The full moon always made Alex fuckin itchy. Right now it felt like her skin was trying to crawl off her body. And in the last few days, from what she'd found out from Zack that happend the other night at the bar, and how she'd gotten hurt...Well, when things calmed down more, she was going to have to talk to Silent. This shit couldn't happen again.

Dressed in a ragged pair of cut offs and an old ratty tshirt, she wandered the house, the big white fuzzy wonder following her most of the day, when he wasn't romping the house, and trying to squish Sati and Layfette by laying on them. Her clothes that normally fit so well, seemed to bag on her still, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Xavier's voice in her mind seemed to be a constant presense. Only being quiet once in awhile, as if he ran out of things to say. As the sun started to sink towards the horizon, Alex felt the prickle over her skin of that call from the Swamp Queen, and looking towards Helix, she motioned towards Sati and Layfette. "You stay here....you don't need to come out with us..you'll just get your dumb ass hurt.."

The words were said as she ruffled the fur ontop his head, leaning down to scrub fingers over his body. Then Calling out to Zack, whom had been staying with them as well since Geller sprang alex from the hospital, she waited till the pup joined her, then the two headed out the back and into the trees. Heading for the scent of Silent.

The Hillbilly princess still had bandages wrapped around both arms. Even with Stitches, the wounds had been made by silver, and they were going to heal human slow untill she shifted tonight. Breaking through the trees, she saw Silent, and that smile curled her lips. hesitant, where it should have been stronger. Just...to much shit had happend to her in too short a time, and she'd had just about enough of it all. She was ready for things to calm down, and to just be...normal for awhile. Or as normal as shit like this got.

And more than that, she wanted to learn to control this new growing ability that was forming inside her. Whatever had triggered it from it's dormant state? Alex wished she could go back and undo it. Moving to Silent, she curled up at the swamp wolfs side. Still so underweight from the previous ordeal. She'd been a good 112, 115 lbs before Xavier had snatched her. As it stood now, Alex was down to about 92 and still losing because she wasn't eating nearly as much as she should, if at all.

"Wish they were here already....feel like I'ma jump  outta my damn skin....."

Lou was falling into a routine of sorts, working in the shop, running whatever errands they'd assigned her during the day and being available to them for whatever they wished at night. Somewhere she'd manage to catch some hours of sleep, usually in the hours just before dawn, starting her day mid-morning. Was she losing business? But it consumed her, filled her days and nights. She hadn't even kept track of time, hadn't realized the coming of the moon. She was in her shop when the call came, head lifting even as her eyes closed, feeling the ripple along her spine, the little wolf stirring restlessly within her.

It was a good thing, that call, otherwise she might not have tried to ignore the pull of the moon, pushing away its distraction until it gave her no choice but to heed its call. And that would have been bad. As it was she could feel the impatience of the wolf that she'd been ignoring, the need to get out and run in the night. They'd understand. 

It didn't take long on the bike for her to get out to the swamps, parking it before slipping from the seat. She looked like a grease monkey, baggy coveralls, unlaced boots and grease marking her face and hands but she moved silently into the swamp to where Silent was gathering the others. She halted on the edges of where they gathered, settling in a crouch in a the shadow of a tree. A lock of hair was captured, twisted in her fingers before brought to her lips, chewing at the ends in the return of an old habit.

She'd wait while they gathered, watching in silence.

The colorful timberwolf had been clawing inside her for the past few weeks now, what with everything going on. First, the disappearance of Hair Gel, then Zoe, then Venus, now it seems Nike is on hiatus, and not too long after that, Dee and Sirus went on the hunt for Zack. That very night she wanted to shift; she wanted to be free from her fleshy cage and use those inner animalistic senses to find Zack. Only he was in the city, and it would have been dangerous to be spotted by a couple of humans believing they saw very large wolves in mid-city. Zack was already scared when they showed up, and if Dee or Sirus arrived in wolf form, the little pup would have probably shit and pissed himself scared, and he wouldn't have been able to recognize Dee.

