Next level

Dedicated to @Melanie

Date | 11 October 2021
Time | Afternoon
Weather | It’s getting cold, but the sun is out
Surroundings | At this point there is only Damian, in a giant room with a fireplace that is on
Outfit | Black jeans, and a thin Kashmir long sleeved shirt that is in a burned orange

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Now it had been some time since the world had turned on its axes and made things a whole lot more complicated. Now, Damian knew it came with a lot of problems when you lived as long as him, producing so many children that somewhere along there would be some bad fruits. The problem being that sometimes, they would be thrown in a world meeting obstacle and a fate that could be soul crushing. Making them do very idiotic choices. They were still family, especially when it came to Melanie and Damien’s children. Not that it should discredit their siblings. But being an alpha and beta came with so much responsibility that it had always been those to against the world. Now, Damian had done a lot of stupid shit in his days, so had his sister. Which lead him to another problem. He didn’t like that Oscar was back into her life, especially since they had a son together. What Melanie saw in the vampire he would never understand, but he did understand feeling drawn to someone and not being able to let it go. He had found that several times in his long life. Some more than others, but that didn’t mean that he liked it. Especially since what had happened the first time their love had ended with Melanie being killed. He knew that the vampire that had done it wandered around in the open, he even knew that she was also here in Athena. He had been pushing it off finding her making sure she would never walk around the earth again.

But she wasn’t the only one, that was high on the list that the old werewolf saw as his enemies. And he needed to figure out, who had chanced enough for him to put his focus somewhere else. Now, Damian wasn’t the type that forgot. But he was a man that could find it in his heart to put a grudge or rage away. Mostly because he understood that it didn’t bring good things with holding hatred in one’s heart.

“Took you long enough” he mumbled, removing his leg from his other placing his book in his hand down on the sofa he was sitting on. A soft smile formed on his lips as he looked up at his sister, standing on top of the four steps staircase leading down in the big room he was sitting.

Now it was like Melanie to push things aside and drag out time before facing her brother - especially when she felt like she did right now, all she wanted was to crawl into a dark hole and just do nothing, not having to think or feel anything, just for a month or so. But she knew it couldn't be avoided forever. Everything with Oscar and Clay, everything with Fenris, Neil - Edward, not that it was as important. Zoe and Angel being in town. Helping Natasha now that she had her son back. Melanie hadn't been able to catch a break, so when she had heard that Damian had found Lexie, she had pushed further away, giving him a chance to be back with the daughter he hadn't known when he would find again. Coming back home seemed like being the right time, or she couldn't really avoid reality despite having wished to just run around in the woods till she couldn't anything but collapse.

Melanie took a deeper breath in as she approached the stairs, taking a few steps down before stopping to the sound of his words. She chuckled a bit. "You know I like to be a little extra, dragging out the suspense," Melanie breathed out before walking further down the stairs into the room. Melanie placed her arms around herself as she walked over towards him, and exhaled. "Is it too late to ask if we can go home?" She released the grab around herself with one of her arms to run a hand through her hair. Melanie clicked her tongue a little knowing they had stuff to do here, she had stuff to do here - but it didn't mean she couldn't wish she didn't have to.

When you had grown up with a person, lived with them, fought, cried scream and even argued. You had a special bond, but when that bond kept going for so long as theirs had? It only took one look, and he knew that something was bothering her. More than usual. He took a deep breath in, as he stood up, being so much taller than his sister it could seem a little intimidating. But if anyone needed a hug, it was clear that it was Melanie. “Well, a little” he said with a soft smile and let out a small chuckle, as he put a hand on her shoulder and then shook his head. “Come here” he mumbled and pulled her into his arms placing a hand on her head.

He let them stand like that for a while, just comforting her thinking about how it would be best to proceed from here. It was clear that coming back to Athena, was taking a toll on his sister. Where he was just here for business, and of course being close to Tatia and his daughter Lexi. But other than that, his stay had been almost relaxing. He let go of her and gave her an encouraging smile and let his fingers grab her chin. “So, what have you been running around doing, since it clearly has you wanting to dig your own whole and maybe not come out for another century or two, and how can your big brother help you make it a little better?” he asked as he moved around her, up the stairs and walked towards the giant kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

She let herself sink into his embrace, and took a deeper breath in before breathing out again. Melanie just stood there catching her breath a little bit, collecting herself with her arms around him. The first month here had been okay, compared to this. Once he let go, she breathed out once more and looked up at him as she felt his fingers grab her chin. "Avoiding the world," she answered his first question before she took another breath in. Melanie gave him a little smile, watching him walk towards the kitchen, "one for me too," she followed him and stopped by the counter. She bended over the counter, crossing her arms a little to place her head on the top of them.

