Crying Wolf

LOCATION the pedestrian street
DATE 1st of October 2021
TIME around 1 pm
ATTIRE
Irina: Link
Natasha: Link
TOPIC FOR @Edith (feat. Diego)
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It seemed like forever ago since they actually had just talked, then again, a lot of stuff had happened. There was the whole hunter show going down, which was also a reason why it was safe at the moment to casual walk around with Diego by her side. It was only a week ago since Quentin had died - Selene had died too, but of course come back - but also a week ago since Nigel's biological father had returned to town, however to the lack of knowledge of his whereabouts, it was impossible to really do anything. None of them wanted to live in the fear of him casually drop by, but going out was a risk these days as well, but with Diego by her side - it was able to remove the stress at least for the moment, and as long as everyone knew where everyone were - then they were all good. And grabbing lunch and a coffee matched perfect for when she needed to pick Mila up from school in the afternoon. It was right after her and Diego had left the cafe with their coffees after haven eaten that she had gotten a call from Edith if they could meet up.

Meeting up with Natasha in town not knowing how she would react if she saw Anastasia, it wasn't to be risked. Also, if Bratva had people looking after them, it wasn't safe. But since she had Diego here and he had convinced her it was alright that they could meet up with her best friend. Irina had given Anastasia a location close the the edge of the pedestrian street close to the park, that way they had more space to see if anything were to go down. So, they moved towards the location.

However, one person who was also moving to that location was Natasha who had sought out Anastasia over the last few days. Having come to control a little bit better over the last two months with Damian's help, but it was still a working process. Especially for a mother who was desperate to get her child back. "Hey!" She yelled up after the banshee, her sister-in-law, the person responsible for this mess. It was the first time since Anastasia had left the country that Natasha had seen her, looked at her as she approached the banshee with direct movements. Not able to contain the fury that started in her. "Fuck," Irina mumbled as she saw her younger sister approach Anastasia. The one thing she had tried to avoid.

It was almost like as soon as Irina had agreed to meet up that something had been nagging her. The small paranoia of being followed or that something was going to end up wrong was almost overwhelming to her, but as usual, the banshee kept herself somewhat cool, even though she always were the jumpy person. She sat on a bench close to the park, waiting for the arrival of Irina and her friend. Her nose and eyes were directed towards a book she was reading in English. She was really trying to understand it, but quite often, it was just too difficult. As someone yelled, with a very known voice, Edith almost jumped in her seat before she looked up to notice it was her sister-in-law. If she had been a normal person, she would have approached Natasha, but luckily for Edith, she was a banshee with advanced danger intuition and for some reason, Natasha seemed to beam of danger. So, as any other paranoid banshee would do, she quickly stood up and ran in the opposite direction of where Natasha was coming from, leaving her book on the bench.
She straightened her gaze forward to make sure she didn’t run into anything where she could see her best friend and seemingly her friend walking next to them. Even though her friend seemed quite intimidating, her power wasn’t going nuts about him yet.
“This was a brilliant idea,” Diego chuckled and was ready to be whatever was needed for this Russian reunion.

Luckily for Edith, she ran towards Irina and Diego when Natasha approached her. Not that it helped Natasha controlling the anger that was built up in her, empowered by being a new werewolf. However, she did stop for a moment, just a moment as she saw her older sister standing there, Natasha didn't really want to get into more trouble with Irina. It was one of the reasons why she also had let Damian help her, still let him help her, because she wanted to be able to be a part of Irina's life again - and she couldn't do that if she was a danger to her and this new found family Irina had gotten. But looking at how Anastasia was hiding from her by running towards the others, it just pissed Natasha off. The fire sparked in her eyes, making the fire light up in her with fury.

"It was a brilliant idea till my sister showed up," she mumbled a bit annoyed looking at her sister coming close to them, following Edith. "Natasha," she called after her sister trying to gain eye contact. Natasha got close enough to them to stop a little few steps ahead of them, looking at Irina as she took a deeper breath in. "I just want to talk," she excused herself while lifting her brows a bit, making Irina raise one brow. "You know talking is usually done without raising your voice, right?" Natasha rolled her eyes a bit, eying the other werewolf. Spending time with Damian and Melanie, she had started to learn the different status of the wolf hierarchy, and while his beta status didn't scream as brutally as Melanie's - she was aware of it. "She needs to answer for the mess she has made - It's her fault," she lashed her arm out in the direction of Edith to prove the point. "You killed your brother you stupid bitch," she cursed in Russian looking at Anastasia. "Enough," Irina raised her voice keeping her gaze at Natasha.

