Introductions

[Lovely]

July 30, 2007
Evening
Continues from: Worth It

She followed him out, closing the door behind them and watching him bound to the truck and jump in the back. Ari couldn't help the smile that curled her lip, thinking of what people who would see them would think. She shook her head a little and lifted his bag into the bed of the truck, unlocking a box and setting the bag into it, she held the key up and showed him where she tucked it, so he could get to it when he needed it. While she had the box open, she pulled out a stash of arrows and her cross bow, both wrapped loosely with rags. She leaned to set them on the seat of the truck and her hand reached to stroke his muzzle lightly as her eyes glanced around at the houses on his street. "So heading back to where I picked you up and then?.. you'll let me know, right?" Her voice was a low whisper as if she were cooing to her pup.

Marcus licked her hand and shook from nose to tail to straighten his fur that shone more and more silver in the thickening moonlight. He was smiling a canine smile, though his eyes reminded as crystalline cold and sharp as the expression she'd seen on the man, serious and layered in determination. He would tell her, but the key now was to keep her close to him or the boys might get the wrong impression. He moved back and circled to settle himself down in a balanced ball for traveling and waited.

Ari moved around to get in the cab of the truck, it quietly roared to life with a twist of the key and she waited only a minute before puting it in gear and taking off. She turned the truck around with ease to head back the way they had come, steering it down the streets they had travelled to get to his house the evening before. Had it really been so long yet so short of a time? She could hardly believe she'd spent an entire day with him, most of that time entwined with him. 24 hours ago she'd been too closed off to even let a man have the chance to consider.. now she knew more than the touch of a man -she just let him spend hours teaching her what she'd been missing and they'd just spent hours panting and moaning and rocking together. Ari nearly blushed with just the thoughts of what they had been sharing. for her it went far beyond the physical pleasure which had been enough to make her 'dizzy', but she felt connected to him. She felt complete and as if she'd found where she belonged -something she'd been searching for, for a long time. Shaking the thoughts away, she brought herself back to focus on what they needed to do. He needed to find this girl and his brother maybe.. since there had been no word from him either. She slowed the truck as she turned onto the street where she'd found him up in the alley.

From his curled position, staying 'hidden' in the back, Marcus lifted his head to look over his shoulder as if able to 'see' through the cab to her expression. He couldn't tell her right now that he could sense and see and feel the images she worked over in her mind as well as he heard her repeat her number earlier. The strength of his blood in her veins worked as well as a radio signal, telling him her thoughts and feelings, which he hoped soon to share in her mind once she become more accustomed to her true self. One step at a time, Marc. Don't break her... not that you could.

The truck pulled to a stop as her eyes fell on the darkened alley they had met in, she smiled slightly. Fate and cupid had certainly won this hand of the game as she glanced back to the wolf, she was going down hard and fast and she couldn't fight it -not that she really wanted to. Her look to the back was to ask him if he wanted her to park here or drive further as she didn't know how far he'd come before she happened across him.

Once the truck was stopped in the shadows, he was up on four and in motion. He bounded out of the back and bolted away. If she remembered as he'd told her, she'd know how far and where. He wasn't leaving, but scouting first, beginning the gathering as he pulled a tin can up into his maw and spun it down the alley with a toss of his head, one bounce, a second, a small third then the roll, followed by a bark that sounded like any normal dog might following the sudden 'alert'.

"guess that means we're stopping here." She whispered, pulling her bow and arrows into her hand and sliding the straps over her back to secure them. Then she was moving in the shadows, quickly and quietly, she stopped -crouching low- when the can started bouncing. She heard his bark and shifted into motion again, hanging back a little, but following him the way he'd explained to her earlier.

Satisfied that the alley was clear, he came back toward her, stopping a few feet away, guarding and waiting. Any other creatures here were passed out drunk and would serve as nice hors d'oeuvres when the boys arrived. In a few minutes, shadows began moving and twisting into other large, four-footed forms and the sounds of hot breath and eager tongues would begin surrounding her, filling her senses.

