A king on a throne needs a queen by his hand

It was his first day on the job and as much as he loved being a cop, he hated today. He still didn’t really know where anything was and he knew maybe like the names of 3 people. It was mostly his fault, he could have tried harder but it was too late now. He had been assigned a beat and he had to do his job. There was no way he was going to let anything happen that he could prevent. 

But he should have been paying attention to where he was walking as he had just crashed straight into someone. “Oh shit, are you okay?”

Dianna had two mugs of black coffee in her hands. While she wasn’t a fan of the gendered stereotypes as one of the women in the precinct getting coffee for the men, she did want to make the new officer feel welcomed. Whether he was human, supernatural, alien, or a stalk of corn, everyone needed a warm welcome in a new place. Shadow Falls was a small, tangled community. A new police officer had a lot to learn and fast.

Unfortunately, the man she was trying to welcome ran right into her, spilling the coffee over the mugs and onto both of them. Dianna gasped softly in surprise and took a few steps back. “Yes, hon, I’m fine,” she sighed before giving him a small smile. “No use crying over spilled coffee. You’re the new officer, right?” she asked, handing him now a half-emptied cup of coffee. “I was just bringing this over to your desk. Definitely have room for cream now.”

If there was one thing about hunters that Murphy admired, it was that they really didn’t know when to give up. It wasn’t something she particularly liked about them, especially not when she was unfortunately one of their targets, but the resilience, the stick-to-it·iveness was admirable. She could hear them getting closer, could hear the erratic beat of the injured wolf’s heart. High off of a fresh kill and a good chase, Murphy smiled to herself.

it wasn’t difficult to keep up with a wolf, let alone an injured one, but Murphy paced herself regardless. It wouldn’t do well to get lost in unfamiliar territory when you’re being hunted, and as much as she knew she could handle anything these rednecks could throw at her, she couldn’t find it in herself to separate from someone weakened. A residual feeling from her time spent with Amari, surely. A trait she had been struggling to let go of as of late. It seemed it didn’t matter how many times she told herself that nothing good came of helping others, not when she still found herself in these situations. 

There were a few close calls, a few grazes of an arrow against her skin that tore her clothes and ripped open her flesh, but the wounds had stitched up before the black blood could seep, let alone stain. The near-misses only fueled the excitement in her veins, and on several occasions she found herself laughing, amused despite the gravity of the situation. When they finally arrived, Murphy could feel the last lingering remnants of anger fade away, replaced now by exhilaration. Plus, the Falls were definitely a sight to behold. She wasn’t a nature girl by any stretch of the imagination, but one learned to find the beauty in life when it never ended. Letting out an excited laugh and clapping one hand on the wolf’s uninjured shoulder, Murphy turned to her newest companion with a grin.

“That was fun. You really think a harpy’s gonna help you? For your sake I hope so, because if you pass out I don’t think I’d be able to find my way back to town before you died, and no offense, but I really don’t need a wolf carcass on my hands on top of everything else.”

Dianna’s breaths were growing ragged as she snaked through the trees in the direction of the falls. Just because they had started running didn’t mean the hunters couldn’t still follow. She just reminded herself that the end of this was however many paces away. Dianna and the vampire wove through the trees in an attempt to make it more difficult for the hunters to aim their bow and arrows. There were certainly more close calls than Dianna cared for, as arrows struck the trunks of trees, narrowly missing her head. Internally, she cursed herself for getting injured in the first place. The fire pulsing in her veins sourced at her injury continued to burn.

When the glowing falls came into view, illuminated by the moonlight, Dianna heard the hunters’ footsteps slow and drop back before hiking back in the opposite direction. She sighed in relief and paused to catch her breath. When the brunette spoke, Dianna shot her a look out of the corner of her eyes.

