#gene and cassidy coming soon

[whumpbug]

『SIMON AND ARCHIE MASTERPOST』

long time coming guys.

this is just about everything with my vigilante x civilian boys! i might have missed something, but just know anything involving these two will be tagged #simon and archie

first off: here is their INTRO POST!!

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

FICS/MY ART:

simon getting heckled and archie to the rescue

delirious and shivering and feverish archie

archie accidentally hurts simon trying to save him

overstimulated archie and simon to the rescue in the field

simon kidnapped: the saga (part 1) (part 2) (part 3)

archie's hand is impaled. he is disgusted.

protective archie....

long fic archie with pneumonia

thunderstorm from hell. cue the fluff.

sick simon sleeps (spontaneously)

archie tries to make soup (he fails)

wwe day 1: emergency first aid

wwe day 2: like a record, baby

wwe day 4: it's every day bro

BUG DRAWS eepy archie

wwe day 7: accidental cryotherapy

BUG DRAWS silly archie

wwe day 8: put your head on my shoulder

BUG DRAWS pissed off simon.

BUG DRAWS the boys finally hug. they are happy.

delirious simon insists on suturing. go to sleep fool.

ANON FANFIC!!! archie's worst christmas

wwe day 11: a minor annoyance

my pt2 of the anon fanfic

wwe day 14: lay down your sword

wwe day 15: i'm going down (you're yelling timber)

✮⋆˙

OC QUESTIONS/LORE:

about archie's powers

bug and seth shenanigans: seth's guys thoughts on mine

bug and seth shenanigans: my boys' thoughts on jj and morri

AND MELLO DREW IT

comfort foods, hot drinks, and cozy nights

coming in from the rain, naps, and cuddles

light sleeper and clothes-stealing

dialogue responses from the boys

favorite pieces of media

songs on repeat and graffiti

aus, motion, and piercings

fave feature, joy, feelin like a kid, and this or thats

fun facts: spanish speaking and aliens

archie and star wars opinions

gene and cassidy crossover, dog person, and beaches

video games, cooking, and (art)chie

lightweight archie and menace simon

romance, melee weapons, and The Wilderness

The Wilderness (continued)

drunken shenanigans: piercing story

montages/cinematic intros

waking up as a robot

ANON HEADCANONS!!! (all canon now)

clocking the clone

responses to "how are you?"

archie's #1 worst injury.

fave accessories, hair changes, and possible aus

what pets would they own? (ft archie's allergies)

hands and nailcare

anon fanfic answers!

anon reaction to my fic!

archie and comic superheros

seth's BANGER of a post

archie's childhood/mother

simon and archie texting eachother

✮⋆˙

AU INFO/FICS:

roleswap info!

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

thats it! these boys were my first ocs on this account and they're very special to me so i hope you enjoy!

[puhpandas]

things I consider canon to my flashlight duo universe:

gregory and Evan move in together when they're adults. evan runs to live with the fazbears as soon as he turns 18 and they go from there. whether it's college or just an apartment

gregory is what introduces Evan to drawing and he loves it. they both keep up with the hobby when they're older as well. gregory likes drawing comics and maybe becomes a graphic novelist and I think Evan would like painting

Evan eventually meets vanessa when hes about 14 and she becomes the older sibling he always wanted. he always felt intimidated by her idea because shes Gregory's actual biological sibling and Evan holds that to a high honor because he wants to be. but they get along and vanessa being there for Evan makes him feel like part of the family even more

Roxy and evan are close. roxy kinda takes Evan under her wing because although its not the same experience because roxy had a support system her whole life, she wants to help him through what she also went through. she helps him learn an outlet to control his emotions more to be more manageable and is a calm shoulder to lean on for evan.

in the event that the bite happens (it doesnt usually), I think after Evan heals and recovers he and bonnie would bond over their scars and bonnie would make him feel better about them

evan meets cassidy later on when hes mellowed out some. I dont think she would have liked him a lot before but when hes healed more and gotten better with his sensitivity they get along pretty good. I think cassidy wouldnt have many friends and probably be considered a troublemaker because of her anger issues and her lashing out and Evan uses what hes learned with his emotions to help her. I'll say they're both teens here

freddy and the other adults wanted nothing more than to march over to the Aftons and declare that they're taking Evan forever but they couldnt. I think that they wanted to actually go through a process of adoption and taking custody but that would have affected Michael too and I'm not sure if they thought it was worth it. especially when Evan says hes alright with the fact that things arent perfect and that he already practically spends his whole life there anyway with how he spends the night.

I imagine william isnt the best cook and Michael probably has other means of getting food on top of not minding eating frozen dinners. but I imagine Evan probably didn't like a lot of foods (hes a kid and also. neurodivergent) and didnt have many things he enjoyed. so I think chica saw this and introduced evan to different foods and tried to help him figure out what he likes so he can eat better and enjoy it at the same time

Gregory and Evan are avid claw machine players

off screen when they're not having a moment with eachother every 5 seconds they play games like roblox and minecraft since they're in the modern day. I think Gregory gave Evan one of his older phones that still worked since he didnt have his own (theres nothing wrong with it, just an older model and maybe a little slow) and he plays on that.

gregory will draw during sleepovers and then give it to Evan to color in. gregory always keeps them and hangs them up or puts them somewhere for safe keeping because Evan doesnt want something to happen to them at his house

gregory hates pickles and Evan loves them

evan is an avid sweater wearer and the Fazbears buy him more when he only has like 1 or 2 and his other clothes are starting to get too small. he keeps sweaters at Gregory's house because he basically lives there already

theres a movie night every saturday while everyone is available at the Fazbears

michael starts to lay off a bit after a little while (think a couple years) just because Evan isnt even around as much for him to terrorize. Michael doesn't like being at home either and since they dont see eachother as much bullying Evan isnt in his minds eye as often. it just doesnt come to mind to do as much at that point

because of genes and chica helping him eat good, evan grows to be taller than Michael

evan experiments with gender later in life as a young adult and is lowkey surprised to learn that Gregory has been transgender this whole time

evan develops huge holiday spirit and for the rest of his days loves to decorate and do holiday-ey things for the season

[catz-brainz1234]

Okay

Got dam

Time to do a headmate roll call like always

☆ Lily

☆ Sophie

☆ Tixie

☆ Sally/Lucy/Sal

☆ Maeve

☆ Tilly

☆ Grim

☆ Yuri

☆ Dahlia

☆ Zara

☆ Selkie

☆ Bob Belcher

☆ Linda Belcher

☆ Tina Belcher

☆ Gene Belcher

☆ Louise Belcher

☆ Angel

☆ Freya/Flora/Lottie

☆ Natsuki

☆ Milo

☆ Darka

☆ Sayori

☆ Fig

☆ Nature

☆ Mangle/Toysette <33

☆ Toy Chica

☆ Monika

☆ Cassidy

☆ Susie

☆ Elliot/Aspen

☆ Atom Eve

☆ Alastor

☆ Rosie

☆ Coraline

☆ Lullaby

☆ Twyla

☆ Spongebob

☆ Trixie

☆ Kandi

☆ Vandala Dabloons

☆ Elizabeth Schuyler

☆ Peggy Schuyler

☆ Maria Reynolds

☆ Alfie, me! :3

There is 44 of us all together

Forty. Four.

We split so easy, Its crazy.

Also, I think Grim, Eve, the belchers and Toy Chica have temporarily gone dormant so I hope they come back soon :(

[wefoundloveunderthelight]

Void of Extinction by GleefullyCaptainSwan Chapter 1/9

Read on AO3: | Chapter 1

Or on FF

Stacy's Tortured Crew: @teamhook @kmomof4 @stahlop @lfh1226-linda @ilovemesomekillianjones @itsfabianadocarmo @mariakov81 @qualitycoffeethings @zaharadessert @jrob64 @jonesfandomfanatic @natascha-ronin @tiganasummertree @xarandomdreamx @therooksshiningknight @batana54 @superchocovian @onceratheart18 @ultraluckycatnd @snowbellewells @karlyfr13s @the-darkdragonfly @xsajx @deckerstarblanche

Chapter 1: There is Nothing to Fear

Storybrooke Maine, 2052. The world is slowly dying from a plague, only known as J2, that is spreading across the realms, a disease that has no cure. A faction known as “The Rebellion” have moved underground to search for a cure while avoiding detection from “The Hive”, a dangerous group run by an unidentified man of darkness searching for power. The only thing standing in the way of either group taking power is Mayor Regina Mills, who spends her time protecting the residents of Storybrooke from criminals who might bring the plague to her small town. The most dangerous occupants, those deemed most likely to bring the plague to town, are given a new opportunity, a chance for a new life, without being a danger to society, courtesy of the Gold Collective.

The pain was tortuously blinding as he tried to open his eyes. It was a feeling of waking from an all-night bender he couldn’t even remember attending. Peering through slits, his room came into view, blue neon lit behind the monitor on his wall. “Status Report.” He spoke, a gritty tone leaving his throat.

“Good morning James, it’s 7:53 am, pollution level 63%, you have no appointments today.” The pleasant robotic voice carried throughout the room. Something felt wrong, like a small itch at the back of his brain, a light tick that was calling out to him, telling him to pay attention.

He stood from his bed, the silk sheets falling to the ground behind him as he wandered through the apartment. “Open blinds.” He spoke and the metal slats hummed as they opened fully, revealing the land in front of him, dark smoke clouds on the horizon behind the mountains. Storybrooke, the only home he had ever known. He sighed; he was going to be late. He was halfway to the bathroom before he stopped in his tracks.

What the bloody hell was he about to be late for?

“What time do I have to be at work?” he said loudly.

“You are expected at 8:30am. Shall I prepare transport?”

He groaned, “Sure, but where is my destination?”

“Granny’s Diner, Main Street, Storybrooke.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, a headache taking form at the back of his neck. “Granny’s.” He mumbled. Short memories, like a picture show, formed in his head, an older woman barking orders at him as he cooked burgers in the back of the small diner. He was a cook. He wasn’t sure why that felt odd to him, like something was out of place. He didn’t have time to contemplate the decisions he made in his life. He was going to be late for work.

The quick shower didn’t erase the feelings, images he didn’t recognize were imprinted in his subconscious every time he closed his eyes. A woman with hair, a light pale yellow, eyes green as grass staring at him. He couldn’t place the image, some celebrity perhaps he had seen in a movie. He shut off the water, running the towel through his hair as he tried to rub the sleep from his brain.

He dressed and left his apartment, sliding the locks shut with a slam, cranking the large metal door handle to the right to ensure it was locked. He glanced down the darkened hallway at the few people meandering about, the lot of which always appeared to be lurking, watching for unsuspecting individuals who left their belongings unprotected.

“You’re late.” The woman growled as soon as he entered the back of the diner.

“I’m sorry, Granny. In my defense, I forgot I had…” He thought about his sentence. What did he forget exactly? That he had a job, that he was a cook, why he had even woken up at the time he did, dreaming about a woman he had never met, “to work this early.” He finished.

“I’ve had to tell you the same thing since you started working here, it would do you some good to have your AIM set a damn alarm before you go to bed.”

Killian had alerted his AIM or Artificial Intelligence Monitorto set a 7am alarm, yet it failed to alert him to his shift for the last few weeks. He would need to have it repaired if this continued.

“Yes Ma’am, apologizes.”

“Just get to work, we got people waiting.”

James pushed through his shift, flipping burgers, cracking eggs, and sending out plates of food he had no memory of knowing how to cook. He wondered to himself how he ended up with this life, when had he decided that this was the best job he could find? Each time he tried to imagine another career, something that he might actually enjoy doing, the migraine would hit him out of nowhere, crippling him until the inhibitor was injected into his arm and his breathing returned to normal.

Whatever plagued him, this medical condition that brought him to his knees had always been with him from what he could remember. He assumed that it had begun when he was a child, it was second nature for him to know to inject himself once the pain hit. Yet he couldn’t remember when it began.

He climbed the stairs to his apartment at the end of the day, entering his room and locking it down behind him. “Set alarm for 7am.” He said once he sat his keys on the counter.

“Alarm set. 7am.”

He went about the mundane task of preparing his dinner, watching the Holo TV, news that the plague had spread to the outer banks was on every station. Mayor Mills calmed the crowd during her press conference and on each holo announcement that played every 15 mins.

“People of Storybrooke, I give you my assurance that the plague will not breach our walls. We have taken every measure possible to protect our citizens. We continue to fight back the resistance uprising, and our law enforcement continues to arrest any faction that supports it. There is nothing to fear.”

Mayor Regina Mills stood in the center of the screen, flanked by her officers on either side. She was fierce, strong, and protected the town of Storybrooke with honor.

“Turn off Holo TV.” He announced, setting his dishes in the machine for cleaning.

He crawled into bed, pulling the covers over his hips. “What time is the alarm set for?” He asked, ensuring that everything was still working.

“Alarm is set for 7am, James. Sleep well.”

~*~

Emma woke to the sound of crying. She jumped up from her spot and reached for her son, pulling him against her chest. “Hush now Henry, mommy’s got you.” Pressing her child to her breast she felt the tug against her nipple as her son quieted. She smiled down at the infant in her arms, her heart aching as she watched him so still against her, as if nothing in the world mattered but his own nourishment.

Emma wished her view of the world were as innocent. But she knew better.

She looked around the dark shack she had been hiding in for the last few weeks. She could hear the water on the other end of the door, just on the outskirts of the town line. It would be dangerous if anyone were to find her. She had given up everything to get away from Neal Cassidy. Her safety, comfort, even her future was all gone the instant she escaped the tower that had been her home for the last five years.

Emma knew it was dangerous being outside the protective walls of Storybrooke, those who had been exiled lived on the outskirts, many would not escape the plague once they lost the protections provided behind the walls. Emma knew it all too well, five years ago when the plague first appeared, she had taken ill, she was expected to die quickly, painfully. But after a month, the symptoms subsided, and Emma survived.

Doctors could not explain why she survived, only that she had been very lucky.

And then she met Neal. She thought she had finally found someone to share her life with. She was taken in by his father, Gold, a man obsessed with finding the cure to the plague.

His company, The Gold Collective had invested in experimenting on anyone who had come down with the plague, valiantly searching for a cure, the perfect gene sample that would save humanity, but his efforts had been fruitless as most of his subjects died before he had completed his experiments.

Emma found him to be odd, even a bit intimidating at times. His obsession with the plague caused her to keep her own situation quiet. She had a feeling if he had known that she had somehow lived through the plague that his interest in her might become more than just the father of the man she lived with.

Gold took care of her, as Neal’s girlfriend, he ensured that she had everything she could ever want. And Neal provided her money, food, and a roof over her head. Something she didn’t have before she had met him, back when she was homeless, trying to find her place in Storybrooke. Neal took her in and loved her.

But all of that changed a little over a year ago. Emma wasn’t snooping, she hadn’t meant to be in the office after hours, but Neal had not returned home that evening, and Emma had been worried. So, she left the penthouse suite of Gold Laboratories and headed to Neal’s office. Before she even reached his wing, she heard arguing.

The conversation between Gold and his son was chilling. She knew she needed help. She didn’t want to cause alarm or alert either of the men to the knowledge she had overheard them, had realized who the Gold Collective really was, so instead she waited out her time. A week passed before she found her mark, a police detective whom she had followed for days. He lived a quiet life, devoted to his job, going between his apartment downtown and his job at the station, never deviating from his day. He always arrived at work at 10:02am for a 10:30 shift. He had lunch with his partner at 12:45, he picked up Chinese food at 9:00pm before returning to his apartment. She had watched him assisting his elderly neighbor up the stairs and she knew this was the man she needed to trust.

Officer Killian Jones didn’t know what to make of her when she showed up at his door at midnight one night. Begging to talk to him, asking for discretion as she tried to determine if he trusted her. When he learned of the knowledge she had, he panicked. He sent her home that evening, telling her to wait a week before she reached out to him again.

It took a month, Emma would arrive at his apartment, they would talk about their plans, share intel on what they had each learned, and suddenly, knowing he was the one person she could trust, feeling like for the first time in her life, someone understood and truly cared about her, she fell for the man.

He tried to deny her, not wanting to take advantage of her trust. But they were in love. There was no denying it. The affair was something that neither one of them had the power to stop. Emma would spend her evenings with Killian, staring at the stars talking about what the future held for them once they were able to figure out a way to stop everything that was happening around them.

But she always returned to Neal, she had no choice but to keep up the ruse in order to protect the secret she had. Too many powerful people were involved for her to alert anyone else. Killian didn’t even trust his partner David enough to share the information.

Suddenly Neal became protective of her, asking her where she was going anytime she left the apartment, so Emma had to distance herself from Killian. It had been a month since they had been in contact when Emma received devastating news. She and Neal were having a baby. It broke her heart. When she finally told Killian, he urged her to escape before the child was born. Once Neal had a child, he would never let her leave.

Emma knew he was right, unfortunately by the time she planned her escape, the child was born a prematurely. She was trapped. Killian became concerned for her safety now that a child was involved, and Emma was forced to share her secret with her childhood friend, Will Scarlett. He sprang into action, becoming the go between for Emma and Killian to set their plan in motion for Emma and Henry to escape.

That night, she met Will on the roof, and they made their daring escape, 65 flights of stairs down the back of the building. They waited for hours at the drop off point, but Killian never showed. Emma was devastated, she felt trapped. Will went in search of him, he wasn’t at his apartment, the station, or any of his usual locations. Killian was gone without a trace.

She knew that something bad had happened to him. He would never abandon her. She trusted him. The only solution she could come up with was that Gold or Neal had found out about their plan.

Killian was in danger, unless something bad had already happened to him. She was desperate to find him. Without Killian Jones, the entire town was in danger.

“Are you decent?” Will’s voice rang out from the other side of the door. She pulled her shirt over her breast, setting her sleeping son beside her.

She stood up and looked through the crack in the door. Will was standing nervously on the edge of the water. She clicked the locks, lifting the wooden latch until the door slid open. Will stepped quickly into the shack.

“You ok?”

“Did you find anything?” She asked anxiously.

“Maybe.”

Emma stared at him with pleading eyes. “What do you mean maybe?”

“Look, don’t freak out, ok?”

“You’re scaring me.” She responded nervously.

“I drove by the station again, nothing. David is there but Killian wasn’t around. I didn’t want to go in, because I figure they might start asking questions, but there was this girl sitting outside and I asked who I could talk to about a case of Killian’s, and I used me ole charm and she told me that he never came back to work a few days ago, and that they opened a missing persons case on him.”

“Oh God, Will.”

“I said don’t freak out.”

“This is terrible. They killed him, didn’t they?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, I haven’t told you everything yet.” He pleaded as she paced the room. “Anyway, I went by his apartment, and it was empty. The neighbor says they haven’t seen him for days.” She started to speak, and he pressed his hand to her mouth. “Emmie, I need you to be quiet, I know that’s hard for you.”

She groaned against his finger and mumbled. “Fine.”

“I got hungry as I usually do about this time and got a craving for a big greasy burger.”

“Seriously, you wanted me to be quiet so you could talk about food? I’m losing my patience, Scarlet.”

“The burger was excellent by the way, but that’s not the point.” He paused. “I went back to my car, and there was a man out back tossing out some trash.”

“Would you get to the damn point!” She yelled.

“It was Killian.”

“What?”

“The guy out back. Spitting image of him.”

“Did you talk to him, ask him what the hell is going on?”

“I talked to him, but he acted like he’d never seen me in his life. Swears his name is James Rogers. Emmie, it was the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. But I tried, I even called him Killian Jones and he stared straight through me…” He dropped his head. “And then he thought about it, I could see the wheels turning in his head, and then he started wincing, and that’s when I saw it.”

“Saw what?” Emma asked impatiently, dreading the fact that she could already feel it in her gut, she knew what he was going to tell her, every sensor in her brain was going off that she already knew the truth.

“An inhibitor. The man injected himself with one of Gold’s inhibitors.”

Emma felt the tears forming, she knew it was the truth. It made sense, he would never have abandoned her or Henry. The only explanation was that Gold or Neal had found out what she was planning to do and got to Killian first. “They erased him.” She said sadly, feeling every last bit of hope she had draining from her being.

“Emmie, he’s one of the void. There’s no way back from that.”

“Don’t say that, we don’t know that. It’s all experimental, it’s not even legal. Gold’s been doing it for years on test subjects. Killian can fight it; I know he can. He’s too strong.”

“Emmie, he had no idea, absolutely no idea of who I was.”

“It doesn’t matter, Will. We must keep trying. Maybe the inhibitor just suppresses his memories. We have to get him not to use it.”

“For all we know, not using it could cause his brain to explode. It’s dangerous.”

“I won’t give up on him Will. I can’t lose him.”

He pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back in slow circles as she cried. “It’s gonna be ok, we’ll figure it out.”

“What are we going to do, Will? Without Killian, I’ll never get into the station to upload the information.”

“We’ll find a way. That’s what we do right?”

She smiled weakly. She wouldn’t give up on him, he risked so much to try and protect her and another man’s child. He had given her hope when she had none. She would never stop trying to get him back. Even if it killed her, she would save Killian Jones and take down the Gold empire.

[hookedonapirate]

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Summary: Detective Killian Jones took an indefinite leave of absence from SBPD after his brother was murdered in the Line of Duty. Bitter and broken, he resides in a cabin on the beach when his brother's former partner, David Nolan brings him a case he knows the vengeful detective won’t be able to resist. A case involving Liam's killer.  

Dr. Emma Swan makes all of her decisions like she operates on her patients—with care, competence and compassion. But when her colleague, Graham Humbert, is murdered in cold blood by the man who was freed because of a decision she made as a juror, she starts second-guessing herself. To make matters worse, her squeaky clean reputation is being questioned when she becomes a suspect for Graham’s murder.

There is one detective who believes she’s innocent, and he has a plan to protect Emma and find his brother's killer at the same time. When Killian finds himself caught between his duties to the SBPD and his need for vengeance, matters are only complicated by the feelings he develops for the woman he's supposed to protect.

He's impulsive and hot-tempered, and she's methodical and cool under pressure. Despite their differences, can they work together to bring the murderer to justice, or will the murderer get to them first?

A/N: Many thanks go to @ultraluckycatnd​ for her wonderful beta-ing skills and @onceuponaprincessworld​ as always for her encouragement and letting me bounce ideas off of her.

Rated: Explicit due to mature language, character death, violence, murder and smut. The scenes won’t be too graphic, but I’d rather overrate than underrate it.

Catch up: Pro I Ch 1 I Ch 2 I Ch 3

Also available on: AO3 I FF.N

Chapter 4

Killian knocks on the door and lets out a slow, troubled breath as he turns around, sliding his hands into his pockets. He’s rarely here, but it’s time he changes that. And not just for the case, but for Liam. For his sister-in-law. He used to come over to visit Liam, Elsa, and Camila all the time, but Liam’s death caused tension between him and Elsa. He just hates that it took this long; he hates that David had to pull Killian’s head out of the Port Lavaca sand for him to realize this. 

  “Killian?”

  The sound of his sister-in-law’s voice pulls him from his thoughts, and he turns around, offering a faint smile. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” Elsa says, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms as she stands in the doorway. “I wasn't expecting you.” 

  “Nice to see you too, love,” he teases with a smirk. When her solemn expression never changes into something more cheerful, his smile dims. “Is this a bad time?”

  “No, it’s just… usually you call ahead first.”

  Killian scratches behind his ear. “Apologies, love, I just…”

  “Camila’s out shopping with Anna.”

  “Dress shopping?”

  “No, we ordered her dress weeks ago. Anna's just getting her some new clothes. They’ll probably be back in an hour or so.”

  “That’s okay. Actually, I came here to talk to you.”

  Elsa studies him for a moment with a scrupulous eye. “Okay...” She opens the door for him, her features laced with concern. “Is everything alright?” 

  “Aye, everything’s fine,” he replies as he steps inside. She shuts the door behind him as he turns around to face her, expelling a tentative breath. “Actually, no, it’s not,” he murmurs, his eyes meeting hers. “It hasn’t been for a while… and I wanna change that.”

  Elsa knits her brows in confusion. “What do you mean? What’s going on, Killian?”

  He gestures between them. “I’m talking about us, Elsa. You and me. We haven't had the same relationship since Liam passed, and I’m mostly to blame for that.”

  Elsa arches a brow as if to say, are you sure about that?

  Killian chuckles. “Okay, I take all the blame.”

  Elsa folds her arms over her chest, her features softening. “Okay, I’m listening.”

  Killian tilts his head in the direction of the kitchen. “Can we sit? The conversation might be too heavy for standing.”

  “Sure,” she says, heading toward the kitchen. “Would you like anything to drink?”

  “Got any wine?” he asks as he follows behind her. 

  Elsa turns her head toward him, her thin brows climbing her forehead. “Since when did you become a wine drinker?”

  “Not for me, for you. You might need it.”

  “That heavy, huh?”

  “Aye.”

  “Well, I have some white wine, but Camila will be home soon and I don’t drink around her. Iced Tea okay?”

  “Aye. How’s she doing?” he asks as he takes a seat at the breakfast nook.

  Elsa grabs a pitcher of tea from the refrigerator and two glasses from the cupboard, filling them to the brim. “She’s doing fine.” She brings the drinks to the table, hands him one and sits across from him. “She’s growing like a weed.”

  Killian chuckles. “Well, she gets the tall gene from both parents. Liam was six feet tall and you’re what, 5’8?” he guesses before taking a sip of his tea, the glass slick with condensation.

  “5’7,” she corrects, her lips finally cracking into a faint smile. “5’9 in high heels.”

  “Still, she’s already taller than most kids her age.”

  “She is,” Elsa nods in agreement and takes a sip. 

  An awkward silence fills the room, apart from the slow tick of the wall clock, and Killian scratches behind his ear, not sure where to begin. Things are definitely not like they used to be. He used to be able to talk to Elsa like they were… well brother and sister. Sometimes they got along, sometimes they didn’t. But there had never been actual friction between them like there is now. He clears the cobwebs from his throat, breaking the silence. “So, um… I came here to apologize to you.”

  “Why? Because our relationship hasn’t been the same?”

  “Aye,” he nods, “and also because I never formally apologized to you for what happened after Liam… after he died.”

  “Killian, you don’t have to—”

  He puts out his hand dismissively. “I do, Elsa. I screwed up. If I hadn’t gone after Cassidy the way I did, he would’ve been on death row. He’d be long gone by now.”

  Elsa offers a half-smile and takes his hands in hers. “Killian, whatever you could’ve done or should’ve done or didn’t do, it doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t have brought Liam back. So stop blaming yourself for what happened.”

  Killian furrows his brows. “I don’t. Not anymore. But I thought you did.”

  Elsa shakes her head, eyes welling up with tears. “At first I blamed everyone and everything. I blamed Liam for not telling me about Cassidy or about the danger he was in. I blamed myself for not telling him to be careful every single time he left the house—” Her voice cracks as a tear rolls down her cheek. She laughs as she removes her hand from Killian’s to wipe her tears. “Hell. I even blamed the cat.”

  Killian offers a weak smile. “I blamed Snickers, too,” he jokes, making her laugh again. “I always thought he was an evil cat.”

  “But it didn’t matter who we blamed. Liam’s gone, and he’s never coming back. I’ve had to drag myself out of bed every goddamn morning knowing he wouldn’t suddenly walk through the front door telling me he fooled everyone into thinking he was dead. I’ve had to convince myself I wouldn’t wake up one day and find him in the shower and realize the past three years were all a dream.”

  He chuckles. “Nice Dallas reference.” 