Melanie breathed out, before lifting her head up again and straightening her back. "It's just confusing coming back here, seeing everyone here - I don't know what to do with myself," she confessed taking another and deeper breath in before turning around to place her palms on the counter so she could jump up on it, crossing one leg over the other. "I could handle finding out Clay lived here, and having to introduce Oscar to him, great - done," she shook her head a little bit before taking another and even deeper breath in. "But Neil, it's just reminding me of everything that I didn't do - and my first thought was, maybe we can fix it, but as long as you and I have lived, we've never seen a rouge living this long. What if its too late, what if I was too late?" She breathed out massaging her forehead a little bit, before placing two fingers on her nasal spine, closing her eyes for a second. Melanie wasn't one for keeping secret, especially not around Damian - yes, they could get angry at each other and argue like crazy, but there was no one she trusted more than him in the entire world. So, she would never keep anything from him, even if she knew they didn't always agree on everything, she knew she could tell him anything and they would sort something out - even if it took some time.

He put over a pot to make to cups of coffee. Now they had the kitchen and appliances to make fancy coffee. But when at home, he much rather just have a normal cup of coffee that you could make with filter and warm water. He turned around after he was done, looking at her waiting for her to elaborate why she was here.

The nose wrinkled at the mention of Oscar. At least Clay had seemed to turn out alright, but then again, he hadn’t been brought up by Oscar. Then there where his three other children that they knew about, River, Aria and Ace. All three children had their own agenda, sometimes it was wild just how much children could look like their parents and still act so different. Didn’t mean he liked it. As she started asking if it was too late to help Neil he took in a deep breath. Of course, he would love to help, but the problem was, just like she asked – was it too late? “I would like to believe, as long as any person has something they want, something to fight for, then they can overcome anything. At least if they get the right help, we have the help but” he licked his lips and looked towards how the brown liquid was starting to drip down in the glass pot. “the question is, does Neil want the help, and is he ready to put in the work to get a better life?” he asked looking back at his sister “he needs to know, how hard it’s going to be, and even though I give him back his status as a pureblood werewolf, he will have to fight every day for a very long time not to revert back into the rouge tendency” Damian sighed scratching his beard “my aura might be too strong for him to start with, have you heard from Elias or Leon?” well it were his sons, but to be fair after meeting with Lexie he hadn’t been as good as checking his phone as he wished he were.

Melanie knew that Damian didn't always liked her choice in potential suitors, which was very much a thing she had gotten used to by now. Even if Damian's opinion was important to her, it wasn't always she let it take up all the space, but his voice was always somewhat in the back of her head. Melanie had hopelessly tried to convince Neil that he wasn't too old to get help, but if Damian hadn't encountered an older rouge than Neil that had actually had changed his life for the better, there wasn't much hope. Melanie needed the truth to spilled, because nothing was worth than false hope in situations like this. Melanie took another and deeper breath in, she believed that too that you could overcome everything if you had the right motivation, the right end goal. As he mentioned they did have the right help, but if Neil wasn't able to put in the work, what good would it do. "He has a goal towards wanting the help, I just wished it was for himself he wanted to get better,"she folded her lips a little bit. "But he met this werewolf girl, and now his whole world is just her. Not that I can blame him, it wasn't like I was there to give him the love he needed to function," she grinded her teeth a little together before running her hand over her hair.

"Fair point," she breathed by the mentioned of his aura being maybe too much for Neil to handle at once. "I talked to them not long ago, after you mentioned that you had found Lexie, thought I would let them know," she gave him a soft nod. "But Elias was planning on swinging by," Melanie thereafter informed. "Zoe is in town too, staying with her boyfriend or whatever they are, I thought maybe she could take over helping Natasha, it will happen sooner or later that she realizes that her grandmother is alive - might as well have our own little family reunion," Melania knew that there was more than Natasha of Zoe's grandchildren here in town. "Besides its only two out of a few that are actual werewolves, and Irina doesn't seem to have the same lack of control as Natasha - its rather fascinating really," she acknowledged, still having to tell Zoe that her part of the family had chosen Gaia as a meeting point.

