loccent | run with wolves

Entry tags:

verse: run with wolves

run with wolves | open post.

Characters

Asil, The Moor
A very, very old wolf and a member of the Marrok's pack.

Jang Eun
Previously of Carmel Valley, sent to Aspen Creek by her former Alpha.

Jesse Hauptman
Daughter of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin Pack

Joshua Brennan
Burden-bound. A Sin-Eater paired with the ghost of a long-dead soldier.

PREMISE

All the stories are true. Years ago, the Fae came out because technology was making it harder and harder for them to hide, and it's been a couple of years since the werewolves did the same. The world is changing day by day. Humans and the paranormal live side by side, but it's not easy nor is it simple. While the Marrok has taken great lengths and care to preserve the werewolves' PR front, everyone - wolf, fae, vampire and other - know that it's only a matter of time before the humans start thinking that perhaps the other stories meant to warn of the dark are true.

This is an open post set in the universe of Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. The books are amazing and you should definitely check them out. More information via this Wiki link. The rules are simple: Drop a prompt, leave a tag, and let's play!

THREAD TRACKING

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[In an instant, Eun's smile drops. She'd let her guard down around the man that she wasn't prepared to mask her reaction. Knowing it was too late, she didn't bother. Let him see her scowl and the hardness in her eyes as she continues to walk nonetheless.

For a while, she doesn't answer, trying to determine what answer she wants to give. How much objective truth, or basic generalizations.]

Certain members of the alpha's pack don't like the answers "not interested" and "fuck off," and I won't back down to puppies who use outdated pack hierarchies to treat me as lesser. The alpha [always the alpha, never my alpha] thought it would be better if I got out of town for the time being.

[ His stride doesn't falter, but his wolf reacts to the indignation in her voice. He knows that it's not uncommon for wolves to be... persistent in their pursuit of females. It does not mean that he cannot find word of it... distateful.

If his nose is correct - and it so rarely is wrong - then Eun's dominance would have brought out their need to posture and prove that they were capable in providing for her needs and protection. It is not so rare now, that the women wolves keep their thoughts on how the pack heirarchy operates to themselves. Word travels quick among packs, in this era of modern marvels. ]

Proper courtship has fallen out of fashion.

[ His tone is neutral enough even if his wolf has begun to pace, restless. Sarai had been strong and otherwise immune to pack politics by virtue of her nature as Omega - and while it is his privilege to protect those not as dominant as he, Asil had never found much appeal in helpless women.

He smirks. ]

A man should not woo a woman by force and should present himself instead as the superior option for her consideration.

[Eun appreciates that Asil doesn't try to defend the other wolves. The alpha, his mate, and his second all tried to explain "the way of things" to Eun when she finally took her complaints to them. The fact that she had taken any complaints to them was a sign of just how persistent the rest of the pack had gotten. It's not as if she could entirely blame them for their interest. She knows that she's young and pretty, that she's intelligent, fierce and an asset in and of herself. The problem is that none of them actually wanted her for those reasons. They wanted her for being female. They wanted sex. They wanted to beat the others and lost their heads in their pursuit.

None of them had taken Eun's unilateral rejection and statement of having no intention of settling down for the sake of settling down as anything more than a challenge.]

I agree, for the most part. Though I think the definition of proper courtship has evolved and expanded over time. Not every woman wants the same thing. [She pauses a beat, considering.] And not every woman wants to be wooed. Some are more comfortable doing the wooing themselves and some...some just aren't interested, period.

[She huffs out another breath. It's a lot to talk about before she's even settled into a room or met the Marrok.]

Does the Marrok hold the same views then? As you put it, I mean?

[ Ah, pepita. Perhaps this is why Bran sent him to fetch you. His Alpha is wise and cautious to send the only wolf schooled in the ways of the courts of old.

Best that he lets you vent your frustrations before either of you set foot in the Marrok's stronghold. Bran is patient and fair - but he does have a temper and all the politicking from the last few years has forced the old lobo to make compromises that strain his heart. ]

I was leading you to my car, chica. But if you are not opposed to walking off that restless energy, perhaps we should take the scenic route, so you can talk while I listen and answer your questions.

