katherine foster (inamoment) wrote in shadowlands_ic, @ 2017-12-17 15:41:00 |
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Entry tags: | katherine foster, peter foster |
Who: Katherine and Peter Foster
What: Katherine runs with a new pack.
When: This past full moon, December 3rd, 1888
Where: The Preserve
Rating: G
The full moon was approaching swiftly and tonight was a semi-special occasion. Tonight Katherine was meeting her brother’s new pack. She’d figured it was time enough to make that happen. She couldn’t put it off any longer, and stay in the shadows. Things would get suspicious and weird if she just wasn’t around. Acting like everything was normal and that she didn’t have any clue about what was going on. Besides it had been months since she was on her own. Each full moon was a little more lonely and even dangerous. That’s why loner wolves never made it on their own. Because other, bigger things saw that they didn’t have anyone to back them up. She was kind of surprised that no one had tried to eat her yet.
That night when she went to the usual place, she was feeling a bit nervous about things. She’d said hello to everyone in the pack, trying to be as nice and sincere as she could be. One more thing she ached for that she didn’t have. Still she smiled at her brother as she wandered over to him.
“I think that went well. None of them seem to be wary of me.” For now anyway.
Peter had been pretty sure that everyone in his ‘sort of pack’ would be friendly with Katherine. He’d told them about her, told them she was on her own after having left Lucien’s pack and that he would feel more comfortable if she were to run with them. If he had his way, if they were an actual pack, she’d join, but for now things were crazy and he didn’t want her mixed up in his mess. Still, he thought it was safe enough for her to run with them during the full moon.
“I think it went really well,” he nodded at his twin and wrapped his arm loosely around her shoulders. “You’re welcome with us any time, you know that, right?” He looked at his twin sister. “In fact, I’d like it if you would run with us each full moon. We aren’t a pack by any standard, but we try,” he chuckled. “And they all accepted you, which I knew they would.”
She appreciated that he had talked to them all beforehand and that they were prepared for this. There weren’t a lot of awkward stares or confusion because Peter suddenly had a twin sister. She was sure that a lot of them knew that she was the girl that Damien had taken hostage before he died, but Katherine had assured them that she held no ill will to anyone. And she really didn’t. She didn’t know what would happen after this whole thing was dismantled, but if they all stayed as a pack, she wished all of them well.
Leaning in against her brother, she nodded her head. “I know. I thank you for asking me.” Up until now she hadn’t brought it up because she didn’t want to make things complicated. “Yeah? Really? I.. if you’re sure, then I’d like that. Being on my own isn’t.. Always safe.” That was putting it mildly. She’d seen that man again. And she was sure that he was here too. Watching her. “Maybe you should think about trying to be a real pack. It might help.. In the long run.”
“Yes, really,” Peter nodded. “Being on your own definitely isn’t safe,” he shook his head. “And you fit in with this crowd,” he nudged his chin to the group of guys that were messing around. “We’re all just a bunch of loners, trying to make a group where we all sorta fit,” he said softly. “I’d much rather you ran with us and I know you’re safe, than be out there all on your own and something happen to you.” God help anyone that hurt her, he would hunt them down and tear them to shreds. He was quiet for a moment when she mentioned trying to make the group into a pack. “I’m afraid that if I do, that if I give all these men hope, that I’ll end up letting them down,” he sighed. “We have a lot going against us right now and we need to fight through that before we can feel safe enough to start planting roots,” he explained. “But when that happens, you’ll join me won’t you?” His sister needed a home, too.
“Loners. Great. Yes I suppose that does put me right in the middle,” she said with a nod of her head. It was okay with her if he was keeping an eye on her, she couldn’t really stop him even if she wanted to. It wasn’t like she was actually in any trouble. She didn’t think so anyway. He had enough on his plate without having to worry about her. That wouldn’t stop him from doing so any way. “Peter..” she probably shouldn’t give anyone advice that she didn’t know a whole lot about, but she was going to do it anyway. “You might let them down, but I think doing this.. Without trying to make this work, it’s probably going to make it worse, not better. If they’re not with you, then they have no reason to trust you. To follow you. Do you want to keep them safe?”
“Of course I want to keep them safe,” Peter said, taking his arm from around her and pushing a hand through his hair. “And we’re all in this together,” he sighed. “The reason we’re running as a group, a pack if you want, is so that we connect more. They are following me, I’ve taken care of those that wanted to challenge me,” he met her eyes for a brief moment and then looked away. He hadn’t told her he had had to fight, to kill, in order to maintain control of this group, that he had had to act as an alpha would when challenged. But he was sure that she understood what he was saying now, and knew. “I’m doing what I can, I’m trying to treat them as if this was an actual pack but we all know that we could very well be walking dead men,” he huffed out air through his nose. “I’m trying Kate, I’m just doing my best here. Having you with us, my sister, might help them think of us all more as family, maybe. A pack.”
She hadn’t known that he’d had to put anyone down. Katherine couldn’t imagine what that was like, but she trusted his judgment. If he said that it was for the best, then it would have been. “I’m proud of you for doing this, you know. I don’t always say it. And I know we don’t talk a lot but I am.” And not because she thought that he didn’t really have a choice in the matter of taking all of this on, but that he had stepped up and not run off again. As someone who absolutely understood running from a problem, she was glad that he could do the things that she couldn’t. “I know. I want to help in any way that I can. I’ll be here.” She looked up as the sun started to set. “I suppose we should go. The full moon will be here any moment.”