Damian couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as Melanie almost complained about Neil being effectuated by a young werewolf girl. No, they shouldn’t blame him, even though rouges became it for a reason, and normally it wasn’t a title given by alphas very lightly. Not like fallen angels, sometimes never did much before their status was taken from them. But living for such a long time, being a rouge? Then it would be easy to get drawn in by someone that could provide something that you haven’t been able to get for such a long time. What wondered him about this, was the fact that it was a werewolf, normally they would keep clear off rouges, so why had this girl decided to take a chance with Neil? That in itself was enough to peak the old werewolf’s interest. He nodded when she answered his question about family. Seemed like there were a lot of it here in Athena, which surprised him. But then again, Athena in England had always been a hub for supernatural activities. So, it really shouldn’t surprise him all that much. “Well, sounds good” he said with a soft smile looking at how the coffee still dripped down in the pot, almost trying to hypnotize it to go faster. “Well, all of that seems like a dry and cut deal, your son Neil on the other hand, that is going to take some planning. Where is he now?” he asked looking back at his sister, because the faster they could start working on helping him the better it would get. Especially if Neil wanted to get turned back to former status by this full moon. “Wait, does that mean that your former husband is in town?” he asked, well that could help a great deal “Doesn’t he have the ability to turn up and down on feelings corresponding to anger, and so on?” he asked, starting to form a plan in his head how it would be much easier for them to tame the rouge in Neil to comply in getting the help it needed. Not that it would be healthy for the boy, but, if he really wanted to get better this might be the best way to do it.

Melanie took a deeper breath in, yeah, it would take some planning with Neil, but she believed he had gotten the scare he needed. Especially when he had heard and seen the pain caused to Rose by the hunters in the woods that day. But before she got to reply, he asked if it meant her former husband was in town. "Which one of them?" She asked faking a smile as she joked. She had met a few of her former loves here in town, but only one of her former husbands to be honest. "Well, if you mean Fenris, yeah - I believe you ran into him as well, it was his house. I've been in contact with Oscar as well, but before you think anything - it's only been because of Clayton," she lifted a finger, knowing that Damian wasn't overly fond with Oscar. Vampire, demon - she had chosen wisely, not only did she not chose who she fell in love with - her heart did. Melanie narrowed her eyes a little by the mention of Fenris abilities, and clicked her tongue a little bit, "yeah, he does - why?" Melanie asked shortly pressing her brows a bit together, before putting the puzzle pieces of the puzzle together. "You think if Fenris uses his power to decrease Neil's anger, he will have a better time finding out control? Could work," she took a sharper breath in. The werewolf's temper was what made them so known and dangerous, and rouge werewolves were worse, but only cause they didn't have the filter anymore making them more prone to react to whatever was thrown at them. She also knew that getting Fenris' to use his powers would be a temporary help, but they had faced far more outraged werewolves in their lives. "But he is at his father's place, I check up on them almost every day - so, it's been nice," she scratched the back of her head a little bit. Of course, she enjoyed for them to spend time together as a family, but she did also just enjoy spending time with Fenris again.

He waved his hand a little dismissively, of course he had already met Fenris here in town. That night had been somewhat washed out with the meeting of Lexie a few days later. But as she reminded him the night came back to him. He raised a brow as she mentioned Oscar and the reason, they were seeing each other was because of Clayton. Well, it wasn’t like Damian had been a saint and has chosen many lovers that wasn’t always what one would hope for a king. But just like Melanie sometimes the heart chose for you, and there wasn’t anything you could do about it. “Well, I always preferred Fenris to Oscar” he mumbled more to himself than to her, as she asked why he had asked he wasn’t quick enough to answer before she figured it out herself. He slowly nodded with a smile on his lips. “Not only his anger, but he will make it easier for me to talk with him, and use my aura to tame that rouge of his without it being too overwhelming, and maybe we can use the girl as an anchor if he really is that smitten by her that he wants to do this for her, not that it’s the right reason, but it’s better than anything we have right now” he added licking his lips, the coffee was finally done and he poured them both a cup and pushed the black coffee towards his sister, as he himself put some milk in it. “Been nice huh? So how are things with you and Fenris then?” he asked giving her a slight look, that only a bigger brother could make to ones sister.