[Lovely]

As the shadows around them started to take on the forms of other wolves, Ari glanced at Marcus. Her bow rested on it's strap, it could be in her hands a ready to fire in an instant, but for now she did not reach for it. Her hand waivered at her side, not grabbing, but ready to if she had to defend herself. She watched the forms and heard them, she could feel them and smell their hot breath, it was strange and eerie as she stood there on two legs. She could see those to her sides and in front of her and could 'feel' more behind her, she watched and waited. Not sure what she should do or what they would do, now.

His head turned ever slightly for him to see how far back she was and what her stance was. Good girl, stand down and no one gets hurt. He circled around, marking his line for the others to stop at, making a wide berth of circle at which she was the center. He returned to the spot in front of her and growled his warnings before turning to step beside her. Here he stayed until the rest were assembled in a ring, nearly a dozen surrounding them in audience of their new leader and a new-comer that had them more than interested in simply meeting her.

If she wasn't impressed with him before this, she was now.. even more so as she watched, seeing him command their respect as he made his circle. Her eyes followed him as far as she could without turning, she found herself at the center of his circle with him beside her. All the eyes and attention focused on them, it made her stand a little straighter, not that she was slouching to begin with. Her shoulders squaring some and her chin tilting as she stood beside him, though she watched the others with careful focus. She was not arrogant, simply proud to be standing with Marc and the strength that ran through her with his blood seemed to pull her to stand more proudly at his side.

Satisfied with their assembly Marcus again circled, looking them each in the eye, his head low and tongue tasting the air as he passed each one of the boys, keeping her at the center. His father was gone and his brother wasn't here yet, leaving him in charge and he waited for any of them to come forth in challenge if they were going to. He wanted to make it fully clear she was off limits. They would smell him on her and should know better anyway. She was a member as far as he was concerned, but he waited for that challenge to come as well. Something familiar pulled his attention to one of them at her right and he stepped into the line to get that information, a series of scents and looks the smaller, darker wolf carried to tell him of a recent mission that had been completed. He turned his back to her and the others for that moment, but continued to listen, turning with a harsh growl at the sudden movement.

One of the others, a brown wolf at her left got too full of himself, deciding she smelled good enough to taste while their so-called 'leader' putzed around. He seemed to fly from the line at Ari.

She kept an eye on Marc as he moved around the circle, but also staying aware of the others around them. She watched him carefully, trying to understand some as she learned to read him like this as well. As he moved off she remained standing where he'd left her, she wasn't going to move without the 'ok' from him, with his pack staring at her like she might be their next meal. She was wisely cautious but not trembling with fear. The movement out of her left eye had her head snapping to see the wolf flying at her, her lip curled in a snarl. The scent carried from this wolf told her this was not play time and she needed to defend herself as it's intent was to take her down. Not waiting for any signal from Marc and not even knowing if he turned to see or not, Ari dropped down a bit with her knee bent and graceful balance, her knives found her hands and she watched the blur of fur. She dropped lower and came beneath where he sought to strike her as she'd been standing -coming up beneath him with a hard boot sent to his middle and a slight flip to cast him aside and leave her in a crouch, ready with a sharp blade for him to come again or the next to strike.

[Lovely]

Marc had seen it as soon as the wolf intended to leap, the same blood running in the other wolf's veins. With it running in her veins as well, it was apparent the effect was beneficial. It wasn't usual for one of theirs to be taken down. He moved toward the fallen wolf carefully.

Their pack brother was knocked aside and now angered, a roaring snarl relayed back at her... how dare she?

Marc shot a warning bark back at him and looked at the others, cautioning them not to even think of moving.

A second wolf, a mottled red color that had been standing beside the instigator now challenged. If she was strong enough for one, then how about two? He came at her now.