Edith was quick to run behind Irina and her friend. It really seemed like these to had things under control, or at least tried to. Edith’s heart was beating heavily against her chest telling her to fear and run away, but for now she chose to stay. Natasha wanted to talk, well, Edith’s ability certainly told her something else. Diego frowned as the little sister explained something being Edith’s fault. Edith’s brows raised but only in the inner corner, looking worried. She was still in sorrow from the loss of her brother, having witnessed it. Edith looked at Irina as she tried to stop Natasha from blaming Edith. “How should I have killed my brother? I was here!” she exclaimed sadly in Russian. Diego wasn’t the best in Russian but he did his best to try and understand what they said.
“Even if she had, what difference would it make to confront her?” Diego barged in.

I was here! Natasha folded her lips as if she was trying to swallow the rage that tried to cast more words out, she tried to control herself. She really did. But as the beta barged in, it was like the shots fired and the werewolf felt backed up into a corner. "Yes, you were here, you answered your own question," she hissed. "You left. Your brother paid the price for your foolish choices," she added shaking her head a bit. Irina took a deeper breath in, observing her sister, but didn't go to close. She wasn't going to risk that the shield she could put up at times wouldn't work, the last thing Irina and her family needed was another thing to worry about. "Your idiotic husband, broke into my home. Shot my husband, and kidnapped my child as leverage to get back at you," Natasha looked over at Irina that was about to say something, "don't Natasha me, I have every right to be angry," she took a sharper breath in, feeling how the anger caused tears to wet her eyes. But from her fingertrips sparks started to fire, a newly turned werewolf with a temperament and fire abilities that was empowered by her emotions, not the best combination. "But yelling at her won't sort anything out, come on Nat, you are smarter than this," Irina raised her brow a little bit, trying to keep her tone calm. It wasn't like any of them should be making a scene, causing to much attention wasn't in any of their best interest.

Edith felt how her heart dropped. Because she had fled, knowing when danger would come after her, Bratva had taken his brother instead – or they had made Viktor kill him. She could have prevented this. She could have-
Natasha cut it into pieces and explained how things had gone down. They had taken Luka, small little Luka. No this wasn’t a part of the plan. She had never wished for her disappearance to cause so much trouble. But of course, it had, she was too important for them, being their ultimate shield and predict upcoming dangers. It was like her whole throat tightened and made it difficult for her to speak. Natasha had found her so it was only a matter of time before Bratva would be knocking on the door. She felt dizzy. Everything was just getting so bad. Edith chose to step out next to Irina, but not getting any closer than how close she was. “Nat, I- I never meant for this to happen” she confessed with a hoarse voice. “I would never wish for such awful thing to happen to neither you, my brother or Luka,” she felt how words didn’t want to trail into sentences. She didn’t know what to say and she knew that Natasha needed to be talked down in one way or another. Killing Edith wasn’t going to get Natasha and Luka reunited.
Diego kept quite still but was ready to jump in for anything. He had almost been burned alive once, and he was certain that he could survive yet another time. He would jump in front of these two girls no matter what, though he definitely understood Natasha’s point of view, because he would have been at least as angry if someone had taken either Annika or Derek.

Natasha didn't look over the tip of her own nose, all the felt, all she saw was the woman who was responsible for Luka not having been home in her arms for months. Going the lengths to become a werewolf to protect her family from harm was another reckless choice Natasha had made, and perhaps she had regretted that, but with Damian's help she had learned to manage it - at least a little bit. Natasha listened to Anastasia's words, looked at her, hadn't she known how it all would end? "I know you didn't, but it did happen," she took a step forward narrowing her eyes a little bit, moving her eyes to the male werewolf, aware of his movements. "You know what felt good about all of this? His scream of regret as I burned him alive." Irina took a few steps closer to Edith, grabbing her arm a little to let her know she was right by her side. "W - Wh" - "Why? Isn't it obvious by now? I went to his house to get Luka back, and he had handed Luka over to Bratva, I mean who in their right mind would hand a two year old boy over to Bratva?" she clicked her tongue a little while shaking her head, folding her hands together in front of her, not noticing how the flames started to dance between her fingers.