“‘Fun.’ That’s an interesting word for it,” she replied dryly, reaching back to her bleeding wound and putting pressure on it. She nodded though at the woman’s question. “I know a guy. He owes me a favor. Did you get hit at all?” she asked, nodding at the tears in Murphy’s clothes from when the arrows grazed her. Dianna was tempted to ignore the statement about her dying but instead shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You’re just a bundle of personality, aren’tcha?” She countered.

Despite knowing that Dianna was right, Kelsie didn’t want to accept it.  She didn’t want to accept that this horrible fucked up life was hers forever.  She didn’t want to accept that James’ ghost, the pain of his loss, would follow her forever.  For so long Kelsie had only seen the darkness.  Aiden had her so wrapped up she couldn’t tell which way was up anymore, but then things changed and she found James.  With James she found herself.  She had been so lost, aimless as she wandered and James helped her find a purpose again.  He gave her a family even well before he gave her this child.

Softly she cried as she held tightly to Dianna.  Of all the people in the world, Dianna was the one she truly felt she could be vulnerable with.  Nick would never judge her for her tears, but Kelsie still felt she had to put on a facade.  She had to be the alpha, not the grieving woman.  Her hormones were out of wack.  Kelsie knew that.  It made her irrational.  She could cry at the drop of a hat.  But how much of that was Baby Armstrong and how much was her own grief?  Honestly, Kelsie didn’t have a clue.

She lifted her head from Dianna’s shoulder and wiped her tears away with her finger.  “I know,” she murmured.  “I know the baby can’t see this.  I know we have to be strong.  I know it’s what James would want…it’s just so hard,” Kelsie admitted.  Nothing about this felt right.  It was so hard, so empty.  She couldn’t even enjoy her pregnancy or the anticipation of becoming a mother.  She couldn’t walk through the baby section of the store without seeing onesies declaring the potential child daddy’s little monster or daddy’s heartbreaker or daddy’s princess.  It was just an unending reminder of what her child didn’t have.  Maybe that was why Kelsie had yet to pick up one thing for the baby.

The time was coming.  They’d need to start working on a nursery, or at least buying clothes and a crib and diapers, bottles, toys, blankets, and every other thing a baby needed, but every time Kelsie tried she just couldn’t bring herself to put things in the cart.  But now it was real.  The baby was kicking.  James was gone.  She had to deal with it.  Kelsie swallowed hard and sniffled as her hand continued tor rest against her bump, feeling her baby kick.  “When it’s time to start buying things for the baby,” Kelsie started.  “Will you come with me?  I just…it feels so wrong to do these things by myself.  Even though I know he’d want me to pick up, move on, and take care of our baby I just…I don’t know how.”

Dianna held Kelsie close to her. While she herself had never been particularly maternal, she loved her son fiercely. Kelsie and this child would continue to receive that love and devotion despite his departure. Maybe she didn’t have the words to make Kelsie feel comforted, to feel warm and fuzzy, but Dianna was a realist. She was a widow, she lost her son: grief was her everyday now. And warm fuzzies didn’t make Atticus’ spot in the bed warm again. They didn’t bring the familiar hum of James’ truck into her driveway. Life moved forward and you had to pretend part of your heart and mind wasn’t stuck somewhere in the past.

“I know, sweetheart,” Dianna said quietly, swallowing the lump in her throat as she rubbed Kelsie’s back. There was so much they needed to achieve in spite of their grief: Kelsie had been moved in but that left the question of James’ old room. Kelsie and the baby could share the guest room those first few months, but Dianna knew she’d have to delve into James’ space and clear out room for either the baby or Kelsie. That was an entirely other wound she wasn’t ready to open, but a necessary one. She nodded softly at Kelsie’s request.

“Of course, hun. We’ll get a registry going. Do a baby shower or something. I know some of the gals in the pack have been knitting hats and blankets,” she said, pulling away to offer a reassuring smile. It was a band-aid statement, a pleasantry, but it didn’t fix the pain. “You’re not in this alone. The pack is here for you. I’m here.”

