The gun clatters to the floor, and she stares at it too, for a moment, she considers bending down to wipe it off - but that's cartoon shit. People turn up dead in Port Leiry all the time. The Hunters won't want exposure any more than they do - let them deal with it.

She does take the hard copies out of his CCTVs though, after deleting whatever was on the local drive. No need to make it too easy.

A few blocks over and they're in the car. A few dozen moments and she's dropping Liam off at his place. In the car, she leans back in the chair, mashing her palms into her eyes and letting out a deep breath.

"I get it if you don't want to, but we should probably fess up to the others," she says. She doesn't look at Liam, just straight ahead. "I'm going to. I won't involve you if you don't want me to."

Whatever came out of her mouth when they faced the rest of the Pack was completely up to her and Liam would back her, no matter what. Honestly, part of him wanted her to throw him to the wolves, just so she didn't get into any other forms of trouble with anyone. He'd rather be the one to take the brunt of the anger and potential violence.

He flinches as his upper arm is grabbed, he isn't weak by any means, but the other wolf takes to them gym. He knows that. Knows that he works there. And August hasn't trained in far to long. He is easily shoved out of the room, still refusing to fight. Still refusing to impose and force himself as he is pressed out into the hall, Liam standing solid in the door frame.

Grimacing he rubs his forehead - pretending is not gonna get him anywhere quick with this guy. "Shit. Sorry, I was like - I was going for, like, a chill nonchalant thing." He gestures between the two of them, too animated for how frigid it is out here. His fingertips already feel a little too cold to be comfortable. What temperature did eyeballs freeze? Are they good? He swallows hard.

"No one sent me or nothing, nah. I was - Listen, things are real weird for me right now, it's kinda hard to explain, and my buddy mentioned you worked at the gym forever ago, and I wanted to introduce myself, and I came up with, like, the worst excuse and now you're all on edge. I was supposed to meet up with you, like, months ago. And there's a whole bunch of stuff that prevented it -- the weird stuff that I - " The speed of his words quickens as he speaks until he's tripping over them, "Look, it's cool - My name's Jude. I didn't look like this before." He really can't even tell if he's flustered because of all the shit that happened or because he doesn't wanna make Liam upset or if it's because he's cuter in person.

Liam's eyes flickered towards the guy's hands, which were now gesturing between the two of them. He wasn't advancing towards Liam, which was a relief, but there was still something odd about the interaction. "A nonchalant... thing." Liam repeated, his lips pressing together into a thin line.

The word vomit coming out of the guys' mouth caused Liam's mind to spin -- trying to connect the dots of whatever the fuck he was saying. Once again, there was a stranger that knew who he was, from someone he wasn't aware of, who had tracked him down. He knew where he worked. Did he know who he was? What he was? And who the fuck was this buddy of his?

"Listen. I'm done with my shift. If you came here to talk about me being your personal trainer, then you're going to have to--" Liam's brain short circuited as the last of the other's words finally penetrated his mind. "You..." He tilted his head to the side, his eyes flicking over the other's body. Not in a, i'm checking you out, kind of way. More of Liam just trying to process what he was being told.

Jude. Autumn's Jude? The Jude that had been in his pack? The one he'd planned to meet, had heard a lot about, and then... he died. Liam knew he died. Autumn had told him that he'd died. A laugh -- one of no humor and all dark annoyance escaped Liam's lips. "Stealing someone's identify. Fuck. Low shit, isn't it, Jude?" Did Autumn know about this? Had this man approached her yet?

Autumn flinches.

"We're the black sheep," he continues. "All of us. None of the others respect us. We're animals for them to heard. You're both loose ends. When Yuisa-"

"She's done-" Autumn interrupts. "You saw same as we did. Anish won that fight."

"So had Yuisa," Kersey smiles, with bloody teeth. "And Matteo's father, and the alpha before him. It's a cycle, you dumb kids don't seem to get that it's a cycle, who're you to break it? You'll get it-" he stops, coughing out a red spray - the silver slug working its way into his blood now.

"It's all animals. You, me. Even the ones born with it - there'll always be another Yuisa and they'll always be tougher. I was just... doing... what I had to."

Autumn looks at Liam, and then at Kersey. "Yeah well, look at you now."

Kersey narrows his eyes at her, first, then Liam. "You'll take the scraps, both of you. Even Anish isn't gonna let that... change." He sputters again.

