Rose invites Raphael for a walk in the woods

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Date/Time: 19th May, midmorning
Location: The woods (off the manor grounds)
Status: Private (Rose, Raphael and probably later Belial)
Summary: Would you care for a walk?

Rose was slowly walking towards the edge of the woods. Still troubled by the events and revelations from two days ago she had offered Raphael to walk with her through these woods today and she hoped he'd come. She wanted, no, she needed to talk to him...

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[halosphere.livejournal.com]

If Raphael had his wings he would have used them to keep off the rainwater dripping from the edges of the building. There was a slight mist, but otherwise it was a perfect day for a walk.

He entered the timberline of the woods, but didn't dare call out for Rose or Cloud. Instead, he leaned against one of the tree trunks and waited patiently for her.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Keeping eyes and ears open in case someone else thought it a good idea to take a walk in the woods right now Rose explored the edge of the woods. She really mustn't be overheard when she told Raphael what she wanted to tell him.

Raphael's scent told her he had arrived and she just followed the traces of it in the air until she saw him leaning against a tree trunk.

She greeted him wit a fond smile and a gentle hug.

"Good morning, Raphael"

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Raphael hugged her warmly. "Good morning, my friend," he smiled. The mist in the air seemed to make her hair glitter, as if they were tiny diamonds.

He pulled away and held out his elbow for her to take. "Shall we?"

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose put her hand in the crook of Raphael's arm and smiled up at her friend.

"Yes, let's walk for a bit. I wanted to talk to you, you know. I couldn't stop thinking about what you said the day before yesterday. I never told you much about why I'm here, did I?"

All the time she kept her ears open to pick up any approaching sound.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

"No, you haven't." He knew that Rose's trust in him had been somewhat forced -had he not found her that day he knew she would not have told him. Raphael wondered if she ever worried that he would slip up and say something, and he wished he could ease that fear. Even when completely intoxicated he knew he would never betray her.

"I was curious," he admitted. "But I didn't want you to feel you had to tell me." And for the countless time that day, he caught himself trying to wrap a wing around only to find it no longer there.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

"Thank you. It's... difficult... for me. I mean, nobody outside the pack is to know, and if someone knows it should be as little as possible. But I think you should know."

Rose gripped Raphael's arm a bit tighter, needing the reassurance of her friend being just next to her.

"And of course I couldn't tell you anywhere we might be overheard. That's why I suggested the walk today. I have sharp ears and will hear approaching people long before they can hear what we're talking about."

She breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly.

"It's a long story, I'm afraid. And not a very nice one. You see, last summer someone shot Silver. Silver was the fur form name of my Aunt Sylvia. She was shot in the head one night when she was checking the flock. We told everyone she'd finally moved away - she'd talked about doing that for a long time so nobody doubted it. We thought it had just been some idiot thinking he killed nothing more than a farmdog. We didn't tell the police because we didn't want them nosing around on the farm. And they wouldn't have persecuted the perpetrator as murderer, of course, because it was 'only' a dog who got killed."

Rose took another deep breath.

"But that wasn't the end of it. Some time later, Ebon - our Uncle Jason - was shot in the head while checking on some ewes. We found a silver bullet in the dirt. So we concluded someone had found out about our true nature. That those hadn't been accidents. We didn't know what to do and so we called an old friend of our pack who recommended a PI who can keep a secret and doesn't flinch at meeting non-human beings..."

Here she made a pause, watching Raphael for reactions.

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As Rose was telling her story Raphael found himself irresistably drawn to comfort her. His heart ached atthe horror she must have felt at finding her family with dead. The nightmare of Gabriel being dead had been traumatic but that had been a dream. For Rose, it wasn't something she could wake from... It was real.

He brought his other hand to come on top of hers, willing himself not to speak just yet, but his eyes said it all.

I'm so sorry, Rose... I'm so so sorry...

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Raphael's hand felt comforting to Rose. It made it slightly easier for her to continue the story...

"When the PI and our friend arrived, we told them about the three humans in the area who knew about our true nature.