Nick was steaming at the recent news. Cure. A cure for the supernatural gene? Like it was something wrong with them, that needed to be fixed? This opened a whole new can of worms for their already small-minded world. Would everyone now be required to take the serum? What if they didn’t want to? Being a werewolf had been the only thing that had made any sense to him. Who was he without his pack? Without that bond to tether him down to earth?

He shook his head softly as the newscast ran. He had been walking by the electronics store when the headlines on the TVs in the window caught his eye and caused him to stop and read the subtitles on the screen. 

“This has got to be a fucking joke,” he breathed.

Dianna felt like her blood had frozen over when she heard the news on the radio on her way home from work. She pulled over her car, fingers gripped on the steering wheel so tightly she could see the white poking against the skin of her knuckle. The disappearances had resolved-- volunteers for a cure. Despite the insistence from the ‘volunteers’ in the media, she didn’t believe for one second anyone in their right mind would just disappear without a word for a medical study. Not all of them, at least.

It was too much to sit there in shock. Her arms trembled despite the stillness of her hands and she pulled herself out of her car, walking around to the sidewalk. Her hands rested on her knees as she tried to find her center of gravity. All she could think of was James. Was he one of those in the study? She doubted it. But she felt dizzy. She needed to walk. She needed air. She made it halfway down the block when she picked up on Nick. Their werewolf telepathy told her he was having a strong emotional reaction, which she could only guess what it was.

Her hand found his arm and she shook her head. “I never thought I would have lived to see the day,” she murmured, eyes on the screen.

Eilis was still getting used to running both the library and Neverland and she can’t truly recall why she even said yes to it when the opportunity came. However, she was here now and properly able to raise her daughter. This was her night to be on call at Neverland.

She had been in for a couple hours now, watching who was coming through, making sure no one was causing any problems. Definitely one of the more calming nights she has seen, but she could wait to close up and go home.

Finally, they made it to the end of the night and Eilis had found herself exhausted and instead of going home straight away, she sat outside the library steps to take in the beautiful night sky before morning was to come.

Dianna had finished up a call to a family in her pack whose son triggered his curse. The triggering had happened when James was still alive, and James had been visiting to help the boy learn control. Said duty had since transferred over to Dianna since James’ disappearance, given the current alpha, Kelsie, had bigger matters to attend to. They had to practice shifting at night, on the edge of town, to keep them safe from the prying eyes of the police force and any hunters. With people disappearing left and right, this was not a good time to be a freshly-triggered werewolf.

On her walk back, she noticed the town librarian sitting outside the steps. Dianna rolled her eyes softly, judging the woman silently for not rushing home to her child. Maybe Dianna’s view was skewed now, given she wished she had spent more time near her son now that he was gone. She needed to check her opinions. She walked up, arms crossed and breath visible even in the cold night air.

“I thought the library wuddn’t supposed to open for another six hours or so,” Dianna said wryly, quirking an eyebrow. “What’s got you sittin’ out here in the cold, sugar?”

The girl’s hands fell from her face and she looked up at the woman in shock. “I-”, she began but her words fell short. Putting a face smile on, Elise scanned her immediate surroundings to see if anyone had heard the woman before replying in a much softer voice. “I-I’m not sure what you mean.”

Dianna frowned and shot the woman a knowingly look before returning her gaze to her coffee. Undeclared. Typical. Whoops. She sucked in a breath, shaking her head softly and brought the coffee mug to her lips, blowing softly before taking a sip. “Darlin’, you best call in a replacement. You’re ‘bout to give yourself away here.” She advised.

While the wolf gathered her strength, Murphy toed at the body beneath her before crouching, deft fingers sifting through pockets. Searching for what, she wasn’t really sure. Maybe the fleur de lis? It wasn’t likely. The human went down too quickly for them to be a trained Knight. Maybe a contract killer? Or someone just excited for a hunt so close after a full moon.