I always preferred Fenris to Oscar, Melanie did a small head tilt, so had she. It was the illusion of the love she had with Oscar, it always pulled them in like magnets, as if all the pain that had tumbled over them tried to make up for it - but it never lasted, it was just like a shooting star, it burned out in the end. What she had had with Fenris had been real, and the only reason why it had ended back then was due to death and her not making it back home. Melanie narrowed her eyes a little bit as he filled in the blanks, if there was anything Melanie trusted it was Damian knowing what he was doing, she could count on one hand the times she had second guessed his actions, and that was over their life time. Her loyalty to her big brother was perhaps the most dangerous thing about her, so she listened in. "Oh he is smitten by her, I've seen it - it could work" she replied folding her lips a little bit. She knew it wasn't the right reasons, they both knew, but if it worked - it might just be enough. She grabbed her hand around the warm cup, about to take a sip as he paid extra attention to her last sentence. How were things between them? Well, it was a slow burn "Good question, a work in progress - but it's going the right way," she took a smaller sip of her coffee looking over at her brother, yes she did realize she had said the right way, but she couldn't really take her words back, so she just rolled with them. "Speaking of which, how is it going with that shapeshifter alpha of yours?" She asked throwing the conversation right back at him with a small teasing smile. Melanie took another sip of the coffee.

He couldn’t help but snicker by pulling in air through his nose, as Melanie talked about her boy and the girl that he clearly liked so much. He smiled towards her before he hid it behind the cup taking a sip of the piping hot coffee, just like he liked it. Well, there were a lot of other men that Damian would rather see his sister with, but to be fair in the end it was all about her own happiness, and she wasn’t put under the same pressure as he was. Even being the beta of the pack, she didn’t need to think about her family being the next on the throne and how her action could affect an entire nation. Something his father had drilled into his head for so many years, that his actions weren’t his own, that he would have so many people relying on him. And that one time he had drifted away from his duties? His wife and her entire coven had been killed in a fire, and he had lost so many years with his daughter. So yes, he took his duties very seriously. But that didn’t mean that he put his siblings to the same standards, and never his sister.

“Its working out great” he said with a soft smile “We are taking it steady, one step and one day at a time” he breathed taking another sip. “But there is still so many things to be done here, and I rather not pulled into all the family dramas before we have had our time to just be a normal couple”

Melanie took a sip more of the coffee, raising her brows a little, her interest peaked. One would think you got used to see your siblings falling in love over so many years, and Melanie had gotten used to that soft smile balancing on his lips. She tilted her head just an inch to the side, understanding why he didn't want to rush a relationship into all the family drama. Melanie always did the same, but she had less responsibility than Damian, just enough to sometimes forget he didn't have the same privileges of freedom as she did. "I'm glad to hear, hopefully our family drama wont scare her off, but she doesn't seem to be the type to scare easily," Melanie replied with a tender smile.

The sound of a door opening behind them, made Melanie turn her head,"Did hear someone saying family drama?" Elias cheerfully spoke with a wider grin, as he closed the door behind him, and placed his key in his keychain, before he took a few steps closer towards the kitchen. He let his piercing blue eyes look from his aunt to his father. He walked over to the counter and placed his palms on it leaning a little bit forward. "Sometimes, I'm seemly jealous of that key you have," Melanie chuckled a bit and shook her head lightly. "I know right? But you know auntie Mellie all you have to do is ask," he reminded her, not minding literally opening a few doors for his family members.

A soft chuckle left him, as Melanie deduced that Tatia didn’t seem to be a woman that scared easily. She was also very unlike any woman he had ever been with, in the best way possible. Maybe it was the fact that she was an alpha too, knowing just what responsibilities that came with that lying on your shoulder. That you couldn’t always put your relationship first, even though it could see unfair. Something he would cherish. “Luckily you are correct” he said, before his eyes drifted towards the door that opened and in came his eldest son. A soft sigh left Damian, following his eyes as he walked towards, he kitchen. As he placed his hands on the counter, he moved towards the pot of coffee, he had of course made more than two cups, but not because he had thought that his son would be dropping by so suddenly. No wait, sons? He looked towards the door, as he poured Elias a cup of coffee, and rightfully so Leon pushed the door rather forcefully up. “I told you to wait for me!” he huffed, closing the door correctly this time, turning towards his elder brother, aunt and father. “Hello” he said with a soft smile, before walking over to his father and handing him a file. “For me, aw, you shouldn’t have” he hummed taking the cup of coffee that had been intended for Elias. “Do you boys never grow up” Damien breathed, as Leon shook their heads, all the while Leon walked toward the fridge to pour in some milk in his cup.

