Shadow Heart Pack House

[MzDuchess]

Red Gypsy

Wolfe Garm

Saoirse followed the wolf pair, only pausing to allow Griz and his charge pass by them. She looked on in curiosity as she watched in disappear into a room before closing the door.

Mentally shaking her head at herself, she turned her attention back to the wolves. She noticed that Mari had scars on her neck, and it looked pretty bad even though it had healed. Scars like that meant it was probably a life or death moment. She knew what those were like all too well. She felt her stance soften slightly when she witnessed the caring between the two wolves and the reverence in which they spoke about their Alpha.

"I heard Cass mention that your Alpha, Egan, was gone at the moment? Does that mean your Beta is in charge until he returns?" she asked as she opened the first bedroom door. It was pretty dark inside, but when she turned the light on saw that it was just because of the dark curtains blocking the sunlight? The furniture and wallpaper were all done in such a dark red, that it reminded her of blood. It was a beautiful bedroom, but she wasn't overly fond of blood. The smell wafting from down the hall that Griz and the wounded shifter went into was making her slightly nauseas already. She wrinkled her nose slightly before closing the door.

Saoirse moved a couple more doors down and opened the second one that Traz had pointed to and couldn't help the surprised gasp that left her mouth. It was probably one of the most beautiful rooms she had ever seen in her life. The color on the walls were such a deep blue it was almost sapphire in color. The trim had a slight gold tint to it and was complimented by ocean colored furniture. The bed wasn't too overly large, but it was bigger than anything she had ever slept in. 'Also big enough for two people comfortably..' she thought to herself with a inner grin. It had been too long since she had been with anyone. The threat of her brother hanging over her head made her too scared to risk it.

She turned to Mari and Traz with a beautiful smile as she pointed to the room behind her. "If its alright, I think I will take this one. Its very gorgeous." she said, hoping that it would be ok for her to claim it while she was here.  

[Red Gypsy]

MzDuchess

Wolfe Garm

Traz gave her a nod and a smile, "Go ahead. We're on kitchen duty tonight, so we'll see you after you've had a chance to clean up," he said simply then they left her alone to do as she pleased as they headed back downstairs.

They passed by Griz in the dining room and went on into the kitchen to finish up making dinner.

Pack policy had it set up so that there was always something available to eat throughout the day, but they all sat down to dinner as a pack. It was something that Wind had set up and basically trained them into without making it obvious that he was doing so.


Griz, meanwhile, wasn't sure if he wanted to touch the stuff Sash had sent in place of their order. But he knew he'd have to pull it from the table either way. As if the things the snake had done so far weren't bad enough, he had to go and pull this bit on top of it all.

It made the normally easy-going bear want to bite something. He really hated it when someone picked on the pack's cubs. But to pick on their Alpha's mate as well... Well, it was just the nail in the coffin... And in this case, it might be literal instead of figurative...  

[MzDuchess]

Red Gypsy

Wolfe Garm

Saoirse chewed on her lip as she watched the wolf pair leave after giving her the permission to use this beautiful room.

She was completely in love with the colors. It almost reminded her of the ocean. Or, well, what she thought the ocean's color might look like. She's never seen one before and with her fear of large bodies of water she probaby never will. That stifling fear is what has kept her away from the lakes and the possible bath they might offer. She'd rather smell than go wading into something that is deeper than ankle high.

Speaking of smell, she wrinkled her nose as she caught a good whiff of her scent now that she was in an enclosed space. It was pretty potent, and she was surprised no one had said anything. 'Or that could be why they were so insistent on offering me a bath..' she thought in amusement.

Saoirse crossed over the only other door in the room, knowing that it had to be the bathroom. Grinning to herself, she trailed her hand across the marbled countertop before turning the water on in the clawed-tooth basin and stripping out of her dirty clothes. She laid all of her weapons across the bathroom floor next to the tub, before climbing in and sighing in pleasure.

A little while later found Saoirse freshly bathed and smelling like herself again. It was a wonderful feeling being able to be fully clean, including her hair. It had been so matted and dirty that she had to let the water out and refill the basin just to finish scrubbing the rest of her body. Now, she was running her fingers through her long, dark locks trying to untangle it as she looked for some clean clothes. After searching a few drawers in the dresser, she came across some pants that were just a little to snug across her hips but fit well enough. And a shirt that once again was a little small, causing it to pull tight across her chest and become almost a midriff shirt.

