[Are you alright?] Maud questioned through their shared mind link as she and Lou ran through the city streets.
[Just peachy.] Lou replied bitterly.
[You don't seem all that 'peachy' to me...] Maud observed. [How did things go with your little princess by the way?]
[Princess? You mean Alaric?] Lou rolled her eyes. Leave it to Maud to find an obnoxious nickname sure to piss a person off. She was curious to see how Alaric reacted.
[Yeah, your new found lover.] It was Maud's turn to roll her eyes. [Seriously though, how did it go?]
[We can't even look at each other.] Lou let out a sound that sounded like something between a growl and a snort. [How do you think it went?]
[Seriously? You two were practically dry humping in that meeting hall! What happened?] Maud questioned.
[That stupid ass line you fed me happened!] Lou snapped. And truly, just thinking about the moment she'd let that horrible line leave her lips was like watching the all of most cringey moments in cinema history packed back to back collage style and cranked up to one hundred. Even her own arousal had vanished as soon as she heard herself say it!
[He didn't like it?] Maud sounded shocked.
[Of course he didn't like it!] Lou let out a howl of frustration. [Why would he? I sounded like a complete jackass!]
[I don't know what his problem is.] Maud huffed. [Seriously! What a pompous ass! Oscar loves it when I say that to him. In fact, it turns him on so much we usually go four or five rounds before he's satisfied.]
Lou shifted back out of her wolf form, partially to escape the lewd images that started flashing through Maud's mind, and partially to prevent herself from tearing Maud limb from limb from speaking ill of her mate. She knew too much about her beta's sexual dealings with her meat-for-brains mate as it was, and while she certainly needed to discipline her beta for the blatant disrespect, killing her was too severe a punishment… for now at least. The cool autum air also felt marvelous on her heated skin.
She let out a sigh as the events of earlier that afternoon replayed in her mind for what felt like the hundredth time. That damnable line, that stupid fucking line! "Give me your pig meat." Just thinking about it made her cringe! As if the shame of having uttered that abysmal sentance weren't enough, then came his response. The response that would haunt her dreams for years to come. "Excuse me? You sound like my brothers. Sorry, this just isn't working... so unattractive..."
Lou hung her head as the words pierced her heart once again. She had always thought those scene in animes where the character was visually dipictied as being beat up or stabbed by hurtful words had been over the top. Now, she totally got it. Each time she remembered those words she felt like she was being run through.
Maud whined, recapturing her attention. It seemed the dirty thoughts had finally ebbed. Satisfied it was finally safe to shift back, she once again took the form of a massive black wolf.
[Sorry...] Maud shuffled her feet sheepishly as Lou shot her a glare.
[Watch what you think in this form! For that matter, watch what you say about your Luna.] Lou snarled. [He is my mate, and I will not tolerate any disrespect! You mouth off to him, then you're fucking mouthing off to me! Got it?!]
Lou sensed a strong protest weighing on Maud's mind, but thankfully she had the good sense to withhold it. For now at least.
[So… what you going to do now?] Maud questioned, opting for a slight subject change. [I mean, you guys are mates now… and you're the alpha pair! It's not like you can get away with living in awkward city the rest of your lives. For one thing, at some point you need to have an heir.]
[You mean if I don't die of shame first?] Lou shrugged. [Probably start small. Twenty-questions or some other bullshit icebreaker.]
[That sounds so boring!] Maud snorted. [Seriously Lou, what, are you in kindergarten?! There are so many better ways to get to know a guy!]
[Like calling him pig meat?] Lou rolled her eyes.
Scorn the experiance as she might, technically, it had told her a lot about him. Still, she had paid a hefty price for that information. Now, she knew that he didn't care much for his brothers, that he valued himself enough to be offended by degrading labels, and that he was much stronger than he appeared to be. Slipping out of her grasp had been far too effortless for him. Sure, he had caught her off guard, but if anything her grip had tightened—not loosened—in her profound embarrassment. She was more certain than ever he would be an invaluable partner to her as they learned to work together. It was a shame that all this knowledge had come at the cost of her dignity.
[You aren't going to let that go, are you?] Maud rolled her eyes. [Look, you asked for my help and I told you what works for me and Oscar. If it doesn't work for you, that's not my fault.]
Lou couldn't argue with her there. She had felt wrong saying it to begin with. Lou really had no one but herself to blame for going against her gut in an epically failed attempt to impress a mate she'd known from the the beginning wouldn't likely be all that fond of such crass pillow talk. She wasn't quite ready to own up to that fact to her beta just yet though. Her ego had already taken too big a blow that afternoon.
