Jaune Arc cradles his sister's cooling body in his arms, holding her head close to his to his chest, "She… she doesn't have a mark on her… Violette looks completely fine." He looks at his mentor with watery eyes. "She's dead but she looks fine, why?"
Preto Hele-Nui swallows as he looks over the girl, Violette Arc, and he sees what the boy means. Despite being savagely bitten there's no wound, "Aura is… miraculous, it can heal even the most gracious of wounds."
The boy nods numbly, "She was changing, she was going to live, Preto. I could feel it in my chest. The bond between us was strengthening, her nature was changing but then… it… it withered."
Preto looks at the boy with astonishment but quickly tempers it, the boy needs answers, "It doesn't happen often, in fact I've only heard of it happening maybe a couple dozen times in the last twenty years, but sometimes when a person is pushed to the brink, at the edge of death, their soul responds and their soul is unleashed."
"And a person can't have Aura and be a werewolf." Jaune mutters, hugging his sister tighter.
"No, they can't."
The boy curls over the body of Violette, his whole body shaking, "What I'm supposed to do? What I'm I supposed to tell my parents? My sisters?"
Preto presses his lips together and takes a deep breath, "Don't."
The boy's body stills, "what…"
"Jaune, what would you tell your parents? That a werewolf is loose on Orleans, that it's hunting the townsfolk to turn them? That you're one of its victims and it tried to turn your sister and it failed? What do you think they'll do?"
"They'll hunt it down!" Jaune roars, turning away from his sister, his eyes flashing, "And maybe that's a good thing! Because obviously we don't know what we're doing! It's been two months! TWO MONTHS! Two people are dead! One of them is my fucking sister!"
The man closes his eyes, "Three, three are dead and one of them is my sister too."
The boy feels the fire in chest douse, "Why can't we tell my parents?"
"Because Jaune, they can't kill it. An Alpha is the king of werewolves able to take on even the strongest of Huntsmen, even if both of them were S-Rank they would still be slaughtered; their hide is tougher than diamonds, their faster than a bullet train, their stronger than a Goliath not to mention their claws and fangs could sink through Aura like butter. Not to mention even if they could injure them they can heal even the most outrageous injuries." The older werewolf patiently explains, "The only thing that can stop an Alpha by human hands is either pure silver, an unholy amount of Wolfsbane, or a godly amount of luck or some combination of the three."
"But you said that the reason it was taking so long to gather a pack was because it didn't want all the Huntsmen in town to hunt it? If it's so powerful then why not bite as many people as it can and kill all the Huntsmen in their way?!" The young Omega questions, rage at the situation coating his words.
The older werewolf eyes are full of pity, "Because it won't be able to kill everyone. Once the massacre starts, people are going to run and then well, just because nobody in this town is strong enough to kill it doesn't mean nobody in the world is or that another Alpha won't hear of them and decide that they're a risk to the security of our existence."
Jaune bows his head, "And you think we can stop it?"
Preto nods, "You drove it off didn't you? The only thing that can kill an Alpha is another werewolf. Together, together we can stop them."
Jaune breathes heavily through his nose, eyes watering, "Okay." He looks intently at the man. "Then what do I do?"
"We clean her, we take her home, we lay her in bed… and we leave."
The boy cries softly but nods.
Jupiter Arc feels the morning sun on her face, she sighs and sits up, stretching as she does. She stands up and removes her night gown as she walks to her bathroom.
Opening the door, she walks in and travels to the shower. She turns it on and waits until the water warms before stepping in.
After a few minutes Jupiter turns the shower off and steps out, she grabs a towel from the rack beside her and dries herself off before wrapping it around her breasts.
The mother brushes her teeth then her hair before walking out of the bathroom and getting dressed for the day. After getting dressed Jupiter goes to each of her children's rooms and knocks on their door, waking them up, she doesn't stop until each of them answer her.
She used to let them sleep in if they didn't answer but after Jaune left the woman needed the peace of mind that the rest of her kids are still with her. When she reaches Violette's room, Jupiter gives the door a firm knock, "Hon, wake up."
Her youngest doesn't answer, so she knocks again, "Vi, honey, wake up."