[She hesitates, realizing that she was venting a good deal more than she'd meant to. Eun has never shied away from telling the truth as she sees it, but at the same time she's aware that sometimes she would be wiser to listen rather than talk. Her lips press together in thought, before she nods.]

I've been sitting in planes and cars for a while now. A walk might be for the best.

[Eun, like Asil, has also come to the conclusion that she's better off not meeting the Marrok with raised hackles. He's done nothing to deserve her irritation, and instead has welcomed her there. Better to make a good first impression to get more people on her side.]

I think it may take some time before I don't have such a knee-jerk reaction about things.

[ He senses her hesitation and he slows his step just enough to bump his arm against hers in reassurance.

She is young, she is female, and her Alpha undoubtedly (he resists the urge to roll his eyes) mucked about in a manner not unlike a man unused to handling children ill-inclined to obey without asking smart questions. Asil does not begrudge the older wolves for their missteps, given that in this era most attitudes that may have existed in the last few decades might not hold today. But he can and will turn his nose up at their inability to suffer the discomfort of responsibility, so much that they lean too heavily on the Marrok's generosity to "fix everything".

But this is why he is no longer Alpha and instead happily applies himself to ferreting out complaints that his lord can file away for future use. ]

How long have you been a wolf, if you do not mind me asking?

[The bump has it's intended effect, startling Eun out of spiraling down into concerns that she's said too much, or the wrong thing, and instead lightening the atmosphere somewhat.

While Eun has no objections to what she's become, and actually enjoys this gift of transformation and the wolf that lies within her now, it isn't the lifestyle she would have chosen. Too much of a free spirit, she would have declined if she'd had the choice. As it stands now, she's too stubborn to let some things continue just because it's the way things have always been.]

No, I don't mind. Next month it will have been a year since the attack. [The corners of her lips lift a little in a half smile as she glances over.] Do they have werewolf anniversaries or something like that?

[ Attack.

Pardon him, pepita, if that makes him halt where he stands. He needs a moment to compose himself as the wolf rises ascendant in his eyes.

He has a strict policy where it concerns violence and it involves keeping women and children from harm. You fill both categories, as he has walked this earth for centuries and adapted to the moving of the world as best as he can.

Bran, old man - did you know or is this another one of those instances where werewolves omit details because the conveniences of technology permit it so. ]

Yes, [ he tries for humor. Humor seems to be her weapon of choice for terrible things. ] There are.

It is, [ he twitches briefly and stares straight ahead to some indeterminate spot between the trees as he wrestles with his wolf to gain the upper hand, ] a little like being baptized, if we are to use terminology from the Christian faith.

[ Softly now, because he does not want to frighten her (he has been told often, very often, that he is very frightening when his control slips). ]

Mija, my apologies. Talk slow and gently. My wolf is displeased at the idea that someone as you endured hurt. It will pass shortly. But my control is not as it was a five hundred years ago and I do not wish you harm.

[She doesn't think anything of talking about how she was turned because she's used to everyone already knowing. They'd taken her in, after all. They'd known the circumstances and dealt with the guilty party, a rogue who had happened upon a beach bonfire party when the weather had turned warm enough for it. She'd spent the first month or two coping with the trauma and drastic changes in her life through an almost alarming determination to learn everything she could about what she'd become. What the feelings inside her meant, the wolf that she shared her life with now, and the way it would change her future. It had been easier to look forward than linger on the fear she'd felt, the pain she'd endured, and that certainty at the time that she'd die in the prime of her life.

It's her first time talking about it with someone outside of her pack, and she hadn't expected it to affect Asil this way. To affect his wolf the way it apparently has. So she holds back her comments about baptism and pools, and a quip about not having packed a bikini in light of the weather up in Montana. Instead she takes in the changes in his body language. His stillness. His change in volume and tone. The way he stares forward as his focus draws inward. Her own wolf stills, sensing that something is amiss. Something Eun herself would not have noticed if she were still human.