  She laughs. “Thanks. Did you ever watch the reboot?”

  He used to watch the reruns of the original Dallas with Liam and Elsa after the reboot came out. They watched it for shits and giggles and because it was based in Texas, but who doesn’t secretly love a trashy sitcom? “No, did you?”

  She shakes her head. “Never did.”

  “So if you didn't blame me for Cassidy getting away, then why did you hate me for the past three years?” Killian asks, getting back to the matter at hand. 

  “I didn't hate you, Killian. I never hated you. It was just...” She pauses with a heavy sigh. “It was just easier to avoid you.” As she speaks, her eyes drift away from him and she looks up the ceiling, trying to fight off more tears. “It was too hard to look at you because every time I did, I saw him. I still do,” she wheezes, a sad smile on her face as her eyes fall back to his. “It brought back too much pain.”

  His heart tightens at the way she looks at him. He’s been told his whole life he and his brother had the same eyes, but he didn’t know how true it was until now. And he guessed he could see the resemblance in pictures or when he looked into the mirror, but he never realized how much their resemblance would affect his sister-in-law. 

  “And it’s bad enough I live with Liam’s female mini-me,” she says, laughter catching in her throat. 

  “I can imagine.” Killian’s lips twitch into a small smile. Camila has brown, curly hair and blue eyes like Liam did. “Here I was under the impression you blamed me all this time. I thought you still held some kind of grudge against me for letting Liam’s killer get away with what he’d done.”

  Elsa shakes her head. “I blamed you for a long time, believe me. Then I realized it's pointless to place blame. I mean, I could blame my sister for leaving the flash on my phone seven years ago, but if she hadn't, then Liam and I probably wouldn’t have met and we wouldn't have gotten married and had Camila. We wouldn't have had an amazing life together, even if his was cut too short.”

  “You're wrong about that, you know? You and Liam still would've met if we didn't catch you snapping his picture.”

  Elsa rolls her eyes and laughs. “I know he said he also noticed me in the restaurant, but you and I both know he would've been too shy to approach me.” 

  “Aye, that's what little brothers are for. They make the perfect wingmen,” Killian chuckles.

  “You mean younger brother?”

  “Aye.” When the laughter dies in his throat, his smile dims as he stares into his glass of tea. “Truth be told, I would give anything to hear him call me little brother again.”

  She smiles. “I know you would.”

  He nods, looking up at her again. “He noticed you as soon as you entered the restaurant and his eyes lit up like the Fourth of July. His expression changed like a light switch. As though he were living in the darkness and suddenly a light turned on. I had never seen him look at anyone like he looked at you. And the second he looked over to catch you taking his picture after we saw that flash from your phone go off, he was a goner.”

  Elsa nods with a laugh. “Yeah, I literally shined the light in his eyes.”

  “You did,” he agrees with a chuckle.

  “And you were next.”

  Killian furrows his brows and points a finger at my chest. “Me?”

  “Yep. I took Liam’s picture for myself, and I was going to take your picture for Anna. Before the flash went off, my plan was to get up, use the ladies’ room and snap your photo when I headed back to my seat. But thanks to Anna using my phone a couple nights before to take a group picture outside a nightclub, the flash was on and I was caught red-handed. And who knows, if that flash never went off, you could be the one marrying my sister on Saturday,” she teases. That was Anna and Elsa’s thing apparently—to take pictures of cute guys and text them to each other. That’s why Elsa was taking a picture of Liam that evening in the restaurant; she just didn’t realize the flash was on until she snapped the photo.

  Killian shakes his head. “That would be too weird. She’s family.”

  “True, but she wasn't back then.” Elsa takes a sip of her tea before setting her glass down. “It’s too bad my cousin ended up getting called into work that evening because you two might have hit it off… well actually you probably would’ve butted heads, but as they say, opposites attract,” she smirks.

  Killian arches a brow. “I have two questions,” he says, counting the questions on his index and middle finger, “Which cousin? And is she pretty?”

  Elsa laughs. “Emma. And yes, she’s very pretty. She was supposed to have dinner with me and my Aunt Ingrid that night, but canceled because she got called into work. She’s a doctor.”

  “Really? She’s smart and pretty, and you’ve never introduced us?” he asks, pretending to be offended before he takes a sip of his tea. He wouldn’t describe her as pretty though. More like stunningly beautiful.

  “And she's three years older than us. I know how you like your women older,” she smirks.

  Killian rolls his eyes, not appreciating the off handed remark. “I dated an older woman once a long time ago, yet I never hear the end of it.” He's surprised Emma's thirty-eight even though he shouldn't be, considering she was the runner-up for Chief of Surgery and obviously has the education, training and experience for the rank. She certainly doesn't look her age though. She looks thirty, maybe thirty-five.

  Elsa laughs. “Oh come on, I'm only teasing. Anyway, Emma's always working. And I mean always. She works at Storybrooke General which is always on alert for major disasters . I hardly ever see her, and we lived together for five years when we were kids. She even missed mine and Liam’s wedding, but to be fair, she was on her way to the chapel when the entire hospital staff got called in. Remember that hundred-car pileup on I-10 the morning of the wedding?”

Killian nods. “Aye, of course I do. Gusty winds and a sudden whiteout caused the semi-truck driver to hit the car in front of him. 120 injuries, two fatalities. And there were multiple lanes closed while the DPS investigated. It was a huge mess.”

  “That’s the one.”

  They live in Central Texas, a region where it rarely snows, but on Liam and Elsa’s big day in early December, no one saw the snowstorm coming.

  “Thankfully, everyone arrived safely at the wedding. I was an emotional wreck as it was,” Elsa says, recalling very vividly how stressed she was that day.

  “It’s a shame Emma couldn’t have been there though.” Killian was the best man at that wedding and happily witnessed his brother exchange vows with the woman of Liam’s dreams.

  She shrugs. “Yes, it was, but she saved several lives that day, so I couldn’t really be mad at her.”

  Killian nods in agreement. He wants to ask more about Emma, but he’s afraid Elsa would be onto his intentions in a heartbeat. So instead they continue their heavy conversation about Liam and how they’ve missed out on so much by being closed off to each other. As far as she or anyone else is concerned, Killian no longer works for the SBPD, nor is he a detective. But even so, Elsa knows the difference between casual chit chat and being interrogated by a cop since she was with one for four years. She knows fairly well how a detective’s mind works. And while Killian investigates Dr. Swan, it’s essential no one finds out, especially Elsa and Anna. The only person outside of SBPD who knows Killian is working on the case is Mary Margaret, but only because David didn’t wish to lie to his wife. 

  “So, what do you say, Elsa? Can we be brother and sister-in-law again?” Killian asks with puppy dog eyes.

  Elsa rises from her chair, opening her arms for him. “Yes, I suppose we can.”

  Killian follows her lead and stands up to hug Elsa. He expels a lengthy sigh of relief as he wraps her up in his arms, both of them expressing through physical closeness what they could never express in words with each other over the last three years—sorrow, regret, guilt, but also forgiveness and appreciation. And as they hug, he counts the seconds, curious to know just how long two people who care about each other platonically would actually hug. He counts eleven seconds before they break it. But those eleven seconds were much needed and a long time coming. Though the length of the hug wasn’t even close to making up for the three years they had missed out on hugs, it was enough. 

  Nevertheless, Killian concludes, two people can share a hug for ten seconds or more without it being romantic. Emma may not have had romantic feelings for Humbert, but she cared for him. And someone who cares a great deal about someone else couldn’t possibly want them dead, especially not over a job promotion.

  “We should’ve done this a long time ago,” Elsa says, another tear spilling down her cheek.

  Killian nods as he lifts his hand to wipe it away with his thumb. “Agreed. Sorry I’ve been a stubborn ass.”

  She shakes her head. “I’m sorry I’ve been an ice queen.”

  He smirks and kisses her forehead. “You’re forgiven.”

  She shoves him playfully in the chest and laughs. “Hey, you’re not supposed to agree with me.”

  “Oof.” He places his hand there, pretending to be wounded. “I mean, you were never an ice queen,” he chuckles. 

  They hear the front door open, and when she heads out of the kitchen, Killian follows behind her, hearing loud chatter and excitement.

  “Uncle Killy!” Camila hurdles toward him like an Olympic sprinter, and Killian chuckles as he scoops his neice into his arms and lifts her up. 

  “Hey, little love, I missed you.”

  “I missed you too,” she says, laying her head on his chest. 

  Killian glances over her to see Elsa and Anna smiling at them.“You were right, she is growing like a weed.”

  Camila suddenly lifts her head up, her eyes wide with excitement. “Uncle Killy, wanna see my flower girl dress?”

  “Of course I do.” He looks over at Elsa and Anna again. “If that’s okay with them of course.”

  Elsa laughs. “Of course it is.” She looks at her daughter. “Camila, let’s take your new clothes upstairs and you can show me what you got first,” she says, grabbing the shopping bags from Anna. 

  After Killian sets his niece down, Elsa takes Camila’s hand in her free one and walks with her upstairs.

  “I see you two finally made up,” Anna comments once Elsa and Camila are out of sight. 

  “Aye we did,” he confirms as they move toward each other. “It was a long time coming. How could you tell?”

  She smiles. “Because of how cheerful she is around you now, instead of being all quiet and broody.”

  He chuckles. “The proper term is Ice Queen.” He points upstairs. “Her words, not mine.”

  “Yep, that pretty much describes it,” she laughs. “So, how have you been?”

  He shrugs. “I’m doing better now that I get to spend more time with my niece and sister-in-law. How about you? Ready for Saturday?”

  She groans and shakes her head. “Is any bride ever ready for their wedding? I mean, yes, I’m ready to get married to Kristoff, but there's still so many things to do and so little time. I needed a break, so I took Camila out for lunch and shopping, but I let her pick everything. I'm sick of making decisions,” she laughs.

  He smiles. “I can imagine.” He scratches behind his ear. “Well, if there’s any way I can help out, I’d be happy to—” 

  “Uncle Killy, look at my dress! Don’t I look like a princess?!”

  Killian looks up to see the prettiest five-year-old he’s ever seen as she bounds down the stairs, her brown curls bouncing around her. She’s wearing a purple, off the shoulder ball gown, embellished with flowers, beads and applique. He smiles and nods. “Aye, little love, it’s a dress fit for a princess.”

  When Camila reaches the bottom of the staircase, she gathers the skirt of her dress in each hand and curtsies. “Thank you.”

  He chuckles. “She’s even mastered the manners perfectly. You’ll make a fine flower girl.” 

  “That was fast,” Anna comments to her sister as she makes her way down the stairs.

  “I know. She was so excited to show Uncle Killy her dress, she wouldn't even show me the clothes you bought her,” she laughs. 

  Killian looks at Elsa with puppy dog eyes, making sure to lay the guilt trip on thick. “It’s just a shame I won’t be at the wedding to see her walk down the aisle in it.” He glances at Anna. “Or to see the bride in her wedding gown.”

  As expected, he witnesses the guilt flashing in Anna’s eyes, and in Elsa’s. 

  “Killian, I wanted to invite you, but—”

  “But Elsa asked you not to?” Killian guesses, ninety-nine percent sure he’s correct.

  Anna looks at her sister. 

  Elsa nods. “I did, but that was before we talked, Killian. I just didn’t want to bring any family drama to my sister’s wedding.”

  He puts up his hand to stop her from continuing. “Say no more, Elsa. I understand, it's fine.”

  “You’re not going, Uncle Killy?” Camila asks, her big blue eyes shining with unshed tears, her bottom lip trembling.

  Killian gives her a sad smile. “I’m afraid I wasn't invited, little love. But I will want pictures. Lots of pictures.” 

  “But why not?” She looks up at her mum. “Mommy, why can't Uncle Killy come to Auntie Anna’s wedding?”

  He glances over at Elsa, who seems to be having a telepathic conversation with her sister.

  He refrains from smirking because, one, he and Liam used to do the same thing when they didn't want anyone to hear their conversation, and two, he knows Anna is caving to Elsa’s unspoken request.

  Anna turns to look at him. “You’re welcome to come to the wedding, Killian.”

  His eyebrows climb his forehead in surprise. “Really?”

  “Yes, we have a couple extra seats available. An old friend of mine from college and her husband flaked out at the last minute.”

  “I don’t have to sit or even eat anything, I just want to be there to watch you get married and to spend time with my niece and sister-in-law.” And meet your aloof cousin who might be a murder suspect.

  “There will be an open bar and buffet at the reception, so there’s no assigned seating. You’ll be able to sit and eat and spend time with family. That is if you can forgive me for not inviting you in the first place.”

  Killian grins and gives Anna a hug. “Okay, I forgive you.”

  “Yay! Uncle Killy’s coming!” Camila chants, jumping up and down and clapping her hands.

  “Thank you, Anna,” he murmurs, kissing her cheek.

  “Of course. You’re still family, Killian. Don’t forget that. Oh, and you get a plus one, so you can bring a date if you'd like.”

  He waves off her words with his hand. “I’m sure Princess Camila will be my date.”

  Elsa furrows her brows. “Princess Camilla? Don’t you mean Duchess? And isn’t she a bit too old, even for you? Not to mention five thousand miles away?”

  Killian shakes his head and chuckles. “I'm not talking about the Duchess of Cornwall, I’m referring to my niece.” He kneels down in front of Camila, taking her hands in his. “Will you do me the honor of being my date to Aunt Anna’s wedding?”

  She giggles and nods. “Yes, I will, Uncle Killy.”

  “Perfect,” he says with a cheeky grin. “Does that mean I get the first dance with the lovely princess?” 

  She nods. “Why yes it does.” 

  He chuckles and scoops her into his arms, picking her up and facing Anna and Elsa. “I don’t need a plus one, I already have a date.”

  “Be careful of her dress,” Elsa chides, eyes wide with concern as she smooths out the skirt of Camila’s dress. “Princess gowns are not cheap.”

  “You mean to tell me Killian Jones can't find a woman his own age to take to my wedding?” Anna teases, hands on her hips. “You have to steal your five-year-old niece?” 

  “Oi, I can get a woman my own age,” he frowns. “Even though it’s not as easy since I was invited at the last minute,” he’s quick to point out, “it’s still doable. But why search for one when I already have the perfect date?”

  Elsa and Anna laugh and shake their heads as Killian sets his niece down on her feet.

  “Why don’t you go up and change out of your dress so you don’t ruin it, Camila. Do you want Mommy’s help?”

  Camila shakes her head. “No, I can do it, Mommy. I promise I’ll be careful.” She lifts the skirt of her dress so she doesn't trip over it and heads upstairs, sad she has to change out of her ballgown.

  “Lay the dress neatly on the bed so it doesn't get wrinkles,” Elsa calls out to her daughter.

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  Camila disappears into her bedroom as the sisters have a conversation among themselves. “Oh, by the way, did I tell you Emma RSVP'd?” Anna asks Elsa.

  Killian's ears perk up at the mention of Emma's name, and he can’t help but listen in on their conversation.

  “No, you didn’t. I’m surprised she’s going considering she lost her colleague recently.”

  Anna gasps, placing a hand on her chest. “Oh my, what happened?”

  “Didn’t you see the news? Dr. Humbert was stabbed to death in the hospital parking lot. The police don't know who did it yet. Did you hear about that, Killian?” Elsa asks him, both of the sisters turning to look at him.

  He shakes his head. “No, I didn’t. I don’t pay much attention to the news anymore.”

  “It was so tragic.”

  “Was he a friend of Emma’s?” Killian inquires casually.

  “Yes, he was. She always mentioned him in conversation when she talked about work. It was always, Graham said this or Graham did that and the story usually ended with us in a fit of giggles.”

  “And they were only friends?” he asks after deciding the question wouldn't be too prying.

  “As far as I know. She never sent me a picture of him indicating otherwise.”

  “Ah, I see,” Killian chuckles, catching her drift. “Emma did that too?”

  “Yeah,” Elsa says with a smile and looks at Anna. “You started it when you were what, fourteen and I was seventeen? Back when we had to use Polaroids to take pictures and send them through AOL messenger. We would send them to Emma in a group chat while she was away at college. But she's only sent us a couple pics of cute guys over the years.”

  “Really? Only a couple?” he asks, leaning against the island counter with his arms crossed. 

  “Yeah, she’s always been too focused on her career to think about boys. I remember she once had a boyfriend when she went to Harvard Medical School, but he broke her heart. She hasn’t dated since then. Or at least that I know of.”

  Killian nods, debating with himself whether he should ask anymore questions about Emma, but he doesn’t want to seem obvious. Besides, he’d rather talk to her himself to find out more about her. Now that he’s going to the wedding and knows for certain she’ll be there, barring any hospital emergencies of course, he’ll get that chance.

  “Like I said, we don’t talk as much anymore.” Elsa turns her head to look at Anna. “It’s nice she’s going to your wedding though.” 

  Anna agrees before her sister heads upstairs to make sure Camila is able to get out of her dress okay. 

  After they return downstairs, Killian spends some time with the three of them before he leaves to return to the motel room the SBPD had paid for after he agreed to help with the case. As soon as he's out the door, he retrieves his phone from his pocket and calls David.

  “I’m on the guest list,” Killian says and also informs him Emma's going to the wedding as well.

  “Excellent. Do you have something to wear?”

  “No, but I’ll pick something up.” Killian curses under his breath as he climbs into his truck, remembering he doesn’t even have a gift for the bride and groom. “I have to get a wedding gift too.”

  David recommends Royal Tuxedo and texts him the link to the bride and groom’s gift registry website.

  “Thanks, mate.”

  “No problem.” David gives Killian some instructions for the wedding and a reminder of how to behave around Elsa and Anna’s cousin, to which Killian rolls his eyes. 

  “I’m always a gentleman,” he claims defensively. “Emma will be in perfectly good hands, trust me.

  “Which is exactly what worries me,” David grumbles. “That brings me to my next friendly reminder…” 

  “Which is?”

  “Keep your dick in your pants.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard what I said.” 

  David’s correct—Killian heard him alright—he just can’t believe David felt he needed to say it. Killian’s a grown man, not a prepubescent child. 

  “Any man with two eyes, a brain and a beating heart can see the doctor is attractive.”

  Killian frowns. “So? I know how to keep it in my pants, even for a pretty blonde doctor, thank you very much. I do that far too often in fact.”

  “I'm serious, Jones. Emma's a suspect, and she might be in cahoots with Cassidy.”

  “Trust me, if she is in cahoots with Cassidy, I won't want anything to do with her personally. She could be bare naked on a bed dripping wet with her legs spread, begging for me and I still wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole.” Okay that's a lie. He might touch her just once with his pole. Or twice, because gods, if she were spread out on the bed begging for him, how could he resist her? 

  He has to think about something else to prevent his pole from getting hard at the image he implanted in his own mind. 

  Too late. 

  He shifts in his seat, repositioning himself when an unbidden groan slips out. 

  Bloody hell.

  “Did you just groan?”

  “No, it was a grunt, expressing my hatred for Cassidy.” Killian's statement may not be the entire truth, but he does harbor much hatred for Cassidy. “I want that bastard, David, and I'm not about to let him slip through my fingers by getting my rocks off with a pretty blonde, okay? I’ll do whatever it takes to get him.” 

  “Which is the second way this could go terribly wrong for us,” David murmurs, far from reassured by Killian's statement. “Don’t turn this into a personal vendetta.” 

  “If you're that worried I might screw this up, then why did you come to me asking for my help?” Killian questions, his words laced with irritation. 

  David raises his voice. “You already know why I asked for your help. Just don't make me sorry I did.”

  Killian hangs up and tosses his phone into the passenger seat before peeling out of Elsa’s driveway cursing to himself. As angry he is, he knows David has good reason for worrying. While Nolan has always been the level headed detective who plays by the rules, Killian is the rebel who has a careless approach to regulations and often lets his emotions take the lead. But still, he has another shot at getting that bastard and he’s not about to screw this one up.

  Cassidy will rue the day he met Killian Jones; he'll make sure of it. Even if it's the last he ever does.

Tagging some people who have shown interest so far. If you would like to be tagged or untagged, please let me know.

@itsfabianadocarmo​ @snowbellewells​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​ @nikkiemms​ @teamhook​ @xhookswenchx​ @nikkiemms​ @xsajx​ @julesep3026​ @hookedmom​ @biefaless​ @cluttermind​ @yasbio2015​ @kmomof4​ @lfh1226-linda​ @harshini01 @noensnaringnet​ @xarandomdreamx @onceuponaprincessworld​ @annastasiarinaldiva​ @royalswan​ @brustudyblog​ @officerrogers​ @gingerchangeling​ @melly326​ @singersdd @mzbossyboots​ @unworried-corsair​ @iamemmaswanjones​ @authorarsinoe​ @kingofmyheart14​ @nightskylover​ @jamif​ @resident-of-storybrooke​​ @iam2307​​ @winterbaby89​​ @chinawoodfan​ @mormonkryptonite @ultraluckycatnd​ @captainswan-shipper88​ @killianswanjones @bethdacattfm @andiirivera​

[introvertguide]

The French Connection (1971); AFI #93

The current movie under review  is one of the biggest award winning police action dramas ever created, The French Connection (1971). The film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won 5 Oscars in 1972 for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Gene Hackman), Best Screenplay, and Best Editing. The story also includes Roy Scheider prior to his Jaws fame as a buddy sidekick. In fact, this movie was part of a string of great “buddy” movies that included In the Heat of the Night (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Butch Cassidy NS the Sundance Kid (1969), The Sting (1973), and All the President’s Men (1976). The French Connection has a lot of interesting Americana connections that I want to discuss, but first let’s go over the plot. Of course that means the usual:

SPOILER ALERT!!! LEGITAMATELY!!! A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THE GENERAL STORY AND PROBABLY THE PLOT OUTLINE WITHOUT EVER SEEING THE FILM!!! CHECK OUT THE FILM FIRST AND THEN COME BACK TO AVOID SPOILER DETAILS!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The movie starts in France where an undercover detective is following a heroine smuggler named Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey). This detective is then followed home by Charnier's hitman, Pierre Nicoli (Marcel Bozzuffi), and is assassinated. Charnier plans to smuggle $32 million worth of heroin into the United States by hiding it in the car of his unsuspecting friend, television personality Henri Devereaux, who is traveling to New York City by ship.

Flash to New York City, where we see detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo are staking out a club trying to nab a perp. They get a tip that some low level mobsters are part of a deal to sell a bunch of French heroin to gangs in America. Out at the Copacabana, Popeye notices Salvatore "Sal" Boca and his young wife, Angie, entertaining mobsters involved in narcotics. They tail the couple and establish a link between the Bocas and lawyer Joel Weinstock, who is part of the narcotics underworld.

Popeye goes to a bar that seems to serve only black patrons and shakes down everybody there. He secretly has an informant in the group and learns that a massive shipment of heroin will arrive in the next two weeks. The detectives convince their supervisor to wiretap the Bocas' phones. Popeye and Cloudy are joined by federal agents Mulderig and Klein, both of whom Popeye is not a fan of.

The drug car arrives in New York City. Boca is impatient to make the purchase—reflecting Charnier's desire to return to France as soon as possible—while Weinstock, with more experience in smuggling, urges patience, knowing Boca's phone is tapped and that they are being investigated.

Charnier realizes he is being observed. He "makes" Popeye and escapes on a departing subway shuttle. To avoid being tailed, he has Boca meet him in Washington D.C., where Boca asks for a delay to avoid the police. Charnier, however, wants to conclude the deal quickly. On the flight back to New York City, Nicoli offers to kill Popeye, but Charnier objects, knowing that Popeye would be replaced by another policeman. Nicoli insists, however, saying they will be back in France before a replacement is assigned.

Soon after, Nicoli attempts to shoot Popeye but misses and hits an innocent bystander instead. Popeye chases Nicoli up on a roof and eventually onto an elevated train that Nicoli makes and Popeye does not. Popeye commandeers a car and races to the next stop while barely avoiding traffic. Realizing he is being pursued, Nicoli works his way forward through the carriages, shoots a policeman who tries to intervene, and hijacks the motorman at gunpoint, forcing him to drive straight through the next station, also shooting the train conductor. The motorman passes out and they are just about to slam into a stationary train when an emergency trackside brake engages, hurling the assassin against a glass window. Popeye arrives to see the killer descending from the platform in an attempt to escape. When the killer sees Popeye, he turns to run but is shot dead by Popeye.

Popeye and Cloudy have a lengthy stakeout of the car that connects all the mobsters and has the opportunity to impound it when some gangsters see it and attempt to strip it. He and his team take it apart searching for the drugs, but come up empty-handed. Cloudy notes that the vehicle's shipping weight is 120 pounds over its listed manufacturer's weight. They remove the rocker panels and discover the heroin concealed therein. The police restore the car to its original condition and return it to Devereaux, who delivers the Lincoln Continental to Charnier.

Charnier drives to an old factory on Wards Island to meet Weinstock and deliver the drugs. After Charnier has the rocker panels removed, Weinstock's chemist tests one of the bags and confirms its quality. Charnier removes the drugs and hides the money, concealing it beneath the rocker panels of another car purchased at an auction of junk cars, which he will take back to France. Charnier and Sal drive off in the Lincoln, but hit a roadblock with a large contingent of police led by Popeye. The police chase the Lincoln back to the factory, where Boca is killed during a shootout while most of the other criminals surrender.

Charnier escapes into the warehouse with Popeye and Cloudy in pursuit. Popeye sees a shadowy figure in the distance and opens fire a split-second after shouting a warning, killing one of the feds, Mulderig, that he had been partnered with. Undaunted, Popeye tells Cloudy that he will get Charnier. After reloading his gun, Popeye runs into another room and a single gunshot is heard.

Title cards note that Weinstock was indicted but his case dismissed for "lack of proper evidence"; Angie Boca received a suspended sentence for an unspecified misdemeanor; Lou Boca received a reduced sentence; Devereaux served four years in a federal penitentiary for conspiracy; and Charnier was never caught. Popeye and Cloudy were transferred out of the narcotics division and reassigned.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So this film has some of the most well known scenes in cinema history and I say this because they are copied a lot. The first scene when Popeye and Cloudy are on a stakeout, Popeye is disguised as Santa and receives a knife wound in his hand. This came back years later in Hot Fuzz! when Simon Pegg, as a police officer, was stabbed through the hand by a man dressed as Santa. In the Jackie Chan film Rush Hour, Chris Tucker goes into a bar pretending to shake down the group when he actually knows the group and jokingly asks his informant questions. 

Maybe one of the biggest aspects of the realism of the movie that director Friedkin insisted upon, was that the two cops that Popeye and Cloudy were based upon were in the movie. Jimmy Doyle was based on a cop named Eddie Egan and Buddy Rosso was based upon his partner Sonny Grosso. Egan and Grosso broke up the actual French Connection back in 1951. A book by Robin Moore that shares the name of the movie details the bust and this is what the movie was based on. For extra realism, the two real cops played the chief and one of the feds. Well, I say promote realism although Friedkin did not like the book and didn’t follow it as closely as he claims. There was no chase or shootout in the book. That was all there for drama.

The ending title cards were very interesting because it reminds the audience that 1) Friedkin cut his teeth with documentaries 2) the movie wasn’t going to show the whole seven month drug bust and 3) all the bad guys got away or got slaps on the wrist and the two cops were transferred out. This was a huge bust that didn’t really work out (although it stopped the trafficking) allowing the mobsters to escape and putting a stop to two careers. It is what I like most, however, because I don’t want to see a realistic movie in which the only interesting scenes are the ones that are not based on any facts. 

