Shadow Heart Pack House

[Dameon Black Alt]

Wolfe Garm

Red Gypsy

Samirra was relieved to see Dancer sticking with her instead of heading back to bed with Egan. She really didn't want to be by herself right now. She'd spent a lot of time alone over the last six months, and it had really started eating away at her. Gurzil and Sebastet hadn't been much help with the loneliness. She smiled at Dancer again, effortlessly hiding her distress over her current state as they moved through the pack house. She seemed perfectly fine and happy as people talked to her and caused them to stop for a few moments. But she was always relieved when Dancer got them moving again.

She was starting to worry about what Egan would tell Wind as they arrived in the nursery. She waved to Trey and then smiled down at the cubs in the playpen. "They're so adorable!" she said. "I know that four isn't a lot when it comes to wolf cubs, but they're all perfect." She tilted her head a a bit as she looked them over. "I can feel a bit of psychic power coming from two of them." She pointed out two of the cubs. "Looks like those two inherited Aunt Morrigan's psychic abilities. Luckily, they don't seem to have nearly as much power as I was born with. That would be hard to deal with. I guess Ohvan's demonic powers balanced out and weakened their psychic abilities a bit. That's definitely for the best."

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer ruffled at Samirra's hair a bit with a smile, "That's good to know, Sweetness. We'll be able to keep an eye on that and get them the help they need when their powers start to show. When they're a bit bigger, Wind is going to work with Griz and Trey, who was just in here a moment ago, to help them with playtime to build their muscles and have fun. You know how your dad loves work out schedules for the little ones so that they have the most fun with whatever they have to do," he teased a little bit at the end.

Wind was a little infamous for how much care and attention he gave to the kids and their schedules. He treated every little one in the house as his own as well as taking care of his mates.

As a result, Egan had learned when to pull the reins on Wind and make him relax. Dancer just handed him a book and a cup of tea.

But as the Heart of the pack, it was hard to get Wind to back off and relax from time to time. Still, the rest of the pack was starting to figure that one out and was starting to take on a bit more to give Wind more breaks. It was taking time for everyone, but it was worth it. Wind just had such a big heart that it was impossible to not love him.

And with him taking on these cubs as his own... Well... It was Wind...


Bane just knew what was inevitably going to happen and was already headed down with a change of clothes for Trey when Cass stopped him, "Hey Bane, have you seen Trey? I was going to ask her to help me with my overhand/underhand switch. I can't quite get the hang of it. I keep nicking my wrist," he asked, looking at where he had a few new scars from his attempt to learn the new movement.

Bane gave him a smile and nodded, "You can follow me down, but hang back for a moment. She got herself worked up a bit and I need to calm her down before you can ask her," he offered, gaining a simple nod from the boy before they moved on downstairs.

Once downstairs, Cass waited while Bane went on inside and simply gave Trey a look for a moment then reached out to caress her cheek, "You need to calm down and shift back. Cass wants to ask for your help with something. I heard that Saoirse was going to do so, but since he's here, I think she's bailed on Griz. But what's going to hurt the most is that she's bailed on Cass too..." he explained to her, knowing that she'd understand what the issues were.

Admittedly, they both knew that the young male was a fantastic fighter, but he was still learning. But at the same time, Cass had just taken a hard blow... Everyone in the house had been expecting Saoirse to formally adopt Cass. But with her leaving, he went back to being one of the cubs Wind and Egan had taken in. Still, this one had to hurt both Cass and Griz...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Dameon Black Alt

Trey felt Bane’s presence long before he caressed her cheek, and looked over her shoulder as she listened to Bane speak, her eyes going from a deep red to normal as her change came quickly and knelt down a moment to catch her breath before she finally stood up and stepped over to Bane grabbed his shirt to pull him down and gave him a deep kiss before she released and grinned as a small bead of blood ran down her cheek slightly causing her to rub her cheek before she took the clothes offered to her by Bane and smiled “well I’ll just have to see what I can do to help” she got dressed quickly and collected the clothes that were in pieces, she had gotten good at putting them back together once her head had cooled off. As she picked up the pieces she picked up on what was on Bane’s mind and simply giggled “relax lover, the shadows gave me a good work out but they got a little wise and got a lucky hit on me, nothing I couldn’t handle and nothing that won’t heal quickly” Trey stopped what she was doing to look at Bane and gave him a toothy smile and stood up collecting her gear and making sure everything was back in order before she felt ready to address the issue at hand with Cass and just walked over to him once again putting her hands on her hips “well handsome let’s see what Cass needs help with” she giggled again as she stood there a smile as big as can be still showing as she waited to see what she could do to help Cass.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Dameon Black Alt

Bane just grinned and winked at her, "Alright, you sassy little thing... At least you're learning to duck better..." he teased her a bit then moved to the door to let Cass in, "Alright, cub. She's dressed again so you can come on in," he called out, gaining a shy half grin from the cub in question as he entered and moved over to Trey.

