Sometimes, surviving is all you get

Things had gone smoothly so far. No, he was not a part of a pack, but he had gotten from Russia to Athena and with the help of the very weird pregnant omega, he had found his ways to the streets of Aston, only to meet a kind female wolf the next evening who brought him to a place where he could sleep with no disturbances in the woods. Or well, so far, the girl, Rose, had visited most of the days. Besides that, he had been killed once by a hunter who saved Rose from him killing her and Rose’s alpha, and two from the pack had showed up the day after the full moon to make sure that he was no trouble. Right now, he was laying on the sofa in the hut, which apparently had been built by Rose’s twin, who now wasn’t allowed to go there before Neil had been moved to another place.
He was laying on his back with one arm over his tummy and the other covering his eyes. On the small table was residue paper from a burger he had eaten just an hour ago. Surviving took a lot of energy, and now that he lived under a roof with almost no disturbances, his body craved restitution and sleep. Right now, he was wearing some pants which Rose had bought him. He tore up pants all the time when he transformed out of nowhere. Living out here had also caused him to walk more around only in blankets, because blankets allowed more things to happen, and then the pants survived longer. Smart thinking, or maybe just a lazy ass.

Being half awake, he was still listening to the surroundings, feeling the energy, and smelling every change in the area. Most of the time there wasn’t really anything to pick up on, but all of a sudden, he picked up a strong aura. He removed his hand and looked around. Rose wasn’t to be found anywhere. He crawled down onto the floor and as flat as possible he approached the door, hoping not to be seen through the windows. He finally got to the front door and crawled up along the wall, grabbing an umbrella nearby as his only weapon. He was ready to attack whoever was approaching. His senses couldn’t catch up that it was someone he knew, because he had been too young.

Outfit
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This month had really been all about meeting your former loves, people she always ended up leaving with loose ends caused by death - that too them at least were a dead end. To her it never was. It was never easy not just returning and hoping everything would be the same again, but it never was. But after Fenris had mentioned that Neil might find his way to Aston soon, she had stayed put. There were a bunch of hunters coding the woods at the moment and she didn't understand why this place was both so haunted and hunted at the same time. But it didn't stop her from carelessly wander the woods, the area, to check it out further.

The smell of the dead deer caught her first, making her frown a bit. She didn't know why she had ended up near the hut at first. But as she got closer, she knew she stepped into another pack's territory - she also didn't care much. Had she been a normal beta, sure, she would think twice before just invading another alpha's home, but she wasn't just a normal beta. The next to steps closer to the hut, made her catch the scent. She caught the scent of her son, the scent of the rouge werewolf. Melanie walking closer, rubbing her neck for a brief moment before taking a deeper breath in. Melanie could hear him, her the heart beating. How old had he been when she had been killed, ten? And that was still over a hundred years ago.

Melanie took a sharper breath in as she reached the front door, lifting her hand a little to knock, but she didn't just yet. She listened. She could hear the sound of his beating heart, him breathing close to the door. Of course he would be afraid of the aura she carried with her, the authority she had. An aura strong enough to put this generations of alphas in their place if she wanted to. But if they feared her, they should just wait till they met her brother. Then she just knocked gently two times on the door and took a step back. "I'm not here to fight you Neil," her words finally left her lips as she breathed out. "No one is going to do anything to you," she added while licking her lips a little bit. She didn't want to pressure him to face her, or to even open the door. But she hoped he would at least be curious enough to open the door.

Neil’s heart was beating rapidly, waiting for whoever it was to enter. He did everything he could to calm himself so he wouldn’t give away his whereabouts, but no matter what, he knew that none of it would help. It knocked on the door. He held his breath and heard how the person outside took a few steps back. The voice was sweet like honey and immediately wrapped his shattered heart and mind, though he felt like he was crumbling. He knew who it was, but he couldn’t really believe it. He lowered his arms slowly  and let the umbrella fall out of his hands. It felt like time had stopped and he moved in front of the door, looking at it. He could almost feel how his heart synchronized with his mothers on the other side of the door. He reached to open the door. His hand was hovering over the doorhandle not knowing what to do when he would finally open the door. His hand started to shake and the house he stood in felt like it was getting smaller and smaller. Crushing him.

The door flew open, and he threw himself into the arms of his mother. Tears were streaming down his cheeks like a five-year-old who had been told no. “Where have you been?” he sobbed.

The seconds felt like years without rain, the sound of his heartbeat was rather dreadful. Because she couldn't see him. She hadn't been there, and she knew that. It was time she once again was faced with what death had taken from her. Melanie heard the sound of something dropping to the ground, making her hold her breath. What could she expect? She had no idea at this point. Melanie just stood there, ready to take, heaven or hell - everything in between. She could handle it. Melanie only had the information Fenris had provided her with, but as much or little he knew - it wasn't the same being a werewolf, as it was being a demon. Whatever Neil had been through, she knew it would be hard to see, to hear about - to know she hadn't been able to stop it. The door finally opened.

She wasn't prepared for him throwing himself into her arms, but she didn't waste a second closing her arms around him. He was so tall, so thin, that she felt like if she squeezed him to tight she could break him. It broke her heart, knowing she had let her son end up on a path like this. You really don’t know do you? Fenris voice stirred in her guilt once again, like a knife that kept twisting inside the wound. What really broke her, was Neil's voice; Where have you been? She took a sharper breath in, not able to keep all her tears at bay, making only a few escape. "I'm here now," she replied back. She could try and tell how she had tried to find him, him and his father. How she had failed and given up, but it wouldn't do much good. Not right now. Nothing would ever make that feeling of being abandoned go away, "I'm so sorry - I'm here now."

