𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 𝓰𝓸 𝓸𝓾𝓽 | Origami & Delryth

[Origami]

closed between Origami & Delryth​

 

[Origami]

Los Angeles was a wasteland after the collapse. In fact the entirety of California was a complete desolate mess. It hadn’t been long since the collapse, perhaps a few years, but who was really counting? People had acted like the world was ending, running to the shops to gather whatever they deemed necessary. She had been in class when the first warning of the societal crisis came out. Then weeks later came the collapse and the werewolves had taken over majority of the state.

The Council and of course the Peace Keepers were mostly werewolves, some shifters that had settled for a larger animal, such as a bear, lion or some other big predator had been given a position in the inner circle. For “protection” of course.

Juniper Portillo sat on the roof of Rosehill Shopping Centre downtown, with her legs dangling off the edge of the building. The inside was hollow and stripped clean, stray items lying scattered around. Broken glass from the storefronts everywhere from people smashing the windows. It was a sad sight. Something June never thought she’d experience. But really who expects a total collapse in society, your president giving up on your state, leaving its citizens to fend for themselves. Shifters and werewolves had always been at each other’s throats, there was a very obvious line splitting the species before the collapse. Now? Now it was pure hate and a power struggle between them. Werewolves were pack creatures, no matter how you twisted and turned it, shifters not so much. They could form groups, but it was rarely as tight as a wolf pack.

As a shifter, her pack was her family. But with them gone, she had formed a new family. Said family consisted of 6 kids and June. Frankie who was two years younger than her, Maggie who was just a year younger. The twins, Iris and Penny, who were three years younger than her. Billy was Corey’s age and then of course there was Corey.

The two had grown up together and when her family left, he was all she had. They agreed immediately to use her house as a base, which was located in Anaheim Hills, not far from the city. Which also meant they didn’t have to worry about the Peace Keepers roaming around their property, fucking around with them. Anaheim was out of their territory, which meant they could do as they pleased. Inside the city was a different story. There was a lot more werewolves wandering around, and shifters weren’t extremely popular. Neither were humans, but they got a pass for whatever reason.

June leaned back on the balls of her palms, enjoying the final evening sun on her face before it set and the moon rose. Her dark brown hair cascaded down her back in soft, natural curls, slightly tangled from climbing and navigating through overgrown parts of the mall to reach the roof. But it was worth it. The skyline looked untouched at first glance, a serene silhouette against the dusky sky. Yet, upon closer inspection, the buildings revealed their hidden scars—windows shattered, facades crumbling, overtaken by vines and nature reclaiming its space. The contrast was striking; it was a bittersweet beauty, highlighting the silent decay of neglect.

It had been six years now. Six years since her real family had left her without even telling her where they went. She hadn’t heard anything from them, nothing at all. She had accepted the fact they had left her a few months of being alone with Corey. He had helped her get over the abandonment. He had stayed with her, despite everything. It had been three years since she lost Frankie and Corey on the same night.

She shook her head trying to get rid of the memory. There was no point in thinking of any of them.

Around two years after her family had left, and her and Corey had been running around by themselves, the others had joined them. Billy had found her and Corey while they had been out on a run in the city, begging them to take the twins off of his hands. Two small puppies, starving and scared, they had supposedly stayed in their shift for several days after being scared to their core by some Peace Keepers. It wasn’t until Iris passed out the minute her head hit the pillow, that they shifted into their human form. Penny hadn’t been far behind her sister on the sleep department, but she had managed to thank them before she too passed out. They both slept for a solid 13 hours. Leaving Billy, Corey and June to get acquainted with each other. They found out they were around the same age, the twins several years younger. Billy didn’t want to stick around to start with, but the twins had become attached to him, so when he tried to leave they screamed and cried like they had been whipped. He was forced to stay and he had been a great addition to their family.

Then Frankie somehow found them, followed by Maggie. Since Maggie had joined them, they hadn’t run into many other shifters, which was okay, the house had become a lot smaller than when it had just been her and Corey. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. That is until she had to bury her friend herself and find a way to manage without her best friend. Then suddenly the house seemed too small for her.

The curfew had been in effect for several years now, keeping Shifters inside after dark for whatever perverted reason from The Council. A rule the Peace Keepers were happy to enforce every chance they got. Her favorite way to pass time after she lost Corey. It pissed them off when they couldn’t catch her, any of them really, except for the twins, she didn’t want to put them in danger. However, her and Billy had made it into a game. Stealing patches from them. Bonus points if it was a patch from Wade Pikes. But he had been gone for a while, no word on why or where. He was just gone.

June had left the rooftop and was walking aimlessly through China Town, realizing too late where she was going. The wonky looking plate of metal was easy to push to the side and she quickly slipped inside. She placed the plate back and heard the sound of a shotgun being pumped behind her, making her freeze in place and hold her hands up as she slowly turned around.

“Oh for fucks sake, June.”

The corners of her lips curled upwards, “Hi, Aaron.”

Aaron, the freckled red head shifter lowered the gun, “Anyone follow you?”

Juniper shook her head, looking around the den the shifter in front of her had created. “I need a favor, since you owe me quite a few.” She could see his eyes turn into suspicious slits.

“I don’t have anymore coke for you—” June whined slightly, “—but I do have something new. It’s in its experimental phases.”

These days she didn’t care what she took. If it killed her, even better. She immediately regretted the thought and swallowed hard, thinking of the twins waiting for her to get home. She sighed and flicked a snow globe that was placed on a wall-shelf. “You need to wait until you get home to take it, Juniper, I’m serious.” Aaron called from a different room. June just hummed and kept her attention on the snow that was swirling around a tiny bit.

“Don’t shift on it either, it can react pretty badly to a shift.” He handed her a small vial filled with a clear liquid. “Now please leave, you bring bad luck.”

She rolled her eyes, “I appreciate you. Oh and Maggie asked for you,” a blush crept up on his cheeks and settled like a soft pink blanket on top of his freckles.

“Thank you, seriously.”

Aaron shrugged and led her to the piece of metal that could be pushed aside, “Let me know how you get on.” He motioned to her pocket she had dropped the vial into. “Will do.”

The whole interaction with Aaron seemed like it was just a blur as she stepped back out onto the street, looking around before continuing south towards the Union Station a few blocks away from where Aaron had his little den. June buried her hands in her olive green cargo pants, playing with the vial Aaron had given her, wondering exactly what the contents were. It wasn’t big, perhaps half the size of her pinky, but from what she understood from Aaron’s description of it, it was potent as hell.

Keeping from popping the lid and swallowing the liquid seemed to be harder for her than she anticipated. It was calling out to her, the smooth feeling of the glass seducing her to give in and empty its contents into her mouth and let it spread out through her system.

Before she knew it she had made the short walk to the station, looking up at the building that wasn’t in use for its original purpose. She tilted her head back. To get a better look at it. It was a beautiful building, but as many others it had been taken over by nature. Cracks spreading out in intricate patterns and plants peeking out from them. She wished she had a camera.

Shrugging to herself she moved on, passing a large open gate that looked like it once actually managed to keep people out, now it was just rusty and weak. She turned a corner, looking for a way onto the roof of the station, knowing that the giant glass window in the middle of it possibly still was intact. She hadn’t been here in forever.

Once on the roof she surveyed the state of it, concluding it was safe to move around on she made her way to the giant dome in the middle. From her point of view it looked intact, but she did notice a few small cracks forming. What a shame, truly. She knew she was supposed to be going home, but she didn’t feel like it, so instead she was finding rooftops to explore.

As she made her way around the dome, she ended up finding a lot of cracks and glass missing from it. June found a spot where the glass was missing, giving her a clear view into the stations main hall, where billions of people had once walked and rushed to make their train. She sat down with her legs in a criss-cross position and dug out the vial, biting the inside of her cheek. June knew Aaron was serious about his instructions, and most of the time he knew what he was talking about, but she was willing to take that chance tonight.

The lid gave off a hollow pop as she opened the vial, opening her mouth slightly as she lifted it up to her lips before throwing her head back, cringing at the taste of the liquid, mentally noting to let the red head know that it tasted awful.

The warmth was immediate, the buzzing in her ears came after. At first she swatted her hand around her ear, trying to get rid of whatever bug had decided to make their presence known. But then she realized there was no bug. The nausea hit her like a wall, making her cup her head in her hands as she took deep breaths in through her mouth and out her nose. It was a lot. The buzzing, the nausea, the weird warmth that made small beads of sweat appear on her forehead. It kept going for several minutes, making her feel like her skin was crawling, and at the peak of it, it just stopped. She opened her eyes, slowly removing her hands from her face.

A gentle heat had replaced the uncomfortable feeling from before, the nausea and buzzing was gone. Her skin felt weird, but nothing out of the ordinary. It was almost like she had shifted, but not quite made it.