"Hi Trey. I was wondering if you'd help me with my overhand/underhand switch. I keep slicing my wrist when I make the changeup and you're so good at it," he asked her simply. He was growing up a bit faster now. His cat form had lost his spots (finally!) and he'd put on a bit more height, but he was still in the lanky teenager stage. He was all limbs at this point and growing his dark brown hair a bit longer, but his eyes were still the same pale gold. This time, though, those eyes carried a message, pleading with her to not mention Saoirse right now...

Saoirse was supposed to help him with his fighting techniques. But if he was asking someone else now, it meant that she'd finally left Griz. And if she'd left the bear, she'd also left Cass behind....


Behind him, Bane gave Trey a smile and a small nod, knowing that she'd handle the situation with tact. While Cass was growing up, he was still one of the 'orphans' that Wind and Egan had taken in. While Wind was the perfect 'mother', there was still something that was missing for Cass. Bane knew that Saoirse was filling that role for the boy but she'd never really decided that she was going to stay, leaving the boy and Griz both hanging on it all until now...

But he knew that his Trey wouldn't let the boy down. He knew that her heart was too loving for that. One of the many reasons that he loved her...  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Wolfe Garm

Red Gypsy

Samirra smiled as Dancer ruffled her hair, still looking over the cubs as he spoke about what Wind would be like with the cubs as they got older. "I definitely know how my dad is," she said. "He's always had such a big heart and been so loving towards me and the other kids around her. He just gives so much to everyone and doesn't expect anything in return. It's just so easy to love him."

She paused for a moment as she reached out with her mind, frowning a bit. "I just looked and saw that Saoirse left. That's a possibility that I've seen for a while that I was really hoping would go the other way. I know that Griz and Cass really grew to love her." She focused for a moment, seeing a quick glimpse of where Saoirse was at that moment. She watched for a moment to make sure that she was safe and then allowed her attention to shift back to Dancer.

She forced herself to smile again as she looked at Dancer. "We should do something fun to celebrate the new cubs. I know new children show up every now and then, but this time feels like a special occasion. Daddy doesn't take on so many kids as his own very often. Last time was me and my siblings. He already does so much, and it's so hard to get him to relax and take a break. It's going to be so much more intense with the new cubs. We should do something nice for him. What do you think?"

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer ruffled her hair a bit again but gave her a disapproving tisking sound, "You know you should slow down on that kind of thing, Sweets... You've been told about that over and over," he chided her, knowing that she'd understand.

"But you're right, a party would be nice. Griz has already been invited to a party of sorts and is out looking into the details for it. But it would be nice for the rest of the house to relax a bit. Maybe we could even get Cass to get interested in another girl..." he finished that with a teasing wink after the disaster of the last one he'd gotten interested in. She hadn't been very flattering when she'd dumped him...

Still, a party for the house was a good idea. There was just one complication to it. And he did get Egan in on this one, but made sure to block someone else...

"We just have to keep it a surprise with your dad. Knowing Wind, he'd try to plan the whole thing and do all the cooking on top of taking care of the cubs... So we should make it a surprise for him. We'll say that it's to celebrate the cubs, that way everyone will keep it quiet. We can even invite Ash and Anna and their boys to celebrate their new daughter as well," he suggested, thinking that it was a good plan to work on.  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Wolfe Garm

Red Gypsy

Samirra sighed as Dancer ruffled her hair and told her that she needed to slow down with her powers in that disapproving tone. "I know that I should probably slow down, but it's hard to do it," she said. "My powers are a natural part of me. Sometimes they act up on their own a bit, and sometimes I just can't help but use them. Especially after Gurzil helped me to unlock my full powers. But you're right. I'll try to be more careful." She decided that she would keep hiding the fact that she was aging faster than she should, since she knew that telling him now would only make him worry about her. Especially since she could feel her skin crawling a bit from how much power she had used, meaning that another growth spurt was going to happen soon. She would have to try to slip away soon to deal with that.

