Who: Kris and Carr feat. Arabella When: Saturday evening Why: post-mating freakout Where: Carr’s motel room Warnings: Swearing, general Emoness
Carr shoved open the door to his room, almost hyperventilating. He was clutching a paper bag in one hand, a half-empty bottle of Macallan whisky inside. He’d stopped long enough to buy the bottle from a liquor store, downing half of it in the lot before feeling steady enough to get back on his bike.
He scrubbed at his face roughly, still unable to catch his breath. Flinging his keys onto the bedside table, he shrugged off his coat, throwing it onto the floor. He stank of her, of her sex and her blood. His black tshirt had her blood on it, soaked into the front from where he’d wiped his face and his hands clean. Hearing movement next door, Carr took another generous swig for courage, before banging on the door that separated his room from Kris’.
“Kris, I need you,” he called out hoarsely, barely suppressing the panic in his voice.
As usual, Kris had had his nose buried in a book. Arabella was relaxing in the tub and it was hard for him not to join her. He was focusing so much on his book when he heard Carr's bike it didn't register as first. It wasn't until he heard him stumble into the adjoining room and smelled the booze and blood, Kris was up in a moment. The door was opened as Carr spoke, worry all over Kris' face. "Brother, what happened?" he asked, helping him back into the room and sitting him on the bed as he sniffed him over.
Carr sat down, his hands shaking, nearly dropping the bottle to the ground. “I went over to Gio’s - the uh, the woman I’ve been seein’,” he said, hoarsely. He couldn’t look Kris in the eye, couldn’t look anywhere but at his hands. “There was a guy there, some arsehole decorator who couldn’t keep his hands to himself. I...” He ran his fingers through his hair, then took another swig of the bottle.
“The wolf took over, I couldn’t....” He drew a ragged breath, shoving down a panicked sob. “Christ, I fucking mated with her.” He dropped his face into his hands, shoulders shaking. “I-I bit her, and then fucking ran away.”
Kris was more expecting he would have a body he was going to have to hide. He'd do it, without hesitation, of course, but there just wasn't enough blood on him for a kill and he was still clothed. Then he explained. "Shit..." Kris had never mated before himself, but Carr had. It was rare for a wolf to survive losing their mate and to have another...There was no way Carr would be able to live without her and survive. "Hey, it's gonna be ok." he said, sitting beside him and pulling him close. There was part of him that was furious, that he had mated with some woman he had just met when his first love had been Kris' own twin sister. That was secondary though. His brother was in pain, his pack mate.
Carr drew in a ragged breath, clinging tightly to Kris, hands fisting at his shirt as he buried his face against Kris’ throat. He needed the comfort, needed the warmth of his pack. He whined softly, a low, wounded sound as he choked back tears.
“I’ve fucked everything up,” he managed to rasp, through a voice thick with sorrow. “I barely know her, and...oh, Jesus, Kris, what am I gonna do?”
Kris held him tightly, rocking him a bit. He realized then how selfish he had been, holding Carr back like this. Wolves were not meant to be alone, it wasn't in their nature and it certainly wasn't in theirs. "Do you love her, Carr?" he asked softly.
“I...fuck, I don’t know...” Carr answered miserably, still clinging tightly to Kris. “It just got so out of control...she was teasing me about being possessive, and just...the thought of her with someone else, I just saw red. My wolf went fucking crazy.” He barely knew Gio, he couldn’t love her. Not after only a few days.
Yeah, and he hadn’t fallen for Mel the moment he’d met her, either. Fucking idiot. “It doesn’t matter,” he answered, wearily. “I’m stuck with her now, whether she wants it or not.” And it was highly likely she’d never want to see him again, the way he’d walked out on her.
He understood how it had happened. He felt the same when it came to Arabella. "I think our wolves have had enough of us." he said to Carr with a small smile, trying to comfort him. "And it's not as if you're a horrible man to be stuck with. You're better than me..." Kris wasn't exactly Dr. Phil so he wasn't sure if he was helping or not. "You need to talk to her, brother."
Carr shook his head, the alcohol finally starting to hit him. “Nope,” he answered thickly. “I fucked up. She hates me. And she’s human, she’s not gonna understand...” He sighed, rubbing his face roughly with his hand, as if that was going to help anything. As if it would help clear his head.
“I fucking bit her. She’s gonna think I’m a bloody lunatic.” Carr was doing his best not to think about the last woman he’d been mated to, how it was only revenge, and Kris, that had kept him from going insane.
Kris' heart went out to the man. Carr was his brother, his pack mate, and what hurt Carr hurt him. "It's not like people don't know what werewolves are, Carr...Once you explain it, I'm sure she'll understand..." He hoped she did. Kris wouldn't know what to do otherwise. As much as Carr wouldn't survive losing his now mate, Kris wouldn't survive what he would have to do.
Carr laughed, the sound utterly devoid of humor.