“I sure did,” Murphy said, mimicking the older woman’s accent before flashing her another wide smile, all sharp teeth. Not finding anything of note in the corpse at her feet, she sifted through the contents of his wallet before tossing it off to the side, aways away. Credit cards. Picture of his family. Punch cards to places Murphy didn’t know or care about. All useless. Not even any cash on him.“Maybe I’m your guardian angel. Who knows? Might be a superhero, too.”

The blood in her belly, staining her chin and neck, reinvigorated her. Murphy’s shoulders felt lighter, skin less prickly, less on edge. She craved more, eager to move on to the next one. Impulse drove her forward, back to her feet, but control told her to take a minute. Assess the damage. The wolf was still bleeding, she didn’t have to look to know that, and from what she could smell, it was pretty heavy. 

“How long is it gonna take for that to heal?” She asked, stepping closer, risking claws to the neck to get a better look. The wolfsbane in her wound reeked, and Murphy grimaced. “Normally I’d go for a full frontal, but a wound like that wont do. It’ll just slow us down. Flank or retreat, your choice. I’d hazard a guess and say you know these woods better than I do.”

Dianna glared softly, slightly annoyed by the theatrics but wasn’t in a position to scold or roll her eyes. Seemed to be a common thing for vampires-- the longer they were around, the more playful they were about death. This one seemed a little too charmingly smug. Nick would like this one, she thought. “Superhero or guardian angel, I don’t give a shit, but I sure owe you one,” she responded gruffly.

She clicked her tongue at the question, her hand pressing hard against the wound to apply pressure. She’d have to find a witch or risk the Muttropawlitan to get a doctor to let her in through the back door for some uninsured aide. The venom of the wolfsbane spread like a fire in her veins and Dianna focused on her hearing-- scent was shot due to her wound. Footsteps and voices were about a half mile away. Whatever the choice was, they had to make it fast.

“It won’t until I drain the wolfsbane out,” she said, gritting her teeth and looking over her shoulder in the direction of the voices. “But we have visitors,” she said, looking to the trees. Her mind tracked out the woods, they were a quarter-mile from the Falls. Hunters strayed from there given it was a hotspot for sirens and harpies, whose songs would hypnotize them into a guaranteed death. It was worth the risk to shake the hunters, if they were at all familiar with the territory. Dianna nodded her head in that direction.

“The Falls are over there. A harpy can heal me,” she said, thinking aloud. Harpies had special healing powers and an alliance with one of the senior most members of the wolf pack was her leverage to talk one into helping her out. “And the hunters stay away from there,” she said, nodding back to the brunette. That was her signal, underscored by a man’s voice echoing through the woods.

“Josh?!”

Dianna’s voice was reassuring, understanding, but still Kelsie felt the urge to explain.  When she closed her eyes she could almost smell James’ scent on the shirt.  She had taken to wearing some of his things as her pregnancy progressed.  It was like he was holding her, but also practically, for around the house it was something that fit over the swell of her growing belly.  The more Dianna spoke, the more Kelsie wanted to break down in tears.

One hand held the shirt while the other rested against her abdomen where her child was squirming.  That tiny piece of James that she still had.  It was heartbreaking.  He should have been here for this.  Before when she thought she felt the baby move she was able to ignore it.  Maybe i was indigestion?  Maybe it was gas?  Now these were kicks.  Kelsie couldn’t deny it any longer.

A sad smile formed on her features as she looked up at Dianna.  Her story was sweet and she wished more than anything that she’d known James back then.  She wished she’d known him.  She wished they’d grown up together.  Her life would have been so much different and it seemed impossible to wrap her mind around, but that was the one thing she wished.

“The baby started moving,” Kelsie said and she swallowed down the emotion that statement brought forward.  “And I just….I wanted to tell him, but I couldn’t.  This just seemed like the next logical step.”  Kelsie knew she couldn’t wallow.  She knew she needed to get over it.  James had been gone for almost longer than they’d been a couple.  She couldn’t just let this grief consume her.  Did she even have a right to keep grieving?

“I wish he was here for this.”