She nodded up at Dancer when he said that a party would be nice. "We don't get to do fun things like parties very often. It should be nice for the whole pack." She slightly altered her projection at his comment about trying to get Cass interested in another girl, not wanting him to notice her blushing a bit at that. She'd noticed a few strange new feelings starting to come up with her increased age, feelings that she recognized as a crush. "We'll have to see what we can do to help Cass find someone new. He needs something positive after the whole Saoirse situation."

She heard him mention keeping it a secret from Wind and nodded. "Yeah, we need to do everything we can to keep Daddy in the dark about it. Him running himself into the ground trying to plan a party while doing everything else he does would do the opposite of what we want to do with this party. So we'll have to figure out how we want to split up the workload so that we can get it all done without him finding out."

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer gave her a smile and a nod at her acceptance of slowing down with her powers then left it alone, knowing that she had to make the decision on her own in the end. While they all worried about her, he and Egan treated her at a more mature level than Wind did. But Wind was her dad, so it made more sense that he acted more like it.

"I'll come up with something for the party. Why don't you go get some rest? And think about how you want your room redone. I know it's still a bit on the young side of things for you. Go ahead and update it how you want it done. Just leave the notes on it for me and I'll see to it so that we don't deal with Wind over it," he teased her just a little bit, knowing that she'd appreciate it.

"The cubs are sleeping right now. I'll go check on a few things and see where Cass is. You get a little rest for now. Egan and your dad are finally getting some real sleep, so things are calm at the moment," he offered, knowing that she'd appreciate the break from everything to just rest.  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Wolfe Garm

Red Gypsy

Samirra was relieved that Dancer left the topic of her powers alone after that one warning, grateful that he could accept that it was ultimately her decision to slow down. She knew that she should slow down, but she was still working on figuring out how to do just that. She had just gotten so used to using her powers whenever she wanted while she was working on figuring out how to control them. It was hard to tone down how much she used them.

She gave him a quick nod when he said that he would come up with something for the party. She hesitated for a moment when he suggested that she get some rest and told her to think about how she wanted her room redone. She finally gave him a quick nod. "I'll give it some thought," she said, trying to sound normal. "Rest does sound nice right now. I'll talk to you later, Dancer." She gave him a hug and left the nursery, heading toward her own room.

She opened the door to her room and stepped inside, taking a look around. She looked over the various toys that were around, finding herself feeling odd. Her body had aged faster, and it left her in a difficult place mentally. She felt torn between trying to hold on to her younger self and just letting go and accepting that she was older now. She was full of new thoughts and feelings, but part of her wanted to hold on to the little girl that she'd been until her powers had forced her to grow. She finally let out a loud sigh and moved over to lay on her bed, stretching out and taking a deep breath. She stared up at the ceiling for a bit, contemplating the changes she might want to make to her room and realizing that any change she wanted could possibly reveal that something was off with her. She finally fell asleep after a while, the projection of her younger self still in place to hide the truth.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Dameon Black Alt

Dancer moved on to take care of the house until Griz got back. Truthfully? Dancer was hopeless with paperwork. And he knew it. Thankfully he had other talents. And not all of them were in the bedroom, surprisingly.

He started the planning for the party, started organizing some changes to Samirra's room, made the decisions for the next few meals and even got a little bit of it started, went to check on the changes to Griz's room and tried to check on Cass but since the boy was with Trey and Bane he left him to them... Finally, he went to bed with his mates for some sleep...

Eventually, Cass got the hang of the training exercise and thanked Trey with a hug and a small smile, "Thank you, Trey... You're the best..." he whispered to her softly, knowing that she'd understand that he wasn't just thanking her for the help.

He stepped back and gave Bane a nod and headed for his room and a shower. As he stepped out of the shower he overheard a couple of the younger females outside his room. They were part of a group that had formed recently among the teenagers in the pack.

"She's gone. Left him and Griz. Neither of them could keep her here, you know. Not that any female would want either of them... Griz is too big and Cas is too small... I think he's stunted. He's not that talented in the training either..." they snipped at him and he could hear every word of it. But he didn't do anything about it right now.