She does not step away, nor does she step forward. She does not reach for Asil, but neither does she take a defensive pose. With someone she knew better, a friend, she might lay a hand at their shoulder, might encourage them to take her hand or something to help reinforce the fact that she's fine. Not knowing Asil or what might trigger a negative response, she finds herself relying on gut instinct instead.

When she speaks, it's low and quiet, with the same sort of smooth, brandied tones she gets when staying up late on the phone. Her words are unhurried and steady.]

I endured hurt and I survived. I became stronger, and faster, and better equipped to defend myself and others in the future. And the wolf who hurt me is long dead and I am here and safe. [There is no threat, and though Asil worries about hurting her, about losing control, Eun speaks without any doubt that it will not come to pass. Her words are for not just Asil but for his wolf as well, hoping to help soothe him even as her own feels restless inside.] Have you ever run through seafoam on the beach before, Asil?

[ His wolf is angry. It hungers for the blood of a wolf too stupid to be left alive having hurt an innocent. They have seen war and the dreaded aftermath of the bloodshed that men who believe conflict and conquest is the answer to fear. He was a warrior, once, but that was another time, though the world has only evolved to create new means and manners by which to lay waste to the earth.

He does not shut his eyes - does not risk that small motion that might grant his wolf the upper hand - but he listens to Eun speak. To let the lull of her voice reach him and pacify the need to rip and rend.

She is strong, this child. Like Kara. Like Charles' Anna. Like Mercedes who he met but once and already admires.

It takes a little bit before he can reply, but Eun will see the way his shoulders sag gradually; the way his body begins to relax.

He breathes in deeply when he is sure that his wolf is satisfied at the conviction in her tones and his mouth twitches, briefly. ]

A long time ago, hija. [ He turns to look at her, and his eyes are his own again. If there are signs of strain, it is only to make him look older than his deceptively young looks.

He lifts a hand instinctively, catching himself only when his fingertips brush on her cheek. ] I am sure you aware that werewolves cannot swim.

[ There is some tension along his shoulders, but he suspects it will fade once they begin walking again. ] Gracias. You are not the first among our number to have endured and survived.

But you are right. You are strong. The California wolves' loss is our gain.

[For all that Eun has always gone to the beat of her own drum, that path has never been such that she leaves others behind or vulnerable. Those younger than her, less experienced, have more than once found themselves under her watchful eye or found her shoulder available to them when times were hard. She does not push, she does not coddle, but she is there, especially for the young women of her acquaintence that might do well to have a strong, independent role model. She does not necessarily lead an exemplary life, but she always advocates for them to find their own way and feel confident in doing so.

It does not feel like such a stretch to know what may help Asil in that moment of need. An acknowledgment of what happened to her, but reassurance that she is not only well now, but better able to handle threats in the future. And the sea foam, well, a distraction didn't seem amiss in the moment. Something that wouldn't further trigger agitation in wolf nor man. That it helps pleases her immensely, not just that it settles Asil, but that she was able to do so. In light of what's happened, perhaps it isn't the right thing to be pleased about, but she is all the same. Confidence is steadying for her, and keeps her in place as Asil reaches up to touch her face.

The brush of skin on skin is electric to Eun, but she doesn't startle. Doesn't pull away. From any of the pack back home she would have recoiled, would have slapped their hand away with a snarl. The touch would have been unwelcome and crossing her personal boundaries. What is it about Asil that she feels a connection already? And trust? Certainly he intrigues her, and Eun half wonders if it's because he is new to her or if it is because of Asil himself.

Her lips curve into a faint smile at the reminder that wolves cannot swim, and shrugs lightly. Just because she cannot swim in the ocean doesn't mean she cannot play along the shore or find a kiddie pool to splash in when she feels like it.]

I have every intention of thriving somewhere I will be appreciated the way I ought to be, and making them regret their loss. [So maybe she is a little vindictive. Isn't it deserved?] And while I may not be able to swim anymore I will continue to toe the line along the shore as much as I please.

[Literally, and figuratively.]