Peter nodded. He could feel the setting sun and the rise of the moon start to pull at him and he knew it was time. “Go,” he murmured. “Find you somewhere private to change,” he smiled at her. She would need her own place to turn, being a woman and having to remove her clothing; he didn’t want any of the men gazing at her in a way that they shouldn’t. “I will see you out here in a few moments,” he smiled and kissed her cheek. He then went to his own place, behind a wall of bushes where other men were already changing. He disrobed and in a grunt as the wolf took control, his body turned and twisted until he was on four legs. He shook his head and then his whole body as he stretched. His ears twitched back and forth and he sniffed the air before raising his head skyward and letting out a long, piercing howl that was followed by others that had him feeling a lightness in his chest. This was his pack, whether he wanted it or not. He stepped through the bushes into the small clearing and waited for everyone to join him.
With a nod of her head, Katherine went to where she normally took off her things and changed. For some reason, she felt like someone was watching her. That couldn’t be though, right? She didn’t actually see anyone thankfully. The change was as violent and angry as it usually was. Still she was glad to come back and run with the rest of the pack. Getting to know a wolf was different than knowing the person that they were the rest of the time. Still it felt better to be with others, instead of being on her own. And there wasn’t anything weird that happened, so by the time the sun came back up, she felt much better about the whole thing. She grabbed her clothes and dressed before going to find Peter again.
“I’m exhausted, and going to go home and sleep, but thank you again for letting me join you this time. I really.. I missed being with other people and not on my own.”
The run had been great. There had been no issues and the weight of the human world had been left behind, letting the wolves run with a freedom they didn’t seem to have the other days of the month. They accepted each other, and accepted him as their leader and more importantly they had accepted Katherine into their group without hesitation. She was one of them, now, whether she wanted it or not.
At one point he had sensed that there could be someone watching, a faint trace of aroma on the air that had had his nostrils flaring, but just as quick as it had come it was gone. He decided it was nothing to be worried about and had gone on.
Once the sun had come up, they all had headed back to where their clothes laid and in painful moments they turned into their human selves and dressed. Peter was telling the last of them good bye when his sister approached. He was all smiles and though he was exhausted, he was happy about how well things had gone this time.
He wrapped an arm around his sister and hugged her close for a moment. “You’ll always be welcome with us, you know that right?” He said and turned her towards home. “You don’t have to be alone, not even in the human world. You’re one of us,” he smiled. “And let me walk you home, make sure you get there safe and you can tell me how you are really doing without all the hand waving of it all,” he smirked.
Katherine smiled at him tiredly, though she would undoubtedly have to have a quick nap before going back to work. “I’m.. really happy that you asked me to join you. I.. wasn’t really sure that you ever would.” She didn’t want to ask, like she was begging for someone to include her in something. She knew it wasn’t entirely safe, but she wanted to help. It wasn’t like she couldn’t fight or handle herself. But being in his pack meant more than she could say.
“All right, you can walk me home. I’m definitely ready to sleep for days.” That would be nice. If only she could get away with it. She said goodbye to everyone, thanking them for being nice. She saw the man again, the one that she was sure was the wolf who bit her last month. He was with another woman and talking to her. The woman reached up and kissed him. Ah. That was .. weird.
“Let’s go.”
Peter caught the look of his sister looking at another and it made him furrow his brow for a moment. He was quiet for a moment, taking her arm in his and escorting him away from the others. Once they were quite a bit away he glanced around. “What was that about? The look that you gave to the other?”
He’d noticed that. Katherine wasn’t sure that he had, and she honestly didn’t know what to say about it. “I’m not quite sure?” she offered, with a shrug of her shoulders. “Last month, when I was out by myself. I ran into a wolf and it.. Nipped me. It wasn’t even aggressive. Not in a you’re in my territory way, and not maliciously. It had been following me. And I swear.. That man.. Was him. I mean you know, not the wolf, but the man.”
“What?!” Peter stopped them and looked in the direction they’d come. He couldn’t see anyone, of course, but that didn’t stop him from searching for the man she was talking about. “You were bit? By another wolf?” He’d kill him. “You saw him as a man later? Know it was him? I’ll break his leg,” he frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me this happened?”
Coming to a stop beside him, she finally turned to look at her brother. “Barely bit. He lunged at me. I think more to scare me off than anything. He probably just didn’t know me. I think it was him? It’s hard to tell. There’s a lot of scents..” Was she doing a good job of deflecting? “I just knew it was him because he was staring at me. I didn’t say anything because I don’t want you to break anyone’s leg.”
“Oh, I’m going to break a leg,” Peter growled, determined to have a chat with the guy. “Robert is his name, hasn’t given me any problems and is a good tracker,” he explained. He planned to use the guy to track soon. “Don’t understand why he tried to scare you off, though. I’ll be having a few words with him.”
She gave a small sigh. Well at least she knew his name. That put her at a small advantage. “I don’t understand either, and you won’t have a few words with him. He barely touched me. And I don’t need you to make it any more weird. I can protect myself, Peter.”
“But you shouldn’t have to,” Peter said, early growling. He closed his eyes a moment and then took a breath before turning ro start walking again. “Fine, I won’t say anything...this time. But you’ll be running with us from now on, which means there shouldn’t be any more issues anyway.” He was quiet for a few moments before speaking up again. “I’ve failed at so many things in this life, I don’t want to fail you, too.”