Her arms wrapped around him like a warm blanket. She was so clean. He was somewhat happy that he had gotten a bath the day before, so he wasn’t drenched in sweat, blood and dirt. He was probably as presentable as possible, if one didn’t think about the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt to cover up the many, many scars.
Her voice was soothing his soul. It was breaking him to feel the difference of a life well lived and a wasted life. She was so full, she was living she had everything she needed and was dressed so nicely. He on the other hand looked like one who hadn’t eaten since he was fifteen, which may or may not be somewhat correct. He had no idea how long or short they stood there, holding each other and him crying, but eventually he pulled away to look at the small woman who had given him life. He let a gentle hand run over her hair. “You look wonderful,” he said after he had let his eyes run over her shortly. It didn’t matter that his sight was blurry, he wouldn’t change his mind. “I’ve miss you so much,” he gave her a pained smile.

Melanie swallowed her sorrow and gratitude as he pulled a little bit away, her hands found his cheeks, letting the thumbs caress that slim face, taking in how he looked. Rouge, she was still not over that part. Melanie knew what they could do, or they couldn't do anything but her brother could, however, she also knew that she had to know more about Neil before allowing him to have a titel like that back. There was a reason why people became rouge, there was a reason why they were created. In the end if had been the first alpha and the first beta to exile the first rouges. "You are so tall," she chuckled, folding her lips a little bit, as she took a deeper breath in through her nose and held it for a second, I’ve missed you so much, Melanie breathed out again. So much had happened, but it didn't mean she didn't and hadn't worried about her children. It wasn't just all of them that were very easy to track and trace, even with an ability like hers. "I've missed you too my sweet boy," she breathed out almost feeling her lips threaten to shiver as she looked into his eyes. Life hadn't been kind to him, she could see that by the first sight, the rest came in pieces as she took his appearance in. He had been nothing but a sweet young boy when Alicia had killed her, before the Blackwoods had kept her from returning. But she had put her fate and trust in the fact that the that pack would have provided and cared for him, and clearly, she had mistaken, and that mistake had cost more than it should have. Melanie also knew she couldn't change the past, she had lived too long to try change what had happened. "So, I believe you and I have some catching up to do?"

Triggerwarning: Description of a starved body.

He pulled a happy smile and chuckled as she commented on his height. He had indeed gotten taller. First of all the fact that he had been quite young when she had passed away, second of all, he was quite tall. He chewed a little in his cheek as she mentioned she had missed him too. It was so nice to hear, but anything else would also have been worrying. It was very clear that Neil had lived more than 120 years as a rouge. No rouge lived past that age, or at least he didn’t know of any other cursed rouges who had to live eternal life. He had been beaten up so many times, thrown away from territories and so much more because he didn’t ‘fit in’, because a pack had doomed him when he was still just a mere child.
He pulled a brighter smile as she mentioned they had some catching up to do. A smile widened on his lips and he looked up to see if there was anyone from Rose’s pack nearby before he stepped aside and let his mother step inside. “I’m sorry about the mess, I wasn’t really expecting guests,” he said calmly, closing the door behind her. There were two big dark red spots. One was his own blood the spot belonged to the blood of a deer. He hurried over to the table and tried to clean it up a bit. The armchair and couch were presentable enough. While he cleaned the table, it was only more visible how little he had been fed. How the skin followed his ribs and spine and how there almost wasn’t enough fat to cover the details of his intestines. It almost looked like he was hollow right under his ribcage. He looked sick. But things were getting better. He had met Rose and now his mother had found him. This were going to be good. He just knew it. “I don’t really have anything to offer,” he said and gestured her to sit. There was no water in the hut and he wouldn’t serve the juice he had been drinking straight from.

Melanie was too old to drown herself in the self-pity of blaming herself for everything, yet it was sneaking in, but was replaced by the anger of the people who had mistreated him in her absence and she wanted to watch those people's world burn. Melanie was well aware that there was other wolves in the area, it took one inhale for her to notice, but also nothing that she was distracted by or saw as a protentional threat. She wondered why an alpha would place a rouge out here in the woods in exile away from everyone else, was it some sick kind of joke instead of trying to kill him off. Of course, the family curse made that hard.

Like a child who had just been heard for the many times in years, he smiled, he smiled so bright that it ripped her heart right open and that hurt. It hurt to know that most his life had been unkind, because just by letting her eyes fall over him she could see that, she was far from blind. Melanie looked slightly around when he did, it was just instinct but she wasn't worried, far from, at least not regarding that. Then he let her inside in the hut, she had smelled the blood before she even had been close to the hut, but she was mainly good at not acting out. Control was a thing that took time to master, and she had had nothing but time. "No worries," she replied softly looking around as she stepped inside the hut. The door closed, but her eyes mainly still scanned the living space. It didn't look like something anyone really should be using as a living space - yes, maybe to stay the night, but not to live in. She wasn't even sure if it was isolated properly, and yes, werewolves didn't feel the cold that easily, but still.