[Ah, home sweet home!] Maud yelped happily. Lou looked up with some surprise. Sure enough, she found herself staring out across a broad expanse of makeshift shelters and trash can fires. It worried her that she had been paying so little attention to her surroundings that she hadn't even realized how close they were to the pack. She couldn't afford to let herself be so distracted.
Taking a breath, she allowed her gaze to sweep the scene before her. Here, in the abandoned outskirts of the city, Lou's pack had managed to drudge up a home among the crumbling remains of abandoned buildings and piles of trash. Box stalls with various goods from food to fashion lined the grimy streets, more often than not near whatever hovel the owner of the stall called home. Despite her best efforts, most of her pack members only had a single pair of clothes, but it couldn't be helped. Money was prioritized for food, clean water, and medicine. Compared to the prestine marble walls and floors of the Blue Crescant packhouse, the dingy quarter that housed her pack seemed like little more than a public restroom in a neglectful middle-of-nowhere gas station.
Nevertheless, she was proud of the community, of the smiling faces gathered around those fires housed in metal barrels and the scraps of cloth that clung to their course, dirt-covered skin. It had taken every ounce of skill, luck, and coin they could scrap together, but Lou's persistence and her people's sheer determination had transformed a small band of sickly wolves to a bustling community of all manner of races. To her delight, they mingled quite well. Werebeasts, spellcastors, elves, Vampires, even the occasional human or rare supernatural could be seen talking and laughing with each other. Soon, very soon indeed, she would be able to start putting these amazing people into proper houses, and help them set up proper stores.
"Baby!" A deep voice rang out through the night sky. Lou groaned as Maud perked up upon hearing the voice of her mate, Oscar.
[Piggy?!] Maud looked around frantically, then raced off. Of course that would be her preferred pet name for the brute.
"Baby!" Oscar exclaimed again, throwing his arms out wide. It was all the invitation Maud needed.
"Piggy!" Maud called out loud as soon as her muzzle morphed back into a mouth.
Lou averted her gaze as the beta shifted and launched herself at him, latching her legs around him as he caught her effortlessly. True to form, Oscar didn't budge a fraction of an inch, despite the great force of Maud's leap. Not for the first time, Lou amused herself with the knowledge that Oscar had the brain, the build, and the personality of a brick wall. Her amusement didn't last long. In fact, to her dismay, they stared making love on the spot. She distracted herself from the unpleasant scene by searching for Alaric. He should have arrived by now.
A sniff of the air confirmed that he hadn't turned up quite yet. There wasn't a trace of his scent in the air, and what scents she caught of Draven or Azreal were old. She tried not to worry too much about it. Lou had never personally ridden in a taxi, but it was possible that it had just taken them awhile to find one. There was a pretty big event going on after all. Not just the wolves celebrated the Harvest Moon.
Trying to reassure herself that all was well, Lou slipped away from the glow of the fire light. As soon as she was a safe distance away, she shifted, snapped her fingers, and a form materialized from the shadows. Lou sighed as a pair of topaz eyes gleamed in the darkness. He never did miss a chance for theatrics.
"You called, alpha?" A silky baritone voice questioned in an almost obnoxiously sing-song sort of way. She swore she could hear him practically purring.
"Si-"
"You may call me Cat the Noir," the shadowy figure interrupted her sharply. She rolled her eyes.
"I don't see why I can't just call you-"
"As your most valuable beta, it'd be wise not to anger me," 'Cat the Noir' reminded her.
This was partially true. He, a powerful werecat, as well as the other werecats that followed him, had been instramental in gathering the intel needed to start reclaiming land stolen by the other packs. He had also provided invaluable insight into the strategy of almost every major operation the pack had taken over the past four years. Much as his rediculous aliases--more often than not 'borrowed' from names of historical figures or characters that took his fancy--annoyed her, he remained a loyal enough friend and a valuable enough asset that she could put up with it. Most of the time.
"Whatever. Cat the Noir is too long though. I'm just going to call you Noir until you change it again," Lou stated.
"Fine, I suppose that's fair." The topaz eyes narrowed. "Now, tell me dear Lulu... what does the big bad wolf need with a bitty-witty kitty like me?"
"Find Alaric," Lou ordered. "My mate, in case you didn't already know. I want you to stick to him like glue."
"Is this out of protection, or suspicion?" Noir wondered with amusement.
"Perhaps a little bit of both..." Lou admitted. "So far, he's proven to be quite reliable, but he is a son of Alpha Winters and I don't want to take any chances."
"Not to worry, dear Lulu, Cat the Noir is on the case, and I'm paw-sitive that I'm the cat for the job," Noir stated. So saying, he vanished once again. Just in time too. Lou turned as the bright glow of headlights arrived at the mouth of the block. It seemed that Alaric and her other two betas had finally arrived... in a brand new Lamborghini.