When Kelsie finally spoke, Dianna’s heart lurched. A lump instantly formed in her throat and her eyes couldn’t meet Kelsie’s. Emotions and vulnerability were not Dianna’s strong suits and when she was hit with something that ached and screamed, it was like swallowing the world. Especially when it came to James and this baby. Her own hand instinctively went to her own stomach, thumb circling over the fabric of her shirt remembering when her own son had been there. When she felt him kick. 

The baby kicking was a sign that this was real. It was imminent. This baby was a person, a copy of James, and it could feel. It could respond. It had a personality. Dianna’s mind spun, recalling when she first felt the baby kick and fully realized it was a kick. That it was unmistakably James. How Atticus beamed proudly and put his own calloused hand over her bare stomach and spoke in his deep, booming voice, and James kicked again. But Kelsie wouldn’t have that moment. James would never have that moment. Dianna would be the partner, in this situation. This tragic, cruel situation neither woman asked for nor expected. But they were partners now, in grief and in raising this child.

“Oh, darlin’,” Dianna said softly, a deep frown settling in as she pushed back her own tears. She sucked in a shaky breath before looking at Kelsie’s swollen belly, then to Kelsie’s eyes again. She drew closer and wrapped her arms around the other woman. “I know. Me too.” Her hug was tight, rubbing Kelsie’s back soothingly with her hands before pulling back. This was a moment they should be celebrating, investigating, trying different things to get a reaction from Baby Armstrong. But it didn’t feel right. “It’s not going to get easier,” she said earnestly, shaking her head softly. “There’s so much he’s going to miss. All of it. And it’s a fucked up world we live in,” she said bitterly, before shaking it off. “But I believe he’s watching. And he’s loving you and that baby right now. When this baby comes, we gotta suck it up. Baby can never see us like this in those moments, because that grief? It’s downright contagious. His first steps can’t be us crying. His first time riding a bike, graduating, getting a job...We have to pretend and be strong. For your son. It’s what James would want.”

Murphy’s anger was what drove her into the woods tonight, simmering hot and tight underneath her skin. Fingers curled into fists at her side, it had been so long at this point she didn’t even know what she was angry about in the first place, but the adrenaline had yet to wear off. Her mind still wasn’t calm. Returning to town in this state was a sure-fire way of getting her into proper trouble, legal trouble. She had already fucked up the low-profile thing once before, doing it again was practically suicide. 

She was never one to pass up the opportunity for a fight, however, and something in her gut told her there would be one. Shadow Falls was plentiful in a lot of aspects, especially when it came to supernaturals and those who hunted them. It took little intel, and even less effort to know there was a group the worked almost nightly, and if she just managed to happen upon them? Well, no skin off her back. She needed the distraction.

Eyes forward, fangs bared, it took Murphy longer than she normally would’ve liked before they made their move. Oblivious to the fact they had a vampire on their tail, they chose instead to attack a wolf. She waited a beat, studying their movements and formation before springing into action, intercepting the first hunter before he could reach the wolf. She tore at his throat with her teeth, feeling the gush of warm blood splash against her face, down her throat. She let the man go, watching with a sick sort of satisfaction as he gurgled on the ground, slowly bleeding out. “Thank fuck,” she rushed out, feeling better already. She turned to face the wolf, offering a bloody but genuine smile before speaking again, “There’s more coming, so you might want to get rid of that stick you’ve got stuck in you. I can help, of course. What with the wolfsbane and all.”

Dianna froze in surprise as she was mid-shift and a hunter was about to wail down on her. Before she even had time to blink, a flash of dark hair struck and the hunter in question was a bloodied sack of skin on the earth before her. Her eyes widened slightly, trying to quickly understand what was going on before she looked up and saw a vampire giving her a red-stained smile of assurance. Dianna had her qualms with the vampires, but this was clearly the time to put that aside. She gave the woman a nod before reaching back and yanking out the arrow with a grunt. The steel ear of the arrow ripped more flesh and muscle as she pulled it out but Dianna gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. With a swift pull, it was out but still stung as the wolfsbane rippled through her blood.