Melanie's eyes followed him as he rushed to the table to clean up, her eyes once again scanning him. It broke her heart once again, not that it was to be seen on her face, because right now she didn't want to burden him with that. She just wanted to be there. Neil gestured her to sit, which made her walk over and sit down on the stool. "It's alright," she assured him with a warmer smile. Melanie wasn't here to take anything, she was here to provide and from what she saw, he needed that. "I would like for you to come with me," she took a deeper breath in, wondering if he even wanted that. "I got to the country a few months ago, but my brother, your uncle and I, have found a place in Grounds of Lily," she breathed out, going straight to the point. "I don't know what kind of alpha has provided you with this place," she gestured around them with a small hand movement. It wasn't really because there was anything about the hut that was impressive or showed that the person sending him here had cared, perhaps for the only other fact that Neil had a roof over his head. Shelter was one thing that could be hard to find, but why have him hide on territory ground? He could as easily have found an empty house or hut outside the alpha's ground. "But I can provide you with something better."

Truth to be told, if a rouge hadn't been family - perhaps she wouldn't have acted much nicer, but that was not the matter in this case. Neil was her son, regardless of what rank the former pack had pulled on him. Neil needed help from a real pack a real alpha who could pull some strings. Not that she assumed Damian would just give her a thumbs up and fix everything. They needed to know they could trust Neil, even if he was blood, he was still a stranger they knew nothing about. But it didn't mean they couldn't take a chance on him. "But only if you want to of course. Your family bloodline is way more magnificent than you might think, and I would love to explain everything you might have questions about as well," she could assume he had wondered for years why he wasn't able to die. She waited with telling her rank and Damian's rank, even if she knew he sure had figured she was more powerful than just the average beta, it was just the aura she carried.

She didn’t mind that he had nothing to serve. It eased him a little. Not that he had expected her to expect anything from him really. After all, she had been gone for so many years. Neil sat down in the couch he had been sleeping in the last couple of nights. He furrowed his brows a little as she presented her idea. She wanted him to come with her. Why?
He was used to be homeless, and he had quite resilient accepted the help that Rose had offered under Walters conditions. He was so happy that he had a room over his head now and could sleep much warmer than on the streets. Yeah, maybe this place wasn’t what he grew up in so many years ago, but at least he couldn’t really ruin anything in here? Things that were in here didn’t really matter. Everything was something Rose’s little sister had found for free and gotten into the hut. Glasses, plates, the stool she was sitting on, the armchair, the table, and the couch. Everything. He didn’t even have to pay to live there. Melanie explained that she and his uncle had a place in Grounds of Lily, and she didn’t really understand why an alpha had provided him this place. The fact was Rose’s alpha hadn’t really provided it to him. Rose had. They had agreed to keep it a secret, but things just hadn’t been able to turn out that way. I can provide you with something better.
Even though the words were filled with love it gave him chills and felt uncomfortable. He didn’t want to leave Rose. He barely had any idea of where Grounds of Lily was. Would Rose be able to visit him there or was it a long way? He furrowed his brows a little more thinking. Only if you want of course.
He lifted a brow and licked his lips taking a deeper breath in. She even mentioned a specific bloodline and it almost scared him that he might have siblings and cousins. He was just so used to be alone. Completely alone.

“Mom, I- I can’t just leave,” he said looking at his hands, which he had interlocked, he looked back up at her. “There is this girl that I’ve met-” his fingers opened up, as if he didn’t know what to say, “She provided me all of this,” he cracked his knuckles nervously. “She’s even planning on getting me another place to live,” he explained with a conflicted smile. Rose was way too kind. “She cooks and buys me food, mom. I-” his words got swallowed by how much he appreciated everything Rose did. “It’s been more than one-hundred years since anyone has cared for me like this,” he took a quick sharp breath in, “I can’t just leave her without letting her know,” he explained. It wasn’t the fact that he couldn’t leave this place, but it was the fact that he didn’t feel like he could leave without saying goodbye. He didn’t just want to be a ghost.
He furrowed his brows a little more keeping his eyes stiffly at his mother. Something about his eyes turned a little colder, “What do you mean by better?” he almost whispered. “You can’t just put me in a nice room and think that I’ll be fine – I won’t. I ruin everything, mom,” he tried to explain, not thinking about the possibility of him ruining his relationship with Rose or simply her being a part of her pack. He believed that Rose knew what she was doing. “I can’t control myself.” It was clear that it hurt him to explain the reasons why he wanted to stay and wouldn’t fit in somewhere else, but he wished to know why his mother believed he would do better somewhere else.

She could see how he shivered with fear from the suggestion, she could hear it by how his heart was beating against his chest. Of course, it was a lot, suddenly waltzing in here and speak of change. Change wasn't for everyone, whether it was good or bad, just the thought about something suddenly not being what it used to, it could be quite frightening. He said he couldn't leave, well she wasn't asking him to leave the country and turn his back on anything, but she understood where he was coming from by heart. Not being able to leave because in this case a girl. See, if anyone knew that romance and people could keep you in places, that would be Melanie. Her heart often got her in trouble, and yet it never quite learned. So, the girl had provided him with this? Melanie licked her lips, another reason why this was a death trap - not because she questioned the girl's judgement by the choice of hut - but letting him stay in a pack territory was almost like putting another target on his back - unless the alpha made it clear that no one was to harm him. Then again, she couldn't think of there being anything but boundaries, even her and Damian would put those up. Trust didn't come for free, it had to be earned, even by family. Still, Damian was the person in the entire world that Melanie had most faith in and trusted the most. Melanie didn't interrupt as he spoke, she let him talk, let him share about no one had cared for him like that for years. Melanie also understood what it meant to suddenly just vanish form other people's lives. but again, she didn't say a thing, she let him talk.