Every sense of hers seemed heightened, in a weird intoxicated way. Like she was aware of everything around her, but getting a really good buzz on. Her head whipped to the floor below her. Voices from below her echoed through the broken dome, they were as clear as if she was standing right next to them. Blinking lazily she listened until they came into view below her.

Peace Keepers. Two in their human form and two others as wolves. Her back straightened. Pikes wasn’t among them, she could recognize him out of a million people and wolves. June couldn’t make out who they were, but then again she barely stared at a Peace Keeper long enough to remember their face. But Wade Pikes was a different case.

She shifted her seat which made her foot shoot out and hit a small piece of rubble that flew through the window, hitting one of the wolves back, making it yelp and jump to the side in surprise. June fell to the side and rolled out of the way in case they did look up. It didn’t seem like they were all too bothered as the two who stayed in their human form laughed at the reaction from their fellow Peace Keeper.

Slowly as to not push any more rubble over the edge, she peeked down at them again. None of them had moved or was paying attention to anything that happened above them. She smirked, the drug Aaron had given her, making her a little too confident as she reached for a piece. Slightly annoyed at their nonchalant response.

June chucked it at them with a bit more force. Hitting one of them in the neck the ‘thump’ from the contact loud in her ears. What the hell had she put in her body for her hearing to be this good? As a shifter, her ears and smell, all of her senses really were more in tune than the average human. But this was something she had never experienced before.

 

[Delryth]

The collapse was something that nobody had seen coming. It had surprised everybody from families trying to make a living to local government and law enforcement. It was kind of remarkable just how one thing toppled after another like a row of dominoes just waiting to be pushed. It had all happened so fast. Sure the aggression and riots had come first but nobody expected them to lead to anything… especially not to something like this. Sure there had been resistance, but the US government hadn’t been so eager to simply give up such an iconic state without trying to reaffirm their grip.


The clashes had been violent, swift and decisive. US soldiers and law enforcement were going up against supernatural creatures. They were faster, stronger, more durable and had far better senses than a human could have hoped to possess. With the stolen kit they’d gotten they were more than a match for the ground forces and the government couldn’t exactly sign off on launching missiles against their own population just to try and take back control of what would be smouldering ruins. No, their only option without prolonged bloodshed was to cut their losses while they could and pull out of Cali. They set up new borders around the dark state and cut them off from as much as they could.


The wolves took control, they were the strongest of the shifters. Not entirely due to the prowess of the forms and hybrid forms they shifted into but it was the teamwork with which they operated. Some other shifters were as inherently powerful as them, perhaps more so, but they didn’t have the synergy that a pack of wolves had. That relentless, perfectly times coordination and attrition.


California may have been the first state to fall but it wasn’t the last. The next had been Washington with Seattle becoming the seat of power for the council of elders. The vampires. They were a natural rival with the wolves and so the two states had ventured beyond their lines in several clashes. The unfortunate location for many of these clashes was the state of Oregon which was situated directly between the two enemy states. So far there had been next to no direct attacks on either of the two states yet the threat of it was always there.


Life within Cali had changed significantly. The new laws were controlling and absolute. Strength was respected and the council were quick to shut down any kind of opposition or signs of uprising before they came close to coming to fruition. The shifters weren’t stupid or suicidal, they knew that they had no real chance of overthrowing the wolf's grip so they adapted, they survived and they made the most of life within this new world.


Poverty was rife, supplies were far more scarce than they had been with the various embargos and pushback from the government. For much of what they had they had to rely on their production and so there was a lot of competition over every bit of food, water, booze and drugs. Despite the iron fist of the new law enforcement crime was rife born of desperation. Scavengers and thieves risked their lives for profit and back alley vendors and dealers could be found in every corner of L.A


-

Before the collapse, Corey had been happy. He had a mother and a father who’d been loving. Both of them work in the medical field. Not only that but he’d had a little sister, Rose, who’d looked up to him like she was his hero. He’d adored and protected her. He’d always been the first one into her room when she’d cried and whenever anybody had tried to bully her at school Corey had wasted no time in jumping on them. He’d been in trouble on more than one occasion. Never would he have thought that he was adopted, he’d been treated as well as any blood relative.


His parents were panther shifters and he knew that once he was old enough he’d have his first transformation. His parents had explained as much on his last birthday knowing that his first shift could have been due any day. They… were cautious when they explained him and he assumed it was just due to the nature of shifting. He had no idea that it was due to the lineage that ran through his veins and in his blood.


Everything had been good and the collapse had ruined it. They’d been on a day out at the LA Zoo when it had happened. He remembered the explosions, the warning sirens and he remembered the sheer panic. He and his family were quick to leave and get to their care and they’d tried to flee immediately but escape was hard, the roads were packed. The car had gotten stuck on one of the overpasses when he saw the local defence rolling into the city.


Corey didn’t know what happened exactly, he just remembered the sound of another explosion and falling. He’d woken up in the rubble and ruins of the bridge having somehow miraculously survived. His dreams had been haunted for years after that day when he’d searched for his family. Finding them had been the hardest thing about the whole collapse. The image of Rose broken and lifeless plagued his dreams.


Corey hadn’t accepted being down and out though, he hadn’t let his family’s death break him, and he never gave up. He was resourceful, a natural survivor and so survived he did. It was at this time that he’d run into the younger girl that reminded him so much of his younger sister. He wasn’t sure what it was, she didn’t look exactly like her but despite that, there was an energy, an impression he got from her that he couldn’t explain that made him want to protect her.


His instincts came to the front of his emotions and he’d taken the scared lonely girl with him. The two of them became a team watching each other’s backs. Living at her home had given them some freedom and not only that but they were good at getting around. They were able to steal and scavenge to survive. Not only that but there were a few small groups that always needed little jobs completing. The two of them had done whatever they could to get by. June had become his family.


Eventually, their family grew further and over the years they picked up other stray kids who had found themselves struggling to navigate the new harsh life that came with survival in the city. Especially as a shifter. Corey was the last to manage to shift out of all of them, during their time together the rest all had access to their animalistic forms and yet that didn’t ostracize him. No, he was the natural leader and despite not showing his shifting abilities the others looked up to him, and they listened to him. He called the shots and he kept them safe from the peacekeepers.


That was until they finally bit off more than they could chew. They’d taken a job from one of the shifter gangs that would have set them up for some time, giving them the means to improve their lives and yet it had been risky. It had gone wrong. That was when Corey realized who he was. What he was. He was a wolf. He’d taken responsibility for the situation he’d put them into and done only the only thing that he could have imagined doing. Protect the pack. His last act as the band of outcast children's unofficial leader was to stall for them while they got away from the peacekeepers that had pursued them.


-


Corey blinked and shook his head at the distant memory that had slipped into his mind. He still had them, clouded memories from his former life. The conditionally hadn’t entirely suppressed them like it had most others that had gone through it though it had detached him from them. It almost felt like he had somebody else's memories, somebody he had a very distant connection to rather than things he’d lived through. Sometimes they were stronger and other times he’d go weeks without any thought as to who he’d been. They were becoming far less frequent as time rolled on.


As a peacekeeper, he’d risen the ranks. He was a natural alpha and so he’d been given the lead of his own pack, his own squadron of peacekeepers. With his pack he was the authority, he called the shots and led their patrols. Despite that, he still had superiors, those who had broken and trained him, those who truly ran the city.


As an adult Corey stood at six foot three and his muscular physique had filled out giving him an intimidating and impressive presence. He had short spiked black hair and a beard that ran along his jawline and was a few days overdue for a shave. His angled face had cool grey eyes. He still sported a tattoo on his arm that all of his childhood pack had gotten though it was hidden by his uniform.


The clothes he wore were the same as the other peacekeepers. Tight-fitting protective material that perfectly captured their forms and gave them a little extra protection onstop of what they had naturally. He wore a sleek dark helmet that fully covered his face with a visor. A light blinked on the upper portion of it on occasion as he recorded what he saw. Fingerless black gloves and heavy leather boots completed the uniform that was decorated with the red claw symbol that the new authority used.


His pack stood in an abandoned old bar as they took a moment’s break midway through their nightly patrol. The two large brothers, Redge and Cooper sat at one of the tables drinking some old scavenged out-of-date beer flicking the cap between each other in a game and the third, a lean-muscled girl with blonde called Rachel who had several piercings in one of her eyebrow and tattoos extended down her arms from out of her sleeves.


Corey found a rag to wipe the blood and grime that coated his hands off of them. The night had been eventful so far, they’d managed to shut one illicit gambling den already and hauled off an owl shifter who’d been the proprietor of the building. It had been a messy affair and more than one of the gamblers had put up a fight. They’d been no real threat to the wolves but they’d had to get themselves dirty and indulge in the violence that came naturally to them to quell the unrest. It had delighted Corey and his pack. They liked the night patrols and actively sought out trouble. Like many of their kind, they were sadists who relished a chance to let their primal natures come to the forefront.