I may not have picked this for myself, and I don't know that I will ever be used to the way a pack may operate...but I certainly feel like my physical self matches who I've been on the inside all along. I'm grateful for that.

[Her wolf quickly went from being a foreign intruder to a companion and partner she didn't know she was missing all along. For all that she can be more catlike in personality, the life of a wolf suits her far better than she would have imagined.]

[ She does not shy away from his touch and that pleases him. It has not escaped his notice that Bran has elected him as protector of the few women that have come to their door. He knows, well enough, from previous experience, that cherishing does not have to mean smothering. If anything, that Charles is as fine as a dominant male can be when Anna seeks out his company is reassurance all on it's own.

The pup might raise his hackles occasionally, but he will not cross Charles. He will, however, tease and playfully provoke, whenever the Marrok's hatchet man needs a swift smack back to reality and not feeling sorry for himself.

He allows himself the indulgence of stroking Eun's cheek before he drops his hand away, wolf settled leaving him back in control. ]

Ah, querida. I can guarantee that you will enjoy Aspen Creek.

There are no beaches here, but perhaps when you are... settled, you could approach Bran about visits.

[ It is not completely unheard of, though few of the wolves in Bran's pack are much inclined to leave. But of late, more of the young ones have sought temporary shelter under the Marrok's wing and restlessness has swept the pack in the aftermath of a betrayal within their ranks. It does not help that Bran's decision to renounce the Columbia Pack has left the Marrok... testy. ]

But I will not make promises that I cannot keep. Especially since you will need a proper escort.

[Later, Eun will no doubt find it bold that after hearing how vehemently she rejected the men of the pack she left behind, he touched her cheek--stroked it with his fingertips. But then, she did reject them, and hasn't yet told him not to. Perhaps he tests her? To see how she would react? If she would react to him? And if so, does he do so for the sake of his own curiosity, or on behalf of the Marrok?]

I'm not planning to leave before I've even had a chance to make myself at home, and I don't ask for any promises of you at all.

[Eun casts him a sidelong look, body language growing more relaxed as they continue to talk past the previous discussion of her former pack and attack. Already she feels more herself in these last ten minutes or so than she has in all of the last year, and she knows it's not the fresh air that makes her feel like she can breathe again. If even a quarter of the people in Aspen Creek make her feel as free to be herself as Asil does, she'll consider it a huge upgrade from her previous pack.]

Actually, no promises save one. Yo prefiero "querida" in vez de hija o chica, por favor.

[Given the option between learning Spanish, French, or German in high school, Eun had picked the former. It seems that three years of lessons will not go to waste even here in Montana. Her accent is even passable, as she mentions her preference of endearments. Yes, she'd rather be called "dear" than "daughter" by a man she's only just met, and she likes the sound of querida in and of itself besides that.

The mention of a proper escort is something that Eun ignores for the moment. No doubt the Marrok will make himself clear what his expectations are, but Eun has learned enough from her old pack to know that traveling where she likes is not as simple as it used to be as a human. Especially not as an unmated, female werewolf.

Better to focus on Asil's reaction at her casual use of his native tongue.]

[ It had not occurred to him that you might know, much less speak his language. Common endearments come to him easy, and according to Kara, language classes are often required particularly in the upper levels. It is on him that he assumed that you would not know and that you do pleases him. Immensely.

Careful, mi prinsesa. Or he will find excuses to bother you to amuse himself.

So after a momentary pause of surprise (you'll see it in his eyes and the slight tilt of his head), you'll be rewarded with a bright smile that makes him look all of the 25 years his body appears to be. ]

Muy bien, [ a deliberate pause as he meets her gaze - not as a challenge, never that, but in acknowledgement ] querida.

[ He gestures that they start walking again with a sweep of the hand. ] But we should not dawdle. Else my Alpha will wonder that I have led you around in circles and send a search party out for us.

[Considering she knows no one else at Aspen Creek currently, and that she enjoys Asil company as well as she does already, Eun would currently have no objection to being bothered.

