then why is she disappointed?)

"I'll pay you back." Chloe sighs but relents. Beca bites back a victorious grin and only smirks minutely. Chloe still notices and pinches her bare knee, revealed by the Bellas uniform. She yelps indignantly at the pain and Chloe just laughs. Beca ignores how her heart thrums at the sound.

"Fine. If you insist." She turns to the parking lot. Beca notes that Chloe looks really natural behind the wheel. It's kind of sexy. Really sexy. Friends! Beca, friends! Just friends!

"I insist, carrot top." She covers up her inner crisis by getting out of the car.

"You insist on calling me carrot top. Even Amy's more creative than that." Chloe is quick to follow. She locks it and puts the keys in her purse. Beca refuses to acknowledge how good Chloe looks in the flight attendant uniform. She'd managed to contain herself the entire performance, so why not now? Perhaps then she had other things on her mind, like not fucking up her riffs, but now there's no safety blanket to think of. Only her and Chloe and Chloe's banging body in a tight, tight uniform.

"At least I didn't ask if the carpet matches the drapes." Why did I say that? Why? What's wrong with me?

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Chloe flirts at her and her brain goes Windows System Error Code #8 ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY. She can't handle it. She blue screens. Shuts down.

"I- uh, I, I don't- I-I- uhh...."

"C'mon, the rest are waiting for us." And she dares giggle as she tugs Beca toward the house. "Aubrey texted the group chat earlier for an emergency Bellas meeting."

"Hngm." Beca herself is unsure what she had intended to communicate with that noise.

(The emergency Bellas meeting is in no shape or form an emergency. Aubrey just raves on them about how they have to keep the choreography exactly the same, Amy, and how there will no longer be time to waste on work, a boyfriend, a girlfriend or a partner. Or partners, sorry, Cynthia-Rose. What a weird thing to imply, Beca thinks to herself, had Cynthia-Rose at any point showed signs of being poly? Either way, they're all too tired to leave now, so they just crash on the living room floor of the Bellas house. Aubrey went to her room. Beca cannot for the life of her understand why Chloe didn't do the same unless to spite her. The redhead pulls her into the puppy pile and there are so many different body parts touching her and it's uncomfy-

She falls asleep within minutes of Chloe's back rub. If that. Shut up.)

Now that they're confirmed to enter the semi-finals and the adrenaline from their almost-win has died, Chloe can relax for Christmas break. She wasn't flying home due to a lack of money, but she wasn't very phased by this. She was more concerned about how she'd be alone for weeks. Numerous weeks, all by her lonesome. Aubrey had offered to spend Christmas together at Posen territory, but that would've been a mental breakdown waiting to happen. Visiting Aubrey's family was like going to a special-unit super-soldier Bootcamp. She and Tom were pretty close, but they didn't spend holidays together. They'd grown up together since they'd been neighbours as kids, but since he'd left and gotten his own place, she hadn't visited enough to feel comfortable for an extended amount of time. The animal side was uneasy in unfamiliar places.

Maybe she could get a job to keep her busy. Last year she'd taught a bunch of kids ice skating at the local rink. It'd been crazy fun, but crazy exhausting. And the pay was ridiculously low. Maybe the library had openings? Ooh, maybe that café she and Beca had gone to one time.

Beca. Oh shit. She'd been too preoccupied with other stuff to really think her. Beca, Rebecca on paper, Mitchell, a wolf so un-wolf-like it was baffling. But also kind of sad. Not knowing your background, the way your own body worked, had to be hard even if Beca herself didn't know it. It made Chloe wonder. And worry. It made her worry so much.

She decides to text her. They were friends. Friends text each other, right? Right. There was nothing to worry about, Chloe was just being a wuss. Just, shoot a text. Ask to go to coffee. No, that's too formal. Too toon. She'll ask when they've texted.

Carrot Top Beale
December 16th 2012
3:16 pm

hiya !!!
how r u?

i'm good. and you?

i'm aca-awesome !

you sure are.
i mean that's great.

talented conversationalist u are ;)

The conversation doesn't seem very promising of a friendship.