The alpha threw the rag off to the side and glanced over towards the door. “Alright, break over. Still got half a night left. Get off your asses and let’s move out. Rachel, we’re taking point.” The man’s voice was gruff though the helmet distorted it somewhat giving it a mechanical edge. He set off towards the door without glancing at those with him knowing that they would instinctively follow him. He shoved the door open and then immediately shifted into the large black wolf form that enhanced his senses far above his human form. Rachel followed suit and the brothers followed behind wearing their skin rather than their fur.


Corey sniffed at the fresh scent he picked up as he was leading the way and a glance towards Rachel’s wolf form confirmed that she’d smelled it too. They set off after the trail and followed the smell towards the old station though the naturally strong smells around here made tracking that particular scent difficult. All they could tell for sure was that somebody had been here recently. Very recently.


The group continued to look around the old ruined station when something fell and hit Rachel causing the female wold to yelp out loud. Redge and Cooper creased over in laughter as they saw her look around as though she were under attack. Corey gave them a glance before setting off again. He only got several steps when the sound of a bit of debris falling and crashing into Redge met his ears.


Redge hissed in pain as he dropped to a knee, blood trickling from where the rock had cut the side of his neck. Cooper looked around immediately while Corey instinctively looked upwards and caught a glimpse of the girl. He gave out a shrill howl which the others reacted to their heads all turning in the same direction as his own. Corey set off at a sprint followed by Rachel. The brothers shifted and set off in a different direction to circle the building while they left their alpha to flush whoever was breaking curfew out of their hiding hole.


Corey raced through the station with a snarl as he tried to find his way up to the roof. He leapt through a large broken window and then skirted the outside of the building until he found some old grime-encrusted boxes next to a cargo container. Corey hopped from the boxes to the container and then ran the length of it, his paws softly padding against the metal. The wolf sprained from the container onto the roof and he was acutely aware of Rachel following the route he’d taken up on top of the building.


The pack leader gave another howl which was answered by the two brothers who were circling the perimeter and answered in kind. Corey kept his nose to the ground as he sniffed at the floor as he closed in on where he’d known the person had been, where that piece of debris had come from. They couldn’t have gone far in such a short time. Corey felt spikes of adrenaline course through him as excitement lit up his synapses. He enjoyed the chase, he adored the game.

 

[Origami]

Junes nose wrinkled at the scent of blood, she didn’t throw the rock with the intention to draw blood. Especially not from a Peace Keeper. She couldn’t peel her eyes away from them, needing to see how they reacted, none of them seemed to think to look up and for a second she thought they wouldn’t notice her above them. As she breathed out in relief, the largest and blackest wolf of the two looked up, meeting her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat as she pulled away from the edge, her head fogging up as panic overtook her. Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit. They would easily make their way up here now and she had no where to hide. Shifting was a last minute resort, especially with the drug in her system. Plus Aaron seemed serious about not shifting on it. June had already gone against his warning of taking it at home, in safe environments. Perhaps she should have listened.

The noises from them scrambling to get up on the roof terrified her. There was no other safe or fast ways to get down, except for the way she got up here, and that way was occupied by two giant wolves in a few seconds. Her eyes scanned every nook and edge she could find. Broken neck, leg, head cracked open. There was no way down. Not for a human at least.

Nothing in her pockets would give her identity away, luckily, so leaving her clothes behind wasn’t a problem and she hadn’t collected anything of importance while she was out. Fuck.

It was like her body reacted before she even decided what to do. The shift was starting to happen, the nausea returning full force. Juniper fell to a knee, dry heaving and dropping her head low hoping to get rid of the nausea. But being nauseous was the least of her concerns as her entire body crumbled, changing into her form of an Ocelot.

Usually shifting didn’t leave her feeling like this, like she was literally dying. She looked down at her pile of clothes, stepping cautiously out of them. A sound behind her made her ears flicker in the direction. It sounded like they had made it up on the roof with her, but she only heard two sets of paws. She held her head low, turning slowly towards the noise, and sure enough two wolves were sniffing around. They hadn’t seen her yet, but they would surely find her clothes now.

Not wasting time she dashed across the roof, furthest away from the wolves, skittering close to the floor using every ac vent box as cover. Her large paws softening the sound of her steps as she increased the space between them and her, not noticing the two others who were circling the building from below, about to see her clumsily make her way down the side of the building, digging her very large and very strong claws into the material. The sound of her sliding down the wall was awful in her ears, and also covered the noise from the wolves who were now waiting for her to reach the ground.

When all four of her paws were safely planted, she turned and stood face to face with two snarling peace keepers. Her tailed poofed up, and her ears laid against her head as she hissed in surprise. Baring her sharp needle like teeth at them as they slowly edged closer to her, their muzzles pulled up and tongue flicking angrily through their teeth.

Major fuck.

She stumbled as her vision blurred even worse than before, making the wolves raise their head in wonder, giving each other a glance that practically said ‘what the fuck is wrong with her?’.

Experimental drugs. That’s what was wrong with her. She shook the feeling off of her, trying to focus. The only way to get out of this mess would be going back up the wall, or straight through them. They had her completely backed into a corner here. She lunged at them with her claws out, striking at their noses, which made them recoil. Ocelots may be small in comparison, but their claws were not to be messed with, due to them being semi-arboreal.

Their recoil opened up a space between them, which could be her only chance to get out of there. So she took it, tugging her tail down as she charged again, but this time she kept going. Looking back over her shoulder as she ran out of the small alleyway they had her in, her eyes moving up to the roof to see if the other wolves were still up there, but she couldn’t catch a glimpse of them. Maybe she managed to catch a break, having to just worry about the overgrown dogs down here. A girl could dream, right?

 

[Delryth]

Corey emerged at the point where the scent of the girl was strongest. With a glance, it became obvious that she’d already set off running. He darted over towards her clothes and sniffed her scent so that he’d be able to track her even more easily. The fact that she’d left a bundle of clothing down on the roof, underwear and all, told Corey enough. It meant that she was a shifter. His ears pricked up as adrenaline continued to run through him. The hunt just got even more exhilarating.

The wolf gave another loud howl to convey information to his pack and then resumed his chase following the scent that the shifter was unable to hide. Rachel had gone over to the clothes and shifted back into her human form, her uniform shifting with her. She ran one hand through her short pixie cut and crouched down to grab the clothes in case something was telling about them or in them. She knew that her pack leader with the brothers would be enough to deal with a lone shifter while she caught up.

The brothers intercepted June and expected the smaller creature to cower and back down. The fact she could barely stand only made them all the more confident that they were a moment away from having their prey. They were confident that, at that moment, they had the shifter dead to rights. Apparently not, she fought like a true cornered animal she fought back, her sharp claws making them back up and giving her that moment she needed to make a break for it and prolong the chase.

One of the brothers howled again so that their pack knew what was going on, so that they knew the chase wasn’t over and Corey had a moment of annoyance that the girl had managed to slip past them. He made a mental note to question them about it later. Corey knew which way she was going from a mix of her scent and the howl his followers had given. He knew this part of the city well and so he took a side alley that he knew should cut them off.

Redge and Cooper stayed hot on her heels snarling and growling to make as much noise as they could to keep herding her on the way they wanted her to go and to cover up any other sounds that the rest of the pack was making knowing that it would help keep her panicking and force her into making poor decisions. The kinds of decisions the wolves would waste no time capitalizing on. They weren’t trying to catch her anymore, just keep up with her and cut off any sharp turnings she might make.

As she passed an alleyway a great imposing shadow rushed out of it with a vicious blood-curdling snarl. The great wolf form of Corey ran June down and his teeth clamped onto her tail. Ha ragged on it and yanked her off balance with a powerful flick of his body to throw the ocelot towards one of the alley walls. He pounced on her again before he’d waited to see how she recovered and clamped powerful jaws around the smaller shifter’s throat and applied enough pressure to hurt though it was more a show of power. His grip would tighten more and more until she submitted, ready to clamp down if she continued to fight.

The two brothers slowed down now and Redge shifted back into his imposing human form and a smirk on his face. He slowly closed in on the group while Cooper remained in his wolven form just in case it was still needed and took up a defensive watch position. Redge watched the struggling Ocelot with a cruel glint in his eyes and cracked his knuckles. “We’ve got you, bitch. I’d stop struggling, you don’t want to ruin that pretty fur coat.. But I fuckin’ do.”

 

[Origami]

They were hot on her heels as she took a few turns to get rid of them, but they were keeping up well enough. June had somehow managed to turn back, making it easy for a third wolf to intercept her, barreling into her and clamp his jaws around her tail, making her wince in pain. Hissing loudly as he yanked her back into an alley, the flick making her skid into a wall. She fell up against it, losing her vision and balance giving him a chance to pounce on her. Which he did, but this time she could feel his teeth digging into her throat.