When Silent's call reached her wolf, Dee answered immediately. There were no questions asked. She also knew that Hair Gel, Maya, and Trent heard as well, and if they decided to follow along, they could all go as one big, happy family in Dee's brand new Hummer. Reaching their destination in the swamps, Dee jumped from the too oversized vehichle for one girl, and approached Silent, sitting right beside her, stretching her legs out as well. She duly noted Zack leaning against the tree, Lou crouching in the shadows dancing over her underneath another tree, Alex just approaching cursing about jumping out of her skin, and Sirus just arriving as well.

With her new makeover, Dee knew when to dress and when not to dress up. Since she was gonna get naked anyways, she wore a pair of torn, ripped jean shorts and a sleeveless oversized shirt of the 80's hair metal band Twisted Sister printed on the front. And for once, she wasn't in combat boots. Black, cheap flip flops completed the rolled-out-of-bed appearance.

She took one of Silent's cigarettes and lit one up herself, then draped an arm over the woman's shoulders. "We'll all be okay Silent. I promise. I'll protect the pack to the best of my ability. Pretty night, don't you think?" Of course, she was referring to all the recent events that happened in less than a month, and she could see the wheels turning in the Ulfric's head. As soon as everyone gathered, Dee crushed her cigarette in the sand and stood up, standing off to the side to wait for the change.

=The things he remembered best were the things that were going to happen two weeks from Tuesday.  Everything after that was from before and everything before that came after and right now was like completely gone so he never bothered trying to understand.  When Ryver's older much much much older brother Dr. Malcolm Book had gone into a coma in Roma the sudden depletion of the man from Ryvers memory had sent the young man into a heinous cycle of insanity that depleted his control and gave himself over to the grip of what The Company had done to him.=

=When he had come back into himself he'd been standing knee deep in the Mediterranean Sea with a group of fishermen staring at him as if he'd gone totally outer limit. Which in his case wasn't far from the truth.  As he had stood there in the Sea he looked down at his half naked body and saw that he was crusted with blood. Whose? When had it happened? What had happened? They were all questions that he couldn't answer. It had taken him some time to get back to Rome since he wasn't in posession of a passport or money or even a shirt, but as most things are with Ryver he found his way by what seemed to be a string of good luck. Though with him it was never just luck. Following the instinct that always pulled him forward or pushed him back his return to Rome was untriumphant and muted. Barefooted his soles were ripped and bloody, but he kept walking until the doors of the hospital whooshed open before him and his body was bathed in the coolness of the air conditioning.=

=It was the memory of Malcolm waking up that roused him.  Sometimes his condition was just plain frustrating. He couldn't remember how any of this had happened. Yet he could remember quite clearly that Malcolm would in fact wake up. Could be a week away or it could be a year. No way for him to know, but he did know that it would in fact happen because he could remember it. But since he had no idea how this would happen he wasn't sure how he could go about trying to fix any of it, and there was the crux of the whole thing. So Ryver had done what he always did in such situations he followed his backwards memory as it came to him until he found himself in New Orleans at a date so far from his last life in Rome that it needn't be mentioned because he couldn't remember those things anyway.  Everything from the present moment backwards was just gone, or mostly gone.=

=What he did know for sure however was that once he got to New Orleans he would find people he knew.  He knew them because he remembered them from a future date where they would lead him to his brother.  Knowing that was all that he needed.  So, Ryver Jayne Book was one wolf that waltz naked into the lupanar not at the calling of the Ulfric but at the calling of his own damaged and insane mind.  He was there because he knew these people, or most of them, knew them because in the future they would be important to him.  So in some ways he was more familiar with those gathered than they were among themselves.  Smiling contentedly he walked right up to Silent, unashamed of his nudity and smiled at her.=

"He'll be here soon Silent.  You shouldn't have worried.  It's a waste of your energy."