Now, it wasn't like Irina was innocent, their lives in Russia hadn't been as glamorous as it perhaps had looked like over the surface. But Natasha had never been involved with Bratva till this year, everything else Natasha knew about the supernatural had to come from a source Irina had yet to learn about. "Look, I know, all of us know the lengths we would go for our children. But you can't help Luka if you are behaving like this, if you can't control yourself - you need to contain yourself Natasha," Irina took a sharper breath in letting her wolf eyes glow while looking at Natasha. Natasha shook her head a little bit, licking her lips almost as if the words started to make sense to her and she looked at her hands. Natasha had only been a werewolf for a few months, controlling this anger was harder as the fury kept on knowing on the front door.

Even though Edith hadn’t known what would happen Natasha still blamed her. Edith could feel how her heart sunk as she mentioned how she had burned Viktor alive. She knew that. She had seen it in one of her many visions connected to him, just like she had been connected to her own brother. She clenched er jaw and her lower lip quivered a bit. She gone to his place to get Luka back, but the foolish husband of Anastasia had given the child to Bratva. Edith’s heart sunk even lower. It hurt her to know that. She wouldn’t have wished this for anyone, and she wouldn’t even wish for her or any child to experience being in the hands of Bratva. That was after all why she left. She didn’t wish for Zakaria to get influenced even further with the rough life in Russia.
Diego noticed how flames started to dance between the newly turned werewolf’s fingers and certainly didn’t like the fact that she had burned Anastasia’s husband alive. He felt like his skin was crawling, because he knew way too well how it was to be burned alive. It caused so much pain. But he was willing to live through it again, if he could spare the life of both Irina and her friend. Both of them had fought their way to live a better life and he was going to do everything he could to make that happen. As soon as Diego heard Irina’s words he decided that he was not going to step between them, because it seemed like Irina knew how to speak to her little sister. But one thing he did was trying to make amends with her, “I’ll get your son back,” Diego offered. “No one should experience what you’re going through right now, and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure he’ll be back in your arms without a scratch,” he continued. Diego was confident that he could do it thought he had heard so many stories about Bratva already.

Natasha looked back up from her hands as the beta spoke to her, she took a deeper breath in. Nigel had said something similar, everyone said something similar. However, now a month had passed and no news. It was torture. Natasha didn't know Diego, she had heard about him a few times, over the emails and letters her and Irina had send to each other back then, but that was about it. It had had nothing to do regarding the supernatural world. "People keep saying that, and yet, I'm still standing here doing nothing. And it kills me knowing all they want is her," she pointed over at Anastasia as she held her breath. "You know they will just keep asking you do to things for them, it doesn't matter to them," Natasha took a sharper breath in and looked at Irina. "How would you know?" Irina raised her brows and clicked her tongue. "How would I know? Because I've been in debt up to my ears with them, and it got me nothing other than misery Nat." Natasha took a sharper breath in, she knew that, she knew neither Irina or Anastasia's lives in Russia had been easy. Far from. But her anger made her lash out in ways she didn't always could contain, not even though she waned to, she had surly created a monster.  "But we can settle this okay, come up with a plan and figure something out," the truth was Irina and Nigel had been looking into it with Maya's help, but then after the whole Quentin dying and Nigel's father returning, it was hard to find two people at the same time, even though Maya was rather talented, it just took a bit more time.

"You seem to do better than last time we spoke," Irina commented on Natasha's process. "Yeah, it's a process," she licked her lips a little, still seeing the flames dance over her fingers, even though she seemed calm, it wasn't easy to just turn off the fire. "Damian and Melanie are harsh, but fair - my kind of people - you should come visit sometime," she chuckled a bit and took a deeper breath in. Irina looked over at Edith, still having her arm around her best friend. "It's just, everything is a little hard to control sometimes," she confessed taking an even deer breath in than before, but still the fire had its own life.

She had been promised that so many times.  There was no way he could feel what she felt, but he could imagine how much it must frustrate her not being able to get a hold of her child. He would’ve been restless too and would’ve done anything to get his children back. He glanced towards the banshee who apparently was wanted by Bratva, and he could understand why they wanted her. She simply simmered of an energy that was highly alert and it could be a great defense. Edith simply didn’t dare to speak, afraid that it was only going to add fuel to the fire, and Irina simply got things under control. “A plan sounds good,” Diego agreed, looking from one female werewolf to another and lastly at the banshee trying to figure out if she agreed or not, but she did.

As soon as the two elder werewolves were mentioned Diego looked at the newly turned werewolf, “You know Damian and Melanie?” he said with a surprised frown. He knew them too. “It’s just, I know them too,” he said and noticed how the fire was still burning. He pointed towards her hands, “I can suppress the fire if you’ll allow it?” he offered, not really paying attention to Irina and Edith for a split second, besides from the change of energy that Edith carried.