There was no point in trying to get out of his grip, but she wasn’t about to make it too easy on him. Her body wiggled and struggled enough that she managed to press her back legs to his chest, digging her claws into it ripping out fur and by the smell also drawing blood. Not much to critically wound him, but enough for it to hurt. Her back legs were pure muscle, making it easy to dig her claws deep into him. Once he had tightened his jaw enough to squeeze her windpipe, making it hard for her to breathe properly. She stopped fighting, still growling and hissing even though she was struggling to take a proper breath, making it come out at wheezing and gurgling.

Her claws retracted and she managed to place a paw on the side of his head, pushing on him, submitting to his grip. One of the wolves from before had shifted into his human form. She recognized him as being the one who she had managed to nick with the rubble. Juniper looked at him with every ounce of disgust in her as he spoke. If she was lucky the cut would get a bad infection.

At least Pikes wasn’t among them. The wolf who had her dangling from his mouth had a weirdly familiar smell behind the dog smell, but Juniper couldn’t place it. Her tuned senses weren’t helping. It was too intense for her to tell where she had ever experienced the scent before. Regardless, she was getting tired of being treated like a chew toy in some weird alley. The situation wasn’t going to get any better, so she might as well behave.

Juniper and the others had gotten away from Peace Keepers everytime, clearly she was going to get caught someday. It was just unfortunate how it had to be the day she decided not to listen to her friend. Karma is surely a bitch. Had she been in her human form she would have laughed at the joke, considering the wolves who had cornered her. She yeowled. The pitch hitting a high that would surely hurt their sensitive ears, hoping it was enough of a sign that she was taking the loss, ready to be put down.

 

[Delryth]

As the claws dug into Corey’s chest and drew blood he clamped down a little hard and dragged the little ocelot against the coarse brick wall in response. A growl resonated from within him that would echo through the small shifter caught in his jaws. All the time his grip got tighter and tighter and he knew he was getting close to the point that either she’d give up or he’d bite down hard enough to crunch through her neck. With the fight she had in her, the defiance he doubted she was ready to lay down her life and die.

Redge cackled as she saw that the claws she possessed had managed to draw blood and a quick look from the alpha caused them to stop. “Fiesty, ain’t she? What are we going to do with her?” he queried while stopping a few feet away from her. He saw her finally give in and give out that high-pitched horrid whine that caused him to wince. He watched Corey release her from his powerful jaws and swung a boot at the small creature. “Fuckin’ bitch.” The man hissed and looked over at her with a sneer. “If she’s a pretty little thing out of her fur I’d be happy to teach her some manners, boss. Give her more wolf than she can handle.” He gave an obscene gesture and grabbed at his crotch with another laugh. All while Corey watched the little ocelot.

“Judging by the size of her clothes she might be your type” called the female voice as Rachel began to walk out into the alleyway already in her human form. She bit at a lip piercing she sported out of habit and then leaned against a wall not far from where the action was happening. She reached into a pouch on her belt for a carton of cigarettes and fished one out of the pack. She placed it between her lips and using a battered old steel zippo she lit the cigarette and blew a small cloud of smoke upwards into the air.

Corey finally shifted back into his skin leaving only one of the pack still in their wolf form and peered down at the small shifter. The helmet remained in place and the red light began to blink as he recorded what was happening. He pulled a collapsable prod from his belt and flicked it so that it extended. His head tilted to the side as he eyed the girl hiding in her fur and then jabbed the prod into her and pulled the trigger to send a surge of electricity through her.

“Turn back” he growled in a deep rumbling voice that commanded authority. If he had to he’d stand on the ocelot’s tail and jab the electric prod into her a second and a third time to try and force her to shift back into her human skin. His voice was still metallic thanks to the helmet which distorted it making it hard to recognize despite the time they’d spent together years before. One of his hands clenched into a fist and as he squeezed it caused his bicep muscles to bulge against the tight material covering them.

 

[Origami]

The air was knocked slightly out of her as he dropped her, barely managing to avoid the dickheads boot. The hair on her back standing up straight as she turned to him and hissed, spit going everywhere. The little feline not taking shit from this asshole, his comments pissing her off even more than the situation itself. Fucking Peace Keepers and their shitty behavior. Swatting at his leg and catching the fabric with her claws leaving a large gash in them before jumping back out of reach for him to actually kick her. She felt the eyes of the wolf that had had her by the neck, but didn’t acknowledge him as she squared up with the male in front of her.

He cursed and kicked out at her again as she had anticipated, her eyes closing into slits as she smirked internally. 0-2 motherfucker.

Junipers eyes moved from the dickhead to what seemed was the only female in their pack. She watched her as she stepped up to lean against the wall, fishing a cigarette out of a pack and placed it in between her lips. The piercing was an interesting choice, but June had to admit she looked nice. As nice as a Peace Keeper could look. She sneezed at her comment about her being his type, almost in a mocking way.

Then the wolf she had gotten personal with shifted, slightly bigger than the rest of them in both forms. He still had a helmet on, so she couldn’t see his face, but his scent still threw her for a loop. June lowered her head as she turned to him, trying to get a better look. As he flicked out the prod her eyes immediately went to the weapon. Her throat bopped as she swallowed. She hated the prods.

Although she had escaped the Keepers after initially encountering them most of the times, it didn't mean they never managed to corner her. She had been cornered several times, but June always managed to slip away due to the Keepers' own stupidity. They would use their prods on her, poking her like a caged animal, laughing and arguing who was having their way with her first. It was then she’d be able to slip away, shifting back and making a leap of faith up the building walls or whatever she could dig her claws into. It had cost her a few broken claws, but she got away. Sometimes after they had.. done their thing, sometimes she was lucky and got away before they even got their pants down.

The prod was extremely effective to make anyone shift back. Whether it was a wolf or shifter. The voltage would shock the nervous system, forcing them to turn back into their human form, whether they wanted to or not, there wasn’t much of a choice when it happened. But the surge didn’t force her shift. It hurt, sure, but she was still in her Ocelot form. She blinked as she found her balance, everyone straightened their backs and looked just as confused as Juniper herself. Then she looked up at the one who had just tazed her.

Turn back, he growled. She blinked again, trying on her own this time, but nothing happened. She really didn’t want to be poked again.

“Do as he says, kitty,” the woman said firmly and blew out another cloud of smoke.

Juniper kept trying, but nothing happened. “Turn.” She said again and stepped towards her in a threatening manner, making Juniper rush backwards. Don’t you think I’m trying? She hissed but lowered her eyes submissively, trying to get it across to them that she wasn’t able to. Her ears lying flat against the top of her head. Was it a good thing she couldn’t turn? She was at a loss for words. Not to mention why the fuck she was stuck in her Ocelot form.

 

[Delryth]

Corey prodded the shifter another three or four times before accepting that she wasn’t able to change back though why that was he wasn’t sure. He bristled in irritation though there was little he could do right now. He wasn’t going to let her off so easily, especially if she’d figured some way out to resist the prods that they used. Perhaps it was just her innate durability and willpower. He knew some shifters, usually the bigger animals, could resist the weapons relatively well but he hadn’t expected it from something like her.

“Let’s just put her in a bag and drown her in a barrel, see if she turns back before she expires” Redge suggested unhelpfully, something that made Rachel roll her eyes at him and hiss with irritation.

Corey reached out to grab her by the tail and hoist her up into the air and gave her a jab with the weapon he held the moment she tried to swipe at him with her claws.

“Real smart, dipshit. I thought you wanted to play with the little kitty. Let’s face it, you’re not getting any action any other way.” Rachel blew a cloud of smoke at the ocelot as Corey carried June down the alleyway. She watched the female feline with an interest of her own.

“Fuck you… but fine. It was just fucking around anyway.”

“Hey chief, found something with her clothes.” Rachel reached into a pocket on her toolbelt and pulled out the empty vial that had contained the narcotics the young shifter had taken and sniffed at it. “Don’t recognize it” She waved the vial in front of June dangling from Corey’s grip and then clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth.

“Maybe. Take it with us. If it’s the shit I’ve heard about then I might have an idea. Our little pet is going to feel like death by the morning. Come on, we’re going to head back.” Corey set off again then and Cooper took point in his wolf form while the other two remained wearing their skin instead.

It was only ten minutes or so into their journey when Corey took a detour and went into an old abandoned pet store. He knew what he was looking for. The first thing he went for was a bright pink collar with a bell on it that had been left on the shelves. Pet collars hadn’t been a high-value commodity for looters. After using one hand to pin her down with a quick command Rachel helped fasten the collar around the ocelot’s neck. He doubted she would be getting it off with her paws. It served both as a way to help track her if she did somehow escape and to show the diminutive shifter just what he viewed her as.
The second thing Corey went for was a moderate-sized cage. He went for one with small bars that she wouldn’t be able to squeeze through even if she tried but also one that was both durable enough to hold a human inside and big enough too… though only just. A quick once over of the cage had him thinking that an average female human would be able to fit if they curled up tight and uncomfortably. Without a second thought, he shoved her inside of it and locked the door shut.