Even if he sought to annoy her. She can appreciate the fun that comes from ruffling someone's fur the wrong way to get a reaction, even if it is the equivalent of pulling pigtails and pushing someone into the mud because you like them. Friendships are not always all kindness and politeness, after all.]

Gracias. [She offers one last word, holding his gaze with ease, her own wolf understanding that she is at play, rather than challenging for dominance.] But sure, let's go before they send someone after us.

[Eun easily follows where he leads, mind lingering somewhat on the way his face looked when his grasp of control seemed more tenuous, and just now as he smiled so brightly for her. She wonders if his good nature is because he too enjoys her company as she much as she enjoys his already, or if he is merely being the welcoming host. The doorman, as he put it earlier.]

Maybe you could tell me something about the Marrok, or any tips for my first meeting with him? All things considered I'd like it to go well.

[ More relaxed than he was before this meeting (unpleasant memories aside), he purses his lips, thoughtful as he takes her question into consideration. ]

Bran is very old. [ It should go without saying, but the simplest place is often the best place to start. ] His methods are... byzantine, to put it mildly. But he is fair.

[ One had to be to rule all of North America. ]

Be yourself. Do not lie. [ Not that werewolves could lie well. ] And if you can manage to leash quips that may subvert his authority - even in jest - avoid those as well.

He protects all under his care. But... [ how much should he brief her, he wonders. It has not been long since Sage - he takes a breath at the thought of that one, his fingers flexing as he steadies himself - and the pack is still healing.

He decides to err on the side of caution, as Bran would no doubt prefer to refrain from alarming their newest wolf. Not while investigations into the Hardesty Witches are still ongoing and kept under wraps. ] But the pack bonds are raw from recent loss.

[ There. That is better. Hopefully enough for her to understand that treading gently would be good. ]

A handful of our wolves passed. [ He's unable to keep the sorrow out of his voice - and his gaze moves away from her. It has been a few months, but he still mourns. ] For a lack of a better way to put it, Bran is going through the motions of an overprotective father who needs to fuss over all who are his.

Edited 2020-04-10 16:03 (UTC)

[It's easy to be quiet, to listen as he answers her question. He gives her exactly what she needs to know. Background. Attitude. Manner of methods. Advice on how to comport herself. That he hesitates at times seems only to lend itself to her assumption that the Marrok is complicated indeed, and that Asil knows him well enough to know that. Still, he seems to sum things up in a way that Eun can understand and extrapolate more to consider from there...

But it's the longer pause that makes her grow more attentive to what he'll say to break that silence. Something unexpected.

A recent loss. That more than one wolf passed is no doubt a great blow to the pack but also she can't help but wonder at the cause. Still, for all that Eun has an independent streak a mile wide, she was brought up well enough to know not to poke at the recent pain of others. She's new and no doubt will find out what happened in time, when any of them are ready to speak to her about it. Asil, for all that he's been very communicative with her so far, does not talk about it now, which means that the pack's grief must be an awful ache still.

What it also means, however, is that she'll need to take into account the grief of the Marrok and his pack into her own behavior. Eun isn't without empathy, and she's not just grateful to be away from the old pack, but willing to modify her actions and speech to at least make herself not so abrasive to others.]

Will he consider me one of his to fuss over then, even though I've just arrived? I can mind my tongue well enough with good reason, which you've given, and I don't lie, but I'm not used to being fussed over. I'm used to taking care of myself.

[That she is overdue to have someone respectfully fuss over her and look after her is a point she would vehemently disagree with.

Never mind that it's true.]

[ Have a look (no challenge, because his gaze falls just off center enough that he's not meeting her eyes) and a faint chuckle before he seems to close up again.

He has wanted, very much, to forget about Sage. If Devon - Devon who had been nothing but kind to his pepita Kara - if he had died because it had been his wolf's time. That... that would have been that was easier to swallow. Devon had been old. Not as old as Asil, but old enough that it would have been a matter of waiting.

But he had not died peacefully at the feet of his alpha nor among friends.

He's taking deliberate breaths now. Even as he pays attention to Eun.

Eun will be theirs soon. Pack. Family.