Only silence greets her and Jupiter feels her heart skip a beat, she knocks again, louder, her voice letting in a hint of panic, "Violette, wake up. Now."
When she receives no answer, the mother opens the door and sees her little girl in her bed tucked in. Her face unusually pale, walking up to her, she gently rocks her awake resting her palm on the girl's chest only to realize that her chest is still, "Vio…lette?"
The woman grabs her shoulder and tries to shake her awake but nothing, "Violette!" She screams and tries to feel her neck for a pulse. Jupiter pulls away at the hard cold flesh and stumbles away. "No! NO! NOO!"
The woman falls to her knees and screams.
Noah is the first one to barrel through and sees his wife curled into a ball sobbing on the floor, his eyes moving to Violette. He focuses his Aura to his ears and denial tightens his throat, "No… no… no…" Walking to his baby girl, he leans over her body before pressing his ear against her chest.
No heartbeat.
"Please." The father's whole body shakes as he begs, to who not even he knows, "PleAsE." His voice cracks, as his legs lose their strength. Noah's arms wrap around Violette's body, holding her tightly. "PLEasE." He cries louder.
The man feels arms wrap around him and then another, and one more; the twins and Rouge are hugging him. The three of them sobbing into his form.
He looks up and see Bleue and Verte around their mother, the three of them holding onto each other for dear life. Noah closes his eyes tightly, tears falling staining Violette's cheek, "No, no, noo... "
Amethyst Cazador stands in front of her father with an almost angry look on her face. The two of them are in the basement of their home, a circle drawn in chalk surrounding them.
She's wearing black leggings and a sport's bra, her hair tied in a high ponytail while Henry Cazador is wearing a tank top and sweats.
The two of them are exchanging fists, the teen tries to land a gut punch only for her father to push her fist away from its target with one arm and using the other to snake under her armpit to lay a firm palm on her back. He pushes her torso down, putting her in an uncomfortable position as he steps off to the side.
"Rule one?" Henry demands.
"We hunt those that hunt us." Amethyst recites with a pained pitch. She stomps on his foot as hard as she could, her body briefly glowing a faint dark purple, strengthening her muscles.
The man holds in a grunt and keeps his daughter in place, "Rule two?"
"Never, ever show mercy." The girl replies as she crouches and grabs his ankle, pulling the legs towards her chest, he drops to the ground but before she could lock him in place he uses the momentum from falling to move back.
Both of them stand back up, raising their guards.
"Rule three?"
Amethyst draws a blank, her face scrunching up in thought.
Henry narrows his eyes and moves, he aims the heel of his right palm at her face, she ducks under the attack only for his right shin to strike at her. The girl blocks the shin, grabbing the leg and locking it into her side.
Her father drops himself, twisting as he does, forcing his daughter to the ground, her own arm now pulled into his grip, "Rule three; run when there is no way forward."
Amethyst screams as he twists her arm, she taps at the mat and he lets go. She sits up and rubs it, trying to dull the pain.
Her father sits down and sighs, "I know you don't think this is necessary but you need to take this seriou–"
"I am!" The girl exclaims, glaring at her father, "But I'm not… I'm not going to kill Jaune, not when he didn't do anything!"
"Not yet." He says resolutely, "A Newborn can't control themselves, only their Alpha can rein them in. And given what I heard from the sheriff then I highly doubt it cares what Jaune does. "
She huffs, "You don't know Jaune, not really."
"Amethyst!" Henry yells making the girl flinch, he takes a breath and calms himself, "I know what I'm talking about. A Newborn is all instinct, if they get a little angry, a little to happy, a little anything than they'll kill whatever happens to be unluckily enough to be in front of them, not to mention that if his Alpha orders him to do anything, like kill everybody he cares about, Jaune won't be able to resist."
"What about after he kissed me! Jaune lost control! He lost control and then gained it back! I saw it! He was so scared daddy! Terrified! But he stopped!"
The man closes his eyes, "I moment clarity, it won't happen again."
Amethyst bites her lip, "Jaune will prove you wrong."
Henry opens his eyes and stares at the teary face of his daughter, "He won't." Standing up, he walks up the stairs to the main house and leaves the girl by herself.