'This will be fine until I can some how clean my clothes, even if its a bit snugger than I like.' she thought with a frown before shrugging her shoulders. She continued to look around her new room exploring and combing her hair with her fingers until it was completely knot free. And when she started to smell something delicious coming from downstairs, she knew that dinner was almost ready and that she would have to face the rest of the pack. But Cass would be there, and so would her mountain man, so she felt herself relax a bit more at the thought. She hummed lightly to herself as she looked for shoes to put on, but when she couldn't find any she just shrugged her shoulders again. "Barefoot it is.." she muttered to herself as she left her room and headed down where she smelled the others were.  

[Red Gypsy]

MzDuchess

Wolfe Garm

Griz looked up as Saoirse came downstairs and nearly bit his tongue in half, though he thought he covered it fairly well as he gave her a smile, "Ah, there's our guest. We'll find you something easier to wear after dinner, if you can stand to wait. If you'd prefer otherwise, it's easy enough to find you something that fits better. Before that, though, would you help me move this stuff to that table over there?" he offered, only asking her assistance in moving a few items over to a table against one wall in a corner.

The dog collar and leash sets sized for a Chihuahua, as well as other items obviously intended for a pet dog, were all intended as an insult to Egan. The stuff was insulting because of how some people felt about Wind.

Griz managed the collar and leash sets with a few of the toys, but the dog bed and clothes were a bit more complicated with everything else. It wasn't so much heavy as awkward to carry. Especially in his big hands...

He got his stuff moved over as a couple of other shifters came out of the kitchen and started setting the table. It was a big table, though, so it took one on each side of the table to get the settings laid out.

"Next out will be the food, so if you want to change into something easier to wear before you eat, now would be the time," Griz offered as she put the other stack of stuff with the collar and leash sets then he covered all of it with a spare tablecloth.

The cubs laying with their injured guest would get a special dinner carried up to them after dinner, mainly so that they could stay up there with her and help her heal. But that meant that everyone else was heading downstairs to help with setting the table and laying out food on the table.  

[MzDuchess]

Red Gypsy

Wolfe Garm

Saoirse bit back a smile as she watched Griz run his eyes over her and her new outfit. Her lioness perked up and preened a little bit on the inside when she too noticed the male attention. She might keep these clothes a bit longer if she elicited that kind of reaction. Biting her lip, she padded the rest of the way over to Griz, her bare feet hardly making a sound, making sure to swing her hips a little bit more than normal. Now that she wasn't in maternal mode over Cass, she could appreciate the mountain man and his mountain range of muscles properly.

"No, these are fine. Thank you." she murmured as she stopped next to him and the large dining table. When she got close enough, she inhaled a deep breath and took in the masculine scent of the bear, which is what she could now say he was. She thought he looked like a bear shifter, but being as she'd never come across one until now she was unsure.

She looked over the table and saw all the things that Cass had laid finally in detail, but frowned when her eyes landed on the collars and leashes. 'What..' she thought as she picked one of them up.

"What are these for?" she asked curiously, not understanding how horrible of an insult this was for the pack. She watched as Griz took the collar and leash from her hands before walking it over to place it on another table, out of the way. Raising an eyebrow at him, she nodded as he asked for help before grabbing the remaining items and following him over towards the wall.  

[Red Gypsy]

MzDuchess

Wolfe Garm

Griz had to admire the way she moved. How did females manage to walk like that? It looked like they were double jointed or something. It looked impossible. But he really liked that extra sway of hips she put into it when she walked. He caught himself staring and forced his dark eyes away and managed to figure out that she'd asked a question that he had to answer.

"The stuff is from Sach and is an insult to our Alpha and his mate. Wind is actually a demonic hybrid and not a Were. He shifts into the most adorable wolf you've ever seen. It looks more like a wolf-dog hybrid or something like that. And he's smaller than most Were's are in animal form, about the size of a large dog. And he eats apples in wolf form. That's what the order originally was supposed to be: a collar with apples on it. Egan and Wind aren't really vanilla, if you get my drift," he explained to her, hoping that he wouldn't have to explain the vanilla bit.