The young boy had his legs on each side of the thin omega’s waist, being carried in her arms, looking over her shoulder. The boy was wearing a warm set of clothing and a knitted hat over his head to keep him warm. The omega herself was wearing a dark shirt and a leather jacket with metal nibs and black jeans stuffed into her high black boots. She was mumbling a story for the boy, a story about traveling in the mountains. Her lips had a little curl on them, smiling and enjoying the little boy’s company. She had been back from Russia for a little while after a family visit. She had stirred things up and had ended up both bringing this boy and a rouge werewolf to Aston, so they could get a better life. She was a good person after all. She had taken the boy, who had been taken hostage, in as her own and kicked the rouge out of her way as soon as possible. She was going to make sure this little boy was going to be in the best of hands and eventually have a ‘sibling’, the one she carried in her belly.

Edith’s eyes had changed focus as Natasha started to talk about her people and her process. She was looking at a pale woman with dark hair who carried a young boy in her arms. She could feel the chaotic energy roaming from her, and somehow, she feared that something was going to happen to all of these people. It felt like an elephant pressed on her chest. Quickly she looked over at Irina. She hadn’t noticed how her own body had tensed up a bit. Her mouth opened to say something, but she couldn’t. She then looked back to the woman with the boy. Her eyes sought to Natasha. “N-Natasha,” she spoke softly. “Please,” she held her breath for a short moment, “Don’t do anything reckless, but,” she looked away and over at the thin werewolf, who actually had a small baby bump. “I don’t think we need a plan to find Luka,” she said softly.

"Yeah, I mean Damian has been helping me with my transformations and my temper," she replied narrowing her eyes a little bit, he knew them too. Irina frowned a bit, the only thing she knew about what Natasha had told her over the phone and the few times they had met up. Melanie had been hanging out with Irina many years ago in Russia, but she never had thought of the world to be small enough to it being the same werewolf helping Natasha. "You do?" Natasha asked after having processed it. Then he said he could suppress the fire, making her look back at her hands, then licking her lips a little. Then she nodded giving him permission to help her.

Irina noticed the scent of another werewolf coming closer, making her eyes glow for a second showing she was aware of the newcomer. The scent following was family, but not from the werewolf. From the boy hanging like a koala on the stranger. Irina was aware, mostly because of the fear beaming from Edith. It wasn't really good for Irina's blood pressure, but at least she understood how to calm herself down. Irina gained eye contact with Edith for a moment when Edith looked at her. It wasn't hard for a werewolf to recognize the scent of your own family members, especially the closest. Irina knew this had to be Luka, she could smell it. The theory only got confirmed as Edith dared to speak.

Natasha looked up at Anastasia as she spoke her name, but it was like the second she said please, and Natasha took a deeper breath in. She smelled it. She hadn't seen Luka since the beginning of June, since before she turned, but knew he was there. Her face turned stoic, and she turned around, it didn't matter how soft the banshee spoke to Natasha, because seeing another werewolf with her child in her arms. The golden eyes glowed up once again, looking at the stranger holding her son. Natasha's lips spread as if she was about to say something, but she couldn't find her words. She longed to walk over there and just get her son in her arms, but she feared the fire would go out of control, she would go out of control - what if she hurt him? Irina looked at her sister and she licked her lips looking over at the stranger. "Hey," she spoke calmly and took a small step forward, keeping her eye on the woman who had Luka with her. Irina narrowed her eyes a little bit, pressing her brows together as she kept her focus on the woman. The woman in front of them was also pregnant, making Irina also extra aware that Natasha shouldn't lose control at the stranger even after having Luka safe. But Irina also trusted that Diego had this one, since he was closest to Natasha right now.

Diego understood why the newly turned werewolf had sought help by Damian. He had control like no other. Even Diego lost his control sometimes, but that was just the curse of being a werewolf really. He couldn’t imagine how much of a temper one must have to be able to control all of a sudden when one was turned. Diego reached his hands forwards as soon as she allowed him to help. He placed a hand on her shoulder and lowered the power a bit which burned within her. She had so much potential, and he was sure that with he right teacher she could get very far with her abilities.

Just like Irina and Edith, Diego could smell how someone was approaching, but just like any other who wanted to pass he didn’t pay much attention to it. Edith was somewhat relieved that Irina had noticed everything too, because the newly arrived werewolf with the boy just beamed of trouble.
Edith noticed how her sister in law reacted and was afraid that she shouldn’t have said anything.