Her blue eyes faded to that near eerie glowing hue and she found a low growl vibrating out as the second wolf charged. She used a different tactic as this one came toward her, rolling back and grabbing it's front legs, she yanked outward as hard as she could to spread and break it's legs and possibly it's sternum if she was successful. At least it would probably hurt like hell and make it think twice about coming at her again. She wasn't a stranger to battle and she wasn't weak, she knew the rules of kill or be killed and she wasn't shy about killing if killing needed to be done.

The red wolf was a younger member and learned his lesson the hardest, falling broken to the ground. His front legs did nothing to stop the tumble or subsequent snap as he was bowled over her head, face first into the pilings of garbage beside the fence. He wasn't getting up again for a while, if at all.

The first wolf wasn't listening to any warnings. No member in his eyes hurt one of his brothers and stayed a member. He came at her again.

They had obviously misjudged her at first but it would not take them long to realize she wasn't easy prey and for them to step up the vigor and harshness of the attack. even though she knew they -could- kill her she wasn't scared of them, fear was weakness and fear made you stupid -fear got you killed. No instead she steeled herself for the next, promising with the gleam in her eyes and the determined set of her face, that she would break as many of them as they sent and take as many down as she could. If they took her -it wouldn't be because she gave up, she'd go down fighting or not at all. Her lip curled in a snarling smirk, her eyes sharp as the first wolf came again. Her blades sparked against the pavement, sharp, cold and unforgiving, she slashed as this one came, to keep it at bay and hurting if she could, while she shifted to get better footing.

Marcus' own temper was growing and the instinct was to maintain an alpha role which didn't need to include protecting her as much as teaching this upstart a lesson. Half-shifting, he stood vertically, seeming taller than his usual six-foot build as he stretched up out of the shadows and came after him.

Not counting on the flying of blades to be as rapid as they were, the instigator hadn't bothered to defend against metal, keeping his claws ever-reaching, only to feel the slice at his exposed side and shoulder. Momentum carried him forward into her within biting distance though his right side was now lame.

[Lovely]

She'd hit him -she could smell the blood, nearly taste it in the air around her, but he came at her still. She tumbled back as his teeth tried to tear at her, catching her shoulder as she hit the pavement, the knife was flipped in her hand and ready to sink deeply into his side.

Marcus moved past her like a cloud over the moon, darkening their arena and threatening. She'd hear it, at least feel it, as if he had actually put his hand to her shoulder to hold her back, but it was only a thought or a feeling ~please... allow me~. A heavy paw from the upright wolf clashed against the clamboring maw, flinging blood in a stream as the instigator's head arced away from Ari and her blade. He wasn't waiting for him to recover for a fair fight. He'd had his warning. Marc was on him and through him, splitting him like lightning had charged through the alley, the bite shattering bones beneath the ripped fur and pulling him half apart. The other paw came crashing now, leaving no hope for air or pulse as its head now lay limp from the crushed neck. He pulled the heap and piled it on his friend in the rubbish pile and turned to face the others, waiting.

The feeling was so 'real' and solid that she actually glanced to her shoulder as if he had physically touched her. She held back, letting her hands drop to her sides, resting against the pavement as her elbow propped her up to watch. She didn't even flinch as the blood sprayed onto her face and she turned to watch Marcus rip him apart. She stayed where she was, watching Marc and the others, waiting as he did to see if others would attack or if they would stand down. She didn't expect him to go against his pack brothers 'for her' or defend her like he had, though she knew it was more than just defending -he was commanding their respect and obedience -their loyalty to him as their leader.

He casually licked his paw, still vertical and turning, ready for any of the others to strike though none did. The gurgling growl was half-human like his form, or seemed to be as he spoke to them in low rumbles. "Your lesson," he pointed to the two that would likely die tonight. Hunters would find them or the vampires would. There was a chance they would live to learn from their error, but only a slim one. "You attack when -I - tell you. You fight when -I- tell you. You come here when I call you and you don't leave until I dismiss you. This pack comes to me, now and you answer to me. Any other challengers?" He pointed to the pile again and waited.