It was a good question really. What did she mean by better, better was a grand definition that no one really could define in the end, but people loved to try. Saying she could put him in nice rooms thinking he would be fine. He was by far not the only one she had met with scars bigger than his body. "A wolf is a wolf even in a cage, even dressed in silk," she replied while licking her lips, finally saying something. Melania took a slightly deeper breath in. He didn't know about his family story, he didn't know he talked to a person who beforehand had struggled with control because in the beginning, there was so few who knew just what they were. Few to teach them how to deal with anything, perhaps that was why her and Damian had grown into becoming so good teachers too. "I'm not asking you to leave her behind, Ground of Lily is a handful of minutes from here, but it would be nicer, warmer and there would be more food," she took a slightly deeper breath in leaning a bit more back in the chair.

There was nothing about Melanie that wasn't calm, she seemed to collected and graceful with every single little movement. "But you are putting her in danger," she looked at him with a more serious glance, because it was true. A pureblood, even a turned werewolf, hanging out with a rouge. Most rouge had reasons for being what they were, and for those reasons sometimes they became hunted, not to mention the number of hunters out here. The lone wolf died while the pack survived, that was the saying. She knew that if they had to cut him loose, they would, because he was a rouge. "You are a rouge werewolf, and some might use that to get to her. But," she parted her lips once again. "I might be able to help, I want to help. If you let me," she took an even deeper breath in, keeping her eyes on him. "Damian and I have taught wolves control over years, your uncle is quite powerful, but if anyone can help and change the fates, it's him. And there is no one in this entire world I trust more than I trust my brother," she confessed, it was the truth. And she knew he was helping a newly turned werewolf now, a part of their family which the girl didn't know that, but Melanie knew. Melanie just awaited to find Zoe so she could let her know how many of her niece's grandchildren that actually walked around in the town of Aston. "If he can restore what was taken from you, your rank, give you a new chance as a pureblood and not a rouge... you can be with her without fearing that others would use her to get to you," she for one had been that person, being a part in something forbidden, and what had that gotten her? Death. Even though she knew it wouldn't be easy, it could be done. It depended sole on how much Neil wanted it.

Neil narrowed his eyes, not really understanding what kind of poem or mystery she was trying to tell him, but what he understood from it, was that no matter what, they would be wolves. It didn’t sooth him that she knew it wouldn’t change him, just to put him somewhere else. What was the point then?
Grounds of Lily wasn’t that far away she tried to convince him. Nicer. Warmer. More food. It sounded like way too much. Yes, it was getting colder and colder by the minute, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t survived the Russian winter more than once. He wasn’t even sure he could eat more food that what was provided. His stomach always ached after eating a complete dish. After all, his stomach hadn’t really grown since he was just a mere boy. He narrowed his eyes a little, let them fall to his lap, and ran a hand through his hair thinking for a moment. She was so calm, but something about this situation just simmered that she was not leaving without him and something about not having the freedom to say no and be alone annoyed him. Why was she so persistent?

You’re putting her in danger.

She almost knew what she had to say to catch his attention. He looked up at her immediately. He didn’t want her to be in danger. No, that couldn’t happen. She was the only person that he lov… Liked. He couldn’t love someone unless he liked someone else, right? You couldn’t exist in the world only loving one person and not liking anyone else, could you?
She looked so serious. He didn’t like it. She explained. Some might use him to get to her. But why would anyone go for her? Memories felt foggy, but he felt like he understood something, after all, there had been a bag of wolf’s bane in the house after he had been killed, so a hunter must have popped by and killed him, right? Rose might just have been lucky to have survived that night.
She wanted to help. Oh, he knew that, but he just had to understand why he should accept his help. Rose had just taken his hand and given him the things he had said no to, but with his mother, it somehow felt easier to say no to her – to push her away. They had taught control. His uncle was powerful and could change fates. His jaw tensed. Why should Neil trust any of them, none of them had been there. Why hadn’t his uncle acted sooner? Why, why why. The questions kept on going in his mind. Endlessly. He had died so many times, and every time he had believed that this time it would be different, and he could turn his own fate, but every time, it was like his own brain wasn’t following. His mentality was still rouge. She explained that he would be able to restore his rank, but Neil shook his head. “No…” he said looking into his lap. “It doesn’t work like that,” he said, his voice filled with pain. He didn't believe Damian could change him. “Mom, I’ve died so many times… And every time I wake up, I think it’s different, but it’s not… I…” he pointed at his chest at first but changed his mind and pointed at his temple as if he said he was crazy, “This mind doesn’t change and even if it does, It's not me. I can’t go back,” his eyes had gotten glossy, because thinking about all of those times hurt him.

She sighed a bit, not because she wanted to push him into anything, but she wanted him to know that there was different ways this could end. Because it did work like that, but it wasn't easy. "I've died too," she breathed out, "many times, more than I can count. It changes you," she added while keeping her eyes on him with a gentle look. Melanie didn't want to lie to him, there was no use of lying, and there was no use in making him more jumpy by acting nervous by the thought of everything. She was very careful with her body language, which was mainly why she sat so still, she kept her hands who otherwise loved to move while she talked still. "I'm not saying that it will be over. I'm not claiming that it will magically make everything that has happened to you vanish into thin air," Melanie took a deeper breath in once again and looked down for a few seconds. "It's going to be tough, either way, but there is one thing that makes it different this time, it's because you aren't alone," she tilted her head a little bit to the side, and lifted one hand to the table, providing him that he could take it if he needed it. "You have the girl - you have me," she breathed out while licking her lips a little bit.