Becksy-Boo 💀💿⛓️
December 18th 2012
12:04 pm

hiiiii
are u allergic to anything?

nah, no allergies. y tho?

a squirrel cafe opened near campus 💗 so cute

squirrel cafe????

yeah ! haven't u heard of them? all the boom rn totes !

how many animal safety laws does that violate.

lmao, none actually, cuz the squirrels are three-tailed oak squirrels, not human squirrels

...

there are magical squirrels?

oh honey
there's a lot of magical everything. we should go some time

we better. tell me more about magic squirrels

they're not rly magical, they can't like wield magic.
a population of squirrels got stuck in a paradox plane and
just kinda developed this way

the name was three-tailed oak squirrel?

yup ! scientific name tribus cauda sciurus

dude how do you know this? also these are cute as fuck
can i get one???

i'm in pre-vet, ofc i know
they're a protected species atm, so no :( the cafe is a sanctuary as well

:((( poor little guys

:(((

Okay, okay... Bonding over cute animals, this is good...

Carrot Top Beale🥕
December 19th 2012
5:48 pm

u work at the radio station right?

i sure do.

and u make some sorta music

i sure do.

play ur own music

dude no

why not????

luke would kill me
he's my boss

he won't care, no one's listening

u are

how do u know that

idk ur just that kind of person

should i be offended?

i think so

cool beans.

did u just say cool beans

no, i texted it actually

oh my god

It's been a few days of texting. It's going well. They talk like friends. Sometimes Chloe flirts and Beca subtly responds. It's all making her feel like she's back in high school, crushing on the popular guy. Chloe will ask for that coffee soon enough. When she grows the balls.

Squirrel Girl 🐿️💛🌰
December 19th 2012
7:19 pm

wanna go to the squirrel cafe w/ me?

Oh shit.

Chapter Text

The squirrel café date isn't much of a date. The squirrels resemble the earthern sugar gliders more than actual squirrels and that has Beca enamoured. Chloe too, but by something entirely different. The smaller woman had worn an all-black ensemble today, a sleek black velvet jacket and underneath it a cold-shoulder sweater.  The rainbow-coloured rodents cling to Beca's clothes and hair and it makes Chloe irrationally jealous. She wanted to be the one pawing at her! It's embarrassing, like, really embarrassing, so Chloe spends their entire date- outing, correction: outing, pink-cheeked and tight-lipped. She can't let out the green monster on a bunch of snuggly rats-

"Grr!" She lets a growl slip out when a squirrel buries its head into Beca's cleavage. It was wholly an accident. She finds her composure the next second and acts as if nothing happened. The squirrels have scattered and Beca is looking at her weirdly. Luckily, the petite woman is merciful and does not comment. She, however, does not let the critters back near the vicinity of her bosom once they return. Chloe appreciates it.

For the rest of the time, they talk about pretty regular things. School. The Bellas. News. The weather. Werewolves. She does actually manage to convince Beca to start learning more about werewolf theoretics, even if just on a general level. Chloe even tries to coax her into getting tutoring from Aubrey, but Beca looks at her as if she'd grown a second head that called her a slur, so she lets it go. They arrange their next date- no, Chloe, it's still not a date! Their next meeting will be in the library. Chloe will do some school work, possibly catch up on Russian lit because she's behind a whole lot, and Beca will read up on wolf-kind!

It might've not been an ideal date, in the romantic sense, like how Chloe had dreamt of, but it was the start of something. Spending time together almost every day, going on dates slash meetings slash outings. It's fun just being with Beca.

Christmas was fast approaching. Like, really fast approaching. It was midway through December, Chrismas break had already begun and would last until late January. Even with the huge amount of free time, Beca was unsure of what to do with herself. She would certainly not go to her mom's. That place would be ransacked with misery and grief since all Christmas time seemed to mean for her mom was memories, bad memories. Sure, Beca could understand, since the split had happened at the start of December and her very first shift had occurred on Christmas day, which had been an overall catastrophe. She wasn't a cheery Christmas lover either, even if her human neighbours had tried to get her to believe Santa Claus. Her mom's love of the liquor bottle this time of year was too much for her.

Going to her dad's wasn't an option either. Going to dad's meant going to the pack and that would just be a whole other level of uncomfortable. From what little she'd read of werewolves — Chloe had forced her, gosh — she knew migrating back and forth was supposed to be normal and accepted, but her dad didn't seem to share that sentiment. The more she learned of her kind the more she seemed to realize how close-minded her dad really was. She could write a whole list.

