Episode 82: Happy Tails

Genre: Supernatural/Drama
Characters: Kaya, Connor, Vaughn, Sophie, Karri, Finn, Dominick, Joseph, Kaeleigh
Word Count: 2,309
Rating: R
Type: Series
Summary: Kaya and Vaughn discuss the possibilities of Shifter wolves. Karri and her brother Finn have a heart-to-heart about Xander and the secret she's been keeping.
Warnings: Language, suggestive material, violence, strong sexual content, adult content, adult situations, nudity.

“Ok!” Connor shouted, storming into the babies’ room. Kaya sat on the floor with her lively litter of pups as they clambered and hopped around her lap, tumbling over their paws. “Someone owes me a new Misfits t-shirt.”

“What?” she asked, looking up at the tattered remains of his favorite tee.

“Which one of you did it?” he asked, shaking the cloth at each pup.

Hiding a smile she turned her attention to the three cubs as they each growled and barked at their redheaded uncle. “You didn’t eat Unky Connor’s shirt, did you? No, not my babies. You’re all good pups, aren’t you?” With the question, Joseph gave Kaya’s cheek a feverish lap while Dominick and Kaeleigh scurried towards Connor.

Each taking a side, they began furiously ripping at his pant legs until he knelt down to pick them up. “They’re hellions. All three.” Connor laughed, unable to stay upset as the newborn pups struggled in his arms to each plant wild kisses on him. “Damn it,” he said as he returned them to the floor.

“I know,” Kaya said, knowing where her best friend was headed. “We’re all in trouble. Dad just left. He really had to pry himself away and get back to Greymane to attend some business and I swear I caught him trying to smuggle Dominick under his shirt and walk out the door.”

Connor laughed trying to picture the Alpha stealing away with his grandbaby. “In speaking of trouble, Rick called again,” he said, stepping towards the door. “You can’t hide from him forever.”

“What? I’m not hiding.”

“No? Listen to his voicemails yet?” he paused a moment, waiting for her response before sighing. “As I said. You know he’s only doing what’s right for the band.”

“And you know it’s time for Night Shift to fade away. Same as all our previous bands.”

“Good luck with that, Peaches. Night Shift has come farther than any of our other bands and well…we won Grammies! We can’t just fade into obscurity.”

“No? Then have fun explaining why NONE of its members ever age.”

“They never questioned that with Moonstruck or The Mark.”

“Yeah and those bands had shelf lives of four years each. Night Shift has been going strong for nearly two decades.”

Spotting her cell sitting on the shelf by the door, Connor casually tossed it over. “Give him a call. You might like what he has to say. Or, at the very least, have a listen to his messages so he stops asking me if you have.”

“I’ll get right on that, Frogger.” Kaya glanced down at her phone. Four missed calls, three messages. Perhaps she did need to face him at some point. Her finger hovered over the speed dial but, she became distracted hearing the door once again open behind her. “Ooh, look. There’s your other Grandpa! Wanna go say hello?” Kaya asked, placing Dominick back to the floor with the other two rowdy cubs.

“Luna.” Her eyebrows knitted at the word and she turned to look at the elder wolf.

“Does it bother you?” Kaya asked, watching Vaughn shut the door as he joined her in the babies’ room. 

“Does what bother me, my dear?” Vaughn smiled as his youngest grandchild, Kaeleigh, rushed his feet. He knelt to pick her up and slightly rubbed her belly, forcing her to shift before taking a seat on the sofa near Kaya.

“Not being recognized as Alpha. Having me as Luna and your son in charge. Does it bother you?”

“Of course not, Kaya. I was away for centuries, this pack of wildlings needed someone; I’m happy it was you. Besides, I groomed Caleb for this. It makes me proud to see the man he’s become. I also like that in his absence, Charlie was able to step up to the plate. They’ve both proven themselves capable. Why would I be bitter?” He cooed at Kaeleigh and she giggled as she grabbed hold of his finger and began to suckle it. “I think someone’s hungry.”