She stares at his retreating back and brings her knees to her chest and holds them tightly, "He will." The girl mutters. "I know it."
Jaune sits in Preto's house on the couch staring at the ceiling blankly. He can't stop thinking about Violette, her corpse, how he was too weak to do anything to save her.
Always too weak.
Not strong enough to stand up to his bullies, not brave enough to stand up to his parents, and not willed enough to break from the Alpha's control soon enough to make a difference.
Never enough.
Tears build in his eyes and he closes them tightly feeling them fall. The wolf within moans, its sadness mirroring his own.
Jaune feels a weight suddenly drop onto his lap. Opening his eyes and looking down they widen, a… a pale golden rabbit made from light looks up at him. The boy slowly reaches for it and caresses the top of it- her head. Though she's made from light he can feel her fur that tickles his fingers.
Looking the creature over he sees tiny nubs on her head between her long ears that stand at attention.
"Jackalope, you're a jackalope?" Like the Rusted Knight's steed.
The jackalope purrs almost like a cat, it buries her face in his stomach and Jaune laughs, he lifts her up looking her over before he starts crying. The boy hugs her and she makes a honking noise, rubbing her face against his own, "You're… you're Crocea Mors? Aren't you?" He mutters but doesn't look for confirmation, he doesn't need it.
Crocea Mors buzzs and stills in contentment, Jaune continues to hold onto her as his tears dry and exhaustion of the day sets in. Eventually he sleeps.
When Jaune wakes up he feels no weight on his chest, he looks for Crocea Mors and finds her laying against the doorframe, he stands up and walks over, he grabs the weapon smiling, "I really I'm obsessed with you aren't I? I dreamed you were some leveret." He sets the weapon down and focuses his hearing, he turns around towards the kitchen where the door to the backyard is.
As the boy walks away he misses the faint pale gold glow of Crocea Mors.
Opening the sliding door and out into the backyard he sees Preto sitting in front of a patch of dirt with a wooden tablet stuck in front of it.
It was carved with the words; Isabella Hele-Nui, loving sister, loving mentor, loving along with the symbol on Preto's back, the triple spiral.
He walks over and sits down next to the man.
The two say nothing for what feels like forever before Preto opens his mouth, "You know the Alpha of the Hele-Nui pack is always the oldest daughter?"
Jaune doesn't say anything.
"I used to get so jealous of Isabella. I thought how unfair it was, I was the stronger of the two of us, I had silver eyes, I could transmute long before she learned how. I should have been the Alpha."
"Silver eyes?"
Preto hums, "My eyes, my wolf eyes are special. I was the first in the family in ten generations to be born with them. My eyes, like the moon, can grant power, strengthen the power of another wolf."
The boy nods.
"When my family died, burned, all I had was Isabella. She took care of everything; cremated what remained of our Pack, warned what Packs we were in contact with about the Win–" He closes his eyes tightly before taking a breath, "She took us to Solitas, forced me to get an education all while she continued our family's mission; protect those who can't protect themselves. She was so strong and she loved me so much even though I treated her like trash." He cries, bowing his head.
Jaune lays his head against the other's shoulder, his own eyes wet.
"When I lost her, it wasn't like how you lost Violette, I didn't even know something was wrong until I shifted and noticed the lack of power. I should have gone with her but she insisted I stayed, Protect those who can't protect themselves, she said. I'll be back before you know it, I'm just visiting a friend, she told me. I'm an Alpha, do you really think so little of me, she teased. I relented and now she's dead."
"I'm sorry."
Preto shakes his head, "It's not your fault kid."
"It's not yours either."
The older of the two sighs, "I… for a long time I was angry and for a long time my form reflected that anger."
Jaune looks up with a confused frown.
"The person we are reflects in the form we take." Preto turns and stares at the boy, "I saw the form you took right before you shifted back and it reminds me a lot of my own in those dark days. The rage, the agony that twisted your core until you truly resembled the monster you fear yourself as; a Demon Wolf."
The Newborn looks away.
"Don't let what happened to your sister change you, Jaune. Don't let it make you into something you can't recognize. Don't let it make you into a monster because just as the people we are reflects in the form we take, the form we take can affect the people we are."