On the other side, where Delilah was telling the story, she noticed how a set of eyes, followed by more sets looked at her. She slowed down as she could smell each of their differences, but also how there was a similarity to most of them. Delilah could smell how the child in her arms belonged to the newly turned werewolf, how the turned werewolf was related to the other turned werewolf and the banshee… The banshee had family connected to the child. She could fell how tension had spread as soon as Delilah had slowed down and eventually she stopped completely a few meters from them. She looked at the boy in her arms with kindness. “’Lilah will continue her story soon enough” she mumbled softly in Russian to the boy and looked towards the newly turned werewolf. “Why was he with Bratva?” she wondered, still in Russian. There was a hint of disgust in her voice. She couldn’t imagine how one would allow her child to grow up in that kind of society. After all, she had been born in the society herself.

If there was one thing that Irina always had held of value it was protecting her family, even if they didn't know or hadn't paid attention it was a thing she had tight in her core - even stronger after she had turned into a werewolf, and really the only thing that could trigger her. "I think the real question is, what is he doing with you?" Irina pressed her brows a bit further together by the question asked about what Luka had been doing in Bratva. It was a more accusing voice the omega had that Irina wasn't fond of, very well she knew that the stranger had no idea why or what Natasha might had done through to the reason behind Luka's captivity. It was a long time since she had held so much conversation going in Russian, but the words left her tongue as they never had left. Natasha looked over at Irina as she saw her older sister take yet another step ahead. "Irina, it's okay. I got this one," she held her hand out, looking over at Diego shortly, mostly as a gesture to make sure Irina didn't do something stupid - even if Irina was in far better control than Natasha was, she still cared and worried for her older sister.

"Luka - hey, my sweet boy," she spoke with a sweeter voice, go get the boy's attention. The boy who soon started crying after not having seen his mother in months. Her last wish had been to give the boy any sort of trauma, or have anything happen to him. "I'm not the reason he ended up there, I was trying to get him out," she spoke in a lower faster voice looking into the eyes of the werewolf holding her son. Natasha wanted him back. And she took a deeper breath in as the ache in her heart increased by every second watching the stranger holding Luka. Especially now that Luka was crying and reaching for his mother, it screamed at her to go and rip him out of the woman's arms, but she didn't, she allowed the stranger to make the right move on her own - at first at least. Irina grinding her teeth a little by the sound of the boy crying - she hated the seconds that felt like hours waiting for something to happen.

The werewolf with the most experience snapped back at her, asking why the child was with her. Delilah raised an eyebrow, clearly telling her that no matter what, it was more responsible to have the boy with her than in the arms of Bratva. Delilah had always been the rebel, and it was so clear in the way she talked to anyone else. She did what she believed was right, not matter who it hurt in the process; and this little boy definitely didn’t deserve to be in the middle of everything happening with Bratva. It was no environment for a little fella like him.  The mother seemed to step in and Delilah raised her chin a bit. Delilah was certainly waiting for a good explanation.

The mother of course did what she could to make sure the boy wanted to come back to his birth giver. It made Delilah’s eyes leave the group and look caringly at the boy. As the mother then explained how she was trying to get the boy out of there, Delilah rotated her body a little so the distance between mother and son got just a little greater, and looked strictly at the mother. “Trying to get him out?” she wondered and looked up and down the turned werewolf. “If you were trying to get him out you should’ve been in Russia and not Athena, gossiping with these three,” Delilah almost snarled. Of course, she had no insight in the situation, and that the mother had tried to get just about what Bratva had wished in return for her son.

Natasha licked her lips as the agony spread in her like a wildfire, she wanted her son back in her arms. She wanted him now. It was the first time she hadn't felt the fire burning through her in response to the pain, the fright, and therefor was grateful for the beta who had repressed the fire. "Listen up, you don't know shit, if you want to know the reasons why he ended up here - they asked me to get her," she pointed at Anastasia without little thought about the banshee's safety. But again, if it came down to Luka or Anastasia - Natasha couldn't care less, she just wanted her son back. "So, I went here to get her. To make the trade and get him out, since her husband is the reason they had him. I fought for weeks to get him out by myself, so don't come here an judge me," she replied with glowing eyes.