“Redge, you’re carrying it. We’ll head to a safe house and rest there rather than return. We’ll radio in once we get there.” he barked and Redge hoisted up the cage without a moment’s hesitation, While it was relatively big it was no issue thanks to the strength he possessed.

Redge leered at the ocelot and shook the cage several times to try and make the bell jungle, laughing as he did. “Can’t wait to see what you look like in your skin,” he mused and shook the cage again. It was then due to a shrill whistle from Corey that he realized he was now the only one in the pet store. “Shit,” he muttered and quickly followed after them.

 

[Origami]

Juniper cringed as he shocked her a few more times, clearly trying to get her to shift, but when nothing happened he gave up, he just gave her a sour look as if she was the bane of his entire existence.

The man she had dubbed dickhead suggested drowning her. What was this? Fucking Salem? She shook her coat as the last wave of the electrical surge ended, leaving her breathing heavier than normal. Then by surprise she was grabbed by the tail and turned upside down.

She tried her best to swing herself so she could grab his arm and not hang upside down, which made her stomach turn. But he was at the ready with the prod and to put it lightly, she was over getting electrocuted. So she accepted her fate, trying to focus on a spot while he carried her. Eyeing the woman who was looking at her with a curious stare. Which made June stare back as much movements let her. As they walked she noticed that the fabric in her hands were her clothes, and she was going through all her pockets which meant they’d ultimately find.. the vial which the woman held up. Of course she couldn’t recognize it, it was home-brewed. Had Aaron been testing it out on people already? So much that this guy might know about it? That was a surprise. Something she’d have to tell Aaron if she survived this.

They walked for a bit, making the nausea a build up again. Being upside down really didn’t help. June opened her eyes as it became slightly warmer and the smell around them changed. The pet beds and other items was the first thing that gave away the fact they were in a pet store.

The pink collar around her neck was the second. Then she was thrown in a cage and she was officially done with these people. At least she wasn’t upside down anymore, but when she was handed to ‘Dickhead’, or Redge as his name apparently was, she almost wanted to be upside down again.

Juniper met his leer with one that was filled with just at much hate, but when he shook the cage the final straw was drawn and she decided that Redge would look a lot better with his jugular ripped out.

Can’t wait to see you with half of your throat missing, lying dead in a ditch somewhere. She thought and hissed at him, almost rolling her eyes as he realized the others had left him.

What a fucking idiot.

 

[Delryth]

Redge exited the store and jostled the cage as he did. He glanced around looking for the others and realized that he was the only one left on the street. He groaned and rubbed his temple as he tried to pick up their scents. “For fuck sake.” He started down the pavement that he was on the way towards their safe house assuming that it was how they’d gone. “You better not have given me issues. I don’t need my ass chewing out thanks to some little bitch kitty.” Blaming the feline shifter seemed like both a safer and easier thing to do for him.

The sound of a soft wolf howl met their ears and Redge breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he was going to right way. He changed his pace to a steady jog and then quickly caught up with the rest of his pack that was two alleys away. He caught up to them to see Rachel smirking at him with a mocking expression nestled onto her features.

“Don’t say anything” he groaned and avoided looking at her.

The female wolf responded with a wink. “Glad y’could join us” Rachel flicked the ash from another cigarette off to the side and looked at the cage he was holding so that she could wriggle her fingers towards it in a wave. “You didn’t lose our pet then? Thought you’d decided to make a meal of her already”

“Fuck you. Rach”

“Yeah, you wish, pup.”

Growling began to rumble in Redge’s throat before being cut off by a sharp whistle from Corey, clearly growing irritated by the two’s back and forth. He turned to Redge who looked likely to protest and shook his head. “Knock it off, we’re nearly at the safe house.” His voice was as absolute as ever and even Redge grokked the command that laced through his words. HE sighed and looked at the cage again, poking a finger at the little ocelot. “What do I do to deserve this?” he muttered to her in a bit of a sulk.

They reached the safehouse a few minutes later, an old bar that had its windows shuttered over and barricaded save for a few holes that one could use to be on watch as a guard station. It has been hard once been a bar called “The Barrel House”. A heavy metal door was the only visible way inside. The wolves had many of these throughout the city and packs generally ended up with their own territory that they patrolled. While they all served the council and took their orders above any other there was plenty of inter-pack rivalry. Packs were defensive of their territory and preferred to stick to their lands and enforce the laws there. While they could op[operate anywhere within the city it often came with pack politics when somebody was deemed as taking another pack’s duties as their own.

Cooper shifted back into his skin now too looking somewhat bored and unlocked the door for them. The group pushed on inside and he flicked the switch revealing the work that had been done inside. The bar still had a functioning bar though it was less stocked than many might have liked. A pool table was off to one side along with a dart ball and most of the tables had been removed. It was a little messy and gym equipment took up one end of the place.

Redge placed the cage on the bar counter and huffed. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey that had been left open, poured himself a glass and took a swig. He then went over towards the gym equipment and without warning let out a series of punches and grunts as he struck the back and began a makeshift workout.

Rachel on the other hand pulled off the upper part of her uniform and threw it on one of the stools to reveal a plain grey tank top which left the extent of her inked arms be known. One arm had a mix of vines, thorns and flowers lacing around it while the other was a mismatch of pawprints and tribal wolf design. She was proud of her heritage. She dropped onto the sofa in front of the TV and turned it on. She flicked through the DVD player options with a remote and put some trashy romance series on. They’d all learned early on not to mention her taste in media.

Cooper went to sit at the bar and drank taking a page from his brother’s book though it was rum that was his poison of choice. He yawned and rested his head back against the wall by the bar.

Corey spent some time staring at the cage in the centre of the room as though trying to figure something out, as though there was something about this shifter that he ought to know. He just couldn’t quite figure it out though. They were familiar… the patterns on her fur. Where had he seen them? He could feel a migraine start to threaten him as he thought harder about it and so he decided to remove himself. He shook his helmeted head and turned towards one of the back rooms.

He shut the door behind him and made his way up the stairs with a groan. He waited until he was upstairs and in the larger bedroom that he’d claimed for himself. Once there and away from his pack he pulled off his helmet and dropped it to the side. His head twitched a few times from pain, he wouldn’t let his pack see him weak. He began peeling off his tight fighting uniform and then examined the healing claw marks on his chest. He pressed two fingers against the dried blood and glanced towards the bathroom. He staggered towards it and turned on the tap. Many buildings no longer had running water but getting this place hooked up was one of the first things he’d done.

He spent longer than he should have washing himself with cold water, cleaning away the blood and grime of the day and settling his mind again, stopping the migraine before it got too intense. The moment he was done he took his naked ass to bed and collapsed atop of the sheets unknowing that he was going to find himself in yet another one of those restless dreams.

 

[Origami]

Juniper was slightly amused by his frustration, but instead of acknowledging anything he said she just simply turned her back to him, a bit unsteady from the movements but managed to sit down and wrap her tail around herself. Her ear perked in the direction of the howl, making her hear turn, the bell that was attached to the collar around her neck jingling.

Redge caught up with them and Rach, the female, weren’t far off with a quick remark towards him. June listened with a sick curiosity, they seemed normal, joking and teasing each other like June and the others would. She hoped they were okay and not worrying too much about her not being home. The twins were the worrywarts of them all, so they were probably doing everything they could not to go crazy. They even went as far as to sleep in her bed when she ended up being gone for a few days. Finding them curled up together as she got home under her covers, taking up most of the space. June didn’t mind it one bit.

Rach reached for her, making June crane her neck towards her hand, taking in her scent. The cigarette smoke made her sneeze. Then Redge made the mistake of getting a finger too close to her, so she lunged and dug her needle like teeth into the tip of his finger making him pull it back immediately, cursing her out under his breath.

“She seems to really have taken a liking to you, Redge.” Rach quietly chuckled.

Juniper then decided that her paws were much more interesting than Redge who was inspecting his finger. She unfortunately didn’t get enough of a grip on him to draw blood.

It didn’t take long for them to reach their destination, “The Barrel House” had been a place her and Billy had wanted to check out for a while, but never got to it for whatever reason. Good thing, since the werewolves had made it into a safe house.

Cooper then shifted and let them all in. It didn’t come as a surprise that they had electricity, but the running water made her eyes widen. She would kill for a proper shower these days. Redge put her on the counter and they all went to do their own thing. She watched him walk over to the equipment, throwing a few punches making her groan quietly. Dickbag. Rach had stripped off her jacket revealing the tattoos on her skin, which Juniper couldn’t help but admire from a distance. While she had a hatred for the person who wore them, it couldn’t be ignored that the patterns were beautiful. Cooper had taken a seat by the bar, minding his own business too. The last one has been staring at her since Redge had put her cage down. She would have said something had she been in her human form, but seeing as that wasn’t an option at the moment, she settled for a sharp look in his direction, not quite sure what his issue was. Besides of course the fact that she’s a shifter and out after curfew.