Dr. Dixon had found out over 40 years before when our grandparents emigrated from Holland. Grandmother was pregnant at the time with Aunt Nadine and Aunt Sylvia and she went into labor. Dr Dixon hustled them into his office before Grandfather had a chance to carry Grandmother away. You know, normally the pack handles births, we don't normally use doctors. In the office Grandfather changed and almost ripped Dr Dixon's throat out. The doctor was lucky there were problems with Aunt Sylvia - I don't know what exactly - and Dr Dixon helped and so Grandfather let him live. He's handled any doctor stuff we needed ever since.

Arthur Fortrin, the game warden, tracked us after a kill we made in the woods. We hunt deer in the woods, you know? He'd never betrayed us before and he was away during the time Silver and Ebon were shot.

And that left Barry Wu, my brother Colin's partner with the police. My older brother is the only one of us who has what you'd call a job. And he trusted his partner with his life, but Barry as a great marksman was of course suspicious. It was difficult for Colin..."

It had been difficult for all of them. Rose took a deep breath before she continue.

"We thought that nobody else in that area knew what we were. I mean, we're careful, our life depends on being careful, on not letting anything slip. We live on a farm outside town, we are taught not to change form in school or anywhere else in town.

During the investigations, the friend of our pack got shot in the shoulder and my father got hit by a ricochet. Both survived and are in fact fine again, but it was... frightening. And then Peter, my twin brother, walked right into a trap one of the killers had set for him..."

Here she just had to pause, the memories were so overwhelming.

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At that, Raphael couldn't help but turn and pull her into a tight embrace. Rose had been carrying such a painful burden this whole time, this whole time, and he...

He had been so selfish...

He knew saying things like "It was be okay", or "Things will get better" wouldn't help any. She had truly lost family. Someone had betrayed them and... and...

I have been so so selfish...

He lightly stroked her hair, trying to be comforting as her memories resurfaced. "It's okay, take your time. I have all day..."

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Talking about her family only made her miss them worse. And the embrace reminded her how much she missed the constant touching inside the pack. Nothing big, just tousling someone's hair, brushing against others, being groomed. It wasn't only that she couldn't change form here as often as at home but also that she missed the company of her pack so much, the playing and napping and hunting and grooming...

So she practically melted into Raphael's embrace, snuggling close and embracing him as well, breathing in his scent. Not the scent of another wer but at least the scent of a friend.

When she continued to talk she stayed in the embrace but leaned back enough so she could talk freely and so that Raphael could see her face again.

"Thank you. I'm used to much more physical touch than I got the last months, you know? Wer just touch way more than humans...

Anyway, Peter normally wouldn't have done something rash like trying to go after the killer himself, he would have told his alpha and the alpha would have taken care of it. But my scent had already changed and Peter reacted to that..."

Here Rose realized that Raphael had no idea of werewolf breeding and that she would have to explain it to him if he was to understand.

"Um, adult female werewolves go into heat once a year, at the end of September or begin of October normally. You could say I came of age last fall because I went into heat for the very first time. And I was a bit early as the investigations happened in late August. I wasn't fully in heat yet but my scent had already changed and the adult male wer could smell it.

In a mixed pair of twins the male twin is normally sent away before his twin goes into heat. Twin bonds are very strong with our kind and Peter would have injured himself in his attempts to get to me once the heat set in fully. I mean, every single male wer reacts to the scent, no matter the way they are related to the wer in heat. The alpha female makes sure nothing happens because she is the only female in the pack who gets to breed.

But with the killings and the investigations the alphas didn't want anyone to leave the pack and then as I said I was a bit early. So Peter smelled my changed scent and reacted. Not by trying to mate, I mean I wasn't fully in heat yet, but it changed his behaviour..."

She looked into Raphael's eyes, waiting if he'd understand, if he'd have questions...

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael felt his protective instincts shoot up and suddenly all he wanted to do was protect her. He had, at one time, been the Angel of Lovers and thus mating rituals were familiar to him. Or rather, they had been before he intentionally surpressed his knowledge of such things. After hearing this, he found he did have questions but he set them aside, lightly stroking her hair affectionately, silently trying to reassure her as best as he could.

Wings were good for such things, he realized.

"Did he hurt you...?" he found himself asking before he could stop it. Raphael did understand it would not have been her twin's fault -instinctive nature was quite strong, after all- but he couldn't help that strong desire to know she hadn't been... Well...