Melanie knew death took its tool on you. How many times she had been ripped to pieces, been killed just for someone to prove a point, people who didn't know better and thought it would get them ahead. In the end she was numb to it, she didn't fear dying nor coming back, she had become her curse. But it didn't mean she still couldn't remember the times she had died, recall the first times where love had been the main result of her dying. "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want, and I'm not saying pack your backs and come with me by the second. I will have to meet up with my brother first, talk with him," she explained not wanting to place too many presents by Damian's feet at once. "But I would advise you to think about it, but you are on an alpha's territory. It's only a matter of time before someone will notice that I've entered it and notifies him. I don't want you or your girl to get in trouble for that."

She had died too. He knew very well. That was how he had ended up being what he was from the start. Her death had ruined so much, but he didn’t blame her. She couldn’t do anything about her dying.  What he didn’t know was the number of times she had died, and clearly, she couldn’t even count it anymore. Neil had also given up counting, but he could only imagine that she was much older than what he knew of, so who knew how often she had been killed. She assured him, that he didn’t believe that things would magically be over, nor that the trauma he had been through would disappear, but she told him it would be tough to go through. He narrowed his eyes a bit by that. He didn’t think it would be easy to ‘get back to normal’. You aren’t alone. It ran down his back like cold water, giving him the shivers. She presented her hand on the table and his eyes couldn’t help but look at it. He had Rose. He had his mother. But for right now, he didn’t want to seek comfort by her hand on the table or to assure her that he was following her idea.

He looked up at her again when she explained that it didn’t seem like he had to make his decision now. She had to talk to his uncle, and luckily, Neil wanted to talk with Rose before he just moved anywhere. His eyes went back to the table as she told him to think about it and how trouble might be coming for him and Rose if she stayed for too long. He clenched his jaw thinking a little. “Yeah, okay,” he mumbled before he looked back up at his mother, “I’ll think about it,” he said with a smaller voice and pulled on a sad smile. He really wished that Rose would understand and pay him visits if he took off.

Melanie couldn't tell him that it would solve everything, if anything. No, she could barely say that he would be happy with the choice. Being as old as Melanie you could become quite fearless, you forgot to pay attention to something for seconds, mostly because you grew numb to the feeling of danger and death, especially regarding oneself. So, she hadn't paid attention to humans in the forest, because humans in the forest were somewhat normalized. She had met many humans who were just out for lunch or a walk, but she had also met hunters. But suddenly she pressed her brows a little bit together, and her eyes seemed distant for a moment before she got up from the chair in a rather rushed movement that made the chair tipover. The golden eyes with the blue ring started to glow up as she became aware. "Hunters," she said and took a deeper breath in. They were close to the hut. Too close for the beta's liking. She walked over to one of the windows and looked outside to see if she could see them. "They aren't too close, but I don't doubt they know we are here," she clicked her tongue a little bit before grinding her teeth. Melanie took a deeper breath in, no hunters might have stupid morals - but she would be foolish to believe that they would travel in a pack. This was not how you hunted. And Melanie hated being the hunted. She had just found her son, there was no way she was going to let these hunters get the best of them. Melanie didn't really listen if he said anything, she already moved towards the door, but not to run into the fight, she could just focus better out in the wild than inside the hut where she blood from the deer mixed with other scents.

And right she was, as she took a step out, she spun around and grabbed an arrow just as it was about to pierce her. Another arrow was fired and she grabbed that one as well. "Seriously," she let go of them, her palms burning as the arrows were covered in wolfsbane, but for a werewolf Melanie's age, she didn't seem too bothered by it. The hunters gathered in, she could hear them. If Neil just stayed inside, they would likely not notice him. And she could handle this. She saw a blonde woman alongside some guys from her left, a group from her right coming in closer. "It's rather foolish of you guys to show up here, you know that right?" She asked. This wasn't her territory to defend, but it was her son.

Hunters.

That single word was enough to spread fear in his whole body and he was quick to jump to the nearest window to him and look out, scouting. He didn’t know how the hunter had looked from the other night, but he simply knew that this person had cut off his head. His ears heard how his mother stepped outside, only to hear how she caught two arrows with her hands. The smell of wolfsbane burned his nose. He walked to another window and carefully started to open it, keeping an eye out for hunters, but unlike his mother, he wasn’t as quick as her. An arrow had been shut and fired through the glass of the window and pierced his belly. He held his breath for a moment and immediately felt how the adrenaline fired up in him.
His eyes got foggy, and so did his mind. He grabbed the arrow and didn’t mind where it had piereced him, but simply pulled out aggressively and with a grunt before he crawled out of the window. He had just wished to flee, but that clearly wasn’t the plan anymore. He recognized a smell, but he couldn’t figure out what it belonged to. Was it his mother? The hunter from the other day?

No matter who or what it belonged to, he started to run towards the forest, in the direction of where a blonde hunter would be hiding with her fellow hunters. He didn’t even mind the silver bullet in his lung from the other day. It could flow around as much as it wanted to, and eventually caused him to cough, and if they hadn’t already seen him, they had heard him now.