Without a word to anyone he left the room. None of the others seemed to have any interest in her anymore, so she tried shifting one last time, but still no luck. With a big sigh she curled up in one of the corners, keeping an eye on the door the last guy had walked through and eventually fell asleep to the thought of the others back at the house.

Tears were pouring from Junipers eyes, as her parents and older sister stood by the car, trying to convince her to come with them. All of them on the verge of tears too. But they weren’t leaving Corey behind, she would be if she went with them. “I can’t leave him,” she whined feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders as they all reached out for her. “Junie, please.” Her older sister had begged her. But June was sure of her decision in staying.

She cried harder as they pulled out of the driveway, her vision going black from the lack of oxygen. She collapsed onto the gravel, wrapping her arms around her knees as she watched them leave. She wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting out there, just hoping they’d come back. But they didn’t, so she got back out and went inside the house.

They had left most of the things behind, they had mostly just taken their clothes and some little things. It had been a month since the riots had started, then stopped, then picked up again and the collapse happened. Her mom had panicked first, and even had gone with the wave of hoarding bottles of water, canned food and anything that could last for centuries, making them all shake their heads at her. But now, all alone, she was thankful of the fully stocked basement. Which would last a very long time if she was smart about what she ate. The two story house seemed so quiet, leaving her standing in the entrance looking around like she was seeing it for the first time.

Anaheim Hills was a quiet neighborhood, mostly shifters. Shifters who like her family had decided to leave the state, leaving behind most of their belongings. Los Angeles was about 35 miles out, it would be at least a two day hike for the average human, but for a shifter it could be cut down to a few hours, maybe half a day, depending what they were able to shift into.

June went to the living room, curling up on the couch, tears still rolling down her cheeks, her nose and eyes red and swollen. What was she supposed to do? She was only 16. She knew she had Corey, but still. Would he be enough?

What if he left her too? Would she be enough?

She passed out not long after, slipping into a restless sleep, her family leaving her on repeat in her head.

 

[Delryth]

June had quickly become number one in Corey’s eyes. Protecting her, looking out for her. They became the most important things. He knew she had her family but it was different, she seemed separated from them. The bond the two of them shared was something that seemed to go beyond what blood did. But despite all of that he’d been the one to insist that she went with her parents when they tried to leave. He thought she’d listened to him through her tears and he’d tried to play it off cool when she’d mentioned how he’d be without her. He couldn’t tell her he was going to be heartbroken and feel like he was lost and alone all over again. No. Not if she had a chance of survival.

Assuming that the girl had already gone with her parents Corey showed up at the house just to be sure. He’d seen that the car was gone and reminded himself that her leaving had been for the best. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel as though there was a yawning hole inside of his stomach that felt like it was sucking him in. He’d have to live with it, he was a survivor, he knew, and survival is what he’d do.

Corey went around to the back window he’d managed to sneak through a few times into her house. His had already been ransacked and hers was a much better place for him to hold up. He denied the fact that it was also because the thought of being around her old shit would be soothing to him. It’d help him keep her fresh on his mind. The last thing he’d expected to see when he’d broken into the house was the young girl still there and asleep on the sofa.

“June… you fucking idiot,” he said in a soft remorseful voice and followed it with a sigh. He wiped at a tear that had blossomed in the corner of his eye and looked at her not sure whether the tear came because she’d remained for him or because he was upset that she hadn’t gotten out. He supposed there was nothing to do but accept she was here. He’d done his best to get her out but part of him was elated at the fact that she was still there.

When June finally came to she’d still be on the sofa though a blanket was thrown over her and her head rested on Corey’s lap. She’d snuggled in closer to him while she was asleep and he’d had no desire to pull away. He sat there eating the bowl of cold beans that he’d scavenged earlier from her basement. He glanced over to her with a smile and held out the bowl towards her.

“Morning, Jujube” That nickname was something he’d called her since their first meeting and it was one he resorted to as his go-to.

 

[Origami]

Juniper pulled the blanket up to her chin curling up against the warm pillow underneath her head. The sound of metal hitting porcelain rang out once in a while, followed by chewing noises which made her stir awake. The sun was peeking in through the blinds, lighting up the room. Then she noticed how firm the pillow she was laying on was. Confused she turned her head, looking up over her shoulder to see Corey sitting there, a smile on his face while eating her food.

She then realized she was using his lap as a pillow. Groaning she rubbed her eyes, which were still sore and puffy. “When did you get here?” She asked, her voice croaky from being asleep not even five minutes ago. It was never a question of why or how, she knew the answer to both those questions. It wasn’t new for him to let himself inside her house somehow.

The smell of beans reached her and she turned her face to dig it into his leg, trying to escape the scent. “That’s really not pleasant first thing in the morning, or whatever time it is.” Her words muffled. She was smiling though, him calling her Jujube always got her. He was the only to call her that, the rest of her family doted for Junie, or June. Juniper when she was in real trouble.

Thinking of her family made her throat tighten and her eyes sting as she tried not to cry. It was really just the two of them now.

“I couldn’t leave you,” she choked out between hiccups while squeezing her eyes shut, although her shoulders gave her away as she cried, covering herself with the blanket he had thrown over her when he found her sleeping. “They hic didn’t hic understand hic.”

 

[Delryth]

"I dunno, a while back? Thought I was finally going to have this place to myself. I'd already been eyeing up your bedroom aw mind. Imagine how pissed I was to find the biggest pain in my ass passed out on my new sofa" his words were gentle and light-hearted showing his true feelings. He reached out to brush a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "Guess I'm stuck with you now, huh, Jujube?" He gave her nose a soft pinch and then offered the beans.


"What are you talking about? Beans are great. You've got no taste. I bet you'd have said yes if this was a bowl of chocolate" he shrugged at the girl and scooped a spoonful of cold beans. "Last chance" without giving her time to react he immediately ate her 'last chance'. A second spoonful followed and then he put the bowl down on the coffee table with a clatter.

He could feel the tears as much as anything and he'd been wondering how long it would be until he first saw them. With what she'd gone through? Shit, he was surprised it took even this long. He assumed there'd been tears before he'd gotten there. He didn't tease her or stop her hiding. A protective arm draped around her and the cover pulled her a little tighter against him. He caressed her side with a gentle soothing motion and squeezed her shoulder.

"I know, Jujube, I know" He'd wanted her to go more than anything, to get out of here… but she'd made her choice, she chose him and decided to give up any chance of getting away so that he wasn't alone. It meant more to him than anything. "I'm never leaving you. I'll be here forever. It's you and me"

 

[Origami]

Junipers crying subsided as he continued to speak to her, a chuckle sneaking out between her sniffles as she rolled her eyes at his comment about taking over her bedroom. “Why my bedroom?” June questioned as the corners of her mouth tugged upwards in a smile that she hid with the blanket. “Not trying to be a creep and smell my bedsheets, are you?” She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles, probably making the irritation worse. Smiling a little wider as she felt his fingertips on her skin, dragging a strand of hair away.

“Yeah, you’re stuck with the pain in your ass. Seriously, if you don’t get it away from me I’m knocking it out of your hands and will make you clean it. Chocolate is a different ballgame, only crazies say no to chocolate.” She shook her head again at his offer.

“I guess mom stressing about gathering all this food paid off. Who would have thought.” Even if Corey stayed with her, they’d have plenty of food between them and if they spent some time checking the abandoned homes then they’d definitely be fine. June sniffled and sat up, the blanket falling off of her and pooled around her hips. She pushed her hair out of her face and looked over at her friend a little embarrassed.

A tear rolled down her cheek which she quickly brushed away, “Good thing is that I won’t have to rush taking a shower anymore. I’m not sure how long it’ll last, but so far we have electricity and warm water. Dad said he wasn’t turning anything off, but obviously we don’t know how long it’ll last.” She rambled and fiddled with a loose thread from the blanket. The major cities were experiencing a lot of blackouts lately, but the areas on the outskirts were fine. Anaheim Hills luckily being one of the few that weren’t affected at all.

June bit the inside of her cheek, “you’re not getting my bedroom. We can either share or you can have Ellie’s room.” She mumbled, referring to her older sister, adding a quiet “if you’re staying.”

 

[Delryth]

Corey rolled his eyes at June when she questioned his choice of bedroom though he couldn’t keep that smirk from his lips. He continued to idly caress the younger shifter enjoying the intimacy of the action and feeling the soothing effect it was having on his friend. He’d stay here in this position all day if that were what she needed to feel better. Being here with her was simple, but he knew there was nowhere else he’d rather be right now.

“Totally, can’t get enough of your scent. That and your room looks totally lame and desperately needs a Corey makeover.” he teased and pinched at her side. “Yeah, I guess I am. You better not drag me down, kid. I’ve got an image to maintain.” He settled back against the sofa and rolled his shoulders to ease off an ache that was settling in. “Chocolate’s overrated.”