So should this movie be on the AFI list? Yes. It was the basis for gritty TV cop shows like The Streets of San Francisco and Starsky & Hutch. It has one of the greatest car chase scenes in cinema history. It won many awards and is known by those who haven’t seen the film. It is definitely AFI material. Would I recommend it? Well...not to kids. It has a ton of overt racism that is pretty uncomfortable to watch as well as some pretty terrible police work. The two cops were on set and they were OK with this? The film claims to be based on a real bust and the only cinematic parts of interest were made up. These white cops keep going into black bars and knocking everyone around but just chase after the French guys. White men are all detectives and assassins and mob bosses while anyone of color are just props to be knocked around to move the plot along. I would watch it again as a piece of cinema history and it is a progenitor of the 70s cop dramas, but I wouldn’t show it to my students because I don’t want them to think that it is OK for the police to rough up any number of black people as long as it might bring information about a mob boss. It is a good story with a bad message that needs some maturity to recognize the faults.

[irwinkitten]

feisty | a.i

pairing: oc x werewolf!ash  notes: so i’ve been inspired with supernatural stuff thanks to @5sosnsfw, @converse-luke, @theagenderwhocriedwolf and @calumsmermaid and since I’ve been working on demon!5sos for a while I went through my stuff and found this beast of a fic. Pls enjoy I am going to try and tell myself off to stop writing 20k+ pieces lmao  warnings: mentions of death, mentions abuse (nothing explicit, just in passing conversation)  word count: 21k lmao 

-

Being a human amongst a pack of wolves was difficult.

Despite being the Beta’s first born, Cassidy had been born without the shifting gene. Most said that it was a common thing to happen, but when the Alpha researched it, it was quickly understood that it was a rare thing to happen.

Soon she began to get shunned.

Her Alpha and father treated her with the same respect. But others deemed her unworthy to even be included.

To the point where she lost such a big chance to meet her mate because she chose to be homeschooled.

Children were cruel.

Despite the lack of her shifter gene, she quickly rose through the ranks. She was a good strategist. She heard things that the shifters missed. Her human eyes pointed out the flaw that their perfect vision would always ignore.

Because she fought for her place in the pack, she gained respect from the elders. They listened to her and never belittled her. The younger shifters took a different route. They tried to sabotage her plans.

This time she’d had enough.

Storming through the Pack house, people kept clear of the anger that was visible. The argument was brewing.

It was a regular argument but this time, there was almost a finality to the way she moved.

Slamming through to Alpha Lockard’s office, the elders fell silent as the door slammed shut, ignoring the flinch from the Alpha’s son.

“Cassidy,” Her head snapped to Alpha Isaac, not daring to defy a direct order, “There will be no repercussions from this meeting. What happens here will remain here.” She went straight for the jugular.

“So many times, so many times you have tried to sabotage the raids I’ve conducted.”

“Because they were useless.” The teenager snorted.

“Leo, quit it.” The Alpha snapped at his son, Cassidy took in deep breaths to reign in her anger.

“The raids you attempted to sabotage never failed because what you planned was anticipated. But this time, a wolf died! And it is entirely your fault Leo Lockard!” She shrieked, her anger finally taking control as her hands shook.

The anger was undiluted and burning. So was the pain of losing her best friend. She’d promised him that it would be easy. She promised him that he’d be safe

Leo looked shocked for less than a second before his face turned to indifference.

“He shouldn’t have been playing hero anyway.” His answer was drowned out by a variety of growls. The loudest coming from their Alpha.

She lost her tight reign and her hand snapped out, striking Leo square in the face. There was a satisfying crunch despite the pain that shot up her arm.

“Dad!”

“I didn’t see anything.” He deadpanned, his eyebrow raising, daring his son to protest. He ignored the look his father sent him.

“Dad, she hit me! The filthy human hit me!” That deflated the fight out of her. Of course, he would use her humanity.

“Do you not understand how much trouble you’re in?” Alpha Isaac snarled and a look of fear flitted across Leo’s face. “You knowingly sabotaged our strategists plan and in doing so resulted in the death of a talented wolf, a loved friend and the rest barely made it out with the target wolf we were trying to save!”

Cassidy watched with satisfaction as the colour drained from Leo’s face. Retribution.

“He was trying to play hero!” Leo protested and this time Cassidy responded, cutting across her Alpha.

“He was rescuing the four-year-old that rogues kidnapped and tried to rape. It was only because of her wolf they didn’t touch her!” She shouted, getting closer to the young shifter. “He is the reason she’s alive! You are the reason they both nearly died!” A small part of her brain noted that her throat was aching, the raw power from her voice scratching her throat. But she ignored it.

“Get away from me, freak.” He spat at her and she responded with another hit to his face. Her hand was protesting now, but she ignored it. Compartmentalising it so that she could focus on the anger.

“You cannot keep using my humanity as a reason for failures! I have done nothing but succeed and all you can do is weep with your tail between your legs because your own father knows that you taking over the pack would be an absolute disaster!” She all but screamed at him.

The room went deadly silent at her words.

Her Alpha stood behind her. She could feel the heat and saw Leo’s eyes widen in fear.

“Cassidy, you realise that by stating that, you’re pinning these accusations to the Alpha’s son?”

“I accept that, and have sufficient evidence to support my accusations.” Leo’s eyes widened in fear.

“Seeing as we have the elders needed. Judge and Jury will happen now. Elder Orion?” The man wearing the light blue suit, his hair peppered with grey throughout the dark locks.

Leo looked terrified.

“What evidence do you have, child?” Cassidy ignored the pleading look from Leo, her eyes flickering to the Alpha before looking at Elder Orion.

“Eyewitnesses who saw Leo Lockard move to divert the course of action to save Talon Scarsa and the young she-wolf the rogues took. Not only that but three older wolves had heard Leo discussing it thoroughly with the she-wolf who he has claimed as his mate.”

The entire room went still.

Cassidy counted to five before her Alpha snapped the door open.

“GET KALLIE TYSON HERE NOW.” A yelp echoed up to the room.

Suddenly, two of the fighter wolves flanked the baby-faced she-wolf; whose eyes took in the room and then saw Leo. Understanding dawned instantly and Cassidy tried her hardest not to call Kallie out on it.

“Sit. Now.” She didn’t defy the Alpha, taking a seat next to Leo, only to practically jump onto the other couch at Alpha Lockard’s snarl.

“You are here as an accomplice to the death of a fighter who was trying to rescue the captured she-wolf. Do you deny knowledge of what was going to happen?”

She was silent, shooting Leo a frightened look. Leo ignored her. She shook her head.

Elder Orion moved on.

“Leo Lockard, do you deny sharing information and acting on a plan to sabotage the strategists plan to rescue the she-wolf?”

“Yes.” The word was so vicious as he glared at Cassidy. She returned it, refusing to bow down to him. She’d learnt to never defy her Alpha but his son, she publicly defied him. He wasn’t her Alpha.

“For your defiance, you will receive the harshest punishment if found guilty.”

“She dies if I’m not.” The snarl sent chills down her spine, but she held his gaze. He looked away first.

“This needs to be settled. Cassidy, I’m going to push the link through you. I need to see the first-hand accounts.” She nodded, letting her eye shut as the Alpha placed both hands on her temples.

Cassidy could feel the pack link push through her human mind. There was a sharp pain, but she moved it to where the pain from her hand was. She focused on the conversations, the items she saw, the words spoken. Elder Orion placed his hand on Alpha Lockard’s arm. A second intrusion pushed her mind and she flinched.

“Pathetic human.” The words registered in her brain, fleeting memories of him attacking her as a child distracting the first-hand problem before she refocused.

By the time the Alpha and Elder pulled away, her body was trembling. Normally, contact was needed for private viewings or humans. The pack link was open to all the shifters. But she didn’t have the gene.

The two joined with the other three Elders in the room and her father, the Beta. Leo glared at her, earning a sharp growl from the warrior stood at the doorway.

“Either way, your time is short, filth.” The warrior took the threat seriously, taking position in front of Cassidy with a growl. Leo fell silent and Kallie shot him another terrified look.

The group broke apart.

They turned to Kallie first.

“Kallie Tyson. You did not deny knowledge. You have been found guilty for having knowledge of this crime. You are hereby stripped of any title that could be earnt. Because you only had knowledge but did not assist, you will be monitored for the rest of your time. Should you find your mate, they too will be monitored. For the next year you are banned from shifting. You will wear a tracking device and your shifting will be supervised by at least three elders and two other wolves of their choice. You will have curfew and are banned from travelling around the pack without an escort. Defy these orders results in exile or death if the breach is severe enough.”

At Elder Orion’s words, she burst into tears, her entire body shaking as a strangled howl escaped her lips, her body twitching. Leo spared no glance to the girl he proclaimed as his mate.

They turned to Leo who glared at his father. Elder Orion glared at Leo who cowered at the gaze.

“Leo Lockard. You denied knowledge of the sabotage. You denied that it was you who led the group. You denied knowledge that you knowingly attempted to leave a pack member and warrior to die. This is treason. You are stripped from Alpha titles. Your wolf will be bound till your last breath. You are stripped of a mate, you are hereby banished from this pack and any pack you attempt to enter. You will face the pack with your crimes and take any punishment they see fit before banishment. Upon exile, if you attempt to re-enter the border the warriors are ordered to kill on sight.”

Leo seemed to shrink as each title was stripped from him. Instead of a howl from him, a howl from the pack house caused Alpha Isaac to snarl.

“You found your mate yet led the poor girl on to this madness?” Leo snarled at his father in response.

“I will not be mated to a pathetic nerd who can’t fight.” He growled. Alpha Isaac snarled and shot out of the room, one of the warriors trailing him. It was barely minutes later that he pulled in the sobbing girl who was shaking, her neck red raw.

“I didn’t do anything, Alpha please don’t hurt me.” She cried out. Cassidy stepped from behind the warrior, pulling the terrified girl into her arms, undiluted anger flooding her veins. Hope Granger was the child she cared for when her parents and brother died in a pack fire. Rage filled every bone in her body towards Leo Lockard.

“Calm down. Alpha Isaac was upset because Leo lied. He lied knowing you’d be hurt.” She whispered softly. Hope’s cries turned into whimpers as she clutched at Cassidy’s shirt.

“Alpha.” Her word was soft and he sighed, his eyes watering.

“You hurt the future Luna. You hurt your mate.” Cassidy could see how tired her Alpha looked and felt pity for the man who treated her like his own flesh and blood.

“She’ll never be Luna now.” Leo snarled in response. No one saw Alpha Isaac’s clenched fist hit his son. But his head snapped back and the distinctive crack echoed through the room.

“Elder Orion. This never happens, but I can’t. She’s innocent.” The plea was clear and Elder Orion paused before nodding.

“Let me. Cassidy, I need you to step away.” She went to move and suddenly Hope was crying again. Cassidy realised that Hope Granger was too young to deal with all of this. She was terrified.

“Hope, please. We won’t hurt you.” Alpha Isaac’s pleas were met with terrified cries.

“See, she’s unfit to be Luna.” Leo spoke up, his face twisted into an ugly sneer.

“She’s a scared fourteen-year-old who has just felt her mate bond snap from her body and now she’s being dragged to the Alpha’s office. She has every right to be like this.” Cassidy snapped at Leo. He fell silent.

“Cass, please don’t let them hurt me.” She whimpered. Cassidy placed a kiss to the top of her head.

“You were classed as mine from the day that I saved your life. They wouldn’t hurt you.”

“Cassidy is right. I promise you little one, that we will not harm you. The law is clear on Cassidy’s actions and in saving you created a bond which even the law cannot interfere.” Elder Orion spoke up. Leo growled and she cowered away from the sound, her wide eyes meeting the Elder’s.

“What do you want to do?” Her entire body was shaking. Cassidy tried to control her rage towards the younger Lockard and it was only her sisters arms that kept her grounded from snapping.

“We want to give you your rightful title. You will be Luna of this pack. Your second mate will be your mate but will not take over as Alpha. This is yours to take if you so wish.”

“No!” The roar ripped from Leo as he was held back by the warriors. Hope clinched against her sister and Cassidy placed herself between her sister and Leo, a fierce scowl upon her face.

“What do I have to do?” Her voice was shaking. She gripped Cassidy’s hand tighter.

“We need to transfer the power to you. Leo will have no hold over you. Your soul with knit itself and find refuge in a second chance mate. You will not be alone, we promise you. Alpha Lockard will teach and train you how to be a Luna over the years until he is ready to retire.”

“I’ll do it.” The words were soft, but Cassidy kissed the top of her head before stepping away.

The Elders closed ranks around her and it took several minutes before they moved again. Hope stumbled to Cassidy and she could already see the differences.

“It’ll be okay sweet girl.”

“Will you stay with me?” Cassidy hesitated. She knew she’d break that promise.

“I’ll stay when I can. But I must travel. My mate isn’t in this pack.” The look on Hope’s face broke her heart.

“Will you stay in touch?”

“Now that I can promise.” She grinned, placing a kiss to Hope’s forehead once more.

“She can’t be Luna! She doesn’t deserve the title!” Leo snarled. Kallie whimpered before looking to her Alpha.

“You can leave. I advise you to get someone to take you home. I’ll be around in a few days.” Kallie nodded her head and paused as she passed Hope and Cassidy.

“I never knew. He said it was me and I believed him. I’m so sorry.” She whispered before half running from the room.

“Why on earth did I pick that sack of shit? Why did fate give me that freak?” Cassidy’s temper finally snapped and she launched at Leo, her fists hitting every piece of skin available.

The move shocked the Alpha and Elders for moments before they realised what was going on. It took them another moment to pry her off him.

“You killed a pack member who was like a brother to me. You endangered a four-year-old girl who was stolen from her family! You didn’t deserve that beautiful girl as your mate and she sure as hell didn’t need you in her life. How dare you say she’s not worthy because she will be better than you. She will succeed where you failed and protect her pack. You useless human!” She shrieked at him.

“I’m not a human freak.” He snarled back and Cassidy laughed despite the pain, she laughed even though tears flooded her face.

“You can never shift again. You’re as human as they get.” Her laughter was slowly becoming manic, even though there was no humour. “Karma is a sweet, sweet bitch. I hope that those humans you hate so much turn on you and make you suffer.” She snarled before going back to Hope, pulling the girl close.

“Cass, can we go? I don’t want him around me.” Hope’s words coaxed her to finally look away and walk out of the office without another word.

Her entire body was trembling with rage as they walked through the pack house. Word swept through and people bowed respectfully to Hope as the two of them passed by.

“Why are they doing that?” She whispered to Cassidy, who, despite the rage that was coursing through her, was smirking like the cat who got the cream.

“Their wolves recognise you as their next Luna. They’re showing you the respect you deserved from day one.”

“What will happen to… him?” As they left the building, she let loose such a sound that even Hope jumped.

“He will live his life as a human. He cannot enter any packs, he cannot cross borders. Alpha Isaac will kill him.” Hope was quiet as they got into Cassidy’s car before she spoke again.

“Alpha Isaac would kill his own son?” The words were barely heard by the human and recognition flared in Cassidy at Hope’s words. If this was happening to Leo, would it happen to her?

“Leo Lockard committed treason. He endangered a pack member and murdered one.” A grimace crossed Cassidy’s face. Hope’s remained stunned.

“But, Talon died from the rouges, didn’t he?”

“Leo made sure that Talon would be killed. He tried to make it look as if I’d failed but too many people saw Leo take the rescuers down a different route to the one they’d been shown. No one questioned him because he was the Alpha’s son.” By the time they’d pulled up to their home, Hope’s face had gone from stunned, to angry, to heartbroken.

Once they were inside, she broke.

“He murdered Talon.” Her voice broke and tears were flooding.

Beta Matthew came home to find his two girls on the sofa. Cassidy had her arms around Hope who had cried herself to exhaustion.

He glanced up to his son, Jamie, who had been sat on the stairs. His eyes were wide before he registered his father was stood there.

“Is it true?” Matthew flinched. “Dad, is it true?”

“Leo Lockard killed Talon. He knowingly led the group away from their rescue point, trying to sabotage your sisters plan.”

“He tried, again?” Jamie’s eyes flashed in anger. Matthew sighed wearily.

“He was all for blaming her when they bought back Talon’s body and little Emilia who was barely alive. He didn’t realise that everyone in the rescue squad had served under Cass’s commands before and knew something was wrong.”

“All hell broke loose.” Jamie muttered.

When Jamie had gone to greet the rescue team, he found himself in shock at the arguments that were breaking out amongst the group, the anger and hatred. It was all directed at Leo Lockard who had used his superior position to shut them up.

Jamie’s eyes studied his father’s face and realised something else happened.

“What was it?”

Matthew’s eyes moved to the sleeping forms of his daughters and Jamie stiffened.

“Hope was his mate. He’d marked her so she’d never find someone. Made her feel everything. He wanted her to suffer.” It hurt Matthew to admit those words, but it had happened. And his heart broke for both of his girls.

Jamie felt his wolf surge in pure fury.

Most wolves ignored humans. When one was born into a pack, they looked after the human. Some would pick on the outsider but most made friends with the human.

Cassidy had both sides of it growing up.

When Jamie had been born only a year later, his wolf burst forward at the age of ten, shocking his father and Alpha. Even the Alpha’s son hadn’t shifted yet.

But his wolf was protective. Especially over Cassidy. When Hope came into their lives six years later at the age of eight, his wolf accepted her with ease.

His sisters were his to protect.

But hearing and knowing this great injustice done to both of his sisters, his rage peaked and Matthew barely had time to shove him from the house before he shifted and a baleful howl filled the air.

It was the howl that woke the girls up and Matthew greeted his very exhausted daughters.

“Jamie just heard the news then?” Cassidy commented dryly.

Matthew snorted.

“I barely had enough time to shove him out of the house before he shifted. He’s angry and upset for you both.”

Hope blushed. Despite being with them for six years, she still couldn’t understand the protectiveness from her older brother.

Cassidy snorted.

“Hope, you know as well as I do, he’s going to break Leo’s face. Personally I hope Alpha Isaac lets Jamie go into the pit with him.”

“Speaking of which.” Matthew stepped forward, kneeling in front of Cassidy and tenderly taking her hand in his. “You need to see the pack doctor.”

“No.”

Hope scowled at her sister.

“You broke your hand by the looks of it. Please?” Cassidy turned her attention from her father to her sister. Her sister pulled the sweet puppy eyes that crumbled her resistance with ease.

“Fine.”

It took an hour for the trio to get to the pack doctor. He looked stunned at the state of Cassidy’s arm.

“This should be a clean break.” Cassidy shot a look to her father, who shrugged in return. “I’ll put one of the smaller braces. Keep this on for a week. I’ll check on it then and we’ll go from there, okay?”

Despite Cassidy’s scowl, Matthew nodded. Hope giggled.

“Well, I’m still driving to the other packs. This has been planned for months.”

“No, you’re not. I’m driving you.” Jamie strolled into the holding area where they were waiting to have the brace put on. Cassidy shot a dark look at her brother.

“Don’t you dare. You need to train with Hope.”

“Cass!” Hope’s indignant shout echoed.

“What? He was going to find out from dad anyway.”

“Doesn’t mean you drop that on him after hearing what he did to us.” Hope snapped back and Cassidy grinned.

“Both of you shut up. Cass, what are you talking about?” Jamie looked between the two girls. Matthew sat back with a smirk on his lips.

“Introducing your future Luna.” She nodded to Hope, whose cheeks flooded with a violent red colour. Jamie took a minute to recover.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Nope.” Cassidy grinned, taking a small pleasure from the chagrined look on her baby sisters face. “She was Leo’s mate. He fucked up and lost his title but Alpha knew that it was her destiny. So, they performed some sort of ritual and she’s officially the next Luna when Alpha steps down. Her next mate won’t be able to take the title. It’s all on her.”

Matthew’s smirk turned into a full-blown grin during the explanation. Jamie’s jaw dropped.

“My baby sister is going to be my Alpha?” Jamie’s question told the three he was processing it before the biggest grin stretched across his face.

Hope shot a glare towards Cassidy.

“Wait, so does this mean I’ve got to do my training with Hope?”

“I’ve spoken to Isaac,” Matthew cut in before Cassidy could tease her sister anymore. She pouted at him. “You’ll have a bit of time off so that Hope can do some catch up training to a standard that can keep up with you. I don’t want either of you going, however I know that Talon was meant to take you.”

At his words, Cass lost the wind in her sails as her shoulders slumped.

“I want Jamie to take you,” Hope spoke up, her eyes on Cassidy. “he knows how to respect Alpha’s and I’ll be too busy to miss you. Not to mention I’ve got dad. Please Cass, don’t hold back on my account. You deserve to be just as happy.”

“You should have had that happiness.” Cassidy whispered.

Hope shrugged.

“I’ll get my chance. I’m fourteen, I’ve got my time yet. Cass, you’re twenty-two and not left the pack because you felt duty bound, but also sure that you didn’t have a soulmate because you’re human. Even Jamie found his. Please, for me?”

Like every other time, Cassidy knew she couldn’t deny her sisters pleas.

“I’ll go. But you need to look after dad. Who knows how many pizzas he’ll order?” Cassidy teased, Matthew shooting a mock look of hurt at his eldest.

Hope grinned.

“He’ll order as many as I ask him to.”

The four descended into laughter as the doctor returned and fitted Cassidy’s brace.

“That’s staying on for a month instead of a week. If you’re travelling, it stays on longer. Don’t argue with me on this one Cassidy.” The sharp look from the pack doctor stopped the protest that was forming on her lips and a grumbled acceptance was offered instead.

==

Jamie was sat in the beaten-up Jeep that was going to serve as their transport. Although having more than enough money to live off comfortably, Matthew taught them to be humble, like their mother had been.

Cassidy had always supported this and worked hard for her keep. But even for this one, Matthew made sure she had enough money for fuel and possible hotels.

Once the last bag was in the trunk of the Jeep, Alpha Isaac stepped forward and Cassidy formally bowed to her Alpha.

“Your home is always with us Cassidy. I promise that justice will be served by the pack before his public exile.” She nodded her head at him and he opened his arms out to her.

She flung herself at Isaac and clung onto him tightly.

Growing up as a human, she learned from the best. Alpha Lockard had been her mentor and Uncle growing up. He was family and she was going to miss him.

“Please stay safe little lion, or I’m sending an entire squad after you.” He joked and she laughed as she pulled away.

“I’m pretty sure that they’d be more than willing to go on a mission to drag me back here.”

Matthew laughed.

“I can list the squad that’d be formed myself.” He grinned and Cassidy stuck out her tongue before turning back to her Alpha.

“Please look after her. She’s my world.” Isaac nodded his head, pulling Cassidy in for another hug.

“You have my word. She’ll be unrecognisable when you come back to show off your mate.” He teased and she laughed once more before turning to her dad, who swept her up into his arms instantly.

“My baby girl is growing up.” He teased and she laughed.

“It’s a good job Jamie does handshakes then he’s ready to go.” Cassidy grinned at Matthew who laughed.

“You’re my eldest. My little girl. I have the pack link to check up on your brother and sister. But not you. This is terrifying.” He admitted softly. Isaac skilfully pretended to not hear this conversation.

“Mum will watch over me.” Cassidy whispered in return and he smiled at his daughter, tears shining.

“I have no doubt about that.” She placed a kiss to his cheek before letting go and turning to her little sister who flung herself at Cassidy.

Cassidy didn’t even attempt to hide her tears now. She was leaving her baby sister behind. It felt like all kinds of wrong.

“I promise I’ll text when I can and bug Jamie to change into an overgrown dog so that he can relay any messages I have for you. You’re going to be an amazing Luna, I promise you.” Hope laughed through her tears and Cassidy kiss her forehead.

“I’ll be back before you know it, okay?” Hope nodded before stepping back and letting Cassidy clamber into the Jeep.

Once the house was out of sight, Cassidy leaned back as she felt Jamie take her hand.

“They’ll be fine. Now c’mon. We’ve got months ahead together.

==

She was on the verge of giving up.

After visiting twenty-five packs over the past year and not finding her mate, Cassidy had had enough.

The time away from her own pack took its toll. She spoke to Hope daily and her father, but she missed them all.

Jamie was having the time of his life. He was lucky that his mate was still seventeen. They’d agreed to wait till she was eighteen to pursue anything, but they had marked each other rightfully. Even though he missed his mate, he enjoyed meeting the new packs.

Some were kind and accepting of the human and the wolf. Others scoffed at her until Jamie stepped up and they respected the requests, only because they knew that repercussions would hit them hard if they denied the daughter of the Beta.

As they reached pack number twenty-six, Cassidy was impressed that they were met with a line of wolves on the territory border for Vinewood Pack. The leader of that pack stood with his back straight, tattoos displayed and his eyes trained on their vehicle.

They stopped the Jeep away from the treaty line and walked the rest of the way. Cassidy had her eyes on the wolves to see their reactions to a human.

Two looked wide-eyed but the rest held stoic faces. She was mildly impressed.

“Good training for your newer wolves to learn how to react when facing with a human who was born into a pack.” Cassidy’s words held the tone of conversation, almost as if she were speaking about the weather.

It took thirty seconds before smiles cracked across the group and the one she dubbed as the leader, stepped forward to greet them.

“Looks like we have a feisty human,” He teased before holding out his hand. “Calum Hood, head Warrior.”

Jamie took his hand first.

“Jamie Hayden; son of Beta Hayden in Rosewood pack.” Calum nodded his head impressively before turning to Cassidy.

“Cassidy Hayden. Strategist for Rosewood pack and firstborn daughter to Beta Hayden.” At this, Calum’s eyes widened before letting out a low whistle.

“Word spread around that you’d climbed the ranks, but no one said how far you’d gone. Nice to meet you both. Alpha Irwin is currently in a meeting with another Alpha from a local pack, concerning a wolf turned human who seems to be attacking their pack. He’ll meet with you after, but for now I’m instructed to introduce you the rest of the pack.”

They both nodded and retreated to their Jeep. They followed the wolves and both shared a concerned look.

“Could it be him?”

“How many wolves have been turned human in the last twenty years Cass?”

She shuddered and sighed.

“Let’s get through this, if we’re unsuccessful, I want to go home.”

“Are you sure?” Jamie’s eyes moved from the wolves to his sister who was wearing such a forlorn look, he nearly stopped the car.

“You’ve got training. I can work on the rest of the packs with dad when he travels with Alpha Isaac. I miss them.”

“I know you do. Hope’s going to be dead excited to know you’re going back home.”

Cassidy grinned.

“I know.”

As they drove through the pack, Cassidy was impressed. They’d created a beautiful little community and once they reached the pack house, they realised that the Alpha must have been very much like their father.

What Cassidy knew about Alpha Irwin was that he was one of the youngest Alpha’s to have taken over a pack. At eighteen he was named Alpha when his father passed unexpectedly. The pack had only risen from that point.

Not only was he the youngest, but next to Alpha Isaac, he was the most respected.

Once they were out of the Jeep and had their things settled into separate rooms, Cassidy found a younger warrior wolf waiting for her outside of her door.

“Warrior Calum asked me to escort you to the meeting room where you will meet the Beta and Strategist. Alpha Irwin will be along as soon as possible.”

“Will you convey an apology to Warrior Calum and let him know I’ll be another ten minutes. I need to shower, it’s been a long journey.” There was a brief pause before the young warrior nodded his head and moved away from her door.

Cassidy made sure that she was ready within the ten minutes. Her shower had been brief, but it felt nice to have the journey washed from her body and hair.