"Fucking hell," Melanie mumbled as she saw her son storming towards where some of the hunters were. She wished she could say that he had his temper from his father; but wouldn't that just be the biggest lie ever told. Her eyes followed him without making any movements at first. Could you blame a rouge for acting without thinking? It wasn't even unnatural for a werewolf to react on impulses. She heard him cough, which was enough for Melanie to run towards him, just as she heard a shotgun load, she formed a force field around her and Neil that protected them from the bullet that otherwise would have been send directly towards Neil. "Stay close, and don't do anything stupid," she commanded with a slightly stoic voice as her eyes scanned the area. The hunters coming in closer. "What do we have here?" A guy crossed his arms a little, young, he looked both young and foolish in the eyes of the beta. "Clearly incompetent morons, who should learn to pick their fights," Melanie replied in a lower yet calm voice. Her main attention was on Neil, even if she wasn't looking at him, her instincts were on high alert.  The hunter snorted at her, to him the werewolves were outnumbered no matter how strong they were. It was days after the full-moon, and they were only two. One of them a rouge. What was a beta and a rouge even doing together? "Oh, you think you are very funny huh?" She moved her hand a little creating a force field around that one hunter, he soon started to gasp for air as she had removed all air from the field she had projected around him. "You wanna try that again, because I didn't quite buy it, did you?" She asked before looking over at the other hunters. Then she released the field around the moron as he fell to his knees, he coughed.

Melania lifted her hand towards one of the female hunters. "You don't want to do this," she warned in a lower voice before turning her eyes to her. Melanie wasn't fond of going on killing sprees, but if they didn't stand down or walked away she wasn't going to go easy on them, not when she had the power to do something. Besides, she didn't really feel like dying in front of her son.

A force field was created around him to protect him, and for a brief moment he stopped to inspect it, not really listening to what his mother said. Right now, he needed something to calm him down and not to be ordered around. The foggy eyes craved either more rage or absolute serenity. There was nothing in between.
One of the hunters approached and it was like a light was thrown into the gasoline. He was about to go for the male hunter who had made himself visible when he suddenly started gasping for air. There was no fun in a toy which was about to die anyway. So, instead he shook his head and ran out of her forcefield and towards the female hunter which had shot him the other day. It angered him that she had come back, and therefore his body started to get hairier as he was about to transform. The female hunter raised her gun up as she saw how the rouge headed towards her. This female hunter didn’t care what the other werewolf said, because she would much rather kill a rouge a second time than die.

The rouge was approaching the blonde female hunter in a great speed, and she started to shoot at him. Silver bullets of course. Each shot that hit, made the Rouge lose a bit of speed and whimper in pain. Other hunters also chose to aim at him.

Did he just? He freaking stepped out of the force field that she kept up only to keep him safe. Rushing towards the blonde hunter with no thought or care towards his actions. The shots fired towards him from all angles, and she tried creating fields to stop the bullets, but she was nor fast or close enough to stop all of them. Neil had little control, such little control, she know understood what he meant by not having any. Melanie took a deeper breath in trying not to rush anything and stay somewhat observant of the situation, going Neil style would only make everything worse. But she wasn't sure she knew this group, knew their powers - not that she had intentions on inviting them over for tea. A few hunters made their way around her, trying to corner her, keeping her away from her son which was possible the worst idea they could have.

Quentin standing next to Jolene, watching the rapid dog come towards them, but unlike the other hunters, he didn't fire a shot, no he wanted to make it more frustrating for the beast. So he took away his sight first, the smell. Then he took his gun, aimed for the rouge's legs, wanting to make him fall to the ground, because one thing he did not like was the wolf running towards his wife. Quentin sighed a bit, "you should have listened to the pretty one over there, and not have thought this. I don't like when freaks like you go after my wife," he shook his head a little firing two shots towards his lower back. Then he tuned off the healing letting the only thing being turned on the feeling of the burning silver in his body.

Melania had by now managed to rip the five hunters away from her, some of them dead, others critically wounded. Her skin was torn up and it was possible that she had broken a rib from the fight, but one should know by now not to try hurting a werewolf's child. Her eyes glowed and she was furious. It didn't stop Quentin from shutting down all her senses, letting the remaining crowd circle around the she-wolf firing shots till he was she fell to the ground, letting her senses return as she took the last breath and dead she was. Filled with bullet wounds, unable to actually protect the one she had sought to keep safe. Once again failed.  "Just finish him off, so we can get out of here," Quentin looked over at Jolene, before lifting his powers from the rouge on the ground. He waved the remaining hunters with him and started walking from the area. The dead hunters, yeah, they knew it was a risk with the job - their families would be called and they didn't have time to carry the bodies with them.

The rouge didn’t think twice. Even with the sight off, he still continued towards the blonde, with a less balanced sprint. When the smell disappeared and he just had to go for her gut feeling. Then his legs were hit buy bullets and fell to the ground whimpering. Even though the male hunter talked to him, the rouge didn’t listen to a word there was said. A slight smile curled up on Jolene’s lips as she heard Quentin talking down to the rouge – telling him it was a bad idea to go after Jolene. She didn’t even flinch when he fired the wolfs body. The rouge hissed and screamed in pain of the silver, not knowing here to go or how to get up correctly.

Jolene found a cleaving knife as the female werewolf fell to the ground drawing her last breath. The rouges senses came back, and he was about to try and grab Jolene’s ankle when she quickly dropped down and cut of the hand of the werewolf. The boy screamed and panted like crazy and with a quick kick to his face, he was knocked out. Screams were a little tough on the lonely hunter heart. She tensed her jaw before she let went and beheaded the beast again. She straightened back up and with a beautiful movement she pulled one of her long, heavy, silver necklaces off her neck and laid it on top of the rouges back. She didn’t want this mother fucker to revive again. As the necklace was placed she went to follow the group. For once, she would actually give her husband a pat on the shoulder for a good job, well done.