Elias rolled his eyes a little, listening to the footsteps of his younger brother that finally had hurried up. "And I told you to get off your ass," Elias shook his head a little dramatically, "why do you think I left the door open for you? I could have let it close -" he pointed up out as Leon took Elias' cup of coffee, and Elias took a sharper breath in while pressing his brows together. "My patience with you is tested every day, lord have mercy," he breathed out a bit lower as he closed his eyes shortly, letting his lips spread in a wider grin, as he opened his eyes again. Just like Leon, shaking his head to the rhetorical question. Melanie shook her head lightly at her nephews. It was quite fun, you could find old families out all of history, and yet this one was one of the rare ones - because all that pack mentality made their bond so much stronger than compared to others. Which was why she cherished her family so much. Melanie lifted her cup up and took a sip of her coffee. Elias' key had always been practical, getting from one place to another fast and easy. "So, what's happening?" He asked wondering both politic wise but just as well family wise. Now, it wasn't like it had been ages, it had been a couple of months in his father's sake and a few more since he had seen his aunt. But he had heard his cousin Zoe was in town as well - it had been a while since he had seen her last, even though once again his key did provide him with the privilege of just stopping by whenever he knew where people had tried to sneak away to.

Leon narrowed his eyes as Elias told him that he could just have let the door close. “Well, it almost did, didn’t it?” he retorted back, licking his lips after taking a sip from the coffee he had taken form his father. Leon rolled his eyes as his brother spoke about that he tested his patience every day. “And you don’t test mine?” Leon lifted a brow shaking his head a little “Do we need to talk about your latest conquest and how I end up making sure it doesn’t escalate to a scandal?” he huffed, after that he had taken on as the family’s fixer, it had felt like a never-ending job. When Elias asked what was happening, he breathed out once more. What wasn’t happening, but really a new problem arose in the family? Seriously, was there no break for the Radclyffee?

“Well, we were just discussing what to do with Melanie’s boy Neil” he explained rather calmly, Leon pushed his brows together and looked towards his aunt, now he knew all the family members by heart. But, after Melanie hadn’t been able to go back to Fenris and her son Neil in America, it had been like both the husband and son had fallen of the face of the earth. Had they found him again? “What about him?” he asked letting his tongue glide over his lip resting on the upper lip for a moment before he returned to drink from his coffee.

"My latest conquest, you are blowing this way out of proportion," he pointed towards Leon, narrowing his eyes a little bit. Knowing it was really not the case, and therefor also kept quite for now about the small episode. But luckily for Elias, the attention was aimed towards Melanie as it was her son there was something about. Neil, Elias did recall something about a Neil, but it had been years since he had put many thoughts in that direction - so despite his brother who knew everything about everyone to detail, it took Elias a few minutes to recall just who they were talking about. So, since Leon already had asked what it was about regarding Neil, he looked to his aunt to get an answer to Leon's question. "Well, you remember the pack I tried to educate on how to do things the time - when I got back and they told me Neil had left, they forgot to give me the detail about having exiled him as a rouge," she took a deeper breath in, looking shortly to Damian before looking at Leon again. It was always very different how werewolves reacted to rouges - but she knew the hearts of Leon and Elias quite well, so there wasn't a fiber in her body that believed they would judge too hard, maybe Elias would a little at first - but other than that. "Which means he has been a rouge longer than any other that I've least met," Melanie dragged a larger breath in. "Neil has been on his own all this time, but he wants to get better - so we are discussing his options."

Elias left a small growl, not by the fact that Neil was rouge. That the pack that had supposed to help had failed to do so, But you couldn't think backwards to what you could have changed in the past, they could only look forward to how they could try to make the best possible future. Elias knew of his father's powers, knew there was chance that he could restore the status.