That sits in her gut like a lead weight, and Autumn looks at Liam, reaches out to the hand he has the gun in. "We should leave it," she says. "Clean it off, make sure we take the tapes or whatever - it'll look like they took each other out."

It'll still be miserable, but it'll be over.

Feel better? She hears the question in her head - is it Olivier's voice? Amanda's? Jude's? Veronica's? Ashlyn's? She searches for it, but it's only her and Liam here, and one corpse and it's soon-to-be fellow.

Kersey's words are more of an annoyance than anything. He was used to people judging him -- his personality, his quick to anger, him being bitten rather than born. Maybe it wouldn't change all that much with Kersey and Yuisa out of the picture. But at lease some people were trying to be different. And if it didn't work out, then he'd be back to where he used to be. Liam had handled it before. He could handle it again -- with Addie.

His eyes flickered towards Autumn's hand, which was now reaching out towards the gun. He lifted it, flicked out the cylinder, and noticed one more bullet. He pushed it back in, loaded it, and then pointed it towards Kersey once more. Liam pulled the trigger without a second thought -- the bullet hitting him in the center of the neck. Maybe now, he'd worry more about the blood gushing from his throat than talking.

Then, he dropped the used and now unloaded gun into Autumn's hand. "There." At least now, if Kersey tried to grab the gun, there wouldn't be any use for it. "Do what you need to. I'll wait." He stated as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

There was a time when he and Liam were on track to.. at least talk a little. Autumn had mentioned introducing the two of them before everything happened, but there hadn't been a chance. That's sort of the only thing on his mind, as he catches a glimpse of him coming out of the gym.

It's.. not really his place, anymore. The moon no longer as a hold and he can't hear or smell him. Jude finds that it's more annoying to be human again than anything, but he can't stop himself from jogging over. A few things have changed in the last few months, and maybe.. Liam can help him out. Maybe it doesn't have to be that weird.

"Liam, right? Sorry, don't wanna bother, but, uh - I've been looking for ages for an old arcade around here, but I don't know where it is. There's just this old like electronics place there now. Did it move?"

Anish's assertions echo in her mind; His alpha had promised Cerberus' safety so long as he provided a barrier. She doesn't even know why the Warwick alpha would have wanted her dead - what sort of feral transgression she'd committed; was it simply because Anish had bitten her? Warwick looks down on wolves like her and Liam and Jude; she remembers that much. So do the others, but more out of pity than contempt.

Anish says it isn't supposed to be that way. That they shouldn't be tearing themselves apart.

The reverie's interrupted by another gunshot, and Autumn snaps back into the moment as he thuds against a wall, dragging a red smear down the peeling paint of the kitchen. She wonders if the silver will kill him where it hit. Wonders if this means she and Liam will be thrown out.

"You're not in charge of us anymore." she blurts out, as if she has any say stepping forward, past the dead hunter. "You heard Anish earlier, it's over tonight. You've been helping these people kill us."

Anything he'd felt, respect wise, towards his Alpha -- as little as it was -- had been shredded the moment Autumn had told him.

Even now, after having fired the gun, Liam couldn't bring himself to care as the man fell back into the wall. He moved with Autumn, closer to their Alpha and just past the dead hunter. He held the gun still, pointed towards the man. He didn't expect Kersey to back down or to listen to either of them, really. "A bit of a dick move from an Alpha." He muttered as he stared at the man. "Cowardly, too." A pause. "From what I was told when I joined, you are supposed to protect your pack. All of us."

A part of her knew this wouldn't make her feel any better, but she isn't prepared for how little it changes. The other hunters will probably come for her, if they find out - but she's surprised at how little she cares.

It's then that Kersey steps out from the office, eying the scene, the two of them. Autumn's eyes narrow, and in that second, she's glad she doesn't have the gun. "Liam-" she starts, but the Alpha interrupts.

"Shut up," he interrupts, but his hands are up, spread between the two of them in some defensive display. Autumn stares, chest tight.

It confirms it though - Anish had told them, but seeing him here seals it.

He let out a sigh as he closed the chamber and focused his attention on a new noise. Footsteps that were getting closer. He shifted closer to Autumn, eyes peeled and honed in on the man that was now in front of them with his hands held upwards towards them.

Men had always been a sore subject with Liam. Rarely did he ever feel comfortable around any of them -- even in his older age. And this man was no different. Liam didn't like the look of him, nor did he care for the way he was talking to both Autumn and him.