Something was wrong, he could feel it in his gut. Which annoyed Fenris because one couldn’t rely on the feeling that formed in one’s stomach. It was unpractical and couldn’t be proven with science or hard facts. He grabbed his phone, taking a deep breath in. He had given Melanie the directions to where Neil was holding up. She had even promised him to let him now when she had brough him home, or if he was alright. Now, it felt like to many hours had passed since she had let him now, she was on her way. That was reason enough for him to get up from his desk. But the thing was, Fenris didn’t own a car and waltzing out in the forest alone seemed like a bad idea. He took his phone out, and with a small sigh he pressed down on a name he knew he could count on.


“You owe me of this” Eris breathed as she parked the car and walked out at the same time as Fenris. The other soul demon sighed and looked at her “I know” he didn’t like owing everyone, but the small blond woman, she was one he was starting to make a tap to. For all he had put her through, in the name of science. Bringing her to Leigh and making everything worse. And he only knew half of the things that had happened to her over the many years she had lived. “It’s this way” he mumbled walking further into the woods, but the sight that unfolded was something that made even made him stop up and forgot to breath. Melanie and Neil were lying dead. A young woman was standing looking at it in the middle. It was if time stood still as he watched the beautifully dressed werewolf look around, clearly not understanding what was going on. He followed her eyes towards his son, and the sound that left her. It was heart shattering; Eris stook a sharp breath in. “What on earth” she got out in a low mumble. Fenris concurred. What the hell. “We need to get them out of here”
“What about the girl?”
“Leave her”
“Fenris”
“She is not my problem, I need to get my family to a safe place” he looked at her, and Eris brows folded towards each other. She had never seen him so affected by anything before. The girl let out a small whimper as she tried to pick something off his back. Eris looked at how Fenris walked over the blond werewolf and picked her up in his arms. She even saw how he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and walked towards the car with her. Once again, she was surprised, how could he be so tender?  

“Sweetheart, I need you to move” Eris tried, placing a comforting hand on Rose shoulder. She jumped back, afraid of getting hurt. “I’m not here to hurt you, just, step back, okay?” makeup was running down her cheeks, and it was like her voice had left her. Because she didn’t respond nor say anything. Just nodded towards the jewellery that was placed on Neil, silver. What the hell had happened here, and why where they taking corpses away like this? She took the necklace and placed it in her pocket. Fenris came back and gave the girl that almost protectively placed herself between him and Neil. “Move” he said rather cold, Eris had to take a deep breath in through her nose not to intervein. Rose shook her head “Don’t let me tell you again, move” as Rose didn’t, he sighed and moved around her picking up his son in his arms. Noticing at he was missing a hand. Rose grab Fenris arm to stop him from walking away. “Fenris” Eris warned, as he looked down at the small girl “There is nothing you can do, what did you think would happen keeping him here, huh? You did this, now let go” that was enough to make Rose fall back onto her knees, thick drops of tears gliding down her cheeks. She grabbed Eris hand and pointed towards the hand lying not far from where Neil had been. She bended down and took it. Looking rather worried at the very young girl sitting there not saying anything nor doing anything other than crying and looking at all the other corpses on the ground. “Fenris we can’t just leave her” she tried to reason but Fenris just kept walking with his son in his arms. “My first priority is my family, I she must have someone that can help her, the pack that lives in these woods” Eris looked over her shoulder, not happy about leaving her.


Getting silver bullets out of bodies took longer than he had thought. But after a few hours of scanning and digging all of them out, he had finally made sure that both Melanie and Neil could heal with any problems. Even sown Neils hand and head back to his body to speed up the process. Both were placed in warm beds, clothes lying next to them when they would wake up again.
“Where is she?” Fenris looked up from desk in his living room and saw the towering brother of Mel’s “she is in recovery, I just finished removing the bullets” Fenris put down his book “how did you get in?” the wolf nodded towards Eris as she stepped to the side of Damian he breathed “I told you not to come” Damian pushed his brows together “you tell me my sister is dead, and you expect me not to come?” Fenris couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he stood up “Sorry, but your presents will not help when my son wakes up, so I want you to get out, now” Damian at first didn’t want to move nor listen “what?” Fenris licked his teeth “He is a rouge, and he deserve waking up without being smothered by your aura, now, get out” he walked towards the giant wolf, not the least scared of him. Damian breathed and nodded “But you send her to me when she wakes up” – “Sure” Fenris dragged on the u as he answered, making it sound very sarcastic “She will come to you when she feels like it, but I’ll pass on the message, now please Eris, escort him out” Eris looked annoyed at Fenris but placed a gentle hand on his arm. Damian nodded and walked out.

Now leaving Fenris with Eris to wait for both Melanie and Neil to wake up in the guest room they both were placed in.

She could feel herself coming slowly back to life, it was always a painful process, but a process she had learned to accept over all the times. This was not the worst way she had died. This was not the worst. Her body was healing, being one of the age presidents of her species, the healing went quicker than most werewolves. One of the perks of being superior. It was the scent of her brother that woke her up, making her eyes open and looked around. Her body still heavy from all the silver that had been spread like toxin in her veins. She was sure she heard them talking, but perhaps she had blacked out for a second, because when she forced herself up on her elbows again, the scent was not close anymore, but she was sure, so sure he had been there. Melanie looked to the side, taking a deeper breath in and saw the clothing. Her body still felt heavy, but she managed to push the cover off her, and grab the clothing, pulling the shirt over her head, before getting up and jumped in the rest of the clothing. Melanie massaged her forehead a little," fucking hell," she mumbled a little to herself before turning around seeing Neil in the other bed. Melanie walked over to him, letting her fingers caress his cheek a little, before leaning over him, placing her lips on his forehead.