“You sure showed up in the nick of time,” Dianna said, feeling slightly dizzy from the pain but pulled herself up to her feet, still-half shifted with her canines and claws extended. She groaned softly. As she aged, this type of violence was getting harder and harder to keep up with. Now, she was grateful for the unexpected help. She reached back and pressed her hand into the bleeding wound. She was right, Dianna suspected at least two more and could hear them in the distance. The lack of response from their colleague would surely raise suspicion for them. “Where should we go?” Dianna asked, looking to the woman.

Pressing her hand to her eyes, Elise shook her head softly. She could shake this off, she needed to. She needed the money. But the wolf was tearing at the insides of her. Letting out a heavy sigh, the blonde nodded while continuing to clean up the mess she’d made. “Yeah”, she lied, her senses so shot Elise was oblivious to the fact the woman was the same as her. “I’ll be fine, I just have a little bit of a headache.”

Dianna pursed her lips and tsked quietly. Not at Elise or a reflection of the poor girl’s job performance, but of the fact the poor thing had to work when the moon was already starting to affect people before it had even come out. “Somethin’ tells me aspirin’s not gonna solve your problem, but you want some anyway?” She asked, her tone warming slightly as she dug into her purse for a small container of aspirin. “I’m sure after the shift, you’ll go back to your usual self.”

Dianna’s mind clicked through the different names of the lone wolves in town. Vidales. Kovak. Kelly. Their scents weren’t the ones she had picked up on the past full moon. She could tell there was new wolf blood in town, but it seemed off somehow. She had to intercept before the next full moon, sniff them out, see if they were any threat. There was always the possibility a new lone wolf could potentially threaten the pack directly, but indirectly as well. In the past, hunters would be more careful to not hunt the members of the Armstrong pack-- they were strong, they were many, and they would retaliate. 

But lone wolves were free game to the hunters. A kill with no strings attached. She wondered if things had changed though, regarding their understanding with the hunters. James had been killed, the new alpha was pregnant and unable to shift. What did that mean for the pack?

Dianna wandered through the woods, in human form but still utilizing her heightened sense of smell. Had the lone wolf gone this way, or that? She turned her head in time to see an arrow zip past her, landing with a silvery thump into the trunk of a tree just a foot from her head. Well, I know where we stand. She figured and broke into a sprint. More arrows zipped her way, slicing through the air like the sound of sharpening knives. One grazed her, causing her to stagger and lose her footing, another planting into her shoulder. Dianna let out a cry of pain, stumbling again as the wolfsbane-coated arrow singed her skin and the puncture surrounding it. She heard the footsteps of hunters racing towards her, readying to strike again. Her eyes flashed as she began to trigger her shift, claws emerging from where fingernails once grew, canines growing from her gums.

@diannaarmstrong

Moving in with Dianna was a surreal experience.  In some ways it was exciting.  She wasn’t as lonely, she had help with bills.  She’d have help with the baby once they were born.  Those were good things.  Except she felt like she was living in a museum to James’ life, a side of him that she didn’t know.  It was hard, but there was little Kelsie could do about it.

What made things harder was how much her pregnancy was progressing.  She could feel her baby moving.  The first time it happened she had nearly called out for James before reality came crashing down around her.  She wanted him to feel.  Instead she kept it to herself.  She didn’t want to talk about what was happening, or her child.  It hurt.  Thinking about how her life would be without him…it was easier for Kelsie to pretend everything was fine.

At least until she went to put something away and found one of James’ shirts in the closet.  The baby was kicking and she held the fabric in her hands.  The tears started as she found her way to the couch, hugging the shirt to her chest as she inhaled.  It still smelled like him.  One hand crept down to cup the side of her belly, feeling the child kick.  However, when she heard footsteps she glanced up.  “Oh…Dianna.  I didn’t know you were home.”