Tying the wet hair into a ponytail, Cassidy made sure that she was dressed respectably before there was another knock at the door. The young warrior was back and this time she followed him quietly.

“As always, fashionably late.” Jamie teased her once she’d thanked the young warrior and entered the meeting room.

“Unlike you boys, I like to clean myself after a long journey.” She retorted childishly. Jamie rolled his eyes and Calum laughed.

“May I introduce to you, Beta Luke Hemmings.” Beta Hemmings held out his hand which Cassidy shook, a smile on her lips.

“And, this is Strategist Michael Clifford.” Again, Michael held out his hand to her which she took.

“Luke, Michael, this is Cassidy Hayden, Strategist for Rosewood pack and firstborn human daughter to Beta Hayden.”

Michael let out a whistle at this and Luke nodded.

“Feel free to call me Cassidy. I’m assuming you’ve met my brother, Jamie?” They nodded and Jamie rolled his eyes. “Don’t tempt me little brother. I’m being polite.” She shot at him and he smirked.

“So, Cassidy,” Michael stated “A human and strategist? That’s an impressive feat.

“When you work for something you want, anything is possible.” She shot back coldly. He raised his hands in defence.

“I have nothing against humans. It’s just an incredible sight.”

“Cass, he means no harm. They have two other humans born into their pack as well.”

Cassidy softened up considerably after that.

Between the five of them, they covered many topics before the door opened and Alpha Irwin finally walked in. They were discussing the possibilities of Cassidy doing a walk around town with a few of them to see if she could sense her mate.

“Alpha Irwin, pleasure to meet you.” Jamie started off.

“Pleasure’s mine. Jamie Hayden, right? Son of Beta Hayden and next in line for the title?” Jamie nodded, shocked that the Alpha knew his name and title. Shaking his hand, Alpha Irwin turned to Cassidy who smiled at him.

And it hit her like a ton of bricks.

She could feel the bonds connecting her to him. She could feel her body surging to close the distance between them both.

Alpha Irwin took her hand and shook it.

The sparks exploded instantly, taking her breath away.

“Cassidy Hayden. I’ve waited a long time to meet you.” His fingers hadn’t let go of her hand and Jamie finally laughed, breaking the two from the small world that had built around them in those few crucial seconds.

“Alpha Irwin, I’m going to ask permission for Beta Hemmings and Warrior Hood to show me the perimeters. I’ll also need to consult with Michael as well.” Jamie spoke up, a smirk on his lips.

“Sure, that’s fine.”

“Look after my sister please.” Was all he left with, the other three following curiously.

Cassidy didn’t hesitate to follow Alpha Irwin through the pack house, entering a beautifully done room.

“Please tell me that you’re not a human who is going to make me wait.” He whispered as he pressed her against the door.

Even if she had been one of those humans, feeling him against her would’ve changed her mind instantly.

“Do it. As long as you promise to treat me as your equal, nothing less.”

“You have my word Cassidy Hayden. You are my equal and nothing less. Will you let me complete the mating today?”

“Yes.” The whispered word was all he needed before his hands tore the clothes from their bodies. He carried her to the bed as he kissed her, his lips covering every inch of skin.

And despite the hasty start, he explored her body. Brought her to orgasm a handful of time as he found what she liked and what made her body shake from intensity.

“Mark me.”

Ashton Irwin didn’t need to be told twice. He built her up again, before sliding himself into her. He was patient as she readjusted and then suddenly he was moving again and every thrust seemed to fill her body with this need, even as she built up to another orgasm, his lips almost worshipping her body.

But as they both orgasmed, his canines found the sweet flesh that made her body tingle and he sunk them into the skin.

It was enough to drive Cassidy over the edge, stars blinding her vision as she cried out his name like a prayer on her lips. His own chanting her name like she was a goddess.

It took them awhile to recover, and she was unwilling to move. He was unwilling to relinquish his grasp on her.

“Tell me about yourself, Cass.” Even her nickname sounded like heaving coming from his lips.

As she began to tell him about her life, his lips worked down her body. They worked her breasts, body before finally reaching her clit.

She continued telling him, realising that if she stopped, he stopped. He pushed her over the brink again and again.

It was only when she was left pleading him to stop, to do something about her heat.

Round two was much longer than round one, and they’d both learned about each other quicker than anything.

He was everything she wanted and more.

And he was hers.

==

Dinner was ignored in favour of spending time with each other, and Cassidy could have cared less.

“So, my sweet human,” Ashton teased, his lips brushing against her forehead and she grinned, “How did it come to you travelling?”

The two were lay together in his bed, her leg over his and her body pressed against his side, her head resting on his shoulder.

“I stopped myself from finding my mate by being home-schooled. Kids were cruel at first, but I could deal with that. But when the Alpha’s son came to school, I couldn’t cope.” Cassidy admitted quietly. Ashton tensed up briefly, but her hand tracing delicate lines against his chest reminded him that she was here with him.

“What happened?” He asked softly.

“He used to attack me. State my human freakishness shouldn’t be inflicted upon other wolves. I was the freak of nature and needed to be exterminated.”

Ashton growled which made Cassidy jump. She didn’t protest when she was pulled tighter against him.

“Most kids didn’t argue with him because he was the Alpha’s son. They didn’t want to anger their Alpha and future Alpha. So, they let it happen. It was when he threatened to kill me when school finished, I ran home. He said he’d make it a hunt so I ran home and hid. My dad came home and heard my terrified cries. I never told him, but he guessed.”

“He pulled you from school, then?”

“He spoke to Alpha Isaac who agreed it would be safer. I received private tutoring from my Alpha and dad. It kept me safe.”

“How did you come to be the Strategist? It took Michael three years to get that spot and even now he’s still learning.” Cassidy looked thoughtful as she let her lips press against his chest.

The tingles appeared and she felt her body relax further. She knew that down the road, she would never tire of that feeling.

“At first, I thought it was my Alpha taking pity on me. Many others did as well, so he laid out one of his previous battle plans that had failed and asked me what should have been done differently. I proved everyone, including myself, wrong that day. The next day Alpha inducted me into his close circle and told me of the future-plans and raids into the rogue territory.” Cassidy caught herself and blushed. Ashton laughed.

“Your secrets are safe with me, love.” He whispered, placing a delicate kiss below her ear.

“Thank you.” The words were a whisper but he appreciated it all the same.

Using his position, Ashton rolled over, pinning his mate beneath him and looked at her with such a look of awe and pride, Cassidy blushed.

“My mate is utterly incredible. You’ll make a wonderful Luna. I’ll travel back to your pack to meet your Alpha and father and we’ll come up with a peace treaty. I’ve never had a problem with Rosewood pack, and now I don’t need to have any problems.”

“They’d like that. Jamie misses home, I just miss my sister.” She whispered and Ashton placed his own strategic kisses and her trail of thought was rapidly disappearing.

“Let me show my mate how proud I am, we’ll deal with everything else tomorrow.”

Cassidy couldn’t argue.

==

When the two emerged from his room the next morning, the four boys were positively smug. Jamie looked a bit apprehensive. But when Ashton placed a kiss to Cassidy’s temple, he relaxed significantly.

“We managed to get some discussion done, and we’re going to head over to Rosewood to outline a treaty and alliance.” Ashton had carried his sentence on, ignoring the smirks and snickers from his pack mates.

Jamie managed to restrain his amusement to a smirk.

“Would you like me to make Alpha Lockard aware?” Ashton nodded in appreciation at Jamie’s offer.

“That would be much appreciated. I need to organise my own pack meeting, so that everyone can meet their new Luna.” Cassidy flushed at his words and felt her nerves skyrocketing.

“Will they like me?” Ashton stared at her in shock at the words and Jamie’s look of understanding made him frown.

“But, why wouldn’t they?” Michael piped up, staring at her in total confusion. Luke and Calum wore similar looks to their Alpha and Cassidy found herself feeling unsure.

Jamie saved her from answering.

“She’s scared. Cassidy is a human in a world of wolves and supernatural beings. A lot of our pack shunned her because she would never be like them. How would your pack react to a human Luna?” He paused as he let the information sink in, turning his attention to Ashton. “Everyone who has grown up in the supernatural world knows, that a wolf's only weakness is their mate. Cassidy is a human mate. She knows the dangers of being a human and she’s seen the aftereffects of losing a mate.”

Cassidy shuddered. Ashton shifted his attention to his mate, placing a hand over hers. She gave him a weak smile.

“I’m scared of how they’ll react to a human Luna. A Luna who is a weak spot for their Alpha and the weakest link in the pack.”

The siblings’ words sunk in and Ashton found himself in a position he never thought he’d be in. His heart was overcome with fear for his mate, his mind going over every possible packmate, singling out those who had attack the two humans in their pack.

Luke, Michael and Calum were thinking along the same lines and suddenly the entire thing had become real.

“The warriors know better than to harm a human of the pack, let alone their Luna. They’ve been trained to protect and defend.” Calum broke the silence first.

“They’ll need to understand that even though I’m human, I can run with the wolves.” Cassidy put in and Ashton snorted in amusement. Jamie grinned.

“The warriors we can work a rotation out maybe?” Ashton glanced to his mate who nodded in approval.

“My safety comes first, I get that. But don’t lock me away. I need to be a Luna as well.” She gave Ashton a pointed look who nodded and Luke’s face broke out into a genuine grin.

“It would teach the pack children how to act towards their human packmates.” Michael pointed out and Cassidy smiled.

“I can also spend time with the human packmates because I understand more than anyone how they might feel.” She broke in and Ashton’s heart swelled.

He knew that the human packmates were barely teens and children truly were cruel. Not to mention those that find their mates within the pack ranks find them around the ages of adolescents.

They continued to work out ideas and possibilities.

Jamie contacted his Alpha and they were set to travel home the next day.

Ashton had kissed his mate goodbye and dragged Luke and Calum with him to meet with the Gamma and their own Elders to work out the pack things that needed to be run in his absence.

“How about we go and visit the human pack members? They might be able to believe in themselves if they can see their Luna is a human who is also a strategist.”

Cassidy shot Michael a smug grin at his words. He just grumbled before grinning at her. She knew he was teasing.

==

Michael attended to visit along with three warriors. Jamie admitted to staying behind because he needed to call their dad. Cassidy accepted that as they left and the five of them headed out into the pack town in the black jeep.

“You guys use jeeps instead of SUV’s?” Cassidy was situated in between two warriors, Josh and Jacob. They were twins who had just passed their final exams with the warriors and were fully fledged. Both had been impressed to learn their first assignment was to watch over their new Luna.

Michael was driving and next to him sat the youngest of the three warriors, Abel.

Abel answered readily, having been prepared. He was just shy of his eighteenth birthday and still had eight months of training before his final exam. This was a trial to see how he would handle grouped situations.

“SUVs attract attention and scream out importance. Jeeps like this, highlight travelling and safety.” He indicated to the reinforced metal bars on the roof and inside of the car.

Cassidy nodded in appreciation.

“Any of you found your mates yet?” The question was curious enough and she was pleased by the smiles on each of them.

Then it hit her why they’d been picked. They knew what a mate meant. They understood the emotions and therefore knew how to protect their Alpha’s mate.

Jacob went first.

“I met mine when I was fourteen. Been together for six years.”

“What’s her name?”

“Sadie. Pretty blonde who loves watching TV shows and horror films…” He trailed off with a sheepish grin. Cassidy grinned.

“What about you, Josh?” He shot her a very shy glance and mumbled under his breath. Michael snorted.

“The human can’t hear you when you mumble.” She teased playfully. Josh’s cheeks flushed as the other three laughed.

“I met my mate two years-ago. His name is Caleb.” Was the quiet whisper. Cassidy didn’t even pause as her smile grew.

“What does he do?” Her enthusiasm didn’t go unnoticed. Michael smiled as they drove onto the street where one of the humans lived with her family.

“He, uh teaches the younger pups. He’s an assistant.”

“Do you think I could meet him? I had been planning to work in one of the schools alongside my strategist job and maybe introducing newer things into curriculum. Mainly things that even humans could do so that the pups don’t push them away if there were any future humans born to a pack of wolves.” She spoke with ease and Josh’s entire body relaxed at her statement.

It wasn’t common for same sex mates, but they still happened. And there was always those that held firm beliefs of the wrongness of it.

Cassidy had never even considered those beliefs and embraced the same sex mates fully.

“I haven’t actually met my mate yet, Luna. But my little sister met hers. She turns sixteen and she’s been talking to our parents about loosening some restrictions.” Abel admitted and she giggled.

“This is our first stop. Luna, please wait a moment so the warriors can scout.” She nodded her head and sat back as the three warrior wolves left the car and scouted for a few moments.

“Josh was very nervous to admit to his mate. Does he get ridiculed by others?” The question was curiosity mixed with sadness. Michael sighed.

He heard Josh through the pack link, telling Michael that he was okay with his story being explained by another.

“Growing up, Josh realised that he liked boys long before he met his mate. He knew instantly that he would be disgraced and so he tried to ignore the fact that if he met his female mate, he’d have to break her heart, or beg her to understand.”

“He still had to beg, but to his family?” Michael nodded.

“She did something that any wolf will cringe at. She took a scalding hot poker made of silver and branded him. Scarred his body and left him dying in the street.”

Cassidy remembered his words that he’d met his mate two years ago, and she felt nauseous.

“All clear Michael.” Came through Abel’s voice. Cassidy left the jeep silently and she worked through the different emotions she could feel, so she could greet the human child.

Michael knocked on the door as Cassidy turned to Josh.

“Can we talk when we’ve done this?” He looked hesitant but nodded. She smiled at him in return before turning her attention to the door that was opening.

“Mr. Clifford, I wasn’t expecting any callers today.” The woman’s voice filtered through. Cassidy could see her eyeing the warrior wolves wearily.

“It’s okay Mrs. Teller. The new Luna wanted to meet young Trix.” Michael stepped aside to reveal Cassidy to Mrs. Teller who stiffened and eyed her new Luna cautiously.

“Luna.” She murmured, bowing politely.

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Teller. I felt that Trix was someone I wanted to talk to before the pack met their Luna.”

Mrs. Teller hesitated for a second, disarmed by the charming smile on Cassidy’s lips.

“Please, call me Rae.” The woman stepped aside. Josh and Abel went in first, Cassidy following with Michael and Jacob behind her.

Once they were in the living room, Rae offered for Cassidy and Michael to sit, knowing the warriors would want to stay on their feet. She wasn’t wrong as they changed themselves to different strategic positions in the room. Eyes always moving.

She shuddered.

“Trix, come down for Mama please, I have some people who I want you to meet.” The thud of feet along the hallway upstairs and then thundering down the stairs made Cassidy smile.

She watched as a young girl, no older than seven came barrelling into the room and aiming straight for her mother.

“Mama, I managed to make the car move! I had to tap the wires together and the car went super-fast!” She regaled breathlessly. Rae smiled before taking Trix’s hand.

“That’s lovely dear. I’d like you to meet our new Luna.” She nodded to Cassidy and suddenly the little girl became aware of the other people in the room. Her wide eyes took in the bulky masses of the warriors before turning to Michael and Cassidy, both watching Trix.

Instantly she blushed before nodding to the Luna.

“Why’d you want to meet me Mi-Luna?” Cassidy grinned and shifted her body in the direction of the child.

“Well, I heard from Alpha Irwin that you’re not like other wolves, you're human.” She started carefully. Instantly Trix looked crestfallen.

“Am I not allowed to play with the others anymore?”

“And why would you think that, little one?” Cassidy patted the spot between her and Michael. Trix had hesitated, but after glancing back to her mother who nodded, she sat in between them both and turned to look at Cassidy.

“The big ones always tell me that Luna won’t let a runt like me stay here. They-” Trix hesitated, shooting a terrified glance to her mother, “when they corner me, they laugh when I cry for mama and tell me that Luna will toss me out so I have to get used to fighting without Mama around.”

Three growls from the warriors made Trix shrink into Cassidy who instinctively wrapped an arm around the small girl’s shoulders. Rae stared at her daughter before hurrying into the kitchen. Cassidy didn’t need the super hearing to hear the poor woman burst into tears at her daughter’s admittance.

She shot a pointed look to Michael who nodded. The warriors closed in slightly. Trix trembled as they drew in closer.

“Abel, please sit down, you’re scaring her. Jacob, please get young Miss Teller a glass of water, or perhaps a cup of warm cocoa?” She glanced at the girl who stared at Cassidy in wonder before the small girl herself burst into tears.

All her mind could think of was ‘This wonderful lady cares’. Cassidy could feel her own tears as the warriors obeyed her without question.

Abel was sat across from her and his eyes were on the small girl shaking in his Luna’s arms.

His wolf was howling in such delight because his mate was the nine-year-old girl. Abel already knew that he’d wait for eternity for the girl.

Cassidy looked up to see Abel’s look of bewildered astonishment and she clicked what had happened. She smiled at him and nodded, a silent promise to calm his young mate down. He grinned in return, eyes returning to watching out of the windows, tracking movements and rustles.

“Trixie, can I call you Trixie?” Trix nodded to her Luna as Cassidy pulled her away, wiping the little girls tears from her cheek. “Do you want to know something amazing? And you can tell those big bullies about this, it’ll make them think twice about hurting you again.”

Her eyes caught movement and she saw Rae Teller re-enter the room with Michael, eyes rimmed red. She offered a weak smile and nod at her Luna.

Cassidy returned her attention to the small girl that was now staring at her curiously, tears still pouring from her eyes.

“I’m human too.” Her eyes went wide at the statement and Cassidy could see the amazement flicker through her face. “And you know what else?”

“What?” Trix whispered, but Cassidy knew every wolf in the room heard her.

“If those big bullies even try to come after you again, your Luna and her big bad warrior will come and protect you.” She nodded to Abel who returned his gaze now that Jacob was back in the room with a cup of hot cocoa. Trix took in Abel’s appearance and her eyes widened once more, looking back to Cassidy.

“Will he be there to help?” She asked quietly. Cassidy grinned and she was sure that Josh and Jacob would be laying into Abel the minute they left the home.

“I can do one better. He’s your warrior sweet one. He’ll protect you and make sure those big bullies stay away.” The little girl gasped in astonishment before looking at Abel again.

The grin on his lips told Cassidy everything.

“He’ll be my warrior?” Cassidy nodded. “What about the other two scary ones?” At this, Cassidy snorted.

“They’re big teddy bears.” She shot a glance to the twins who had goofy grins on already. Watching their Luna made their wolves within more determined to protect and please their Luna. “Because they’re big teddy bears it means that to you only, they’ll be your big brothers. They’ll help you when those bullies try anything.”

“Wow.” The amazed little girl whispered before giving a pleading look to her Luna. “Will you come with me when I have to go back next week. The others were told to bring in someone who helped them when they first transitioned.” She admitted quietly.

Cassidy had hated it when Jamie had come in barrelling home and proclaimed to their dad that he needed to go with him to school for the project.

She glanced to Michael. He nodded his head.

“Well, seeing as today is Monday, I have plenty of time. What day is it next week Trixie?” The little girl looked stunned that her Luna was considering this.

“It’s on Friday! Will you really come?”

“I’ll have to be away from town for a week from tomorrow, but I’ll certainly be there on Friday. Does that sound okay to you?”

Cassidy was rewarded with the tightest cuddle, making her giggle.

“I think that’s a yes, Luna.” Michael teased and Rae managed to laugh.

“I think so too. But whilst I’m gone, Abel, Josh and Jacob will help you. They’ll look after you. But why don’t you take up your hot cocoa, because I’m sure that the pack can do with more genius’ who are as bright as you are.” Trixie didn’t need to be told twice.

But before she picked up her drink, she hugged Abel, who was closest and waved to the twins, taking her cup and scampering up the stairs.

Rae Teller sat down opposite her Luna and promptly burst into tears once more.

“I’m so sorry that this is happening to your daughter. It shouldn’t happen.” Cassidy murmured.

“Is it true that you’re human?” At this, the three wolves guffawed.

Michael broke in.

“Any wolf wouldn’t dare call a warrior a teddy bear, Luna or not. As a human, she can get away with a lot.” Cassidy raised an eyebrow before grinning at Michael.

“You’ll learn more about me at the pack meeting. I wanted to get to know the two human children in this pack because I wanted them to know that they too can be great.”

“Thank you Luna, I’ve been so worried and when she came home with bruises, it’s scared me and I’m so sorry, but I’m so happy and-”

Cassidy cut the woman off by hugging her. She froze before relaxing into the hug.

“That little girl is so very special. Not just because she’s human, but her mate is someone who will protect her till his last breath.”

Rae pulled away then, her eyes wide. Cassidy glanced to Abel who nodded silently.

“How can you be so sure?” She asked so wearily. Cassidy smiled.

“Let me introduce you to your daughters mate, Abel.” She nodded at the warrior sat down and Mrs Teller felt every fear drain from her body.

“You’ll take care of my little girl?”

“Ma’am, I will protect her,” The twins’ laughter interrupted then, he scowled at both, “no matter what. Luna was right, she’s special. And probably will turn out to be a genius. She’ll be bossing us warriors around before long.” That shut the twins up.

Michael laughed.

“Oh my goddess, you are a gift from the moon goddess herself Luna. Thank you so much.” Rae Teller honestly thought her heart was going to burst from excitement. Her little girl was safe.

“You have my word Mrs Teller, she’ll be the most protected child. And anyway, when she’s due to go into high school, I’ll talk to the Alpha about tutoring her. It worked for me. It’ll surely work for your daughter and the other child.”

This time Mrs Teller initiated the hug that Cassidy returned.

When they finally left the home, Trix returning downstairs to give each of them hugs, saving the last two for Abel and Cassidy.

Once the door was shut and they were in the jeep, Josh and Jacob reached forward to punch their comrade in the shoulder.

“Congrats brother!” Jacob crowed and Michael laughed.

“Man my wolf is at peace. Thanks Luna.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“On the contrary! You helped set up a schedule so that Abel will be within proximity to his made to keep his wolf satisfied. You’ve helped a lot.” Michael explained and Cassidy flushed.

==

The other human was on the other side of the town. They pulled up and witnessed a small child being attacked by kids that were clearly bigger than them.

“Abel, Jacob go.” Cassidy ordered. The two needed no further instruction as they launched from the car, their warning growls causing the attackers to freeze before running. Jacob shifted and went after them.

“Michael?”

"Got it." He was out of the car fast and Abel took off after Jacob, heads peeking out from doors as the growls reverberated around the street.

Cassidy and Josh finally got out and went over to Michael.

“Of course you all take note when there is a growl, but a crying child falls on deaf ears that are sensitive to noise.” She snapped at those that were peering to take a closer look.

“You don’t boss us around lady!” Another snapped back and Michael held Cassidy back from ripping into him.

Doors slammed and she turned her attention to the child.

“What’s your name sweet thing?”

The child finally uncovered their face once they realised that they were safe. Cassidy wished she could snarl. Another girl, a little older than Trix by the looks of it.

“Don’t know my name.” She muttered. Dirt and grime covered the girl from head to toe. Cassidy shot a panicked look to Michael whose hands were shaking.

“Where do you live little one?” The girl shrugged again and pointed to the house they were stood in front of.

“They never let me in. Sleep outside like the runt I am. Got a house round back.” At her words, Josh slipped into the back garden. He returned with a look of disgust mixed with shock and pity.

Cassidy could feel her temper rising.

“It’s a dog kennel, Luna. They feed her scraps.” He whispered and she felt her anger double.

“We’re taking you to the doctor. No arguments little one.” She whispered. “Tell Jacob and Abel to bring the children they round up to the pack house. Michael, direct link with Ashton, he’ll pay attention to you. Tell him to organise the pack meeting tonight. Josh, call in a group to take these wolves into some sort of custody. Michael, alert the pack house that there will be an extra guest. Contact Mrs. Teller, let her know to bring Trixie with her to the pack house.”

Josh carried the small girl to the car as both he and Michael linked to the people they needed.

He lay the girl on the backseat with Cassidy who had her head lay in her lap, stroking the girls matted hair.

How dare they do this to a defenceless child.

“Alpha is setting up for the emergency pack meeting. The response unit are picking up the wolves before Alpha sends out the call for a pack meeting. He wants to talk to you when we get back.

“You tell him I’ll be sat with the little one as her acting guardian whilst the pack doctor looks over her and I’ll be with her until Mrs Teller and Trixie arrive.”

The rest of the journey was silent.

When they reached the main pack house that housed the Alpha, Cassidy noted the pack doctor outside, waiting. Josh picked up the small girl and followed the doctor who looked horror struck. Ashton watched, crestfallen.

Cassidy walked over to him, capturing his attention.

“I know we wanted to wait, but I refuse to stand by and let those abusers get away with this.” She practically snarled.

“Are you sure you’re not a wolf, love? You snarl like one.”

Jamie greeted the couple with a laugh.

“She learned from me when I first shifted. Dad always said that her bad habits are my fault.” This made Cassidy smile.

They trooped into the room where the pack doctor was. She could see the look of horror on the pack doctors face and she pulled her Alpha and Luna aside, casting a daring glance at Jamie.

“He’s my brother, he’ll protect her whilst we have privacy.” Cassidy assured her and that was all it took before the two were ushered into a separate room where the doctor exploded.

“They beat and raped a defenceless child.” She snarled. Tears were falling from her eyes as the couple stiffened in shock. Cassidy felt her insides churn and Ashton felt his anger burn up.

“How long?” Despite having spent little time with her mate, Cassidy sensed the danger in her mate’s voice. For a fleeting second, she felt proud. For an Alpha to show the danger within his tone was impressive.

She was brought back down to earth at the doctors whispered words.

“Years. This has been happening for years.” Cassidy gripped Ashton’s hand tightly, a silent reminder for him to not shift in this small office, but also to hold herself back from going after those pathetic wolves.

Bullying was one thing, but this was neglect and abuse.

“Please, tell me that never happened to you?” Cassidy sensed the danger of answering and so she stepped in front of him, allowing the doctor to leave the room for them.

His arms wound around her tightly as he pulled her closer, his nose trailing along her neck.

“I was bullied, kids hurt me and Leo, he tried to had Jamie not smelt my blood. Nothing what that girl has suffered ultimately. Dad would’ve died if he lost me and mum so close together.” She whispered and he let loose such a guttural snarl, Cassidy found herself shaking in her mate’s arms.

“If ever Leo Lockard tries to seek out refuge, he will be killed on the spot. I would go after the others in that pack but I do not want war.” He finally ground out, his eyes flashing amber.

Cassidy gave him a smug grin.

“They got their comeuppance. Trust me. But please, you’re going to be scaring that poor girl and I need her to trust us.” Ashton sighed, hiding his face against his mate’s neck, her hair and skin almost drowning his senses in her scent.

Finally, when he was calm, they left the office. The pack doctor looked fleetingly panicked, but Cassidy smiled at her, reassuring. She shared a knowing look with Jamie who felt his features morph into a look of wariness. He understood the look and what she’d just told her mate.

“We have a town auditorium. It can house the wolves easily. How do you want to go about this?” He asked her quietly as they sat by the girls bedside. She’d fallen asleep as the doctor was working. Because she was underage and had no reasonable guardian to look over her, Ashton remained as acting guardian, Cassidy by his side.

“I want you to introduce your new mate. I want those that sneered at me on the street to see their mistakes. I want them to know I may be human but I will not tolerate their sneers nor their snide remarks. I will not bow to the wolves that think they are better than me because they have the genetics and I don’t.”

It hit Ashton very fast as he stared at his mate in awe. The bond was usually there to help feelings develop over time, people were never sure of their other half. They both felt sure. Allowing him to mark her told Ashton that, and letting her do the same to him spoke volumes.