“Again? She’s only gone through three bottles today.” Kaya stood and handed Vaughn another before taking a seat beside him. Joseph and Dominick seemed content chasing each other through the room, growling and wrestling as their baby sister was fed. “What are your plans, Vaughn. You know, once we’re done? Are you going to stay here or retire somewhere with Chandria?”

“I’d love to stay, unless you have other ideas for me?” he glanced up at the Luna, trying to sense where the conversation was headed and Kaya smiled.

“No. I’m getting used to having you around. And so is someone else,” she grinned, seeing the way Kaeleigh gazed at her grandfather. “I only ask because you don’t seem to interact with anyone really, besides me and your sons – and well of course your grandbabies. It’s like you’re keeping one foot out the door.”

“Observant aren’t you?” Vaughn chuckled lightly and returned his attention to his squirming granddaughter. “What we’re doing, you and I, it could become insurmountable. And if at any point things become too out of control, I want to be able to keep the fallout from impacting the people here. So, I keep one foot out the door as you put it in case I need to take the brunt of the blowback.”

“That sounds like you don’t plan on staying like you said.”

“Kaya, what do you know about the lore surrounding Shifter wolves?” Vaughn asked, seemingly changing the subject.

“Excluding what Caleb told me about them born from mated Hybrids absolutely nothing. They were myth, much like the Wolf Killer himself so a lot of it just fell on deaf ears.”

“Ah. And there we have the start of the legend. The only part of this ‘myth’ that proves false is the idea there is a Supreme Alpha; one that would rule us all. That lie is something concocted by the witches to keep us wolves chasing our own tails. If we remained distracted in proving our lineage, there would be no one watching when the witches ultimately destroyed us all.”

“However, the Wolf Killer as you’ve come to learn, is very real and was created out of necessity. Made in hopes of controlling the fanatical populace of wolves that hunted and killed, raped and slaughtered innocent humans, including women and children simply because they could. Myself, and a well-versed group of hunters joined together to quell the uprising. We wanted to put an end to the destruction to create peace within the community. And while many, your father included, did not agree with how we went about ending the unrest, it was for the benefit of all wolves.”

“One bad apple spoils the bunch.”

“Precisely. It was best we stopped them before it meant the end of us all. The hunters were set on destroying any and every lycan in their path and, they had the backing of magic; witches. It was during this time I met and fell in love with a wonderful woman, who so happened to also be a witch – or rather THE witch.”

“Chandria.”

“During the First Wolf War, she singlehandedly killed hundreds of our kind; destroyed countless packs. It had been at the zenith of a conflict between wolves and witches. Incredibly, no one dared to stop her for fear of total annihilation. But, I helped her see reason.”

“With your persuasion?”

“With compassion. It was with Chandria’s help, a treaty was created between lycan and witches.”

“That makes no sense though. If witches and wolves hated each other so much, why then did every pack have a seer?”

“In order to remain transparent, per the treaty. The witches would maintain the balance of light and dark, good and evil with a clutch of humans in which they would imbue certain powers. In return, wolves would preserve order within their territory and protect the Earth and its magic from outsiders.”

“Humans?”

“Hunters, specifically. It’s how they are capable of sustaining life that rivals the length of a lycan. Now the catch. Humans, being the vulnerable creatures they are, are much more susceptible to greed and evil in pursuit of power which began their manipulation of the dark arts. Rumors began, telling of how wolves sought to turn Chandria’s own magic against her. By this time, she and I were wed and had already started a family. Two boys, one girl.”

“That much I know,” she said, matching his teasing smile.

“The rumors were, in reality, initiated by the witches themselves; not the hunters. Feeling betrayed by their elder, their first, the one they looked up to, they hatched a plan but, Chandria was always one step ahead of them. Using ancient texts from prophecies long believed lost or destroyed, Chandria created a failsafe, preemptively realizing her love for a wolf would jeopardize her sisterhood of witches.” 