Corey’s hand settled on June’s hip, his thumb running back and forth over it, the nail catching slightly on the fabric. “Guess she did us a solid by gathering it. We could eat cold beans for breakfast pretty much every day, y’know?” His eyes strayed towards the mostly eaten bowl wondering if he could get away with finishing them. Cleaning didn’t sound like something he had the energy for, however.

“Won’t have to rush? I’m not waiting hours for you to shower. If you take too long, Jujube, I’m shovin’ my ass in there with you.” His eyes met her while she looked at him and the fact he could tell her mood had lifted somewhat brought a sense of pride to him. “Probably have it still for a while. Fuck, might even keep it so far out.”

The boy raised his eye suspiciously at June and then he laughed. “Taking her room would feel weird. You know I’m staying and you know I’m going to be sharing with you, dork. So let’s not even pretend alright? Besides, if I had my own room it’d get exhausting you waking me up coming through every night because you missed me and had a nightmare.”

 

[Origami]

“You’re overrated,” June quipped back, “and my room is perfectly fine.” One of the walls were decorated with random baseball caps her dad had found, or she had found with him. They were important to her. “What’s with you and beans, you absolute weirdo.” She said with a bright smile as she sat back against the cushions.

“You’re not welcome in the shower with me, you take up too much space. Plus I don’t want to see your junk, thanks.” She couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face as he mentioned not taking her sister’s room, and instead stay with her in her own room. The thought of sharing a bed with him wasn’t a problem, they’d shared a bed several times. Probably even taken a bath or two together when they were younger, but growing up it just became weird for her. They both had a growth spurt, but with him being older than her, he’d filled out faster. Looking more like an adult than an awkward teenager. Same with her, while she was still only 16, almost 17, she had started looking a lot more womanly and it had made her feel incredibly insecure around him.

Juniper stared at him, his features had become more defined and sometimes, she caught herself looking at him for a little too long.

“I highly doubt that would happen.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m glad you’re staying though.” June took a deep breath and turned her head to look out the window and onto their street. Wondering how many people were still left in the area. “We should swipe the houses one of these days, or at least mark them down somehow if they’re empty, so we can go back to them.” A lot of them had left the minute the riots started happening, feeling unsafe in the state, leaving their homes completely untouched. “I’d be able to smell if they’re abandoned or not if I shift. I also think dad has some spray paint in the garage.”

 

[Delryth]

“Hard to over-rate perfection, babe” he joked nonchalantly and waved her off with a dismissing gesture. He then held up one arm and flexed to show off what was revealed of his bicep playfully rather than because he was actually that arrogant. “Your room is fine, sure. But it could be better and what do you mean? Beans are just versatile. All the best food uses beans like chilli, burritos… chilli burritos.”

He rolled his eyes in a very obvious gesture at her retort as though to say he didn’t care what she thought. “All muscle Jujube, all muscles,” he repeated the bicep flex from earlier. “What’s wrong with my junk? I’m quite proud of Corey jr thank you very much.” He brought his hand up to her head and ran it over her forehead and then through her hair to sweep it back. He scratched at her scalp as he did. “You better make a good little spoon if you’re going to be sharing my bed. Oh, and you better not be too hot, I can’t have you making me sweat under the cover.”

Corey caught the girl’s lingering gaze on him and it had him thinking, over analysing that look she gave him. He half thought he imagined it. June had always been like a younger sister and a best friend to him though something had changed in the last year for him at least. He’d seen her in a different light that still made him a little uncomfortable. He’d noticed the shape of her hips, the curve of her backside, and the way her smile sent sparks of excitement through him. He wouldn’t deny the fact that he found her beautiful. Both her personality and her appearance. There was one moment he was worried that she’d caught him staring at her ass as they roamed the streets though she’d either not noticed or pretended that she hadn’t. She was his little Jujube, his lifelong friend. Surely he shouldn’t have had thoughts like he did, right?

“Of course you are, I make great company.” his eyes instinctively followed hers to the windows as she mentioned checking them for loot or at least marking them. It was a good idea. He was about to answer when she mentioned being able to smell them if she shifted and instead went quiet. Corey knew it was fine, he knew he’d have his moment and yet he was jealous of the younger girl. He didn’t begrudge what she could do but it infuriated him that his first shift hadn’t come yet. “Yeah… yeah. That’s a good idea” He came back to himself quickly and tried not to dwell on his shortcomings. “Who knows how many beans they could have.”

 

[Origami]

June chucked a pillow at him, smirking at his comments. “You’re an idiot.” His comment about his junk made her blush ever so slightly. She looked back at him and noticed his expression as she mentioned shifting. For a second she forgot he hadn’t shifted yet, but it happened with some kids. It wasn’t anything bad, it was like puberty. Some hit it faster than others.

She patted his knee, “you and your freaking beans.”

Juniper woke up to the sound of the cage being opened, she opened her eyes slightly and saw Redge place a bowl of water inside for her. As she came to she noticed how hot she was, her tongue hanging out of her mouth like a dog, panting as if she had been running for miles.

“You okay there, kitty?” The Peace Keeper asked with a worried look in his eyes.

She barely had the energy to lift her head to look at him. She was still in her shift, still stuck and now something was clearly happening to her body. It felt like her entire body was covered in ants just crawling all over her, and she felt like she had the worst hangover ever, hypersensitive to everything. The light was stinging her eyes, the noises from the tv were extremely loud in her ears.

Redge called out to Rach who didn’t reply or react, neither did Cooper it seemed, so Redge left the cage open as he went to take the remote from Rach to turn off the tv, which June noticed even through all her senses being triggered, messing with her perception of things. So she took the chance and got to her feet, wobbling out of the cage, trying her best to avoid the bowl of water. As she was about to step out onto the bar counter, her back foot caught the edge of the bowl and she lost her balance making her trip and fall over. Rolling over the inside edge of the bar counter, knocking over glasses and empty bottles onto the floor. The sound of glass shattering made them all jump up at the noise.

As she landed on her side on the dirty bar floor, surrounded by all the broken glass, she felt her limbs cramp up and suddenly she was in her human form, naked, sweating and shaking. She rolled over onto her stomach, her cheek pressed to the floor as she tried to stop the room from spinning. A few shards were digging into her skin, causing her to wince in pain.

It felt like a mix of a hangover and the height of her heat, all mixed into one big ball inside of her and was now somehow trying to escape her body. Her jaw clenched as her eyes rolled back and she cramped up again.

 

[Delryth]

“What the fuck?” Redge called aloud as he heard the sound of the breaking glass. He turned to look over at the source of the sound and his eyes widened at her. “Holy shit.” The younger of the two brothers wasted no time in returning to June and glancing down at her.

Cooper, at the commotion, looked over towards the sound with a disapproving frown on his face. He’d fallen asleep with his head in his arms after having several drinks at the counter. He grumbled his question as to what had happened though he didn’t move from his perch on the stool to go and get a better look at the captive shifter girl.

Rachel turned the TV off herself and climbed over the back of it to follow Redge towards June, a look of mild surprise on her features. He stood a few steps away and just behind the man, her expression turning shrewd. “The fuck?”

“I fuckin’ knew it” Redge announced as he ignored the fact that her eyes were rolling back right now. He reached out with one of his rough hands to paw at her ass, taking a hearty handful and giving it a hard squeeze. “I knew she was going to be hot. We hit the jackpot.” He raised his hand and delivered a hard smack to one of her plump cheeks in time with the word ‘Jackpot’

“Aren’t you worried about her dying, moron? Do you even know what’s wrong with her?” Rachel asked.

“Does it matter? Rachel, look at that ass. It’s making me wild. It’s what a bitch is supposed to look like. Not all muscle and masculine as shit like you look. Supposed to have jiggle.” as if to emphasize he used his greedy paw to cause June’s backside to jiggle as much as he could.

Rachel responded by throwing a punch in Redges way that had him stumbling to the side and groaning a quick “What was that for?”

“Stop it. She’s fucking overdosed on some shit,” said Cooper who had gotten to his feet looking at them both disapprovingly though his eyes did quickly roam over her naked form. “Give her a shot of adrenaline, it’ll help bring her out and stop her from swallowing her tongue… I can’t deal with this now. You better not wake up the boss.” Cooper shook his head and vanished out of the door Corey had used a few hours earlier.

“Use the fucking shot, Rach, I wanna fuck her.”

Rachel glowered at him for a moment still pissed at his remarks towards her though she did relent to go and find one of the first aid kits the pack kept. She fumbled through it and found the shot mentioned and pulled off the protective sheath. She returned towards the other two and leaned in to press the tip of the needle into June’s arm and pushed the plunger.

“Yeah… she’s pretty hot.” Rachel reluctantly admitted as she went to dispose of the needle.