Then she walked out of the guest room, her movements a bit stiff even though she pushed through to make her entrance as unaffected by the event as possible. Her mouth was dry, it was always dry after she woke up making her throat hurt. Her eyes landed on Fenris the moment she stepped out there, breathing a little bit out, making her forget to hold her cool and therefor almost losing her balance, reaching for the wall next to her for a second. "Thank you," her voice was wreak, caused by the dry and sore throat that just desperately needed a glass of water. She moved her eyes over at the other demon, not knowing who she was. Melanie stepped further into the room, grabbing the back of one of the armchairs.

He heard the footsteps from upstairs as someone moved around. He looked towards Eris that had placed herself in one of the armchairs with a cup of tea and a book. Fenris didn’t really understand why she was still here, but she had without any words just hung around. He went out in the kitchen and took a glass of water, only walk into the hallway watching how Melanie was coming down. He pulled a soft smile as she thanked him, well here she was again. In his house, after last time he hadn’t been sure that would ever happen. Mostly because he hadn’t wanted too. But sometimes you couldn’t fight fate. He walked with her as she grabbed the back of one of the armchairs “here you go” he handed her the glass of water, looking at Eris that finally looked away from the book towards Melanie “hello, I’m Eris” she nodded, not wanting to present a hand as it seemed that the werewolf had more than enough to focus on. “Eris is, an associate of mine” Fenris breathed, Eris stood up shaking her head. “After so many years one would think we were more than just associates” she breathed giving his upper arm a squeeze and walked into his kitchen to give Mel and Fenris some privacy.

Melanie gave him a tired yet soft smile as he approached her, lifting one of the hands out to grab the glass of water. She downed it rather quickly, letting the water soothe her throat. Melanie licked the water off her lips, as the other demon, whose name was Eris. She nodded a bit, stille with a soft smile on her lips. An associate, Melanie clicked her tongue a little bit the scent in Melanie's option seemed a bit like something else. Melanie followed the blonde demon with her eyes, as exited to the kitchen. The beta turned her eyes back to her former husband, taking a deeper breath in. She felt overall awful for not having been enough to keep both Neil and herself alive. It wasn't even the death, the pain that haunted her mind right now, it was the fact that Neil had gotten hurt. And even if she of all people knew that worrying about the past wouldn't change anything, it didn't keep the guilt away. The dizziness wasn't completely gone even if she felt comfortable holding on to the armchair. She wanted to sit down, so pushing herself a little of the armchair, and taking a step to the side so she could walk around it was the best way to do it. What she didn't count on was just how heavy her legs felt, making her grab onto Fenris's arm to remain stable, not wanting to take a fall. "I'm just a bit dizzy, it should pass within a few minutes," she said taking a deeper breath in, her voice sounding a bit closer to normal. "I'm just," she looked into his eyes, licking her lips a little bit before breathing out, "I'm just gonna sit down for a moment." Melanie let go of his arm, taking the small step towards the arm chair and let herself fall down to the seat, reaching forward to place the glass on the table. She took a deeper breath in letting her hands run over her face and further over her hair, letting them stay on top of her hair for a moment, as she processed everything that had happened. "Damian was here?" She asked moving her eyes towards Fenris.

He watched her intently as she started to move around the chair, possibly to sit down in it. He quickly grabbed her as he saw how she was starting to sway around. He looked down at her as she told him that she was just going to sit down. “Sounds like the best idea” he mumbled, then looking around, still seemed like Neil was sleeping. He was just going to offer her another glass of water, when she asked if her brother had been here. “Yes, I told him to leave and go home, we can’t have him around when Neil wakes up” he said quite cold, even though it had been with quite the care that he had decided that Damian wasn’t welcome. At least not while their son was recovering. “I’ll get you some more water, then we can talk” he turned around and walked into the kitchen, seeing how Eris was eyeing him from the small breakfast table. Her laptop was out, and it was clear that she was working. He still didn’t understand why she stayed. Didn’t she have that boyfriend waiting for her or something?

He took a pitcher and filled the glass with water before he walked into the study once again. Handing her the glass he sat in the armchair that Eris had been sitting in earlier and breathed out. “What happened?” he asked, he had thought that everything around Neil would be rather calm as he had been staying at a house. But what he had taken their bodies away from, was anything but calm. And quite convenient that hunters had just dropped buy like that.

She nodded a bit, well Melanie did understand why it was best for Neil to wake up and not having an alpha present, especially with him being a rouge. But it wasn't because Melanie saw her brother always as an alpha or a king, over half the time Damian was just her big brother, her best friend. Melanie closed her eyes as Fenris turned around going to the kitchen to get some more water,  taking a deeper breath in to just settle the last nerves that seemed to be bothered by the events.

Melanie opened her eyes as he entered the study again, taking the glass once again to take a sip of water. What happened? She took another sip of the water before reaching to the table and place the glass. She turned to him, moving her legs a little bit up to the armchair, almost like a mermaid position. "Everything was going fine, we were just talking, till I caught the scent of some hunters," she folded her lips together, and took a deeper breath in. Everything had happened so fast, and she had completely overestimated how good Neil would have been in dealing with such situation. "He just snapped, without a thought of anything and rushed towards them. I tired to keep them off him, but he was - out of control," she leaned her head towards the back of the chair and exhaled. "I even kept a shield up, but he ran right through it instead of staying safe. And once I had fought a bunch of the hunters off, everything just went pitch black. It was like death, cold and lonely - I didn't feel a thing at first, not till right before I died - I couldn't keep them from hurting him."