But the feeling of love, pride and adoration, it hit him all at once.

His mate was incredible. And he was the lucky bastard that got to keep her all to himself.

==

Cassidy greeted Mrs Teller and Trix in the open spaced lounge. Those that helped keep the pack house in top shape were preparing for the pack meeting over in the auditorium. Cassidy had requested that they make sure the guests in the holding cells were hydrated and alive.

“I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, Luna.” Mrs Teller stammered and Cassidy smiled at them gently, assurances in the smile as she opened her arms to Trix who hugged her tightly.

“I know, it’s a bit soon. My mate will be along in a moment, but I wish to ask about home life. I take it your husband works?” At this, her shoulders became a little more straighter.

“He trains the warriors. He’s classed as an elder due to a longstanding family genetic that means he can no longer help with the raids and protections, but he’s a hard worker and proud of his little girl.” She smiled at Trix who had not released her Luna yet.

She was still too excited that her Luna was a human and very smart.

“I see my Luna has been taken hostage, I must admit defeat to the scary human holding her.” Ashton’s voice reached them. Trix giggled as she hid herself against Cassidy and Rae Teller looked like she wanted to tell her daughter to let go.

“But Alpha, she’s a clever human, and says I’m one too. She told me that I’ve got my own warrior too. How cool is that Alpha?” Trix didn’t notice her mother’s distress and Ashton laughed at the enthusiastic girl. He got down to her level and held his own arms out.

“Well if your Luna gets cuddles, what ‘bout that old Alpha of yours, huh?” He teased playfully, a smile on his lips. Rae Teller relaxed instantly.

Cassidy giggled with Trix.

“But Luna is my friend. She’s dead clever and told me I was clever just like her. If I hug you she might get sad that I ain’t hugging her no more.” Ashton pouted at the little girl who then hesitated, glancing up at Cassidy.

“You tell him he can’t be big bad Alpha to you or your Luna will beat him up.” She whispered conspiratorially to the little girl who looked positively gleeful.

“If I hug you, you can’t be big bad Alpha to me, cause my Luna will come beat you up and save me.” She nodded at him, unawares he’d heard perfectly clear what his mate had whispered.

“I think I can do that, I mean you’re a genius human and I always need to train genius humans, don’t I?” At this, her gleeful squeal hit them as she launched into her Alpha and he swept her up with a laugh.

“Are you sure, he’s the Alpha and I don’t want her-”

“Rae, it’s fine. He’ll act like this with her pretty much any time he sees her now. I’ll explain it all if you’ll allow and not mind that he’s going to steal her away to his office for twenty minutes to see how he can tutor her?” Rae nodded and Cassidy pulled the young woman towards the side of the house that housed the pack doctor and the small infirmary.

There were more surgeries scattered around the town, as Cassidy learnt, but the pack doctor at the house was the Alpha in respects of the doctors.

“We went to visit the second child today, situated on the other side of town. When we got there, a bunch of teenagers were attacking someone. Of course Abel and Jacob chased them down, they’re currently standing guard till the pack meeting, however we realise it was the other human girl. Her family tossed her outside to live in a kennel. She’s been beaten, and raped. She’s had the worst of the worst thrown at her.”

Rae Teller trembled as tears threatened her once more. The poor girl must have been terrified, and not to mention that it could have happened to her own little girl, aside from tossing her into a kennel. Rae Teller was not about to do that to her only daughter.

“Why are you telling me, Luna?”

“Because I’m asking for your permission, after the pack trial, I want you to take in this little girl and give Trixie a sister who is the same as her. I want you to love this little girl like you love your daughter.”

And then something triggered inside of Rae Teller. Her wolf sensed the child and she found herself scared for her little girl, glancing above them.

“Trixie is safe as sound with her Alpha. But this little girl has no one.” Cassidy whispered and when Rae Teller laid her eyes on the broken little girl, she wept like she had the day when her daughter was born.

“Oh my poor baby, of course I’ll take you in as mine.” She cried, the girl finally pulling her eyes wide enough to realise there was a weeping woman and her saviour.

“Hello little one, how do you feel?” Cassidy asked softly as Rae composed herself.

“Hurt, but that nice doctor did things and made the pain go away. She fixed the pain between my legs and put something on my cuts.” The girl muttered. Cassidy kept a gentle smile on her lips.

“Good. This lady here, her little girl is human like you, but her little girl is happy.”

“You don’t hurt her?” The girl asked sharply. Rae Teller shook her head and clasped her hands around one of the girls.

“Goddess no, I love my little girl so much. But I heard that the people that were meant to be your family hurt you. They shouldn’t have done that. I wanted to ask if you’d consent to stay with me, my husband and our little girl. And be her big sister?”

She hesitated.

“I promise that we won’t do to you what those monsters did. Not to mention, Alpha and his Beta will teach you as well. You’ll be a smart little girl who can protect someone else like her.” The idea was appealing, so Cassidy finally stepped in.

“I’ll be with both of you as well when I come back from my old pack. I’m not a wolf like them, I’m human too.” She whispered and suddenly the girl nodded, crying as she did.

“They never wanted me an’ I never want them, please don’t make me go back.” She sobbed into Rae who shifted herself and pulled the girl into a protective hold.

Ashton entered then, with Trixie sat on his shoulders.

“So this is the other human?” She asked quietly. Ashton nodded.

“And she’ll be your big sister if you ask her nicely.” Cassidy’s sly comment made Trixie gasp excitedly.

“Will you be my big sister? My warrior can protect us both and we’ll both have big brothers who are teddy bears!” She exclaimed from the top of Ashton’s shoulders, causing her crying to subside.

“I’ll be your big sister, but I don’t know my name.” She admitted quietly.

“What about Roxy? Cause I’m called Trix an’ Luna calls me Trixie.” The little girl pondered that, but hesitated.

“How about Roxanne?” Rae suggested softly and the girl nodded.

Cassidy explained to the family what was about to happen. Rae assured them that her husband would be there to witness the public pack trial and that he was more than happy to take in Roxanne.

Cassidy left the office with a smug air about her.

“How long till the pack trial?” She questioned silently as they headed back to his room.

“We still have hours yet, and by god I want to see that look on your face above me please.” He rasped as his lips latched onto hers once they were in the confines of his room.

She didn’t argue as she teased him and the smug feeling filled her just as he did, his teeth sinking into her mark just as she did to him when they climaxed.

It was certainly something else, but they held each other hostage for little over an hour before they finally made themselves look respectable. Cassidy had found one of her more promising outfits, a regal dress that Ashton commented made her look fierce and confident.

By the time of the pack meeting, the auditorium was filled. Ashton stepped out onto the stage, standing on the podium, Cassidy was just in the wings.

“Tonight, I greet you with some wonderful and tragic news. I will greet you with the wonderful news of my mate,” He paused as people cheered for their Alpha. “And I’d like to introduce her. Cassidy Hayden of the Rosewood pack.”

Cassidy took her cue and stepped out, smiling to the tentative cheers from the pack. She knew that their wolves were wondering why they couldn’t quite feel the bond of their Luna like they did their Alpha.

“As you may have possibly guessed, she is a human. Born to the Beta of the Rosewood, she rose the ranks and excelled most of the wolves from her generation. She was the strategist for them and now Luna for you. And she has some words she wanted to share.”

Instead of outright hostility, she noted the looks of fear from those who had dismissed her earlier in the day, but a few cheered. One of them she guessed was Mr. Teller.

“I know it’s a shock to you all, a human Luna. However, I am making a promise to you tonight to do my best to rule with my mate, and understand issues amongst pack life. I will bring up the tragic news that my mate wanted to tell you, because this currently ties in with a few things.” She paused, looking around.

“I will not, in any way tolerate anybody causing grief to a human member of the pack. I want you to support them like you support each wolf. I became a strategist of my previous pack. Just think how far and how high a human would reach with the right push? Which brings me to my next point and a rule that is being enforced as of today.” She glanced to Ashton who nodded his head, a smile on his lips.

“Abuse of a human within the pack will not be tolerated. Abuse of a wolf will not be tolerated, however with the pack so closely linked, an abused wolf is quickly found and cared for. A human is not. Today I went to greet the two human children that are pack members. One is a girl under the age of ten, who has been beaten up by bullies who think they are better than her. You will instil in your children that this will not be tolerated any longer. Today we caught six young wolves attacking the second child in the middle of the street, yet no one heard the cries for help.” Her gaze landed on a group clustered together, her eyes darkening into a scowl.

“Don’t you dare disrespect me like you did today. You didn't know I was Luna, granted but you shouldn’t disrespect anyone, let alone one who is travelling with three warriors and the Alpha’s right hand.” Growls erupted then.

“You disrespected the Luna?!”

“How stupid are you?”

“QUIET.” Ashton snarled, the crowd falling silent once more.

“The poor girl was kicked out into a kennel where she had been fed scraps of meat occasionally. She was filthy, but as well as the neglect and abuse, the poor child had been raped. She is less than fifteen years old. How can you stand by and let that happen without your sensitive ears not picking up her distress?” She ground out.

Growls were rolling in once more.

“The adults of the family are facing a pack trial. Tonight. The children will be judged by their Alpha at a later date.” She snapped, her temper breaking lose for a moment.

The pack went silent. They’d not had to do a pack trial in decades.

Things changed then, the warriors positioned them around the stage as they pulled the family members in front of the packs.

Two women, two men. Two were clearly elders and the other two were the parents.

They snarled about a runt of a human, they said humans had no place in the pack and Cassidy lost her temper. Ashton didn’t even attempt to stop her.

“As a human myself I’m living proof that we each have a place in this pack.” They froze at her words. “You attacked a child and abused her. You have no say on whether humans have a place or not because you certainly don’t.”

They tried to call her a liar and something snapped completely. She took the dagger from the closest warrior, one laced with silver and sliced her hand.

The wolves yelped but she didn’t flinch. She bled and bled. No super healing like the wolves had. Suddenly all protests fell silent.

Ashton had to stop himself from launching at his mate to prevent that, but he knew they needed to see the truth.

The pack judged. And instead of exile they called for execution.

Things calmed once the entire meeting had settled once the family was dragged off, their protests falling on deaf ears.

“Because my mate is from Rosewood pack, I’m planning to be away for a week. Look to the superiors for help and stay vigilant. Don’t let this tear us apart.”

With those words, he and Cassidy swept from the room. Each male knew that they would not be meeting their Luna properly until they returned.

Ashton didn’t disappoint. He swept Cassidy to his room and neither were seen till the early hours of the morning, marks fresh and a freshly bandaged hand.

Jamie snickered at the pair.

Cassidy sat in the front with her brother, Calum, Luke and Ashton situated in the backseat. Michael waved them off with Roxanne and Trixie. The Tellers were staying in the pack house whilst things were arranged for them to move closer to the pack house.

Two pack cars followed behind them, two warriors in one and three in another.

Most of the journey was slept away by the three wolves in the backseat. Cassidy and Jamie were wide awake as they inched closer to their home.

“How does it feel to be going home Jamie?” Glimpsing at his sister, Jamie shrugged.

“My wolf feels ready for his mate. It feels like home. What about you?”

“Scared, excited. I’ve missed them, but I already miss Ashton’s pack.” She admitted quietly.

“There’s nothing wrong with feeling like that. I know that Luna Lockard felt the same way when she first met Alpha. Do you remember the day that she came back after they’d gone to visit her parents?” She nodded her head. Leo hadn’t been born by then.

“She scooped us both up and cried because she felt guilty to her pack. I don’t think she knows we remember.” She admitted quietly.

“We were the only kids on close terms with our Luna and Alpha. So, she sought us out and Alpha advised dad to let her be. Do you remember the look of shock on mum’s face?” The siblings laughed quietly.

“I still miss her.” There was the opening Jamie was waiting for.

“She’s proud, you know that.” He murmured, reaching across to hold her hand.

“I still wonder if she would have cared that I wasn’t a wolf.” Jamie snorted.

“I’m almost certain mum knew. She was so overprotective of you that even dad clocked on. Why do you think Alpha and Luna had been introduced to us so fast?” They shared grins at that, taking note that they reached the border.

Reece and Evan were waiting along with Tanita. Once they saw who was inside the car, they motioned for them to pass through, returning to their patrols instantly.

There was a welcoming committee waiting for them at the pack house. When Cassidy stepped from the car, she reacted to the squeal from her little sister and met her in the middle, laughing loudly as Hope picked her up with ease and spun her around.

Jamie whined in protest.

“Am I chopped liver?”

“Yes.” Both sisters responded in synchronisation before Cassidy pried herself from Hope and watched in amusement as her baby sister tackled her brother.

Cassidy turned to her dad next, both wearing matching grins as he pulled her in for a hug, placing a kiss to the top of her forehead.

“Welcome home baby. I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too daddy.” She whispered, his arms getting a little bit tighter around her.

Once Jamie reacquainted with their dad, Cassidy moved back to Ashton, taking her hand in his as she guided him up.

She was yet to greet her Alpha because she knew that she needed to respect the Alpha code but also her mate.

“Dad, this is Alpha Irwin of Vinewood Pack.” The two shook hands and then Cassidy dropped the bombshell. “He’s also my mate.”

She noted that Alpha Isaac broke into a grin as her dad’s jaw clenched. His eyes zeroed on the mark before he shot a look to his daughter.

“Of course, you’d introduce me and let me be polite before dropping that bombshell on me.” She grinned at him as Jamie laughed.

“She is your daughter after all Matthew.” Alpha Isaac called out, rather smugly.

That was when she tugged Ashton over to Alpha Isaac and introduced him before allowing herself to be pulled into a tight hug from her Alpha.

“I’m so proud of you Cassie. And rather glad that your mate is an Alpha.” He commented slyly, earning a sharp punch to his shoulder from his wife.

Pandora Lockard was fierce as she was delicate. A true force of nature. So, Cassidy didn’t bother protesting when her Luna pulled her in for the tightest hug she’d ever received.

Once the greetings were done with, the group ventured into the house and to the Alpha's office.

Elder Orion bowed to the newest couple, a smile on his face.

"When Isaac told me of his plans for you, Luna Cassidy, I was doubtful. But it seems our Goddess had other plans for you and merely informed him of some of her plans to help you. You two will truly be blessed and I am overjoyed for you, my dear." He bowed once more, which Cassidy automatically returned, making Isaac chuckle.

"You don't need to bow now, Cassie. You hold rank with me, we get away with a lot when it comes to the Elders." Isaac teased and she flushed.

"It's ingrained to be respectful, old timer." She shot back and her dad roared with laughter as her brother blanched for a moment.

Hope smirked at her sister before nodding.

Isaac playfully scowled before grinning at her and the group sat amongst the various couches.

Nobody missed how Cassidy sat next to her sister and Alpha Irwin wedged himself against his mate.

"Lu- Pandora," Cassidy caught herself, making Isaac smirk which she ignored. "when Al- when Isaac met you, was it just as fast moving for you or did you adjust quickly?"

Pandora smiled at her, looking to her mate briefly who seemed confused. She took pity on the young Alpha.

"Alpha Irwin, to explain, Isaac met me when he was travelling to various packs to discuss the rouge situation twenty four years ago. Your little Luna was who I greeted first when I returned back from my previous pack during my transition years after she was born. As she got older and Jamie joined the family, they became good therapy for the, let's call it unpleasantness, from my previous pack, especially when I bore no heir immediately. I love those two as if they were my own, even after the public embarrassment of Leo, I still consider them my children, Hope included when she joined their little family. When Tamara passed, I was the one they sought out for the motherly affection and I doted on them. She is considered family which is why such a question was asked."

Understanding dawned and he nodded, giving his mate a brief smile who responded with a brilliant smile of her own.

The older pack members held back from chuckling at the love struck look on the young Alpha's face.

Pandora turned back to Cassidy who smiled sheepishly in return.

"Fret not little one. I adjusted quite fast, but I never took the mark as quick as you did. That may be why you feel it is going alarmingly fast. However, it seems that your natural born instincts from our genetics told you to make Alpha Irwin-"

"Please, if she considers you family, call me Ashton when it's just us. That applies to all of you." He interrupted quietly. Pandora smiled and nodded at the young Alpha.

"Ashton, then. Your natural born instincts told you to claim Ashton in the most basic and raw way possible. I'm certain your brother experienced it, and Hope will experience it with her mate."

Hope shifted uncomfortably but Pandora continued.

"It is why as parents, we do not police our young when it concerns mates, only when they are too young to understand that primal urge, do we police them to protect them."

"But, I'm human? How is it, that the primal urge in wolves, effectively showed itself within me?" Ashton found himself stunned at his mates words, trying to understand the progression of her emotions.

"Had you been one of the lower ranking wolves, or even just a civilian. But then again, perhaps not. You were destined for young Ashton here, so instinct would have prevailed where the change failed you."

"Wait, so the mating urge that my wolf was pushing, that wasn't over-protectiveness out of fear?"

Pandora smiled at Ashton.

"Perhaps it was a small part, but your wolf recognised on the most primal instinct that Cassidy is his, yours. The legend goes that the Moon Goddess gave us our soulmates, by splitting our souls in half, for us to find. The basic urge to claim, or to bite per say, is the souls connecting. You can feel what she feels, correct?" He nodded. "Cassie?" She nodded as well.

"Wait, but if our souls are split by the Goddess herself, what about me?" Hope's voice sounded broken and Cassidy wrapped her arm tightly around her younger sister.

"What do you mean?" Ashton quietly enquired and Isaac sighed.

"Do you remember how my Pandora spoke about the embarrassment of Leo?" Ashton nodded at Isaac's words. "Cassidy here, received formal training from myself and our Elders. She could see things that we could not. People argue and say we are flawless, but that builds a god-like complex, to us truly believing we can come to no harm. She saw every flaw and executed every plan to keep the wolves safe. About eighteen months ago, a young wolf was kidnapped. She was only six at the time. It took us months of strategic planning, Cassidy reviewing every open option and every potential ambush."

"Not to mention the god damn traps." She grumbled under her breath, making a sad smile appear on the old Alpha's lips.

"And avoid the traps we never saw. Her closest friend and confidant, Talon Scarsa was a talented warrior. I am certain that if he were still here, he'd transfer packs just to keep his best friend close and protect her. Don't misunderstand me, we knew he had a mate out there, but she was his priority because she was a weakness for a long time. They day she ran home from my son, terrified he would hunt and kill her, I took Talon into my own confidence and asked him to help. He was originally just for protection around the pack, but he became her best friend. And I know Matt was grateful for that after his own mate passed on." Isaac stood from his seat, heading over to his cabinet and pulling out what looked like a bottle of whiskey.

He said nothing as he poured out various measurements, handing it to everyone. Cassidy snorted at Hope taking a sip and cringing, but held onto the glass anyway as Isaac returned to his seat, tumbler of whiskey in his hand.

"The day we went out on the mission, it was executed perfectly, had my own fucking son not decided to sabotage it. The reports that came back from the wolves who had served under Cassidy prior to this assignment, said how Leo had led them from the route that would have protected Talon as he entered enemy lines to retrieve the young wolf. He died saving that child's life and Leo tried to pin the blame on Cassidy."

Ashton felt undiluted rage flow through his bones till Cassidy shifted herself on his lap and took his face in her hands.

"It was normal for me, the human to get such criticism. It never bothered me, but when they brought Talon home I was distraught. I was angry, christ, I double checked my plans and knew he should have made it out safely, yet he was in a body bag. And I knew one person who would cause such a thing so I came into my Alpha's office, all guns blazing, ready to kill the young heir for placing a packmate in jeopardy and for killing another."

Isaac laughed.

"She was a sight to behold, pure and undiluted fury towards Leo and he never knew what hit him. Literally. I believe she broke a bone or two after punching him a few times." Isaac grinned and she smiled, resuming her position next to her mate once she felt he had calmed down considerably.

"It was the first time we had ever pushed the pack link through her mind to get every ounce of information. At the time, Leo had apparently claimed a mate, and everyone believed him. Until I stripped him of every title and his mate, only for a howl to rip through the house. It was Hope here, who he had marked and made her feel everything he did with the girl he claimed his mate. So the Elders and I, we passed the title of Luna to her. So when I step down, she will take over the pack, and her mate will be Alpha, but it will be her who holds the title, who attends the meetings, does her duties as an Alpha."

"And now you wonder if the Goddess would gift you with a second mate?" Ashton asked quietly and Hope nodded.

"If he was meant to be my other half, am I taking the chance of someone else? Have I shifted things so that someone who was meant to potentially meet their mate is now stuck with me?"

Pandora tutted.

"What they never teach children is the story of the second chance mate. After generations of wolves had spread throughout the world, a wolf prayed to his Goddess after his mate was ripped from him. He asked either to be with her or to be allowed to move on with his life. It took the Goddess months, but she found another who too had lost their mate. She healed their souls in tune to each other, knowing the other would help through the losses they both suffered. Although, your case is slightly different, it still applies. The Goddess will have healed your soul and attuned it to someone who understands your pain. And they will support and love you no matter what." She comforted the young Luna and Hope nodded, a sad smile on her lips.

"Where is Leo now?"

Isaac scowled.

"We stopped keeping track after the first month. He was never worth our time after such an act of treason was committed.

"Ashton, didn't you say you were in talks about a rogue who was human?" Cassidy enquired quietly, knowing they'd all hear her.

"Yeah... You don't think he would, do you?" A growl reverberated and Ashton immediately wrapped his arm tighter around his mate in response.

"There hasn't been a wolf turned human in over two decades. It fits the timing and his tactics."

"If he is seen, kill him on sight, Alpha Irwin. He will infect the minds of rogues and try to form some sort of resistance. It will be bloodshed if we aren't careful."

And with those words, the two Alpha's delved into battle plans, Cassidy casually pointing out errors, and calling her mate and old Alpha idiots every time they overlooked the most basic thing.

Hope, who had never witnessed her sister in action, looked scandalised until their father muttered that this was tame and she was holding back. Only to grin when his eldest rolled up a newspaper and whacked both Alpha's around the back of the head.

This caused the group to laugh and Isaac playfully scowled whilst Ashton merely frowned, unable to understand how she was getting away with such an act.

"I'll toss you to the wolves, if you're not careful Cassie." Isaac threatened and she laughed in his face.

"You toss me to them, they'll make me their Queen and you know it. Quit being an ass and look how it could go wrong!" Both Ashton and Hope shared a look of lost before diving back into the plans.

Ashton felt stunned at how his mate could be so blase towards her old Alpha, and it was only when Beta Hayden took pity on the young Alpha, inviting him to go for a walk whilst the others argued semantics.

Both men were quiet as they began the journey from the pack house. Both were acutely aware of the warriors that were shadowing them, and neither expected anything less from either pack.

“Cassie has always been hard headed and stubborn. A trait she got from both her mother and myself.” Matthew finally started. Ashton smiled appreciatively.

“Oh my pack found that out quite fast. My warriors both love and hate her for it.” Ashton snorted at the huff of laughter he caught from the trees of the wooded area they passed by.

Matthew raised an eyebrow.

“We have two humans in our pack. One was found to have been tortured, for lack of a better word. The child’s parents and grandparents were the culprits. We held the first pack trial in decades and Cassidy proved her human side to them by taking a dagger from one of the warriors on stage.” Matthew flinched.

“Bet they loved that show.” He muttered and Ashton laughed.

“All of them were understandably furious, but she’s their Luna. If she were to order them, unless it goes against a direct order from me, they have to obey her. I don’t think she’s quite grasped how much power she actually holds in her hands.” Matthew laughed at that.

“Even as a child, she never understood why other children would bow to her. When I tried to explain it to her, she protested it until Isaac explained that it was her birthright and that she needed to stop fighting it because other Alphas would look down on both of them. She has so much respect for him that she took it without complaint from that day forward.” Ashton chuckled. He was not surprised in the slightest.

“How is it that with so much respect for him, she still talks to him the way she does?”

“It goes against every instinct, doesn’t it?” Matthew mused, a smirk on his lips. “Isaac never treated her differently. He never corrected her when she pulled stunts like the rolled up newspaper when it was a closed council. She knew the lines and knew when to cross them. Otherwise she was the perfect little human who still bowed to her Alpha’s wishes.” Ashton snorted at that.

“What was her mother like?” Matthew gave Ashton a sad smile at the question.

“Katie was a force to be reckoned with. She took no shit from myself or her Alpha. She passed on her best qualities to our children.” Ashton immediately recognised the look of pain and backtracked.

“My apologies, Beta Hayden. I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories.” Matthew smiled as he patted Ashton’s shoulder gently.

“It’s fine Alpha Irwin. You may as well call me Matthew, since you’re family now.” Ashton flashed him a relieved smile.

“Then call me Ashton, or Ash.” Matthew nodded as his hand dropped from Ashton’s shoulders. “I lost my dad, before I was ready to take over the pack. He always wanted me mated and secure with my pack before he wanted to step down. He wanted to step down and spoil grandchildren whilst being and adviser.”

“The day we heard about it, a lot of people mourned the loss of your father, Isaac included. He was a great man.” Ashton smiled in thanks at his mates father.

“I see you, with your children and lost mate, and I see my mom, and the difference is so vastly astounding. How did you, survive?” Matthew chose not to comment on how shy the question seemed.

“There could be plenty of reasons why we pushed forward the way we did. It may have been that because your mother felt you were old enough to care for yourself, she fell into her grief. I had two young children relying on me, I couldn’t. When Hope joined our little family years later, I knew that I would always miss Katie, that I will always love her regardless of what happens, but my children needed me and that instinct overpowered the grief.” He explained softly and Ashton nodded in understanding.

“You-thank you, Matthew. You didn’t have to be so honest. You were well within your right to tell me to back off.” Ashton commented quietly and Matthew nodded in agreement.

“I was. But you’re still a young adult who has so many questions. And it may hurt me, but if it helps you understand why your mother went the way she did, then I can take some moments of pain to help yours.”

Ashton’s respect for his mates father doubled as they returned to the pack house, re-entering whilst Cassidy was arguing her point across to her old Alpha and younger sister.

Ashton felt his heart swell.

It was another two hours before Cassidy's phone rang and she excused herself to answer the call.

"Cassidy speaking."

"Luna?" Came a frantic whisper and immediately she was tense.

"Trix? Are you okay little one?"

"They're hunting me, an' I can't find my warrior." She whispered frantically into the phone and Cassidy stormed back into the room, taking a pen and writing on a piece of paper.

'Contact Abel NOW! Trix being hunted by others'

"Trixie, angel, who is it that's hunting you."

"The mean boys, they changed and I can't get home. Luna I'm scared." The soft sob went quiet and even with Cassidy's limited hearing, she could hear the growls.

"Trixie, listen to me. Do you have something like a stick to hand or anything sharp?"

"No." Came the terrified whisper.

Cassidy tried not to growl herself. She turned to Ashton who gave her a thumbs up.

"Okay angel, where are you?"

"They chased me into the forest by school, they laughed when I said you'd protect me."

She could feel the tears build up and she had to close her eyes.

"It's okay angel, Abel is on his way to you, but promise you'll-" Her words were cut off by a terrified scream followed by a series of growls.

Her eyes shot open and stared at Ashton in horror as her worst nightmare became a reality for this little girl.

There was a deafening roar followed by the dial tone and Cassidy screamed.

"NO NO NO!"

Ashton was up in seconds with his arms around his mate.

"Abel is there, he stepped on her phone as he fought the younger wolves off. She's safe."

Tears flooded her face as the group looked on curiously.