He'd seen what Griz had gone through before. If the bear could handle it, then so could Cass....

"He might hear you, you know..."

"What do I care? He's a friggin' runt... None of the girls here want anything to do with him."

"Yeah, but he's also the Alpha's favorite. There is that to consider. Getting close to him means getting close to the Alpha, you know."

"What do I care about that? I'm getting out of this pack soon anyway. Besides... From what I heard, there's plans for Egan and the rest of the pack..."

The voices moved on after that and Cass considered what to do with the information. He knew he'd have to tell someone. He knew that Bane and Trey would be headed to bed by now... Griz would be home soon... He didn't want to bother Egan without something more certain but knew he'd have to know...He didn't want to worry Wind, that one had enough on his plate with the new cubs... Dancer?

Maybe...

Then again...

As he looked at himself in the mirror with the towel around his waist, he knew that there was more to him than the others had seen. He was lean, yes. He was in the lanky-limbs stage all teenagers went through... But he was also muscled. He was a better fighter than they'd seen. Egan and Griz had asked him to keep that under wraps for now. He didn't question it. He knew he wasn't bad looking. His cat was even better...

He shook his head and pushed his hand through his hair, noting that it was actually colored like his cat. His eyes were the same as his cat as well, a tanned gold that actually looked good on him.

He wasn't meant to be overly muscled. He wasn't one of the other lions. He was a puma. They were meant to be light on their feet, stealthy, silent, hidden...

He finally shook his head and moved to get in bed, thinking that he'd talk to Dancer and Griz when he woke up. They'd know what to do with the information more than he would...  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Wolfe Garm

Red Gypsy

As Cass thought about what to do with the information that he had learned, the girls continued through the house. They suddenly found themselves at the top of the stairs without warning and caught a very brief glimpse of a grinning figure before they felt a hard shove and found themselves falling. The girls screamed as they fell, slamming into the ground with an extremely loud thud. Despite the noise, no one came out to check out the commotion. The girls simply laid on the ground as the grinning figure blew them a kiss and then disappeared.

Samirra jolted awake in the morning, trying to make sense of the strange dream that she had just had. She shook her head a bit, feeling different than she had when she went to sleep. She moved over to look in the mirror and had to stop herself from crying as she realized that she had aged even more in her sleep.

She took a shaky breath and left the room, heading towards the kitchen to find something for breakfast. She froze as she moved down the stairs, her eyes locking on the girls still laying unconscious on the floor. She looked around and found it odd that there didn't seem to be anyone else around to help them. She approached the girls and took a quick look over them to be sure that they were still breathing and let out a relieved sigh when she found that they were alive. She held out a hand and teleported the girls onto beds in the medical room, being careful not to shift them in any way that could cause more damage.

She took another shaky breath and immediately ran back up the stairs, rushing through the halls until she reached the room she was looking for. She knocked on the door relentlessly until Cass finally opened the door and then immediately stepped in without an explanation and closed and locked the door with a thought.

She turned to look at him with wide eyes, clearly on the edge of some sort of breakdown. "I'm sorry to barge in like this, but it's really important," she said. "This may sound weird, but I need you to answer a question truthfully for me."

She took a deep breath to try to steady herself and then moved on to the question burning in her mind. "Cass, did you happen to overhear a conversation between a few of the mean girls last night? They would have been saying awful things about you and Griz. Things about females not wanting either of you and comments about you being a runt and not being very talented in training. Then something about there being plans for Uncle Egan and the rest of the pack."

Her projection of her younger body was still in place, but he would easily be able to see that something was terrifying her. And with the incredible power she possessed, it was usually pretty concerning if something was able to scare her.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

Edited to add a bit more, should still let you post. When you come back....

Cass put on a pair of shorts as he got up to answer the insistent pounding on his door, rubbing at his eyes as Samirra rushed in and locked them both into his room. Strange to him since he never locked his door, but he was barely awake at this point.

She started asking him questions and he gave a shrug of one shoulder as he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up a bit in the process. He knew she was seer so he didn't question how she'd know about the conversation he'd overheard.

"Yeah, I heard it. They were right outside my room," he paused to give a yawn, "I was going to talk to Griz and Dancer about it when I woke up, see what they thought about it before talking to Egan," he paused there and winced a bit, "I mean... Alpha Egan and Beta Griz..." he corrected himself on the titles, reminding himself that he was more of a pack member at this point than family and would have to use the titles out of respect.