She was watching him, finding a deep admiration and appreciation for his prowess as well as being highly 'enticed' by the way he handled things. She felt an instinctual attraction to him as he showed himself as a strong dominating male and if he wished to take her right then and there, she would have let him. That thought never rose to the surface of her conscious mind, it remained burried though likely felt by him. Her shoulder was raw where it had been torn open and the air stung at the wound, it didn't bother her as much as she thought it should. She was more pissed that he'd torn her shirt and jacket -she didn't have the money to replace them and the jacket was a decent one. Now she was down to two shirts and no jacket, which meant it was alot harder to keep her weapons concealed. Her pale blue eyes lifted to Marc as she too waited for him to give her his instruction.

He released his fury in a heavy exhale and nodded to her. The explanation began and the new mission was initiated. There were now eight to follow his orders along with her and a brother somewhere already tending to the business at hand, though he'd settle matters there later on his own terms. He explained the new hunter he was after and what had been done, though there were fewer words than sounds of gravel and utterance of tones in inflection that divulged the information his audience needed. He stood down, on four and cloaking himself fully in fur and lupine shape as soon as he was done and came back to her side. He wanted Justice brought before him to lick his paws and deposit the stolen girl unharmed for reasons he would explain to them later but would explain to Ari in more detail when he'd tended to her wounds.

[Lovely]

She sat up all the way as he 'spoke' to the others, listening and understanding some but not all of what he told them. She winced at her shoulder, still annoyed by the tears to herself and her shirt, the shirt being stained by the crimson that seeped from the wound. Her knives were sheathed with one last glance around at him and the others. Her knee bent and leg curled up she leaned against the bent limb a little as she pulled the fabric away from her shoulder to try and inspect the damage.

He gave each of them a parting glance, their dismissal to head downwind and into the shadows to find the keeper of the sword... murderers and thieves all of them who had served him and his father well. He was confident the man would be brought down. He came up closer, his head even with hers as he stood beside her and nudged her arm lightly, licking at the wound she'd uncovered. She likely wasn't used to being touched that way, but perhaps she understood it was meant to help. It would sting a little at first, but would numb then tingle to cleanse and seal.

"aahhh." She gasped as he licked the wound, flincing a little and turning her head to look at him, then at her shoulder again as it numbed a bit. "That's.." She whispered shaking her head and then wrapping her arm more firmly around her leg to sit still. Keeping her shoulder and arm exposed to him, sitting like a good girl to let him tend to her, as she realized that was what he was doing.

He resumed the attention, being a little rough at first, but being sure to clean it deeply. The healing kiss did more than just seal the wound as he took some of her blood himself to taste and savor. It sealed her more to him, though the amount was small and not draining. She already was what she was. He smelled it in her and now tasted it fully, her own lupine strength that blended with what he'd given her, a sweet wine he could drink for days. He lapped the wound a little more then stepped away, smelling at the air beyond them. He turned to look at her then walked slowly back toward the truck.

It was a little painful at first as he cleansed the wound deeply, but then became quite soothing, she'd even closed her eyes for a moment as he lapped over the torn flesh. It was strangely erotic as well and she felt as though he was pulling a bit of her closer to him. Once he finished she could feel the air hit the tear differently as they had been sealed, she was a little slow getting to her feet, careful to make sure she didn't get light headed as she stood up. "Thank you." She whispered, curling her arm around her to hold it still so she wouldn't rip it right open again. Ari then followed him silently as he moved toward the truck, glancing around the alley as they walked.

He headed that direction, but continued, moving slowly... he was stalking after something, catching a scent that drew him out toward the street. He paused only a moment to be sure she was following. He bared a snarl to tell her to be cautious, not that she wasn't being careful and aware.

She slowed and quieted her pace when he turned and snarled his warning to her. A simple nod of understanding was given and she followed, rolling her shoulder gently to test it. Good enough she thought, usable but no garauntee it wouldn't rip open if she got into it with something. She wished she knew what it was he'd picked up as there were several different and -new to her- scents that filtered into the breaths she took.