He pulled her into another hug.

How could I have been so selfish...?

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Rose was confused. Hurt her? Why would Peter hurt her? The confusion showed in her voice.

"Peter wouldn't ever hurt me, he's my twin. He wanted to prove to the other adults that he is an adult as well so he went after the killer all by himself instead of telling our alpha. If the PI hadn't found out who the marksman shooting members of our pack was that same night we wouldn't have found Peter as fast as we did."

She breathed in deeply, then out again.

"The moment I knew where Peter went I changed form and ran after him, followed closely by the friend of our pack who had brought the PI to us. As he isn't quite human, he managed to follow me - barely."

She wasn't about to reveal Henry's name or his true nature. Just because Raphael had accepted her didn't mean he would accept a vampire.

"We made it to the barn and I caught my twin's scent and just sprang. I would have ended up in one of the poisoned traps Mark Williams had hidden under false floor if our friend hadn't tackled me and shielded me from the impact with his body. We rolled over the floor and barely managed to avoid the traps.

Storm - my brother in his fur form - lay on a table and Mark Williams stood in front of it, covered in an apron and holding a knife in his hand. I managed to squirm out of the hold of our friend and attacked, but before I could close my jaws around Williams' throat our friend grabbed me again. We fought, me trying to get free, him trying to get through to me, to tell me that Storm was still alive. I stopped struggling when I finally understood the words and our friend commanded me to stay put."

And she had felt so helpless, trembling with the need to get to her twin and still unable to disobey Henry.

"Then others arrived. Uncle Stuart and the cop who's a friend of the PI and then Carl Biehn, the one who had shot members of our pack. Carl Biehn was one of our nieghbours and up until some years ago he came over to our farm regularly. You see, he was very religious and he always tried to save our souls - we aren't baptised and we don't go to church, you know? We were all so fed up with it but he wouldn't stop. One day, the twins - well, the other twins, my younger cousins Marie and Jennifer - were about six or seven, he came over again and he talked to the girls, telling them about hell, scaring them so badly they started to howl. Uncle Stuart chased Mr. Biehn from our property and if it hadn't been for Aunt Nadine he most probably would have changed form and attacked. I mean, you just don't do that to cubs. Jennifer had nightmares about his God for months.

And some day he must have found out about our true nature. When he arrived at the barn he started questioning his nephew, Mark Williams, about what was going on and they kept calling us the devil's creatures, satan's minions, claiming that killing us was 'doing the Lord's work'. While Mr. Biehn seemed to be satisfied by just doing something his God wanted him to do, his nephew wanted our pelts, to sell them. In the end, that was what worked to our favour as they were arguing and Mr. Biehn decided not to help his nephew."

Another deep breath in and a slow exhalation.

"When Williams realized his uncle wouldn't help him, he brought his shotgun around to shoot Mr. Biehn. I can't tell you why I did it, it must have been instinct, but I, still in fur form, just sprang, hitting Mr. Biehn squarely in the chest with my front paws so we both went down and the shot hit neither of us. In the meantime our friend managed to push Williams back until he stepped into one of his own poisoned traps and died. Him only being human meant the poison worked much faster in his body.

had to put it in two posts, was too long for one

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

So the danger for most of us was over, but my twin still lay dying on the table. We knew that his chances to survive would be better if he were able to change form because that cleans out infection and even poisons to some extent. But he was unconscious. It was the PI who came up with the idea that saved my twin's life. As our reactions were more linked than ever before now that I was approaching my first heat she suggested that if I, in two-legged form, were to hug and call him that might force an unconscious change. She was right, my touch and my scent made him change into Peter and the change helped him fight the poison. You can't imagine how glad I was...

After that all's a bit blurry for me, I was much too happy that my twin would survive to pay much attention. Mr. Biehn approached me, he apologized and said that he was wrong, that the way I had saved his life despite what he'd done to my family was the true way of the Lord. He thanked me. While the others were discussion what to tell the police, Mr. Biehn went into a corner of the barn and shot himself.