Redge, clearly struggling to keep waiting to get a hold of the prize before him gripped a fistful of her hair and hoisted her up. He’d shove her forward so that her upper body was against the table and stood behind her so that the thick hardness pressing against his pants dug into her and his body pinned her in place so that she couldn’t fall. “First dibs” he called and pressed against her further to apply some friction to his ground.

 

[Origami]

June hissed at the needle in her arm, but it immediately relaxed her muscles and stopped the spams. Making her eyes roll back into place, making it possible for her to follow along in what was happening around her. She could feel a stinging on her ass while she become aware of her surroundings and gained control of her body. The tumble had still left her weak, as well of all the energy she’d been using in trying to shift back to her human form. Then there was a hand in her hand and she was pulled to her feet and pushed up against the bar, her feet stepping in more shards of glass.

Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed Redge line himself up behind her, to press into her. She could feel his cock against her backside, making her grunt in objection, clearly not having the strength to push him away. June barely had the energy to speak, but croaked out a quiet, “fuck you.”

Her throat bopped as she swallowed hard, but feeling restricted and remembered the collar that was still around her neck, now just incredibly tight around her neck, the bell jingling as she moved her head.

This wasn’t new to her, being in a situation like this with a Peace Keeper. Rape was awfully normal in their ranks, whether it was in their wolf form or human. It didn’t matter to them in most instances. June tried to push back, but ended up falling over making her ass push into his crotch, probably encouraging the male behind her who was enjoying himself a little too much. Why couldn’t she have stayed in her other form, it would have been so much better for her situation. Would it be hard to shift back? How was she going to get out of here?

Her skin was still incredibly sensitive, making the moan that crept out of her, as he started to grind against her, involuntary. “Damn it,” she hissed under her breath as her back arched while standing on her toes.

 

[Delryth]

Redge ground up against her sex, his clothed cock sliding between her cheeks and causing him to growl hungrily at the sensation. He squeezed one of the cheeks again and dug his nails into the soft flesh. The wolf dragged them upwards leaving angry red lines along them before giving her ass another hard swat that left a second handprint bubbling up on her pale skin next to the first. He was already imagining the things he was going to do to the girl and was visualizing what she looked like impaled on his length.


“That’s the plan, darlin’. Sure a bitch like you is looking forward to it though” he snapped with a wicked grin.


Rachel sat at the other side of the table and began chewing on a protein bar that looked as though it had been in the city a few years by the faded worn wrapper. She was watching though and she made sure she got a good eyeful of the captive shifter. Despite the rivalry she had with Redge it didn’t mean she was any better really with her sadism, it was just less overt and crude. If June made eye contact with her she’d blow her a mocking kiss.


The man cackled as he heard the bell jingle and reached to give the incredibly tight accessory a hard tug. June pushing back against him just coaxed another growl from his throat and he pushed back to make the most of the pressure. When June actually moaned against his hard length his cackle turned to a guffaw.


Rachel raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her.


“Fuck, I told you this cunt was going to love it. I bet she gets off to this. Bet she moans my name by the time I’m done.” He reached down to his belt buckle and quickly fumbled with it. The broken glass on the floor didn’t bother him thanks to the heavy boots so he thought nothing about the fact that she was barefoot on it beyond the brief thought of the noises she might have made if he’d taken her on the ground still atop it. His trousers slid down along with his boxers just enough to pull out his considerably sized manhood that throbbed with anticipation. Unlike his common sense, Redge had been gifted with his endowment. He spat onto one hand and massaged the saliva onto his thick veined length before spitting again on his fingers and crudely rubbing it against June’s cunt, probing her entrance with just the tips of his fingers. He positioned the tip of his shaft against her sex and pushed forward just to apply pressure without entering her.


“Ready for me? C’mon tell us you want it”. He didn’t wait to see if she’d play ball and say what he said and instead slammed his length inside of her to a loud clap as his hips met her ass.

 

[Origami]

There was no way in hell she was going to give them any more reactions than she already had. June bit down hard on her lip as his hand came down on her cheek a second time, she swallowed the yelp that followed. The sound of a wrapper caught her attention, making her lift her head to meet Rach’s eyes. She had placed herself on the opposite side of the bar, right in front of them, as if it was some kind of sick show she had the front row seats to. Juniper bared her teeth at her as she blew her a kiss with a smirk. Bitch. She thought as her head was yanked back.

Redge was trying to get something else out of her, but she wasn’t going to give him the pleasure he surely found in hearing her moan for him. Instead she just closed her eyes and clamped her mouth shut as she tried to stay as quiet as possible. Focusing entirely on the pain in her feet.

The noise from the belt buckle made her tense up, her heart rate had already increased due to the adrenaline. Her breathing was turning rapid in a mix of panic and the drug.

June felt like she was going to throw up as she felt his fingers dipping inside of her sex, as if to test the waters before the main event. For a second she doubted he’d even be able to enter her due to her body being so tense, but she got her answer not long after as he replaced his fingers with his cock. She felt him against her one minute, the next she saw black and was only on her feet from being held up by Redge.

Juniper screamed. In obvious distress as he slammed into her with no hesitation.

His second thrust into her was almost as painful, he was way too big to be slamming into her without even a little preparation. Not that she expected him to, but under normal circumstances she would have taken her time. She huffed out a breath and tried to take another but it felt like everything in her had stopped working. Taking a breath was nearly impossible, and her lungs were burning when she finally managed to fill them.

Redge still had a grip on the collar around her neck, while the other was wrapped around her front, fondling her tits and tugging at a nipple, still growling in her ear with every thrust.

Then he slipped fully out of her just to slam right back in, making her eyes shoot open with another scream, this time it was her begging him to stop. Tears were pouring from her eyes as she found Rach watching them with sick interest, a slight redness to her cheeks. “Please, make him stop,” she sobbed as Redge kept his pace up behind her. A tug on her collar was a clear command for her to shut up.

Another scream from her pierced the silence of the safe house.

 

[Delryth]

Tugging on the collar wasn’t enough motivation to stop her from screaming the bar down while Redge drove himself into the smaller shifter over and over and her cunt felt way too fucking good for him to consider stopping. He’d be surprised if her ass didn’t end up bruised just from how hard he was slamming against it. With each powerful thrust the bell on her collar jingles from the impact. He wrapped both hands around her and looked at Rachel as though asking her for help.

The woman rolled her eyes at Redge as she finished off her bar and lazily stood up. He went over towards the bar area and found an old cloth. He returned towards the two of them, gripped a hold of the younger’s face and pinched her cheeks to force her mouth open. She then unceremoniously stuffed the cloth deep into her mouth so she couldn’t just spit it out. She caressed June’s cheek like a lover would their partner, dug her nail into the cheek, and left a small cut along it. “I always come back for the prey I mark.”

Redge continued his efforts, the tightness of the girl’s sex driving him wild. How stiff and rigid she was just made her tighter against him and she coaxed out more and more stimulation. Now that he no longer needed to throttle her he instead stuffed her head against the table and smacked her behind yet again. “Get that camera… from... Fuck.. .from behind the… fucking bar. I want to add her… too… my wall.”

Rachel gave another sigh as though the effort of it would exert her. However, she fetched an ancient-looking camera from behind the bar and stood in front of the table. “I can’t see her face, dick head, you’re pushing it down.” Rachel tapped her foot impatiently and eyed the carton of cigarettes off to the side.

The male wolf understood quickly enough and clutched at the captive’s locks again so that he could yank her head upwards for Rachel to get a better view. The camera flashed and moments later Rachel was wafting a photo in the air. A few moments later it was put on the bartop and she fished for that cigarette she was yearning for.

The door opened and Corey, who had just slipped his helmet on again not sure what to expect marched out from behind the back room to survey what was happening. His first instinct had caused him to expect a fight and yet it was far from that. He eyed the girl briefly and then looked towards Rachel who shrugged in response. He didn’t really care what they were doing, he wasn’t above committing the same act himself though in a different manner and he was no stranger to cruelty, he embraced it. He was however pissed off that this had woken him up.

The wolf currently fucking June was getting close to his climax and was grunting and groaning as such. His pace getting more erratic. There was a clap each time he drove his cock deep into June that echoed around the room. “Sorry… boss. Bitch was hella loud.” He dipped his head in an apologetic gesture of submission though he continued to have his way with his victim.

“You couldn’t have waited until morning Or until I’d woken up?” he growled dangerously. His eyes found June and began to molest her form, spending a moment to watch her breasts bounce from the action. As his eyes wandered lower they caught on a strange burn scar at her side and froze. His hand unconsciously rested against his side in nearly the same position and a blinding headache began to overtake him. His hands began to shake as they slowly clenched into fists and his eyes closed, the lids switching from the pain.

“Who the fuck is that girl?” he managed to think.

“Err… boss?” Rachel was softer spoken than usual, cautious, unsettled.

Redge however hadn’t noticed as he came close to his peak.