An enslaved pack ruled by a merciless dictator. A pack of assassins out for blood and revenge.
A lone wolf who can't find his place among any of it.
Through betrayal, binding pacts, and revolutionary acts, with more shadows looming between the tree...
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With the wolves mostly settling in, Jake wandered out to the kitchen and started going through what they had. He pulled out a can of soup and started to heat it up on the stove. The Beta leaned against the counter with his hands in his pockets and threw his hearing out around the house.
Chatter could be heard from every corner. Three of the few younger wolves dashed in and out from the kitchen, one in wolf form, chasing one another in some sort of game. Jake was left alone after a while until a short sniffle, desperate to be silent, came and Erica appeared a moment later.
She paused in the entrance when she spotted Jake and straightened a little. He gave her a light smile when she came in and watched her over his shoulder as he poured soup into the bowl. He stopped halfway and nodded to it. "You want some?"
"No, I'm okay," Erica said then turned her gaze down to her shoes.
Jake poured the rest in and when he turned back to her, his smile had faded. "Hey," he murmured. Jake stepped up to her and captured a small strand of her hair between his fingers. "You okay?"
Erica nodded and found herself leaning into him a bit.
Jake wrapped his arms around her and put his chin on her head. "You want to talk about it?"
"No," Erica murmured but continued anyway. "I guess it's just weird."
"Yeah," he agreed. Jake turned his nose into her hair and drew in her scent. "It'll calm down."
"They want to be here, right?" Erica asked and turned into him more, ducking her forehead to his chest. "I mean...they don't think we're their enemy, too, right?"
"They've only ever trusted each other. Anyone else was the enemy. And now...we're strangers." Jake held her close but gently enough that she could pull away. "It's up to us to gain their trust, but they did choose this."
She nodded against him and slowly brought her arms up to wrap her fingers in his shirt. "Do they know?"
Jake nodded and said, "That was a part of the deal. But since the entire pack came...those who are unable to fight won't be forced to. You know Terra."
"Why do you think they agreed to fight?" Erica went on. "If others were just allowed to leave?"
He ran his fingers through her hair and shrugged. "Maybe they needed something to fight, after all these years? Perhaps they thought an Alpha like Terra was worth a try, even if they don't all admit it."
She nodded then and finally brought her gaze back up to him, all the while keeping close. "Yeah, maybe."
"You sure you don't want soup?" he asked with a tip of his head. His gaze slipped past her out of the kitchen and frowned.
"Sorry, I'm keeping you from it, huh?" She finally parted herself from him but then followed his gaze before glancing to him again in question.
"No," he muttered. Jake moved from her for a moment and took a step forward. "Someone is coming."