Besides, if he used the names without the titles outside of the pack (or around some people inside the pack) he ran the risk of getting hurt for 'disrespecting' the pack leaders. He'd already gotten smacked over it once and didn't want to repeat the experience. Best to just keep his head down for now... Right?

Well... For the moment, he had to calm down Samirra, "If you don't calm down, Samirra, you're gonna bust a blood vessel or something... People are always saying stuff like that where Alpha Egan, Beta Griz, Wind, Dancer, and you can't hear them. They don't want to get caught, you know. I store everything away that I hear and report it where I can. But there's only so much I can do. I'm only a package runner in the pack, you know..." he added as he rubbed at his face a bit and wondered...

Well, no sense in wondering about that right now...

He mentally changed the subject in his thoughts to being glad that he'd been taking lessons from Egan, Dancer, Griz, and Bane in how to shield his thoughts and emotions. Now he could shield out even Egan and Samirra all the time if he wanted to.

"What'd you See, anyway?" he asked her as he rubbed at his face and moved to sit on his bed with another yawn. His question indicated that he thought that she'd had a vision.

He ran a hand through his hair then scratched at his chest before reaching over to his dresser to pull out a tanktop. Clothes were the one way he could hide just how muscular he was and keep everyone underestimating him. It was what Egan and Dancer had suggested to him. Of course, he'd taken it as an order to keep his real skills hidden. Again, he couldn't be blamed for that.

While he'd been adopted by Egan and Wind when he'd arrived at the back door of the packhouse so long ago, all the talk he'd been overhearing lately had reminded him that he really didn't fit here, that he wasn't actually family. Samirra and her siblings and Morrigan's cubs were. They belonged here. He was just a stray they'd picked up. He dearly loved them for it, but he still knew the truth. He didn't belong.

He was trying to figure out when he was going to leave. He still wasn't sure of where he was going to go, but he felt that he should go. He didn't really have a place here, after all.

He gave a yawn and rubbed at his face again as he looked at the clock, noting that he'd only had about 4 hours of sleep. He was supposed to get up in an hour to get started on his job. He had six deliveries and eight pickups today. He figured that he should probably just stay up at this point. Still, he needed to get Samirra calmed down before he could change clothes.  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Samirra let out a frustrated sigh when Cass confirmed that he had indeed heard the mean girls speaking outside of his door the night before. It meant that she hadn't been just dreaming about what had happened, and that terrified her. It meant that she didn't have as much control over Gurzil as she had thought.

She gave a small frown when she registered that he had said that he was only a package runner in the pack. "You're more than that," she muttered. "You're part of the family here. You're important."

She let out another sigh when he asked what she had Seen and moved to sit down on his bed, reaching up to rub her temples a bit. "I saw something that terrifies me, because it means that I'm just way more dangerous than I thought." She shook her head and looked up at him. "There's a reason that I asked about what those girls said. It wasn't because they're actually any sort of threat. Me being scared isn't because of what they said. It's because you just confirmed that it happened, meaning that what I saw happen next wasn't just a dream."

She took a moment to collect herself, taking a deep breath and trying to make sure that she stayed calm. "Those girls are in really bad shape. And it's my fault. Gurzil projected himself while I was asleep and used my powers to throw them down the stairs. And then he made people just not notice them. They were still unconscious on the floor when I woke up and went to check. I sent them to the medical wing, but I don't know how it'll go for them."

Her projection of her younger self flickered for a brief moment as she started to slip back into that panic, allowing him to notice that something was off with her as she started to talk again. "I thought I had him under control, but he's just been doing stuff when I was asleep. And I never even knew. And now those girls might die because I couldn't control him. Because I didn't know that he can just project himself whenever he wants and tap into my powers somehow. I didn't even know that was possible, and now people are getting hurt by him. And it's all my fault." Her projection got more unstable the more she said, finally vanishing without her noticing as she stopped speaking and tried to catch her breath. Meaning that Cass was able to see that she wasn't as in control as she had seemed, that she had aged until she was his age and was far more distressed than anyone could have possibly guessed.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black Alt

Cass frowned as he listened to her, then actually got a little mad when he saw her illusion over herself fail. It took him a second to get his face under control but knew what he had to do with all.