Leon leaned back against the counter while he listened to his aunt explained what had happened to their cousin. His brows furrowed; he knew some packs could be quick to throw out werewolves in the pack. If they have greater power than the alpha. He narrowed his eyes a little, about the part of just how long that Neil had been a rouge. “Well, you’re a rouge for life, but since he wasn’t born with the title shouldn’t he become his former self each time he dies?” he looked towards his father to see if he agreed with his theory. A slow nod appeared on his father’s head as he let out a long sigh. “In theory yes, we keep our titles because we are born with them. But the problem is that if he doesn’t know anything else and isn’t dying near a pack that is willing to help him, it would be very hard to not fall back in the same routines and then the rouge becomes a big part of him, almost as if he was born with it” he explained before he moved his eyes to his sister. “Well, there is only one thing to do, that is to meet him and figure out what we are going to do, because before we get him onboard, fully and completely committed there will be no way that we can reverse what has been done” Damian had never been a very an overly optimistic person. Everything came through hard work, and things needed to be told as they were.

Melanie clicked her tongue a little bit, life was never quite fair for her like this. The only one of her children who was actually an active part of the pack was her oldest daughter, other than that it seemed so her children were spread across the world depriving her of the happiness of having them close. Not that she wasn't thankful for having her nephews close because she was, and she loved those boys with all of her heart. Melanie feared Neil wouldn't be committed enough, the boy was almost scared of his own shadow. She liked to believe he wasn't but he was, and she had to face that before anything else, that her being stubborn and determination wasn't what was going to save Neil in this. And as if she didn't feel the burden of knowing she had failed him wasn't enough, if she couldn't help him, she didn't know what to do. "The main issue," she took a deeper breath in, trying to lift the weight that had placed itself on her heart, "is he is scared, he is not used to having people helping him - he doesn't trust it, I assume the only reason why my aura isn't scaring him away is because he knows I'm his mother - meeting your father," she kept her eyes at her nephews, "might be too overwhelming at first."

Elias clicked his tongue a little, listening carefully. Dealing with a rouge was never pleasant or easy, he had fought a good amount of them before - well that was a story for another time. But he understood what his aunt meant, that his father's aura could be too much for someone who seemed to be the embodiment of fear. Well, Elias always kept the critical eye out, that was where him and Leon could balance each other out. But if anyone was good at talking and connecting with people it would be Leon, Elias wasn't too proud to admit that.

Both Damian and Leon took a sip of their coffee as Melanie explained what the main issue were. Well, it was a problem if he didn’t trust people helping him. But that also explained why he kept becoming after a rouge even after he had died. Because if Leon remembered correctly the boy had to be around one-hundred and forty years old. Give and take a few years. And living as a rouge for so long, just the thought of him stepping into the wrong territory of another alpha would be enough for them to tear him apart. Now they didn’t really know why he had been stripped of his title, but how it had sounded on Melanie, it didn’t seem like it had been fair. Which only made this case so much bigger than just thinking about giving back a status. It was giving back a life, to someone that had gotten theirs stolen.

“We’ll figure it out, talk with him and find out what he wants – maybe see if the girl can convince to come with him here, and then I’ll be somewhere else” Damian said with a soft smile and looked towards Leon “You might have it the easiest to calm him down and get him to see that we can actually help” Leon nodded and took another sip of his coffee. “Now, we have so much family here around us, we should invite people over to talk and see how everyone is doing?” Damian said with a smile, also wanting to introduce Lexie to the family he had only told her about.

Melanie agreed that it seemed most fit that Leon helped her with calming Neil down, after all he did have the abilities to do so if everything went south. She took a deeper breath in and nodded, yes, it would be a good idea getting everyone over and talk. "You still have a few good ideas up in that head of yours," she gave her older brother a teasing smile before taking a sip of her coffee. "I will send the word out," she thereafter announced with a small nod. It was a while since she had seen Zoe even, so she was excited to see her again, and she was excited to let Damian family introduce Lexie to the crew. And it would be rather easy to get Natasha to contact her sister, at least Melanie believed so.