Irina took a deeper breath in, listening to her younger sister's rapid heart beat. Could she understand her sister's frustration? Of course she could. The main reason Irina had come to Aston was to protect Mila, and back then leaving her with Cecilia had seemed like the best idea she ever had gotten. The fact she never had made it that far caused by a certain someone had crossed her path and flipped her entire world upside down, giving her daughter a father that she deserved. Irina could understand going out of your mind to protect your child and wanting them to be safe. She also got the point of view from the stranger with Luka in her arms. She looked at Luka like she cared about him, wanting him to be safe. Trusting Russians who was or had been dancing with Bratva, no, it didn't seem like the safe choice, but lashing out at Edith about it wasn't okay either, even if you understood the conflict.

People at the street walked by, starring, who wouldn't? A group even if they weren't letting, they had a rather serious conversation, and clearly people seemed to be more scared than curious about listening in. "I just want my son back," Natasha finally just said choking a sob that threatened to leave her, she held her breath starring at the woman with her son. Irina looked shortly over at Edith before looking over at Diego, she had no idea how this scene was going to unfold.

Delilah noticed how the mother seemed to get upset by Delilah’s questions, but from Delilah’s point of view it had just seemed so stupid to almost be on the other side of the planet than one’s son. Delilah just didn’t want any other kid to grow up without their mother. So, she wished for the mother and son to be reunited. But she certainly didn’t want to put the baby boy in danger by leaving him with a careless mother. If the mother couldn’t protect her son and it meant that the son ended up in the arms of Bratva, well, then Delilah could be a mom, after all, she was expecting.
The mother had a dirty mouth, even in front of her son. Incredible. As the mother pointed towards the banshee the Omega looked over at her. Her gaze was ice cold. The banshee certainly also seemed to be tense and tried to walk behind the sibling to the mother. Delilah looked back at the mother as she told Delilah not to judge her. Delilah didn’t judge her anymore. The mother had done exactly what everyone would have done. No one simply just walked in and took a baby like Delilah had done.

The mother asked for her son back and Delilah swallowed before she looked at the kid in her arms. Slowly she looked back up and approached the mother to hand over the crying boy. “Don’t let your guard down. Be strong for him,” Delilah said, starring directly into the mothers eyes as she handed her, her son. As soon as the kid was in, what Delilah had judged to be good hands, she turned her gaze towards the banshee. “You,” she said and discreetly let her hands move a little. Edith wasn’t really quick enough to realize that the Omega was manipulating the necklace, and therefore ended up feeling how the necklace tightened around her neck. Edith tried to grab onto the chain and tried to step backwards to get away from the choking pressure. “You should really think about what’s at stake,” she snarled, clearly much angrier than before.
Diego was about to approach and stop the omega from hurting the banshee, but instead of actually getting close enough, he was stopped after only one step, kept away with the belt he was wearing. “Hey! Look at me,” he tried to say in Russian, even though it wasn’t the best accent or sentence. He was still learning russian, and he hadn’t really been able to follow their conversation completely. No matter how well he spoke Russian, he wasn't going to be looking at him.

Natasha took a deeper breath in, holding it while looking at the stranger coming in closer. She didn't take eyes of her despite her eyes wanted to look at her boy, she didn't. Not yet. The boy was upset, she understood why and she wanted to comfort him more than anything else in the entire world. "I will," she replied to the werewolf's words, as she finally was allowed to have her son in her arms. And how the little boy wrapped himself close to his mother, as if he couldn't get close enough by holding her. Natasha squatted down, making it easier for her to hold him close, and not lose the strength in her legs from being overwhelmed. Irina breathed out, just about to let a smile of relief brush up on her lips, but within a second, the omega changed the attention towards Edith behind her.

But it wasn't till Irina could hear the sound of Edith gasping for air that she turned around looking at her best friend panicking to Diego trying to stop it, but only took one step. What was going on? Irina took a deeper breath in, feeling her heart trying to pick up the pace, but she wasn't going to allow it, not yet, this couldn't be it. "Okay - that's enough of that," Irina then said with a calm yet direct voice, she looked directly at the angry werewolf. "She is mother too, and she was in a bad situation and got herself and her son out." It seemed to be useless information, but Irina could smell it and sense it. The stranger in front of them was expecting a child, and had saved a child - some sort of empathy had to be hidden somewhere behind the brick walls. "But should she be judged by her husband's choice? Where would we be if we had to answer for every single crime the toxic men in our lives had made?" She asked taking a deeper breath in realizing how her left hand had found its way to caress her stomach for a moment like a small defense - not really knowing if or when danger would take a strike at her. "Just let her go. Please." Irina breathed slowly out still not taking her eyes of the omega.

Delilah gave the mother a quick little smile as she replied she would stay strong. It calmed Delilah’s soft heart. But the calmness was saved for later, because right now, she had to make sure that this banshee wasn’t going to cause trouble for anymore kids. Delilah heard how the sibling to the mother complained to Delilah, but it didn’t make her look away from the one she was dealing with.