"My pack has two humans born to wolves. One had an absolute loving family, the other, the other was tortured."

Cassidy let out a strangled cry and Ashton looked pleadingly to the Alpha.

"Her room is on the second floor."

The pair were gone immediately and silence reigned as Jamie shot off messages.

"The warriors are responding to Abel's distress call. The pack doctor is going to care for her since she doesn't have accelerated healing."

Upstairs, Ashton was receiving the same information, but needed to calm his distressed mate.

It took him awhile but she soon relaxed and nearly cried at his words. Instinct was urging him to state her, please her, reaffirm their bond after the horror he felt.

Yet he got her to talk first, and she told him how that had been her nightmare for years. Her biggest fear becoming reality for a defenceless child.

He knew his wolf needed to remark her, reassure her. But first he catered to her needs. Took her to new highs before finally pushing himself in and sending her to orgasm thrice before they climaxed together, his canines biting into her junction on her neck and she did the same to him, her soft teeth sinking through his skin like butter. He thought nothing of it as she pushed him onto his back, licking and sucking her mark on him, his stamina practically doubling as he reclaimed her again and again, the pleasure and primal urge pushing it against and again till they lay arm in arm, covered in a sheen of sweat as they drifted between the real world and consciousness.

"Never again." Was the only coherent word he could make out before oblivion claimed them both.

=

Once the week was over and Cassidy had packed up many of her things, she promised to visit as often as time would allow before they were on the way again. Thankfully, the jeep was just them, and Ashton took every advantage with his fingers sliding into his mate and making her call out his name.

They nearly crashed when she returned in kind and he knew had the other wolves been directly behind, they'd have been laughing.

Once they got back to the pack house, Roxanne was there with her new parents to greet them. The young girl flew into Cassidy before she began sobbing and Cassidy held onto the little girl tightly.

"Sh, it's going to be okay little one, I promise." Whilst Cassidy was comforting the young human, Ashton took Rae and Jackson Teller to the side and explained what Cassidy had almost demanded of him. And he couldn't argue her logic on the demands and had complied.

"Humans are rare in packs, to have two is something which terrifies her. Growing up, her Alpha's son threatened to do to her, what those traitors did to your daughter. It is a fear she has had to live with for years and she feels it doubly so with both of your daughters."

Jackson Teller was a wizened wolf, especially when he learnt from his grandfather's knee all about his pack and his duties. He could immediately see his new Luna's solution.

"She wants us directly in the pack house, doesn't she?" Rae looked stunned at her husband for a moment before turning to her Alpha.

"Yes. At least until the pack learns that this won't be tolerated and any attack will mean that wolf will be considered a traitor and killed."

"Strong words for a young Luna. I take it she understands the repercussions of these new laws?" Jackson did not know about his Luna's previous position and Ashton smiled.

"You've heard of Rosewood pack, Teller?" Jackson nodded immediately.

Rosewood, in his opinion, had risen through the ranks of efficiency and care for pack members. They were well within the top five packs that held such ranks.

"She was their strategist. She's planned for every possible outcome of these laws coming into effect and knows the varying consequences. She's also got ideas in place, ready to execute if said consequences show their head. She wants to head off disasters and keep it to minimal damage. But your children are her main concern right now."

Rae frowned slightly.

"She isn't trying to take them, is she Alpha?" She immediately blushed as her Alpha gave her a calculating look before he smiled.

"No. She has younger siblings who she helped her father take care of when her mother, his mate, passed away. It's natural instinct carrying over to the vulnerable. It probably hasn't helped that her previous Luna doted on the three siblings as they grew up, so it's all she's ever really known."

Rae relaxed immediately.

"Alpha Irwin?"

"Trainer Teller?" Came the amused response and Jackson smiled.

"Thank you, on behalf of my family, for protecting them."

"We'll make genius' out of them yet. Both girls will be sitting in on my meetings with the other Elders to learn. As Cassidy told me, she earned her place in the pack from the kindness of her Alpha and Elders. No thanks are needed for common sense."

That stunned the Teller parents as Roxanne finally allowed her Luna to bring her back over.

“Luna, please, are you okay?”

Cassidy smiled at Jackson and nodded her head, pushing Roxanne into her new mothers arms.

“It’s just, it’s scary hearing it and being utterly helpless. But she was smart and those boys will be punished.”

“If I may? How will you punish them?” Jackson kept his tone polite and Cassidy nodded her head slightly, letting her hand slip into Ashton’s.

“Mr. Teller-”

“Jackson, please Luna.”

“Jackson, what are the laws against treason?” Jackson frowned as his mind went over the instances for treason to occur.

“Depending on the severity, it varies. If they only had knowledge, it would mean exile at least. Actively working against the Alpha could result in death.”

“Your girls are under Alpha Irwin's protection. It was made known last week. You saw the public pack trial. Those boys will be banned from shifting until they are deemed safe. At minimum it means they will not shift for two years. If they fight it, it will result in exile. And this is being lenient considering it was attempted murder.”

Rae Teller felt her blood run cold.

“They deserve it.” She half growled, cradling Roxanne close. Jackson sighed but nodded in agreement.

“Let us settle back in, and we’ll be by to visit young Trixie. For now, head back to the surgery, we’ll see you later.” Ashton instructed and the Teller’s bowed before departing.

Once the door shut, Ashton gently kissed his mate, the sparks making the euphoria bubble through his body. The minx of a mate pushed herself against his hard cock, a smile playing on her lips.

“Is there anyone in the pack house?” She breathed and he paused as he used the link to search out his pack members.

The entire house was empty before he remembered that it was a school day which also meant that the adults would be at their jobs and even the night shift wolves were away from the house.

“No.” He growled before watching in amazement as his mate pushing him against the wall, falling to her knees whilst pulling his trousers down, boxers and all, allowing his cock to spring up and she smirked at him.

“You’ve been such a good mate, let me show you how pleased I am.” She breathed before taking his cock into her mouth and suddenly he was seeing stars as his body reacted, his hands and fingers sliding into her hair as she began to move.

The heat on his cock, along with her ministrations against his balls, it built his orgasm fast before she hollowed her cheeks out and shifted herself allowing him to hit the back of her throat.

“Cassie, oh fuck baby yes, yes, OH!” All his inhibitions vanished as he came, his hips jerking as she continued her motions and he moaned loudly.

As she licked him clean, he kicked off his pants and underwear, growling under his breath as she licked her lips and laughed.

“Good mate.” She teased playfully before he bodily picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder before strolling into the kitchen. He situated his mate on the counter and ripped the clothes from her body, earning him a shriek of surprise, which turned into a moan as he didn’t hesitate and pushed his fingers into her.

Pushing her on his back, he removed his body, sucking both fingers before climbing on top of her, his lips nipping and sucking at her skin, teasing her nipples and causing her to writhe on the counter top.

He travelled lower, biting and sucking the skin as he did so, hickies forming in his wake before he reached her clit and pushed his fingers back into her, making her body arch upwards.

He began slowly, curling his fingers deliberately as he brushed her g-spot and she began begging him, her gasps of his name mixed with the pleas.

Pulling her up, he flipped his mate so she was on her hands and knees and he found the irony of this position considering wolves were apart of the canine family.

But his thoughts derailed as he slowly pushed himself in and she moaned.

His hand pulled her up as he began to thrust, his movement slow as he snaked his arms around her body, one hand alternating with her nipples and his other began working on her clit.

His positions hit her g-spot perfectly and he made her orgasm thrice, her cum slicked across his cock and dripping on the countertop before he began to move faster, their skin slapping together.

His orgasm built as she orgasmed twice more, his fingers working delicately but furiously as he chased his own orgasm, thrusting once more, the force making her come and his canines biting down on her mark, making her body jolt against him.

His wolf was close to the surface and as his seed spilled into her, he paused for another moment before turning his mate around once more and lying her on her back as he pulled out, his cock firm once more as he began to kiss her and pushed back in.

He knew his wolf was in control as a growl slipped out as he thrust over and over, his lips firmly attached to her nipples and fingers working her clit.

She didn’t have time to recover, her body reaching orgasm over and over as he hit the spot perfectly before his own orgasm spilled into her once more, this time his canines elongating and biting firmly until he could taste blood, her cry of pleasure helping his human mind push the wolf back.

It took them a few moments of heavy breathing, unable to move before he pulled himself out, fighting his natural instincts as his mind sought the bond and there it was. His wolf had pushed the pack link to his mate and she was finally connected.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that?” She breathed as he kissed her soundlessly. On instinct, her hips ground against him as he did.

“My wolf just pushed the pack link to you. You may not have the shifting genetic, but you have the right DNA. Plus, that was all him. I’m certain he’ll push for pups before long.”

“I think it’s time you cleaned me up, mate.” She smirked and he found himself grin in response. Before he chased her upstairs, they tossed her ripped clothes and cleaned the counter before he growled lowly, chasing after her into their ensuite.

He was more than grateful that he’d reinforced the walls and made them soundproofed as he continued to fuck her, his primal instinct driving the need and stamina.

Cassidy found herself thanking the moon goddess for such an attentive and dominating mate.

Despite their shower, she felt the urge in her bones, pushing her mate onto the bed before she sank down on his cock, her body almost twitching in anticipation as she began to ride him slowly, listening to his moans mixed with her name.

She’d never experienced anything hotter in her life and she began to leave her own hickies on his skin, his hands gripping her hips as she kept the pace slow.

“Baby, please, oh my god please do something.” And in that instant, those words made her feel powerful. Alpha’s never begged, yet here her mate was, begging.

So she began to move faster.

He made her orgasm four more times before she finally picked up the pace, feeling the coil tighten around her abdomen.

As her mate came, sending her into a final orgasm, she bit where she had marked him, and surprisingly her teeth sank into his skin like butter, making him cry out her name as she tasted blood.

She rode out their orgasms before laying herself against his chest, her body moulder against his.

“If the moon goddess blesses us with children, that is her will. I feel ready to create a new family, to spend my life with you as we run the pack and prosper. You are mine and I am yours, my loving mate. And nothing will come between us.” Cassidy murmured to her mate. Ashton smiled.

“Forever, my beautiful, loving, strong mate.”

==

When the two of them had recovered, Cassidy got dressed, making sure to pick a shirt that hid the majority of the marks on her body. The only one she didn’t hide was the bonding one, knowing that Wolves would expect to see it.

Ashton watched her as she moved about, practically glowing with the amount of love he could feel from her. He began to understand why his mother went insane when his dad died. To lose this feeling? He knew it would drive anyone mad.

“C’mon, time to go visit the Tellers, mister big bad Alpha.” Cassidy teased as she tugged on her jeans, giving him a view of her ass. He laughed as he pulled himself from the bed, dropping a kiss to her cheek as she stood back up.

“Your wish is my command, Luna.” The tease made her flush but she grinned in return as she left their room and headed down to the kitchen.

The kitchen smelled of bleach, hiding the activities they’d done and when Ashton finally came downstairs, he laughed at her confused expression.

“I’d rather not horrify my pack members that do eat in here. Sides are cleaned down and disinfected so no wolves could begin to guess what we got up to.” The smirk on his lips made Cassidy roll her eyes, leaning up to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

“Considering I’m not entirely sure what came over us-”

“Instinct.” She scowled.

“For you maybe. Not a wolf, remember?”

“Sounded like one.” The tease made her blush, turning away from her mate in embarrassment. He could only laugh as he wrapped his arms around his mates waist.

“Pandora explained it well enough. Unless the Moon Goddess shows up on the back field to say otherwise, don’t fret. Now, we have two more humans to visit.” Despite the flushed cheeks, she smiled at him in return as they left the pack house together.

When they arrived at the surgery, Jackson was sat outside, Roxanne settled next to him. From what Cassidy could guess, she was asking him all kinds of questions.

‘She’s asking about what parents are meant to do.’ Cassidy jumped a mile, whirling around to face Ashton who wore a look of shock at her reaction.

“What was that?”

“Have you never experienced a link before?” Cassidy shook her head at the astounded question that left Ashton’s lips.

“The only link I ever experienced was when Alpha-I mean Isaac pushed the link to see the first hand accounts from what I’d discovered with his sons treason. And it was painful for me. I didn’t realise that it was, well, this.”

Ashton felt his heart seemingly soften at the sight of his mate look so bashful at her words.

“It’s probably why my wolf pushed forward earlier. He’s pushed our link to you, so you’re connected to the pack, the other wolves will sense it now. But you have direct contact with me.” A look of understanding crossed her features as she took his hand as they began to make their way towards the Tellers.

“Well at least it won’t frighten the life out of me next time.” She teased him as they got closer, Jackson looking up and bowing slightly to the two.

“Alpha, Luna!” Roxanne greeted happily, clumsily copying the bow that Jackson gave. He chuckled at her attempt.

“I’ll teach you yet, little one.” He murmured and she beamed at him in return.

Cassidy could see the vast difference, and how quickly she’d bounced back from the trauma.

‘Do you think she’ll need therapy?’ She asked her mate through the link.

‘Eventually, but for now the doctor has managed to put a superficial block on her memories. They’re going to pull it back bit by bit so she can process the trauma without going off the rails.’

“How’re you doing, Roxanne?” Cassidy greeted softly as Ashton responded to her.

“M’good. Abel came by earlier, told me that he was gonna teach me n’ Trix how to defend ourselves and escape if we need to.” Cassidy’s heart sunk but she realised that it was another layer of protection.

“That’s good. How about we head on inside and find your sister?” She held her hand out to the young girl who nodded, taking Cassidy’s hand and then guiding her into the surgery.

Ashton and Jackson followed behind at a sedate pace.

“Those two have talked non stop about her. I’m almost certain they’ll want for nothing as they get older, not if Luna has anything to say about it.” Jackson commented and Ashton chuckled.

“Or myself for that matter. They’re smart little girls. One who has taught herself electronics, anther who survived in a harsh world before finding her family. They’ve both got makings of great women and I’m looking forward to teaching them, along with the Elders.” Ashton explained and Jackson nodded in understanding.

“They’ve got a good start, and I have no doubt that if there are any more humans in the pack in the future, she’ll have something set up in place for them.” And Ashton could only chuckle at how right the older wolf was.

The visit with Trix had soothed a lot of Cassidy’s fears. She was dismayed at the scar that ran from the shoulder to her wrist, but the fact that the youngest was still alive was a miracle all the same.

By the time they headed back to the pack house, Cassidy was a lot more relaxed and wasn’t as agitated. She knew it had worried Ashton, but once she’d relaxed upon seeing Trix was okay as she could be, Ashton relaxed as well.

“What will happen to the parents of the wolves that attacked Trix?” Cassidy asked quietly later that night. They were curled up in his bed, one of his shirts covering her frame. Ashton sighed, pulling her closer.

“The worst they’ll get is a slap on the wrist for not curbing their children after the pack meeting. I’m going to remind them that I was well within my right to exile or execute them. That fear, although I hate using that fucking tactic, it will go the rounds and parents will not want to see their children exiled or dead.” Cassidy sighed.

“I know it’s not much, but I can’t come down too hard too fast otherwise they will rebel against me. I’ve been a fair Alpha since I stepped up after my father's death and I know there are many who would want to use this as a chance to complain about me, to go to the Elder Council in an attempt to have me removed as Alpha.” He explained and she nodded her head in understanding.

“I get that. Children can be taught. But it’s the parents I’m concerned about. I was accepted with ease because of my status as Beta’s daughter, human or not. Roxanne and Trix don’t have that. Trix may get more respect when it comes out that her mate is a warrior, but even then there will still be plenty who will see them as weak links, try to get them out. I don’t want them to suffer for something they can’t help.” Ashton pulled his mate closer, pressing his lips against her forehead.

“We’ll work it out sweetheart, I promise. For now, we can focus on the fact that they’re alive and they have the best person looking out for their best interests.” The compliment made her preen slightly, a chuckle falling from Ashton’s lips as he buried his face against her neck.

“Sleep, the world can wait for an evening.”

Feeling the security of his arms around her, Cassidy couldn’t argue his words as sleep claimed her.

-

tag list: @cals-babylons , @glitterprincelu , @calumspeachy , @wrappedaroundcal , @cosmocalum , @monsteramongmikey , @talkfastfletcher , @hereforlukescruff , @astroashtonio , @catchinqcalum , @5saucewho , @dontstopisagoodsongchangemymind , @therainydays4 , @asht0ns-world , @silverchainbee , @hidd3nfangirl , @doodleasouarus , @empathycth , @mylovehes , @songforhema , @kinglyhood , @youngblood199456 , @makecoffeenotwars , @sunny-sos , @negative-love , @softboycal , @kinglycalum , @you-of-ghost , @meetyoutheremgc , @lmao5sosimagines , @lietoash , @aw-hawkeye , @drummerboy794 , @itjustkindahappenedreally, @mycollectionofnuts, @abitloudforanaccousticset, @boytoynamedcalum , @teampreator , @dukehoods , @dweebluke , @calumculture , @lashtoncurls , @wildhearthood , @gigglyirwin , @blue-skies-are-alright , @hearts-to-the-sky , @tiddlerrr , @all-i-want-is2b-loved-by-you , @zooniah , @cakeassx-blog , @rotten-kandy , @vipclifford , @musiclover1263 , @rosecoloredash , @jpgluke , @cathartichaoss , @5secondssofssummer , @daisy-jen , @balsamichood , @cliffordstxngue , @lukesbellas , @myloverboyash , @cxddlyash  , @gabiatthedisco , @rosesfromcth , @gorgeouslygrace , @calumsssparkle , @valentinelrh , @meetashthere , @softforcal , @cakesunflower , @hotmessmichael , @fangirlforever0704 , @caswinchester2000 , @long-termplanwithshort-termfixes , @josierosie , @ashtoniwir , @raabiac , @burncrashbromance , @killerlukesqueen , @angelbabylu , @heartbreak-5sos , @geeksareunique , @singledadharrington , @singt0mecalum , @sugarcoated-pain , @sublimehood , @americanhorrorstudies , @moonchildsblack , @uncrownedqueeen , @softforluke , @lostincalum , @colourfulcalum , @calpops , @rosecolouredash , @aftermidnightclifford ,

[thecomicsnexus]

HOUSE OF X / POWERS OF X (TEN) # 4-6 OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2019 BY JONATHAN HICKMAN, PEPE LARRAZ, R. B. SILVA, DAVID CURIEL, MARTE GRACIA AND CLAYTON COWLES

SYNOPSIS (FROM WIKIPEDIA)

Part 7: "It Will Be Done" On Krakoa, X and Magneto contact Marvel Girl in order to keep tabs on the mission. Jean reveals that Archangel and Husk were killed in the explosion set off by Erasmus while Wolverine and Nightcrawler were injured. Deciding that they still need to finish the mission at any cost, Nightcrawler teleports Cyclops, Wolverine, and Mystique into strategic locations in order to destroy the control collars, with Nightcrawler himself taking the last one while Jean and M staying on the ship in order to maintain the connection to Krakoa.

Wolverine and Nightcrawler are successful in destroying the collars, but the ship is boarded by Orchis forces. Monet puts Jean into an escape pod and fires her away, staying on board in order to cover her escape and buy her time. She transforms into her Penance form and begins fighting the humans. Cyclops finds and disengages his control collar, but Mystique, having gotten turned around, is intercepted just as she finds hers and is killed as Doctor Gregor opens an airlock.

Desperate, the humans power-on the Mother Mold, despite not knowing whether it will be sane or not. X tells them to do whatever it takes to stop it. Wolverine and Nightcrawler volunteer to head to the final switch which is now in a vacuum. Nightcrawler teleports Wolverine onto the collar before being instantly evaporated by the Sun, while Wolverine's healing factor buys him enough time to carve through it before he too is evaporated as the now online Mother Mold hurtles into the Sun while raving maniacally via an Olympian allegory that the machines have found both man and mutant guilty and will destroy them both.

With the mission complete, Cyclops tries to find a space suit in order to get to Jean's pod so that they can try and make their way home. However, he is intercepted by Doctor Gregor who incapacitates and then executes him. The Sentinel drones that were mining on Mercury and thus could not reach the station in time to stop the X-Men, finally arrive, intercept Jean's pod, and work to kill her. As his proteges have seemingly all died at the hands of humans once again, X cries and vows "no more."

Part 8: "Something Sinister" Year One: X and Magneto travel to Bar Sinister to meet Mister Sinister. Encountering resistance from some of his clones, they're soon shown in to meet with Mister Sinister. They ask that he help them, using his knowledge of genetics to help build a database of mutant DNA. He declines, but he's soon shot dead by another Mister Sinister who one claiming to be the version of himself with the mutant gene. That version readily agrees to help the duo build their database, asking where he should start. Xavier then wipes the memory of their meeting from Mister Sinister's mind.

Year Ten: Several months ago, X and Cypher traveled to the sentient island of Krakoa. X brought Cypher deep into the island to meet the entity of Krakoa. Cypher conversed with Krakoa as he learned its language and some of its history. He revealed to X that Krakoa was once one island Okkara that was split into two islands named Arakko and Krakoa by the arrival of an enemy. This enemy sought to destroy the world and was only stopped by the arrival of Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen. Later, X telepathically revealed his plans to Cypher. He tasked Cypher with building an interface system on Krakoa to allow the mutants to communicate and use the island. An informational page reveals that Cypher succeeded, building a translation program so that mutants could interact with the island without Cypher's help. Additionally, Cypher helped create four systems, involving transit and monitoring, defense and observation, secondary and external systems, and overwatch and data analysis controlled by Sage, Black Tom Cassidy, Trinary, and Beast. There are rumors too that Forge built a large subterranean laboratory to help build biological machines as well.

Year One Thousand: The Librarian offers himself to the Phalanx for conversion and, hopefully, ascension. The Phalanx take the orb offered by the Librarian and assimilate it into themselves. The Librarian questions if he is within the Phalanx and the Phalanx reveal that he is. Surprised, the Librarian turns to his people and asks if that form is acceptable. The Phalanx suddenly transform into a large, spherical shape, confusing the assembled group. The group explains that the Phalanx only absorb machine intelligence they find useful and that the Librarian has created an empty vessel and copied himself over into it in the hopes of ascending as part of the Phalanx. They stand waiting and watching for the Phalanx to decide if the form is acceptable.

Part 9: "Society" On Krakoa, X, Magneto, Storm, and Polaris assemble somewhere. The four are joined by five other mutants: Eva Bell, Proteus, Hope Summers, Elixir, and Goldballs.

Magneto explains that the five mutants, collectively known as The Five, are able to revive deceased mutants. Goldballs creates unviable eggs, which Proteus in a Professor X husk makes viable using his powers. The preserved DNA of a mutant is then injected into the eggs and Elixir kick-starts cellular replication while Eva Bell uses her powers to accelerate their growth. Hope uses her powers to help the others operate at their peak and in unison allowing them to revive any deceased mutants.

Magneto further explains that X has been using Cerebro to copy the mind of any mutants found so that he could put their mind back in these empty shells as needed. X watches over several beings emerging from the eggs. "To me, my X-Men" he says as they crawl towards him. He places Cyclops' visor on him and watches as the group stands, thanking them for all they did.

Storm brings The Five and the revived mutants out, proudly announcing that The Five has allowed the nation of Krakoa to defeat death. She then introduces the revived mutants one by one to the assembled crowd, assuring the crowd that they are the mutants they've known. Off in the distance, X and Magneto watch the events and discuss how far they still have to go. They discuss the upcoming United Nations vote on Krakoa's inclusion into the organization. Magneto asks if Charles is worried, but Xavier simply says that today, he is filled with hope. The revived mutants enter the crowd as Storm calls them the "Heroes of Krakoa".

At the U.N. Headquarters, X, Beast, and Emma Frost celebrate with other ambassadors for gaining recognition of Krakoa as a nation. X and Emma telepathically discuss the events as Emma hints she manipulated the Russian ambassador to abstain from the vote. X thanks her for her work and promises that he has bold plans for her in the future. Informational pages reveal that over 100 countries accepted a trade deal with Krakoa and that several others are still negotiating trade deals. They also reveal that several countries rejected a trade deal for ideological and political reasons, including Iran, North Korea, Latveria, Russia, Brazil, and Honduras. Wakanda alone rejected a trade deal, stating that they did not need the mutant drugs, as did Azania, Canaan, and Kenya as the three countries are Wakandan economic protectorates.

Two days after the U.N. vote, X, Magneto, and Wolverine wait at several portals. Wolverine expresses his misgivings about the upcoming event, but X and Magneto assure him all will be alright. Soon after, several villainous mutants, including Mister Sinister, Sebastian Shaw, Exodus, Selene and Apocalypse arrive through the portals. Apocalypse in particular expresses satisfaction at arriving and Krakoa responds in the same way. Magneto and Xavier reveal that they have invited all mutants, even those who have fought against them in the past, to Krakoa, to form a society. The assembled villainous mutants agree to their terms, and Xavier shakes Apocalypse's hand, welcoming him and the others to their home.

Part 10: "For the Children" Year One: X meets with Forge and asks the latter to modify Cerebro to allow it to store copy mutants' minds in a main storage unit along with 4 backups. Forge claims the storage and power required are far beyond anything on Earth, but X reveals he has access to Shi'ar technology capable of overcoming that limitation. When Forge asks if he must redesign a new system or build it onto Cerebro, X leaves the decision in Forge's hands and simply asks "Are you--or are you not--going to build it for me?"

Year Ten: X and Magneto meet with Emma Frost in the Louvre in order to recruit the Hellfire Corporation to aid in the establishment of Krakoa. Emma believes the idea of establishing another mutant nation-state is a recipe for disaster, but she is ultimately convinced by seeing Krakoa first hand. X explains that they need the Hellfire Corporation's help in distributing Krakoa's exclusive drugs to the rest of the world which Emma compares to becoming "the East India Trading Company of mutantdom". X offers Emma two seats on Krakoa's council: one for her and another for Sebastian Shaw, whom X wishes Emma to recruit so that he can run black book operations into countries that reject Krakoa's sovereignty. Emma accepts on one condition: she will need an additional seat on the council. Later on, X sends a telepathic message worldwide summoning all mutants to Krakoa. The only one shown rejecting it is Namor, who claims that X doesn't truly believe that he is superior to the rest of humanity and tells him to come back when he "really means it."

Year One Thousand: The Phalanx accept the Librarian's offer and destroy the Elder. The Librarian asks Nimrod why they did this and Nimrod speculates that the Phalanx are part of a truly massive intelligence hosted in a network of black holes and that by adding other intelligence to their own they also utterly consume their physical form, which they will now do to Earth.

Part 11: "I Am Not Ashamed" One month prior to the events of the series, X, Magneto, and Moira meet in Moira's No-Space underneath Krakoa. Xavier uses Cerebro to speak to the entire world, informing them of Krakoa's miracle drugs, offering them to humanity in exchange for three things: Krakoa's inclusion in the United Nations, all mutants worldwide gaining Krakoan citizenship, and all mutant criminals gaining amnesty. His message is heard by everyone around the world, including normal humans around the world, members of the Avengers, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, and members of Orchis.

Information pages reveal that the Quiet Council of Krakoa includes 14 members: X, Magneto, Apocalypse, Mister Sinister, Exodus, Mystique, Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Storm, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Cypher, and Krakoa itself. They are additionally assisted by the four Great Captains, the Captain Commander Cyclops, Gorgon, Bishop, and Magik, who lead in times of conflict.

In the present, the Quiet Council meets to design the laws of their nation. After much deliberation, the Council devises the first three laws of the nation of Krakoa: mutants must make other mutants, mutants shall not murder humans, and the land of Krakoa must be respected. The Council finds Sabretooth guilty of violating the second law and sentences him to exile deep within the bowels of Krakoa. Krakoa swallows him up as X laments the business of running a nation.

