#lol did I not post about the Wolf show?

[sarahmichellegellarnews]

Sarah Michelle Gellar has signed on to play Dexter Morgan’s new boss at the Miami Metro Police Department in the upcoming “Dexter” prequel series, “Dexter: Original Sin.”

Gellar will play the special guest star role of Tanya Martin, the CSI chief at the Miami Metro Police Department and Dexter Morgan’s new boss.

[what-even-is-sleep]

thinking about Bodkin again bc I mean,,, ALL THE SYMBOLISM OHHHHHGH. i NEED some tumblr film analysis hobbyists to watch this show and tell me all the themes n such

[hoesoflamentation]

𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖔𝖓 // 𝖍𝖆𝖎𝖐𝖞𝖚𝖚 𝖝 𝖈𝖍𝖚𝖇𝖇𝖞!𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗 // 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI //

feat !! tsukishima kei, hinata shoyo, kuroo tetsuro, iwaizumi hajime

warnings !! reader is afab & written as gn as possible but please proceed with caution. individual warnings are listed for each blorbo. leave a shitty, fatphobic comment only if you want to be publicly shamed to all 1600 of my followers <3

a/n: hello fellow sluts, your overlord has returned. as a fellow chubby!reader, i am so happy & heartened that this won the poll. and don't think that my choice of boys was pointed at all; it was literally just self-indulgence... every hq boy would love the hell out of a chubby!reader >:(

// 𝖓𝖔 𝖙𝖔𝖚𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌 //

FEAT. TSUKISHIMA

warnings !! cam!reader/sex work, toys (on reader), just a lot of jacking off tbh

…is bored, so bored, of all the models who look the same, that the weekend he finds your Onlyfans page, he locks himself in his room and dedicates his weekend to watching you pound your plump pussy with every toy in your arsenal. For nearly 48 hours, he milks himself to your videos, until the craving becomes too intense to resist: You’re advertising a special livestream for your highest-paying fans, and Tsukishima knows he has to be one of them. His hand is still wrapped around his veiny shaft as he hastily types in his credit card information to send you an exorbitant tip. The day of the livestream, Tsukishima promises himself he will only look, not touch… but the sound of your fucked-out face whining “Thank you for the tip, Kei!” leaves him pumping his throbbing cock until it’s spurting hot, creamy white all over his stomach. Soon, Tsukishima is typing into the chat with his one free hand: "I'll give you $200 to say that again."

// 𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝖆𝖎𝖗 //

FEAT. HINATA

warnings !! chubbychaser!hinata, face riding, alcohol use

…isn’t one for locker room talk, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice the particularities of his taste. Shoyo Hinata can’t help it if he fantasizes about spending hours sandwiched between a pair of thick thighs, too pussy drunk to even consider coming up for air. So, when he meets you out at the bar where MSBY is having their post-game celebration, his rowdy teammates notice that you’re Hinata’s type even before he does. “That one’s yours, Shoyo!” one player calls out. “Yeah, they got Shoyo's name written all over them!” Hinata, of course, blushes and apologizes for their behavior, offering to buy you a drink. Little did he realize that those very same drinks would lead to him slipping a hotel key into your back pocket and stuffing his face in your needy cunt. You’re nervous to ride his tongue at first, worried he’ll suffocate beneath you… but Hinata laps up your juices so eagerly that soon, you’re the one who’s forgotten how to breathe.

// 𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 //

FEAT. KUROO

warnings !! possessive!kuroo, established relationship, lingerie, accidental exhibitionism (if that's what you call it lol)

…will listen to you talk for hours about anything on your mind, so you wouldn’t blame him for zoning out every once in awhile. Hence why you didn’t expect him to remember the time you complained about the difficulty of finding lingerie in your size at the store. The next thing you know, so many packages are arriving outside your apartment that the doorman calls upstairs and asks you to stop ordering things. Little does he know that it’s your boyfriend Tetsuro showering you in pretty little matching sets from expensive specialty stores you would normally never be able to afford. To thank him, you put on the number you know he’ll love most — a lacy thonged bodysuit in lipstick red — and video call him at the office. “So, Tetsu, what do you think?” you ask, striking a flirty pose that shows off all your best assets. Kuroo blushes… and you quickly realize why, as his coworkers cat call and wolf whistle at your display from off screen. “Baby, you know I love it... but next time, make sure I’m the only one who gets to see you!”

// 𝖌𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖒 //

FEAT. IWAIZUMI

warnings !! iwa-chan the ass man, rimming (mention), spanking (mention)

…has worked out with some of Japan’s most talented athletes, but none of them ever made him as nervous as his personal training sessions with you. Because how is he supposed to tell you, his childhood best friend, that ever since he saw the way you stretched out those leggings while you were doing deadlifts, he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you? To stop imagining your bare ass cheeks jiggling in his face as he eagerly traces circles around your rim with his tongue? “One… two… three…” Your voice strains as you count reps. Meanwhile, Iwaizumi feels beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and not from the workout. With every squat, your perfect ass comes so close he can almost touch it. It’s all he can do not to let spotting you turn into spanking you. By the end of your reps, he’s gotten so desperate that his cock twitches just from you smiling at him. “Like what you see, Haji?” you tease. Iwaizumi clears his throat, turning to hide his hard-on against the climbing wall. “Y-yeah. Great form, Y/n.”

[marlenesluv]

Star of the show. (CL)

summary: when charles leclerc hard launches his actress girlfriend, star of teen wolf as scott mccalls sister, fans go crazy.

note: obviously in the show, scott doesn’t have a sister, but pretend for me, kk? lol

fc: christina nadin (love her)

warnings: language, and sexual comments

masterlist here -> masterlist link

^ check my list for all posts! ^

liked by: y/n.user, carlossainz55, and 1,923,035 others

charles_leclerc: the star of the show, and my heart (and the ferrari paddock)

view comments…

ferrarifwiends: did charles just hard launch his gf and expect us not to freak tf out????

y/n.user: awww you used cute pictures of me😮‍💨🫶

↳ charles_leclerc: every picture of you is cute, chérie

↳ user7: oh shit. he’s def getting head for that one

↳ user3: UNCALLED FOR (agreed)

leclerc.edittpg: HOLY SHIT

teenwolffansss: mother is dating a vroom man?

landonorris: she helped me meet dylan obrien guys!!

↳ oscarpiastri: yeah and you never shut up about it

↳ landonorris: you’re just jealous

user5: and she’s close with the paddock?

↳ charycarlos: we have been fooled by the monégasque again

y/nfanedits8: she’s taken? i now have no chance 💔

user1: the fries and the espresso martini look so good

↳ 1655charlossss: i’m sayingggg

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

liked by: charles_leclerc, francisca.cgomes, and 1,240,925 others

y/n.user: my shining star

view comments…

tylerposey58: not to be a protective set big brother..

↳ y/n.user: ur the best sibling i could have ever asked for :’)

↳ tylerposey58: love you and miss you. pls visit me and phem

↳ y/n.user: i’ll bring char

↳ charles_leclerc: :)

stilesstilinski4life: kinda wanted her and dylan to date..

↳ y/n.fppp: just be happy for her? her and dylan are bsfs, she’s dating charles ffs

user3: the way her and tyler are literally the best sibling duo (sibling soulmates. meant to be actual sibling i swear)

charles_leclerc: je t’aime

↳ y/n.user: je t’aime aussi

f1wags: such a beautiful couple, holy shit

charismybae16: omg we are gonna get bf charles pics AHHHHH

↳ wifey.y/n: nah, forget him, we get gf y/n pics OMG

user3: you guys are too cuteeeee

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

liked by: charles_leclerc, pierregasly, and 1,420,004 others

y/n.user: fútbol and food (the best f’s)

view comments…

charles_leclerc: next to fucking

↳ y/n.user: charles OMG

↳ charles_leclerc: im not wrong, cherié

f1wags: y/n is turning charles into a bold commenter😭

dylanobrien: baseball is better

↳ y/n.user: mets games🧡💙

↳ dylanobrien: you need to come back so we can go?? bring charles so you can culture him

↳ charles_leclerc: texting the gc now, this sounds so fun

user4: UGH THEY HAVE A GC?!?!?!

hollandroden: you are so beautiful!? miss out girls nights :(

↳ crystalmreed: let’s hangout soon!

↳ y/n.user: holland <3 and yes we should!!

betateenwolfedits: these pictures are pure gold

user4: where’s kika?

↳ francisca.cgomes: i’m at a fashion show, lol. had to leave y/n alone with the guys :(

↳ y/n.user: SAVE ME KIKA

↳ francisca.cgomes: OMW!!

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

liked by: y/n.user, pierregasly, and 1,872,024 others

charles_leclerc: we eat good🍷🍝

view comments…

y/n.user: CHICKEN🍗

↳ charles_leclerc: 😋😋😋

teenwolf: getting flashbacks from when y/n would order chicken nuggets 24/7 during filming

↳ y/n.user: miss u guys🤭

↳ teenwolf: we miss you more!🩵

y/nycharfp: they still look hot while shoving their faces, unfair

user7: favorite couple on the grid

dylansprayberry: nice to see you found someone who enjoys cooking as much as you do, y/n

↳ y/n.user: charles can NOT cook

f1wags: same pose, different food and person

bilesbilinski28: slayyyyy

danielricciardo: i want chicken

↳ y/n.user: let’s go get canes rn

↳ danielricciardo; omw rn actually

user2: i bet they actually do go and get canes….

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

daniels instagram story

seen by: y/n.user, charles_leclerc, and 2,024,294 others

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

your instagram story

seen by: charles_leclerc, landonorris, and 1,386,299 others

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

liked by: lilymhe, charles_leclerc, and 1,428,993 others

y/n.user: how these triple headers got us

view comments…

charles_leclerc: you look like an angel when you’re sleeping/waking up and i look like a gremlin :/

↳ y/n.user: char, no you do not

f1wags: shes barbie and he’s j ken fr

y/nsfp1: she looks sooo prettyyyy

francisca.cgomes: pretty girl

↳ y/n.user: ily kika

user4: prince of monaco sleeping?! make sure he stays safe!

crystalmreed: that’s my sleeping mask!

↳ y/n.user: whaaaaaa

teenwolfeditsss: they both are still hot while sleeping and after waking up?? i’m done for

kellypiquet: those selfies are so cute!!

↳ y/n.user: ty kelly!! 🫶

user9: i need a teen wolf reunion :(

↳ char.y/n.fp: i j need charles to meet them fr

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

liked by: charles_leclerc, tylerposey58, and 2,187,024 others

y/n:user: i always see people doing these aesthetic slide number things, so here’s mine 😋

1) charles tries a pepper that tyler posey got him

2) tyler holds the pepper while charles freaks out over the hotness

3) charles guzzles water while saying “too hot!! too hot!!”

4) charles and i found dylans look-alike!!

5) i think pierre and charles took this while me, kika, and tyler were walking around the mall infront of them. dylan was with them? i’m not sure tbh

6) took this picture a few days ago when we took charles, pierre, and kika to universal

view comments…

charles_leclerc: that pepper was too hot

↳ dylanobrien: one might say “too hot!! too hot!!”

↳ tylerposey58: “tyler why is it so spicy?!”

↳ charles_leclerc: cherié you’re friends are bullying me.

↳ y/n.user: it’s okay, char. ilysm you’re so brave for trying that pepper!❤️

↳ charles_leclerc: 🙂❤️

↳ tylerposey58: 🙄🙄

user2: MY TWO WORLDS COLLIDE

f1wags: she’s not even in these?? CRIMINAL!

landonorris: and she didn’t even invite me? :(

↳ y/n.user: you said you didn’t wanna go??

↳ landonorris: I LIED

f1page34: lmaooo, the pic of char and pierre

user7: MARIO AND LUIGIIII

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

liked by: y/n.user, pierregasly, and 2,197,024 others

charles_leclerc: my own “aesthetic slide number things” but it’s all my gf (mostly)

1) woke y/n up at 7am to get breakfast and all she ordered was orange juice and chips & guac

2) y/n trying to fix dylan’s jeep (that didn’t happen)

3) espresso martini night!!!

4) no explanation needed

5) y/n crying because the mets lost

6) me in my new raincoat! :)

view comments…

user3: y/n is SUCH a mood😭

y/n.user: CHAR😦

↳ charles_leclerc: 😘

y/nsfansss7: MOTHER IS SLAYING WITH THOSE MARTINIS

f1wags: how many letters in y/n’s name?

↳ user3: ATEEEE

↳ author (me lolz): j pretend ur name is 8 letters for the smau😛

carlossainz55: it really is y/n’s world and we are all just living in it

↳ maxverstappen1: this is true

f1fanpage4: crying over the mets losing is such a y/n thing to do

dylanobrien: the mets losing is such a sad thing, i don’t blame her

vroompage16: the juice and chips is so me

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

your instagram story:

seen by: charles_leclerc, oscarpiastri, and 1,328,991 others

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

(reposts, comments, and likes are appreciated!^-^)

[deandoesthingstome]

Medieval Fantasy

Pairing: Witcher!Geralt x Reader

Summary: The offerings at this hotel, I swear.

Word Count: 5.1K

Warnings: 18+, NO MINORS, fingering, oral sex (m and f receiving, 69), p in v (cowgirl, missionary), monster fucking (right?).

A/N: I suppose, strictly speaking we're not fucking the monster, but he's still a treat, so enjoy!

A/N 2: (Edited) I do owe @augustsprincess a little thank your for an idea; I played it out during the group chat here, but I probably wouldn't have included it at all if not for you, so *smooches*

Fantasy Hotel Masterlist

Mike ordered a pizza from room service for the last hour of your reservation with him once he flipped the time switch. You sat cross-legged on the couch with him, munching happily while he narrated the ridiculousness of the rest of the scenes to your scary movie, making you giggle where you’d normally be hiding behind a blanket. You’d remember this night fondly for a long time. Mike’s easy going way had put you completely at ease once he noticed you were a little hung up on Walt.

He unfortunately didn’t know anything about how to get a hold of your missing object of desire.

You set the scene for the story pretty much as it was, but added more spook and gore, opting to split up the experience into two nights. One with live Mike, just barely slipping out the window before the parents came home from their Halloween night costume parties, only to be killed by the tow truck driver who showed up when his car, parked around the corner from the house, wouldn’t start. He was hung on the hook that should have hoisted his beater onto the truck. And one a few weeks later, when the heavy drag of the chains and hook across the attic floor led the heroine to investigate, only to be taken swiftly and with no mercy by her incorporeal boyfriend. Not rough, just urgent, insistent, longing for some other connection that would allow him to leave the vicinity of his undoing. If he could have taken her outside on the sidewalk without prying neighbor eyes, he probably would have.

You put the notice up after you posted. The next would be your last regular monster fucking post. You were taking a hiatus to work on your first novel.

sendmeanangel: and then Walter burst through the window, all wolfed out darkgothnightengale: while they were both fucking you??? sendmeanangel: yeah, and i can only think my subconscious was trying to not kill me when it chose August and Mike for that experience. I can’t imagine having anything else inside me while getting fucked by the Bull MNstrluvr: i would kill for a dream like that darkgothnightengale: well, did he take you away? sendmeanangel: i woke up!!! darkgothnightengale: and still no luck finding him? sendmeanangel: no. i found a guy who seemed like him, but he’s in Minnesota. Or was. It’s like his online presence is either non-existent or ended abruptly at least ten years ago MNstrluvr: another ghost lol! sendmeanangel: very funny. Mike was a lot of fun anyway. I needed that darkgothnightengale: and you’re still going back? sendmeanangel: i’ve never heard of a witcher. He just showed up on the site the other week and i bet he’s softer than he looks. I booked him at the same time i booked Mike, so it’s already scheduled and i could do with one more amazing adventure before i give it all up darkgothnightengale: i still don’t understand why. If you don’t have walter, what’s the harm? sendmeanangel: there’s no harm. Obviously i’m free to do what i want. But i think about him all the time. And i just think maybe it’s time for a break MNstrluvr: when you find him you should see if he’s up for booking a room with you so you can recreate that dream sendmeanangel: oh my goddddd! 

“We certainly hope you haven’t been displeased with your experiences here,” the desk clerk asked gently.

“What? No! Everything’s been wonderful. Why do you ask?” you inquired, at a loss for what may have precipitated the comment.

“We noticed you hadn’t made another future booking yet.”

“Oh, that,” you stammered. ”I just…no, everything’s fine.” You fingered the edges of the card stock bearing the elevator code to get you to L2 and tightened your grip on your bag reflexively. Just a trick you used to bring you back to steady. 

“Well, please. If there’s anything at all we can do for you…” You smiled and cast your eyes down so as not to betray your true feelings, but glanced up quickly to try to judge the meaning behind the next statement made with a hint of weightiness. “Anything at all.”

“Thank you,” you offered. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The elevator opened to a small wooden hut, a place for your belongings and coat, a small wash basin filled with still steaming water and fragrant scents set on a wooden stand. You disrobed, dipped a washcloth in the water, and bathed yourself with the enchanting smells, then grabbed a linen towel to dry off before climbing into the outfit you’d selected for the fantasy. You slipped the silver dagger into the holster you’d strapped to your thigh and dropped your heavy skirt down over it before wrapping the cloak around your shoulders.

You had no idea what you were walking out into, only that if things got too hairy, as they absolutely could, he’d be there to save you. There to comfort you. 

You stepped out onto a wooded path leading to a trail along a marshy bog, mostly full moon shining in the sky above you. You were never going to get over the mechanics of this hotel that made it seem like you were in at least five distinctly different places, some of which were outside, while still housed in the same building. But you were solidly on the side of possibility. Monsters were real. Magic was real. This hotel was real.

You carried a small basket of goods, as if headed to a market or maybe home from one. The path ahead of you seemed less than ideal and you began to wonder if you’d made a wrong turn. The churning and bubbling of the bog was lost on you as you looked around for another path that might lead to more solid ground, grateful for the light of the moon since a flashlight app was absolutely not happening, as your phone was left back in the hut.

Suddenly, a loud shriek sounded from the liquid and a large figure began to emerge, long twig-like legs reaching into the space above it as if searching for something. You dropped your basket and ran as soon as it became obvious the thing it was searching for was you. A moment’s respite allowed you to reach under your skirt and grab the dagger before you resumed fleeing away from the monster but suddenly a creepy crawly leg swept around you and it was all you could do to jump out of the way.

You stumbled when you hit the ground, but landed on your back, which meant you could stab up at whatever was coming at you and you did. The blade wasn’t long enough to do full damage, but some gore dripped down your arm as you registered a little casualty point and you pulled back and stabbed again as quick as you could, completely unconcerned with whatever came oozing out. It had to be better than being dead, you thought.

You heard another roar and the distinct slice of a finely crafted blade through the air and the legs that had you trapped were suddenly no longer attached to the larger body that was stalking you. It gave you time to move, scramble out of the way and find a spot to regroup. From behind the boulder you saw him. Leather clad, silver hair flowing, steel blade drawn and hacking through more limbs. As he spun for another attack, you glimpsed his dark eyes and shimmery, pale skin.

It was maybe not the time, but his ass looked great too. 

“Little help,” the strained call came, as he flipped the beast over, tackling what you took to be the lower extremities. A smooth patch on the chest seemed like it was made for stabbing so you climbed onto the rock and jumped, landing right on top of the beast with your tiny blade finding a home in the furry goo. 

One final, ear-splitting shriek and the deed was done. Your compadre stood and held out a hand to help you up and off the steadily shrinking body of the buggy creature you’d just slayed. You felt your feet touch solid ground as you looked up at the mountain of a man who stood before you.

“Alright?” he asked. “I think you got ‘im, but we should head out in case there are more. I don’t think tonight is the right time for this. We’ll come back tomorrow and finish the job.”

“What job?”

“Okay, sure. This wasn’t why you were walking alone late at night in a Krak infested bog? Are you telling me you weren’t hired to clear the area?”

“No?” you answered, unsure what the words coming out of his mouth meant. Was this what a witcher did?

“Were you hired for anything?”

“I’m really not sure what you mean.” You had to find a way to talk to this man coherently. You remembered your basket. “I was just walking back to town from a market. I think I got a little lost.”

“I think you got a lot lost. Can I help you find your way back? I’m Geralt.” His black eyes were  ringed with dark circles, but in the moonlight, those looked like they were fading slowly.

You offered your name and a hand, which he shook, and you felt a line of heat rush straight through your arm, down your chest, and into your core. You gasped as the last of the shadows over his face and eyes dissipated, leaving you staring into amber eyes full of flame. The memory of lights piercing the shadows the other night flooded your brain. What if that wasn’t Walter, as you suspected? But no; the howling.

Geralt helped you locate your discarded basket, into which you stuffed your goo-covered corset and cape, eager to be free from the stench and hoping desperately that dry cleaning would do the trick when you were home. You mounted his horse, Roach, with his assistance and he led you into town. He made a beeline straight for an inn, dropping you off at the entrance with instructions to ask about lodging while he found boarding for his horse for the night.

“Oi! You’re late!” an oversized brute behind the bar exclaimed in your direction as you entered the tavern and you froze, unsure what part of the fantasy this could be. “Have ya lost control of yer legs suddenly? Bring the goods here. Now!”

You looked down at the basket with a realization that was confirmed by another shout.

“Yes. That. The basket. Now!”

You were about to begin the trek across the wooden floor to hand off your basket to the foul looking man, when a pair of comforting hands came to rest on your upper arms, holding you firmly in place.

“I think you have the wrong merchant. This basket of goods is mine,” Geralt’s deep and soothing voice growled. “And we require rooms for the night.”

Rooms? Was this not happening?

“Almost full tonight, Witcher. Only one room left.” You stifled a snort at the cliche of it all.

“We’ll take it. And I’d venture to say you’ll want to provide a meal and round on the house. At least one of your swamp monsters is already dead thanks to this one.” Geralt stepped you into the tavern and over to the bar where a key dangled from the innkeeper's hand.

“She took out a Krak?”

“Practically single-handedly.” There was something like pride in Geralt’s voice, and maybe a little admiration, though you definitely didn't handle that on your own. Still, you grabbed the key with a smirk and turned to find an empty table. Geralt followed once he’d grabbed two tankards of ale, and two plates of stew with bread were set down in front of you after a few moments of awkward silence, during which you took in the clientele. How was the hotel paying all these extras?

“Wolf!” someone called from the entrance and for a moment you thought they’d seen Walter. You looked around, but found nothing other than another sizable man clad in leather and steel making his way to your table.

“Lambert,” Geralt acknowledged him, and introduced you. “What brings you tonight?”

“Just finished up a town over and heard of another job. Looks like you’ve already taken it on. Finished so soon?”

“Hardly started. First kill’s hers anyhow.” Geralt nodded with what appeared to be reverence in your direction.

“Beginner’s luck,” you demurred. “I don’t think a small dagger is going to be of much use with the rest of whatever those were.”

“Looks like I’ll be headed out at first light alone then, to complete the task,” Geralt mumbled, with a comforting look at you before turning attention back to Lambert.  “I’d welcome your assistance with this one.”

A barmaid approached to set another tankard of ale in front of your new red-headed table mate and you didn’t miss the way her hand traced over his shoulder and her eyes met his as she walked back toward the counter to continue serving other customers.

“It’s a good thing you’ve found your bed for the night, since we’ve just taken the last one,” Geralt grumbled with a hint of tease. 

“Unless you need my assistance with anything else?” Lambert’s tone was clear and they both turned their gazes slowly toward you. 

It was a choice. You hadn’t asked for this, but you were being offered an option. Heat filled your cheeks and you cast your eyes down with a sudden shyness. Though two entirely different men, your dream from the other night was somehow presented to you on a platter, and yet…

“I don’t think I’m anything Geralt can’t handle on his own,” you replied, aware this was your call and no one else's.

With the sleeping arrangements out of the way, you spent the next hour or so enjoying stories of training and fighting. If your ears didn’t deceive you, several of their completed jobs seemed to include gratitude delivered by way of sexual favors, sometimes alone, sometimes together. They were cheeky and sly with the language, but the innuendos were there and you couldn’t stop yourself from thinking about it. 

You waived off another round of ale and professed you’d much rather find a tub of warm water to sink into for a bit. Geralt agreed and you both said your goodnights to Lambert.

Settled into the room, you were surprised to find there really was a wooden tub full of tepid water. A large cauldron hung over a roaring fire and you watched as Geralt used a rudimentary crane-like contraption to hoist the pot over the tub and dump its boiling contents into the water below.

“It’ll warm the water for a bit, so you should take advantage now, if you were serious.”

“It doesn’t look like there’s room for both of us,” you mentioned with a little sadness.

“We can take turns, just don’t stay in too long,” he replied with a mischievous smirk. “Do you need any help with your garments?”

With your corset already removed, all that remained was to unlace the heavy woolen skirt and lift the flowing linen gown underneath it over your head. Geralt was a huge help nevertheless and your body shivered as you imagined his fingers tracing every inch of you, not just your waist or the lucky bits of leg that received his touch as he bent to grab the hem of your dress.

He held your hand as you stepped into the tub and sat down, knees bent against your chest. How would he ever manage to fit himself in here? you thought. While you swirled the water around you, you watched as he turned away to unbuckle his leathers and disrobe as well. You were right about his ass. 

You smiled a little to yourself at how comfortable getting naked with him was and then you smiled wider when he turned to face you once again, approaching you in all his glory and settling down onto a stool next to the tub with a washcloth in his hand.

Geralt offered to help you wash off, then dunked his hand into the water when you accepted. He ran the soft rag along your back, down your arms, across your chest. He took a few moments to run the soaked cloth along his body as well when the water began to cool much faster than you’d hoped, leaving no opportunity for him to sit in the tub himself. When he “dropped” the rag while dipping it back in the water for another pass, he didn’t hesitate to reach deeper into the tub, fingers searching the bottom for the cloth but finding your bottom instead. He leaned forward to complete the kiss you had asked for with a lick of your lips and smiled into your gasp when his fingers made their way between your legs.

“You know,” he started after pulling away from your hungry mouth, “I do feel as if I owe you a bit of gratitude myself.”

“Why, whatever do you mean, Geralt?” you gently taunted with a fake bit of naivete.

“You were the hero tonight. You deserve a reward.” He stood from the stool, exposing his hardening length, and helped you to stand.

“And will you be my reward?” you purred, clasping your arms around his neck as he lifted you out of the tub.

“Gladly,” he replied, slipping his hands eagerly down your side body and around your thighs to wrap your legs around his waist. He captured your mouth again with a searing kiss as he walked toward the bed and deposited you on your back, legs splayed wide and waiting for him.

“Maybe you could finish what you started.”

He dove to the bed next to you and cupped your cunt with a rather large hand.

“This is just the beginning,” he promised as he bent two fingers and slipped them inside. He watched your face with intent as he pumped his fingers in and out, teasing more and more slick from deep inside you. He kissed you when he added a third finger, swallowing the moan that ripped from your throat. 

You couldn’t control your hips if you wanted to, bucking up into his hand, trying to pull him in deeper, trying to find the grind that would let you explode. His lips on your jawline, his tongue on your neck, kisses on your collarbone before he nuzzled into you and whispered how good you fucking smelled from here already. All these words of praise and touches of desire sent you right over the edge with an urgent need to crawl back up and do it again.

He must have been expecting you to take some time to recover because he was off guard when you pushed at his shoulder and sent him to his back so you could sit up and swing your legs over his. Settled on his thighs with an eye toward his very large erection, you smiled and made clear your intentions.

“I want you, Geralt. All of you.”

“However you’d like,” he grinned back, one arm tucked behind his head and the other reaching to stroke himself. 

“Fuuuuuuuhhhck,” you moaned, watching how he handled himself, sure saliva was probably dripping from the side of your mouth. “Kinda like that.”

You scooted back down his legs and leaned forward, eager to let him feed you the cock he was keeping hard for you. As with every other host, it was going to be impossible to take him all the way, but you were going to give your best effort on the parts you could reach. His hand motion shortened as your mouth took over servicing the head and a few inches of length. You let your tongue swirl around the tip and dripped saliva from your mouth to give both of you something to slide over. 

Your pussy was still yearning for touch and since you didn’t need your own hands for the blowjob, you let one travel down your body and between your legs to trace along your folds. You rubbed two fingers over your sensitive clit, curling to dip them into your warm, wet opening a few times before returning to focus attention at the nub. 

“I can help with that, if you’d like,” Geralt grunted breathlessly, the arm behind his neck reaching now for your body, prodding you to turn. While you continued to lave over Geralt’s prodigious member, you crawled around to find your knees on either side of his head and when you felt his hand smooth over your ass, you didn’t resist the pull.  

You moaned around the cock in your throat while Geralt wrapped his lips around your pussy and licked his way into your slit. Eventually, he let go of his dick and wrapped both hands around your thighs, holding you close against his face and lapping in tandem with the bob of your head.

On more than one occasion you found you could not concentrate effectively on the head you were giving, since the head you were receiving was so mind blowing. You found you had to lift your mouth off his cock and beg for more, scream for him to make you come. When he did, you were able to return to pleasuring him, since he didn’t seem to be in any kind of hurry to move you away. Instead, it was as if he were playing a game called ‘how many times can you come on this tongue.’

It became abundantly clear that you were never going to be able to return the favor. Geralt was not interested in coming down your throat, so when you felt like you couldn’t handle one more tender lick, one more urgent suckle, one more flick of the tip of his tongue on your sensitive pearl, you begged off. Pleaded for mercy.

“I’m not done,” he called from the other end of the bed. “I still owe you my gratitude.”

You peeled yourself reluctantly away from his cock and eased yourself around again, to lay alongside him, chest heaving and thighs shaking.

“I can’t fathom how one Krak deserves more than you’ve already given, but I’ll gladly take it, if only you’ll let me rest a moment.” You draped an arm over his chest and drifted your fingers through the dusting of hair you found. 

“Perhaps some water?” he offered, reaching for a cup and the pitcher by the bedside. You shared the cool liquid, quenching one thirst while another still burned hot and needy. 

“How long can you last? Surely I’m not that bad at oral.”

His laugh was so bright, it was as if the room was suddenly aglow.

“You are excellent at that. I just have a lot of practice not letting go until I’m sure my partner has reached the absolute peak. It’s a point of pride.”

He wasn’t arrogant about it, just matter of fact. He was here to serve. 

“What if we simply waited until you were ready again? Surely that wouldn’t take forever.” You trailed your fingers down his chest, through the patch of hair at his abdomen, and onto his still rock hard length. Feeling how firm he was, letting your hand trace the veins, your thumb nudging the helmet of the head, you couldn’t help but be hungry for him again.

You found yourself straddling his thighs once more, eyeing his cock, begging for him to fuck you now.

“Do they have condoms in this time, wherever we are?” If an ancient Greek labyrinth had condoms, surely this medieval inn had them, too. You were still in the hotel after all. He chuckled and nodded toward the nightstand, where you found a plain wooden box that revealed what you were after when opened.

Geralt made to take the packet from you, but you resisted. “Allow me, please.”

You tore open the package and worked the rubber onto the tip, then rolled the sides down and checked the fit. You let him make a final adjustment, but when he leaned up as if to roll you over, you protested.

“I’m good right here,” you purred, grabbing ahold of his sheathed cock and lifting up to position yourself right above him. You set him at your entrance, still dripping from your several orgasms, and lowered yourself good and slow. You were getting used to the size of these men, but that didn’t mean the start didn’t require some care.

Your eyes closed almost involuntarily once you’d taken him to the hilt and you sat motionless for a moment, feeling your core loosen around him. You began a steady pulse, up and down, as you opened your eyes to see him staring up at you with desire. He rested his hands on your hips, neither speeding you up nor slowing you down, just feeling the motion, feeling you. 

After a few more strokes, you grabbed his hands and slid them up your body, pressing the palms of his hands against your breasts and tossing your head back at the sensation. He was more than willing to continue cupping and squeezing without your guidance which allowed you to set your hands on his thighs behind you, providing even more leverage for your rise and fall. Now you sped up. 

“Fuck, Geralt, this feels so good,” you cried out.

“I can make it better,” he countered, slipping his hands around your ribs and pulling you forward, chest to chest as he captured your lips once more. With his hands firmly holding your head in place, he began to buck up into you and when it seemed like it was going to be to much, he let his hands drift down your back and onto your hips again, to hold you place while he set a punishing pace, thrusting ever harder and deeper into your pulsing core until he finally exploded with a roar. It wasn’t your peak, but you weren’t complaining in the least. He’d fucked you through several tiny orgasms, each ebbing and flowing with ease. If there was nothing more, no additional gratitude the rest of the night, you’d be just fine.

But he was having none of it. He lifted you off and laid you to the side, urging you back against the head of the bed and lifting the covers for you to climb under. Once you were comfy, he left the bed to deal with the condom removal, grabbing an apple and knife from his bag on the way back. You sat and conversed while he fed you thin slices of sweet fruit, taking his own bites after every third for you.

Geralt was easy to talk to. Not overly wordy, but happy to chat nonetheless. Although you wanted to ask questions about the hotel, you knew it would be wildly inappropriate so you stuck with the script for the scene. What would it take to clear the rest of the Kraks? How dangerous would it have been had he gone alone? What’s the most danger he’d ever gotten into? The most fun? How often, exactly, had he and Lambert been thanked simultaneously?

That question was designed to reignite the passion in the room. You weren’t disappointed. The mere telling of the experiences got him rock hard again and it was with delight that you let him take the lead the rest of the evening. Once he’d donned another condom after feasting on your pussy one more time, he took you on your back, legs wrapped around his waist so he could grab at them when he needed to open you wider or lift your leg over his shoulder to find that one final deep spot that had you panting his name and coming hard around him. He took one more lingering kiss, then pulled out and tidied up, joining you back under the covers for a final round of pillow talk before turning in for the night.

Somehow, with the knowledge that the physical part of the evening was over, the air in the room changed and the conversation did as well. He wasn’t overly concerned with keeping the topics to the scene, but you found yourself second guessing if you should ask anything at all about Walter. It seemed rude, even though Mike had been completely open about it. This stay wasn’t that one. 

You’d booked an overnight and Geralt hadn’t needed to bend time for you, if that was even something he could do, so you had no direct in with a question about his possible gifts. You could maybe ask why Lambert had called him Wolf, since they were both from the same school. But in the end it was Geralt who brought up Walter, without realizing what he was doing.

“I lucked into this spot. The hotel had just lost one of their best hosts, and the guy was booked solid weeks out. They’re still trying to find another werewolf to take his room, but in the meantime they contacted me and set up this level.”

“How did they find out about you?” you asked, trying to keep your heart rate from spiking at the hint of information about Walter.

“The way they find out about any of us, I suppose. Word of mouth.”

“Do you know what happened to him? The guy before you?” You didn’t think you were holding your breath, but Geralt’s answer told you otherwise.

“Not a clue. I try not to get caught up in the gossip. Hey, are you alright? You look like you’re about to faint. That’s a real skill since you’re already laying down.”

You tried to take a breath and laugh it off at the same time, asking your next question with a feigned indifference. “There’s gossip in this hotel?”

Geralt’s laugh was infectious. “There’s gossip at every hotel, but this one's something else. I think the vampire is the ring leader. I try to stay away from it. Keep my head down. Take care of my guests. And I shouldn't have even said that. Please forgive me.”

It was obvious he wasn't going to give up much more information, if he even knew anything specific to begin with. You tried to stifle a yawn, but Geralt noticed and stood up to blow out the candles illuminating the room, leaving one small oil lamp burning. When he returned to bed, you curled up into his warmth. You felt a little bad about imagining it was Walt you were snuggled next to, but it didn’t stop you from drifting asleep with a smile on your face.

You opened your messaging app as you were about to step out of the cafe where you’d gone for a latte the next morning after dropping your bag at home.

sendmeanangel: you’ll never guess who showed up to get coffee this morning 

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[foundfam2754]

S17e6 live reactions!

Spoilers...obviously

i'm kinda nervous to watch this because i saw someone's post on e6 before this on garvez and they weren't happy... let's see because we're def getting pen and luke interaction this ep bc of the whole tyler ex gf thing

i'm like 95% confident that this is a dream...

okay def a dream because luke is hurt

reminds me of that dream spence had close to the end of s15

what a strange song to have emily sing

okay even dream dead emily is sad :( bring her back from the dead pls (again)

yep... dream

poor papa pasta :(

emily singing will haunt me forever

i like how CM can be scary when it wants to be

aw even after 20 years, emily, jj and pen will be my favorite trio

OH MY GOD rossi's really feeling the trauma

wait this is so sad :(

you're not fine, dave. none of you are fine. PG had the right idea leaving the BAUwh

jj what are you getting at????? luke? i kinda wish it was about luke, but i knew it was about emily

beige, wasting time, and bad kissing?? why is that so penelope garcia coded?

god jj just takes care of everyone but herself, mamabear!jj is my fav

Penelope, pls don't be jealous, he's not worth it

how are garvez so normal after last week? at least their friendship is never in question

why is it awkward luke? because you're in love with pen?

okay i don't mind me some greencia banter, but they did NOT date

jfc dave needs a therapist

aww tara's the best man

kinda love the team knows each other so well, they can talk and listen without words. it's kinda beautiful

OH MY GOD i kinda predicted what tara said about "sitting quietly"

you're safe dave, we promise. we all love u

jj don't make it darker i can barely see the show as it is

i love high!emily, man

i will be using emily's chopsticks trick going forward

"delicious but insufferable" is my new catchphrase

"emily elizabeth prentiss"

super hot latino/a is penelope's type too ;)

damn pen's is roasting him and i kinda love it

i like the parallel of garvez interrogating teresa and tyler about the relationship - i know they have different purposes for doing so, but in my opinion still keeps them connected in a way - so i'll take what i can get

tara's right

luke looks so impressed and kinda turned on by pen's hacking primer - i love it; i know it's just adam, not scripted, but i appreciate that kirsten and adam keep us happy and delulu

"new friend"

i just realized this is the ultimate love square (pen, luke, teresa, tyler)

WHY are you talking about the "sticky chemistry"

penelope's a lot mature than she's acting about this, i mean they are all in their 30-40's and should be able to be honest about their FEEELINGS

god I love how much luke hates tyler

chaotic emily is kinda terrifying

"just run through the field and catch all that rye" HAHAH FUCKING LOVE YOU EMILY

emily you know she loves cheetos why would you leave them out

lmao high!jj

oh this is the elevator scene from the trailer where the walls collapse in

this show can be very scary when it wants to be (hasn't been for me in a while because i rewatch and know what's gonna happen)- and I like that they're leaning into it

lol are they hinting that they were both attracted to tyler because they have grief-related trauma and he's a good, desperate short-term solution

oh my god they were not dating

OH MY GOD I LOVE THAT LUKE AND TYLER HATE EACH OTHER

sir, agent alvez sir, need i remind you that only 7 years ago you were also the lone wolf type?

"rattle off a list of your victims you know, besides penelope and teresa" GO OFF LUKE ALVEZ OMG

this is weirdly hot

"ever take matters into your own hands, luke?" is that a thinly-veiled comment about the fact that everyone knows about his feelings but he is yet to do anything about it yet? or am i too much of a garvez shipper and i'm reading garvez into every pen or luke interaction on this show

aw ex bf and boyf bonding!

"who have you pissed off recently?" lol besides you lukey?

why is voit doing sit-ups? man, he is weird

why don't they call him "Lee?" i feel like it would affect him more

62!?

god voit's a good profiler

elias has strong daddy issues and i think he needs dave's approval

what is he repressing? krystall?

oh my god voit's such a good villain

yeah man, don't date tyler if you don't want your trust violated or safety threateneed

oh my god are jj and em gonna fight?

no don't tease a relationship between teresa and luke please i can't

OMG, we finally got a GARVEZ confession!!!

"she knows i love her" luke you're breaking my heart, he sounded so sad :(

but also --- does she know? y'all never said it... and she needs the words said to her. she's not great with subtext, luke

i love that teresa's not letting him excuse his feelings or his inaction

GOD NO DO NOT DATE EACH OTHER I CAN'T TAKE LUKE DATING SOMEONE ELSE RIGHT NOW PLS

no elias, you ARE a fan boy

"honestly" "trust me" those words don't mean anything coming from you elias

god guys you're so much smarter than him, please stop trusting him PLEASE

"this was fun, dave!" god elias just likes fucking with them

yay!! tyler character development

i simultaneously love and hate this tyler / luke bromance

"we are stronger than anyone gives us credit for" YES SO TRUE I LOVE THESE TWO WITH ALL MY HEART

"it gives me you" aw, jemily fans are gonna lose their mind aren't they, but also they're my fav bff duo

"let's fucking go" LOVE YOU EMILY SO HARD

wtf teresa; oh my god this love square is going to kill me

"north star is us, the BAU" DAMN that's powerful

[reel-fear]

Genuinely so curious who Mike thinks is gonna be buying The Cage or the new DCTL GN bc with the way he tweets as far as he's concerned, it's not gonna be:

The queer people he has actively admitted he will never show any representation of in the games.

2. The POC he has actively fought against representing in his franchise. [Who he also mocked for thinking they would be represented in his franchise]

3. The Bendy fandom which has always been concerned with topics of diversity esp in the sense of queer people since its creation. Who he has responded to really poorly esp in regards to the GN.

4. The fans who critique him. [He blocked me for doing so lol]

5. His fans in general who he tweets about like this currently. [He's being vague about why people were mad at him or sent him 'nasty messages' because if you actually looked into why you'd see he was in the wrong. Either way, a very hateful way to speak abt ur own fanbase.]

Reminder while Mike is trash talking his fans he has always treated them rather poorly. The fans who won the fanart contest for Chapter 5 never got their posters actually in game due to it being rushed. Not only was chapter 5 a big slap to the face story wise, but it was literally so rushed he couldn't be bothered to add in the art his fans gave him for his game FOR FREE. [Meatly blames this on a crazy timeline, reminder him and Mike are the literal ceos of this company. The proposal of future updates here is also pretty cruel considering Mike nowadays happily admits he corrupted Chapter 5's source code and therefore literally can't update it At All currently. Because he is a moron]

At least they got to be in Boris and the dark survival, and by that I mean that was the Only game they got to be in so far, isn't that just treating your fans like you love them? Shoving their hard work into a spin off game almost nobody has played or addresses much. [Hell, who knows if with the Lone Wolf rebrand they'll even stay there. In which case they'll be in None of the games, only in the credits of BATIM]

6. The Bendy fans who just generally disagree with him on stuff. Like the new ink demon design where there is literally a public poll showing people generally prefer the old one.

7. The Bendy fans who can see he is actively lying to them. To their fucking faces.

He says this has always been the case, but screenshots and links to tweets regarding the books being canon prove it was not. Does he really think bendy fans are stupid or something? [Unless he's admitting here he lied to Kress when he told her the books were canon which sounds worse!]

8. Anyone who doesn't like the idea of giving money to a guy who laid off tons of employees then afterwards thought it was a great idea to express his anti-union views! Also brag about how good of an employer he was, according to his employees, he was not!

So in summary; Mike is an awful person who has not learned anything from the awful things he did. I will not be purchasing The Cage because, combined with this and his absolute refusal to take any kind of critique or see any differing interpretation of his franchise, I have no reason to think my problems with the franchise will ever be addressed or fixed. I probably will pirate The Cage along with any future Bendy Products [Including the movie] and will do my best to avoid giving it any kind of monetary support. Unless this changes any time soon, I can't see myself making anymore positive Bendy posts soon.

Mike has just managed to make it so hard to speak positively or optimistically of this franchise when he's so willing to broadcast how little he cares about it or its fans. I'm at the point where I refuse to pull any of my punches with my problems with it. What's the point of trying to play nice with my critique when either way the people creating it don't care?

So with this post, I want to invite anyone who feels similarly about the franchise to tell me, make a post or send an ask talking about how all of this makes you feel. It may not change how things are, but genuinely seeing other people share my feelings of anger makes me feel better. It feels nice to see when other people share our same concerns and worries. I'd also love to know if anyone else thinks they'll be avoiding purchasing Bendy products over this.

I'm not forcing anyone to participate in it nor trying to say anyone who doesn't supports mike but genuinely maybe if we can collectively decide to boycott things like the movie, graphic novel and The Cage... It might at least make the bendy devs acknowledge how much they have destroyed their own fandom's faith and trust in them.

The way Mike tweets about his actions like he had no control over why people were mad at him at least proves to me he takes NONE of it back nor regrets it. If you didn't know about his actions and only went off his tweets, you would be led to believe Mike has been needlessly picked apart by fans over things he couldn't control [or in his own words, had his words twisted and taken out of context]. That is not how you speak about your actions if you have actually learned better from them.

anyway, that has been my bendy dev callout post. This is an open invitation to anyone feeling similarly upset about the way the franchise is going to talk about it. It's genuinely nice to see how people feel about this and the more we talk about the more it's likely the bendy devs are forced to address our concerns. I don't think they will but hey, that's why I'm not gonna support them with my money anymore nor am I gonna be nice to them in any content I make critiquing Bendy. I mean I'm also basically making this post just in case anyone asks me Why I feel this way towards to bendy devs/as a way to respond to anyone who thinks I am too harsh in my critique in the future.

As always, it seems the best part of Bendy isn't actually anything about canon but about what the fan's are creating with the ideas Bendy failed to do anything interesting with.

Also the books, the books slap.

[wyrmswears]

Hiii!

I know the au ain’t about Jay, but does he have an animal form? How did Edd & Eddna found him or he does not exist?

I do apologize for the amount of questions not being libber related😞

Pd. I also love wolf children i imagine Libby just recreating the feral Yuki scene right?

Hellooooo!! Had to think about this for a bit; I really didn't give Jay too much mind when making this AU lol. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed getting to flesh out this AU further using your questions so thank you so much for asking! :D I made the AU for Libber and Ice but it's always fun to expand on other characters and how the changes the AU makes affects them.

This post turned out longer than I expected (oops. I love infodumping about my AUs, sorry lol) so the answers in their entirety are under the cut! Spoilers for Prime Empire and Dragons Rising (though nothing particularly about s2) are mentioned though.

The short answers are: Jay is still adopted, Libber left him at the Walkers' doorstep before dying. And yes, Jay has a wolf form like Libber does, but he can't access it until after the Merge.

The long answers:

The second question is easy - the comic on my other post initially had a third page that would've answered this but I found it difficult to get to flow well so I scrapped it. When the Walkers arrive home after coming across Libber, they find Jay on their doorstep. The idea is that she had left him at a safe place as a final act before succumbing to whatever killed her. (Much like in Wolf Children, I don't have a particular cause of death thought out.) Ed and Edna don't make the connection between the child on their doorstep and the wolf on the highway of course, because why would they?

As for whether Jay has an animal form... On one hand I find it very amusing when characters of non-human heritage turn out to be just normal humans, and Cliff Gordon is still completely human in this AU, but I also think it'd be boring to ignore his heritage completely for the sake of the bit. After mulling it over I've come up with this:

Jay grows up showing quirks that align with him being half raijū, but nothing that can't be explained by him being the elemental master of lightning or just a peculiar (and probably neurodivergent) child; these are things like a fascination of thunderstorms, abnormal resistance towards electrical shocks, hyperactivity, a tendency to chew on things...

He has no idea that his biological mother wasn't human until after the events of Prime Empire when Wu, now aware that Jay knows he's adopted as he used it to reason with Unagami, requests to speak to Jay privately. He explains that, if Jay has an animal form then he shouldn't feel like he has to hide it from the team as he is sure that they'd accept him, much like Libber's teammates accepted her. This is sweet and all, but Jay is very confused what he means about having an animal form. And thus begins the explanation of who or what exactly Libber was.

After learning that he isn't completely human, Jay isn't really upset - hell, Zane and Lloyd have both dealt with the same thing and it turned out fine - but he only talks about it with Nya. This is part of my general characterisation of Jay where I feel like he doesn't keep too many deliberate secrets, but does only mention certain things about himself on a need-to-know basis meaning that, while he doesn't care if the team knows he's adopted, only Nya, Zane, and Pixal know that he is (Zane and Pixal for being present at the end of Prime Empire). Nya 'needs to know' because she is his yang thank you very much. Nya helps him to research about raijū and they find out that they can come in a variety of forms. Jay thinks he'd look like a noble and mighty creature, maybe a lion or an eagle. Nya thinks he'd be a chihuahua.

Nonetheless, that seems to be the extent of it; Jay doesn't figure out if he has an animal form or how to use it, and all that's changed is that Nya has become a lot more aware of her yin's oddities. That is, until Dragons Rising.

I think after the Merge, Jay has no issues with accessing his animal form: much like his mother, he's a wolf-like canid. If you told him, he'd probably never believe that he had spent the first 20-or-so years of his life with no clue to his heritage and no abilities related to it when his natural state of self after getting amnesia is to flux between forms. Maybe it developed as one of the strange effects of the Merge, or maybe its a new ability as a result of his environment, much akin to Cole's rock golem. Nonetheless, it serves as a message to Nya that this isn't the same Jay she knew before the Merge. He flaunts his heritage to the team that he never told and has changed, both physically and as a person, without her there to see.

As for the P.S, I'm not entirely sure what scene you are talking about - there's quite a few where I imagine Yuki could be described as feral lol - but Libber is overall quite alike to Yuki in my mind, particularly when she is younger and less concerned with hiding her wolf side.

[rachelsfav-queer]

I Was A Were-Cat Wednesday

Notes: This has no relation to “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” I just thought it would be a funny title. Thanks to @twobirdsflytogether for posting about this and giving me the random kick in the ass to actually write something for once in my life lol

Wednesday sighed internally as she finally reached her room she shares with Enid, closing the door behind her and trying to not scream in frustration. She has no idea why every single Outcast in this school has decided to suddenly be all overly conversational with her, but it’s been a curse ever since they all returned to Nevermore after the Crackstone attack. Something to do with Wednesday being a “hero” and “saving the whole school”. Never mind the fact that Wednesday wasn’t the only one who put her life on the line that night, she can’t fathom why her peers feel the need to bother her when the much more deserving of the praise and attention, Bianca, Yoko, Enid, were all still going to the same school.

Whatever, Wednesday thought to herself as she carefully set her backpack beside her desk. As she did, Thing popped out and crawled up onto the desk at the same time as Wednesday collapses onto her chair. The disembodied hand tapped on the desk questioningly and Wednesday sighed once again, glaring at him and the hand took the message and showed himself out, finding himself some trouble of his own to get into and allow Wednesday some privacy, knowing that she prefers to be alone when she shifts. Speaking of which, and with no particular fanfare (just how she preferred), Wednesday let out a full sigh and shifted to her cat form, obviously resembling a normal-sized, if not appearing a bit malnourished, black cat, though her eyes remained deep brown while still taking on the typical cat-like features. Once she had shifted fully, Wednesday stretched out her body in a couple different positions before licking almost furiously at a spot where, on her human body, another student had stupidly, though with friendly intentions, tried to touch her. It was only a manner of Barclay being around that had saved the young gorgon girl from having her arm ripped off.

But that's all besides the point. The point is that now Wednesday is safe and alone in the quiet sanctity of her dorm room, far above the rest of the school where barely any noise beyond the incessant howling of the werewolves could puncture her precious silence. Letting out a few sassy meows at the thought of having to listen to the wolves of Nevermore making noise all night long tonight, it being the full moon once again. At least she'll have her werewolf nice and close and in direct sight of her. Due to the nature of Enid's first time wolfing out, that being under the light of a blood moon and to save the life of her mate, Enid's wolf was nearly twice the size of even the adult werewolves of Nevermore's staff, which meant that she was very much far too large to fit inside the lupin cages. Add on the fact that separating a mated werewolf, especially one of Enid's size and ferocity, from their mate, even for just a single night, was a spectacularly awful idea, and it was quickly decided, against the wishes of some of the more old-fashioned members of the school board, that Enid would be best placed in her dorm every full moon with Wednesday at her side the whole night, along with a few vampire staff on guard outside their room. And so, Wednesday could more than live with the constant noise as her roommate, girlfriend, mate, and soulmate was beside her the whole time.

Once Wednesday finishes cleaning herself and mouthing off her lycan schoolmates, she jumps down and explores the room a bit, nudging certain objects that caught her interest and rubbing her face and body against certain objects that she adored and wanted her scent all over (*ahem* mostly Enid's stuff). It was a pretty natural sequence of events for Wednesday to eventually end up on Enid's bed and curled up against her pile of plushies beside her pillow, soon after falling asleep surrounded by everything Enid.

Some hours later, Enid had barged into the room with her natural level of excitement, if dampened only slightly by exhaustion from all her clubs, immediately looking over to Wednesday's side of the room, expecting to see the psychic at her desk, working on her novel. But when she doesn't immediately spot her girlfriend, Enid's eyes frantically search the room. Thankfully, only a couple seconds pass before Enid spots Wednesday, in her cat form, laying all cute and cuddly on her plushies!

It's quite clear, at least to Enid, that Wednesday is awake, woken up by her entrance, but Wednesday pretends to still be asleep in hopes for Enid to read her mind and come over and give her cuddles ASAP. Enid does read her mind, though she opts to have a little fun first. The wolf sheds off some her clothes and quickly hops into some comfier clothes she had set out this morning, then walks over and picks the seer up and cradling her in her arms.

Wednesday meows in a fake annoyed tone and playfully slaps Enid's face with a paw, no claws to show that she's not truly upset with the affection. Enid simply giggles and starts spreading little kisses all over Wednesday's tiny cat face, only stopping when the tiny seer starts shifting around in discomfort, immediately pulling back and then setting Wednesday back down onto her bed. Enid quickly steps into the bathroom to swiftly remove her makeup and immediately returns to her mate and curls up in the bed with her. The two were-creatures cuddle close together and simply exist together, waiting for the sun to set and the moon to rise, and with it, for Enid's wolf to come out.

When it's nearly time, they move to the floor and prepare for the shift. Once Enid is fully transformed to her giant wolf form, she curls up into a ball on the floor and Wednesday takes her opportunity to jump up on top of Enid and also curls into a ball on the blonde's back. There, the two girls rest and embrace each other's presence. Peace and silence. That is what they find that night. And... each other.

End <3

(Note: Sorry the end is so rushed lol. It's nearly 10 at night and this has been sitting in my drafts unstarted for too long lol. Hope y'all liked it either way!)

[barblaz-arts]

One of my favourite pieces of your art is the collage of Young Vega, where she’s using make up to put similar scars on her face like Enid’s, etc. simply because of rhe moment where Wednesday asks Vega if she can have a kiss and she gets really upset when Vega rejects her, telling Enid ‘I should call my mother’.

Is there any chance you’d expand on that? We know Enid’s the most affectionate of the two but maybe Wednesday’s usual attitude has caused a severe lack of closeness between the two that Wednesday wants to rectify but is struggling.

I've talked about this before, actually! But okay let me elaborate a bit more.

So, I've mentioned before that who Vega is closest to depended on what period of her life we're talking here. When she was a kid, she was a lot closer to Enid. This because this was a time when Vega was her most hyperactive. Wednesday spent time with Vega of course, but Enid was the one who had the energy to play and entertain a hyperactive child werewolf. Wednesday was always her mother, but Enid was Vega's mom and bestest friend. This distinction doesn't mean one is less than the other, it's just how it is and how relationship compatability works.

Which is also why Wednesday was also so dang heartbroken in that collage lol She tries to bridge that gap with the physical affection that she doesn't usually favor, but because Vega is also Wednesday's daughter, it doesn't always work. Vega isn't always up for it, but when she is, Wednesday is very grateful.

As Vega grows older and becomes a lot more like Wednesday when it comes to her interests tho, Vega starts to become more distant with Enid. She doesn't hate her mom of course, they just don't have a lot in common, and Vega just isn't a child who wants to play around with her mommy anymore. The distance gets worse when Vega gets sent to Nevermore, and Enid is quite bummed to realize she's no longer her daughter's best friend(she's very happy Vega has an actual best friend outside of family tho. It's a very complicated thing)

This is also why the comic with Vega's first wolf out and the Meet the Addamses AU turned out the way they did. Wednesday was the one to comfort child!Vega with a hug because it's not something she often got to do. This was a very special moment for them, and for Wednesday, a privilege. Then in the time travel AU Teen!Vega bonds with a younger Enid and becomes best friends with her all over again, realizing how distant she has become with her mom and getting the necessary push to amend that when adult!Enid comes back.

This is the problem when I make comics that aren't necessarily posted in order lol. I highkey wish I'm able to show all this in a more coherent medium fit for a character and relationship driven story, but I'm grateful for your interest regardless of how disorganized this all is.

So, In a way, I supposed I've expanded on it, but I'm not sure if I'll ever make something that will be transparent about it. For now, just now that these little comics have been and will be made with all this in mind

[erithel]

Hello...Do you mind if I ask your top 5 (or top 10) favorite moments from any media that you love (books, anime/manga, tv series, movies, games, etc)? Thanks if you want to answer. Sorry if I ask too much....

That's such a fun question!

And definitely one that's difficult to answer... But let me see what I can come up with.

*These are not in order of favorite, just in the order I thought of them.*

1- Agni Kai ("Avatar the Last Airbender") This one is just a literal masterpiece. The visuals, the action, the music, the lack of dialogue, the show of character in their fighting... Literally mesmerizing.

2- Eri smiling ("My Hero Academia") She is the sweetest little girl and watching her smile as the darkness washes away from her after everything she was put through...it makes me cry.

3- Nadiya winning "The Great British Baking Show" I love Nadiya, and it was such an emotional moment to see her talk about how she would never doubt herself again, you could see how hard she was on herself and how much she didn't believe she could do something like this - and it was just so encouraging to see all her hard work pay off.

4- Kars for Kids ("The Good Place") We had to pause the episode to let me finish laughing because this caught me so off guard. Especially because it feels like an inside joke, almost. Like either you don't know what they're talking about with that song, or you are like YES THAT IS THE THEME SONG OF HELL.

5- I Want it That Way ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine") It's just brilliant. It's so funny, and no matter how many times I watch it, it always makes me laugh.

6- Rooftop scene between Daredevil and Punisher ("Daredevil") This scene always stood out to me because it didn't resolve with either character caving into the other's beliefs. I was so used to scenes always having a resolution, so this one was captivating because it was some of the best and most realistic dialogue I remember watching at the time.

7- Poison ("Hazbin Hotel") All I will say is that this was so hard to watch, and that was the point. Whoever worked on this did such an amazing job in conveying the situation from a place of understanding and not just for shock value.

8- Bad Wolf Rose ("Doctor Who") This moment always stuck with me because it showed what humans were capable of. And the fact that all her lines were spoken in a very soft, gentle tone made it all the more powerful.

9- Dracarys ("Game of Thrones") This moment I liked because it was just sheer comeuppance and satisfaction. I also was working retail at the time, and this had such "I AM the manager" vibes lol.

10- Riza Hawkeye shooting ("Full Metal Alchemist") She's such a good character, and she was usually so stoic and in control of any situation - until she thought the man she (at least in my mind) loved was dead, and she just absolutely lost it.

There are some shows/movies where I liked too many moments that it's safer to say I just like the thing as a whole, and no one moment stuck out too much. And I left books off the list so I could add a gif/video to this post.

I know that the minute I post this, I will think of many more moments, but I'm trying not to overthink this or I'll be here forever lol

I generally like moments of big emotion. Or at least moments that make me feel things - good or bad.

Thanks for this question! It was fun to think about. :)

[emisprocrastinatingbywriting]

Alone and Forsaken

Chapter 19 Summary:

After the events that led to the birth of the twins, both you and Joel try your hardest not to get sucked into despair. However, that is easier said than done, especially when Maria and Tommy come to question you about the day you were taken. When it becomes clear that there is a wolf in sheep's clothing living within Jackson, how will the two of you cope? And when the perpetrators are finally unmasked, will either of you be able to sit by and let Jackson's authorities dole out justice, or will you seek retribution?

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Mentions of Panic Attacks, DILF! Joel, Violence and Torture, Filthy Smut, Feral Joel and Feral Reader Being Made For Each Other.

A/N:

Hey y'all, I hope you guys are doing good! It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me but luckily, I'm one of those people who always needs to be doing something or else I'll explode lol

Anyways, we are back right where we left off. This week shows the light and the darkness in both Joel and reader. On one hand, we're madly in love with our little family. On the other hand, we are a bit insane. Luckily for reader, so is Joel.

And as always, thank you for reading!

Chapter 19/20:

Chapter 19: Bonnie & Clyde

People always said that the first few weeks with a newborn was going to be the hardest, but for you and Joel it was the first few hours. The first bump in the road came a few hours after the two infants had been pulled from your abdomen, when Joel had decided that it was crucial for him to go back out into the howling winds to help his brother hunt for the few remaining assholes he had left behind. The thought of your mate going out into the raging storm had stirred you out of the post-birth bliss and you found yourself hissing in pain as you shot up from bed to stop him from leaving. 

“Jesus fucking Christ woman, get down! You can’t be moving around like that or else you’re gonna rip those stitches honey,” Joel scolded, rushing towards your bedside to shove you back down against the lumpy mattress. 

He gasped when you grabbed one of his hands, squeezing his fingers painfully tight to keep him from retreating again. 

“If you go out there in that storm Joel Miller, I swear to God that I will come after you on foot. Do you want that?! Because I will do it, I don’t give a shit,” you seethed, furious that he would even think to leave you alone after everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. 

Joel’s face had scrunched up and you could tell that he wanted to argue, but the second you had dropped his hand and ripped the blanket away from your lower half, he knew that you meant business. He tried to reason with you, arguing that he was the one that needed to go and that the twins could not be without their mother so soon after leaving the womb, but you were too angry to listen to any of it. Instead, you had ignored his pleas to stay in bed and swung your legs over the side of it, taking a steadying breath to ready yourself for the exertion of standing up. 

“Woah there sweetheart,” Joel said soothingly, like he was calming a nervous horse as he crouched down between your knees to halt your movements, “Christ baby, please be careful. You’re gonna hurt yourself getting up like that and fuck, I don’t think I could take it if you did. Are you tryin’ to give this old man a heart attack?” 

“Are you really going to leave me alone in this clinic with the two newborns that I just had cut out of me? Or, are you going to get your shit together and stay?,” you asked him point blank, making him balk in return. 

Which had left Joel with only one option if he wanted you to stay put and get the rest you so desperately needed. 

He sighed, “I’ll… I’ll stay.” 

“Great,” you snipped, allowing him to help ease you back into bed with a scowl on your face. 

Afterwards, Joel had sat back in the chair at your bedside with a huff, clearly annoyed but unwilling to show it due to the fact that you had just birthed not one, but two of his children that night. Nevertheless, you knew him too well to be fooled by the mask of indifference he put on as he refused to look at you, staring at the sleeping pups who were cozied up in the bassinet they shared. He watched as their tiny chests moved up and down, the edges of his mouth turned downwards in distaste. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at his sulking. 

“Joel,” you sighed, too exhausted to carry on with the pettiness when all you wanted was to have a few minutes of peace before they were screaming bloody murder again. 

“They could’ve killed you, or the twins, or both,” Joel mumbled, looking away from the pups to mindlessly play with the frayed ends of his sleeve. 

A silence fell over the room, one where the only signs of life were the quick little breaths of the two infants that were sleeping nearby. What was there for you to say? Joel was right. Aspen’s group could have torn the two perfect little beings from your embrace, making them centerpieces to whatever sick ceremonies they had planned. That is, if you had managed to miraculously survive birthing them without the help of a c-section. And if you had somehow survived their birth? Well, the alphas would have used you however they wished and either left you for dead, or killed you themselves. Nevertheless, neither of those things had happened and life had to go on for the sake of your family. 

“I remember thinking that if the pup died, we would be okay,” he admitted quietly, his voice almost a whisper as he continued, “I thought that we would be able to survive without the kid but I couldn’t… There’s no way I would ever be able to survive losing you. Then Tommy found me and told me you were labor. And when I showed up you were bleeding and I just…” 

Joel looked up from his shirt, locking eyes with you for the first time since the fight had begun. Sometimes it was easy to forget that the man you loved was so much older. Sure, he was turning 57 in September, but he was also unbelievably handsome and surprisingly agile for his age. Nevertheless as he stared back at you, he looked tired and beaten down, like all of the battles he had fought in his long life had finally caught up to him that night. Without thinking, you reached forward and cupped his face, pulling it closer so that you could see him better in the dim lighting. 

“I can’t,” you tried, clearing your throat to keep your voice steady before you continued, “I can’t imagine what it was like for you to even consider that, but it’s okay. I’m here Joel, I’m right in front of you and so are they. We made it, can’t you see that?” 

He nodded, “I know, but there are more of them out there still. What if they try to come back? I’m not going to let them take my family again. Those fuckers tried to take what is mine. What if-” 

“What if some of them are in Jackson right now? Fabien got in no problem, that means anyone else could too. Do you really want to be out there with Tommy? You’d be leaving us here all alone. Do you expect me to fight them off? I can barely sit up right now,” you pointed out. 

Joel flinched, giving you a reproachful look for even thinking he would want you to do that. He knew, just as you did, that Tommy was more than capable of picking off the few stragglers that were hiding amongst the flooded streets. It was the peace of mind Joel was after, one that included him tearing through any remaining group members to ensure that none of them could ever threaten his mate or his children ever again. But, he also knew that you were right. He couldn’t leave his family alone and vulnerable. 

“Okay honey, m’not going anywhere,” he agreed, pressing his lips to your cheek before he leaned back in his chair again. 

You gave him a tired smile, “Good, because I think it’s actually our job to name them. Apparently calling them number one and number two for the rest of their lives gets our parent cards revoked or something.” 

Joel laughed, “Shit, guess we better do that then.” 

The next hour was spent debating names for the two pups, a task that was much harder than you originally thought it would be. It was insane how many names were utterly useless due to the fact that they had once belonged to someone that one of you had disliked. Nevertheless, after much debate, you had worked together to land on two names that you felt represented the pair perfectly. 

For your son, the two of you had landed on Ellis. It was meant to be an ode to Ellie, the sister he would never have the chance to meet but would come to know regardless. At first, Joel was unsure of it, arguing that Ellis was an old man's name. However, after looking down at the grumpy little boy in the bassinet, neither one of you could think of a more appropriate name. Ellis had a scowl even in sleep, his downturned lips matching his father’s signature pout perfectly. His hair and nose, much like his sister’s, were also a carbon copy of Joel’s. Traces of you were there as well, in the shape of the chocolate colored eyes he shared with his father and in the chin, but it was clear that it was your mate he took after. 

The naming of your daughter had been much harder, mainly because Joel had put way too much pressure on himself to get it right. For your son, the name Ellis had come so easily, like it was always meant to be his from the moment it slipped from your mouth. Nevertheless, all of the names that had been previously proposed for your daughter were suddenly not good enough for her. He didn’t like the name Sarah anymore, despite the fact that it had been him to propose it as an option. Fearing that it would give his newborn daughter some sort of complex about living up to her older sister, Joel had announced that it would have to be something else. 

After you had pointed out that it was hypocritical to be okay with naming Ellis after Ellie but not your daughter after Sarah, Joel had snapped at you, claiming that it was different because he didn’t have the exact same name. With a sigh, you backed off a bit, allowing him a second to compose himself before you threw another name his way. What Joel was feeling was completely understandable, he didn’t want another Sarah in his life and he was worried that your daughter might feel like she was a replacement if he chose to give her his first born’s name. You were completely fine with her name being something else, yet every time you tried another name, he swiftly rejected it. 

“Well babe, we have to pick something. She can’t go around nameless forever, unless you WANT her to resent us from the get-go,” you sighed, frustrated at his unwillingness to pick. 

“I know honey, but I want to get it right. Ellis is a great name, she needs a great name too,” Joel groaned, rubbing his tired eyes as the morning sun began to bathe his face in light. 

The sun had barely peeked over the horizon, creating an orangish glow in the room that turned his skin golden. Looking towards the bassinet, you noticed how the light had a similar effect on the pups that had already begun to show signs of sharing his skin tone. They stayed still, allowing the sun to wash over them as they twitched in their sleep. And as you gazed upon your daughter’s serene face, you were reminded of a name that you had circled in the book just days earlier, one that you had yet to propose to Joel. 

“What about Alba?,” you offered.  

He cocked an eyebrow, “Why Alba?” 

You shrugged, “I read it in the baby book. It means either dawn or light or fuck, I can’t remember now but look outside Joel! It’s dawn right now and we’ve got our two little bundles of light sleeping right next to us.” 

Joel smiled wide, his eyes sparkling as tried it out, “Ellis and Alba Miller, I like it.” 

You looked over at Alba, matching his grin as you studied her features. Sure, she had Joel’s curls and his nose, but she was your mini-me. She shared your eyes, along with the shape of her mouth. Her chin and cheekbones were also sculpted exactly as yours were, which gave you a surprising boost of confidence when you noticed how beautiful your features were copied onto her tiny face. Even her expressions were yours, along with the unfortunate way she seemed to be in the habit of kicking her poor bedmate in her sleep. At least now you knew which one of them had played soccer with your bladder every morning. 

“Fuck, they’re going to be spoiled rotten aren’t they?,” you sighed dreamily, reaching a hand out to ghost your fingers over their soft tufts of hair. 

“Oh big time,” Joel agreed, watching as Ellis stirred and turned his face towards his sister’s. 

With the names settled, you had hunkered down for a nap. Joel had promised to remain at your side and keep a watchful eye on the two newborns as you slept, claiming he was not the type of dad to assume his partner would do all the work. Which was why when you were woken from your sleep not even twenty minutes later by the both of them screaming at the top of their lungs, you were extremely confused. They had been fed, burped, and changed into clean diapers, which meant that the only thing they could possibly want was some attention from one of their parents, something that you had charged Joel with seeing to. 

Blinking your bleary eyes open, the first thing you noticed was that Joel had moved from his seat at your bedside. Disgruntled at his sudden absence, you turned over to focus on the two wailing pups that were close to bursting your eardrums, only to be shocked by the sight before you. Joel had in fact, not left the room, as he was standing over their bassinet, looking absolutely terrified as he watched them shriek. 

“What the hell are you doing Joel?,” you called to him over their piercing cries, breaking him from his stupor.

“They’re crying,” he responded numbly, averting his gaze from you as he did. 

“And?! Pick them the fuck up then, you said that you would watch them so that I could sleep for a bit,” you snapped, waving your hands at him in frustration. 

Usually, you were better at controlling your anger, but the pain in your core had yet to dissipate and your breasts ached under the weight of the incoming milk. With the twins screaming their heads off and their father looking like he was about to join in with them, you were fresh out of patience for the day. 

“Joel,” you tried again, hissing at him like an angry cat, “Pick. Your. Children. Up.” 

Joel’s eyes widened at that and you watched as his gaze bounced between you and them. You wanted to let the motherly instincts take over, to growl at him for not helping his pups when they clearly needed him, but then you realized something. Despite the fact that they had been ushered into the world nearly five hours ago, Joel had yet to hold either of them. It had slipped through the cracks, as you were too hopped up on the laughing gas and the giddiness of holding them yourself to notice him on the sidelines.  

“Joel,” you sighed, grunting as you sat up against the rickety headboard. 

“They’re so pure, they ain’t even had the chance to do anything wrong yet. How can I pick ‘em up? I’ll ruin them. Look at me, look at all these scars that I’ve got from doing God knows what. They don’t need someone like me holding them. It’d be like spreading an infection,” Joel said with a frown. 

Your stomach sank as you listened to him, knowing that deep down he meant every word of it. It killed you that Joel thought himself too tainted by his past to touch them, even though the twins had loved him well before they were born. Each time you had bullied him into bringing out his guitar during your pregnancy to sing them some forgotten country song, the incessant kicks and uncomfortable barrel rolls they were doing inside of you had stopped, as if they were straining to hear the man they would one day call dad.  

Joel was the only one that could ever calm them. The soft caresses he gave to your bump as his southern drawl washed over them in the darkness of your shared bedroom lulled them back to sleep almost instantaneously. Each time, you had kept still as he worked his magic on the budding life inside of you, desperate to hear his sugary words and quiet promises about the future they would have once they were born. Sometimes you even pretended to fall back asleep while he spoke, allowing him a bit of privacy with his pups so that he could speak to them without the awkwardness of you listening in. 

“Baby, they don’t care about any of that. You’re their dad, all that they are going to care about is that you love them. C’mon, just pick them up and see for yourself,” you softly encouraged. 

When Joel remained unmoved, you shifted gears. Although you wanted to remain understanding for his sake, you could only bend so far. If a kick in the ass is what Joel needed, you had no problem delivering it. At that moment, you were willing to try anything if it stopped the cries that were getting louder by the second. 

“What would you rather be Joel? Some random dude who is mated to their mom but wants nothing to do with them or do you want to be their father?,” you asked him, the bluntness of your words once again catching him off guard. 

Joel blanched, looking at you with those sad puppy dog eyes that made your heart ache for him. This was incredibly hard for him, you knew that, but you weren’t sure how exactly to help. It had been so easy for you, as they had literally grown inside of you for months, but you understood that for a multitude of reasons; it was different for him. Nevertheless, you also knew that he needed to connect with them now, lest he be too scared to in the coming days. The last thing you wanted was for Joel to be doomed to a lifetime of being on the sidelines of his children’s lives. 

“Take off your shirt,” you suddenly blurted out.  

“What?!” 

“Sorry! I mean, can you please take off your shirt? I want to try something,” you restated, causing him to frown at your vagueness. 

Joel squinted at you in confusion, but with the two pups filling up the room with their screams and a mental block stopping him from picking them up, he was too frustrated to argue. He grabbed the back of his shirt with one hand, tearing it over his head in a way you had always found extremely attractive. At the familiar sight of his toned yet soft abdomen, you couldn’t help but smile. In your opinion, the rugged terrain of his scarred skin only added to his attractiveness, but you understood that people often saw their bodies differently than their partners did.  

“Jesus honey, cut it out. S’what got us in this mess in the first place,” Joel mused, scuffing his feet as his face turned bright red under your stare. 

“Can’t help it, you’re too pretty,” you sighed before shaking yourself out of it, “But you’re right, that’s not why I asked you to take it off. I was thinking that you could do skin to skin. The book said it’s really good for both parents to try it. Maybe it’ll help you bond with them.” 

He gulped and turned to face the pups, looking like he was about to face a firing squad as he reached out to brush his finger against Ellis’s cheek. With just one touch from his father, his piercing cries were soothed into weak whimpers and whines. You watched with a smile as Joel softened, realizing that the newborns didn’t care about his past. All they wanted was some love from their dad. After taking a deep breath, he leaned in and plucked Ellis from the confines of the bassinet. 

The little boy squirmed for a bit, grunting angrily before he felt the warmth of his father’s skin. Joel smiled when Ellis calmed, eyes round and watery when he looked back over at you. You gave him a nod of approval, which in turn gave him just enough confidence to collect his daughter as well. Alba was slightly more peeved, writhing against the confines of her unskilled limbs as she continued to squall at him in protest. It was only when Joel drifted over to his chair, carefully plopping himself down on the seat next to you so that he could speak to them properly, that she finally calmed down as her brother had. 

“S’okay Ms. Sunshine, I’m here. Your papa’s got you and your brother now, don’t cry,” he cooed, his syrupy drawl soothing Alba in an instant. 

Joel was a vision like this, whispering sweet nothings to the two pups as they dozed in his arms. A peacefulness had possessed your mate in that moment, making him look more docile than you had ever seen him. His body was so still, with none of the usual nervousness he was prone to bunching up his muscles to the point where he practically vibrated with the stress. The pups had turned Joel into something soft and gooey, something you thought looked incredibly attractive on him. He was completely in his own little world as he leaned in to catch a whiff of the addictive smell that every parent claimed their newborn had, the one that you had rolled your eyes at until your own pups had been placed in your arms.  

“Fuck, they are so perfect,” Joel sighed as he leaned back, unbothered by the few tears that dripped down his face. 

“I tried to tell ya,” you yawned, blinking at him as you felt the calm of the room infect you as well. 

“Get some rest darling, I’ve got them now. M’sorry that I didn’t know how to…,” he swallowed and shook his head, “Anyways, I promise that I’m okay now honey, just got spooked is all”. 

You shook your head at his apology, “Don’t be sorry, just pick them up if they cry. They love you Joel, they always have. Whatever happens, just promise me that you’ll love them back and take care of them. They’re gonna need their dad in their lives.” 

“I promise.”

“Good, now goodnight,” you sighed, snuggling back into the sheets with a soft smile. 

With that, Joel smiled and turned his attention back towards the two pups. You watched him in his element for as long as you could and then drifted off again, allowing him the time he needed to connect with the twins as you slept. 

- Joel - 

Being a dad again at his age was weird, albeit a little terrifying, but Joel was surprised at how much he remembered from his first time around. He didn’t need to be directed on how to hold them, as the muscle memory from when Sarah was an infant had kicked in immediately. And although it had taken him a moment to overcome his brief panic attack about picking them up, once he did he never wanted to let them go ever again. 

As you slept beside him in the hospital bed, healing from the eventful night and the overly traumatic birth, Joel held Alba and Ellis close to his chest. He wanted nothing more than to weld their tiny bodies with his so that they may never roam far from his grasp, but he knew that it was irrational to think that way. They would someday live their own lives, free from their parent’s watchful eyes on them 24/7. A terrifying thought indeed. But, luckily for him, that was years away. 

It was at that moment that Joel realized how simple all of this was. They were his pups, just as Sarah and Ellie had been, which meant that he would do anything in his power to be the person they needed him to be. If he was going to do this, if was going to step up and be not just the alpha that got you pregnant, but a dad again, he needed to be more than just a protector. They needed a dad who would love them fiercely, to cover them in it so that they would be hidden from the evils of the world, and Joel was damned if he wasn’t going to try his best to be that type of guy for them. 

The twins had stayed calm for a total of two hours, allowing him just enough time to fall in love with them all over again. Nevertheless, the second Alba’s cries had woken Ellis, it led to a cacophony of screams that made his ears ring and he was quickly reminded of the reason why newborns were so tiring. You were awake at the first sound of trouble, groaning as you lifted yourself into a seated position and reached out for the hungry pair. 

Joel reluctantly passed them over one at a time, missing the days of the past as he watched you wince through the first few seconds of breastfeeding. It wasn’t just that he pitied you for having to nurse them with your sore nipples, it was also that he longed for a time where he might have been able to feed them too. Medical supplies were hard to come by and despite his best efforts, he had not yet been able to secure a breast pump. With no breast pump, along with no surviving packages of baby formula left from life before the outbreak, he was effectively benched from feeding them until they could survive on something more solid. 

Nevertheless, Joel was grateful that you seemed to have no issue with feeding them. He had mourned the loss of modern technology while you were pregnant, dreading the possibility that his incoming pup would starve without the precious baby formula that had saved the parents of the past. In a world with few fixes for things of that sort, the two of you had even talked about utilizing one of the few wet nurses in town. Neither one of you had liked the idea of another person stepping in to feed them, but the pup’s health had taken priority over comfort. Luckily, it seemed that his fears had not come to fruition, as both of the infants were greedily latching on and sucking down their meal with no issue. 

“Joel, will you get me something to drink? Oh! And some food? They keep draining me like I’m a fucking dairy cow and it’s making me hungry as hell. Please baby? I’d really appreciate it,” you cooed, batting your eyelashes at him as you did. 

Joel chuckled, hoisting himself up from the chair so that he could fulfill your request. He leaned forward and dropped a kiss on the top of your head, allowing himself just one second of indulgence to linger over you. After taking a moment to hover, watching the twins as they fed on their mother’s milk with rapt interest, he reluctantly peeled himself away. 

“Oh and Joel, remember that I don’t like -”

“You don’t like oatmeal, I know,” he called over his shoulder, unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he did, “When are you going to let that go? I’ve only ever made it for ya once.” 

“Hmmmm… I’m not sure. Maybe I’m just hurt that you didn’t know me better by then. Thought it was love at first sight, guess I was wrong,” you said with an overly dramatic sigh. 

Joel scoffed and turned, catching the playfulness in your eye as he did. He rolled his eyes even harder than before, knowing that, as per usual, you were just trying to fuck with him. Two could play at that game. 

“Damn baby, I sound like a dick. Better not let me knock you up then,” he said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders as he did. 

The grin you gave him took his breath away and for the billionth time since meeting you, Joel wished for a camera. What he was seeing was simply too good to be true. The love of his life was sitting up in bed, beautifully disheveled as she cradled his two children and fed them from her own body. It made him want to run out into the street and scream like a madman, to announce to the world that he had finally won something against all odds, but he remained rooted in place. Instead, he stared at his entire world with two heart shaped eyes, utterly starstruck and unable to will himself to fulfill your previous request. Divine was the only word that came to mind as he gazed upon you and he knew that he’d spend his life worshiping you at the altar of his affection, sacrificing whatever he must to keep his goddess content. 

“I love you so much honey. You’ve given me everything and more. I can’t… I can’t even begin to tell you how much that means to me. I just… I love you and I love them, thank you,” Joel babbled, the words coming out of his mouth faster than his brain could process them. 

“Joel, you’re my favorite person, my mate, the only person I trust with all my heart. I love you more than anything,” you paused, making his brow furrow, “Well, Ellis and Alba might have kicked you out of the number one spot, but I promise that you’re a very strong number two!”

He laughed at that, not offended in the least that the twins took priority over him now. The fact that you had bonded with them so easily did not surprise him, as the woman he loved had the ability to make almost anyone melt in the blink of an eye. Like two blooming flowers in the sun, they had reached towards your warmth without a second thought, just as their father did every day of his life.  

“There’s nothing I want more than this right here, being with you and our two perfect pups. Except for maybe one thing…,” you sighed, voice trailing off at the end. 

Joel was back at your bedside in two long strides, the alarm bells in his head going off as he stood over you. 

“What is it sweetheart? I’ll get it for you, whatever you need,” he rushed out, ready to barrel through town at your command.

“You could get me that food you promised,” you reminded him, pointing your chin towards the exit with a sly grin.  

He gave you a mock salute, which made you burst into a fit of giggles as he proceeded to march back over to the door. After giving his little family one last glance, Joel slipped into the waiting room. 

The previous night, both of your respective families had crammed into the tiny space, waiting for hours for an update. The two of you had taken three hours to yourselves after the twins were born, the only news coming from the doctor who you had sent out to assure them that everyone was alive. After the three hours were up, Joel had reluctantly left the room to announce that you were healthy and had given birth to a set of twins who seemed to be doing well. They had cheered and clapped in relief, the terror that had tightened their features melting away in an instant. However, their happiness was short-lived, as he had subsequently kicked them out without so much as a peek at the pups in the room behind him. 

Joel knew that like him, you didn’t want any visitors, as you were too traumatized to have anyone else in the room other than your mate or the doctor. He understood how you felt and the relief on his face was palpable as he watched them filter out. It wasn’t that either of you thought that any of your family members would harm the twins, it was that you both needed time to recuperate together, to hold Ellis and Alba close until the residual fear drifted away. 

The bells on the front door chimed, snapping Joel out of his thoughts in an instant. Before he had even looked up, he had his teeth barred, with the instincts he had used to find you in the storm still pumping wildly through his veins. He had forgotten how hard it was for someone like him, an alpha with a lifetime of bad fortune, to keep from being overprotective in times like this. Although it was just Maria and Tommy that strolled into the clinic, his own family, he still had to push down the low warning sound that rumbled in his chest. 

“Easy there cowboy,” Tommy chuckled, putting his hands up in mock surrender. 

Maria stomped on her mate’s foot, making him drop the joking facade in an instant as he hissed in pain and glared at her. She gave him a pointed look and turned back towards Joel, wordlessly holding out a tote bag that smelled of something delicious. He took it, softening a bit when he spied the feast that she had packed inside. It was enough food to feed a small army. 

“Thought you both might want some grub. We saw the doctor at the dining hall earlier and she mentioned that you hadn’t left the clinic to get food yet, so we figured we’d bring you guys something,” Maria said. 

Joel nodded, quietly thanking her in a voice that was so quiet that it was almost lost under the low hum of the fluorescents above. He was touched, albeit a bit confused as he had assumed that last night’s events would have them both too busy to swing by for quite some time. But when Maria gave him a small smile and then looked at his brother, almost like she was waiting for him to say something, an odd sense of deja vu hit him.

Suddenly, Joel was brought back to the moment where they had teamed up to put him back on the patrol shifts. That decision had caused him to leave you alone in Jackson, which had led to you being stolen from within the safety of its walls. There was no way Joel was going to let them swindle him again. His knuckles turned white as he balled his fists up, ready to knock their heads together if they asked him to go back on patrol. Although the thought of chasing down any undefeated foes was alluring, you were right, he couldn’t possibly leave his family at such a delicate time. 

“I ain’t leavin’ her alone with TWO newborn pups to go on some stupid-ass fucking patrol. I don’t care who it pisses off, I ain’t doing it and I’m honestly fucking shocked you two would even have the balls to try,” Joel spat.  

Tommy scoffed, “Hang on a minute asshole, we ain’t doing nothing of the sort.”

He paused and let his shoulders drop, forcing himself to take a deep breath before he popped one of the blood vessels in his neck. 

“Fine, what do ya want from me then? Because I swear if this is some bullshit about -”  

“We need to talk to the both of you. It has to do with the two groups of people that took her. Believe me, we wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t important,” Maria cut in. 

As usual, his sister in law got straight to the point. At times Joel had respected her penchant for honesty, longed for it even when his brother was being too cagey with him, but at that moment he hated it. He wanted some more time alone with his family in the happy bubble they existed in, the one that had yet to be popped by the sharp sting of reality. He knew deep down that there would have to be a time for speaking about what had happened, but he had selfishly hoped for just a few more hours of peace. 

“Can’t it wait?,” Joel grouched, his annoyance evident as he scowled at them with all his might. 

“If we’re going to make sure that we got them all, then yes it is,” Maria stated. 

She held up her hand when he started to argue, not allowing him to blow her off so easily. 

“One of them took her from within our walls. How in the hell did he get her out without anyone noticing? Did he have help? Did he take her through the gates or is there another way in? We have no fucking idea, but we need to find out so that this doesn’t happen again,” Maria argued. 

Joel pinched the bridge of his nose, willing the migraine that was stirring in the base of his skull to go away. She was right, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He took a couple deep breaths, trying not to puke from the stress that soured the lining of his stomach as he focused back on the task at hand. 

“She’s feeding them right now, okay? Can you at least wait for them to be done? There ain’t gonna be much talking if the pups get to crying. Those two are louder than goddamn banshees when they get riled up,” he grumbled. 

Maria softened, immediately agreeing to his small request with a smile, “Of course, we’ll wait out here until they’re fed.” 

Joel left them, turning on his heel so that he could race back to the people that held his heart in their hands. He slipped back into the room, careful not to give either of the people behind him a peep of you without your top on. Shutting the door behind him, he felt like he was forming a protective barrier between his family and the rest of the world, and he longed for the days when every inch of Jackson was thought to be safe. 

The smell of the room almost knocked him off his feet as Joel made his way over to you, forcing every muscle in his body to release all of its tension once more. For the first time since they were born, he realized that his scent and yours were not alone anymore, as they were accompanied with the smell of the two newborns cradled in your arms. As he practically floated over to the bed, his nose caught the woodsy notes of pine and rosemary wafting over to him from his son, along with the fresh smell of grapefruit and gardenias from his daughter. The mix of all of his family’s scents together made Joel’s heart so full that it ached, and he suddenly wanted to cry when he realized he was about to ruin it with a reality check. 

“That was fast. What’d you do? Rob one of the early risers on their way home from the market?,” you joked, making him huff in muted amusement. 

“Unfortunately not, Maria and Tommy just dropped this off. They packed us a god damn feast,” Joel answered gruffly, lifting the tote onto the small bedside table.

He rifled through it, plucking the first tupperware container his fingers grazed upon out of the cloth bag. Looking through the cloudy plastic, he spied a plethora of sweet treats inside and quickly ripped off the red cover.  

“Could you -,” you started to ask, but he was too fast. 

“I gotcha honey,” he cooed, sitting down on the side of the bed so that he could feed you the treats himself as you fed the pups.  

Joel plopped a brownie into your mouth, chuckling at the way your eyes rolled into the back of your head at the first taste of chocolate. A memory flashed through his mind, one from almost a year ago when he had found you cramming his expired chocolate into your mouth after pulling you from the riverside. He remembered fondly how the sweet treat had been smudged all over your face. The sight had made him want to laugh at first, before he had a sudden terrifying urge to clean it off with his own hands. It was funny for him to think about how clueless he had been about his love for you in the beginning, especially when every waking moment of his life since finding you by the river was devoted to your happiness. 

He fed you a couple more treats, chuckling when you asked him the same question that you had been asking him since day one; share it with me? Although Joel didn’t feel hungry, as he was still too wrapped up in his own worries to feel the pangs of hunger gnawing at his gut, you had a hold over him like no other. Which meant that all it took was your pleading eyes to trick Joel into eating a couple cookies and a brownie. Like always, he was easily swindled by your charm, forever the loyal servant to the woman that treated a brute like him like he was the most precious thing in the entire world. Nevertheless, as he watched the twins drink from your breasts, draining the precious nutrients they needed from their mother, he could only stomach eating one more cookie before he demanded you finish the rest of the sweets by yourself. 

“Alright, alright, jeez Mr. Grumpy-pants. What’s gotten up your ass all of a sudden?,” you mumbled, popping your mouth open for him to place a chunk of blueberry muffin in. 

“Tommy and Maria,” Joel sighed, “They’re still here. They want to talk to us about what happened so that they can figure out how he got in.” 

You winced and snapped your mouth shut, looking down at the twins with a pained expression. Joel’s nose wrinkled as your scent began to turn and he watched how the pups began to squirm at the shift in the room’s energy. They could sense your growing discomfort, just as he could. If he wasn’t so nervous about the meltdown the newborns were about to have, it would have blown his mind that they were already so attuned to their mother’s moods. 

“Honey s’okay, this is a good thing,” he cooed, leaning in to bump his forehead against yours. 

“Tell me how is this a good thing Joel? Someone tried to take us! How in the hell are we ever going to feel safe here again?,” you sniffed. 

With one heavy blink, tears sprouted from your eyes and ran down your cheeks. Joel acted fast, leaning forward so that he could plant kisses all over your face in hopes that it would stem the flow. He could taste the saltiness of your tears on his tongue and it lit a fire under his ass to comfort you. 

“Sweet girl, I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this IS a good thing. If there is some sort of hole in the wall or shit, I don’t know, a fucking underground tunnel, they need to know where it is so that they can secure it. That way, this won’t happen ever again,” Joel tried. 

He wasn’t sure that even he believed his words, but he willed himself to try. Usually it was you trying to instill hope in Joel, not the other way around. Nevertheless, if you needed a boost, he was going to try his best to be all rainbows and sunshines until you were back to normal. 

“I’ll tell them anything they want to know, just promise me that you’ll stay with us. So help me god Joel, if I hear that you’ve said yes to a single patrol for the next few weeks, I will find the breach myself just so I can come out there and strangle you in front of Tommy,” you warned. 

Joel nodded dutifully, “Yes ma’am, I ain’t going nowhere.” 

With that, you finally relaxed enough to finish feeding Alba and Ellis. When they were done, Joel took each of the milk drunk infants from you one by one, burping them before he placed them back in the crib so that they could drift off together until their next feeding. He watched for a moment as Alba reached out, thwapping her chunky little fist against her brother’s sternum a few times before she let it rest there. Ellis squirmed a bit and grunted at the abuse, only to settle when she finally relaxed. 

Although there were two cribs in the room, so far you and Joel had only used the one. It felt wrong to part the twins just yet, almost cruel. After spending a rocky eight months growing together inside of you, the two of them surviving impossible circumstances without their parents having any knowledge of their existence, neither one of you dared to keep them from each other. Plus, the twins seemed to enjoy the extra heat that came with sleeping alongside one another, as they came together like two magnets the second they were put down.   

“Joel, can you help me with this?,” you called out, forcing his focus away from the twins. 

The soft t-shirt you held in your hands was one of his, compliments of the few pairs of clothes your mother had dropped off for the both of you. Joel wasn’t sure how to feel about her going through the house on her own volition, but he was grateful that she thought enough to take from the pile of his shirts you had hidden amongst your own clothes. He didn’t want to know how you would have reacted if she had brought some of the dreaded maternity clothes you had been forced to wear, and he shuddered to think of your reaction if she had made the mistake of bringing your own clothes, the ones you likely wouldn’t be able to fit back into for at least another few months. 

Joel plucked his shirt from your hands, carefully easing the cotton over your face and swollen breasts. The tough part came at the incision mark below your navel and he gently rolled the fabric over the bandage, bracing himself for any whine of discomfort that may burst from your mouth. Luckily, none came. All you did was watch him through wary eyes, too tired and frustrated with the circumstance to mind. 

When Joel was done helping you dress, opting to leave you in a loose fitting pair of his boxers for bottoms rather than squeezing you into pants, he planted a kiss on your mouth. The small act eased only a few of the frown lines from your face, but he counted it as a win nonetheless. Joel brushed his thick fingers through your unruly locks, smoothing them down with an appreciative grin. Although you constantly complained to him about how hard it was to tame your hair, he always thought it was cute when you left it messy. 

Almost as cute as when you surprised him by leaning forward and stealing another kiss from him, taking the breath from his lungs until they burned with passion. A small grunt came from him and you smiled, giving him the perfect opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth. Joel could have lived in that moment forever, tangling his tongue with yours as you pulled at his mussed curls. Nevertheless, reality came in the form of a swift knock to the door that made the two of you quickly jump apart. 

“If your brother wakes them up, I swear to fuck -”

“Oh, I’m right there with ya darling,” Joel gritted out, racing over to the door so that he could stop the younger man before another round of heavy knocks produced a chorus of shrill screams. 

Joel ripped the door open, the anger clear on his face as he stared down at his little brother. Tommy grinned at him, as if he had forgotten that he was also a father who likely loathed any loud noises that might wake his own son. After another few moments of reproachful staring, Joel let the two betas in with a sigh, hurrying back over to your side so that he could place himself in front of the twins. 

If asked, Joel wouldn’t be able to say why he felt the need to shield them from his family’s view. It’s not like Maria or Tommy would ever harm their own niece and nephew, or any child for that matter. Still, he couldn’t ignore the way his blood itched with the need to protect them from anything and anyone. It was a feeling that he wasn’t sure would ever go away, but hoped would die down with time. 

“Hey! Wow, you actually don’t look too bad,” his brother proudly exclaimed, making your face fall in an instant. 

Joel glared at Tommy hard, the smoke practically pouring from his ears as he tried to think of one reason he shouldn’t throw the beta against the wall. The mood of the room shifted, causing sweat to gleam off his brother’s forehead as he realized the gravity of his blunder. Maria pivoted so that she could fully face her mate, cocking her hip out at him as she stared at him incredulously. Tommy closed his eyes for a moment in shame, sighing before he started in on an apology that was immediately cut off by your uncharacteristically sharp words. 

“Gee, thanks Tommy. That’s just what I needed to hear after having two big-ass pups cut out of me. Hey, when’s the last time you had all of YOUR organs pushed to one side so that the doctor could cut into YOUR uterus, hm? Oh, that’s right! Never because you don’t have one, so maybe shut the fuck up,” you seethed. 

Maria didn’t even try to save her mate from your wrath. Instead, she raised her eyebrows when he looked to her for help, as if to say that he had made his bed with his poor choice of words and now he was doomed to lie in it all by himself. A few more jumbled explanations came from the younger man, each more unintelligible than the last, until he finally came out with a somewhat coherent apology. 

“Shit, I really didn’t mean it like that sweetheart. M’sorry, I guess what I meant was -”

“Think you should be movin’ on from this topic baby brother, before it gets you into some big trouble,” Joel warned, the finality in his tone evident. 

Tommy nodded, miming himself zippering his lips before he fell completely silent. Maria stepped forward, giving her husband one final look that said that they would talk about the blunder later, before she turned her gaze towards his family. Joel reached out and grabbed your hand without even thinking about it, anchoring himself for the talk that was about to occur. 

“I know that this time is important for you as a family. Before we begin, I’d like it to be known that I wouldn’t be coming in here to ask these types of questions if I didn’t think it was necessary. But as the leader, I need to make sure Jackson is safe. Which means -”

“Which means that you’ve come to ask about when they took me,” you finished impatiently. 

Maria nodded with sorrowful eyes, as if she wanted to be anywhere other than in your hospital room at that moment. Perhaps if Joel was a better man, he would have felt bad for her for having to endure the plight of leadership regardless of where her own feelings lie, but he wasn’t a better man. 

The eldest Miller was a greedy man, one that had utilized violence and cruelty to get his kicks for decades, only to find out later in life that the happiness of his mate was like a shot of dopamine straight to his brain. From the second he found you, he knew that he would do anything for you, despite whatever consequences it had on anyone else. That is, until Ellis and Alba came into the picture last night. Now, there were three souls that Joel would kick up hell for to ensure they were taken care of. 

Fuck being a better man. 

Joel was not a hero by any means, he was a survivor. Which meant that he was completely fine with sticking to his morally gray guns while Maria led the town as she saw fit and Tommy did his best impression of an upstanding citizen. If they thought him a villain for being the way he was, then so be it. He didn’t care what anyone else thought, all he cared about was the wellbeing of his mate and his pups. 

“Look, like I already said before, I don’t know anything,” you started, already sounding annoyed. 

Maria nodded patiently, “I know but if you could just take us through that morning, maybe it could jog your memory a bit. Please, anything could help.”

A frustrated sigh puffed out from your lips, but you nodded nonetheless. 

“Okay uh… Well, I woke up that morning and Joel had left his lunchbox, so I walked down to the stables. I almost made it in time, but I had to stop by the fence across the road. Joel and Tommy were just leaving with the horses but I was in too much pain to call out,” you explained.

All of the blood in Joel’s veins turned to ice. Bile rose from the pit of his stomach and he was forced to swallow it down so that he wouldn’t start spewing chunks across the room.  

“You were there that morning? No, that can’t be. I would’ve heard or fuck, smelled you even. Please baby, tell me that ain’t true,” Joel cut in before anyone else could, the voices in his head screaming at him for not doing his duty, for yet again not protecting his mate. 

The wince on your face told him everything he needed to know. Joel had failed you in many ways yesterday, but it was this event that he knew he would never forgive himself for. You had needed him and he had left you there alone. Of course he had, as far as shitty alphas went, it didn’t get any more straightforward than him. 

“I thought it was maybe a strain when I woke up. It felt like all the muscles in my back were being torn apart, but I guess it was me going into labor. I didn’t even realize what was happening until my water broke a few hours later, but by that point I was uh… not in Jackson anymore.” 

The twins had begun to prepare for their debut early that morning and Joel had galloped past you, completely unaware that his mate was keeled over in pain just a few meters away. It made him want to throw himself onto the ground and wail, to tearfully beg you to forgive him for the neglect by impaling himself on his own blade, but you were too quick. Before Joel could fall into the dark pit of shame that he was already so familiar with, you had already tugged him back towards you. He was so lost in self loathing that he went willingly, carefully rolling the bassinet over with him so that the twins were still in reach as he sat down on the side of your bed. 

“M’sorry sweetheart, I can’t believe that I… If I’d known, I-I -”

“Shh Joel, stop,” you hushed him, reaching up so that you could rub circles into his scalp, “If you heard me, then you would have stayed and helped, but you didn’t. You can’t blame yourself for that, or any of it. Shitty things happen all the time, but that doesn’t mean it’s your fault.” 

He shook his head, not believing a single word you said. Of course it was Joel’s fault, it was him that only had one working ear and an apparent lack of awareness about his surroundings. You were innocent in all of this, a simple bystander that had been attacked while trying to bring your stupid mate the lunchbox he had forgotten. 

“But maybe if I remembered that fucking bag, you wouldn’t have been taken honey. Can’t you see that? S’all my fault,” he pressed on, unable to break himself out of his despair. 

You scoffed, “Joel, that’s simply not true. Those fucking assholes were here for months. They were just waiting for the right moment. If you hadn’t forgotten that bag, they probably would have taken me from the house the next time you left to go to the market. It was inevitable.”  

The thought of any of your kidnappers infiltrating the home that the two of you had built in Jackson irked something in Joel’s brain. He knew that you were right, that they would have likely snuck into the house and confronted you there, but picturing it made him feel like he could breathe fire. It felt so wrong to imagine them anywhere near his home, the place where he had spent the past two weeks baby proofing while you continuously reorganized the pup’s wardrobe like it held all the answers to parenting. 

“She’s right Joel, it isn’t your fault,” Tommy said, pulling his attention away from the spell your gaze put him under, “I was there too and I didn’t hear her either. We could play the ‘what if’ game until we’re blue in the face but it won’t change a thing. All we can do is move forward.” 

He gritted his teeth, the dull ache at the base of his skull turning into a sharp throb as he tried to work through his own self loathing for your sake. The only lifeline Joel had was your hand in his and he focused on the feeling of you squeezing his digits to keep himself sane. He locked eyes with you, catching the way your gaze implored him to see reason, and allowed his shoulders to drop with a heavy sigh. 

“Okay,” Joel relented. 

Joel didn’t know how else to calm himself, so he leaned forward and stole another kiss from your soft lips. A surprised noise was muffled against his mouth, followed by a hum of approval as he deepened it. He didn’t let it go on for long, all too aware of the two unwanted guests in the room, but he allowed himself just enough time to have the pleasure of seeing you breathless when he finally broke away. 

When Joel pulled back, he gazed at you longingly, like he wanted nothing more than to spend his life waxing poetic soliloquies about his love for you. If only he had the words to fully capture how he felt about his beloved, but alas, they simply didn’t exist. What he felt for you was too big for there to be any words that could do it justice. Joel yearned for every part of you, ferocious and manic in his desire, and he knew that he would happily grovel at your feet for a crumb of your affection until the day he died. And in return, every part of him was yours, which meant that if you needed your faithful servant to put aside his own feelings for the moment, then he would. 

A throat was cleared and the two of you looked back over at your visitors. Tommy scratched the back of his neck with an apologetic look on his face, while Maria stood ramrod straight beside him as she waited patiently to get back down to business. With an affirmative nod from you, Joel turned back towards the pair and braced himself for the next round of questioning. 

The rest of the conversation did not go any easier and unfortunately, Joel knew it was mostly because of him. He tried his best to keep himself from reacting, but hearing about how Fabien had drugged his pregnant mate had torn a hearty growl from his throat that nearly woke the sleeping pups. It only worsened when he had heard about the alpha slapping you across the face, along with all of the sick threats that both groups had spewed as you were chained and going through the pains of labor. 

Every fiber of his being became devoted to keeping himself still. Joel knew that if he allowed himself to move even an inch, he would fly off the handle and begin to scream in rage until the entire town knew what would happen if they came near his family. It was only when you directed his attention towards Ellis and Alba, convincing him to hold them for the remainder of the talk, that the sinister rumbling that came from deep within his chest finally stopped. The solid weight of the twins in his arms brought him back to earth, along with the way you played with his curls as you spoke. To Joel’s embarrassment, it was only once he was soothed that the line of questioning from Maria began to run a lot smoother. 

“Once I had killed her, I got the chain off and got out of there before the alphas could get to me. I could see a few of them down the street, so I headed straight into the woods. A few minutes later, Tommy found me having contractions against a tree and yeah, that is literally all I know,” you finished with a sigh. 

“And you don’t remember anything from when Fabien took you from the stables? Anything at all?,” Maria questioned. 

You shook your head, “No, not really. I remember feeling grateful that he caught me when I fell forward, I was worried about squashing the pup. The entire time he was carrying me out, I could feel his hands on my bump like he was trying to protect it. It was super weird but also oddly comforting.” 

The room grew silent at the admission and Joel turned back to look at you with a furrowed brow. If it was Fabien who had been carrying you out of Jackson, who then had held your bump in their hands with such care? The man only had two sets of hands, which meant that Maria was right, he had been helped by another to sneak you out. Before you had a chance to fully understand the gravity of your response, Maria was already turning to his brother with a list of instructions. 

“I need you to check the schedules. Look for someone who worked the gates, patrols, maybe even a couple of the stable guys. I want to know the names of everyone that had reason to be awake that morning. It would have to be someone who wouldn’t draw suspicion,” Maria instructed him, the tension in her body growing by the second. 

“W-What’s happening? Joel?,” you whimpered, sensing the change in his family’s demeanor immediately. 

Joel hushed you, “S’alright honey, this just means we’re one step closer to being safe. Now that we know Fabien had help, they can go through the logs and figure out who it is. No need to worry, we’re gonna be just fine.” 

Another quiet whine came from you, forcing him to press a smattering of kisses all over your face until you relaxed. Joel heard the two betas muffled conversation behind him but elected to ignore it, focusing all of his energy on calming his terrified mate. When the whimpering stopped, he sat back and turned to look at your guests. Maria whispered one last instruction to her husband, which he nodded dutifully at as he turned towards the rest of the room. With a sorrowful look on his face, Tommy peaked around him to lock eyes with you. 

“I really am sorry about before. I swear that I meant it as a compliment, but I ain’t too good at this sorta thing so…,” his brother stopped, getting redder by the second, “Congratulations to the both of ya, I can’t wait to meet my niece and nephew once you’re both er… less… territorial.” 

Maria looked like she was ready to strangle him at that, her already thinned patience fraying at the ends at his new attempt at being congratulatory. Joel knew how she felt and he suddenly wondered if this could be the one time he might be able to get away with drop-kicking his baby brother to the curb in front of his scary ass wife. However, it seemed that a tussle wasn’t necessary, as he and Maria were both surprised when they heard you laugh at Tommy’s poor manners. 

“Holy shit Tommy, it’s like you take one foot out of your mouth and then shove in two more. Are you trying to get attacked by one of the two hormonal parents in this room, or are you just THAT fucking dumb?,” you cackled, wiping away the tears that came from your laughter. 

Tommy chuckled and then sighed, “Just dumb unfortunately. Again, apologies and I’ll… I’ll be going now. See y’all around once you’re uh… yeah….” 

With that, his brother turned on his heel and hurried out of the room. Maria rubbed her temples with both hands once he was gone, muttering under her breath about the ridiculousness of her chosen partner. 

“Tommy means well, I promise, he just -”

“Isn’t good with words? I know. I have the other Miller brother, remember?,” you deadpanned. 

Joel scoffed while his sister in law snickered at his expense. She softened a little at your joke, which was why he tried not to be miffed at your jab. Although in the past, he had not been great with his words, Joel liked to think he had gotten much better since then. Nevertheless, he was grateful that your joke had shattered the tension in the room and he felt like he might finally be able to breathe without the twins sleeping in his arms. Not that he was about to put them down just yet, but it was nice to know he could if he needed to without having a full blown panic attack. 

“Guess you’re right, at least they’re pretty” Maria shrugged, earning a laugh from you and an annoyed huff from him, “Well, I guess I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ll let you know if we find anything. In the meantime, keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.” 

Once you had both agreed, Maria took her cue and left the room. Joel turned to you when she was gone, a question on the tip of his lips before you shook your head at him. He sighed and let the inquiry die, putting the sleeping pups back in their crib so that he could crawl into bed with you. He slipped in behind you, gluing himself to your back so that he could hold you tight as the two of you watched the rise and fall of the twin’s chests. 

“Stay with us,” you pleaded groggily, exhaustion already pulling you back into another much needed nap. 

Joel hushed you, nuzzling the gland on your neck and pressing kisses into it until you were forced to relax against him. He tangled his legs with yours and brought you even closer to him in the stillness of the quiet morning, trying to reassure you as he gathered his thoughts. Sometimes, Joel was shocked at how well you seemed to know him. While other times, it was like you didn’t know him at all. Leaving you and the twins was never something he had considered, nor would it ever be. He’d sooner die. As Joel snuggled closer, you pressed back into him until your eyelids fluttered closed with a sigh, and it was that proximity that made him feel centered enough to speak. 

“Never gonna leave ya baby, you should know that by now. Gonna have to take me out back and shoot me if ya want me gone. If ya don’t, I’ll just sleep on the front porch until you let me back in the house again. Kids are gonna have to jump over me on the way to school,” he joked. 

The laugh you let out made Joel grin and he wished in that moment that he had the power to bottle it, so that he could listen to it anytime he was feeling down. 

“First of all, your back could not take sleeping on the porch. You’d be waddling around like I was when I was pregnant. Secondly, I’d never let the twins see their father in that sort of state,” you said.

He wanted to kiss you right then and there, to thank you for loving him so unconditionally. That was, until you continued. 

“No porch for papa on my watch, I’d exile you to the couch in the sunroom so that they wouldn’t notice that we’re fighting. You could slip back before breakfast. Oh! And maybe if you were a good boy, I’d even give you a space heater for the cold. But, you’d have to make it up to me big time to get back in the house.” 

“Oh yeah?,” he snorted, “And what would I have to give to get back in your good graces princess?”

You shrugged, “Head probably.” 

Joel guffawed, which turned into a bout of genuine laughter when you giggled at his reaction. He shook his head at your ridiculousness, blowing a wet raspberry into the crook of your neck in retaliation. You squealed and squirmed a bit, which left him no choice but to continue until you warned him that you might rip your stitches if he didn’t stop soon. With that, Joel quickly surrendered and went back to simply holding you in his arms. 

“I didn’t mean it like that Joel,” you admitted quietly after some time, “I don’t think you’d ever abandon your family, I just meant that I don’t want you to close yourself off from us. This is all so scary and I don’t know if I can do it if you aren’t here with me, physically and mentally.” 

He sighed, “I know honey.”

“I’m just so anxious about all of it, aren’t you?,” you asked softly, your voice barely above a whisper. 

Joel wasn’t sure what he could say to ease your worries, especially since he was just as terrified as you. Still, he knew that for your sake he needed to try. Although he could not predict the future, not with the world embroiled in such constant chaos, he was not going to leave your side until the breach was found and the traitors were brought to justice. Every single time the two of you were separated, no matter the circumstances, bad things seemed to happen and he wasn’t going to be taking any chances now that there were two pups that needed their parents. Plus, he also knew beyond a shadow of doubt that if anyone tried to threaten the pups, they would subsequently be torn apart by either their mom or their dad. 

“We’re gonna be okay. I don’t know how I know, but I just do. Those two have the most amazingly badass mom in the world, which means there ain’t nothing getting anywhere near them. And me? I’m staying right here, not letting any of you outta my sight,” Joel promised. 

As he spoke, his fingers crept into your hair, massaging your scalp until you were practically purring from his soft touch. 

“Hmmm, I guess you’re right. Plus I’ve heard their dad is pretty tough too… and kind… and handsome…and sweet… and he does this thing with his tongue where he swirls it around - hey!”

The tickles he gave to your underarms made you stop and explode into another fit of giggles, one that this time he was sure to cut short before you could strain yourself too much. 

“Gotta watch it darling, those two are like sponges and before you know it they’re gonna be repeatin’ just about every word you say. We don’t need them going around talkin’ bout tongue tricks to the other kids on the playground. People ‘round here already hate me enough,” he said. 

You snorted, “I doubt that they are going to have any long-term memory for at least another year babe, but point taken. I will keep any jokes about the joys of you eating me out off the table for the time being.”

He shook his head at your crass words, keeping in his laughter so as not to encourage your behavior. Nevertheless, you still managed to steal a brief snicker from him before he clammed up. 

“Fucking hell, go to sleep you nut,” Joel playfully grouched, pulling the linen blanket up around the two of you to emphasize his point. 

After reaching back for one more sweet kiss from him, you finally relaxed and drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Despite the fact that Joel had been awake for well over 24 hours, he refused to sleep, preferring to keep watch as his little family napped. Perhaps it was true that an average man needed rest, especially if he wanted to keep his sanity, but Joel Miller was not average in any sense of the word. 

Joel had lived a life full of cruelty, heart break, and unbearable tragedy, which had twisted the very basis of his humanity into something not quite human. Living with agonizing grief for years had hardened him, turning him into someone that even his own blood couldn’t recognize anymore. Nevertheless, the steel husk he had welded around his heart had been cracked open by you, which had forced him to actually feel for the first time in years. You were like a shock to his system, bringing him back into the light with your sweet words and witty remarks. And as he held you and watched over the pups that shared both of your DNA, he refused to surrender to his own exhaustion, ensuring that nobody could push him back into that kind of darkness ever again. 

- You - 

The doctor had let you go home from the clinic after four days of close supervision, with strict instructions to keep your incision cleaned until it was fully healed. Joel had listened to her instructions on cleaning the wound with rapt attention, asking question after question until you had to cut him off with a pointed look and thank her for her time. He had grumbled at that a bit, but ultimately let it go so that he could help you lug the twins back towards your shared home. Without the luxuries of modern technology, there was no car waiting to pick you up when you finally left the clinic. Instead, all you got was a jumpy alpha that glared at any resident that looked at his family for too long as he held his son close to his chest. 

Alba had fussed in your arms the entire way home, angered by the slight jostles and the way the incessant wind blew her dark curls across her forehead. Meanwhile Ellis, as always, had been the more stoic of the pair and simply held on tight to Joel’s index finger with a firm scowl on his face as he was carried back home. You tried not to be jealous that Joel had picked the calmer of the two, but it was hard not to be when your legs wobbled with every step you took, your deflated tummy still hanging heavy as your abdomen healed. The doctor had assured you multiple times that the swelling would go down in the next two months as the fluids that your body retained were flushed out, but you were still not a fan of the way it looked in the meantime. 

When the four of you had arrived home, you were greeted with a clean house that had a small pile of welcome home baskets stacked in the living room. Most of them came from family, and there was even one that was from the staff at the clinic, but you were touched to see that quite a few vaguely familiar Jackson residents had dropped off some goodies for your family. If you weren’t so tired that day, it probably would have made you cry. 

“Christ, your mama filled our fridge with a whole bunch of stuff. I think we should be set for at least a week or two,” Joel called from down the hall. 

It didn’t surprise you that she had been by. In fact, it was your mother who had been the first to visit you at the clinic. At first you were nervous to allow her in, childish fears about the mother she had been for you creeping up as she stepped in the room. Nevertheless, you also felt like you understood her more now. Although you would never do the things she did to ensure your survival, the use of bitter words and harsh slaps to correct your own children’s behavior out of the question, you understood now that she was trying to keep you safe. In a group where the roles were set so rigidly that anyone who went against them would be killed, she had tried to mold you into a perfect little omega so that nobody would dare question your place. 

If you were not allowed out with the other kids, then there was no way you were going to be caught doing something that would lead to more trouble. There would be no unplanned pregnancies or drunken shenanigans under her watch. Similarly, if you were too scared to speak up, then you would never be punished by your own husband as she had been by hers. There were things about you that she couldn’t change, like the fact that you were a product of an unmarried couple or that your father had not come from a Christian background, but she could distract them by making you flawless. You understood her decision, and even though you would never come to the same conclusion for your own children, you knew now that it had come from a place of love rather than hate. 

It was after your mother had held both Ellis and Alba, commenting on how much they resemble their parents with a soft smile gracing her face, that she had promised to prepare the house for your arrival. Although the both of you had tried to shoo her away, claiming that it was unnecessary since the house was already more or less ready, you were now glad she had persisted. And it seemed that she had help, as you noted the pack and play that had been brought up from the basement in the corner of the living room. Stepping closer to it, you smelled hints of both Tommy and Cooper’s scents lingering on the fabric, which brought a small smile to your face at the kind gesture. 

After your mother had left, Tommy and Maria had come back to be reintroduced to the pair without their business faces on. You had watched as Tommy ribbed his older brother for passing on his features to Ellis, remarking that they looked cuter on the pup with a grin. Joel had rolled his eyes and held his hands out for the boy, grumbling about how annoying the younger man was as he snatched his son away from him. They hadn’t stayed long, too busy with the search to linger for more than an hour, but you could tell Joel appreciated it nonetheless. 

Once they were gone, Cooper had come in for a short visit. He was under strict instructions to report back to his bedridden mate and had come toting a bag of supplies that you knew Jake had picked out personally based on the contents alone. Cooper didn’t strike you as the type to think of sanitary napkins and face wash. His presence warmed your heart as much as it had made you laugh, and you quickly relieved the perpetually anxious man from his duty after he had held both of the pups for a few moments. Cooper had sighed in relief and thanked you for allowing him to come in, explaining how Jake had warned him that he would waddle over to the clinic himself if his mate didn’t go in his place. 

And now, with twins thoroughly introduced to your loved ones, it was up to the two of you to raise them. It felt… weird, and you weren’t sure what to do with yourself as you stood in the living room with the whimpering pup in your arms. During your pregnancy, you had endlessly prepared for the birth like it was the end of times (no pun intended). But nobody had ever mentioned how strange it would feel once you were home with them. You had no idea what you were supposed to do with either of them now. 

“Honey? Did you hear what I said?,” Joel asked, striding towards you so that he could take Alba off your hands. 

You let him take her, thankful for the few pounds of extra weight being lifted from your arms as your legs shook from the exertion of the walk home. If Joel noticed, he didn’t say anything about it, but you noticed that he did practically herd you towards the couch like he was some type of sheepdog. Although you could tell he wanted you to sit, you were too keyed up to do anything but stand nervously by the couch and wring your hands together as you tried to think of the next steps to take. 

“What are we supposed to do with them now? I mean, do we just let them sleep? What do we do in the meantime? Oh my god, should we be watching them while they sleep? What happens if we don’t?,” you questioned him, the words rushing out of your mouth in a jumbled mess. 

Sensing your growing distress, Joel spied the pack and play in the corner of the room and hastened towards it so that he could lay the two infants down. Once they were settled, he retraced his steps back to you and plopped down on the couch. Before he could even ask, you clambered on top of him so that you could be soothed by his warmth. With a sigh, you pressed your face into his neck and mindlessly kissed at the skin below his ear. Joel didn’t shy away from your touch, instead he reached up and dug one hand into your messy hair so that he could rub circles into your scalp, meanwhile the other hand lightly scratched your back. 

“There’s no rule book on what parents get up to when their pups are asleep baby, if we’re tired then we’ll sleep. If not, we’ll find something else to do. Hell, all them reusable diapers are gonna have to be washed at some point. Plus, we still gotta make sure we’ve got time to shower and eat ourselves. There will be loads to do, just wait for it mama,” Joel murmured. 

“I guess,” you sighed, “I just feel like I should already be doing something for them ya know?” 

He chuckled, pulling back so that he could get a better look at you. Both of his rough hands came up to cradle your face and you hummed when you felt Joel’s thumbs brush over your cheeks. 

“Yeah baby, I know how you feel. When Sarah was born, I nearly ran myself ragged trying to stay up in case she needed me, but after a while I realized she was fine. If she needed me, she’d cry and if not, I’d sleep or clean. S’not rocket science,” he explained. 

“Okay,” you relented, kissing the side of his face before you buried yourself back into his neck. 

And as it turned out, Joel was mostly right. The first few days home were weird, as you were still unsure of what to do with yourself and had a hard time getting up without his help due to your healing incision, but you had slowly healed and gotten the hang of being a parent. Even though the twins were a handful, as one would set the other off and start a screaming match that inevitably led to them teaming up to bring the house down, you wouldn’t trade it for the world. As you watched their tiny faces take shape, with both of them looking more like you and Joel each day, you suddenly had a hard time remembering a time without them. And it wasn’t just the pups that caught your attention. 

Watching Joel return to his former glory as a father made you fall madly in love with him all over again. It was like their arrival had revitalized him, turning him into the papa bear you had hoped he would become. You couldn’t help but be enamored with him as you watched him care for the pups, singing to them when he thought you weren’t listening, or carrying them around the house to show them the things their tiny eyes had never seen before. It made you want to give him a bus load of them, but you had to keep those thoughts to yourself unless you wanted Joel to have an aneurysm. 

Needless to say, life was surprisingly good for the first few weeks of their lives, and before you knew it the twins had turned two months old. Joel had yet to return to work and neither had you, the two of you deciding to not push the subject on account of the lack of leads regarding your kidnapper, but that was okay. Life was good as long as you ignored the fear that still lurked in the background, the same fear that had moved both of the cribs into your bedroom for the foreseeable future and slid a baseball bat under Joel’s side of the bed. 

Most of your days were spent ignoring that fear, focusing instead on the two pups that had changed your lives. With your incision completely healed and the twins in perfect health, the four of you had spent much of September taking walks around the quieter parts of town to enjoy the good weather while it lasted. And when it wasn’t particularly nice out, Joel would play music for them or you would read aloud until they calmed down. It was a quiet life for the time being, but you didn’t mind it at all. It was the kind of life you had once thought to be a pipedream. 

Nevertheless, after two months of the bliss that came with beginning a new life together as parents, it was quite a shock when Tommy showed up on your doorstep red faced and panting one night after supper. With Alba clumsily batting at your face, you opened the door and let him in with a confused look. 

“Sorry about the surprise visit, sweetheart. Wasn’t my intention to interrupt any schedule y’all might have the two little hell raisers on,” Tommy said sheepishly, a flush creeping up his neck as he did. 

“No, that’s alright. Everyone is fed and changed, we’re just doing tummy time right now. Ellis is giving his dad some attitude lately, so Joel is on a mission,” you sighed, carefully prying your hair out of Alba’s fist before she had a chance to yank it. 

“Tummy time? Shit, I gotta see that,” the beta laughed, making you roll your eyes at him as you turned back towards the rest of your family. 

Tommy followed you into the living room where Joel laid on the floor, softly encouraging Ellis to lift his head from the mat. Whereas Alba seemed to have no issue looking up at both of her parents when she was called, her brother seemed to only be interested in listening to you. It was hard not to be smug about it each time the pup refused to heed his father’s call, but you tried to keep it at bay for Joel’s sake. Ellis’s refusal was funny at first, with Joel rolling his eyes at your poor attempts to hide your gloating, but you could tell that it was starting to get to him. He was determined to get Ellis’s attention, even though it was clear that the pup’s ears worked fine, he was just simply ignoring his dad. 

“Better be careful Joelie, wouldn’t want a senior citizen such as yourself breaking a damn hip getting up from there,” Tommy teased. 

“Ha ha, very funny asshole,” Joel grumbled, rolling his eyes as he pulled himself into a seated position so that he could lift Ellis from the mat, “Better have a good reason for coming here unannounced, you’re interrupting tummy time and I almost got him to look up just now.” 

If someone would have told you a year ago that the man who had plucked you from the riverside, the same one who kept you at arm’s length due to his own grief and who struck fear in the hearts of many, would be scolding his brother for disturbing your son’s tummy time, you would have laughed in their face. But life has a weird way of defying all expectations, for better or for worse. And this time, it was for the better, as all of your wildest fantasies about the rugged older alpha had become a reality. In fact, it had turned out better than you could have imagined, as you now had the kind of partner who actually saw the real you and instead of being afraid or disgusted, he loved you even more. 

“Tummy time? Bleh Joel, are you serious?,” his brother groaned, shaking his head as he did. 

“Deadly,” Joel shot back, glaring at his brother for poking fun at the silly name. 

You rolled your eyes at the impromptu standoff between the two men, recognizing the tell tale signs of their ongoing brotherly bickering. All of the complicated past between the two men had been forgiven since your pregnancy, but this was something else. This was about a constant need to fuck with eachother, regardless of how stupid or petty it may seem to anyone else. Being an only child, you had never experienced it first hand, but you had grown accustomed to the sibling rivalry between the two brothers. And as they tried to scald each other with their glares over the stupid comment, you knew you had to shut it down before the juvenile name calling started. 

“Alright, alright,” you cut in, making the two of them turn your way, “Can you two knock it off? I already have two kids, I don’t need another two.” 

They apologized in unison, giving eachother one last childish glare before they finally broke apart from one another. Joel wordlessly scooped Alba from your arms, leaving a kiss on your cheek before he transferred the twins over to their pack and play. Like you, he gave them both a soft kiss on their ridiculously chubby cheeks, something that warmed you from the inside out as you watched him from across the room. When he straightened up, he caught your grin and matched it, hastening over to your side so he could steal another smooch from you. It was messy, as the two of you were smiling too wide for it to last very long, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was the dopey, love fueled grins you gave each other afterwards. 

“Jesus fucking Christ, if I thought y’all were bad before,” Tommy scoffed, making his brother turn away from you with a frustrated sigh. 

“What the hell do you want Tommy? We’re a bit busy being new parents at the moment, can’t you see that? I know Frankie is five now, but you gotta remember what it’s like,” Joel griped. 

It was then that you knew something was wrong. Rather than a witty remark, Tommy’s face fell, any annoying jest he had on his mind about how obsessed the two of you were with each other dying on his tongue in an instant. Joel stiffened at your side at the change in his brother’s demeanor and slipped his hand into yours. You numbly let Joel lead you both to the couch, where you sat and anxiously waited for whatever bomb that was about to be dropped. Tommy marched over and sat on the loveseat across from you, his right leg shaking nervously for a few seconds before he slapped his hands against his thighs and began. 

A pin drop could have been heard in the room when Tommy started to speak and you could practically taste the blood that had to be filling Joel’s mouth, as his brother’s words made him start gnawing on the inside of his cheek like it was made of leather. According to Tommy, the identities of the people who had helped Fabien smuggle you out of Jackson had finally been revealed. It was a conflicting update, as you weren’t sure whether you should be overjoyed that they were found or terrified about what was to come. 

Having been busy being pregnant for the majority of your time in Jackson, you hadn’t had the chance to get into any trouble and had no idea what sort of justice system they had in place. And despite your fears, you were forced to continue to listen to Tommy’s tale, regardless of the fact that you were drowning. 

Tommy steamrolled through the obvious discomfort on both of your faces, explaining how it had been hard for them to know for sure, as the culprits had been found out due to a drunken confession from one of them at the Tipsy Bison. However, a quick investigation had revealed the truth. The first man was found to be guilty when Joel’s forgotten lunchbox turned up in the bottom of his locker at work, kept like some sort of trophy for his misdeeds. Meanwhile the second had been stupid enough to keep the remainder of the chemicals that had been used to knock you out in his home. 

“I wanna have a talk with them,” Joel answered immediately, his words laced with venom as he said it. 

“Joel, you know that it don’t work like that here. We’re trying to make this a civilized place, which means that there has to be a trial and we gotta-” 

“What happened at the bar?,” you asked, uncaring of whatever bullshit explanation he was about to give for the sake of diplomacy. 

To you, these two strangers were as good as dead. They had threatened you while you were in labor and therefore, they had threatened your children. That meant that their days were numbered. You didn’t care what the jury in Jackson ruled, you were going to kill them with your bare hands. And based on the sour stench leaking from Joel’s pores, you knew that you weren’t going to be alone in your quest to end their sorry lives. 

“One of them is a regular down at the Bison, he had a few too many one night and started talkin’ nonsense to Seth. Nothing unusual for folks there, but this time he started spoutin’ off about some pregnant omega and getting back at her ‘asshole alpha’,” Tommy said, only to be cut off by a vicious growl from his brother. 

Rage ping ponged back and forth between the bond you shared, making the both of you grow more irritated by the second, but you knew that someone had to remain rational. So instead of baring your teeth and screaming obscenities at the top of your lungs like you wanted to, you squeezed Joel’s thigh with your free hand, bringing him back down to earth before he could run off towards the prison cells for his revenge. When he was calmed, you nodded at Tommy to continue and shifted closer to Joel, anchoring him to his seat by crawling into his lap as his brother started again. 

“Anyways uh, Seth tapped Maria on the shoulder. Turns out, Joel busted a beer bottle over the guy’s head about four years ago. Guess he kept a grudge. He was the one that um… helped carry her out through the breach. He was the one with your bag,” Tommy uttered, clearly worried about his brother’s reaction. 

Joel sucked his teeth in annoyance. He had already explained to you the details of that eventful night, where he had gone to the bar looking to get hammered and fight the first idiot to come his way. That night he was lucky enough to be blessed with a grade A asshole who was bragging about cheating on his girlfriend to his buddies. Fueled by nothing but whiskey and endless grief, Joel had slammed his face into the bar until it was cracked open and gushing heavy spurts of blood, only stopping when he was physically restrained. In your first few months in Jackson, he had pointed the man out to you at the general store and you remembered trying hard not to react to the scars your mate had left on his face. At the time, you had even felt bad for the guy. 

“Who else?,” Joel asked gruffly, a strange mix of anger and guilt written all over his face as he did. 

“The dining hall guy,” his brother responded. 

Ah yes, of course, you thought, the dining hall guy. 

That man had remained a mystery to you until two weeks after the twins had been born, when a random bushy haired man had glared at your family from the porch of the fabric store. You had elbowed Joel in the ribs, muttering to him about the strange man whose gaze was burning a hole through the side of your face. Joel had furrowed his brow and followed your eye back towards the offender, sighing when he realized who it was. 

It was then that Joel had been forced to go into full detail about how he had thrown a man over a table at the dining hall one morning and whipped him with a tray until he fell unconscious. The reasoning behind that one was tricky, as the poor bastard was more a victim of circumstance than anything else. After the particularly rough first night back in Jackson, with the effects of nearly two bottles of whisky still poisoning his blood, the man had made the mistake of pushing Joel to get towards the breakfast line. Hammered and itching for some sort of brawl, Joel had attacked. 

When you learned about what Joel had done to both of these men, you could tell that he felt remorse about it at the time. Although the asshole at the Bison probably deserved a slap for cheating on his girlfriend, he didn’t deserve a lifetime of scars. And even though the other guy probably should have excused himself rather than push his way towards the line, that was no reason to knock a few teeth loose with a hard plastic tray. Nevertheless, as you watched his entire body go rigid at your elusive kidnappers finally being unmasked, you knew that any remorse he held for them was long gone. In a world like this one, vengeance was a fool’s game, but that didn’t mean that the alluring nature of the pointless act didn’t call to the both of you. 

“What’s going to happen now?,” you asked when Joel stayed silent, the alpha seemingly imprisoned in his own fury. 

Tommy sighed, “They’re in jail now, so y’all don’t have to worry no more about people coming after ya. They’ll have a trial in a week and then they’ll be sentenced. In the meantime, we’ll have to figure out how to seal the breach so that nobody else can just waltz in here.”

“Where was it?,” Joel piped up, still staring at his hands with his face set. 

“There is a manhole near the stables. It leads down to the sewer line and pops out a few miles east of the wall, right below where the river drops off. We found a piece of her dress snagged on a branch near there. I’m real sorry to ya both, we thought all the sewage tunnels had collapsed.”

An indignant sound came from Joel, one that had the hairs on the back of your neck standing straight up.   

“They took my pregnant mate through an abandoned sewer tunnel… during a storm? And they carried her out through the river? The same one that swells up every single time it rains?,” Joel questioned. 

It wasn’t what Joel was saying that was making you nervous, it was the way he said it. His voice had turned robotic, with his deep timber flat and devoid of any emotion as he asked his questions. Tommy felt the shift as well and leaned forward in his seat, almost as if he was ready to jump on his brother’s back if he tried to rush off towards the jail cells. 

“They did do all of that but uh, I don’t want y’all to worry. Like I said, there will be a trial and there will be justice. There ain’t no way they’re walking away from this, I can promise you that. People might feel some way about Joel, but there’s a line and they crossed it the second they kidnapped a pregnant omega,” Tommy promised. 

The numbness you felt only worsened at that, forcing you to nod and make the affirmative noises you needed to make in order to get Tommy out of the house as quickly as possible. Joel did the same, grunting and nodding along as his brother explained that the two men would likely be either hanged or shot in the coming weeks for their crimes against the community. But deep down, you knew that there was already a plan taking shape in Joel’s mind that didn’t include any of Jackson’s authorities. 

“Alright well, like I said there will be a trial and y’all are more than welcome to come to it. Until then, try to take it easy. And please, for the love of God, don’t be getting up to any trouble,” Tommy begged. 

Joel grunted his affirmation, waving his brother off before he could fuss too much. Tommy sighed at his brother’s soured mood and turned towards the entryway, pausing to look at you as he reached the door to the mudroom. 

“That goes for the BOTH of you. I want no funny business from either Bonnie or Clyde, you hear me?,” he asked, with his finger pointed directly at you. 

“I have no fucking idea who you’re talking about old man, but sure,” you mumbled, too tired and pissed off to pretend to know who he was referring to. 

Despite his anger, you heard Joel snort from beside you as his brother gawked at your response. You shrugged, reminding him once again that you were only five years old when the outbreak had started. How were you supposed to remember every supposedly legendary character in the movies you’d never get to see or the notable figures in the textbooks you’d never have a chance to read? Most of your life before meeting Joel was spent trying to do one thing: survive. 

“You don’t know who -,” Tommy stopped and shook his head, “Jesus Christ Joel, you really were robbing the cradle with this one. I can’t believe my fucking ears, she don’t even know who god damn Bonnie and Clyde are.”

“Oh my fucking god, goodbye Tommy,” you groaned. 

“Get out of here you little shit,” Joel snapped, his words overlapping with yours and matching your annoyance. 

With that, Tommy left, leaving the two of you to a silent house after the door clicked shut behind him. Neither one of you said anything for a while, too wrapped up in all that had been revealed to speak. However, you were parents now, which meant that the moment Ellis started whining for his last meal before bed, the two of you were up. 

Like a well oiled machine, you worked together to get the twins into their cribs. While you fed a very squirmy Ellis, Joel took Alba upstairs for a quick bath and a fresh onesie for bed. After you were done, you switched, before meeting up in the master bedroom to lay them down for the night. Once they were down, the two of you crept out of the room like you were art thieves pulling off an elaborate heist. Joel motioned for you to follow him after he shut the door and for the first time since bringing them home, you left them alone. Still, you didn’t go very far, as Joel opted to veer into the spare room by the stairs that had yet to be used for anything other than storage. 

Neither one of you moved to pull the door completely shut behind you, as you were both still too nervous to cut yourselves off from the twins completely. Instead, you left it slightly ajar, providing just enough coverage to muffle the sound of your voices while also allowing you both to hear any noises that came from outside. It wasn’t that you were worried about not hearing the pups, especially with the way Alba screamed her heart out at the drop of a hat, it was the ever present fear of someone taking them that still lingered in your minds. 

Joel sat on the edge of the bed, directly on top of a pile of fabrics you had sworn you would use to sew new disposable diapers for Ellis and Alba. Of course that hadn’t happened, as you were much too busy with nursing and getting adjusted to being a mom to take time to finish any projects. And so they had sat, collecting dust until he had plopped down on top of them. With a sigh, you joined him, a headache already forming behind your eyes as you did. It didn’t take a genius to guess what was running through both of your minds, so you decided to rip the band-aid off and say it. 

“I want them both gone Joel and I think we should deal with it ourselves,” you said, giving life to the vindictiveness that grew like weeds in your chest. 

Joel didn’t answer, all you got in response was a sigh, followed by him lifting you into his lap so that the two of you were nose to nose. Like two puzzle pieces coming back together, you buried one of your hands into his overgrown curls, scritching at his scalp with one hand while the other rested against his steadily beating heart. Joel released another breath and snuck a hand under your shirt, drawing soothing circles onto your hip while the other rubbed the tension from the muscles in your back. 

You stayed like that for a while, gathering more strength from each other with every breath you took. The two of you melted together, until your forehead was resting against his and he was looking deep into your eyes. Not a word was said by either of you, but you knew what his answer was nonetheless. 

There were two men in Jackson who had threatened your family, two men that would not be allotted the fair trial they were promised for the crimes they had committed. Neither Joel, nor you, cared about justice. What you both cared about was keeping the twins safe, no matter the consequences. Which meant that if there was even the slightest possibility that they might let off easy, the two of you were going to see to it that a divine intervention took place. 

“Y’know what darling? It’s been about two months since the pups were born, don’t ya think it’s time for mom and dad to have a little date night?,” Joel asked, a wry grin spreading out on his face as he did. 

Joel’s eyes twinkled with a wicked playfulness as he grinned at you. Any other person would have been terrified of your mate as he was in that moment, unhinged and ready to pounce on his prey at the drop of a hat, but it stirred up something needy inside of you. Something that, up until two weeks ago, you had been banned from pursuing and still had yet to accomplish due to the hectic schedule attached to having twins. Although you knew that this “date night” would not be the usual kind, you decided right then and there that there was no reason that the two of you couldn’t have a quickie on the way back. 

Joel was brutal like this, all revved up to tear through his enemies, and for some reason it worked on you. It was the way he was willing to do literally anything for your family that turned you on, along with the natural intensity he always carried himself with. Like you, Joel Miller did not love many people, but when he did, he did it with every fiber of his being. To be loved by Joel was to be loved by a raging ocean. It was a constant flood of affection and warmth that swept you away, keeping you enveloped beneath the surface of it forever. 

Not that you had ever once wanted to be saved from it. 

-

The next week moved along slowly as you both prepared. It was risky, especially with how Maria felt about Joel’s place in Jackson, but you didn’t care. Their bodies would be long gone before morning, leaving nothing behind but empty cells for the guards to find when they went to bring them in for their trial. Little did the Jackson community know, the two men had already been sentenced the second they had made the decision to mess with your family. 

Everything was planned out. Jake and Cooper would take the twins, which you had thanked them endlessly for due to the fact they had a newborn as well, one who would undoubtedly be peeved by the racket your pups made on a daily basis. Nevertheless, your best friend had volunteered at the first mention of your sex life having yet to be revived, excitedly agreeing before his mate could say no. 

“Oh my God, why didn’t you start with that? Of course we’ll watch them! Allie has gone all big sister mode for Miriam, I’m sure she’s gonna lose it when she hears that her cousins are going to stay the night,” Jake had babbled excitedly. 

You had watched as he had smacked his mate’s arm, forcing Cooper to give a less than enthusiastic thumbs up to the impromptu sleepover. You didn’t blame the alpha, the thought of having three newborns and a toddler in your house for the night made you want to puke. Nevertheless, you had agreed to the one stipulation that the couple had laid out for you; that you would return the favor to them once they were ready to go on their own date nights. After packing a few bottles of breastmilk for the sleepover, thanking every higher power that Joel had finally managed to score a breast pump from a chance visit to the market, you kissed their chubby cheeks and sent them along to be dropped off by their father.  

Joel had the harder task, distracting his own family from watching his every move as they had been since the perpetrators were caught. To her credit, your mother had helped him in his endeavors. Since the rescue mission that the two of them had gone on together, you still would not call them close by any means, but they had an odd sort of camaraderie. This comradery they shared had weirded you out at first, especially when you heard about the trail of bodies your usually rule-abiding mother had left behind, but you were more than happy to reap the rewards of their strange relationship when Joel managed to score a favor from his partner in crime.   

Maria and Tommy would be, much to their dismay, entertaining the woman in question who was under strict instructions to stall. Whereas Maria would have been harder to crack, your mother was skilled in the art of sniffing out the weaknesses in other people, and had gone in for the kill when her husband was alone. All it took was a few minutes of persistence and Tommy was putty in her hands, agreeing to her idea of a dinner without ever checking in with his mate. Joel had relayed to you how that went with a chuckle, recounting the look of surprise Maria had on her face when Tommy told her, followed by the sharp words she had done a poor job at concealing as they left the dining hall to prepare for the visit. 

With everything set in place, all that was left to do was look the part. You weren’t sure what normal people wore on a date, having never been on one yourself, but you figured it would be good to keep up appearances as you walked throughout town together. Plus, if it made Joel look at you like you wanted him to, the way that made you feel like you were some sort of ethereal being, who said you couldn’t have your cake and eat it too?

Which led you to where you were, standing in front of the mirror as you fixed up the bit of makeup you had snagged from Jake. Although you had dressed reasonably, a clean pair of jeans with no holes paired with a shirt that actually kept your swollen breasts tamped down, you had elected to give yourself a bit of a pick me up in the form of cosmetics. After finishing with the chalky blush that was likely wildly expired, you smoothed down your hair once more and tried to settle your nerves. 

Was it too much? You hoped not. Joel had never told you to dress up, but you wanted to surprise him. For two months, you had to watch as your mate truly came into his own as a father. And whereas you were too exhausted to care much about appearances, for some reason Joel looked unbelievably hot as a disheveled dad. It was as annoying as it was endearing. Which is why you decided to actually try, hoping to give yourself a much needed confidence boost after two months of wearing nothing but baggy clothes that the twins would inevitably spit up on. Nevertheless, the longer you stood in the entryway mirror, the more time you had to focus on the new insecurities that came with birthing two pups. 

“Christ darling, I should take you out on fake dates more often,” a voice laden with a familiar southern twang drawled from behind you, lifting you from the pit of despair in an instant. 

Your eyes lit up as you turned, coming face to face with the devilishly handsome man that took your breath away. Although Joel had not spruced himself to any great degree, you noticed how his hair had been artfully tousled and pushed back with a gel that you knew he had to have borrowed from Tommy. His flannel was clean, along with his jeans, and he had recently shaved. Looking at the absolut hunk you were lucky to call your mate, you realized that he had the same idea.  

“If you promise to clean up like that everytime, then hell ya you should,” you shot back, stepping forward to smooth out his collar for him. 

Joel smiled wide, a bit of pink dusting the highs of his cheekbones from the compliment. He grabbed your hand when you were finished fixing his collar, kissing the back of it as he stared at you so lovingly that you forgot how to breathe. It was a twisted sort of love that the two of you shared, one that held the sweetest moments mixed in with all the chaos and bloodshed, and yet you didn’t want it any other way. You wanted Joel, in all his gentleness and in all his brutality, for as long as he’d have you. 

“The twins are with their uncles and your mama should be on her way over to Tommy’s right now. Are you ready pretty girl?,” he asked, giving you the out that he knew you were never going to take. 

“Let’s do this handsome,” you replied, taking his hand and leaving the safety of your shared home behind. 

A chill had settled over Jackson as September neared its end, something that you had originally cursed. Joel’s birthday was coming up and you had originally planned to do a little picnic as a family, knowing that he’d probably hate anything flashy. However, as you walked hand in hand through the silent streets, you praised mother nature for her unpredictability. With many of the Jackson residents holed up in their homes to save themselves from the brisk nights, there was nobody else around when you finally made it to the small jailhouse along one of the main strips. 

Joel reached into the breast pocket of his coat, brandishing one of the keys he had stolen from his brother’s coat in preparation. The lock opened with a click and Joel nodded to you to go in first, easing the door shut behind him so that he wouldn’t alert anyone who might be lurking in the neighboring shops. You padded through the building, quietly peeking into the empty rooms to ensure there were no guards milling about until you reached the last one. 

“Are you sure about this baby? I know that you said that this is what you wanted, but you can back out at any time. I wouldn’t be mad if you just wanted t-”

“- I said that I wanted them dead Joel and I meant that shit,” you cut him off, voice laden with unmitigated rage, “If you want to turn back then go, I’ll meet you back at the house when I’m done, but I need to make these fuckers cry.” 

Joel smiled widely, almost maniacally, at your bitter words. In two steps, he was in front of you, grabbing your face so that he could kiss you with all of his might. It felt like he was trying to consume you, to squeeze every part of you with his meaty hands as he feasted on the inside of your mouth. And all you could do was take it, already so intoxicated from his touch that Joel had to place a hand on the small of your back to keep you upright. He poured everything he had into that kiss, leaving you breathless and spinning when he finally pulled away. You loved it, and him, so much so that you couldn’t help but leave him with a smattering of pecks all over his face in thanks. 

“Shit honey, I never would have thought that the sweet girl I found by the river would be doing this shit with me. You are fucking nuts and I love you so god damn much for it,” he murmured against your lips. 

“Oh please,” you laughed, “What sweet girl? Last time I checked, I tried to get in your pants almost immediately after meeting you and later went on a murder spree. WE are fucking nuts babe, or else our first date night would probably look a little different than this.” 

Joel chuckled, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” 

“I love you too Joel. There’s nobody else for me, it could only be you,” you sighed, smiling when he brushed a lock of hair behind your ear. 

“Ready?,” Joel asked again, looking deeply into your eyes as he did. 

“What are we waiting for baby? Let’s kick some ass,” you answered, making his smile grow even wider. 

Another kiss was shared, this one slightly more desperate and mean than the other, broken by Joel only after it became clear that the two of you were wasting precious time. Although you longed for him to ravish you against the wall, to drill into you so hard that the guilty parties behind the door could hear the way your pussy gushed around his cock, there was something you needed even more than that. A soft kiss was placed on your cheek before you parted, giving you one final moment of gentleness before Joel swung the door open with all of his might. 

- Joel -

There was something about you like this that drove Joel absolutely fucking wild. Although he had originally been too stupid to believe that it was you that had killed so many of Paul’s men while he was imprisoned, he now got to witness the monstress those men had encountered first hand and she was impressive. It was like there were two versions of the woman he loved, the first being the caring partner who doted upon her family every waking moment, while the second was a ruthless killer that took pleasure in the pain of those who had wronged her. Joel was slightly embarrassed to admit, but it made his pants tighter to see you so mean and he had to subtly readjust himself quite a few times as he watched you work. 

After knocking the two assholes out, the two of you had used the cover of night to drag their unconscious bodies through the same breach they had dragged you through, which you had called poetic justice. Neither of you stopped until you were out of the sewers and a few miles outside of Jackson’s walls so that nobody, not even a patrol that was late getting back from their evening shift, could hear them scream. Luckily, there was a small barn that sat next to an old dilapidated farmhouse a few miles out, one that had made you both smile when you saw all the tools hanging on the walls. 

The man who had stolen the lunchbox and kept it as a trophy had gone first. His tough guy act had been dropped fast, as Joel had launched at him the second he got the go ahead from you. There was something so personal about the way the man had stolen the bag you had sewn for him, the same one that you had filled with a lunch and walked down to the stables to give to him directly, and it made Joel a bit unhinged. While he beat the man into a bloody pulp, his buddy had watched in horror, astounded at the brutality before him. 

Joel had to admit that he went a little overboard with the first guy, too furious to make it last like he had wanted it to, but you didn’t seem to mind. You watched him the entire time, never once flinching or asking him to stop, and had even leaned into the other man’s ear to toy with him a bit while his friend was killed. He didn’t hear what you said but whatever it was, it had the other man shaking like a leaf the second you pulled away from him. 

With most of his rage quelled from killing the first man, Joel allowed you to take the lead with the second. As he watched you toy with the man some more, draining him both physically and mentally, he felt like he was getting to see a whole new side of his mate. When Tommy had sat across from him in a rundown bar two months ago and said that Joel had found his match in the supposedly “feral” omega he had claimed, he hadn’t fully understood what his brother meant. To him, you were the sweetest and most forgiving person in the world. But as he saw the fear in the man’s eyes as you tore off his fingernails one by one and promised to wipe any trace of his existence off the face of the planet, he suddenly understood what Tommy meant. Despite the misleading appearance, you were someone who should be feared, just like him. 

When you finally decided that the man had had enough, you slit his throat. More blood sprayed from the gaping wound, further soiling your already blood stained clothes as you watched the wretched man fall to the floor and die. What a shame, Joel thought to himself. He really had liked that top on you, but oh well. This was more important anyways. The man’s body jerked one last time before it stilled for good, eyes blindly staring up at the rafters as his murderer stepped over his body to get to her lover. 

“Alright honey?,” Joel asked when you reached him, uncaring of how filthy either of you were as he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you against him. 

“Best first date ever,” you sang, pushing some of the curls that had flopped onto his forehead out of the way. 

“Christ, you’re fucking sick,” he chuckled, with not a hint of judgement in his voice as he did. 

“And you love it,” you pointed out with a mischievous grin. 

Joel couldn’t deny it, he loved every bit of you, even the parts that might make others quiver with fear. Which was why he didn’t care about the bodies on the floor of the barn or the blood splattered across the both of you when he lifted you up, smashing his lips against yours as he led you over to the workbench on the other side of the room. Desperate hands yanked at his flannel, uncaring as they ripped the buttons clean off so that they scattered all over the floor. He chuckled at your eagerness, pulling back for a second to catch his breath and stare at the absolute seductress clinging to him. His cock ached to be inside of you, ruthlessly thrusting away as your nails raked angry red lines down his back, but he hesitated. 

“Baby, there’s nothing else I’d rather do right now than fuck you like there’s no tommorrow, but are you sure? We ain’t done nothing since before the twins were born and if you’re not ready we can wait. I don’t mind going home and cuddling up on the -”

A desperate whine tore out of you, making his eyes widen as you began to scrabble at his belt buckle like you were starved for cock. Joel didn’t blame you for being desperate, at that point he could write a three part book series on how much he missed the taste of your dripping cunt on his tongue. 

“I’ve been waiting for you to fuck me for the past two weeks Joel, if you don’t do something to me in the next five minutes then I swear I’m going to go home and use the showerhead. I won’t even let you watch,” you threatened, which made his brain short circuit for a solid ten seconds. 

Joel grabbed your hands when he was back online, shooting you a pointed look that made you bite back a grin. Just like always, he fell into your trap so easily, completely powerless to your charm. He had originally thought that since it was the first time having sex since giving birth, he would go slow, sensually easing you back into the world of pleasure so that you didn’t feel any pain. However, it seemed that he had forgotten who it was that he was mated to. 

Joel had forgotten just how insatiable the two of you were for each other until that moment. He chuckled darkly when he remembered how he had once fucked you in your childhood bedroom, barely even two weeks after the both of you had almost died. Injuries be damned, you had swindled him into slamming himself into your silken walls, using you like a toy until he locked himself inside. Now, once again, you wanted him to give you his all and he was more than happy to oblige. 

“Aw, has daddy been neglecting you baby? I bet that pretty pussy has missed me, hm? Bet she needs something to stretch her out again. Probably soaking through those little panties, begging me to fuck her so hard that she never forgets who she belongs to,” Joel teased. 

The moan you let out at that was like music to his ears and Joel dropped your hands so that he could work his way down your body. He sucked angry marks into your neck, leaving behind dark little love bites for any resident of Jackson to see when they walked past you. It was pointless, as everyone in town already knew that you were his. If Joel’s claim over you wasn’t enough, the two pups that looked like miniature versions of the both of you simply had to be. Nevertheless, it soothed him to know that when they saw the fresh marks along your delicate skin that they would think of him. They would know that you were his and you were being taken care of by him alone.  

Joel helped you out of your shirt first, groaning at the sight of your tits spilling out of the only bra that could sort of hold them. Since they had begun to swell with milk, he had started to physically restrain himself from launching himself at you. Everytime you whipped your top off to change or shower, Joel felt like he was going to die if he didn’t get his face between them. Which was why he often found himself uttering a quick excuse so that he could jerk off in a quiet corner of the house, stroking himself until he came into his fist embarrassingly quick with your name on his lips. But as he tore the bra clean off your chest, there was nothing holding him back from his fantasies anymore. 

“Jesus fucking Christ honey, these are gonna kill me,” he loudly groaned, pressing kisses all over the taut skin around your sensitive nipples. 

“F-Fuck,” you whimpered, grabbing fistfuls of his curls when he finally popped one of the leaking buds into his mouth, insatiable for you as he sucked at it hard. 

Joel wasn’t sure what he expected, having never done this before with anyone, but he couldn’t stop himself even if he tried. He had dreamed of it for too long, shamefully tugging his cock raw to the thought of it in lieu of ever bringing it up. There weren’t many things in Joel’s life that had made him feel true embarrassment, but the thought of asking his mate to let him suck on her leaking tits as he played with his cock was up there. Plus, with you still healing from birthing the twins, he didn’t want you to feel like you HAD to help him fulfill his twisted little fantasy. 

A spurt of milk dripped onto Joel’s tongue and you both groaned, the fingers in his hair tightening yet not pulling him off as he drank it down. It was sweeter than he had originally thought it would be, with a slightly nutty taste that deepened the flavor, and he knew in an instant that he would forever be ravenous for more. At first he started slowly, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he lost himself in the moment he had fantasized about for two months, but by the time he moved onto the other side he was greedy. He pulled the hardened nub between his teeth to suck at the sweetness, his cock throbbing already as you twitched and whined beneath him. 

“Joel, oh my god, fuuuck,” you moaned. 

He popped off your overly sensitive nipple, looking up at you with his pupils blown and a bit of breast milk leaking out the side of his mouth. Panting from his ministrations, you let out a needy sound at the sight of him and yanked him forward for a kiss. Joel groaned into it, letting you taste yourself as he delved deeper into your mouth. It was filthy, with the blood of your victims still splattered across your bodies as his tongue tangled with yours, but it only made him harder. You were his true love in every sense and he felt it so deeply in that moment that he almost cried. Which was why when the two of you finally broke apart for air, he couldn’t wait any longer. 

“I need to taste this pretty pussy honey, right fucking now or else I’m gonna lose it. You have no idea how much I’ve missed her,” Joel growled, kneeling before the workbench so that he could rip the clothes off your lower half and throw your legs over his shoulders. 

With your dripping cunt inches from his ravenous gaze, Joel licked his lips and looked up at you, waiting for any sign of hesitation on your part. Even though he was practically foaming at the mouth for a chance to bury his face between the softness of your thighs, he needed to know that it was okay, that he truly had the greenlight to have you as he had before. The shaky nod you gave him was all the permission Joel needed to begin and he grinned up at you wolfishly, licking a stripe up your seam with his broad tongue that made you whine his name. 

The fingers that delved into Joel’s hair urged him onwards and he parted your folds with his thick fingers, admiring the way your clit pulsed with need as slick steadily poured from your core. He gathered all of the spit in his mouth, dripping it from his mouth so that it made you jump when it landed on your clit. You didn’t need it, as you were already so wet that it was leaking onto the wood below your ass, but Joel wanted a part of himself added to the mix. Reaching forward, he rubbed his saliva into the hardened bud with slow circles, teasing you just enough to have you thrashing in his hold. 

“What baby? Thought you wanted me to touch ya,” Joel chuckled. 

You whimpered, “Please don’t be mean daddy, I’ve missed having you like this.”

The admission made Joel’s heart race, the poor organ thundering against the walls of his chest as his cheeks flushed red.  Although he loved seeing you thrive as a mom for the past two months and had no problem waiting for as long as you needed, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss it too. Having you in his grasp as you begged him for something that only he could give you was like every wet dream Joel had ever had come to life and he thanked his lucky stars that you humored him. 

“M’sorry sweet girl, you’re right. She needs me real bad, huh?,” he sighed, drawing circles over your hips as he did. 

“Since we got here daddy,” you pouted, breaking through his resolve with a set of doe eyes that played him like a fiddle, “Really liked watching you take charge, you looked so sexy and strong. Had to press my thighs together a few times when you weren’t looking, m’so achy for it.”

Joel cussed at that, cock jumping against his zipper as his mind reeled at your words. The thought of you getting off to him killing that man, just as he had got off to you killing the other, made him leak into his jeans. And you knew it would, Joel saw it in the way you bit your lip with the most innocent expression you could muster, practically begging him to fuck you until you were howling like a bitch in heat. 

“You’re such a dirty little slut for me, aren’t ya baby?,” Joel teased, laughing when a gush of slick further dampened the wood below you. 

The whimper you let out was turned into a high pitched keen when Joel leaned in and latched onto your core. It had been a long two months without your shaking thighs around his head as he drank you down like you were the finest brandy he had ever tasted, but he was finally home. He wasted no time, already so turned on that he had to reach down and release himself from his jeans before his dick had the permanent indent of a zipper on it for the rest of his life. 

“M-More, please, I need more,” you whined. 

The tugs on his graying curls grew increasingly persistent, until one sharp pull made him draw back from your core with a husky moan. The sharp sting traveled from his scalp, all the way down his spine, to his cock, which throbbed in response. Joel didn’t dare take himself in his hands, knowing that if he did it would be over in a few quick strokes. He was so pent up, so desperate for you, that he was surprised he hadn’t cum in his pants like a teenager when he was sucking on your nipples. Fearing that he might explode if he didn’t distract himself, he heeded your request. 

Joel watched your expressions closely as he slipped the first finger inside, testing the waters as he continued to circle your clit with his tongue just right. He waited a bit, stroking that sweet spot that only he could easily reach with the pad of his index finger until you begged him for more. When he was sure you were ready, another finger slipped in alongside the first, then another, until he had three fingers scissoring inside of you. He felt you open up for him, blooming beautifully under the digits that thrusted away inside your clenching walls as he sucked your clit between his lips, and it made his heart sing. Joel had been so worried that the first time back at it wouldn’t be fun for you, but as you shook and moaned beneath him, he was happy to have been mistaken. 

“J-Joel oh shit, yes, yes, yes. S’good, you’re so good, fuck,” you babbled, yanking him impossibly closer as you reached the precipice. 

He moaned at the sparks that skittered down his spine, bringing all of his nerve endings alive as you used him for your own pleasure. Just when Joel thought he might die if he didn’t taste your cum on his tongue, you let out a garbled cry and bucked against his face hard, making him slam your ass back down against the workbench so that he could work you through it. Your release bathed his face in the most delicious nectar he had ever tasted, the same one he had dreamed about for months, and he drank up every bit of it. Joel was insatiable, suckling at your folds like a man possessed until you were groaning from the overstimulation and weakly shoving him away from your spent core. 

“Oh my fucking god Joel, I’ve missed that,” you panted, giggling at him when he finally pulled his shiny face away from your folds. 

Joel playfully nipped at your hands when they reached down to clean some of the release from his face and his heart sang as he heard the full-blown belly laugh you gave him in return. He joined you, chuckling as he stood up and wrapped your twitching legs around his hips. The way you looked at him had him on cloud nine, so much so that he almost forgot about everything else. 

All Joel wanted in that moment was to hold you as tightly as he could, refusing to let go until you made him. However, when he leaned forward to fully embrace you, he felt his cock brush against your weeping slit and nearly blacked out. An embarrassingly loud groan that was half a whimper, half a garbled shout, rang out in the air and his fingers dug into your hips hard. He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, dizzy and panting as he tried to get it together, but it must have been a while because you had to say his name more than a couple times to get his full attention. 

“Joel,” you repeated, finally bringing him back from the fog he was under. 

Joel didn’t even realize that he had snapped his eyelids shut, too focused on not cumming before he had the chance to feel your walls wrap around him to pay attention to anything else. With the softest gaze, you pulled his face closer to yours and brushed your lips over his. Although he longed for you to claim his mouth in a searing kiss, you resisted him, continuing to ghost your lips over his until his entire body broke out in goosebumps. Joel was in a daze when you finally pulled away, completely drunk off of you as you cupped his face with both hands. In that moment, he would have torn his heart out of his chest and presented it to you on a silver platter if you asked him to. Hell, he’d do it anyway if he thought it would make you smile. 

“Stay with me baby, it’s just you and me,” you chided softly. 

Joel nodded dutifully at your request. How could he not? He had never claimed to be a particularly smart man, but when the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life was naked and asking something of him, he knew enough to not argue. Instead, Joel gripped his length and pressed it to your entrance, pausing to look at you for confirmation one last time before he pressed inside. 

“Still good honey?,” he checked in, ready to back down the second it became too much for you. 

“Please Joel, I need to feel you again. It's been way too long,” you begged, gazing up at him so lovingly that he felt his stomach do an excited little flip in response. 

“Okay baby, I gotchu. Just tell me if something hurts or you wanna slow down, okay? Please honey, I want to make you feel good. Promise me you’ll say something if m’not,” Joel implored. 

“I promise,” you whispered, closing the space between the two of you with a kiss that muffled his whiny moans as he pushed himself inside. 

Joel was slow at first, focusing on the way your lips felt against his to keep himself from slamming into you like he wanted to. He told himself that it was you he was worried about as he worked himself inside as gently as he could, but in reality it was him that was the issue. When Joel finally slid home, he let out a high pitched whimper that reddened the tops of his ears, his hips twitching as the half formed knot at the base of his cock begged him to fuck you into the workbench until you screamed. 

“Joel, you can move,” you mumbled, threading your fingers through his hair to scratch at his scalp. 

He shivered, letting out another desperate noise as he melted into you. Joel was at a loss for words, so drunk off your intoxicating scent that he felt like he wasn’t even in his body. Just seconds ago, he was the one calling the shots, and now all he could do was nose at the side of your neck as he let out the most pathetic whines. 

“M’sorry sweet girl, my girl, f-fuck,” Joel groaned, unable to keep himself from languidly thrusting in and out of you as he did, “I’m not going to last long, you feel too good, too soft, shii-it. This pussy is too fucking perfect, she’s fucking choking my cock baby fuuuck.” 

Joel’s hips stuttered as you clenched around him, making him pick up the pace a bit despite his attempts to keep himself under control. Nevertheless, it seemed that you were determined to break him and he hissed as he felt you clamp your teeth down on the gland on his neck. A rush of endorphins flowed through him as you broke the skin, your tongue sealing what must’ve been the hundredth claim you’ve made over him. It made all the muscles in his back tighten up but he tried hard not to completely lose it, ignoring the way that his cock was steadily leaking fat globs of precum into your stuffed cunt. 

“Don’t want you to hold back daddy, fuck me like you want to, like I’m your little slut. Want to see you cum for me, need it so bad. Don’t ya want to give it to me?” you asked softly. 

Joel’s eyes rolled into the back of his head at your filthy words. Although he was under strict orders from the doctor not to cum inside of you unless he wanted another mouth to feed before the other two were out of diapers, he suddenly wanted to throw caution to the wind and knot you anyways. He wouldn’t do that, but your words still made him draw his hips all the way back, until just the tip of his cock remained before he slammed himself back inside with one brutal thrust. Stilling for half a second for any pained cries from you, he was relieved to feel your fingers dig into his shoulders as your pussy eagerly welcomed him back in with a lewd squelch that echoed throughout the barn. 

“Shit darling, listen to how wet she is for me,” Joel drawled, starting an unforgivingly fast and hard pace that had you crying out for him in seconds. 

“J-J-J-,” you stuttered, already too fucked out to answer him as his hips pistoned into the cradle of yours with all his might. 

With a clenched jaw, Joel lifted one of your legs so that it hung over his shoulder, opening you up so that he could reach even deeper than before. He watched with a smug grin as you collapsed against the bench, head lolling against the wood as you babbled nonsense. The way your tits jiggled with each thrust as he rammed himself inside had him a daze. So much so that Joel barely registered your cries when he brought your other leg up to drape over his opposite shoulder, effectively bending you in half as he leaned forward to smash his lips into yours. 

The kiss was nothing more than an assertion of dominance, with him using his skilled tongue to make your mind spin as he fucked into you with all his might. Joel needed you to remember this, to remember how good he was at taking care of you like this so that you would never think to look at another. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew that there were other people in Jackson who had noticed how sexy you looked after bouncing back from having the twins. He saw the way they stared at your cleavage as you walked by, regardless of the way his bite marks stained your neck. Joel knew you had options and he trusted you completely, he just needed to remind you why you had picked him over the pricks in town that tried with all their might to peep down your shirt when they thought he wasn’t looking. 

“Mmmpfh, daddy please,” you squealed when he pulled away from the kiss to gulp down lungfuls of air, bringing him back from the spell you had him under just moments before. 

“What babygirl? What d’ya need?,” Joel huffed, continuing to pummel your pussy into submission as he did. 

You whimpered, too lost in pleasure to voice your request. Luckily, Joel knew you better than he knew himself most days, which meant that he knew exactly what you needed. He shoved his thumb into your mouth, making you gag on it as he kissed your neck and whispered sweet nothings in your ear. When your pussy started clenching around him, getting tighter and tighter by the second, he quickly withdrew the digit from your mouth and drifted it downwards so that he could rub tight circles against your wildly throbbing clit. 

“JOEL!,” you screeched. 

Joel laughed at that, surprised at how responsive you were to his touch, and decided to up the ante a bit by leaning forward to capture one of your swollen nipples into his mouth again. With his cock slamming into you so hard that it knocked a few tears from your eyes, his thumb working your nub as his mouth alternated between both of your sensitive tits, you were a disaster. All it took was one sharp bite to your left nipple and you were gone, your release spraying out of you and soaking his thighs as you came. And Joel could do nothing but fuck you through it, using every last bit of restraint he had not to knot you like he wanted to. 

He kept going until your pussy finally released him from its tight hold, finally allowing him to pull out so that he could rub himself to the sight of you. As Joel tugged on his dick, grunting as he watched the way your pussy gaped from his absence, he had to continuously remind himself not to follow his instincts. Now wasn’t the time to knot you, as it would undoubtedly lead to yet another child that neither of you were ready for. Nevertheless, it took everything in him not to slam himself inside and spray your walls with white as he had countless times before. 

However, it seemed you understood his conundrum, as you quickly reached up to yank his face back into your chest. Joel whined, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he latched on to your swollen nipples again. He felt his cock throb painfully as he continued to fuck his fist, slurping up every dribble of sweet milk that touched his tongue as he did. But it was when you started whispering in his ear, playing with the curls on the back of his neck as your honeyed words brought him to the edge, that he knew it was over for him. 

“C’mon daddy, don’t you want to paint my tits with your cum? I want you to get them all filthy, just like you did with my pussy. Please Joel, for me?,” you cooed. 

That sent Joel flying off the edge and he pulled back so that he could spray thick ropes of white all over you. He came so hard that he had to lock his knees so that he wouldn’t fall backwards, spurting cum over your swollen breasts, your cute tummy, the patch of curls that adorned your pretty pussy, and even the bottom of your chin. When he was finally drained of it, he slumped into you with a sigh, burying his nose into your gland so he could gorge himself on your scent as he came down. Joel didn’t care about the way his cum was sandwiched between the two of you, likely sticking to his abdomen as well, all he cared about was getting as close to you as he possibly could. 

“Joel, baby,” you called to him after some time, lifting some of the fog that had settled over his sated mind. 

“Joel’s not home, call back later,” he groaned, hugging you even tighter in defiance. 

The laugh you let out made him smile and he pulled his face back a few inches so he could watch it unfold. The brightness in your eyes when you looked at him was something Joel could never get used to, his breath stuttering in his chest every time he saw it. It made him want to do something crazy like brand himself with your initials or find the ring he had been thinking about getting for the past two months. Perhaps one was less crazy than the other, but Joel didn’t care. He would do both in a heartbeat. At that point, all it really came down to was whether he found the branding iron or the ring first. 

“Baby, as much as I’d love to stay here and cuddle, my mom has probably already left Tommy’s place. We’ve gotta clean up and head back before they realize we’re gone,” you reminded him. 

Joel made an indignant noise at the reality check but nodded, pulling away with annoyed grunt to emphasize his distaste. As he looked down at himself and then you, he gasped when he realized how much of a mess you both were. Dirt, blood, slick, and cum covered every inch of your bodies, ensuring that any Jackson resident that ran into the two of you on the way back would have nightmares about it for the rest of their lives. Nearly every piece of clothing the both of you had was tattered and bloodied, leaving Joel standing there dumbfounded as he tried to think of what to do. 

“Baby, don’t worry about it, mama came prepared. I packed a spare set of clothes for the both of us. It’s over there in the diaper bag,” you said, pointing towards the bag that usually held all the supplies needed for the pups, “Can you grab it for me?” 

He balked, “You packed spare clothes for this? In our children’s diaper bag?”

“What other big-ass bag could a mom get away with carrying around at all hours of the night? Plus, I had a feeling we’d need it.,” you shrugged, “There’s wipes in there too. Now, can you grab the bag or do you want me walking over there with these wobbly ass legs?” 

Joel shook his head in disbelief, turning so that he could snatch the bag from the corner of the room. Although he wanted to argue that carrying the diaper bag for this type of mission was ridiculous, he had to hand it to you; he hadn’t once noticed that you had brought it along. Since Alba and Ellis had been born, the light green bag was always slung over either your shoulder or his. So much so that it had begun to blend into the background of day to day life. And as he used the wipes you had brought to clean the filth from his skin, he was appreciative of your ongoing ability to surprise him. 

After Joel was changed into the fresh pair of jeans you had packed, along with the thicker flannel you had been thoughtful enough to stuff alongside his t-shirt to save him from the cold, he turned towards the mess. Blood was stuck to the sides of the walls, staining the wood as it dripped down onto the dirt floor below. The bodies were another issue, as he wasn’t sure how he could possibly make their deaths look natural. Not only that, but burying them would leave a patch of disturbed ground that would give them away way too easily. Joel briefly wondered about dragging them into the abandoned town and making it seem like the infected had gotten to them, but decided he didn’t want to risk the two of you running into a horde. 

“What are we gonna do?,” you asked him as you finished dressing, quickly coming to the same conclusion as him. 

Joel sighed, “Suppose we probably should have thought that before we killed ‘em.” 

When you didn’t answer, he groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he tried to conjure up a solution that didn’t give you both away. Joel wasn’t sure what would happen if evidence of their brutal deaths was stumbled upon by the patrols, but he was sure that he didn’t want to find out. Maria had already placed him on thin ice, and he knew that if he was ever ousted that there would be no way he would be able to convince you to stay in Jackson without him, regardless of how many times he tried to argue that it was the safest option for the twins. 

The thought of the two of you lugging Ellis and Alba back through Wyoming, all the way to the only other home that you had shared together in Montana, made him lightheaded. It was fall, soon to be winter, and if anything held the trip up, he wasn’t sure that the twins would be able to survive the harsh cold that came with being on the open road. Not only that, but Joel couldn’t remember what kind of supplies he had left at the cabin, and he wasn’t sure what he would do if the seasons had messed with the solar panels he had once relied upon. Plus, if Paul’s men had found you both there, who's to say that something like that couldn’t happen again? Although all of your shared enemies were vanquished, there were still a lot of people in the world that wanted Joel dead. People that might be thrilled to find out he had a mate and two pups he loved very much, people that might use that against him in the cruelest ways imaginable. 

“What if they smoked?,” you piped up, pulling him from the downward spiral he was headed towards.

“What?,” Joel sighed, the exasperation in his tone evident as he turned towards you. 

“I said, what if they smoked?,” you repeated. 

Joel watched as you walked to the other side of the room to grab something from one of the shelves, flashing him a pack of camels with a toothy grin. At first he wasn’t sure what you meant, but then it dawned upon him. There were bales of hay stacked in one corner of the space and the wood that held up the structure was so dry that the whole thing would probably collapse the moment flames reached the sides of it. Plus, a fire meant that any evidence would be turned to ash by the time anyone got to it, all that would be left would be bones. 

You tossed him the ancient pack of cigarettes, along with a box of matches that had a cartoon farmer smoking a pipe on the front, and Joel grinned at you from across the room. 

“Honey, you’re a fucking genius.” 

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV Trailer (me losing my freaking marbles - YOLO) Pt2

I'm just going frame by frame thru AMC'S BEAUTIFUL new IWTV trailer. But I had to split this into 2 parts cuz Tumblr won't let me post 30+ pics. 🙄

They transition from Louis telling Claudia "It's you and me," to BB!Dan being "disrespectful"--yelling at Louis wanting him to make him a vamp, like we heard in S01E01.

And they immediately cut to the clip we've seen before of Louis crying & being dragged off by some old dude (if that's a vampire I feel bad for him, LOL). This might be Claudia/Madeleine's execution, rather than the Trial itself, cuz Louis was wearing a different outfit. (And Claudia's wearing the YELLOW DRESS! Imma be sick! 😭)

So I wonder when the "best outfit" Jam Reiderson said Claudia wears is gonna take place--which I'm assuming is the red Flamenco dress from the posters.

It is SO incredible that we're actually gonna see The Trial, and LESTAT BEING THERE, and seeing Madeleine & Armand & Santiago.

It's interesting that they cut from Armand saying it wasn't SanFran where he failed Louis but Paris, and jump to hallucination!Lestat mocking Armand, yelling "HA!" Is Louis' outfit the same as the one where the old dude dragged him out crying? It kinda looks the same. So is Louis imagining Lestat being FURIOUS with Armand for what's about to happen to Claudia? I wonder why Les is in THAT suit, cuz it looks like the same one he wore in S1E03 the night he kicked Jelly Roll Morton out of town & ragged on Louis about not wanting to kill humans.

Good lord, here we go. #GoneTooSoonMadeleine. U_U And I LIKE THE IMAGERY of the joint/shared transformation, nodding to Claudia desperately wanting Louis to be her (blood) spouse, as they make Madeleine together.

Jfc Louis really did almost kill BB!Daniel. O_O He shattered all that plaster--that's brain damage for sure--no wonder he can't remember the interview, LOL. (I still think Armand used the Mind Gift to make him forget everything.)

A lot of paintings and canvases--art heist Armand?! Are we finally gonna see how he made all that money, going around stealing priceless treasures!? (You can see Armand's feet floating, LOL.) Or is the inside of that chateau his coven raided, "we own dominion!"?

Daniel asking Louis: "YOU BUY THAT?"

AMC thinks they're FUNNY! Cuz they cut right from Armand stealing art he didn't BUY, to lovebomber!Lestat laughing in the townhouse and Louis yelling in what looks like a train station? So he's freaking TF out in public (just like Paul).

Ooooo--then they have Lelio!WolfKiller!Lestat about to attack someone (Magnus? Nope, I double-checked it's Armand cuz ofc it is), looking like the freaking BEAST in his red cape--

--right before we get Lestat's POV of Louis and him fighting in Ep5.

Cuz yeah, Lestat had snapped, and was beating Louis like he was a DOG, like he wasn't even seeing a PERSON, let alone someone he was supposed to be protecting from vampires/monsters LIKE HIM--and OMFG Louis was in blue just like Belle was during the wolf attack--I hate this show.

And they immediately jump from Louis getting beat by Lestat to what I assume is Louis getting jumped by the Theatre--trapped in the coffin they were gonna bury him alive in.

What on earth is Claudia throwing? I swear I think these are bombed/blown-up body parts--pieces of someone's life gone cuz of the WAR. (And immediately cut to Loustat fighting.)

"Who are you, Louis? If there was no ME, if there was no HIM." So yes, the fan theory that Louis WANTS those pieces gone are correct. Or rather--Louis THOUGHT that having those pieces removed would help him. He thought he could recover the lost parts of himself if he wiped his mind of the painful memories. But something must've triggered him--likely finding Claudia's diaries after the 1970s--we are SOOOOO deep in Merrick territory. Cuz Louis wants those memories BACK now--with a vengeance.

*squints* Are they really GOING THERE with Lesmand!? O_O That's not Nickistat, right? Cuz the very next clip is Armand--using telekinesis on Louis (or Daniel?) WTF?!

And then we see the familiar clip of Armand using the Fire Gift when he first meets Louis. Just paralleling how much Armand openly flaunts his many gifts in front of Louis, while Lestat tried to hide everything he could do to not scare Louis away--until Ep5 ofc.

Doomed "happy" "family." YELLOW DRESS ALERT ☝️. The calm b4 ish hits the fan. They immediately cut to Claudia being "welcomed" by the Theatre and Santiago zooming thru the tunnel--

--DEATH to all of them! "F**k these vampires"--Claudia never lied!

Louis, you are just too dang pretty--GTFO off my dang screen. 😍

Another YELLOW dress--these images are cursed.

Loustat reunion at the Trial, if that's the same outfit Lestat wore here.

Give him hell, Armand! 😈 He wanted to be the Devil's Minion so bad--here you go! Look at all that glass shattering around him; no wonder Daniel's scared for his life, LOL! (If this is actually Louis throwing a fit I will DIE.)

Louis finna GO OFF on this BUFFOON! So THAT'S why Armand was mad! XD Louis (or Claudia?) was about to rip Santiago's whole jaw off! XDDDD

The sound of Louis just crying has me in a STATE. AMC is doing something SO freaking different from the film & the books. Louis is actively trying to make sense of things, as we see this poor man just suffering with PTSD and mental illness; with no one to HELP him but some crotchety old man who borderline hates him, and an old AF vampire who'd loves him so much that he'd rather have Louis forget everything cuz ignorance is bliss. 😩

Louis WANTS to remember everything. Armand does NOT want the interview. And Daniel is scared.

Holy freaking goodness, what an incredible trailer. 👏 May 12th can't get here fast enough!

[adelheidvonschicksal]

I don't even like thinking about toji taking megumis girl. Like, in my mind he's trying to atone 😪

Yes!!! Let’s talk about it!

He loves ‘Gumi so much. He was just having a bit of a ✨ emotional breakdown ✨ during that whole selling him off deal. And personally I was coming off the Shouto train so it hits twice as hard cause he always gets his GF taken by Endeavor or Dabi (sometimes Bakugo), which Dabi makes sense since he HATES Shouto. But post-atonement Enji 😭I totally get the kink though (tbh I kinda like it in reverse 🤭). There’s actually a really GOOD fic I like called U&I with Bully!Megumi and you sleep with Toji to kinda get back at him after finding out he’s been using you. I like the revengeful ones or when it’s a 2-parter and they find out what you did.

BUT I DIGRESS, okay so I got some big brainrot and I was half asleep and started thinking about it and ahh! Plus I didn't post for his birthday so this is like the most slap together, grammarless of my brain rotting (and you brought it about Nonnie, so you gotta take responsibility lol) but:

»»———-　　———-««

(SFW) Imagine okay, like a modern AU: Toji is trying to be a better dad after the endless benders after losing his wife. He went from floating from random woman to woman, trying to catch that feeling again like when he was with his first wife. It always devolves into the same thing with him squeezing them dry for every penny he can get before moving on to the next with Megumi in tow. Sometimes it didn’t include Megumi, Toji would leave him alone for weeks to months at a time as he got older, occasionally bringing home some new mom that he’ll eventually abandon at the end of the day or that eventually gets tired of him; tired of both of them because Megumi refused to be nice to anyone Toji brought home.

But it finally hits him to be better, to try to be a good parent. Sadly, it’s too late. Megumi is a teenager now, one year from graduating high school and going to college, where Toji will definitely not have any chance to atone. He doesn’t blame the kid, it’s his own fault.

However, he sees a lot of himself in his son. The apathy that borders depression, the lone wolf attitude, the quietness and independent streak, the very small number of friends (if any, because Megumi NEVER brings anyone over or talks about school at all, usually avoids talking to him in general). He isn’t really sure what to say to the kid, not that he’s figured it all out himself or that Megumi would even listen to him. Indifference was the best he could hope for most of the time.

Then one day, he shows up at home with someone. A girl, even. And you’re cute, way too chipper to be following around his wallflower of a kid. Always entering and leaving with a “Hi, Mr. Fushiguro. Bye, Mr. Fushiguro. Looking good today, Mr. Fushiguro. Love the haircut, Mr. Fushiguro. Rocking that sweater, Mr. Fushiguro. Have a good day, Mr. Fushiguro.”

You seem too good for nobodies like them; and when he teases Megumi with the notion, his son claims you’re just his class partner for this semester, nothing else. But Toji sees how soft he gets around you, the little bit of extra effort he puts in trying to make conversation when you’re over, the blush and grouchy embarrassed complaints he makes whenever Toji tells him to leave his room door open when you guys work on projects in there. The complaints usually get a little quieter given the right laugh from you.

You have a good effect. Megumi seems a little less tense, walking the world with a little less cynicism even though it’s still clearly there. He starts hanging out with two other kids from his school, Megumi claims they’re your friends, not his, but Toji has seen the pink haired boy over twice without you. Overall, you all seem like a really good kids.

One weekend you pop because you and your friends were in the neighborhood and wanted to see if Megumi wanted to join in on whatever you’re doing. Unfortunately, Megumi’s not home, but it gives Toji a small window to prod you a little about your relationship with Megumi. He’s observant enough to notice by now that the two of you like each other but he just wanted to hear it from you, and you make the most darling lovesick face when he asks. As far as he can piece together, you’re not dating officially but the entire world treats you as you are.

When Megumi finds out what happened though. He doesn’t like it, and he makes it clear that the interference was highly unappreciated it. Toji is simply sitting in the kitchen and trying to enjoy his apple, and he’s getting the interrogation treatment by this little gremlin (affectionately) half his size.

“What were the two of you talking about?” “Nothing in particular.” “If you don’t need anything then don’t bother her.” “Why? You don’t want me speaking to her?” “No. She isn’t your type anyway.”

Then, Megumi starts going off on a tangent of why Toji shouldn’t be interested. You’re too young, you're still months off from 18, you don’t have any money for him to leech, and there’s no way you can decide on a movie together with that age gap; 'You’ll kick the bucket 30 years before her' is the meanest one though.

Based on the disrespect, it still looks like Toji has a lot of work to put in but it’s almost cute, in an grouchy, bratty (also affectionately) sea urchin type way that he’s getting so worked up over you. He thinks the kid will combust if he mentions that he does think you’re cute (in an overly energetic bubbly kind of way), and it makes him release a short chuckle as he resists the intrusive thought, which only serves to make Megumi’s frustration even worse.

Normally, he'd get tired at this point and ask if Megumi was done mouthing off yet, but this time it makes him glad to see Megumi getting so worked up over something. It’s a good feeling to know his actions didn’t completely ruin his son, that he didn't completely destroy Megumi's ability to care about life like his former family and the world had once done to him. It makes smile the tiniest bit even as Megumi seems to try to trudge away after making his point. Whatever point there was to be had. The boy is such a chronic overthinking about everything and everyone, including if you’re one of those girls at the school that squeal when they see him pick him up at school on the rare occasion.

“Hey,” Toji calls out to get his attention. “Do you know what you’re doing?” It’s not the best words but it’s the only way to sum up the familiar feelings he gets of his past, right after he left his family, right before he met Megumi’s mom. And after losing her without ever really making the most of everything back then and treasuring the moments together. “It’s hard to find something like that. Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

He can sense the tension draining from Megumi, the panic and shaky nervousness from seconds ago leaving in the form of drooped shoulders and a soften, mildly confused expression as he looks back at him. Something seems to finally click in that overly worked brain of the younger Fushiguro and he mumbles, “I know.”

And Megumi gets that look again, that quiet one, too caught up in his own head.

"Do I need to make room for a daughter-in-law in that case?" he asks lazily before taking another bite of his apple, the chewing echoing. It's enough to earn some grumbles and a red face. He smirks when the boy quickly decides to hobble back to his room and hide away in embarassment. Like a normal kid.

And Toji thinks that maybe…a small maybe… that maybe they’ve gotten a little closer. If only in that moment. Regardless, he really hopes that the talk is one of those things the school already covered because he really doesn’t want to be responsible for that.

[wings-of-ink]

I was thinking about an ask I wrote some time ago where MC asked Duri to teach them, if possible, to also be able to turn into a wolf. And Duri, in your answer, used the opportunity to make fun of MC.

But here is a funny scenario: What if against everyone's expectations, MC did end up turning into a wolf after following Duri's instructions. After all, we don't know MC's true origins. By all we know, MC may have some God blood in them, and may possibly be able to turn into an animal and just didn't know.

If you want it would be lovely if, like the original ask, both Oswin and Duri were present. But I understand if you want to limit the scenario to just Duri.

Hilarity and chaos would ensue. This is a fun one, lol. ^_^

Link to the first post:

Picking up where we left off:

You feel the burn of embarrassment as you turn your back on the laughing god and start to follow Oswin. You can't help but pout too...you wanted it so badly. Duri may have made a fool of you, but it doesn't stop you from admiring their wolf-form. You want that for yourself, it calls to your spirit. There's a pull, an unspoken link with your soul.

As you make it through the trees, Oswin sighs heavily. "I should have interrupted sooner...I shouldn't have left you alone with that idiot..."

"It's fine. Maybe I was silly to ask such a thing." You shrink in on yourself.

Oswin stops. "I don't think it's silly. This world is more fantastic than either of us thought...it's not wrong to want to play a bigger part in that."

You can't help but smile a bit. "You really think so?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. You're already fantastic in other ways - you don't need to be a magic wolf or anything to be great." He turns to you with a wide and sweet smile, his eyes shining with something unspoken.

The humiliation you feel slowly drifts away as you match his gaze...until his brow begins to furrow. "What's wrong?" you ask.

"Your...well, your eyes..."

"What about them?" You touch the side of your face, perhaps you have dirt near your eyes.

"They're...um, they're glowing." Oswin looks a mix of fright and wonder as he stares at you.

You can barely register what he says before the light bursts from your eyes and surrounds you. You see Oswin flinch from the brightness as you feel a sudden warm sensation in all your limbs. And then, it's over. You look around, and nothing seems unusual...except...now you feel shorter. Why am I shorter? And your clothes...are on the ground. Why am I naked!?

Oswin looks down at you, mouth agape.

You make to speak, but it comes out as a yip. Oh...oooooh.

Duri rushes through the brush behind you. "What was that? I felt..." They spot you.

As you meet Duri's eyes you feel a flood or warmth - a connection - and your heart pulls in excitement. Whatever feelings you had for Duri before are amplified and a whine leaves your throat without your realization.

Duri cups a hand over their mouth and looks from you to Oswin and then back. "They're so cute..."

You growl.

Oswin kneels. "I don't know what to say..."

You watch him closely and notice he's smiling. He's giving you the same look he gets when he sees puppies and seems to be resisting reaching out to pat you. I think he likes this...

Gently, Duri turns your attention back to them. "I had a feeling you had secrets, lambchop, but nothing like this...I hope we're not related..."

You show your teeth - are you smiling or snarling - that's a gamble Duri will need to take.

"What a pretty coat too." Duri guffaws.

I wonder what I look like...

The demigod grins. "Difficult to describe, but your face is black and so are your ears, but the rest of you is a lovely mottled silver. Your eyes are the same color but much lighter than normal - they sort of glow."

You tilt your head.

"And, yes, I can hear you...in a way."

Oswin scoots into your line of sight. "Would you...would you permit me to pat your head? Please?"

Your tail wags.

Oswin gently rubs your head and ears - it feels spectacular. Duri joins in and scritches your chin. No wonder wolves and dogs scramble for this.

Humming in thought, Duri looks you over. "I wonder why you are normal wolf size...maybe you'll grow into it - I was really small when I started. You should get as big as me and we can terrorize the forest together...scare the shit out of the locals." A wicked grin plasters across their face.

Oswin is cupping your furry cheeks, smiling as he gazes at you. "This is wonderful, but I do hope you know how to change back..."

Shit.

[ragnarokhound]

hey sweetie how are you. I made banana bread for breakfast tomorrow but DON’T touch it till then, it won’t be as good

there’s a post going around about the dynamic of a guard dog character, a lamb, and a wolf (one wants to possess and protect the lamb, one wants to devour it). How do you think jaytimkon fits in this?

ps… 10 things i hate about you? thoughts?

hey sweetie, i'm pretty good uwu had a nice day yesterday walking around my neighborhood with a friend! <3 And ough herrghh mrregghh gragghhhh (<- actively holding myself back from tearing into the banana bread immediately, i'll be strong for you bb but know that you are testing my limits in new and exciting ways)

Putting my responses to both (!! >:0) the jaytimkon and 10 Things ideas under a cut because *deep sigh* it got long lol

BRUH. BRUHHHHHHH. You cannot simply say this to me. You Cannot. Simply. SAY THIS TO ME, YOU'RE NOT SLICK

Once again testing my limits in new and exciting ways because I have a different WIP deadline fast approaching so I simply cannot write more for my actively inspired by guard dog x lamb x wolf jaytimkon WIP to SHOW YOU, in DETAIL, EXACTLY how i think jaytimkon fits into this, BUT

My feelings on this are many, and partially answered in these asks already. But I'll reiterate that they are all three facets simultaneously, baby. Depending on who's talking, they think of themselves as this, that, or the other; the loving, vigilant protector - the helpless, vulnerable bleeding heart - the hungry, slinking interloper. The story I have been brooding over for almost a year now (egads) WILL feature a somewhat slowburn where each of them takes turns realizing which one they are and slowly changing their minds as the narrative progresses and their relationship heats up 🔥w🔥BUT BE PATIENT BECAUSE I SURE HAVE TO BE (*whining and whimpering i crave this banana bread)

P.S. I love the taming of the shrew, and it's absolutely perfect jaytim material are you KIDDING. Cramming two different concepts into one ask. Evil. Diabolical. I love my wife.

10 Things I Hate About You is such a fun movie, and I could honestly see the role of Kate being played equally well by either Tim or Jason lol, and in a somewhat reverse robins style, Dick taking on the role of Bianca. Wally or Kori or [Your Choice Here] in the role of Cameron, wanting to date him. In fact, ohhhh OHHHH okay. Okay bear with me while i cook--

Consider Oldest Child Dick Grayson-Wayne who is super popular, super well loved, everyone wants to date him - but he always begs off because he doesn't want his younger brother, Jason, to be left in the lurch. Standoffish, bookish, i-heard-he-did-time, 'whats it to you' Jason, who has maybe two friends but they go to a different school so he doesn't have anyone to sit with at lunch besides his charming older brother. Dick's party line is, "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my bro. Good luck! :)" (Something something, Dick and Jason are both adopted, something something Dick doesn't actually wanna date anyone, send tweet)

NOW. Fast forward to when Dick meets someone he might actually want to date. But to keep the ravenous hordes away from him, he still, regretfully, must stick to his guns. Jason needs to be dating/friends with/hanging out with/etc someone else before he and this person (again, Your Dickship of Choice Here) can boogie down.

Cue Dick nudging Jason out of the blue to strike out on his own and Jason getting squinty-eyed suspicious (and secretly a little hurt) that Dick apparently sees him as some kind of burden to be offloaded or whatever. Thanks bro. :(

Thus, Dick and his prospective SO hatch a Scheme. A Scheme to see Jason Woo'd in such a way to keep the heat off Dick from both the collective horny student body AND his sensitive younger brother. Enter Tim Drake.

Tim transferred this year and people have been speculating like crazy about him. His grades are insane so people think he'll be a nerd, but he skateboards to school so people think he'll be a stoner, but he's crazy athletic so people think he'll be trying out for the swim team or something - but mostly? People don't know shit. He's friendly enough, but stays apart. An enigma. Cuts school at least twice a week, hasn't seemed to pick any one crowd with which to integrate, is unaffiliated with any one piece of the greater student body. The most anyone can really tell is that he's just a little unhinged and strapped for cash. He'll pull some crazy stunts - if you've got the money.

Which makes him perfect.

Cue Shakespearean shenanigans leading to Some Asshole (your choice of Dick notp here) offering to pay Tim if he dates Jason Todd-Wayne. Tim thinks it's kinda stupid and an asshole move at first, but apparently the money is too good for him to pass up. So he bites.

Tim stalkers his way into interacting with Jason (something something Jason shoving Tim against the wall outside a 7-11 after school and snarling in his face, "i know you're following me. the fuck do you want" and Tim smirking at him, "to ask you out." Jason blinking, then dropping him like he's been burned. "Bullshit." Tim shrugging and running to catch up, falling into step beside him. "It's the truth." Huge Jason side-eye.) and events spiral from there.

(Vulnerable conversations. Jason: People look at me like I'm trash. Like I'm one bad day away from snapping and proving that they were right not to trust me all along. Like I don't have feelings that matter. I like that you're not scared of me. I like that you seem to fuckin'... like me. Or whatever. But I don't know how to trust it. Tim: People only want me around when they think they can get something out of me. They don't like me just what I can do for them. You've never made me feel like that. You don't give a shit about what I can do. It makes me want to-- it makes me want to give you things. To do things for you. I dunno. I guess I'm just waiting for you to tell me to fuck off and finally mean it.)

The reveals go badly. Hurt and betrayal on every side. (Turns out Tim needed the money because his mom's dead, dad's in a coma, and the family company that was supposed to keep Tim afloat has gone belly up. All of his parents' money is tied up in trusts and behind red tape. He's on his own.) Jason is pissed at Tim, but pissed at Dick especially.

The brothers fight. It's a doozy. Dick apologizes for going over Jason's head and manipulating things. Jason apologizes for being an asshole and making Dick feel like he has to be the responsible golden child 24/7, and also for punching Dick in the face. They promise to do better. Then Jason tracks Tim down to his shitty apartment (Tim had seemed super nervous the one time Jason had tried to come home with him, and now he thinks he knows why) and bangs on his door. He hasn't been to school in over a week.

They fight. It's great.

("What you did was shitty." "Yeah." "I don't forgive you for it." "...yeah." "So you better start thinking about how you're gonna fuckin' make it up to me." "Y-yeah?" "Yeah. Like fuck I'm missing prom this year when I finally have a fuckin' boyfriend.") (Now kiss)

[don't ask me how old they are/what grades they're in. i simply do not want to contemplate it. i'd call this a college au for my own sanity, but the very premise and interest in social hierarchies is just so inherently high school that it would fall apart lmfao]