=And that was about as much sense as Ryver ever made in conversation with normal linearly thinking people.  Looking at those gathered he felt a complete peace.  Even his beast was relaxed because they remembered shifting as though it had already happened.  For them it had already happened and so there was no anxiety to be felt or anxiousness at the pull of the moon.  Things would come out as they were supposed to.  The always did.  That was how time happened.  Looking at Euridacee he cocked his head to one side and had a particularly vivid memory flutter through his mind.  It wasn't good.  Stepping sidelong he moved to the other side of the grass clearing.  No, Euridacee wasn't a problem right now, but she would be soon.=

"Zach!"

=Ryver smiled and waved to the other man who was leaning against a tree.  Happy memories flooded his mind as he looked at him.  Vaguely he was aware that in this reality it was the first time they were meeting, but that made him happy too.  It was nice to meet new friends, especially when you could remember all the fun times you were going to have very soon.  And so there he stood, the odd naked younger Book brother, remembering in reverse, with the Company's mark inside him, and probably leaving any wolf from Rome or Hawaii wondering where the hell he'd been for the last three years.=

Zachary was looking a little strange tonight, leaning there on his tree. For anyone paying attention, they would see him bouncing back and forth in what looked like excitement. If they looked away for just a second, though, they'd miss the shift to nervous pacing back and forth, before going back to his spot on the tree. One consistant factor, though, was the scent and feeling of fear rolling off of the pup in waves. “Fuck this shit, man...” he could be heard muttering to himself in between puffs. The only thing that really seemed normal was the smell of menthol coming from him, and the steadily growing collection of cigarette butts lining his walking path.

A small wave of comfort came around when Dee walked into view, though she didn't seem very interested in talking. Still, Zack offered her a smile and a wave before returning to his pacing. Daniel showed up, too, but the pup stayed out of his way as well. Somewhere between their conversation and now, he must have found the pack as well, and talked his way into a pretty decent position. There was that odd familiar scent to him that he couldn't quite place during their first meeting, and Alex god rid of any doubt in his mind. Rather odd that they had all managed to meet up like this. Still, best not to interrupt, he figured, and continued to pace around, flicking away another spent cigarette and reaching into his pocket for another.

Others were steadily streaming into the area, including the girl he'd waved to walking out of the hookah the day he was introduced to the pack. He still kept to himself, wearing a nice path in the ground, at least until someone he'd never seen before quite clearly shouted his name. Zack looked up to see the naked man still looking over at him. The pup didn't seem all that bothered, though. Slowly, he was becoming used to that sort of thing...whether it was good or bad remained to be seen. With his head tilted to the side, Zack took a couple steps towards him, trying to put his face and scent to anything in recent memory. Nothing was coming up.

“Ehh...hi? Who are you?”

"NO FUCKING WAY!"

-Maya was in Zoe's room on the bed with an expression of pure torment on her face.  She had felt Silent's call and was holding out for Geller to come take them.  Trent was sitting on the floor with his back to the bedroom door as they both waited.  Admittedly Trent was only waiting because Maya had threatened to shank him if he didn't.  The only reason she'd joined the pack was because of Geller and she wasn't going to anywhere unless he took her there.  Trusting that he would come get them soon she kicked at Zoe playfully and a bit annoyingly in the bed.-

"You're telling me you were hanging around some big sexy vampire all that time and you didn't get any? All you got was a bite? That doesn't sound fun at all."

-Mindless chatter filled the room as Maya tried to fight her desire to rock in place.  When Geller got there she bolted off the bed and practically covered him with kisses as she uttered curses at him for taking his sweet ass time.  Honestly she hadn't been sure where Geller would take them.  Would they shift with the wolves? or with the tigers? Who knew.  Didn't matter to her.  Following Geller to the car she rode in the passenger seat and made Trent shove himself in back.-

"So where the fuck are we going?"