"Wha-" She realizes it's blood, not dirt and mud making her hands feel warm and slimy when Liam's calls thunder her back to the moment, and Autumn, shaking, takes in a sharp breath, eying Liam, and then the wounded hunter squirming under him. "Yeah..." she breathes out, the words half a lie. Then she remembers the gunshot, and checks her body, no- not her blood. Oh, god, the gun. Autumn reaches under the oven behind her, fingers tracing trails over the grease-caked floor of the diner kitchen until she finds AJ's golden cuff and pulls it out in her hand. She finds the dropped gun too, and picks it up along with herself. "I'm fine," she reiterates louder while staring. It's still half a lie.

Eyeballing the pallid, round heap of muscle beneath Liam glaring at her while he tries to pushback against Liam's inhuman strength, Autumn realizes he's transformed in his own way.

When she'd first lain eyes on him, he'd reminded her of the kind of bikers you see on TV shows. Heavy-set, ruddy-pale skin and a copper beard graying in the corners, all gruff and surly despite surprisingly soft (and frightening) voice and well spoken nature; those have given way to snarling anger here though. He's not the man who had stopped her on the trip north to Durieu, cornered her outside of Heron Club in October or at Tideview last month, and menaced her. He's a desperate weakling, warning them in so many words that Aurelia will get the both of them, that The Brotherhood will get them for this.

He had still been hunting her, and he'd liked to remind her, had found Autumn every time, just as she'd felt safe, and reminded her that he was watchimg. That he'd be there if she ever put a toe out of line. Ever since, it's been stewing and festering in her mind, this feeling that she can't abide the idea of anyone near her getting caught in the crossfire again. Not Remi. Not Ashlyn. Not Liam or Addie.

It's not about if they can defend themselves. It's about the fact that they shouldn't have to.

Liam couldn't take that chance.

His eyes flickered over her form as she stood there, noticing the gun that was now in her hand. "Autumn--" Liam was ready to argue with her. To tell her that she didn't have to be the one to do this. That he'd actually planned on handling it himself. He didn't want her to have to endure more than what she already had. The potential trauma of this weighed heavy on Liam's mind.

It's snowing again.

The whole city is under some spell - whether it's a real spell or not, she doesn't know or care. Anish's takedown of the Warwick alpha, his revelation that her own pack's leader is who had sold them out to Hunters to get on Warwick's good side, it has her roiling.

From the dark space between the shadows of two buildings, she watches the inside of the business, dead and empty save for its lights - the only ones lit on the street - for signs of its proprietor.

This is neutral ground - but it doesn't matter; so was the grassy patch where he and his cronies had made a show of killing Jude Grigsby. Tit for tat then. This isn't going to solve anything, and it isn't meant to. She's breaking her promise to Jude, but he's dead. He can be disappointed in her whenever she dies.

When their hunter shows his face, she nods to Liam, and moves, walking stiffly through the snow-buried street, only barely checking for traffic. Her heart thunders as she opens the door; the smell of commercial grade cleaning solutions and soaps and softeners hit her nose, but so does that scent that's been burned in her mind since that not.

"Hey, evening. Let me know if you need anyt-" the proprietor's voice comes before stopping short as he turns and sees who's come in. He makes a quick move, but Autumn, startled, spears him to the ground, where they turn into a mangled knot of limbs. He's strong, squirrely, and struggling, and before she cant fix AJ's cuff around his wrist he knocks it from her hand and under a nearby appliance, his other hand going for the slip of chrome under his coat. Autumn's mind goes cold and her stomach flips as she reaches for that hand.

It's a scrum that lasts all of half-seconds before the place lights up with dull flashes and sharp cracks of gunfire muffled between two people. Autumn falls backwards off of him, her face spattered in blood. Has she been shot? She can't tell, as her ears ring, but then her eyes crawl down, focus on the seeping pool of read in the Hunter's thigh. He's shot himself.

All the more reason, though, to help Autumn. To keep her safe.

It was hard to do that, though, with her practically throwing herself at the Hunter within the building that they enter. Liam cursed under his breath as he watched them struggle, advancing as he realized that Autumn no longer had the upper hand. Then, there was a shot. Blood sprayed outward, hitting him in the arm as he pushed himself between Autumn and the man.

Liam immediately knocked the gun from the other's hand and then shoved him down onto the ground. Red clouded his vision as he punched the Hunter in the face once, twice, three times. Blood coated his knuckles, causing Liam to smirk. The man struggled underneath Liam, which only caused Liam to press his knee harshly into the man's fresh wound on his thigh.