As he covered up the dog stuff, he was left staring at her again for a moment. The leopards helping to set the table broke that and he cleared his throat again as he looked away from her, "Sach made a pass at Wind once, but he terrified him with it. Wind let the first one go without saying anything. Then Sach got persistent enough that it scared Wind enough that he shifted in the kitchen and he stayed in wolf form for two days. On that one, Egan kicked him out and gave him his only warning. After that, if he screwed up again, he wouldn't like the consequences," he continued with the explanation in the hopes that it would get his mind off her figure.

It didn't work...

Crap... He was screwed...

He hadn't been with anyone in a while and the lack of female attention was beginning to show...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Za'Vira Lucio

Red Gypsy

MzDuchess

a song

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Za’Vira’s mind wandered, to good times and the bad, of times when her pack, her family was happy and still alive. Her mind wandered to those moments before her mate finally asked when they were still courting, of those wonderful times when after they became mates and discovered that they were more than just a mated pair but soul mates. Her mind continued to wander of times when they both decided that hey wanted to try to raise a family of their own and tried for months with no results, how much they both hurt but continued to have hope that one day they would finally become parents.

Even as she lay there in bed with the cubs around her a tear poured down her face, she was clearly dreaming of better times, and while she was clearly asleep, it didn’t help her much that she would be reminded of her loss, and the pain she felt when her soulmate fell, of the pain she felt when she lost her pack, her family; Nor did it help any that she was lost, uncertain of anything, Looking for a purpose a reason to continue living and finding nothing but pain and suffering. Za’Vira’s body started to heal with the cubs around her, but wounds to her soul and mind would take time to heal. Her soul was torn asunder, missing a part of it from losing her soulmate and being fortunate to have survived such an ordeal. The cubs around her shifted slightly when she moved but only found that she was still asleep and still dreaming of those good times and bad. Her mind returned to those days as a young cub, the pack was so supportive of her parents’ decision to raise one, they even helped raise her even though they were all mercenaries and nomadic, but that didn’t stop them from taking time to look after their cubs. Even As she laid there in bed she was restless, only calmed when one of the cubs muzzled up to her in hopes of helping her relax.

Their energy was showing signs of helping as a couple of her more serious wounds showed signs of closing up and healing for Za’Vira only time and support was needed to at least help her heal physically, but her emotional trauma… well that could takes years to fully heal without the proper assistance, mainly she would likely need a new soulmate to fill a void that was present, but considering how fortunate she was to have had one the first time, to find a compatible mate that would be able to meld with her and fill that void was very unlikely to occur twice. She would need the help to get her through everything all provided she would accept the help as distrustful she has become, to say she wasn’t like this was closer to the truth than not, she was supportive and friendly, not bitter and antisocial, she used to enjoy the company of others, she used to laugh and smile, but most of all she was helpful and not afraid to put her life on the line to help those who needed it. How far she had fallen when she suddenly found herself alone in the world without the love and support of those around her.

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[MzDuchess]

Red Gypsy

Wolfe Garm

Saoirse's narrowed her eyes as she watched Griz silently for a few minutes. "I do not understand why your Alpha has not ended this shifter. He obviously is a bad seed if he terrorizes mates and cubs." she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. She knew she should have ended him back in the market place. Cass wouldn't have liked it, but she would have felt better knowing that b*****d could no longer hurt anybody. She listened to her mountain man continue talking about his Alpha pair and the crimes that the b*****d shifter committed, before looking at him in confusion. 'Vanilla..?' She thought as her curiosity peaked. 'What does a sweet have to do with the Alpha and his mate?'

Saoirse was highly curious, but could smell the discomfort and slight embarrassment in Griz's scent so she decided to let it go. For now anyways. Maybe they did something with the vanilla?
Looking over her shoulder at the dining room, she gestured towards all the food being brought out and two more new shifters. Leopard if her nose was right. There was a lot of food. Enough to feed a small village, and every time she turned around there was a new and different type of shifter.