-Wherever they went Maya would be at Geller's side, her hand in his if possible since she actually was a bit nervous with the moon pressing down on her.  The feel of him near her helped though.  She would stay with him on one side of the clearing as they watched the wolves gather together.  Some of them she knew, some were still strangers, but the tiny blonde bombshell watched them all and tried to memorize their faces.  Soon enough those faces would disappear.-

She'd stood when Silent came to the tree she'd been in the shadow of, head lowered, the tangle of curls curtaining her features. A tremor shook her at the feel of Silent's cheek, knowing the scent of the Twins clung to her, lacing through the hints of grease and exhaust and her own delicate scent. The question made her flinch just slightly, lips parting to speak but no sound escaping. Leave the shop? His shop? Her shoulders curled in, searching for words, finally forcing out the whisper "I... I don't know." The thought of leaving the shop, their home, had the empty hole witin her seem to grow, tempting her with the dark silence and at the same time she could almost hear that last command, the barrier he'd set between them in his final instants forcing her away from the dark. She wavered an instant, steadying herself against the tree.

She watched as Silent moved to greet the others, leaning back against the tree, arms wrapping tightly around herself. The wolf within whined softly, wanting to take control, to forget everything for the moment of the hunt, to think of nothing but running in the night, the hot blood of prey and the warmth of the pack. Maybe that was the answer, to just, surrender to the wolf and never come back again.

-Trent did what Maya said because, well hell, wouldn't you? He blocked the door for her, got in the back seat, and just generally let her push him around like the bossy sister he had never had.  It really didn't bother him.  She was just kind of cute when she did it.  Besides Trent really wasn't interested in arguing with anybody on the day of the full moon.  He was glad when Geller showed up as well and tried to stay as close to the man as possible as they went to the lupanar to see the pack.-

-In the clearing he felt a surge of nerves at first as he felt so many of them through the trees.  Then they were walking out into the clearing and the nerves hit harder.  Unless he was onstage with a bass in his hands he just didn't like this many people around him.  Moving slightly closer to Geller he did all but brush his side against the other mans.  He could though, if the need arose.  As Cadence joined them he nodded to her.-

"Hey Caddy."

-She looked like she was ready to crawl out of her skin and he offered her room near Geller if she wanted it.  It was just more comfortable next to someone with more power, or so Trent had discovered.  As they stood in a small cluster he watched and waited to see what would happen next.  When everything was done and they all shifted he would once again become that russet red and white wolf and hunt the night beside his new family.-

( http://wickedlabyrinth.activeboard.com/t44047623/full-moon-calling-ash-llidya/ )

When Silent had chosen to make her call Ash and Llidya had been packing, or unpacking rather, and moving Llidya's things into Alex's house.  That had been an opening to a conversation which led eventually to them deciding to get Laney and go to the lupanar that Silent had designated.  Past that they had made no decision, but would see where the night took them.  The three wolves took their time in getting there and not the least reason was that Ash hated these calls on principle.  He preferred a little organization and the telephone.  On his way he used just that to contact an old friend. 

( http://wickedlabyrinth.activeboard.com/t44123065/full-moon-calling-to-lexie-from-ash/ )

By the time they got there most of the wolves had already gathered.  Ash had to pause long enough to convince Laney not to bring her guns.  Shifting was a messy business, was the argument, and once she'd shifted she would have better more natural weapons.  Finally though he joust jostled her out of the holster and nudged her towards Llidya.  They headed through the forest and towards the clearing and came out near where Geller and his family stood watching the others.  For a moment Ash paused, then gave a nod to Geller as he went to stand beside the other man.

"Geller."

Their heights were similar, their hair dark as pitch, but that was where the similarities ended.  In every other way they were polar opposites.  Standing beside one another that fact was more obvious.  All around there was activity, the sound of the wolves getting better acquainted and Ash let his lightning kissed eyes roam over the crowd a long moment.  A few faces were strangers, some surprised him, and some were as familiar as the two women with him.  One in particular shocked him though and forced even Ash to openly stare.  Ryver Book? When had that happened?