1. the gay thing. werewolves can be gay, procreation can (apparently??) happen between two people regardless of their sex because magic i guess
2. wolves naturally form smaller packs, not extended families or corporations. dad's pack is like three different families and it DOESNT work
3. she'd been abused??? neglected??? both???

She's still processing that last one. She doesn't really want to believe it. She felt fine. Sure, she was guarded and careful, but that was just Beca, herself. Right? But then again, Jesse had been in almost exactly the same environment as her dad's pack and she could without a doubt say that was abuse. Or at least not healthy and extremely sheltering. But was her mom neglectful? Yeah, like sometimes. But she did care for Beca when she had to.

But the more she thinks about that, the more she doubts herself. She cared for me when she had to. That thought makes her feel cold and alone. Perhaps she'd known all along and had just blocked it out of her mind. Neither of her parents were good, or even decent, or were ever there for her. But even so, admitting that she might've been neglected makes her feel small, weak.

That's what makes rooming with Chloe in the Bellas' house that much scarier. It was part of the Bellas' contract, which Beca hadn't bothered to read the fine print of, and so was roped into cohabitating with club members during school leave or vacation; sharing mutual spaces is obligatory if not leaving for familial or legally binding engagements. So basically she had to live in the Bellas house for Christmas break. Chloe had reminded her after their second date. (Like friend-date, totally platonic. Yup.) But back to her inner turmoil: How is she supposed to pursue any sort of relationship when all she's been given is a list of conditions to love? I'd love you if you weren't like this. I'd respect you if you did what I want. I'd care if you weren't so annoying all the time. She was pretty sure loving another person was more than that. Whatever her parents had shared, be it a mating bond or some other kind of mystical pull — it wasn't enough when they made no effort to love each other. That much Beca could see, but the question here was how she could avoid that fate. Was it even worth it to try?

From what she'd seen in Jesse's movie clips and around her, love was pleasant and warm. Not easy, though, she muses to herself. Still, she pondered if love should feel less like a challenge and more like something inevitable. Like when she and Chloe ran on Beaver Moon. Like when Jesse buys her cranberry juice because she's got the worst circulation ever. Or how Aubrey wants the Bellas to succeed, even if she goes about it ineffectively. How her parents probably tried to love her and one another and ultimately failed.

Love was failure and success and all sorts of stuff all rolled into one. Beca couldn't say she didn't want to experience that. (Maybe experience it with Chloe.) But would it be worth the risk? Then again, wasn't she already in some form of love? Maybe it was time to loosen the reins and accept that: love actually is all around.

(She won't admit it, but she watches that movie, Love Actually, every Christmas. Jesse can never know.)

Chloe's doing some casual reading of Russian literature, though more just looking at the pages than actually reading. Beca's next to her as they sit at the dinner table. She's also reading.

"Hey, legs, what're you studying again? Something smart, science-ish, right?" Beca asks, directing the question to Stacie who's lounging on the sofa of the conjoined dining and living room.

"Sure, yeah." She responds nonchalantly as if double majoring wasn't even a challenge. "Why?" Stacie doesn't even take her eyes off of the TV, where 90 Day Fiancee is playing.

"Cool, so do you happen to be able to explain the, uhh, this sentence..." Beca looks back at the book. "'The contemporary frequency setting becomes present in the subject when a metaphysical psychic attachment is established and or initiated.'" Even Chloe had trouble understanding what the fuck that meant.

"Beca that has nothing to do with my majors. But I can answer that question though." Stacie bounces up from the couch, a grin on her lips. "My parents are humans, but they were pretty big on me knowing how all this worked. You're reading 'Bonds and Ties: A Werewolf Guide For Werewolves', right?"

"Yup, that's the one." Beca purses her lips and reluctantly allows Stacie to lean into her as she begins explaining. Chloe is just a bit jealous but doesn't mind as much when it's another pack member. Or friend. They weren't pack quite yet, but soon enough, Chloe liked to believe.

Yeah, she liked to believe, as she watched Stacie and Beca find solidarity in one another. They were both raised outside a pack amongst humans and despite their obvious differences, there's a connection there. Chloe hopes that as Beca becomes closer to the Bellas she'll see that their bond isn't the end of the world either. But for now, sitting so close that their knees touch under the table is enough.