"How many are going to be here tonight?" she asked as she brushed her hair over her shoulder, causing the fruity scent of her newly washed hair to stir the air. She had been ok with eating dinner with the few members of the pack that she had met so far, because Griz and Cass would be there; but if there were more people coming..maybe she would wait until afterwards.

She didn't want to be rude since they all had been so kind and welcoming so far, but she didn't know how to be around a large group of people. It made her highly uncomfortable. Looking at Griz, she was trying so hard to keep her face relaxed and neutral so he couldn't tell she was slowly starting to panic; she didn't even realize she was chewing on her bottom lip.  

[Red Gypsy]

MzDuchess

Wolfe Garm

One of the cubs with Za'Vira raised his head and tilted it as he looked at her face. After a moment, he crawled up so that he was laying next to her head and licked her tears away as she cried. Casee really hated it when people cried and was usually the first to attempt to comfort them. He knew what it was to be broken. In the entire time he'd been here, he'd never shifted out of wolf form. He didn't want to talk about what had happened before he came here, so he made sure that he couldn't talk about it.

When she wasn't crying, his head was laying on her shoulder. He fought to keep from sleeping, as he always did. Even in the puppy pile, he still had nightmares. Eventually, though, even he gave out against the fight and fell asleep, dropping right into one of his nightmares that pulled soft whimpers from him from time to time.


Griz could see that she didn't know what he meant by 'vanilla' and still struggled with whether or not to tell her about it. As it was, he was saved by Cass coming down the stairs.

Okay, he was in cat form and literally rolled down the stairs until someone's leg stopped his tumble. He sat back and shook his head to clear it then looked up to see Saoirse, his blue eyes lighting up at the sight of her. His words to her before proved to be true: he hadn't lost his cub-spots yet. But he was developing the mask and points that cougars carried as adults, so he was at an in-between age.

At least he was cute in cat form...

He finally shifted to his human form and slid on a pair of shorts that were thrown his way with a laugh. Thankfully, he was as un-self-conscious as most shifters were and just slid the shorts on then looked up at Saoirse with a grin that lit up his whole face, despite the black eye he had blooming.

"You stayed! Will you sit next to me? Please, Dama?" he begged her enthusiastically. His happiness at her staying couldn't be faked or hidden. He practically vibrated with it.

Griz looked at the large table then at Saoirse then down at Cass, "I don't think she's comfortable with the entire pack just yet, Cass..." he offered, giving her a way out if she wanted it.

The next bit of chaos pulled Cass' stunt down the stairs en mass. An entire group of cubs tumbled down the stairs but landed on their feet better then tackled Griz to the floor. It wasn't that the tackle had much 'punch' to it, it was sheer numbers that threw him over.

No, he didn't shake the house when he landed.

Instead, it was pretty hard to see him under the mass of young cats, foxes, bears, and even a few wolves that weren't upstairs right now. It was fairly obvious that the large bear was a favorite with the little ones.

And he needed saving or he wasn't going to get to eat...  

[MzDuchess]

Red Gypsy

Wolfe Garm

Saoirse looked on in amusement as Cass came stumbling down the stairwell, thoroughly distracting her. He was so adorable as a small cub that she couldn't help but smile beautifully at him. She reached down to rub his ears but he shifted before she could.

Startled at the brief change, she was caught a bit off guard when she saw how dark his bruise was becoming against the paleness of his face. However, before she could get mad or worked up again, Cass practically tackled her in excitement.

Nodding her head, she brushed her fingers through his hair like she had wanted to do in cub form. "Yes, mo laochain. I have decided to stay for a little while longer." she said with a soft smile. However, she couldn't stop from tensing up slightly when he asked her to sit next to him. Trying to calm her racing heart, she was saved from having to answer him when Griz stepped in. Thankful at the rescue, she lightly touched his arm but before she could do anything else she heard what sounded like a stampede heading towards them.

It wasn't a stampede but a herd of young ones, of all shapes and sizes that had come barreling down the stairwell. Luckily, she stepped out of the way just in time to avoid being run over by the young herd. Unluckily for Griz, he was where they were headed. She chuckled to herself as she watched him struggle to not be overwhelmed. It was actually quite adorable and Saoirse felt herself become slightly more charmed by her mountain man.  