"I'm sure we'll be starting soon."

That crisp accented voice was used to sooth Laney as he and Llidya stood like book ends on either side of her.  Compared to Laney they looked like giants, but at least they were together.  Finally his eyes settled on Silent and he gave her a nod of his chin.  There had not yet been time for them to talk, but he knew that story all too well.  When you were Ulfric there was never time.  That was part and parcel of the occupation.  So he didn't hold it against her.  In some ways this had a familiar ring to old times. 

-Maya didn't know Zach but when he joined them Maya hugged the big guy and just kind of hung on.-

"Heya.  Nice to meetcha."

-Then she yammered away with Nyx about whatever silly topic was on her mind at the moment.-

+He and Jenna had talked about the logistics of the full moon.  At least, they had begun to talk about them before more pressing matters came into play.  In the end they decided that given the nature of how things were moving among the lycans of the city they would stick to the status quo for now and spent the full moon in their seperate encampments.  Certainly they could be mature responsible adults and spend an evening apart.....sure.+

+Having promised Maya and Trent he would pick them up he did just that and the three of them went to the place Silent had designated together.  Venus, at that time, was still in a coma, and Geller wasn't entirely sure where Dee was, but he could guess it was somewhere close to a certain wolf who smelled vaguely of snow.  When they arrived in the clearing his guess was proven correct and he gave a nod and a wide lipped smile to Dee Dee where she stood near Silent.+

+Standing a bit apart from the other wolves he, Maya, and Trent were soon joined by Nyx, Zach, and Cadence.  Conversation flowed among the younger wolves and Geller greeted them with a brush of his cheek and the occasional good natured cuff on the shoulder.  There was a lot of tension and energy racing through the clearing and he kept his shields fixed in place, seeming almost like a human among the wolfs as the power of those shields blocked what he was to anyone not keen enough to know what was beneath them.  Hearing his name he turned to find their cluster joined by Ash, Llidya, and Laney.+

"Ash.  I wasn't sure you were gonna show up."

+Glancing at Lllidya and Laney he remembered the lady cop from the hospital and shot a toothy grin in her direction before he and Ash stood side by side in quiet conference.  Now and then as they spoke he would glance out at one of the other wolves and then back to Ash with a comment or a nod.  It seemed the two men were like minded in their thinking.  Not that it meant either of them knew what to do about it.  Standing beside one another they looked like dark bookends, the neanderthal and the sociopath.  Lovely visual. Then they just had to wait to see what Silent had in mind, and to see where the evening would lead.  Bah.  He hated waiting.+

Ahhhh! So many people comming in at once, it was sending the litle tawny wolf into a massive squirm fest. Pacing back and forth, and trying to ignore the random thoughts that popped into her head thanks to you know who. Dismissing Danny as a future pain in her ass, she moved away from him towards Zack and now Nyx. Brushing a hand over the pups arm, she tried to help him relax some. Though with as anxious as she was to shift and just run and hunt, she might not have been much help.

The arrival of Geller and his crew had her giving a smile and a wave to the older man. Seperating herself from Zack, and moving towards Geller. "Hey. wondered if you were gonna show up" She grinned up at him, going up on tiptoes to brush her cheek against his, then looked to Trent with a grin. Remembering himf rom the hookah. The blond however was given a once over, then a smile as she greeted Maya. "Hey, I'm Alex..."

And then Ash, Laney and Llydia was there. She hadn't really talked to Ash since she'd finally admitted her part in what Llydia was now. So her smile was a bit hesitant. Yeah, he'd said it was ok, but she still felt weird about it. Nuzzling his cheek and reciving one in return, it made her smile grow and her beast relax some. "Hey, ya'll..." She slung an arm around Laney's shoulders and nipped at her playfully. "YOu likeing your new room?"

Yup...Things were gonna be fine. Soon as she could shift and get rid of this tension.