"What, so like, I meet someone and boom, a bond is there-" Beca starts slowly, trying to rationalize. Chloe has given up on concentrating on whatever is happening in the book and is paying full attention to Beca and Stacie's discussion.

"The contemporary frequency setting becomes, like, a thing only in action-resulted bonds, not intuition bonds. Intuition bonds have a set frequency." Chloe knows this and nods along.

"What're action-resulted bonds?" She really wants to answer Beca's question because she knows! But this is a Stacie and Beca moment and the tallest of them was probably the most knowledgeable. She's like a damn encyclopedia, rack upon rack of knowledge. 

"You know how, like, you might think you like someone because they protected you or saved you from something? Like hero worship. That can cause a pseudo-PM bond to form, for example."

"What?" Beca sounds affronted. "Someone saves me and suddenly they smell good? The fuck?"

"Action-resulted bonds are really fickle though, it goes away over time and doesn't last like real PM bonds." Stacie laughs. "And it usually only happens with young wolves, like baby paws." Chloe had some experience with that. She'd formed a pseudo-parental bond to her cousin Henry when they'd saved her from drowning. It'd been weird, but it'd passed. Now, they could joke about it even if it'd been a bit traumatic. Chloe was still wary around the ocean and diving in general.

"There's a lot of unpacked variables here..." Beca grumbles to herself. "Reading on werewolves sucks... It's like I read one sentence and the next five will be explaining how the first one isn't even true."

"That's why you go to class, Beca." Stacie chides as she wags her finger playfully.

"Yeah, I literally found out about those last month." Beca leans back, probably even without realizing, right into Chloe. The redhead is happy to receive her and puts an arm around the freshman's waist.

"That... Oh, wow, Beca..." Stacie had about the same reaction as Chloe. It really is affronting.

"Really dangerous, weird, overall fucked up? Yeah, I've been told." Beca rolls her eyes and Chloe pinches her side. Beca glares at her and she stares back. It's serious. Beca rolls her eyes again but pats Chloe's hand in consolation. Chloe lays her head on the back of Beca's shoulder.

"And illegal," Stacie adds to the bunch. Wait, what. "You're not permitted to shift in public if you don't have the certificate from those classes." Oh. Oh shit.

"I'm illegal." Beca slams the book shut and then plants her forehead on it. Chloe stands up and runs upstairs to her room to get her laptop. "I'm illegal." This needs some more research.

On Christmas Eve, it's the night of the Cold Moon, the December full moon. Stacie, Beca and Chloe go on a night run together. They figured out the Lily should've come too, but she failed to show up so they go without her. (She did somehow turn up about halfway through the run from a dead raspberry bush.) They do the standard things, running about for an hour, howling at the moon, tackling one another for no particular reason and wrestling and rough-housing — overall it's a good wolfy time.

She almost bumps her nose to Chloe's, almost licks her cheek, like a damn dog in love, multiple times in the night. She might be a pre-historic dog, but she's not in love. She's not. I mean, maybe she is, but not like in love kind of love. Maybe the sort of I-wanna-know-things-about-you love, the inkling of possible love. Good god, she's been thinking way too much about love lately. Was the Christmas time that made Beca Mitchell so damn sappy or was it something contagious? Chloe had given her a stomach bug, the stomach bug of love. What's wrong with her? Why is she thinking about stomach bugs and love and why can't she stop shoving her damn nose into Chloe's neck!? It's humiliating.

Stacie's laughing at her, Beca's sure of it, even though wolves don't have the vocal cords to laugh. Beca tackles her just for that and she has never been quite as pleased with her size in second-form than now. Laying her full weight onto Stacie, Chloe bounds around them in delight, tongue lolling out of her mouth. Lily hops onto Beca's back and perches between her shoulder blades. Eventually, Stacie pulls off some sort of complicated manoeuvre that has Beca crashing to the ground. Lily gracefully hops away and lands next to Chloe. The two bigger wolves begin the chase anew and Chloe and Lily follow behind.

At some point in the night, when a treaty between Stacie and Beca has been established and Lily has once more disappeared, Chloe begins acting a bit weird. Weird in a way that's not noticeable to anyone but Beca, because she quite literally can't take her eyes off the russet wolf. Still weird though.