“Understand what? ‘Sorry love, I know we’ve only met three times, but I’m mated to you for life. On the plus side, the sex is great!’ Oh aye, that’ll go down well.” Carr took another generous swig of the whisky, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I can’t do this, Kris. I can’t go through it again.” Losing Mel had driven him right to the edge; he couldn’t deal with losing a mate again. Couldn’t deal with all the emotions this was bringing back up.
Kris took the bottle from him gently. "Alright...Why don't you shift and try to relax some?" It wasn't a permanent solution, but he knew Carr would feel better in his wolf form. At least to get through the night. "You can't do anything tonight being like this so...shift and not think for a bit, ok?"
Carr sighed, nodding. He knew Kris was right. And not having to think about Gio, about the look on her face as he’d backed away...yeah, that was awfully tempting. He kicked off his boots, grabbing his tshirt by the back of the collar, pulling it up over his head and tossing it towards his laundry pile in the corner of the room. His jeans followed, leaving him nude for a moment before he dropped to all fours, whining softly as he shifted.
He hopped up on the bed beside Kris as soon as he’d shifted, laying his head in his brother-in-law’s lap with another soft whine. He wanted comfort, wanted to be touched and told that everything was going to be ok.
Kris smiled softly as Carr hopped up on the bed and immediately began petting him. "I know, bro..." he said softly, running his fingers through Carr's fur. "It'll be ok...I know it seems pretty fucking bleak right about now but we'll get it all sorted, as you're fond of telling me." he murmured soothingly.
Carr huffed softly, tilting his head enough to look up at Kris disbelievingly. The petting felt good though, and Carr could feel himself relax, just a little. That, and the whisky, were making it difficult to think about anything other than the slow slide of Kris’ fingers through his fur, the comfort of being close to pack.
Kris stayed like that with him, offering silent comfort with his petting. His ears picked up Arabella in the other room getting out of the tub and he looked down at Carr. "I was thinking...maybe the three of us can all shift and sleep in the same bed..." he suggested. It wouldn't be awkward with they were all wolves and Kris couldn't leave Arabella alone for the night. He just hoped Carr would understand.
Carr had heard Arabella moving around too. He lifted his head, thought for a moment, and then nodded agreement. He just hoped it was obvious enough. If not...he jumped off the bed, sitting in front of the door between their rooms. He lifted a paw, pushing at the door, then looked back at Kris. Yes, Carr was fine with this plan.
Kris chuckled and got off the bed, going and opening the door, letting Carr into the other room. He himself went to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Arabella? Are you decent?" he asked, not about to walk into the bathroom on her.
Arabella was wrapped in a towel at that point and dragging a brush through her still damp hair. "Yes," she said as she reached out to open the door, letting him in and arching a brow at the man. "What's up?"
Carr loped into the room, sniffing around a bit before jumping up on the bed. He curled up, head on his paws, watching Kris and Arabella talk. They really weren’t fooling anyone - he could smell how much they wanted each other. Hell, he could smell her arousal on the sheets. Something had happened, even if Kris probably wouldn’t want to admit it.
He would not jump her, he would not jump her. Kris gulped for a second, his brain fritzing before remembering why he was in the bathroom. "Oh um, yea...Carr's had a bit of a rough night and could use some wolf time...I don't know if you can shift into a wolf or something similar, but I'm going to shift and if you don't mind you could too and we could all kinda sleep in the same bed." he said. "You know, out loud that sounds weird." he said, shaking his head.
Glancing past him, she noticed the wolf on the bed, slowly falling asleep, eyes pretty heavy and looking miserable. "It's okay," she told him with a little nod as she finished running the brush through her hair to pull the tangles free. "I can shift into a wolf. I've seen them plenty of times in the zoo and what not," she shrugged. "And it's not weird, if he needs snuggles, snuggles he'll get."
God, she was so perfect. Kris kissed her forehead, murmuring his thanks. "I'll leave you to shift." he said and stepped out of the bathroom. He left the door opened just a smidge so she could come out when she was finished. He himself stripped, glancing at Carr who was pretty much passed out at this point. He felt so bad for his brother but Kris would do everything to make it right, even if it meant he had to find this girl himself and explain everything. He shifted, taking the form of an almost completely black wolf with amber eyes. He stretched a bit before hopping up onto the bed and settling next to Carr.
Setting her brush down, she dropped her towel and shifted into her own version of a wolf. Nudging the door open with her nose, she made her way out of the bathroom and hopped up on the bed with the boys. Kris had settled next to Carr, but that just would not do. Nuzzling in between the two of them, she maneuvered herself into the radiating warmth and leaned her head against Kris' paws. Snuggles he would get.
Kris smiled as much as a wolf could as Arabella came into the ed and got in between them. He nipped her ear gently as a sign of affection before settling his head on her back, nose against Carr's fur. It had been a long time since Kris had done some cuddling in his wolf form, but he thought it was the perfect way to bring comfort to his brother and teach Arabella what it meant to be pack. For the first time in a long time, Kris fell asleep completely content.