Does he think they could take them? Maybe, but it'd be a short-lived reign of revenge. They'd be torn apart, if Kanemaru knew what was good for them. So they need numbers, at the end of the day. And Liam, as close as he was to the man long gone now, needed to be a part of them in his mind. He won't force, though. That's not who he is and not who he wants to be.

"Yeah? Well he barely talked about you guys." Liam muttered as he averted his eyes from Anish. In reality, Liam rarely asked about Matteo and his Pack. He hadn't wanted to know. He hadn't been interested. Matteo knew that and so, he didn't offer information. Now, though, Liam wished he would have inquired more.

"Safety." He repeats, nodding once more. "Capisco."

They walk through the doors of the gym, Elio muttering a soft 'thank you' first. Inside, the first thing he notices is the sparring area in the distance. That is familiar to him, not in the way it's set up, but he remembers the times most of his training was to be able to take down men much bigger than him. He takes in a deep breath, and turns to Liam. "So far, so easy. Yes." He offers a smile, and shoves his hands into his pockets.

"We are mainly a gym for wolves but--" Liam pressed his lips together into a thin line, his eyes flickering towards the boxing ring. "We allow others to come and join, occasionally. If she wants to come, she can. As long as she doesn't cause any issues." Liam didn't know many witches but he assumed, just like anyone, they should at least try to control their abilities in public.

Silently, he wondered if Elio and his sister were close. If he was asking if she could come to the gym, didn't that mean they were? Liam tore his gaze away from the ring as his own sister came to mind. Would she ever want to come to the gym? Liam wasn't sure if he was comfortable with that. At least, not her coming without him. He didn't know everyone that came to the gym. He didn't trust that she'd be safe.

He pushed the thoughts from his mind.

The counter rocks and shakes along with the rest of the shop, and she watches empty pizza boxes and styrofoam containers flip and fly all over the place as they struggle.

They thud against the counter and she hears the wood creak, enough to scatter her backwards, her sneakers squeaking in and amongst the snarling furor as she gets to her feet, running around the counter to the entrance behind, where Liam tangles with this thing. Blood fills the air, curls it's scent into her nose, and she finds it familiar and she finds it makes her stomach rumble in a way she still isn't super comfortable with.

Holy fuck! She mouths silently, and twice she thinks she's gotta get the thing off of him. Maybe if she tackled it like a footballer, but by the time Freddie steels herself and her spine enough to take of into a run, the two of them go dead quiet and still, and Freddie finds herself barreling into a quiet and unconscious lump of muscle and fur, the dead weight shifting off of Liam and sending Freddie ass-over-teakettle as she flips over the hairy thing and onto the floor opposite. Oof.

She sits up, rubbing the back of her head where it's clonked against a bit of stainless steel. "You alive?" She grumbles out, turning to see the unconscious werewolf start to turn back to its human shape. It's weird to see from the outside, and she winces.

Liam let out a groan. "I fucking told you to not get in the way." But no, why listen? Liam draped an arm over his face as his forehead pounded. The bright lights of the pizza shop only caused an increase in the pain in his head. He closed his eyes as he tried to focus on what he needed to do next. His body would heal fairly quickly, but that didn't mean all of his problems were resolved.

Fingers brushed against him and he quickly jerked away from the touch. "Fuck-- don't touch me!" Then he grunted as his left thigh protested his movement. He blinked and glanced down at his shredded pants. Blood coated his jeans, along with his leg -- deep claw marks showed itself through the tattered pieces. That might take longer to heal.

But the gym, it was promising.

He arrived a minute or two earlier than the time told to him, and he had paced in the parking lot for fifteen minutes before walking into the gym. Snow adorns his shoulders and curls atop his head from the effort, and he slowly tries to make himself look somewhat presentable. He nods, "Yes." He hoped the man wouldn't be upset by the stuttering, halting way he spoke - that had been why it was difficult to find something lasting.

He pulls off his tattered jacket and neatly folds it in his arms. "It is.. nice to meet you."

"We'll start here. The reception desk." Liam planted a hand down on the surface of the table. "You won't really have to worry about this. But someone works here, at the front. They check in anyone that comes through the front doors. No one is allowed through those doors--" He pointed towards the ones that led to the gym. "Without checking in. They also won't even be able to open those doors if they don't have their own badge." He then pulled his own from his pocket, which was connected to a lanyard. "Safety procedures."