Melanie had made the calls around, and lucky for everyone they didn't have to wait too long as it seemed to have been fitting to already met the day after when they had talked about it. So, the beta had seen no reason to not take the chance ones given, and made some arrangements, making sure that no one would be missing anything to eat or drink. Melanie had never minded playing host in the name of family. Now she just waited for everyone to arrive, hanging around Elias, Leon and Natasha as Damian were to pick Lexie up. She knew Clayton and Zoe drove together up here, and that Irina was on her way. If it hadn't been for the fact that Neil was new to all the family and would be completely overcooked by the meeting she would have invited him, but if she had learned anything it was that this family never stopped throwing smaller get togethers. "You guys ready?" She looked towards her nephews, "maybe you can go out and greet your cousins," Elias chuckled a little as he put the book he was reading down. Natasha remained seated in the arm chair, finding comfort that Melanie had made sure someone was watching Luka while they had this meeting, for some reason it was a big family gathering, and she wasn't quite sure why, she had been even more surprised when Melanie had asked her to invite Irina, but oh well, she did trust Melanie and Damian - so she couldn't see why it was an issue.

Leon was walking around casually reading a book and drinking a cup of tea. Now, he liked being around family, but he also didn’t enjoy it as much as the rest of them. Mostly because they could become rowdy and loud, and more laughing and screaming at each other to get a point across than intellectual conversations. Beside he preferred his book and a quiet time to himself when he used so many days on making nice to people that were stupid. Maybe he was just in a bad mood today, who knew.

Zoe looked towards Clay as the car stopped and looked at the giant estate that her family had bought. Uncle Damian clearly never did anything half-assed. “Ready to face the family?” Zoe asked looking towards her cousin giving him a soft smile. Now she had adored Danica, their kids and had often pestered them to come visit her in America when she could. So after they had split, it had send ripples through the family knowing just how cruel being with a witch or hybrid thereof could be. She looked over as another car parked and Damian and a blond girl stepped out. She could smell it almost instantly. Was that Lexie? Really? A small squeal left her as she ran over “My god Alexandra, look at how big you have gotten!” Zoe exclaimed looking towards Damian with a big smile “You actually found her, is this why we are here?” she could feel tears prickle in her eyes “I’m sorry, I don’t even know if you remember me, I’m Zoe, a niece to your father – and you were around” she let her hand fall down to show the height “This height last I saw you” Damian chuckled “don’t say I didn’t warn you” he laughed looking towards the house and then back to Zoe “isn’t Angel coming?” he asked, knowing she would be coming to town as well, as they all started to walk towards the house seeing how the door was opened to invite them in.

Clayton breathed out, was he ever ready to meet the family. He had at least something to talk about, despite being a half breed he was rather successful had a name for himself. Then it didn't matter if his father wasn't the most popular man in the crowd, he didn't have to talk about him, and he had met the man first last month. Him and Zoe stepped out of the car, just as Damian did with a girl. He had seen her before, and Clay's memory was rather good. She had been picking up Sebastian, Ash' son at the hospital a few times. Lexie looked towards the werewolf coming her way, she didn't remember much from her life before she had been separated from her parents, mostly because of the trauma had told her, it would come back when her brain and body was ready, and maybe it wouldn't - but she should allow herself the time it took for herself to heal. But the more the woman spoke, presented herself, it was like Lexie's brain started to put some of the puzzle together. A soft chuckle left the witch, "I remember pieces, but yeah, it's been a while, - but nice to meet you again," she exhaled, and chuckled delighted looking over at her father. Lexie was both nervous and excited about all of this. She handed out her hand for Clayton to greet him and he took it. Then Clayton looked towards Damien giving him a small nod as a greet, but always did give him a smile. "Yeah, she just had lunch with her father, - but she would drop in fashionable late, as she put it," he chuckled a little regarding Angel.

Elias was quick to open the door just as they reached the door step letting everyone in, but kept the door open as he could see the other car that arrived. Irina parked and stepped out of the truck, looking up at the larger manor, Natasha hadn't been kidding when she spoke of it being a rather fancy place. She took a deeper breath in, already feeling the rather intense auras from inside, well if it wasn't for Nigel's knowledge about the different supernatural families she wouldn't have known what type of pack she was visiting. But so many wolves, she wondered why. She noticed the scent of Clay, she had encountered him a few times by now, and of course Melanie and Natasha's. A smile from another werewolf in the door, giving her a warm smile, making Irina at least exhale and walk towards the door. Elias gave her a hand and presented himself, so did she. Melanie walked over to greet Irina who looked around everything and let her eyes scan everyone, before Melanie grabbed her arm wanting to introduce her to the rest.