"Hey, what's that look for? Aren't you glad to see me? Ooo... who's the meat, bro? You're hooking up good in your old age." The man came up to Marcus directly, smelling of poorly mixed martinis and strip-club sweat. He was Marcus' human height but thinner and lighter-haired. The leather he wore fit around tight muscles and a similarly strong build.

Marcus walked away from him back toward the truck, reverting himself to human form. "You're late."

[Lovely]

Her eyes narrowed on the man who came up and her lip curled up as he called her meat, the growl almost came out but she bit her lip and held it back. Surprising herself with both reactions, she turned and followed Marc back towards the truck. "So.. that's the brother who never came home." She whispered more to herself than to him as she lifted the cross bow's strap off and set it on the seat inside the cab, the arrows followed and she slipped her jacket off. Glancing coolly at the brother again, though not hostile, just put off. Like a sour taste was in her mouth, her eyes went to Marc briefly and she reached behind the seat to get a clean shirt.

"Late?" Biff chuckled and followed after him. "I was entertaining a guest, Marc. Lighten up. I'm here now, right? What's so important and since when do -you- tell me anything about when and where I'm supposed to be?"

"You were there, you tell me. I woke up and found dad's head on a spool of your razor wire. You were gone, so was the girl and so was Sir Galahad. Anything you want to tell me about that?" He pulled the key out to open the box for his clothes, whipping on just the jeans and a pair of well worn boots.

She seemed to not pay the boys much mind as she riffled through the truck, pulling out a few different weapons and leaving them on the seat. She heard every word, glancing to Marc now and then as he spoke. She pulled her soiled shirt off and balled it up, shoving it in a plastic bag under the seat. Marc had cleaned the area around the wound so she was free of blood there, but the shirt smelled of it and so she hid the scent the best she could. She checked out the wound again as she stood there, before turning the fresh shirt right side out to put it on. Listening all the while to what they said and deciding on which weapons were more suitable.

"I got Nicky out," he said, stunned at Marc's words. He thought the fact that Marcus was even here meant that their father had killed the man. It took a moment longer to realize Marcus had appointed himself in charge. "So you think he left you as the king?" He laughed. "C'mon... Marc. We're brothers here."

Marcus wasn't laughing. He gave Biff a look and stepped over to Ari to give her her key. "You're a member and you're to be here when we gather. You know that. Where is she now, Biff?"

She tugged the shirt which fit tightly over her and gave him a 'one sec' look as she wrestled the shirt into place. "Thanks." She took the key, tucking it into her pocket and pulling the shirt to let the stretchy fabric loosen around her a little. Ari didn't say much else, just glanced at Biff again and then stepped a little closer to Marc, wondering if she was 'intruding' so to speak. She wondered if this would be easier than she'd thought, if Biff knew where the girl was.

"I don't know. I do know why it took the two of us to keep tabs on her. She's fast. I got her cleaned up, but she bolted. No scent, no trail, nothing. Hopped a car or the wind or something, I don't know. That's why I'm back here. Nothing yet, though." He was cowed but not apologetic. Their father was dead and it felt strange and being next to Marcus felt even stranger. There was a wall he'd never felt before solidly between them at the moment. "She's a ghost, man. Just forget about her."

"Forget? We can't... forget.. about her," he turned with a growl that seemed more fierce than his wolven snarl. "We have to find her. Who she is and what she stands for? You're insane if you let her go. I'm sorry," he said to Ari, apologizing for the display. "I'll explain, but not here. The others are looking now, as well. Let's go. Get in the truck."

Ari glanced back at Biff again and then sighed, looking at Marcus, a little unsure if he was telling her to get in the truck or Biff.. maybe both of them. "Right.. " She mumured, pulling the smaller weapons into her lap as she slid into the cab and over to the driver's side. The larger blades she shifted to allow them room to sit. It was an older truck with one of those wide bench seats -plenty of room for them all and then some. Of course her slim form took up little room and allowed them more to sit and stretch comfortably in.