[Wolfe Garm]

Za'Vira Lucio

Red Gypsy

MzDuchess

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Za’Vira’s ears twitched slightly when she heard the whimpers and opened her eyes slightly suddenly realizing she had cubs on and around her she glanced around to find them asleep, hearing a whimper again she shifted her eyes and head to look at the cub who had his head on her shoulder, she yawned slightly her strength was very poor but she had enough to function slightly and simply glanced around remembering she’d been brought to the pack hall and was in one of the rooms, she scanned her injuries and found that while they were healing she was far from being fully recovered and simply moved her head to rest up against the cub that was by her head and fell back to sleep without any trouble.

As she fell fully asleep her mind started dreaming again of the good times, of times when her pack had settled down for the day and were having a blast laughing, dancing and listening to some of their members play beautiful music, oh how wonderful those times were. It was during one of these times that her love started courting her, he’d offered to dance with her, initially Za’Vira didn’t accept since she wasn’t very good at it but to her surprise when he didn’t take no for an answer and grabbed her hands while laughing and started dancing with her, though she fumbled he helped her through it and eventually even she was laughing as they danced to music. How things have changed since then, would she ever find a reason to live, or was she doomed to walk alone?

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[Red Gypsy]

MzDuchess

Wolfe Garm

Griz was having trouble getting out from under the pile of cubs and finally had to resort to a threat, "The first one that rips my clothes has to do sewing duty for a week!" he called out, gaining instant obedience. They all got off of him and sat in a ring around him on one side, looking like perfect angels. Of course, from the look in their eyes, those halo's were tilted a bit...

Griz got to his feet and dusted himself off before he focused on the cubs again, "Alright then... Everyone to the table," he told them simply then watched as they all went for the large table. Some of them shifted to human form but some didn't. Still, they all had a place at the table no matter what form they were in. They just got an appropriate dinner plate for that form.

As the rest of the pack came downstairs and started taking up places at the table, Griz held back then got a brilliant idea. At least, he hoped it was brilliant...

He motioned for Saoirse and Cass to follow him and led them into the kitchen where there was a small 'bar' for eating at. He set up plates for them there and winked at Saoirse, "This way, you get to have Cass to yourself for a bit," he offered, hoping she'd accept the way out that he was giving her.

Cass really didn't care where they sat as long as he got to eat. Taking his animal form always made him hungry, for some reason. He got onto one of the barstools and grinned at the plates, "Venison stew! My favorite! Traz and Mari have been taking lessons from Wind in the kitchen and they have to have used his recipe. I hope they made the spice cake too..." he said to no one in particular before he dug in.

Griz returned with two glasses from the dining room and set them by their plates, "There's the ale. Don't worry, Dama, it doesn't have a high alcohol content. It's more for flavor and goes really well with the stew," he explained to her before she even had to ask it.


Casee gave a small start when Za'Vira moved her head into him, though it woke him from his nightmare. He looked at her as she fell asleep again then licked a few more tears from her face. That done, he settled his head back on her shoulder and snuggled into her a bit better and went on to sleep as well.

Thankfully, none of the cubs had a problem with cuddling. They'd get dinner brought up to them later when someone brought up something for Za'Vira as well...  

[MzDuchess]

Red Gypsy

Wolfe Garm"

Saoirse smiled at Griz when finally was able to pull himself out from under all of the young shifters. The way the cubs snapped to attention when he addressed them was impressive, but she saw a few devious looks so she had a feeling that this was a normal occurrence for them and that it was not over.

Before she could comment on anything, the rest of their pack filed downstairs and started filling up chairs at the dining table. She noticed that not everyone was in human form and she was surprised at that fact. She had met a lot of shifters in her life, but most of them preferred their humanoid form over their animal one. it was only recently that she was able to actually communicate with them. It was part of the reason why she was still rusty on normal social interactions. Saoirse wanted to fit in and her brother did not, and with him being more dominant than her...well she normally did what he wanted. Until this last time anyways.

But, it didn't matter now. She was no longer under her brother's thumb and she was free to choose for herself, on well, anything. And even though she loved her new human form, especially when the mountain man gazed at her when he thought she wasn't looking, she missed being in her lion form. It's the skin that she is most comfortable in, and when social situations got to be too much for her, she would just shift.