Natasha got up from her seat to go greet the new comers, she noticed Irina's scent before she stepped inside, but someone else took her attention rather quickly. The woman stepping in with the blond witch, Damian and the hybrid. There was something so familiar about her that it was like seeing a ghost, because that was what she was, the ghost of her dead grandmother. "Babushka?" (Grandma). Natasha was almost speechless, making her blink a little and tilted her head to the side.

“What he said” Zoe laughed, still not being able to take her eyes away the beautiful blond girl. How much she looked like her mother, and the older werewolf had to take in a deep breath as to not become overwhelmed with emotions. Which was one of the reasons she didn’t do family stuff as much, it was always emotional to see how everyone was doing. What they had been up too, new kids had been born. There never was a quiet moment. Damian nodded and reached out to greet Clay before they stepped inside. He placed a hand on his son’s shoulder and introduced Lexie to him, keeping somewhat near her, making sure she wouldn’t be swallowed whole in the sea of relatives that knew about her, but she had never met.

Leon was the next to finally put down his book and stepped forward to greet everyone with a soft but restrained smile. So many new people, and old ones he hadn’t seen in such a long time. He could almost feel the headache start. Not that the peace and quiet of just greeting one another lasted very long. Leon looked towards Natasha as she stepped towards Zoe calling her, grandmother? He pushed his brows together and looked towards Zoe. “Natasha?” Zoe breathed out with wide eyes, and then turned towards the newcomer. “Irina?” She didn’t understand, why where they. Werewolves? She had left, because they had all been human, and she didn’t want to drag the whole family into being werewolves. As for some reason that part of the family hadn’t been cursed with immortal life. So, she had been forced to leave, as questions about her youth would had raised to many questions. “My god, girls you – you have gotten so big” she breathed out, licking her lips. Clearly not knowing what to do or say, “Seriously Mel?” Leon breathed looking towards his aunt “You couldn’t have notified the rest of us?” he mumbled, walking towards the small cabinet filled with booze and poured himself a glass of brandy.

It was only confirmed as Natasha's name was spoken, and it made her take a small step back almost falling back down into the chair. Irina moved her eyes towards the sound of her name, pressing her brows together, then looking at Natasha, what was going on here. Natasha lifted her hand up to her mouth taking a sharper breath in. It had been a long time since they last had seen her, she hadn't aged a day. "How is this even possible?" Irina asked walking closer towards her grandmother. Melanie looked towards Leon who clearly did not appreciate the surprise, "well it might have slipped my mind with everything else I've been up to, - but I did tell your father," she sighed a bit before Clayton walked over and gave his mother a hug. Elias eyed Leon shortly but liked his thinking, but he also felt needed to know what was going on with the order reunion. It didn't take long before the door opened and Angel stepped inside, and Clayton looked to the side already feeling her energy from her power take a hold of the room as she walked in, placing her arm around Damian's waist in a half hug to greet him before looking around. "What is going on?"

Lexie looked at the other reunion ahead and made the choice to move around it for now. She noticed one of them moved towards the cabinet and snuck after him, "make it two, please," she smiled politely. Lexie wasn't nervous per say, but right now it was at least also a way to pick a conversation.

Zoe looked from Irina to Natasha, from them to Melanie and over to Damian that was placing an arm around her daughter asking what was going on. To be fair she wasn’t sure herself. How was this happening? Two of her granddaughters standing there, created werewolves. Damian sighed a little letting his fingers rub over his head as Melanie had confessed, she had only told him. “Melanie, I thought” he just held it there, letting everyone take it in. “Well –“ Zoe gave a smile “seems like the cats out of the bag, and the grandmother is in fact a werewolf with a curse upon her that makes her forever young and can’t die” she looked towards Melanie “a heads up would have been nice! And how the hell are you both created werewolves” she would like to know, and suddenly she was very angry at herself for not pulling Ethan along, as he had been such a support to her without her knowing it. Only just realizing it as she stood here in the mess not really knowing what to do with herself.

Leon looked towards Lexie and gave her a soft smile “I got you” he whispered, trying not to pry in the conversation that was going on behind them as he poured her a glass brandy and handed it to her. “Leon, second son of your father, so half-brother” he said with a soft smile clinking his glass against hers. “Welcome to the mad house” he mumbled turning around watching how everything went down.