Ideally, James would be here. Ideally, Nick and Dianna would have helped him and Kelsie move into a house of their own, someplace in town, and they could have a traditional baby shower. Dianna could watch everything unfold fondly, and celebrate this new life and new chapter James would be starting with Kelsie. But that wasn’t the reality they lived in.

Kelsie moving in had been good. Good for both of them. Kelsie would have protection, the ability to save a little money for the expenses that would come with having a newborn, and Dianna could help. But it was good for Dianna, too. Her house had become a tomb for the lost boys of the Armstrong pack. There were still plenty of traces of Atticus-- reminders of his betrayal more than anything anymore. But James, in his teens years, was still preserved and present. If it weren’t for the pack, Dianna might have starved in this house, buried under old quilts, wrapped and swaddled by her depression. Kelsie and the baby were a reason to do the dishes, to buy groceries. They were two added heartbeats in a home that used to have three, then one, and now three again. It was the right decision.

After unloading the groceries in the kitchen, Dianna crept over to guest room. She wanted to be quiet in case Kelsie was resting, and if she wasn’t, would ask what she would want Dianna to fix them for dinner. The door didn’t even creak open when Dianna saw Kelsie clutching one of James’ shirts. Her heart lurched, reminded of the times she herself had done the very same thing.

“Closest thing to holding him again, I know,” Dianna said, her lips tight as she walked over to Kelsie. Selfishly, she wanted to do the same thing. Take the shirt and inhale the last few traces of her son. Instead, she hooked her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “I remember he wore that shirt to a job interview. Before he became a firefighter and he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He asked me, “Ma, is this dressy enough?” and I had to point out he was interviewing at a garage and he might be a bit overdressed.” She smiled softly at the memory, hoping maybe it could help her and Kelsie connect a bit.

Kelsie was silent while she listened to every word Dianna spoke.  The woman was a truly saving grace for Kelsie in the midst of such a dark time.  She never had a mother, and while Dianna was not the most warm or maternal figure, she was better than nothing.  Kelsie needed family.  She ached to belong to something.  The pack was one thing, but there was pressure that came with the pack.  When she was with the other wolves, she felt as though she had to be on alert.  She had to be the leader at all times.  At least with Dianna those pretenses could be washed away.

“I know you are,” Kelsie murmured softly.  “I really don’t know what I would have done without you.”  She would not have been able to run the pack.  Kelsie knew that without a shadow of a doubt.  Without support the pack would have fallen.  She could never have rallied the pack around her without help and guidance.

Shifting awkwardly, Kelsie sighed.  “I’ve never been very good at just…telling myself what to do,” she admitted.  It was always hard to just make a decision and do it.  Perhaps that was why she spent so many years under Aiden’s thumb.  She was indecisive and anxious, overthinking the outcomes until she was trapped.  “Well,” she started before swallowing, “I guess I just need to try things out and see what works for me.  Though I think….after the baby is born, when I can shift again…I think that’s when I’ll really start feeling like this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”  Right now?  Kelsie felt so human.  It was a vulnerable position to be in and one that made her more of an outsider in her own pack.

When the baby is born. Kelsie’s words snapped Dianna back to a conversation she had had earlier with Nick. The truth was, it wasn’t too safe for Kelsie to be vulnerable, on her own, as an Alpha. And Dianna was sure the bills were hard to cover, keeping her own place was a lot more stress and time. If Kelsie took the guest room at Dianna’s, then there was the added protection of Dianna who could shift. There was less to stress about in terms of paying her rent and utilities on time. And maybe, selfishly, Dianna’s world would feel a little less lonely.