Saoirse started chewing on her bottom lip again as she looked at all the shifters that had come downstairs. However, before she could freak out completely Griz once again saved her by offering her to eat in the kitchen. Sending him a look of gratitude and relief, she followed both him and Cass into the kitchen and sat on the stool next to Cass.

"This smells delicious.." she said with a little moan as she inhaled the wonderful aroma of the stew. She shot a beautiful smile at Griz before following Cass' lead once again and digging in to her food. It truly was the best thing she had ever had in her mouth.

When Griz gave her a glass of ale, she sipped it in curiousity, before licking her lips with a smack. 'That's really good...' she thought to herself as she downed the rest of the glass. She gave a small hiccup afterwards that caused her to blush lightly. She had never had alcohol before, and was amazed at how sweet it tasted.  

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

MzDuchess

Wolfe Garm

Samirra appeared in the kitchen, not far from Saoirse, Griz, and Cass. She looked around the kitchen a bit, knowing that it was time for the pack to eat. The little girl froze when she saw the group eating in the kitchen. She hadn't expected anyone else to be in here right now since the entire pack usually ate in the dining room. She had been too nervous to look into the future, just in case she saw the pack shunning her for what she had done to them last time she'd been here.

She took a step back from the group, accidentally bumping into a cabinet and knocking over a stack of plates. She managed to catch them with her telekinesis before they hit the ground, but the clinking of the plates as they'd fallen was still loud enough for anyone in the room to notice. She sighed and looked at the ground as she spoke, knowing that she had definitely been discovered now. "It's good to see you again, Cass," she muttered, sounding extremely nervous. "You too, Griz." Her eyes moved up to look at Saoirse. "I don't know you, yet. I hope you're enjoying the pack house so far." Samirra looked to be about five or six years old, though her eyes showed a far greater intelligence than one would usually see in most adults. She also looked extremely nervous about something that the lioness would have no clue about. She hadn't been there when Samirra had taken control of the pack to attack Wind. The girl realized that she was still keeping the plates suspended in the air and quickly used her telekinesis to put them back where they'd been before she knocked them over. She finally looked at Cass and Griz and frowned when she saw that Cass had a black eye. "What happened to your face, Cass?" She was keeping herself from reading their minds, unable to bear the possibility of hearing any negative thoughts they may have about her.  

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black

MzDuchess

Wolfe Garm

Griz was about to say something when Samirra appeared in the kitchen. She was one of the few WereWolves of the pack that had active magic. She'd been the darling of the pack, the daughter of Bethany and Wind's former mate Taro. She'd been named after Wind's sister, carrying the first part of her name.

Griz smiled at the sight of the girl and heard her out, "Shadow, it's good to see you back. The rest of the pack would love to see you, too," he hesitated a bit then dropped to one knee so that he wouldn't be such a huge mountain to the girl, "We're all sorry about Bethany, Shadow... If we could have saved her..." he stopped there, not sure about saying more just yet.

As Egan's second, or the Beta of the pack, protection was his responsibility. He felt that breach keenly, more so than anyone else. Then again, they'd all thought that Blade was dead, so how could they have protected against an attack? Gurzil had kept Wind's sister for so long, torturing her until he'd managed to trap her in human form with the feral mind of her leopard.

Griz glanced up at Cass when Samirra, known to the pack as Shadow, noticed the boy's face and allowed him to explain it. Cass looked up at Saoirse briefly then back at Shadow, "It was Sash. I think he was here when you were still really little, though. He's Outcast from the pack for the way he treated Wind and runs a shop in the market place. I was showing the Dama here around while I picked things up for the pack and Sash got the order wrong and hit me when I said so," he explained softly, his voice a bit subdued for the moment. Still, he leaned into Saoirse a bit, though there was no way for anyone to protect him if Shadow really got upset. She was just that powerful.

Griz nodded to Cass with a small smile then looked back at Shadow, "The pack will finish Sash off over it. No need to worry about that. It'll probably go down tonight, while everyone else is sleeping," he explained without giving any details. Of course, Shadow didn't need details explained to her...