[Lovely]

He didn't care if Biff rode with them or ran behind or just sat in the back. Marcus slid in beside her and kissed her shoulder. "Thank you. Are you alright? The ones left standing serve well and know what they need to do. Do you?"

Biff was buggered, watching his brother being kind and protective but standing off against him. Rather than fear being pushed out to the street at cruising speed, he opted for the back, launching lightly over the side. He rapped on the cab window as he settled back against it. He was ready and on the look out, sobering far quicker than he wanted. He wanted to find her as much as Marcus did, but for different reasons. She'd been bitten and didn't know what to do next. He'd started to show her and explain, but there hadn't been enough time.

Ari sighed, curling toward him as he kissed her shoulder, trying to nuzzle and catch his lips, an adorable little smile peaking out for him. "I'm alright.. better than.. thanks to you.. but I'm a little unsure what you need me to do, now."

"Nurse that to health and I need to teach you something else before we go after the boys. When you crash, you'll crash hard, and you're right. I don't want you to drink your herbal bitters. Why do you suppose it is you're to take them, religiously, but you suddenly feel and hear and smell now things you never have? I only helped spur it on. Let's go back to the house first. He honestly didn't know when I asked him and he's in no condition... he's a liability."

She let a soft sigh out, thinking of her family and her uncle and why he'd told them they took the mix like they did. The explaination was on the tip of her tongue as was a vivid image of her oldest sister's broken and bloody, lifeless body on the floor of her room. Ari's hand shook a little as she reached it to the steering wheel, feeling a little like the bottom of her world was about to drop out. "Because it keeps us stronger.. to fight the things we have to." She whispered, remembering the things her uncle had told them. "I don't know why.. everything is like it is now.."

"They lied," he said dryly, watching out at the street then turning sharply to her. "It's to keep you from being as strong as you really are. I haven't changed you. I've... completed you somehow."

Biff was slumping further in the back and appearing a little green already. The news was affecting him more than he realized. He'd left and their father was dead because of it. Now he'd lost track of the girl and it infuriated him. The mix of emotion was toxic with the drink.

Her fingers gripped the wheel tightly as the truck slowly rolled down the street, no.. Aberto wouldn't lie to them.. why would he lie? What exactly was he lying about? Her gaze drifted to Marc a moment and her lips parted softly. She felt it though, he was right.. about him completing her.. she could only hope she did the same for him but even if she didn't.. it was true.. She felt it tug from way down deep in her.

"I'm sorry. That was harsh. I meant they didn't tell you the real direction your strength lies. You're a member, Arianne. One of us," he said quietly, letting the information settle in her mind as it would. The box of his father's things was on the floor at his feet where it must have fallen when she pulled him from the truck. He picked it up and undid the wire. The trinkets inside didn't appear to be much, but he dug around each item carefully. A ring, a button, a bullet, a handful of change... coins from other countries and some paper scraps were all there seemed to be.

She glanced at the box as he went through it, trying to wrap her head around his words, but they didn't make sense. How could she be.. he was saying.. it wasn't possible.. that ring looks just like mom's. Ari and Tasa both had ones like it and Aberto wore one as well, theirs were slightly different but.. the same. What the fu-... Her foot eased on the brake, they were pulling onto his street again anyway.

"What is it?" The truck slowed more harshly and he heard the jump in her breath... and the thump of his brother passed out in the back. "Did you forget which one? Flamingo... halfway down."

She stared at the ring as it lay on top of the scraps in the box and slowly her own hand stretched out in front of him. "Where did that ring come from?" On the middle finger of her right hand the ring she wore bore the same stone and carvings, though more delicate and smaller on hers, with only slight variances to the carving closest to the stone.

[Lovely]

"These were all my father's. The ring? An heirloom, handcrafted centuries ago. The men of status in our family each have ... had.. one," he said, finding the past-tense strange. He pulled the ring from the box to fit on his own hand and marvel at it. It seemed delicate yet appropriate, formal and regal and in some way belonging where it rested. "It's a nice piece, hm?"