She’s a mother too.

It caught her attention to listen to the werewolf, but she wouldn’t just stop tightening the chain. The banshee had gotten herself and her son out of the bad situation. Interesting. Pregnancy had made Delilah somewhat soft. To Delilah the relationship between a mother and a child was so crucial. No child should live without any parent. He raised her eyebrows a little as the sister to the mother asked if the banshee had to be judged by her husband’s choice. Delilah didn’t take her eyes of the banshee who was getting closer to scream for her own death. She knew that Russia wasn’t always the best place to live if you wanted to marry for love. Honestly, love for the same sex wasn’t even allowed – so it caught onto her heart. Toxic men.

Please.

Delilah stopped her powers on the banshee, and the banshee fell onto her knees with a bang, gasping for air and holding around her throat. She felt like throwing up. Delilah looked from the banshee and towards the one who had talked to her, finally noticing she was carrying a child. “If I ever catch the banshee causing trouble to any child again, I hope you’ve said your goodbyes,” she warned. She was ready to take her leave, but if it seemed like the discussion was going to continue, she was going to stay where she was.

Irina didn't look away from the werewolf despite hearing her best friend fall to the ground, she could hear Edith trying to catch her breath, which let her to know that she had talked sense into the omega. Finally their eyes met, making Irina lift her chin just a little bit. The omega warned her - threatened her was perhaps a better way to put it, and Irina held her hand out with a small movement, in case Diego felt like he wanted to point something out - now was not the time. Irina still didn't look away from the woman. Irina wasn't going to push for any arguments, because threats were just threats till someone got provoked. Not that she placed doubt in the omega could come for her if she wanted to, she also knew that the omega was going to regret trying. But for now she let it rest, not moving a muscle till at least the omega was out of sight. Then she breathed out, running her hands quickly over her hair looking shortly over at Natasha, before turning around to Edith, sitting down on her knees next to her best friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" She asked moving a little bit of Edith's hair back so she could see the throat, the skin red from the hold, the small fold on the skin from the pressure of the necklace - there was no doubt going to be left a bruise within a few days. Irina let go of Edith and closed her eyes breathing out for a moment.

Natasha got up on her feet again with Luka in her arms, still holding him close - not planning on letting him go just yet, if ever again. A part of her did feel slightly guilty that Anastasia had been attacked by the werewolf, and she was thankful that Irina had managed to handle situation, even impressed one could say. What she wasn't thankful for was that the werewolf had threatened her sister in case Anastasia screwed up - not that she was going to let that happen - she also knew there was a lot of people that wasn't going to let that happen. All they could hope was Anastasia wasn't going to put any other kid in danger. It seemed unlikely, but you never knew.

The way the turned werewolf lifted her chin, only made the Omega do the same. She wouldn’t let anyone throw her around just like everyone thought of omegas to be. Diego was constantly on and did really keep an eye out of the Omega and was more than ready to jump at her like a guard dog. It generally felt like Irina got things under control. As it seemed like the arguments weren’t going to fly back and forth, the omega left them, constantly keeping an eye on them and their movements by the metal in their clothing. None of them were going to go after her without her knowing.

The Omega was gone, and it only took a moment before Irina checked up on the post choking banshee. She shook her head a little as a response to Irina’s question. She didn’t feel alright. She needed some rest, and probably a short hospital visit. Edith’s throat didn’t look very well, and she would probably be in need to wear turtlenecks for a while so people wouldn’t be alarmed.

Diego loosened up a little and was brought back to reality as Edith shook her head. Diego helped her up onto her legs and gently placed his hands near her collarbone before he let some of Natasha’s energy flow into her and heal the damage on the windpipes and lessening the bruises. He was quite cautious on how much he did because he didn’t want Danica to take any effect of it. “She’ll be fine,” he assured the siblings. “But she does seem quite worn out,” he explained while he supported the banshee.