"First, you're going to tell your dads about all of this. Second, we're going to get you help with your powers and the two in your head from Ash. Third, you're going to stop pretending to be something you're not. We have enough fake people in the pack as it is. You can stop being one too by not hiding anymore," he told her simply.

Honestly, dealing with the idiot girls wasn't that much of an issue. They were well-known trouble makers and were on their way out of the pack anyway. Egan already had their transfers ready, he'd only delayed because of the babies being born.

So Cass dismissed that part of things easily.

It was a couple of things that had upset him. The first was that she'd been dealing with everything by herself without asking for help when she knew that they'd give it to her. She hadn't even given them all a chance to help her.

The second part for him was that she'd been being a fake when she'd come back here. He hated fake people. He'd dealt the too much of it over the years and it really burned him. All the girls he'd tried to get involved with had just been after his connection to the Alpha and Beta. And Soairse.... Well... That had been fake too apparently... And now this?

He cleared his throat and started to pace a bit as he rubbed at his face and moved his fingers through his hair, noting that he either needed to cut it or leave it to grow at this point. But it was a passing note in his head as he tried to think.

On one pass he saw her trying to put the illusion back up and growled at her. That surprised him. He never growled.

But still...

"Don't put that fake crap back up again. Either be who you are or leave. I hate the fake crap and you know it, Samirra. Just leave it alone. You could have gotten help all along with this stuff but you decided to fake it all on your own. Either you are just that damned stubborn or you didn't think we would help you. Neither option is going to help you now," he told her simply then went back to pacing.

Why had he growled? That one was different for him. He'd never done that. Not even when he getting knocked around. Of course, he'd never reported those incidents because he'd simply handled them after hours, as the saying went... He suspected that Griz knew what he'd been doing, but no one else did.

After all, accidents happen....

He finally made a grumbling sound that totally came from his cat but did focus on her completely. That focus might have been a mistake to his control. Because only one thought kept moving through his head.

Damn she's beautiful!

He shook his head and got his control back in place then moved on to the situation at hand, "We'll tell Griz about the girls first and see what he says about it. He'll probably help cover it or just explain it as another accident. At least this one wasn't fatal, so the girls can still move on to their new pack. Anything they say about the fall can be put down to head injuries," he gave a nod, knowing the plan would work fine. He also hoped that she'd miss his tiny slip in there.

"As far as the rest, you have to talk to Ash about your powers like you originally promised him you'd do. Heck, even Saber would be able to help you with it, knowing his level of control. And his mental powers could have rivaled your mom's... I'd say Morrigan, but she's got her hands full with Gypsy. That leaves the demons and Griz to help. I think Dancer could help but I don't know his abilities that well yet," he paused there, knowing that she could have gotten help long before now and that irritated him.


But he moved on anyway, "I know your dad may have a mini-freak over your growth but he'll pull it together and help you deal with it. You just have to man up and do it. Your dads love you, Samirra. They love you. That's something all of the rest of us envy about you. Not the powers, not the place you have... Just that your parents love you that much. Give them the chance to show you that..." he finished that softly, knowing that it was the truth.

He would have let her speak but tilted his head towards the door with a small frown that quickly cleared up.

He moved towards the door and unlocked it then opened it and grabbed Griz by the wrist to pull him into the room then closed the door again.

The part that probably shocked Samirra was that Cass could move Griz like that considering their size difference. But Cass had been training harder than anyone knew...

"Okay Griz-" he paused with a wince then started over, "Sorry... Beta Griz... There was an accident..." he held up a hand, "Not fatal. A few girls fell down the stairs tonight. They were talking some smack outside of my room and saying stuff about plans in motion to 'deal' with the Alpha. Didn't hear much else. I was going to tell you about it later. Things happened though, so timetable moved up. Anyway, they're in the infirmary room now," the way he explained that showed that he'd been delivering reports of a similar nature for a while.

Then Cass gestured to the girl, "Also, seems that Samirra has been hiding stuff from everyone and dealing with it all on her own," he finished, knowing that he'd just totally thrown her off the bus as a distraction.


Griz had expected a report like that from Cass. He'd been doing a lot of 'accident reports' over the last few months because of it. But this one was different. Cass hadn't done it this time. And there was a new plot going but the ones that knew what was going on were injured. Great...

Then came the distraction...