Once Stacie leaves though, she begins to feel it too. An itch like ants crawling under her skin, uncomfortable and like a physical pressure on her chest. It feels like an anvil's lodged in her chest cavity, right beside her heart. They run together until they find a rocky hill. The foliage is below them and the hillside is almost entirely covered in moss. There's a tall, old pine tree that stood there. Chloe happens upon a cosy alcove in the rocks.  It's idyllic, a pretty perfect spot if you were into camping. The anvil grows, pressing into her heart and organs, feeling more like a boulder.

Beca turns to Chloe, watching as she burrows into the mossy ground and huffs when she's found the best spot. It's cute, but a wolfy part of her brain supplies that it's absolutely beautiful. Maybe it's weird to think of an animal as beautiful, though that was mostly the second-form talking. Sexuality kind of tapers off in second-form, Beca's noticed. When she looks at Chloe curled up in a small cave, her mind stumbles to a new place. Chloe in a nest Beca built for them, nestled in and warm, sleepy and comfortable. Their nest. Their place.

It feels like Beaver Moon all over again, the loss of her human side. It probably should be scary, but instead feels relaxing more than anything. Shifting had always been more of a chore to Beca growing up. Werewolves were permitted to go in public in second-form as long as they had the certificate, but suburb moms and cat owners didn't take too kindly to a five-foot wolf trotting around the sidewalk, y'know?

But now, as the steady beat of her heart resonates in the quiet night, sings in concert with its chosen one, the boulder grows and expands until it releases. Beca can't fight the urge to be close to Chloe and climbs over her and mounts her. If she'd have a little more of her human brain functions, maybe she'd think this was inappropriate, but it feels like a natural course of action. Chloe is small, Beca is big. Being close in nest. Warm. Good. Chloe submits and allows it, so why not. There's no connotation, that's all it is.

Beca closes her eyes and distributes her weight so that she's not crushing Chloe but still firmly on top of her. The russet wolf relaxes beneath her and lays her head on the ground, neck open for Beca. She contemplates biting, but Chloe's already submitted so there would be no point. She still wants to, though. She doesn't. But she wants to. (Shut up, dumb mutt brain.)

She doesn't know how long they lay there. They probably fell asleep a few times, waking up one last time when the sun's peeking out and painting the sky a vibrant orange. Beca notes how beautiful Chloe's skin looks in the sunrise. Wait... Skin?

Christmas day starts off during sunrise in a cave in one of Barden Uni's woodlands for Chloe. It's not all that untypical, considering her family sometimes liked to spend days in second-form in their territory when they were all home. But she's never spent more than a few hours in Barden's forest. In a small cave specifically, with Beca Mitchell pressed right up against her, on top of her. It's nice, but not quite as comfy in first-form as it is in second-form. Even so, she doesn't want to move.

This is the closest Beca's allowed them to be. The bond is thrumming between them calmly, washing ashore gently like water in easy winds. If they continued like this, it'd eventually disappear. Chloe had heard of people losing their interest when that happened. That was probably what Beca wanted, but Chloe couldn't agree. Being around her felt good, talking to her felt good and, sure, she smelled good and Chloe's instincts still chanted that this, this wee-thing (in first-form) would make the greatest sire for her pups — but it was so much more than that. Maybe they didn't love each other yet, but oh by the stars, how she wanted to.

"Uhhh... Chloe did we... Did we shift back?" Beca's voice breaks her from her thoughts. She's still half-asleep, eyes dusty and voice groggy, and she's pulling away. Chloe pulls her back in as she turns to her side under Beca, hands looped around her neck.

"Uhuh, we did." It's incredibly intimate, how they are right now, definitely out of Beca's comfort zone, but not so much of Chloe's. "Don't freak out on me, Mitchell." She whispers conspiratorially.

"I dunno, too early to process." Beca leans back down and plants her face right into Chloe's bust. "Nice tits, carrot top."

"Thanks." Chloe chirps back, very much amused. "Was I a good pillow?"

"The best. Was I a good blanket?"

"Mmh, very warm and cosy."

Overall, even if it's different, it's pretty nice. It's pretty damn nice. Even if the ground is hard, she's sore as hell and the dawn is cold, it's nice being here. With Beca's nose pressed to her boob, lips above her heart and leg between hers, it made for a pretty picture and even prettier butterflies, aflutter in her tummy. Pretty damn nice, indeed.