The PI and her friend, the cop, instructed all of us what to say and to do. Then they set fire to the barn to cover all suspicious traces. It worked. Nobody else found out about what really happened. But I was approaching my first heat fast now and they couldn't send Peter away who was still too weak and needed to recover from the poison. So they decided to send me to a distantly related pack in London, UK, to stay there for an indefinite amount of time. The alpha female there protected me during my heat, making sure nothing happened, but that pack just wasn't the same as my own pack. They were so different! They lived in town and they'd adapted themselves so much to human life. They seldom changed, there was no running around outside, chasing rabbits and playing with the other wer. They'd go on trips outside town when there nature called so strongly they couldn't ignore it anymore, but I still felt like I couldn't breathe there. They made me wear all those stupid human's clothes and learn about etiquette and behave like a human. When I couldn't stand it anymore, I packed a backpack with everything I needed and ran away. I just took the first bus I got, just to get out of London. Then I travelled on foot. I realized I'd have to find work if I ever wanted to be able to return to my true pack and that's how I ended up at the manor. I'm saving all the money I earn so I'll be able to get a flight back to Canada. And then I can just hope my alphas won't be too angry at me for running away, for disobeying. I really hope they'll welcome me back."

But she didn't know what would happen. And it showed in her trembling voice.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael threw the ball again and flew after her. He was having so much fun that for a moment he had actually forgotten he didn't have wings anymore and ended up in a pile of brush and leaves. Cheeks burning, he quickly stood and brushed himself off, hoping Cloud was too distracted with the ball to notice his lapse of judgement.

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Cloud came to a halt immediately after hearing the noises from behind her. She whirled around, checking for intruders, for dangers, but could only see Raphael getting up from the ground and brushing himself off.

Immediately she ran back to him, sniffing him carefully and thoroughly, even rising up to her hind legs to be able to sniff everywhere, wanting to know if her friend was hurt.

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"I'm alright, I had forgotten I didn't have wings. Here..." He opened the knapsack at his side and took out a flat plastic container. Inside was raw slices of meat, warmed up. He picked one in between his fingers and moved to get on his knees, rolling up the meat and holding it out for Cloud to have. "I brought beef, lamb and chicken. I'm an angel, so there's no pork, but I hope you like these. I warmed it up, but they're still raw."

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Cloud butted her head against Raphael's chest once, gently.

The scent of meat had her wagging her tail again and licking her lips. Food was always a good thing. How nice of her friend to bring something along for her. Though she did throw him a confused look when he mentioned that he didn't bring pork because he's an angel. For her there was no connection.

She happily chewed on the rolled up meat Raphael handed her while her ears were continually moving to catch every sound.

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Raphael grinned and pulled out one more container. "I made sure there were no seasonings so it wouldn't bother your system." Opening the lid there inside was a small piece of warm steak. "Steak is just a glorified hamburger," he stated with a playful wink.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Cloud rubbed her head against Raphael to show her appreciation before she carefully took the steak out of the container. She chewed the meat and looked up at her friend while her ears were in movement all the time.

Finally she even licked the container clean, the meat just tasted so good...

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Raphael made a happy sound, ruffling his fingers through her soft fur.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

A content sigh escaped from Cloud's throat as Raphael petted her. She pushed against his fingers, inviting him to scratch and stroke some more.

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Raphael reached into his knapsack and pulled out a brush, the special kind with the bristles that brush the the thick layers of fur. "If you're not in a hurry to return, after this I'd like to take you by the river. There's something I'd like to show you."

He abruptly remembered that was where he had left behind his wings and wondered if she would sense that. Still... Since he had not been able to return to his place in the Andes Mountains he had made a little secret place in one of the rock crevices. Rose had shared her secret, her story... Everything.

He wanted to share this with her.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Cloud wagged her tail, smiling up at Raphael as much as she could in this form. Then she lay down at his feet to let herself be brushed. She looked forward to it, it was nearly as nice as being groomed by another wer...

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael started at her face and carefully brushed the fur there. He continued down her neck and back, letting the bristles comb through the thick layers of her beautiful pelt. "Let me know if I'm brushing too hard, okay?" He didn't think he was, but he wanted to be careful not to hurt her.

[roseheerkens.livejournal.com]

Cloud barked once in the affirmative - not that she was sure Raphael would know the difference to any other kind of bark - and kept wagging her tail, enjoying the brushing very much. When Raphael was finished with her back she rolled over to present her belly and hopefully get brushed there as well.