"Very nice.. " She murmured watching him fit it to his hand, she let the truck roll slowly down the street and eased it to a stop in front of his house. Her hand dropped over his for a moment and her thumb gently brushed over the finger he'd slipped the ring on. "Family heirlooms.. funny things aren't they?"

He hadn't seen it until now. The ring on her own hand, the stone and setting, the markings so similar beside its seeming cousin on his hand... He clasped over her hand, holding it between his a moment before lifting her fingers to a kiss. "We need to talk a great deal. Get the door...," he looked over his shoulder out the cab window to the bed. "I'll get him."

"Yes.. I believe we do." She murmured softly, curling her hand more tightly in his for a moment before sliding it free to do as he suggested. Her gaze was filled with curious wonder as it drifted over him, as she slipped out of the cab of the truck. She'd tucked the spare key they had used the night before, into her pocket before they left and she used it now to unlock the door. Swinging it in and holding it while he gathered his brother up to bring inside.

Though his brother was his own size as a man, Marcus was able to hoist him out of the back with ease, nearly by just his shirt collar. Though he was tempted, garrotting him right now wasn't going to help him get the girl back where she needed to be. Biff spasmed in his toxic sleep as he was lifted over his brother's shoulder and carried a few feet, releasing the contents into the unhealthy shrub by the drive, something that appeared a common occurence. Marcus sighed and pulled him to lay him on the torn couch. "He'll be awake again soon. Never lasts long. You want answers and I'll do my best," he said to her, stepping back into the kitchen in search of more bottles they'd stashed of the liquid crimson they'd all need.

Ari followed him into the kitchen, leaning uncertainly in the doorway. "Marc.." She whispered his name, she was terribly and honestly quite upset, had she been lied to all her life? Ari just needed him closer than he was, wrapping her up in his embrace would be perfect at the moment, but she didn't know how to ask him or tell him what she needed.

From the back of a cabinet behind a box of stale cereal, he unearthed a box of what appeared to be home-canned jams and a similar color, though he didn't need to explain the true contents. "We'll put these in the truck. We may need them. Preserved with the finest of Russian vodka... just like grandmother used to make," he grinned eerily and set the box aside. He offered a hand out to her to call her from the doorway. "I'm sorry, Ari. I don't know why or how, but I do know 'what' and that is that you are what you fear. I could simply have told you, but would you have gone with me tonight? Stayed last night? Would you have run away from me?"

She gingerly took his outstretched hand, curling her fingers tightly in his and pulling herself gently against him. Her eyes closed as she rested her head on his shoulder, complete. She sighed after a moment and shrugged a bit. "I don't think I would have believed you.. and I might have run if you'd just told me that without.. all this that makes me wonder and question.. and believe you. But I told you.. I don't fear you."

"I have never said you do," he whispered, curling his other arm around her. "Your fear is not toward me. I see that. It isn't toward any of the wolves. That as well... it was no show of false bravery tonight. They saw it and felt it. You've won their respect and mine, though mine you already had when you drove me home. But there is fear and someone will do their best to tap it. I want you ready to stand against that when it happens. It will happen."

She nodded curling closer and sliding her arms snuggly around his waist. "So.. I did alright tonight?" She smiled softly, lifting her head to let her gaze linger over his face. "Yes.. there are things I fear.. things remembered.. fears of a terrified little girl a long time ago.. I think after that nothing could scare me anymore.. except losing what little I had left.. or have found that I love."

He nodded, gazing into her eyes from someplace dark and distant though still piercing. "You did fine and if you find your love here, rest assured, it's not leaving you," he whispered, leaning down to reassure her more with a lingering kiss. What she feared may not have been him, but the memories that were his pack and what they'd done and continued to do. He could only ask for her honesty in her decision once that came to light.

The kiss was tender and she felt pulled up ito it, leaning to let it slowly deepen and go on. She whimpered sofly with need for him and the emotions that rose up within her, her knees felt kind of weak.