He turned to look at the girl and gave her a soft expression, knowing exactly what had caused her rapid growth. He gave a soft sigh and opened his arms, "Come here, kitten...," he said softly, using the nickname he'd given her ages ago after she'd fallen asleep in his lap one day. She'd curled up like a kitten that day and the nickname had stuck. Admittedly, she was a wolf being called that, but it still somehow fit her.

He picked her up and let her wrap around him like a koala then nodded to Cass, "My room. Yours isn't sound proof," he said simply then led the way for the three of them.

Once in his room, he got Cass to help him get his coat and boots off so that the bear could keep hold of the girl, "Cass, go get Dancer. We'll let the others sleep for now. But Dancer would be good for this," Griz decided softly, knowing that Samirra would have a hard time reading any of them.

Once Cass was out of the room, Griz pulled her back long enough to cup her face so that she could see his brown eyes, "You're going to let us help you now, kitten. I'm not mad that you didn't let us help before now, but I am a little disappointed that you didn't give us a chance. I'll leave that discussion for you to have with Egan and Wind. Right now, let us help you. I'll deal with the mess downstairs. I've been dealing with the ones Cass has been giving me, so this one is no big deal. Your health comes before all of it..." the huge man told her softly before pulling her back in for another hug, "Let it all go for now, kitten... You've fallen... Now let us help you pick up the pieces," he whispered to her as he rocked her gently.  

[Dameon Black Alt]

Red Gypsy

Samirra was a bit confused when she saw Cass get angry, unsure what she had done to make that happen. And then she looked down at herself and realized that her projection was gone, that he could see the real her now. She started shaking as she realized that she was exposed, horrified that someone could see her as she really was.

She trembled a bit as he started to talk and detail what she needed to do, knowing that he was right about it all but finding that it still hurt a bit to see him so angry with her. His comment about her being fake hurt far more than she would have thought, and she had to fight not to cry.

She saw him pacing and tried to put her projection back in place, but found herself startled by his growl. She felt tears starting to fall as he chewed her out, unable to contain them anymore. "I'm sorry, Cass," she said, her voice nothing more than a whisper as she started to fully break down. Her body shook as she cried, her sobs only growing more intense as she heard his thought about her being beautiful. She'd always had a crush on him, but hearing that thought about her being beautiful just reminded her that she'd aged herself prematurely and really drove home for her how much of a failure she was.

She wiped at her face and tried to collect herself as Cass moved across the room to unlock the door and was a bit surprised to see him pulling Griz into the room so easily. She whimpered a bit as Cass told Griz about what had happened and started squirming a bit in discomfort as Cass drew attention to her and pointed out that she had been hiding things and trying to deal with everything on her own.

She couldn't bring herself to meet Griz's gaze as he looked at her, but she did end up grabbing onto him after a few moments of hesitation. She buried face in his shoulder so that she could try to hide her emotions, but he wouldn't be able to miss the way that she was shaking. And even if she wasn't shaking, she had never been able to hide her emotions from Griz. He had always been able to see through her.

She looked up when Griz told Cass to go get Dancer, wanting desperately to beg him not to. But she couldn't manage to find her voice to speak before he was gone, leaving her with Griz. She tried so hard not to look him in the eyes as he cupped her face, but she was forced to meet his gaze, allowing him to see the storm of emotions in her teary eyes. She closed her eyes as he spoke, tears streaming down her face as he expressed that he wasn't mad but disappointed.

She stayed silent for a while as he rocked her gently and tried to comfort her, but eventually she found words just spilling out. "Helping me doesn't seem to go very well for people," she muttered, sounding surprisingly bitter. "I still have nightmares about the ones who tried. I can still feel Sebastet's blood all over me sometimes, still hear that last breath she let out as I tore her heart out. I still see the faces of all of the ones that I forced to attack my Daddy when all they wanted was to help me. I can still feel the shock and hurt and betrayal from them in that moment, as I took control of them and made them into my puppets. I still hear Luna's scream of anguish as I tore Gurzil's heart out."

She took a shaky breath before she spoke again in a soft, pained whisper. "I still remember the look on Ash's face when he saw his oldest friend on a pyre because of what I did to her. I couldn't bring myself to ask for his help. And even after hearing the pack forgive me, I couldn't bring myself to ask anyone here for help. I keep hurting the ones who try. I don't mean to, but it just keeps happening."