After the Council adjourns, they celebrate the birth of their new nation with the other residents of Krakoa as X and Magneto proudly look on.

Part 12: "House of X" Year One Thousand: The Librarian strolls through the Preserve, which is revealed to hold mutants, not baseline humans as previously hinted. He comes across Wolverine and Moira (who has survived via blood transfusions from the former for the past millennium) and informs them he is arranging for them to be taken off the planet before Ascension. It is revealed that the Librarian and his race are post-humans (homo novissima), humans who have used genetic engineering and technology to direct their own evolution and thus outnumber mutant kind. The Librarian explains that if Moira dies when the Phalanx destroy the Earth before Ascension, she can use her powers to stop them. However if she is left behind, the Dominion can use their consciousness spread throughout all of space and time to stop Moira instead. Wolverine kills the Librarian and then kills Moira so she can use her knowledge to stop the ascent of post-humanity. This is then revealed to be Moira's sixth life.

Year One: We again return to the moment of Moira allowing Xavier to read her mind and see all her lifetimes. Professor X is crushed by the experience and the revelation that no matter what happens, mutant-kind will always lose. Moira explains that the one constant throughout all her lives is that Professor X is a good person and that she had to break that part of him to ensure mutant survival.

Year Ten: X and Magneto meet Moira at her No-Space to inform her about the new Council. Moira is suspicious about Emma not having named her extra Council seat yet but X trusts her. X also informs Moira that in order to convince Mystique to join, they made a promise that they'd resurrect Destiny. Moira is opposed to "pre-cogs" in Krakoa since they will end up revealing mutants' ultimate fate and jeopardizing the project. But X and Magneto promise this will be different and that the time has come for Moira to step aside. X and Magneto renew their commitment to fight for mutant-kind. Magneto proclaims "I am not ashamed of what I am. Let's see them try to stop us this time."

REVIEW

I really hope this is used for the next X-Men movies.

Hickman brings a very specific flavor of sci-fi into the X-Men (and it really fits the property). And as all good Sci-Fi story, it makes you ponder the ramifications of moral and ethical decisions.

The future is never bright for the mutants. As I discussed in the first part of this review, I was under the impression that the eleventh life of Moira would become a new reality. I think it is there as a fail safe, just in case they need to undo everything. So in the new version of the tenth life, Xavier and Magneto were pretending to follow other dreams... or what exactly happened during all these years?

By the way, if the whole X-Men timeline is condensed in ten years, then the same applies to the rest of the Marvel Universe. This makes some sense, but you also have to consider babies that grew up (like Franklin Richards). It’s fine to me, but maybe a true believer may find some plot holes with it.

Xavier looks evil in this story, and to be honest, he was always kind of evil. But I think the moment when things really went kind of wrong was when the x-men died and were “copy/pasted”. Technically, these characters are dead. But can Logan really die like that?

The text pages propose some scenarios that shouldn’t happen, that we know will eventually happen, like making duplicates of living persons or people that are not really dead being duplicated (that one would happen a lot in the marvel universe). You can also feel the tension with a council that includes Mister Sinister, Apocalypse and Exodus.

Also, while this is great for X-Men fans, you have to wonder what it means for the rest of the Marvel Universe, where humans are still a thing to side with. This also brings the eternal question as to why mutants are hated and Avengers are not, something that doesn’t make much sense to me. It made sense coming out of the civil rights movement, but as the Marvel Universe grew older, it became harder to justify. Sure we can explain it away with other things like xenophobia or homophobia... but in the context of this universe it is still a weak element for all the plots around the x-men.

Nevertheless, I think this is a great X-Men story that focuses on what is really important. We all know this peace among mutants won’t last, but it is a nice experiment.

The art is quite good at times. There are some artistic decisions I am not following at the moment. Many times we see characters from the nose down only, and this is very obvious for Xavier, who we barely see without the helmet. Is there something we are not seeing?

There are enough plot seeds in these 12 issues to last a few years, so we can expect a lot exploration. I just hope that the expansion into the several new x-books doesn’t dilute the ideas.

I give this story a score of 9.

[cianmars]

If they had a kid meme: If Red Snowing in the "Three's Not A Crowd Verse" had a second baby? (Or more) :)

Ooo I shockingly haven’t actually thought about this one… (Putting this under a read more as lets be honest the Charming brood is massive) 

From THIS verse (if you haven’t read it you might not understand the dynamics between Em and her parents)

After the curse broke they find that the adults age very very slowly, like the magic is trying to make up for them losing so much time. People still celebrate birthdays but as soon as they hit 21 their body slows down its ageing. Because of the curse Emma doesn’t age at all for the next 28 years, Emma is obviously pissed off that her siblings surpass her in age (they were all  more mature than her since they were like 10) but there’s nothing they can do about it so she has to get used to it.A year after the curse broke there’s two kids who desperately need to be fostered, they aren’t sure if Emma’s ready for it, but the kids need their help so they take them in intending to keep them for a couple of weeks. They have werewolf genes (like a quarter wolf) so Ruby was asked to look after them as a precaution (there’s still some wolf prejudice from the residents). They become quite attached to these kids and Emma clearly loves them (though she still acts out sometimes) so they continue fostering them and eventually adopt them.

Name: Emma Ruth Charming (20) 

Gender:  Female

General Appearance: Very much a tomboy, she could live in pyjamas if she could, but when she’s not wearing them she wears comfy clothes mostly plaid shirts, beanies, jeans, sweats whenever she can. She’d rather die than wear a dress or anything pink. She’s barely 5 foot tall (she often whines about people in her family moving things up onto high shelves).

Personality: She’s very young for her age because of her past and because of the curse, she’s a complete troublemaker, mostly because she tries to prove she’s mature and that she doesn’t need to be looked after by her parents but as often proved she does. She’s stubborn, impulsive, a spitfire, and has her father’s tact - but she’s also kind, funny, and good.

Special Talents: She has strong magic but it’s extremely temperamental. 

Who they like better: She adores all three of her parents and has a special connection to each other them… that being said she’s a complete daddy’s girl.

Who they take after more: She’s the perfect mix of all three of her parents, but personality and looks wise she’s a little bit more David than her mothers. 

Personal Head canon: - She’s immature and childish, she acts more like a 6/7 year old than an adult, it’s not her fault it’s down to her childhood and the curse, but she has a hard time accepting that. When Cassie and Zac first move in she tries to hide it but they show her they don’t care after Ruby, Snow, and David explain it to them.- She almost always ends up sleeping in her parents bed, along with her blanket and the teddies her parents got her, it’s a good thing that her parents had a huge bed.- She’s always cold and hoards blankets, especially when she’s sick, her parents have to stop her wrapping like 8 fleece blankets around herself as she’ll overheat.-She’s a very fast runner.- She acts out a lot when her parents tell her that they have to move to a bigger place, her siblings and parents eventually help her to get used to them having to move to a house, but a small part of her will always miss her first home. Face Claim: Britt Robertson

Name: Cassidy Emily Charming (Cassie or Cas)

Gender: Female

General Appearance: She looks very much like Ruby despite not being her biological daughter, she’s also got a similar style to Ruby, she’s pretty good at keeping up to date with fashion but can often be found in tanks and sweats when lounging around or after cheer practice. She has dark brown hair and brown eyes with flecks of gold in her irises. 


Personality: She’s one of those popular girls at high school, who everyone assumes would be a massive bitch, but she’s actually one of the nicest people ever, she sticks up for people and really cares about her studies. She is fierce, she had grown up basically raising her brother so she had to be, but she’s completely mellowed out from when she first moved in with her family. She tends to not lose her temper often, she prefers to find logical solutions to problems rather than just complaining, but once in a blue moon she will completely lose it. She’s the queen of sarcastic retorts.


Special Talents: She’s a quarter wolf which means that she turns every other new moon rather than every full moon. She’s really good at gymnastics.


Who they like better: She works in Granny’s sometimes at the weekend (she’s the one who always sneaks Emma sugar filled treats to make her hyper before going out and leaving her parents with the consequences) so she gets along well with Ruby, they’re both similar temperaments and very rarely clash. She wasn’t used to having a dad so was awkward around David at first but she has him wrapped around her finger. She admires Snow’s personality and morals, she’s only admitted it out loud a few times but she’s her inspiration and she hopes to be like her.


Who they take after more: Ruby’s absolute double, just slightly more sarcastic, her family always joke that she’s secretly their biological daughter and in a few more teary moments she admitted that she wished that they really were her birth parents.


Personal Head canon:
 - She was 17 when she was officially adopted by her parents, she at first thought she was way too old to be adopted or to need parents but she quickly got used to being able to just being a teenager. - She and Zac were looked after by their grandmother in the Enchanted Forest and during the curse, she died a year after the curse broke, this is when the Charmings started fostering her and her brother, before they adopted them.- She’s very academic and has high aspirations to go to the nearby college to become a teacher like her mom.- When she was 17 she realised that she was in love with her best friend, like Love with a capital L, they eventually started to date and she realised that she’s a lesbian and that’s why none of her relationships with boyfriends felt right.- She’s very maternal and protective of all of her sibling, especially Zac and Emma.

Face Claim: Samantha Boscarino

Name: Zachary Stephen Charming (Zac)


Gender: Male


General Appearance: He tends to favour a t-shirt, jeans, and his football letterman jacket (pretty sure that’s what they’re called). The rest of the time he wears the leather jacket his parents got him for the first Christmas he was with them. He runs hot so used to wear shorts even in the snow until Cassie started saying “We get it, you’re straight” every time he did it so he stopped and dressed weather appropriately. He goes between having his brown hair fairly short and letting it grow a bit, he normally just swoops it to the side and it looks good. He has hazel eyes.


Personality: He’s really mellow and chill, he’s kind and fairly quiet in crowds of people he doesn’t know but it outgoing with his friends and family, he is a bit of a class clown. He’s kind hearted and tries to bond with his siblings in anyway they like best - letting Cassie style clothes on him or paint his portrait for art class, he plays with Emma and her toys without making her seem embarrassed over it, he lets Neal give rambling reviews on books to him and convincingly pretends he’s interested, and he helps Cole with his science experiments (which have been banned because they’ve made things explode 8 times). He’s protective of his friends and family, especially his younger siblings (Emma especially) Always wanting to please his parents despite them telling him that as long as he’s happy and safe then they’re happy.


Special Talents: He’s a quarter wolf which means that she turns every other new moon rather than every full moon. Very talented footballer and learnt how to sail from Eric. 


Who they like better: He tends to gravitate most to David, who teaches him loads of different things, they even fix up a car for Zac together.


Who they take after more: He’s very much like David personality wise, with Snow’s constant positive attitude, he looks as though he could be Ruby and David’s biological child.


Personal Head canon:
- He was the first one out of him and Cassie who could make Emma come out of her shell when they moved in there, when he was 15, he just started to play with her action figures until she joined in.- He’s an early bird, a trait which annoys half of his family to no end, and will often wake up with only Snow already awake, he takes the time to go for runs while the town is quiet.- He knows how to play the drums.-School’s a little bit harder for him than it is for his siblings, that being said he’s normally a B+ student as he’s not afraid to ask his mom for help with things he struggles with. - He’s pretty good at maths and physics and he claims it helps him with his football.

Face Claim: Froy Gutierrez

Name: Neal Robert Charming


Gender: Male


General Appearance: He wears comfy clothes, hoodies and t-shirts normally with skinny jeans or a sweatshirt, pretty much anything he can comfortably read in (he’s often found curled up with several books in the window seats around the house). He has dark brown hair and blue eyes, his hair is general a mop until he started to become more interested in boys and styled it more (he asks Cassie for advice on what to wear and how to do his hair as he’s nervous). 


Personality: He’s the quietest of the five kids, but that doesn’t mean that he’s necessarily shy, he just often gets caught in his head or caught in a book. Otherwise he’s funny and very intelligent, after getting up his confidence he eventually becomes very good at speaking in front of people after several speeches in school. He’s a natural leader when he speaks up about issues. He’s very mature and responsible for his age. He can be very sarcastic. 


Special Talents: He has magic, but he doesn’t bother to use it very often, he has a special affinity for water magic.


Who they like better: He’s a bit of a mommy’s boy, Snow seems to always have  a very calming presence so he tends to stick around her the most. 


Who they take after more: He’s very much like Snow but with David’s chill disposition. 


Personal Head canon:
 - He knew that he was gay from a very young age, by the time he was 6 he had announced that he would marry a prince not a princess (his sisters are both queer as are all his parents so no one batted an eyelid at him telling them that). - He can bake pretty well, his mama taught him, he often bakes cakes and brownies for the household. He and Ruby tend to catch up while baking. - He prefers healthy food like vegetables and fruit over things with sugar in them (he and Emma could not be more different)- His brother tried to teach him how to play football but he was terrible at it, he just watches games because he has a crush on one of the guys. He’s on the swim team and was very surprised to one day find his crush had started attending his swim meets. (he eventually has the courage to ask his crush out who turns out to have a crush on him too)  - He loves books, he has a million books and reads to Emma all the ones he thinks she’d like, when he leaves high school he goes to study Literature at Yale, he becomes an author like August and Henry. 

Face Claim: Logan Lerman 

Name: Cole Jacob Charming (CJ)


Gender: Male 


General Appearance: Whatever he throws on after finding it lying around on the floor of his room


Personality: He deeply values his privacy and hides a lot of things from his parents, like Neal he’s often in his own head and people in the town think he might become a villain but this is because he’s scheming or planning to build things to help people. He’s quite and kind at heart, he hides problems he has until he has no chance other than to reveal them like when his mom walked on him having an anxiety attack (before which he had hid them completely). He’s secretly very funny, a bit of a trickster, with a sardonic sense of humour. His sarcasm and sass could give anyone a run for their money.


Special Talents: He’s the only one of their biological children to have both magic and werewolf genes but he chooses not to use them most of the time, he says that he prefers science over magic, his mama gives him a bracelet 


Who they like better:


Who they take after more: He looks like his two mother but with his father’s blue eyes. He is fairly quick tempered in certain situations which he also gets from his father. 


Personal Head canon:
- He’s a genius, particularly in science, he’s always coming up with robots or mixing chemicals together or something in his room. - He and Emma are the troublemakers in the house, Cole often enlists Emma to help him pull pranks of people, despite constantly being told not to try and convince Emma to do so.-Only his family call him Cole, most people call him CJ or Cee, he doesn’t speak to anyone outside of his family who tries to call him Cole.- His middle name was his great grandfather’s name, when Ruby told Granny she cried, Granny claims that he gets his brains from her husband too.-He’s pansexual and has been dating someone for over a year without his family knowing, the first one to know was Emma as he introduced her to them, he eventually told his parents who were shocked but welcoming to his partner.- He and Emma were together when she was injured by George, she became deaf in one ear, Cole worked tirelessly and in secret to make a hearing aid which would work best for her giving her almost her old hearing range back, he used a little bit of magic for the first time in one of his inventions. 

Face Claim: Asa Butterfield

[heartlandphilosopher]

A 50s Kid Goes to the Movies

In my youth, four movie theaters existed in my hometown: the Castle, the Princess, the Royal, and the Starette. At one time or another, I went to all four of them -- usually with an older sibling or with a neighborhood friend -- because the movies were first-rate entertainment and the price was right. I paid fourteen cents for a ticket at the Royal on a Saturday afternoon to watch the Durango Kid riding his horse, Raider, and chasing bad guys. Oh, I could have stayed home and listened to the radio, or played cards, or built a plastic model airplane, but sometimes my imagination needed to be dazzled and my psyche needed the reminder that the good guys can win.

The Royal and Starette theaters were on Broad Street, in the middle of the shopping district. That made it convenient for my parents to give me change and send me into the theater alone while they continued to shop. They knew when the feature would be over and reminded me to meet them in front of a particular store upon my exit from “the show.”

It was fun sitting in a crowded, darkened theater with other kids my age, waiting for the curtained screen down front to light up with those images from Hollywood. Impatiently, the children would begin chanting, “We want a show! We want a show!” until a glow would appear on that screen. Then, a roar would go up from the crowd of kids, the curtain would part, and a cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny, or some other animated character, would illuminate the space and we would all cheer. We saw previews of coming attractions and a newsreel summarizing current events. Eventually, the featured presentation would begin and we would settle down to be enthralled by the latest adventures of one of our cowboy idols: Tom Mix, Red Ryder, Rex Allen, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Lash Larue, The Cisco Kid, Hopalong Cassidy, Smiley Burnette. Gabby Hayes, or other horse opera heroes. They weren’t always westerns but everyone seemed to love cowboys -- except when they pulled a guitar from a saddle bag and started singing or they did that mushy stuff, like kissing a girl. Many of those Saturday matinees were serials and would end with a cliffhanger to lure an audience the next Saturday. When the lights came up, I had to hurriedly exit the theater and rendezvous with my parents at our appointed location.

The Castle and the Princess theaters were across the street from each other on Main Street, a block or two from downtown. The Castle was the attractive, ritzy theater, with jacketed ushers, subdued lighting, plush carpet, and first-run, blockbuster, grade A movies (such as “Gone With the Wind”). The Princess was an older theater, with a grungy atmosphere, sticky floors, and a balcony that allowed its occupants to shower those below with popcorn or bubblegum. The Princess also seemed to schedule more B and C grade movies (such as “I Was a Teenage Werewolf”).

My brother was an usher at the Castle in those days so I went there more frequently. He would spot me in the crowd and either pay my admission or slip me some cash to get something extra from the concession stand. He also brought home a variety of those eight by ten black and white photographs they used as promotions in the theater lobby. The Castle not only showed the popular, most-talked-about movies but also introduced me to 3-D, which is how I saw “The Creature From the Black Lagoon” and “The House of Wax” -- as well as some western movie where Indians shot flaming arrows into the audience and a pioneer’s wagon overturned and slid off the screen right into my lap. Another technological advance at the Castle was Cinemascope, using an extra wide screen to surround the viewer with the latest Hollywood epic (such as “Ben Hur”).

The Castle also had “Bank Night,” a marketing ploy to sell more tickets on poorly attended Wednesdays, and the winning numbers would then be drawn for cash payout Wednesday night. The payout could be $25, $50, or even $100, which was big money back then. My next door neighbor’s mom regularly participated in Bank Night by having her son and me attend the Wednesday matinees so that she would be entered in that night’s drawing. As a result, I saw a slew of movies I had no excitement about (like those old black and white movies my wife likes on TV). In fact, to this day, my wife can be watching an old classic film on the Turner Classic Movies channel or the American Movie Channel and I will sense deja vu; I’ve seen this movie before.

I did attend a few live shows performed on the stage at the Castle. Besides local Christmas programs and dance revues, I remember a professional touring production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” when I was in elementary school. We got out of school to attend and admission was a can of food. Elementary-aged boys were excited about the opportunity -- not to see beautiful Snow White, but to see real, live dwarfs. Other popular attractions were the scary horror productions with the outlandish advertising (“Can you sit through the whole show? Ambulances will be standing by!”) These shows might feature a “live” bat flying over the heads of the audience, an effect rigged with an invisible wire puncturing the screen and stretching to the back of the theater.

Yes, going to the movies in our small town’s multiple theaters was a reasonably-priced entertainment alternative in my youth -- not to mention they were air-conditioned in the hot, humid days of summer. Today, I sit at home in my air-conditioned living room, watch Netflix on my 45 inch flat screen TV, and enjoy buttery microwave popcorn. Meanwhile, my hometown is down to just one theater, and it happens to be the Castle. I hear that it, too, will close soon.

[scifihorroradventure]

FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND (1990)

The year is 2031. Completing his work on a new particle beam weapon for the government, scientist Joe Buchanan (John Hurt) assures that the atmospheric "time slips" appearing in the skies are harmless and totally reversible. Unfortunately, as he returns home that day, a time slip appears above his house and sucks him in, sending him through time and space to Geneva in 1817. As he attempts to piece the situation together, Joe encounters none other than Doctor Victor Frankenstein (Raul Julia). An innocent girl (Catherine Corman) is currently on trial for the death of Victor's brother William, but Joe soon discovers that the culprit is none other than Victor's own Monster (Nick Brimble). Despite Joe's pleading for Victor to come forth with the truth, the girl is executed for the murder. Having met her at the girl's trial, Joe spends time with Mary Shelley (Bridget Fonda), the author of the "Frankenstein" novel, though at this point she has yet to write it. When Victor refuses to give in to the Monster's demands to create a mate for him, the Monster lashes out and kills Victor's fiance Elizabeth (Catherine Rabett). Desperate, Victor forces Joe into helping resurrect her as a second monster. Realizing he has to stop Victor and the Monster before they cause any more harm, Joe uses a newly constructed version of his particle beam to teleport them all into a frozen wasteland of a future. Victor and Elizabeth are killed and Joe hunts the Monster down to finish him once and for all.

A downright bizarre film, Frankenstein Unbound is an oddly captivating experience. Its premise is completely insane and yet somehow it works far better than it has any right to. Based on Brian Aldiss' novel of the same name, Unbound was the first film Roger Corman had directed in nearly twenty years (the last one being Von Richthofen and Brown in 1971). Part of why the film works so well is that, despite all the time travel and dystopian framework, once Joe ends up in 1817, the movie mostly forgets about all that and turns into a pretty decent Frankenstein movie. The relationship between Victor and the Monster is portrayed rather well, with the latter much more humanized than most incarnations. Wisely, the film skips the more well known parts of the Frankenstein story - Victor creating the Monster - picking up well after the Monster has escaped out into the world, allowing the story to venture into new territory right off the bat (or at least new territory for most film adaptations). The movie looks very nice, filmed in some very pretty sets and locations. The special effects in the future at the start of the film are serviceable, most notably the purple space-like time slip that opens and absorbs Joe throughout the movie, which is a really striking visual.

What really makes the film work, though, is its cast. John Hurt makes for a great lead as Joe Buchanan, a well-meaning man who is nonetheless blind to his own creation's side effects, even as giant portals begin to open in the sky. Luckily, Joe proves to be a likeable hero who lets common sense prevail more often than not when he could've easily been a jackass know-it-all type. If there's anything about Joe that could be legitimately complained about, it's that there are times where it doesn't feel like he has very much to do other than stand around and watch the story of Frankenstein unfold around him. This, of course, changes by the explosive finale, where he takes a very active role in things. But while John Hurt may be the hero of the story, Raul Julia steals the show as the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Julia is such an odd casting choice for the doctor, but like the over the top premise of the movie, somehow it just works. Julia's Victor is a clearly unstable man, having reached a peak of frustration and fury with the Monster, not caring for much else. While he views the Monster as a threat that must be destroyed, he otherwise sees nothing wrong with what he's done, even letting innocent Justine hang so that he can be allowed to carry on with his work. By the time Elizabeth is killed, he has completely lost it, vowing to not let her pay for his mistakes even as he turns her into an even more hideous creature than the Monster. Bridget Fonda plays Mary Shelley and honestly doesn't have very much to do. She acts mainly as a love interest for Joe, but all she really accomplishes is muddling the line between fiction and reality for no real reason. This is supposed to be "real life," yet Victor and the Monster actually exist, and nothing is really said about it either way, not even by Joe. Later, Joe shows Mary a completed version of "Frankenstein," but apparently isn't worried about what possible effect this will have on history. While Fonda plays the character well enough, she's an overall strange addition that doesn't really do anything but raise several questions that otherwise wouldn't have been there.

As the titular Monster, Nick Brimble plays the character less like a hulking beast and more as the lost and confused being that he is in the original story, resorting to violence when his anger with Victor reaches its peak - which is frequent. Brimble is far more talkative and coherent than most screen incarnations of the Monster, though he still has trouble comprehending concepts such as what murder truly means, even after killing Victor's brother William. He also can't seem to understand that Victor didn't make everyone else in the world (he asks Victor why he didn't "make William stronger" and later asks Joe if Victor made him or not), which is odd considering the whole "I am all alone and I want you to make me a mate so I can no longer be alone" thing. While not one of the most iconic incarnations of the Frankenstein Monster, Brimble makes for a good one, his stretched out face prostheses effectively grotesque yet striking in a way completely different from the traditional look most people associate the Monster with. If there's one oddity about the Monster's role in the film, it's not because of Brimble, but rather the film itself. Throughout the film, the Monster is portrayed as an admittedly violent, but still ultimately sympathetic, misunderstood, and tragic character, as he usually is. Which is why it's so disturbing when the film goes full on Jason Voorhees on him during the climactic fight with Joe in the futuristic laboratory. We have to watch him get shot multiple times, impaled, his arm torn off, and then finally slowly, slowly burned to death, screaming in agony and confusion all the while. Yes, the Monster had to be dealt with by the end of the film, but the way they went about it was just so drawn out and needlessly cruel, it's rather uncomfortable to watch.

Upon first glance, one might be inclined to dismiss Frankenstein Unbound. Roger Corman's involvement, the initially odd casting of Raul Julia, the futuristic, dystopian, and time travel elements, when all rolled together, might make one think that this will be a bad, over the top film that does no justice to the Frankenstein story. And while it certainly is over the top and cheesy, it's done in such a serious manner that one can't help but find themselves drawn in by it. At the very least, the performances by the cast alone make this movie worth a watch.

Rating: ★★★★

Cast: John Hurt ... Dr. Joe Buchanan Raul Julia ... Dr. Victor Frankenstein Nick Brimble ... The Monster Bridget Fonda ... Mary Shelley Catherine Rabett ... Elizabeth Terri Treas ... Computer Voice Jason Patric ... Lord Byron Michael Hutchence ... Percy Shelley Catherine Corman ... Justine Moritz

Director: Roger Corman. Producer: Jay Cassidy (associate producer), Roger Corman, Kobi Jaeger, Laura J. Medina (associate producer), and Thom Mount. Writer: Brian Aldiss (original "Frankenstein Unbound" novel), Roger Corman (screenplay), F.X. Feeney (screenplay), and Mary Shelley (original "Frankenstein" novel). Music: Carl Davis. Special Effects: Nick Dudman (special makeup effects), Suzy Evans (prosthetic makeup assistant), Suzanne Reynolds (prosthetic makeup), Renato Agostini (set special effects), Reza Karim (foam latex supervisor), Betzy Bromberg (optical supervisor), Syd Dutton (matte artist), Bruno George (optical effects), Rhonda C. Gunner (computer animation and displays), Richard E. Hollander (computer animation and displays), John Huneck (visual effects camera), Adam Kowalski (special rigging), Lynn Ledgerwood (special engineering), Gregory L. McMurry (computer animation and displays), Bret Mixon (rotoscoping supervisor), Gary Rhodaback (modelmaker), Mark Sawicki (matte photography), Robert Stromberg (matte artist), Catherine Sudolcan (production manager: visual effects), Bill Taylor (visual effects camera), Gene Warren Jr. (visual effects supervisor), Christopher Warren (visual effects assistant), John C. Wash (computer animation and displays), and David S. Williams Jr. (optical effects).

[whumpbug]

whumperless whump event day 12: it's going down (i'm yelling timber) @whumperless-whump-event

building collapse / trapped under rubble / “i can't move my legs.”

see this post for character information!

caretaker: Cassidy

whumpee: Gene

THIS FIC IS NOT CANON! I REPEAT, THIS FIC IS NOT CANON! i just wanted to try my hand at something very whumpy and angsty but for all intents and purposes, this is simply a dream cassidy had or something like that. GENE IS ALIVE AND WELL.