Dianna reached out and gently took Kelsie’s hand. She already had the woman’s full attention, but Dianna wanted it to be clear her offer came from a place of sincerity. “About that,” she started, giving Kelsie’s hand a gentle squeeze before guiding her a little further away from the crowd than they already were. Discretion and secrecy were the only advantages they had in a town this small. The less people knew about Kelsie’s situation the safer Kelsie and the baby were. “I want you to move into the house with me. I’ve spoken with Nick, he and others in the pack can help you move. I have a guest room where you can stay,” she explained, her tone serious. “I strongly urge you to move in with me, as the grandmother of your child and as your beta. We can protect you there, God forbid anything should happen,” she continued. “And I can be more of a help. You won’t need to stress about bills and home upkeep. It’ll be better for both you and the baby.”

He followed her gaze to his empty glass and shrugged. “I’m not usually.” He leaned in a little conspiratorially, though he still retained a respectable distance. “It was cheaper than mine, now I know why.” He leaned back into his chair again as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Her question cut through him, though, reminding him that there was, in fact, at least one care: supes were disappearing. And it could no longer be construed as a coincidence. He nearly shrugged, opening his mouth to say to be quite honest, he didn’t much care. But then he remembered exactly who it was he was talking to and he shut his mouth again. 

He did what he could to stay out of the personal affairs of others and her husband used to parade his literal affairs through his club pretty regularly. Knowing how that ended on top of the disappearance of her son, he figured she was not the right candidate for his blasé attitude. She’d sniff out a lie if he pretended to care though, so instead he followed through with his shrug and tried a different avenue instead. “If we’re being honest,” he started pointedly with a knowing smile at the woman who pulled no punches sitting in front of him, “I came here to find myself a distraction. Or a new bartender since apparently I just lost one of mine.”

Something about Dianna demanded respect, even from a guy like Reid who often found himself without an ounce to give. The bartender returned with their drinks and he glanced down at it. His finger lightly trailed the lip of the glass. “Think it’s all connected? The disappearances, I mean.”

Dianna’s gaze remained as narrow as shaved flint, observing Reid carefully out of the corners of her eyes. Their drinks slid across the worn, polished wooden bar, respectively in front of each of them. Reid wasn’t the one who killed Atticus. He wasn’t responsible for James’ death. She had been around long enough to know who she could and could not trust in this town. She’d seen enough people pass through, heard enough stories from the elders, to have someone pegged simply by the way they looked at her. Reid had power, a wealth of years under his belt, and a wealth of cash in his bank account. As a supernatural, she respected how he played the game and how he played it smart. 

“Right. Kim.” Dianna gave a nod, raising her glass to her lips. She believed Reid. As honest as his answer was, it wasn’t interesting enough to make conversation out of. She didn’t like small talk and she knew they didn’t get where they were by flapping their gums about the weather. “Good luck finding someone sexy enough for your little Sin Den. Everyone here looks like being a lumberjack is their day job and they come here for the free whiskey.” Dianna pointed out, nodding at the burly man in flannel pouring drinks.

As his question, she sighed. It was almost a tired one. The only disappearance that had mattered happen months ago. In all honesty, she hadn’t been paying too much attention to the news with everything going on in the pack. Placating the older wolves who were upset at Kelsie becoming alpha, grieving the loss of her son, helping her son’s baby’s mother grieve, helping that same woman run a longstanding wolf pack...Three strangers didn’t mean much to her. But maybe now they should.

“I thought it was a load of bullshit when I first heard,” Dianna admitted frankly. “The NASR comes in and all of a sudden they give a crap about supes disappearing during the full moon? We all know the hunters have been doing this longer than either of us have been around. They only chose now to acknowledge it because it’s suddenly popular to care.” she said, taking another sip from her drink. She shook her head. Maybe it was political, maybe it was something more sinister. She gave a shrug and turned to him. “But what’s fishy is the hunters like to make a show of it. Signature silver bullets, all that. They folks are just gone. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s something.” She said simply before adding somewhat dryly, a wry smile on her lips. “You given it much thought? Or are you just trying to get me to open up so you can take me to bed?” She liked to poke fun at the vampire stereotypes-- how they loved to seduce to feed, compel their victims. She was as platonic as they came; a little teasing never hurt.