He just needs to make sure that he gets her to the Marrok. ]

Bran will mostly leave you to your own devices. Let you find your place among his wolves, and make recommendations on wolves whose company might suit your temperament.

[His reply soothes any growing anxiety she might have had about an over-interfering werewolf dictating her life, but Asil's last comment does pique her curiosity. He'd said the Marrok's methods were byzantine, hadn't he? What does he hope to accomplish by making recommendations on who she makes friends with?]

And are you one of the wolves he would recommend? Is that why you were picked to escort me in, Asil?

[If so, what did the Marrok know about her already to be deciding who her first point of contact is, or suggestions for other contacts in the future?]

[ He can scent her curiosity and given what he's gleaned from their conversation so far, it's not too big of a leap to assume that she is asking from a place framed by her experiences with her previous pack. ]

What has your old pack told you about Bran?

[ He sidesteps her question.

No matter what Bran says and no matter that his end has been postponed for the last fifteen years, Asil maintains that he is not safe. While the Marrok seems to deem him well enough for small errands such as fetching Eun or looking after Kara's well-being, it does not negate that his wolf is a ravaging beast who is leashed only by a tenuous hold. ]

Edited 2020-04-11 03:00 (UTC)

[She's sharp enough to notice his sidestep for what it is. For a moment, she almost considers calling him out on it, pushing him for an answer to her question. But he's answered many of her questions and his is nothing she can't answer. If Asil won't answer it, perhaps she'll ask Bran himself.]

That he leads all of the North American werewolves. That the pack leaders and their packs answer to him--except for the Columbia Basin pack. [And isn't that an interesting tangle.] I've heard that...he knows everything about almost everyone. Even outside the states. I know that he has sons, and a mate...

[She pauses a beat then, expression twisting as she debates whether or not to say the last part. It sounds so silly to say it aloud but...]

I've heard he can get into our minds. Talk to us that way? It sounds ridiculous but it came from the pack leader's second...he can't actually read our thoughts can he?

[ And because it benefits them - benefits all werewolves really, if Bran's legend is as frightening as is necessary. He gives her a cryptic smile which she can take as his answer to that. He likes you, querida. You have spunk and you have been very considerate given his earlier misstep. But Bran's secrets are not his to share. ]

I can only tell you that I have heard him in my head. [ She is welcome to the easy truth in his words and body language. ] And I think you will see for yourself that he arms himself with information on all that venture into his territory.

[ A beat, then: ] Many of the old wolves know each other.

If not by reputation, then because we have crossed paths at one time or another. Most of the Marrok's pack do not engage with the outside world. We are too unstable, [ he glances her way briefly. ] Yes, querida, even me.

[ He leads them both up a slope that will cut their travel time by a good half hour. He is at ease in these woods, familiar as he is with the lay of the land. ]

Bran is a fair king. But do not forget that he is a brutal one as necessity dictates. We are trying to ensure that the humans do not wake up tomorrow and decide that we are all better off dead.

[ It has been a trying four years for werewolfkind. Not too long ago, Adam Hauptman and the members of the Columbia Basin pack had been kidnapped by rouge Cantrip agents. ]

He has sons. [ Asil continues, offering her a hand when the climb becomes too steep. She is perfectly capable of seeing to her own footing, however he is old and gallantry is ingrained in his bones. ] Samuel is no longer with the pack, having moved to be with his Fae mate. I believe they are currently in Africa on a medical mission since Samuel is a doctor.

And Charles-- [ he snorts softly in amusement, no sense frightening Eun prematurely ] --Charles and his Anna will likely be present at Bran's to receive you.

Edited 2020-04-11 03:31 (UTC)

[Having never been around unstable wolves before, she wonders if perhaps his wolf's reaction to the mention of her attack was not just a reaction but a struggle. A show of his instability. He doesn't seem it, and seeming to sense that he confirms that yes, even he is among those who do not engage outside of Aspen Creek.