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

There was a fire in the schoolhouse. And it was spreading.

At the rate it was going, it'd reach just about all the buildings on the west side of town. One of those buildings happened to be the town jail.

Gene gritted his teeth and let his gaze flicker to the cell. Of course, there just had to be a certain outlaw locked up at the most inconvinient time.

Good ‘ol Silver.

As soon as Gene heard the crackling and screaming coming from outside, he knew he had to make a decision quick. If he left Silver in the cell, he would surely burn to death. 

On the other hand, releasing him could prove more dangerous if he decided to use the chaos as a distraction for his gang to come in and pick the place clean.

In the end, it was an easy decision.

Gene tossed his key ring to Silver, who blinked at him owlishly.

“You’re.. settin’ me free?”

“Yes. Now don’t just sit there lookin’ stupid, run,” Gene growled, stripping of his coat.

"Well, whatta 'bout you?" Cassidy's voice was small.

"Get outta here 'fore I change my mind."

He had more urgent matters to attend to.

He dashed over to the schoolhouse, where a frenzy of crying children crowded around their teacher, Miss Lowry. She looked positively panicked, looking around erratically. Her eyes finally landed on Gene and she all but collapsed at his feet in relief.

“Oh thank goodness you’re here! It’s Annie, she’s still trapped up there in the building! She was in the hall when it started-- oh lord mister, please help her!” She cried, clutching at Gene’s vest.

Gene steeled his resolve and nodded. "I'll get her, miss. Don't you worry."

He didn't look back as he headed straight for the flames.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the rickety doorway was how hard it was to breathe. He felt the familiar sense that his lungs were seizing up, but he could deal with it later. He had to focus.

“Annie! Where're you!” He shouted out, erupting into coughs.

“Hello?! I’m r-right here, mister!” A small voice responded, coughing through sobs.

Gene hacked even harder as he followed the voice. He ducked under charred wood and pushed school desks out of the way before eventually meeting the face of a terrified little girl, surrounded by burning rubble.

She let out a blubbering cry and launched herself forward into Gene’s arms. 

Gene let out a soft oof before hoisting her up over his shoulder. "S'all gonna be alright, sweetheart. I'm gonna get you out."

Once Gene actually finds a way out.

He held Annie close as he scanned for an escape route. The smoke was stinging his eyes, and his breaths were quickly becoming slow wheezes. One look at Annie and he saw she was dealing with the same thing. Her coughs were becoming louder-- more desperate. He needed to be fast if he wanted to save this girl.

Finally, he saw a sliver of hope. There were two beams resting against eachother, creating a pocket free of debris. It looked stable too, so long as it wasn't jostled too much. The only trouble was that it was entirely too small for Gene himself to fit through.

Oh well. I’ll figure something out.

He made a beeline for the exit, cradling the back of Annie’s head. His eyes were watering now. The air scorched his throat on the way down, and he looked down for a brief moment to see he was absolutely covered in soot.

As he finally reached the beams, he set Annie down very gently.

His voice was gravelling when he spoke.

“Alright darlin’, you have to head through this hole very carefully, okay? Don't touch the sides. I ain’t gonna be able to follow, but I’ll be right behind you. You hafta be brave, okay?” 

Annie’s eyes widened in pure panic.

“N-No! You have to come with me, mister! I’m too scared! Please!” She cried, clinging to Gene’s leg.

There was a sudden snap, and Gene saw a beam in the distance go down. Christ. They didn't have time for this.

“Alright! Alright. I’ll go with you. Promise. Just start walking, alright?” He reassured quickly, leaning away to cough.

She whimpered and nodded, holding Gene’s hands behind her as she inched her way through the beams.

Gene crouched, following her the farthest he could without disturbing the way the beams were balanced together.

She was about a foot from being out, when there was another sickening crack-- this time right above them.

“Shit!” Gene barked, and before he had time to think, he was shoving Annie as far forward as he could right as the beams gave way.

Right on top of him. 

All he felt was white-hot pain before everything went black.

••••

Cassidy watched from behind a tree as the bucket brigade finally started making a damn dent in the flames.

It had been nearly 7 minutes since Gene went in after that little girl, and there was no sign of either of them.

Cassidy was just about ready to head into the building himself. He was expendable. Deptuty Eugene Delaney was not. He rolled up his sleeves and took a step forward before--

He saw a soot-covered figure fall onto the grass, sobbing as hard as she could. That must be Annie, then.

So where the hell was the deputy. 

Cassidy took another experimental step forward, straining to look for any sign of a taller figure emerging.

All he was met with was the sickening sound of wood splitting, and a choked out scream as the building collapsed.

His legs were moving before he had time to think.

The bucket brigade, seeing the situation at hand, focused their efforts where the deputy presumably was. The worst of the flames had been snuffed out by some miracle, but the rubble was still creaking and falling all around. No one dared to get too close.

No one but Cassidy.

He crashed to his knees in front of where Annie escaped, ripping apart the rubble piece by piece, searching for any sign of life.

“Goddamn you, Delaney, always trying to be a goddamn hero,” He muttered, tearing away another plank of wood. The terror in his voice came out before he had a chance to surpress it.

His heart stopped when he heard a soft groan coming from below.

He wasted no time carefully, slowly lifting up a large scrap to reveal a soot-covered cotton vest, and just above it, a tuft of dirty blonde hair.

Cassidy felt his breath hitch as he lifted all the rubble he could hold in one go and.. Christ, it wasn’t good.

Gene was lying face down on the dirt, gasping for air. The entire left side of his face was blood-soaked, and more blood poured from his nose, seeping into his teeth. His lower half was obstructed by heavier rubble that Cassidy couldn’t lift on his own, and he wasn’t sure he liked what that meant for Gene. 

Still, he crouched towards the deputy, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder blade.

“Delaney? Delaney, you with me?” He questioned, voice tight with worry.

Gene made a pathetic attempt to nod, before erupting into a wheezing coughing fit again. 

“S-Still.. alive,” He rasped, gasping for air that would not come.

Cassidy urged his voice to be something gentle, despite his racing heart. “Alright cowboy, you gotta help me by wigglin’ out when I get this damn wood off’ya.”

Cassidy stood and got behind Gene, fingers hooking underneath part of the beam. Finally, some of the bystanders gained some sense and a few men stepped forward to help Cassidy lift.

They finally cleared out the crumbling beam, leaving Gene’s lower half lying limp against the dirt.

Gene blanched, sputtering out a cough as he tried to push himself up with his arms.

“C-Can’t.. can’t feel my legs..” He choked out, voice thick with panic. He clawed at the dirt in front of him. “Silver..”

Cassidy felt his heart sink.

“Sure you can. Don’t be stupid, Delaney, sure you can.” He knelt beside Gene. “It’s just the shock. Nothin’ more.”

Gene shut his eyes tight and shook his head. Tears were spilling freely now. It was the first time Cassidy had ever seen the other man cry.

“N-No.. s’like they’re not even there.” He wheezed, lowering his face to hide it from the onlookers’ staring.

Cassidy felt something akin to sorrow bubble up inside of him. He turned frustratedly to the group of bystanders. 

“Would someone please go get a doctor? Any time today?” He shouted, shooing off the crowd.

He turned back to Gene and ran a shaking hand through the singed hair on the back of his neck.

“You’re gonna be alright. We’ll fix this. I swear it.”

All Gene could do was sob.

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶

[canaryatlaw]

Okay, so I'm sure you could tell by my posts thus far that today was totally awesome and pretty much the best birthday ever, but I'll try to recount most of the rest of it before my eyes demand I shut them. So alarm goes off at 9 and I push it to 9:15 cuz I can get away with it, got ready and then hopped in an uber and got there soon enough. There was of course a lengthy line to get inside by that point, but I really moved pretty quickly so it wasn't a bad wait. The "crossover" panel was the first thing happening, so I headed over there and got a seat in the general admission section and thought for a minute about asking a question because I wanted to but couldn't think of one, but then I thought I came up with a decent one so I got on the question line. So that panel was Caity, Brandon, Neal McDonough (Damien Darhk) and Robbie Amell (Ronnie, former half of firestorm). Lots of funny moments, they were joking around a lot. Like someone asked who their celebrity crush was, Robbie said his wife haha, Brandon said Neal (which was hilarious), Neal said Gene Hackman, and Caity said Angelina Jolie lol. Caity gave a shoutout to the scrapbook the lotzers made and talked about how much she loved her fans, so that was pretty great. Someone asked if they could have their current character meet up/face off with any other character they've played who would it be, so of course Brandon said Superman (predictable) and then turned to Caity and was like "400 Days right, right???" which was super cute because if you weren't aware they were both in that movie and played a couple, lol, so very cute. I think she picked black canary though, and I don't remember who the other two picked. I think those are most of the questions I remembered worth mentioning. I got really mad because they literally cut off questioning with the guy right in front of me, like I would've been next and they cut it off so I was VERY frustrated about that. But not long after we went back to Caity's table and I asked her my question which was what was your favorite scene to shoot in season 2 of legends and can you hint at anything in the next two episodes? And she said she really really liked shooting the next episode and that its gonna have a really cool guest star (at which point I was like Felicity right? And she was like haha yeah) so that's cool. I then also asked her about talking to the writers about captain canary and she said she had done so, but I asked her to keep trying and she said she will because she really likes it so that made me happy, and then we took more selfies and she signed another photo. Not long after that I want to Katrina's table which was right next to Caity's, and holy crap Katrina is literally the most adorable person on earth lol. She was like bounding full of energy and running around everywhere and it was great. I had tweeted her sometime last month after listening to a podcast episode she was in where she was saying all proceeds from autographs and selfies taken today would be given to charity and I said I would be there and it was also my birthday, and then last night I tweeted her again saying thanks for answering my question at the panel and that I'd see her tomorrow for charity Sunday, and when I got up there she was like "oh it's you're birthday too right??" (Cuz they had just done it with another girl) which made me happy because she remembered something that little haha, so she had everyone sing happy birthday to me and video taped the whole thing and I'm just sitting there grinning like an idiot the whole time but I don't even care because it was awesome. I then talked to her briefly about Training Day and what the fate of the show was gonna be, and she said she actually didn't know wha the game plan folk forward is, which I'm sure is very frustrating. I went to Katie Cassidy's table next. She wasn't like, rude or mean or anything, she just didn't come off as personable as Caity and Katrina, but that's probably more of a personality thing than anything else so I'm certainly not holding it against her. I said you knew I was at the panel yesterday and how sad I was about Laurel's death because I love my lawyer superheroes and she was just like "well, keep watching, you never know" which is a very non-committal answer but I'll take it, lol. Addressing that I browsed around the vendors and everything for s bit and picked up different items I liked. Then my two Twitter friends (shoutout to @saraslittleassassin for indirectly introducing us and basically being the reason I came to the con) were in line for Caity and they had VIP passes when I only had the regular, so I just snuck in line with them saying I wasn't getting anything just watching, which actually worked quite well haha so I was happy about that. I got to say the last two things I really wanted to say, which was that I had started taking martial arts lessons because of Sara, and that we had interacted on Twitter back in December about the whole politician and documentary thing which she remembered and reaffirmed she'd vote for me when I run for office (the likelihood of that ever happening is not particularly high at the moment, but we'll see). After that we were pretty much done, so we got some food and I grabbed a Lyft home since my uber app is still losing it. Got home to my roommate having mad cupcakes for me, so we had a very nice movie night in. I had never actually scene fantastic beasts and the force awakens so we watched those, which I both enjoyed quite a bit. Fantastic bests didn't really feel like a Harry potter movie but I think it did a good job as a film on its own. The force awakened was as m awesome as everyone in here has said it is, asked I thoroughly enjoyed it. I might write up a more detailed version in the next few days, but right. Ow I'm having a lot of sissies keeping my eyes open so I think I'll end it here. Today was awesome and thanks for very one who contributed by saying happy birthday or anther else. Goodnight everyone. I hope your next birthday is as lovely as mine was.

[tylrsgn]

Domestic Life Was Never Quite My Style || Self-Para

LOCATION: Dallas, Texas. Memorial Hospital TIME: April 1st, 2017. Around 4 AM NOTES: Tyler shares a moment with his daughter before his mother and sisters arrive. SONG USED: Dear Theodosia

Dear Theodosia what to say to you You have my eyes You have your mother’s name When you came into the world you cried and it broke my heart

It was only a few hours since Theodora was born, and Tyler was still in awe, but even though he knew that he had to hop on a plane soon and fly to North Carolina, here in this moment, his living breathing daughter was in his arms and he couldn’t believe it was real, it was something he never expected to happen. Karlie was a sleep in her hospital bed, and Tyler didn’t want to disturb her at all, he just wanted to relish in this moment, enjoying every second he could.

His free hand stroked the tiny rosy cheek, seeing her eyes trying to open at the touch of him, she started to get a tiny bit fussy, being the first time dad he was, he tried to see what he could do first before looking for help. He rocked her gently as he stood up, bouncing ever so slightly like how his mother told him, and for him it was working, or least he thought it was.

I’m dedicating every day to you Domestic life was never quite my style When you smile, you knock me out I fall apart  and I thought I was so smart

“Daddy is here honey, I’ve got you…” Those were words he never thought he’d utter a loud, little did he know that those words, something about them made a what he thought was a smile appear on her face. He knew she was too young to do that, but it was still something he’d never forget. He started walking around with her, still rocking her as her eyes were slightly opened, “Hey sweetie.” whispering as he leant down a bit to kiss her on her forehead, breathing in the weird ‘new baby’ smell, he never realized they had their own smell, though he had so much time to learn and read about babies, it seemed as if almost everything went right out the window once she came into the world.

He started bouncing her a little bit as he adjusted the small yellow hat on her head, to see more of her face. He was in awe of her and he couldn’t get over it, it was almost too much to him, he was starting to get emotional again. The moment he saw her brought into the world, and they laid her on Karlie’s chest, both were just overcome with emotion, the crying, the newborn crying, she was all sorts of perfect and Tyler couldn’t get over it, and once they let him cut the umbilical cord, that was when he really started to cry more, wiping his eyes with his sleeve seeing that their daughter was finally in the world just meant so much to him.

Here she was in his arms, and he never wanted to let go.

You will come of age with our young nation We’ll bleed and fight for you We’ll make it right for you If we lay a strong enough foundation We’ll pass it on to you We’ll give the world to you and you’ll blow us all away Someday, yeah you’ll blow us all away Someday.

He could hear the door handle jiggle before seeing a figure come into the room, His mother and sisters had finally showed up, with flowers and balloons in hand, he knew his sisters took the quickest flight they could, at first his mom didn’t believe him, saying it was too early on April 1st to be pulling pranks on her, but he was happy they were finally there. Bringing a finger up to his mouth before the three could say a thing, he was quick to quiet them, pointing to the sleeping Karlie in the bed. Jackie could barely hold herself together, she immediately started crying at the sight of her son holding her first grand-baby. “Can I see her?” She mouthed, as she handed what was in her hands to his sisters, Tyler was quick to hand his daughter over to his mother, who was almost bouncing she was so excited, he watched as she started to talk to Theodora.

My father wasn’t around I swear that I’ll be around for you I’ll do whatever it takes I’ll make a million mistakes I’ll make the world safe and sound for you

“Hey baby girl, it’s me, it’s grandma… but please, don’t call me that, I’m too young to be called grandma yet.” She started rocking the infant back and forth, and Tyler, just seeing his mother happy, would always be a happy moment in his life, no matter the circumstance, even with all the drama with his father, he knew his mom would always be the first person he’d go to, he couldn’t help but keep listening, “You my dear, are the cutest thing I’ve seen, so you’ve obviously got your mother’s genes… Baby Seguin,” Jackie looked up at her son, remembering that Tyler never gave her her granddaughter’ full name, “So, what’s her name? So I’ll stop sounding like a fool calling her ‘Baby Seguin’?” her finger found its way to the infant’s hand, and now was playing with it a little bit, before looking down at the baby, “But you’ve definitely got that Seguin grip, baby girl.”

Tyler smiled, “Theodora Joanna Grace, we couldn’t decide on a middle name, so we though two fits her pretty well.” wrapping his arm around his mother and looking down at his daughter, “It’s something different, but not too different.”

“Theodora?” Cassidy asked, taking a seat on the couch that was next to the door, where Candace had already sat down on. “I never heard of that one before.”

Tyler nodded, “Yeah, something different was one thing, but that TS initial was something I couldn’t let go, Karlie is more into the name meanings than I am,” he shrugged, as he walked over to his sisters, pulling them both into a hug, letting it last as long as he could, he missed his sisters more than he expected. 

Right on the clock at 4 am, the nurse knocked lightly on the door, not realizing she had come into a full room, she smiled and introduced herself to the family, telling them it was feeding time, and that she would need the visitors to leave, for it to be Tyler, Karlie and Theodora. Jackie passed Theodora back to her son, but not before kissing him lightly on the cheek, “Thank you” she whispered.

Letting his family leave the room, he walked over to wake up Karlie, “Hey, babe, Nurse Regina here says its feeding time, but I just wanted to also tell you my mom and sisters are here, do you want to see them when they come back in?” Karlie answered with a small laugh and nodded as the nurse handed her Theodora.

Someday, yeah you’ll blow us all away Someday. 

[omniversalobservations]

Book Revue (1946)

Book Revue (later re-issued on May 19, 1951, as Book Review) is a Looney Tunes cartoon short featuring Daffy Duck, released in 1946, with a plotline that is a mixture of the plots of 1937's Speaking of the Weather, 1938's Have You Got Any Castles? and 1941's A Coy Decoy. It is directed by Bob Clampett, written by Warren Foster and scored by Carl Stalling.

Plot The cartoon starts out in the same, pastoral "after midnight at a closed bookstore" fashion of Frank Tashlin's trio of "books coming to life" cartoons, to the strains of Moonlight Sonata; a colorized version of the storefront from A Coy Decoy can be seen. Inside, an inebriated "cuckoo bird" pops out of a cuckoo clock to announce the arrival of midnight (and signaling the "cuckoo" activities to follow) and the books come alive. The cartoon's first lampoon and pun appears, a book collection called "Complete works of Shakespeare". Shakespeare is shown in silhouette while his literally-rendered "works" are clockwork mechanisms, along with old-fashioned "stop" and "go" traffic signals, set to the "ninety years without slumbering, tick-tock, tick-tock" portion of "My Grandfather's Clock".

Cut to a book titled Young Man with a Horn; a caricature of Harry James breaks loose with a jazz trumpet obbligato similar to James' "You Made Me Love You", in which he segues into the standard, "It Had to Be You", as a striptease is about to begin on the cover of Cherokee Strip. Book covers for The Whistler and The Sea Wolf show their characters whistling and howling at the off-screen action, Shakespeare's inner workings also break apart at the sight of the action. Henry VIII (designed to resemble Charles Laughton's portrayal of him) also gets excited at the sight of the striptease until his mother on the cover of The Aldrich Family calls for him. As she starts to spank Henry, "The Voice in the Wilderness", an emaciated Frank Sinatra caricature, appears gently singing "It Had to Be You" while being pushed along by an orderly. Henry's mother, along with other female book cover characters (such as bobbysoxer versions of Little Women, Mother Goose and Whistler's Mother on the cover of "Famous Paintings"), begin swooning for "Frankie".

Immediately thereafter, a jam session begins featuring Harry James, Glenn Miller on the cover of "BRASS" (who at one point rubs his trombone slide under W.C. Fields' nose), an Indian on the cover of Drums Along the Mohawk who morphs into Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman as the "Pie-Eyed Piper" (some mice yell "Yay, Benny!"), and a green Bob Burns on the cover of the Arkansas Traveller. Annoyed by the revelry, Daffy Duck steps out of the cover of a Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies comic book (in the background is a book by "Ann Anonymous" titled The Invisible Man: A Biography of Robert Clampett) and starts rifling through a trunk (Saratoga Trunk) for clothes. Just after Gene plays some notes on the buttons lining the corpulent stomach of Hudson's Bay, Daffy dons a zoot suit coat, gloves and a curly, blonde wig, as well as what appears to be a set of fake teeth (which explains why his trademark lisp is nowhere to be heard in this film).

Daffy orders for the music to "STOP!" and the jam session screeches to a halt. Standing in front of a book called "Danny Boy" with the classic Ukrainian tune Ochi chyornye as background music and the background becoming one with legible newsprint superimposed on silhouettes of urban buildings, Daffy (effecting Danny Kaye's fake Russian accent) says "pooey!" to swing music and jazz. He then starts reminiscing about his "natife willage" with its "soft music", "why-o-leens" (violins) and the "happy peoples sitting on their balalaikas, playing their samowars" (misusing both terms) and also talks about a girl called Cucaracha, who he describes as "so round, so firm, so fully packed, so easy on the draw". Saying that "they would sing to him a little gypsy love song", Daffy breaks into his normal character and briefly sings "La Cucaracha" (including his "hoo-hoo" sounds). Daffy continues in his fake Russian accent as he sings Carolina In The Morning, inadvertently teasing the Big Bad Wolf, who at this point is still in the window of "Gran'Ma's House"; Daffy beats a hasty retreat to stage left. Meanwhile, Little Red Riding Hood, based on Margaret O'Brien, skips past Daffy and toward Gran'Ma's House. Realising the danger, Daffy puts himself between Red and the door, breaking into Danny Kaye's scat singing style to warn Red about the Wolf, including mock chewing on her leg for emphasis, not noticing the Wolf adding salt to his leg. Red runs away screaming and Daffy halfway notices the Wolf before returning to continue the biting, until Daffy realises otherwise (becoming a giant eye in a wild double take).

Daffy runs away, pursued by the wolf through Hopalong Cassidy, Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Petrified Forest. The police sergeant on the cover of the Police Gazette notices what's going on and alerts all other police officers. The Wolf ends up apprehended by the Long Arm of the Law and is placed before The Judge who declares the Wolf guilty and sentences him to Life in spite of his objections ("You can't do dis to me! I'm a citizen, see!"), though the Wolf makes his Escape soon after. Jimmy Durante, incongruously illustrating the cover of So Big, turns toward the Wolf, and his huge nose trips the Wolf, who goes sliding down Skid Row, nearly falling into Dante's Inferno. The Wolf scrambles to the top, but the Sinatra caricature reappears, held in the orderly's hands as if he were a doll. The Wolf, being in the grandma archetype, swoons and faints just as the female characters did and skids head first into the inferno.

The rest of the characters, including Daffy and Red, proceed to celebrate the Wolf's death by dancing to a swing version of Carolina in the Morning. Suddenly, the Wolf pops out of Dante's Inferno and shouts at the characters to "Stop that dancing up there! Ya sillies!", (just like Daffy had done earlier) which they do.

Source: Wikipedia

[worldstop10]

New Post has been published on Top 10 of Anything and Everything!!!

New Post has been published on http://theverybesttop10.com/most-successful-western-films/

The Top 10 Most Successful Western Films of All Time

The Top 10 Most Successful Western Films of All Time

They go under many names: Cowboy films, Sh1t Kickers, Gunslingers…but most people will simply call them Westerns. They are the original Wild West films and some of them earned more money than many of today’s big Hollywood blockbusters…

The Top 10 Most Successful Western Films of All Time

  Unforgiven

10 – Unforgiven (1992) (Gross Earnings: $101.16M)

Wiki Info: When prostitute Delilah Fitzgerald (Anna Thomson) is disfigured by a pair of cowboys in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, her fellow brothel workers post a reward for their murder, much to the displeasure of sheriff Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman), who doesn’t allow vigilantism in his town. Two groups of gunfighters, one led by aging former bandit William Munny (Clint Eastwood), the other by the florid English Bob (Richard Harris), come to collect the reward, clashing with each other and the sheriff.

Maverick

9 – Maverick (1994) (Gross Earnings: $101.63M)

Wiki Info: This film update of the “Maverick” TV series finds the title cardsharp (Mel Gibson) hoping to join a poker contest with an impressive payoff. In order to enter, Maverick must first put up a large cash sum. He scams hopeful contestants Annabelle (Jodie Foster) and Angel (Alfred Molina) in a preliminary card game to win the money he needs, making enemies of both players. While trying to evade Annabelle and Angel, the crafty Maverick realizes a cunning marshal (James Garner) is also on his tail.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

8 – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (Gross Earnings: $102.31M)

Wiki Info: The true story of fast-draws and wild rides, battles with posses, train and bank robberies, a torrid love affair and a new lease on outlaw life in far away Bolivia. It is also a character study of a remarkable friendship between Butch – possibly the most likeable outlaw in frontier history – and his closest associate, the fabled, ever-dangerous Sundance Kid.

Wild Wild West

7 – Wild Wild West (1999) (Gross Earnings: $113.75M)

Wiki Info: When President Ulysses S. Grant (Kevin Kline) learns that diabolical inventor Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh) is planning to assassinate him, he orders Civil War hero James West (Will Smith) and U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon (also Kline) to arrest him. West’s trigger-happy personality doesn’t always mesh well with that of the thoughtful Gordon, but they manage to work together. And with the help of a mysterious stranger (Salma Hayek), West and Gordon close in on Loveless.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

Blazing Saddles

6 – Blazing Saddles (1974) (Gross Earnings: $119.50M)

Wiki Info: In this satirical take on Westerns, crafty railroad worker Bart (Cleavon Little) becomes the first black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the people of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new leader. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend (Gene Wilder) are the only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.

Rango

5 – Rango (2011) (Gross Earnings: $123.21M)

Wiki Info: A chameleon (Johnny Depp) who has lived as a sheltered family pet finds himself in the grip of an identity crisis. Rango wonders how to stand out when it is his nature to blend in. When he accidentally winds up in a frontier town called Dirt, he takes the first step on a transformational journey as the town’s new sheriff. Though at first Rango only role-plays, a series of thrilling situations and outrageous encounters forces him to become a real hero.

Django Unchained

4 – Django Unchained (2012) (Gross Earnings: $162.80M)

Wiki Info: Two years before the Civil War, Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave, finds himself accompanying an unorthodox German bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) on a mission to capture the vicious Brittle brothers. Their mission successful, Schultz frees Django, and together they hunt the South’s most-wanted criminals. Their travels take them to the infamous plantation of shady Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), where Django’s long-lost wife (Kerry Washington) is still a slave.

True Grit

3 – True Grit (2010) (Gross Earnings: $171.03M)

Wiki Info: After an outlaw named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) murders her father, feisty 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a boozy, trigger-happy lawman, to help her find Chaney and avenge her father. The bickering duo are not alone in their quest, for a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) is also tracking Chaney for reasons of his own. Together the unlikely trio ventures into hostile territory to dispense some Old West justice.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

The Revenant

2 – The Revenant (2015) (Gross Earnings: $183.64M)

Wiki Info: While exploring the uncharted wilderness in 1823, frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) sustains life-threatening injuries from a brutal bear attack. When a member (Tom Hardy) of his hunting team kills his young son (Forrest Goodluck) and leaves him for dead, Glass must utilize his survival skills to find a way back to civilization. Grief-stricken and fueled by vengeance, the legendary fur trapper treks through the snowy terrain to track down the man who betrayed him.

Dances with Wolves

1 – Dances with Wolves (1990) (Gross Earnings: $184.21M)

Wiki Info: A Civil War soldier develops a relationship with a band of Lakota Indians. Attracted by the simplicity of their lifestyle, he chooses to leave his former life behind to be with them. Having observed him, they give the name Dances With Wolves. Soon he is a welcomed member of the tribe and falls in love with a white woman who has been raised in the tribe. Tragedy results when Union soldiers arrive with designs on the land.