Irina followed Diego's movements as he helped Edith up standing, allowing herself to get a little window to just catch a few deep breaths. Natasha walked closer to them, placing Luka on her left hip so she could put a free hand on her older sister's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. Irina got up on her feet after a few seconds, placing her attention shortly on the little boy in her baby sister's arms. Giving him a warm smile before turning her eyes to Diego then Edith. "Maybe we should take her home," she suggested in English, taking a deeper breath in. Then turning her head to her yawning nephew, letting the back of her hand caress the side of the little boy's head. "We can call Cecilia over, having her take a look at it, if that makes you feel more safe?" Irina suggested. They could of course just walk to the hospital, "or we can walk there too, its not far," she added with a warmer smile. "Then we could get Luke checked up as well, just to make sure everything is fine," she added looking back at her sister. Even if the omega had been taking good care of Luka, no one knew how long Bratva had kept him, how long he had been taking care for and how well. Irina just wanted to make sure they got him checked out. "Sounds like a good idea," Natasha nodded and breathed out, before kissing Luka's temple and closing her eyes for a moment.

Diego nodded approvingly as Irina suggested taking Edith home. “Cecilia sounds good,” Edith replied in her best English. Cecilia was such a good lady and so talented that she didn’t even hesitate to let her tend to her injury. Edith wasn’t much for going directly to the hospital, but as Irina mentioned that they might get a check up on Luka, she wouldn’t even dare to disagree. “Hospital it is then,” Edith agreed quite hoarse. Diego looked from one woman to the next, before his eyes ended up on the banshee and he squatted a bit down before he swept her off her feet, making her squeal a little hoarsely before she let her arms swing around the beta’s broad neck. “Let’s get going,” Diego said. The way Edith was worn out made him know that she needed to be carried. Yes, she was Irina’s friend, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to use too much of his precious energy to heal her. He had just made her stable enough for a trip to the hospital.

They agreed on getting to the hospital, they could still get Cecilia to check Edith there, and Cecilia spoke Russian so there was an even better chance for Edith to actually feel safe. Safety was rare after the lives these girls had had, but it could be found. Irina was a proof of that. Irina gave Diego a warm smile when he picked Edith up, was grateful that he had gone with her today, but also grateful for him taking care of her friend. Irina didn't expect him to use his powers to make Edith comfortable, she just wanted to get Edith to the hospital in safe hands. "Yeah," she breathed out before setting off towards the hospital. She knew the way there by now with everything that had been going on a week ago. She also knew she trusted Ash to look at Edith, if it had been another issue, she would trust Nia as well. Luckily, the walk there wasn't too long and they were met by Cecilia the second they stepped through the doors.

"Come with me," she looked at Diego, waving her with him towards the ER so they could get Edith checked up. Irina and Natasha went over to see if they could get a pediatric nurse to check up on Luka. Cecilia made sure there was a free bed for Edith that Diego could place her on and pulled the curtain for privacy. "So, want to tell me what happened?" She asked Edith in Russian, as she started examen her. "You can stay if you want to, or go check find the others. I got this here, it's up to you," she informed Diego in English with a warm smile.

They were met by Cecilia as soon they entered they entered the hospital and Diego was quickly guided to follow, and did so, carrying the Russian banshee all the way into the free bed where he put her down.
Edith smiled slightly as she recognized the face of Cecilia, but glanced towards Diego before starting to explain anything. Even though Cecilia had said he could stay if he wanted to, he had a sense that the Banshee didn’t want him to stay right now, so he left to find the others.

Edith sat up. “It’s complicated, but a woman tried to choke me with my necklace,” she said and pulled her necklace forwards so Cecilia could see the object which had caused the damage.

Diego tried finding his way around the hospital, but it was so difficult when he was illiterate and therefore he mostly just wandered mindlessly around the halls.

Cecilia nodded a bit to Diego as he left, perhaps it was also better giving Edith not knowing him. She let Edith explain the situation, it sounded terrifying. "That sounds, very scary - I'm sorry that happened to you," Cecilia confessed as she took a careful look at the neck, making sure it wasn't too sore. Seemed like Diego had worked at least a little bit of his magic. "You are going to be fine, a little bruised and sore, but you got lucky," she smiled at Edith.


Irina had helped Natasha up to the floor so they could get a look at Luka, but one could call it instinct, she wanted to make sure that Diego wasn't getting lost either. She after all knew Edith, she knew she would like it most if Diego wasn't present with her and Cecilia - given him being a stranger - not that she could know for sure. But she had explained it to Natasha before walking down the halls again.

Clay was on his way to get his break between surgeries when he saw a werewolf looking like - a lot puppy - some would say. So, he walked towards the guy, pressing his brows a little bit together. "Anything I can help you with sir?" Clayton asked, giving the beta werewolf a polite smile. Clay took a deeper breath in, wait, was this? He pressed his brows a bit together, he couldn't tell if it was his mind just playing tricks on him, or if it really was a small scent of Danica he was catching from the man. He hoped not.