Surely Bran would not send Asil if he could not be trusted around her, however, would he? It seems like it would be a monumentally stupid thing to do if Asil could not be trusted that far, and Eun does not think Bran would be as old as he apparently is, ruling for as long as he has, without being intelligent. Without knowing his pack well enough to be able to gauge them and their limits.

Listening still, she doesn't balk at taking Asil's hand as they continue to make their way to the Marrok. The ground is uneven, and while she may be a werewolf, she is in human form and a city girl at heart. Her wolf would know how to traverse this land on four paws, but Eun will need a little time to learn the way the land slopes and rolls up to her feet.]

You've given me a lot to think about. Thank you for answering my questions.

[It's all she can think to say. The other wolves didn't tell her all of this, they didn't educate her in the same way. She's learned even more in the last five minutes than the last twenty with Asil, and certainly the last several months in California. She almost asks why Bran would go out of his way to bother with her. Her opinion of herself is high but she's not so in her own head to not be aware of her relative position. Hadn't all of the other wolves treated her as the bottom of their pack because she was new and female? Bran is the king of the werewolves. Have they taken any of their cues from the Marrok? She hadn't thought so, not with Asil's initial responses to her, but it's hard not to wonder.

For a time, Eun walks in silence, mulling over Asil's answers. She has hundreds of questions but none that she thinks she can ask him now. None that might not be answered eventually as she settles into Aspen Creek. Eventually, she glances back over at her walking companion, hand still warm from the brief touch of his own.]

Do you have any questions for me?

[ He won't deny that it gives him and his wolf pleasure to have her accept his open hand. More so that she is allowing herself to be in his care. ] Careful, there is a root by your left foot. The trees here can trip you and a fall would be unpleasant.

[ He thinks he will tuck your hand under his arm for now. This area is full of dips and rocks that have frosted over given the weather.

Asil makes a soft sound, musing on her question. ]

Tell me about your old pack's experience with the human population. [ And then, because it's occurred to him. ] Perhaps you can also provide me with the broad strokes of how your pack worked and what their impressions are of the changes our kind have had to cope with of late.

[ He cannot outright ask about the Columbia Pack. He will not subvert Bran's authority. ]

[If she'd known she would be taking an impromptu hike, she might have worn some shoes with more tread to them. In another set of circumstances, with someone else, she also wouldn't have allowed them to tuck her hand anywhere without asking first. He's steady, however. He isn't like the others, trying to win her over or just outright win her. It's a pleasant change of pace, and her wolf seems quite pleased by his attentiveness.]

Carmel Valley is just beside Carmel-by-the-Sea. Most people don't go there unless they're local, or at least local to the Bay Area. It's a lot of open fields and grasslands in the valley, tree-topped hills surrounding it. Wineries, golf courses, and some farms. Stables. The people that live there either have held the land for years in their family, in modest homes that creak when you walk through them, or they're people who in one way or another have money to have built or bought some estate. Carmel-by-the-Sea is the usual draw for visitors. A tiny seaside tourist town. The curbs are cobblestone, there aren't any stop lights, only occasional stop signs. The houses there have names instead of numbers and you walk to the post office to get your mail. There's a place called Point Lobos where people go to hike and artists flock to paint pictures of the ocean from the cliff sides.

[And yes, she smiles a little at the name of the park. Point Lobos indeed.]

Monterey and Pebble Beach are in the same area. More populated. More developed. There are military schools around there too, I think. It's a small enough area that people tend to know their neighbors, but tourists are there often enough that new arrivals to a pack don't really stand out. [She shrugs lightly.] Most of the people in the pack grew up around there, or like me grew up further North up the coast. Bay Area and the like. Some of them have money. Most of them are set in their ways and aren't out. There aren't any regular wolves left in California so we'd stand out more in our other forms if people saw us, so I'm pretty sure most people don't even realize there's a pack there. The alpha has a long-standing arrangement with the sisters at the Carmelite Monastery, however. They let us park at the monastery during full moons so that we can run through Point Lobos or into Carmel Valley at night. It's about the only interactions between pack and humans I noticed. At least, with everyone knowing who--what everyone was.

Characters

PREMISE

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject