elk creek, a werewolf roleplay

[rigbees]

☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰ 𝙇𝙐𝘾𝘼 𝘽𝙇𝘼𝘾𝙆𝙃𝙄𝙇𝙇 ☰☰
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☾ he/him . 30 . wolf pack subordinate ☽ tag. Frankie, mentions everyone location. town, house

It’s always a great time when Elijah has time to have lunch with him, Luca thinks. His brother is a very busy guy, so getting to hang out with him and catch up on all the juicy doctor drama is always a fun time. Even if Elijah doesn’t appreciate the workplace tea as much as Luca does, it’s funny trying to get him to remember and relay details the other people working there have told him. Luca thinks one day he should just show up at the clinic and tell that guy Luis he’s an idiot and clearly Rosetta is in love with him.

He can’t remember exactly what they do at the clinic, probably just more doctors, but he damn well does remember their entire workplace slow burn romance, or whatever Elijah bothers to remember and tell him anyways. If he were the slightest bit more bored, Luca probably would actually go into the clinic and enact project ‘get those two idiots together’. Maybe he can someday convince Elijah to pretend he’s a patient so he doesn’t have to barge in. Probably too professional to allow Luca to be an idiot in his workplace though.

Luca isn’t surprised when Elijah gets called back in, already having gone over the time limit Luca thought they would have. Again, he’s a busy guy. Luca simply finishes his lunch in comfortable silence and then goes about his day.

Somehow being the opposite of Elijah, Luca’s schedule is typically really lax. He works with Jackson at the record shop, but the job isn’t really stressful to him, and he’s comfortable around Jackson as well as the others that work there. Not having anything else specific to do, Luca decides to head back to the house to continue a painting he’s been sort of working on for the past few weeks. Progress is slow, but again Luca doesn’t mind things being slow. He enjoys his calm life and could not imagine having a stressful fast paced job. While he may be okay with most things, it would be a tough adjustment.

Once he arrives back the very first thing he does is change into pajamas, his favourite state of being is in his dark green hoodie and pajama pants he long ago had the matching shirt for. The shirt has been missing since basically the first week of owning the set, but that was fine by Luca. The sweater is his favourite, and it’s covered in all sorts of different paint colours. Prominently on the sleeve cuffs, due to Luca’s inability to keep them rolled up they constantly slip down his arm and dip into the paint.

The painting in particular that he’s working on is the lake nearby. The sight is beautiful, and Luca has been trying to capture the proper vibe. He doesn’t paint everyday, so it’s a slow process. He mainly only does it once he has some free time and the urge. Often he uses his free time for other things, like his little garden in the back, or his favourite thing, napping.

Luca doesn’t want to waste his productive feeling while it lasts though, so he sets up his desk and starts playing some music. His main playlist is affectionately called ‘Eli I have better music taste than you’ and it contains almost every song Luca has ever enjoyed. He likes to hit shuffle on it and get surprised every time, enjoying the absurdity and genre changing constantly.

As he paints Luca can’t help but dance to the music, often using his paintbrush as a microphone for his concert for one. He gets completely lost in the work, having a great time, so the rest of the day passes in pretty much a blur for him. He only realizes how long it’s been when he hears various voices throughout the house, and feels the pain in his back from the awkward hunching and terrible chair.

Wondering if the voices mean something is happening, Luca tries listening for what they’re talking about. He doesn’t hear anything special, but once he opens the door to check what’s up, he smells blood and blinks in shock. He doesn’t see anyone, but he follows the trail towards the sick bay. Realizing the voices belong to Jackson, Huan and Elijah, Luca retracts his steps back into his room. He would like to know what's going on, but he’s not a fan of interrupting Elijah while he’s working and he trusts that someone will let everyone know eventually. If anything bad had happened, besides some mysterious injuries, they would have woken people up. With that thought, Luca returns to his room and tries to ignore the nagging feeling that he should check on them anyways.

–

Luca is definitely not a fan of being woken up at seven am. He’s sluggish as he enters the kitchen, one of the last of the pack to arrive, and is barely awake enough to remember the smell of blood last night to realize something important must be going on. He plops himself down into the seat next to Elijah, and absentmindedly hits his brother on the shoulder before glancing around at everyone.

As he slowly wakes up some more, he processes the somber vibe of the room and the serious expressions on everyone's faces. Everyone is accounted for, Jackson, Frances, whoever that is, Huan-

Luca finally fully wakes up when he spots the unfamiliar face. Startled, he glances around at everyone, as they act like the stranger is no big deal. Luca vaguely remembers someone having mentioned an unfamiliar scent around lately, but nothing has come of it, so he had no idea that they would be getting a new pack member. If the girl is joining their pack anyways. Luca honestly has no clue, and tries to rack his brain to see if anyone has talked about having actually seen the source of the new smell. Luca isn’t sure if the stranger has seen him, but he waves anyway. Doesn’t hurt to start off on a good foot if she is a new pack member.

Once the meeting actually starts, Luca sits up straighter and pays attention. The very first thing Jackson says has Luca internally freaking out, having no clue about any of it. A vampire attacked them? Is that why he smelled blood last night? Luca re-counts the heads of everyone in the room despite having just done that, confirming that everyone is here and accounted for.

At the next sentence, Luca frowns, feeling terrible for the poor person that Frances found. He loves the people in this town, and he knows any loss is a terrible one. Luca crosses his arms, regretting now not having followed up last night to get this information.

He listens intently as they go on, peering at the map and following along. He may not have been involved from the beginning, but he’s invested now, and will follow this through until the end. He was here when everything happened ten years ago, and he would do anything in order to have it not be repeated. Luca glances towards Elijah, thinking about their poor mother who they lost in the last attack. He spares a thought to their living mother, and decides at the earliest convenience he would like to visit her.

When Luca gets his assigned job, he nods and stands, quickly mumbling to Elijah to be careful before he walks up to Frankie.

“Looks like it’s you and me Frankie,” Luca says, offering a small smile to try and lighten things up a little bit, “I'll follow you.”

[друг]

🟆. ─────── 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐄

xxxxxxxxxxxx29, elk creek subordinate, tagging: Luca mentioned: Jackson, (all/pack) location: woods

Frankie only gave herself a moment to feel bad about what had happened to the camper, before allowing the cold, determined part of her brain to take over and assess the facts of what needed to be done. Although the ambitious tracker in her had hoped to be the one to return to the campsite and follow the trail of the vampire where she had last parted from it, she understood Jackson's decision. He had already asked her to put herself on the line once the night before, and as they needed all hands on deck, it seemed best to send her to do recon and attempt to put together the pieces of what had happened in Elk Creek before the crash. Not that it was any less dangerous, in the end. A feeling creeping along the nape of her neck whispered to Frankie that these were more than coincidences — they were being deliberately targeted.
indentindentWith a nod of her head, she invited Luca to fall into step with her as the pack began to disperse from around the kitchen table. Although Jackson had not explicitly told them to shift for patrol, Frankie knew that they could cover much more ground on four legs. Neither did it hurt to be protected in case something unexpected were to happen. It did, however, mean that they would need to be on the lookout for hikers and keep their distance from the busiest parts of town. Frankie did not bother with a coat, passing by the clothes rack in the entry and heading straight outside through the door.
indentindentThe morning sun had washed the horizon the shade of fiery orange, the clouds on the cold blue sky above tinged a soft pink at the edges. Fresh air washed over Frankie, and while it wasn't particularly cold, the sun was yet to warm the ground and there was a certain bite in the air, smelling of morning dew and the night's chill. She stood at the top of the steps for a moment, stretched out her shoulders and heard a satisfying crack from her spine, before regarding Luca from the corner of her eye. She was glad one of them had gotten some sleep the previous night, because they would need to keep their senses sharp.
indentin"Let's head east to the ravine before circling back north around the town," she said, walking down the steps and heading around the corner of the house, to the eastern wall. The woods that rose beyond were slowly filling with light, frost-framed plants thawing and patches of moss steaming gently in the sun. In spite of the few wandering clouds in the sky, it seemed like it was going to be a clear day, but there was no telling what the visibility would be like near the river. She could smell the cold moisture in the air, chilly against her face and puffing her breath into a faint cloud.
indentindentWith a final glance to make sure that Luca was ready, Frankie shifted on the spot, shook out her thick brown coat, then broke into a loping run for the edge of the woods. The ground underfoot turned from packed dirt and emerging grass to soft dirt beneath a springy mantle of pine needles, and the sharp fragrance of sap and spring vegetation struck her as soon as she entered the trees. Although she was moving faster than they would on two feet, she kept the pace low enough to survey their surroundings with enough care to notice anything out of the ordinary.
indentindentIt wasn't long until they were approaching the sound of rushing water. Frankie pushed through a wall of bracken, the fronds brushing against her sides and leaving her coat shimmering with droplets of water. She slowed to a jog as the ground sloped down to a narrow fox trail, which ran along the rocky edge that hung over the white-frothing waters below. The ravine was a river that had carved a deep rut into the cliffs, its bottom treacherously deep and filled with sharp rocks, and she had no intention to go for a swim that day. Despite them being several feet above the surface of the water itself, the ground became muddier there, causing her paws to sink into the soil with each step. Frankie drew the cool air into her lungs.
indentin"Seems to me they haven't been anywhere near here," she communicated her thoughts to Luca, trying to keep the note of disappointment from her thoughts. "Let's head back into the woods and start walking the edge of town."

The trail began to peel away from the drop to the ravine and back toward the pine woods. As the ground sloped up slightly and led them back into the shade of the trees, Frankie noticed that a fog had risen, hanging white and obscuring between the boughs. She could barely see ahead of her.
indentin"Ears open," she alerted Luca, bowing at the last second to dodge beneath a branch that had appeared from the mist. That was when a familiar icy smell struck her, burning its way up her nose and into her throat. Vampire. But it wasn't exactly like the trail she had picked up at the crash site. There were at least two of them, then. She glanced over her shoulder at Luca, her hackles beginning to bristle, uncomfortably aware of the fog closing in around them.
indentin"Smell that? Someone's been through here. We should hurry back to the meeting point."
indentindentFrankie picked up her pace as much as she could without running into the trees that kept emerging in front of her. A shape seemed to whip past, a dark blur in the periphery of her vision, and she spun around to follow it, but it was long gone. A low rumble rose in her chest, equal parts warning to Luca and to whatever was lurking in the fog. Another blurring shape, weaving among the trees, before fading into the curtain of fog. Then again, and this time Frankie lunged after it, jaws snapping together around nothing but air. What?
indentindentShe turned around to find Luca, but could not find him where he had been following her earlier. At once, several shapes were surfacing from the white fog, and as Frankie attempted to keep them in her view, she realized that they were all the same. A man, dark-haired and tall, his skin white as marble. Illusions. We're being ambushed. She lifted her head into a sharp warning howl, the sound rising over the woods and reverberating into the distance. Then she dove in for the one in front of her, the shape bursting like a cloud of smoke as she struck it and landed, briefly stumbling, on the other side. They had no choice but to flee and find the others.
indentin"Run!" her mind yelled at Luca, hoping he could still hear her.
indentindentFrankie crashed through the woods, losing and regaining her footing on unseen obstacles, and scraping her skin on rough bark, taking splinters out of trees in her wake. A weight heavy as stone fell upon her back, sending her sprawling and skidding through the litter of the forest floor. She scrambled to regain her footing, trashing and snapping at the load on top of her, but she did not manage to shake it in time. A grip like steel wrapped around her neck, and as the vampire planted its feet against the ground, she was lifted, hanging by her throat and kicking helplessly at air.
indentindentA chokehold. The vampire began to squeeze, and pain erupted in Frankie's neck, an immense force pressing down on her muscles and bones. She could not draw air and her thoughts began to blur, vision darkening, and dread spreading into her body like a shot of poison. She trashed but she was losing control of herself, feeling the strength draining from her limbs, her body growing slack. Luca, where are you?

[друг]

↟. ─────── 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃

xxxxxxxxxxxxx32, elk creek alpha, tagging: Cassia mentioned: (Frankie) location: house

"Cassia," Jackson repeated with a nod and a fleeting attempt at a welcoming smile, but as the pack began trickling out of the kitchen and he heard the sound of the front door, all he could manage was a concerned frown in their wake. He felt the need to be with his pack as they headed out on patrol, but if Cassia had any intention to become one of them, then she deserved his time just as the rest of them did. And truth be told, if things were getting as bad in Elk Creek as they had once been, Jackson would not lie to himself and refuse to admit that he was desperate. They needed reinforcements, or the situation could take a turn for the worse — he might have been an optimist, but he was a logical one. But no matter what, the decision was still hers. He couldn't make it for anyone.
indentindentBlack crows flashed past the windows, cawing as they made for the sky. Jackson felt the shiver of someone having shifted nearby. They must have startled the birds. He ran a hand over his hair and straightened himself, then rolled away the map they had used just to give his hands something to do.
indentin"Listen," he began carefully, lifting his eyes to regard her. He may have welcomed many others into the pack, but there was no speech to make, no ceremony. Each of them were individuals, and they had the right to be treated accordingly. "You may have already noticed that it isn't always the safest thing to be with us. Yesterday, we had been living in peace for the longest time, and today, we are again battling something dangerous that we have sworn to fight against until we no longer can. These things can change in a night, and we can rarely predict it, no matter how hard we try." Jackson wandered out of the kitchen and into the living room for a view through the tall windows. The yard was empty now, his pack having gone to find the vampires that threatened those in Elk Creek. Again he felt the pull to be with them.
indentin"What I told you earlier still stands. You're free to stay with us as long as you need, whether you intend to join us or not. And I'm not going to ask you to make the decision now, but joining this pack means protecting the others and the people of this town with your life, and whether that is something you want to do is a decision only you can make. No one else gets to make it for you — not me, not the pack. All I can say is that it can be a meaning, a purpose. Something that can bring sense to an existence that doesn't always feel the most rational." He turned back to Cassia.
indentin"If you choose to join us, nothing but that decision really matters to me. Not where you came from or who you were. Your past is your own to share as you choose, even if that means keeping it to yourself."
indentindentA haunting howl pierced into the house, barely an echo of itself as it carried to him from the distance, but nonetheless, a black, cold stone of fear dropped into the pit of his stomach. All the while a wave of heat shimmered over him, a controlled instinct to shift and go to his pack. Jackson shot Cassia an apologetic glance, even as his mind was consumed by worry for his family.
indentin"I'm sorry, but I have to go. If you already know, you can follow me and — as far as it matters to me — you'll be one of us. But you're free to stay, or attend to whatever you need done, although it might not be safe to go out alone right now. No one is going to chase you out either way."
indentindentJackson could barely contain his oncoming shift as he made his way out of the house, and then he was bursting into a mountain of fur and muscle, and bounding across the yard for the woods. From his chest rumbled the answering howl of a mind blind to everything except the call of one of his own.

[Ashton_99]

⟸✯ᴄᴀꜱꜱɪᴀ ᴀʟᴅᴇʀꜱ-ʟᴏᴄᴋᴇ✯⟹
⟸✯The Newcomer ✯ She/Her ✯ Tags:Jackson mentions Huan ✯ Location:House+woods ✯⟹

As the meeting finished, members of the Elk Creek pack moved quickly around the kitchen and through the halls of the house. Cassia was left sitting in her claimed chair, not quite sure what to do. She felt a bit useless really, like an intruder in the well-oiled machine that was the pack. But what was she to do other than wait? Belatedly she caught the thumbs up and smile that Huan had thrown at her. It was an appreciated sign of encouragement amongst all that was occurring Eventually, though it was only Jackson and herself left and Cassia could admit to herself that she was a little nervous. There was no language barrier to save her from a conversation potentially going awry this time. She was so consumed in her thoughts that she practically jumped in her seat when Jackson called her name. It startled her though it was nice to hear instead of perpetually being referred to as ‘the guest.’

She shot him a small smile, reading the distraction in him. Though Cassia felt guilty about having to keep him back so that they could talk while the rest of his pack went out to hunt vampires, it was a conversation that needed to occur. She was quickly becoming tired of being out of the loop. The dark shapes of the birds through the window caught her eye. There were wolves out there, more than Cassia had ever been around before. There was a buzz under her skin, knowing that. Part adrenaline, part fear. She was not one of them but she could be. Her attention fell back on Jackson as he began speaking.

Through most of the speech, she could only nod numbly. Biting on her nail as he spoke. It was an awful habit made whenever her mind went into overdrive attempting to compensate for her racing thoughts. She was so distracted that it took her a moment to realize that she should follow Jackson out of the kitchen. Abandoning her chair she shuffled after him. Not having a clue how to respond to the summary of the pack’s mission statement she stayed quiet, eyes tracing the distant treeline out of the tall windows while he continued speaking. ’A meaning? A purpose?’ It was an overwhelming concept for someone such as Cassia, who for years wandered listlessly from place to place. Never quite comfortable no matter where she had landed. There had always been an inch under her skin keeping her moving. She still felt that itch now, but for perhaps the first time she wasn’t sure about following the instinct to turn tail and run from this offer of community and responsibility. ’It’s terrifying but… maybe.’

And then came the howl. It sent a prickling sensation across her skin, breaking her out of her spinning thoughts. Her body tensed and she opened her mouth to speak but she couldn’t manage a word before Jackson was already rushing out. His final words thrown over his shoulder caught her. Making her freeze. ’Gosh what am I even doing anymore.’ Now was not the time for her usually endless deliberation. The sound of Jackson’s transformation spurred her into action. Despite not even being sure if she wanted to join the Elk Creek pack she raced after the alpha. Her foot hit the porch and fur burst from her skin.

She was a wolf once again.

Over hills and through dense clusters of trees she followed at Jackson’s heel. While her leg was feeling better and the supernatural healing factor had seen to most of her pains, Cassia’s shoulder was still giving her trouble as she worked to keep up. And while she did not add her own howl to the chorus she was not going to run and hide. Not this time. An ambient growl rumbled in her chest as the icy scent of a vampire drew nearer still. She was not a highly trained fighter but, for this pack- for Jackson, Huan, and the healer Elijah- she would do her best. They had offered her a kindness she had not felt in years and so even if she did not join them in the end, she would fight. She would repay them however she could. She had to.

[Ashton_99]

«❖ᴇʟɪᴊᴀʜ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋʜɪʟʟ❖»
«❖The Healer ❖ He/Him ❖ Tags:Huan ❖ Location:house+woods ❖»

The smile Elijah gave Huan was closer to a grimace than his usual grin. Would things turn out alright? He wasn’t sure. With history on the horizon threatening to repeat itself it certainly didn’t feel as if everything would be fine. Still, he forced his smile straighter, putting on a false confidence as his shoulders squared. “Right, yeah. I’m sure everything will work out.” Elijah was doing his best to convince himself the words were true. Mentally repeating the mantra he followed the last look Huan threw over her shoulder as they left and saw the visiting wolf, Cassia. He cast her a sympathetic gaze, the poor woman half-looked like she wanted to throw up with how nervous she appeared.

By all accounts, Jackson was a warm and friendly man, but he couldn’t fault Cassia for her nerves. She had come at what was essentially the worst possible time. He didn’t envy her.

Elijah breathed in the clean spring air. The weather in Elk Creek could get fairly cold, but the chill could never match the frosty scent left by bloodsuckers. It had been nearly a week since Elijah had last transformed. Work and day-to-day chores had kept him too busy to enjoy his other form. So there was a catharsis in the shift to his wolf now. A veritable return to nature even in spite of the circumstances.

The wolf that Elijah became was largely tan and brown, long-legged with his dense coat making him appear larger still. Despite the appearance of spring his winter coat was still going strong. Elijah stretched out, his joints popping satisfyingly.

He waited for Huan to transform as well before taking off in the direction that Frankie and Jackson had pointed out to them on the map. Criss-crossing through the underbrush and through the familiar wilderness Elijah followed were the pack’s beta lead. He was careful to keep an eye out on their surroundings, his senses plunged into overdrive. Somewhere out in the woods was an unknown number of vampires, waiting, planning something. And he would be damned if they got the drop on them again. The pair slowed as they neared their destination towards the foot of the mountain.

The scent of blood, human blood, was heavy in the air. Even a regular person would be able to smell it. Elijah was, by nature of his day job and role in the pack, no stranger to blood. But this was different. This was a sign of worse to come. A human life snuffed out for a midnight snack. The morning around them was still despite the gore that he knew awaited them beyond the dense brush. There were no signs of life in the area beside the buzz of flies and the distant chatter of a squirrel. He glanced at Huan as they stopped a few yards short of the clearing, waiting for her go-ahead to approach. Only upon receiving it did he slink forward and out of the shrubs.

The sight that greeted them was horrific. It was as if a particularly murderous tornado had ripped through the camp. Elijah pawed at the tipped-over ice chest, the contents were scattered across the dirt. ”I’ll look around the body. See if I can figure out how many were feeding and any other signs.” With that thought sent to Huan, he picked his way around the chaos, attempting to leave as few signs of his presence as possible. The last thing they needed was for the local cops and hunters to think ‘wolf’ instead of ‘mountain lion.’

The man’s body was a sorry sight but Elijah did not pause. He inspected the body critically, angling himself so as to not step in any of the bloodied mud. The scent of rot was strong. The corpse had been there for a full night by that point and Elijah could feel nothing but pity for the man. He’d had the unfortunate luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Scents mixed throughout the clearing, the sweet smell of adrenaline still present from the night before. It was an undertone to the thick metallic scent of blood and icy smell of the vampire- vampires, Elijah corrected himself mentally. With the way the different notes all piled on top of each other, it was difficult to discern the exact number but Elijah was sure of one thing. The vampire who had run Jackson’s truck off the road was not alone.

[rigbees]

☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰ 𝙇𝙐𝘾𝘼 𝘽𝙇𝘼𝘾𝙆𝙃𝙄𝙇𝙇 ☰☰
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☾ he/him . 30 . wolf pack subordinate ☽ tag. Frances location. woods

Luca is happy to follow Frances’ lead, knowing she’s for sure better at this type of thing than he is. He isn’t sure how to feel about everything in fact - on one hand, he doesn’t want to freak out and add another source of anxiety into the group but on the other, it’s terrifying to think about things repeating. He tends to try and be optimistic about things though, so he focuses on staying calm and thinking of reasonable excuses for everything that has happened. Just because he can’t think of any good explanations right away, doesn’t mean they're not there.

As he follows her lead and shifts, Luca can’t help but look up towards the sky. Since he’s not typically up and active at this early hour he doesn’t have the opportunity to admire the sunrise much. It’s truly beautiful, an indescribable sight. Luca appreciates how the colours of the sky meld together, and faintly wonders if he could recreate the look in a painting without having to wake up this early again.

Once he’s had his moment to appreciate the view, Luca refocuses his senses on their surroundings. He shouldn’t get distracted and be the reason they miss something important. He stays a few steps behind Frances and trains his eyes and ears as much as he can. The chances of him finding something Frances doesn’t are low, but it’s better to be safe than sorry in this type of situation.

Once they eventually approached the ravine without having seen anything, Luca feels a little bit nervous. He isn’t sure whether Frances intends to walk along it, but he eyes the muddy trail with distrust. If either of them fell it would not be a pretty sight. Luca can just imagine Elijah calling him an idiot for getting himself into that situation, if he fell and managed to survive. Luca is definitely not the best swimmer, if the rocks didn’t do the job then he probably would need all the help he could get to get out.

He’s relieved when Frankie communicates to him that they’re heading back towards the woods. He doesn’t acknowledge the disappointed vibe he gets from Frances. He won’t judge her, but being disappointed about not walking along a death trap is a foreign concept to him. Maybe growing up with a doctor did knock some sense into him after all.

As the two of them continue on, Luca feels more and more tense, the fog getting thicker causing him some level of anxiety. Especially as Frances tells him to be alert, he listens to the instructions and makes himself focus even harder, so fixated on listening for any signs that he almost ignores the smell. He notices it just a moment before Frankie turns to him, and his stress level rises by one hundred percent.

At Frances’ comment, Luca agrees and speeds up to match pace with her. He tries to stick as close as possible without running into her, the intense fog making him worry about getting split up.

Luca can feel all the hairs of his body stand on edge, unsure whether his worry is causing him to see things in the fog. Although, judging by Frankies attitude, whatever he can see in the fog is real. Luca joins her in the warning noises, trying to sound intimidating to whatever is out there. Judging by the speed and the lingering smell, Luca assumes vampire.

Just as Frances launches herself at something, Luca is distracted by a second figure to the other side of him. Panicked but trusting Frances to take care of herself, Luca charges towards the other figure. As he runs, the figure seemingly disappears, and Luca stills, trying to strain his eyes to see through the fog. There’s no way it could’ve just vanished, right?

A figure blurs past him again, leading him further away from Frances’ direction, but Luca doesn’t think, he simply follows. Determined to catch up, he runs as fast as he can, almost tripping over the roots and forest debris as he chases. Just as he finally manages to catch up, the figure dissipates. Luca’s heart drops.

A fake. He was being led away on purpose. The realization hits just as he hears Frankies howl. Without pause, he turns and runs back the direction he came, pushing himself past his limits. He concentrates on any sound he can that could lead him to Frances, feeling terrible for letting himself be fooled into abandoning her.

Not giving himself time to beat himself up, Luca speeds up even further, ignoring the pain and warning signs from his body.

Once he feels like his body is about to give up, Luca finally manages to catch Frankie’s scent. He adjusts his direction to beeline for her, and dodges the trees as best he can while not losing the direction.

Finally seeing Frances through the fog sends a cold feeling of dread all throughout Luca’s body. He can see the way she’s being held up, and without considering the consequences he races towards the vampire, launching himself with as much of his strength as he can muster, he aims for the vampire's legs, hoping to throw it off balance so that it’ll drop Frankie and she can escape.

He doesn’t consider his own safety as he attacks, simply wanting to save Frances. Once the vampire drops her, Luca will have to find a way to escape being next and get out of there. He hopes Frankie isn’t too injured or breathless, otherwise escaping together may be a challenge.

[rigbees]

☰☰ 𝙃𝙐𝘼𝙉 𝙔𝘼 ☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰
☾ she/her . 31 . wolf pack beta ☽ tag. Elijah location. woods

Huan takes a moment to have a breather once her and Elijah exit the house. Taking the time it takes him to transform as somewhat of a break. She feels like she needs to simply breathe in the morning air, closing her eyes and concentrating on the feeling. It's centering and calming, allowing her to feel slightly more confident. Once Elijah finishes transforming and getting used to it, Huan deems her short reprieve finished.

She shifts as well, shaking out her fur a little bit. She’s well used to this form, taking every opportunity to shift that she can, but right now it only serves as a reminder of the danger the pack is potentially in. Although, it’s less of a potential and more of a circumstantial situation. Sure, there’s a microscopical chance the vampires mean no harm to the wolves, but the very fact they’ve killed a human in Elk Creek means now the pack has to confront them. It’s not something she especially looks forward to, even if she knows it’s important.

Huan takes the lead, following the path she thinks will get them there the fastest. She has a mental map of Elk Creek, having been here so long, so it wasn’t hard for her to memorize the location pointed out to her in the meeting earlier and figure out a way to get there.

She keeps herself aware as they move, bordering on paranoia as she tenses at every noise. She checks behind her often, making sure that Elijah truly is still behind her, despite the fact that she would’ve noticed had he gone missing.

As they arrive at the destination, Huan feels her stomach drop at the overwhelming smell of blood. She cannot stand the scent, knowing it belongs to someone she failed to protect. Realistically she couldn’t have done much, but she still partially blames herself.

She pauses another moment to let her stomach settle, before gesturing to Elijah, a go ahead to inspect further. Following behind him, she tries to avert her eyes from the worst of it. She feels faintly guilty that Elijah has to be the one to get up close and personal, but she’s aware that he is probably at least a little desensitized to this type of thing, and they need his input to figure out more details. Anything he can get from this is helpful, even if it’s small.

Huan circles the camp, trying to find anything that may help in her own way. She doesn’t see much, and honestly isn’t sure what she’s looking for. It’s not as though the vampires that did this would leave any obvious sign. Despite knowing she isn’t likely to find anything, she continues. She keeps her eyes and ears peeled to the surroundings, while also keeping her nose lowered to the ground, trying to pick up and memorize the scents of the vampires. It’s hard for her to differentiate them, but she could probably recognize the scents if she needed to.

As she’s doing her third lap around the camp, she first catches the sound of some sticks crunching before catching an unfamiliar scent. Panicked, she races towards Elijah and sends him a message to hide. Managing to concentrate just enough to avoid leaving a trail stepping in the blood, Huan makes sure that Elijah is out of sight before her. The smell wasn’t in the familiar acidic scent of a vampire, but even being spotted there by humans is asking for trouble.

Huan lowers herself as the sounds of the group approach, silently hoping they don’t come across the body.

Unfortunately, her wish doesn’t come true. Huan spots them just in time for them to see the camp, and whoever is front lets out a vicious scream. Huan feels terrible, but they can’t allow themselves to be seen here.

“Let’s head to the meeting place, hopefully we got everything we could,” Huan communicates, turning and walking carefully, making sure not to step on anything that will make a noise. She forces herself to ignore the sounds of the group, as they cry and freak out over the scene. She peers backwards only to see if Elijah is following, before continuing. They didn’t manage to catch the trail, so hopefully the others are doing better.