“This failsafe would be able to put a stop to the amassing of their magics; restore order in a world shaped by witchcraft. It was to be a new breed of lycan, born by blood mixed of wolf and witch. A being with the proficiency to gain both form of man and wolf and rumored to have the ability to not only harness the moon’s energy but, possess the very celestial body that governed all wolves. However, to keep the world from being overrun by a new breed of animals, these Shifters could only become activated by the mating of two wolves of equal hybrid mix.”

“So, placing blame on hunters was just another ploy. Distract the wolves by making their pets, the hunters, the target of our rage.”

“Yes.”

“And it worked. Wolves and hunters cannot co-exist. I’ve never met a wolf without a harrowing tale on encounters with hunters. But, back to the mating part. That’s what I just don’t understand. Lexi, she pointed me in the direction of Rafe, aka Caleb. She had to have known what it meant if the two of us bonded.”

“And now you know as much as me. I have no idea why Lexi, in hopes of preventing Shifter wolves, encouraged Armand to murder my son only to later push you into Caleb’s arms.”

“I’d say we should ask her before we end all of this but, that only means she gets to breathe a minute longer than she deserves.” Vaughn glanced up at Kaya but, he didn’t say anything. Instead he leaned forward and kissed his granddaughter as she fell asleep in his arms.

“Uh…hello?” Sophie cleared her throat behind the man as he stood peering into the back window. “Can I help you with something?”

“Oh, hi,” he greeted her with a smile and wave. “Sorry, I was just looking for my baby sis; Karri, is she in?”

“You know you could have just gone inside…also, there’s nothing wrong with the front door.” Sophie opened the patio and Finn followed her inside. “Karri didn’t help prep today so I think Connor may have run off with her somewhere.”

“Connor did what?” Connor asked, rounding the corner into the living room. “Finn, hey, what’s up?”

“Hey,” he waved. “Have you seen Karri?”

“Oh yeah, she’s at the pier watching the boats.”

“Ah. That makes sense. She’s always loved the water. Thanks. I’ll catch you later.”

Connor watched Finn slip out through the patio and disappear behind the pool house certain of the reason he sought his mate. Karri was sitting on the bench in the center of the dock staring off into the water. A sailboat had just entered the waterway, slicing through the tide as the wind carried it quickly towards the horizon. The wind also brought with it the scent of something familiar and she smiled before turning to greet him. “Hey, Kar-bear, can we talk?” 

Patting the spot beside her, Finn plopped down to the bench with a heavy sigh and slowly rubbed his hands together as he considered where to start. “He told you, didn’t he?” Karri asked, seeing the look on her big brother’s face.

“Yeah. Dad’s headed back to Chicago to sort out some stuff and he left Xander with us in the meantime. If his threat is real…”

“It is.”

“Why didn’t you tell us, Karri? You and I have always been able to share everything. How could you not tell me what was going on? I could have helped you.”

“How?” she practically yelled, lowering her eyes to her feet. “I know you Finn. You’d have gone after Xander.”

“You’re damn right I would have.”

“And he would have released whatever leverage he had over me to the O’Leary’s and I would have been done a long time ago.” 

“So your solution was to run and hide? Leave your family and friends and everyone that could have helped you through this? How did that work out for you?” His question was met with silence and he sighed as he placed his fingers beneath her chin, turning her to face him. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to point fingers or make you feel any worse than I know you already do but, it just hurts to know you thought you couldn’t trust me with this.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Finn,” she replied. He reached over and tugged a wisp of her hair as it softly rolled in the wind and she smiled faintly. “What’s gonna happen now?”

“Now, we wait and see but, honestly, Em’s dying to shred the bastard to pieces.”

“I’m sure.”

“I think Dad’s about to do the same with this friend holding on to the evidence.”

“Oh great,” she replied with sarcastic enthusiasm.

“Relax. We’ll work this out, Karri. Once we get ahold of the necklace, everything will be fine.”

“I hope you’re right,” she said, leaning against him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Yeah. Me too.”

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