Fate & Fur

@ BearGirl

Aiden frowned. "Come on, Sandra. Our packs have always gotten along before, we were even good friends at one point. Can't I just have this one exception? If we stop dating I'll stop coming around, but if we continue I'll convince her to move into my territory so we won't have this problem. Please, Sandra. You know how rare it is for an Alpha to find someone they want to mate with. And I've seen those wolves with her, Sandra, they're not kind at all, even if she considers them her friends." He sighed.

He turned to look at Bailey when she got out of the car, tensing a bit. "Bailey. Everything is fine, just get back in the car... Please."

@ katahdin

Sandra became quiet once Bailey came out and headed over to them. A small frown came over her lips before she turned back to Aiden, speaking despite the fact that Bailey was in front of them. Though she tried to keep her voice low, now sounding a lot more calm than before for the human. "We have always gotten along, and you know I like you, Aiden. But this is not something I can do for you. I understand where you are coming from but it is going to cause me and my family too many issues if this continues on."

The woman then turned to Sandra. "Bailey, I am going to bring you home. Go get in my car."

"I am not getting into anyone's car." Bailey responded, clearly confused on what was going on. "What is going on here? Clearly things are not fine and there is something that you all aren't telling me." The woman looked out, seeing her friends in the line of people. "What aren't you all telling me?"

@ BearGirl

Aiden looked devestated as Sandra refused him, clenching his fists in his pockets out of frustration. "Please, Sandra.. I'll do anything. We can rearrange the boundaries, and I'll give you the better end of the deal. Please.." he forwned as she told Bailey to get in the car, the wolf inside of him starting to panic a bit, but he was both relieved and worried when she refused to leave before someone told her what was happening.

He turned to her with a frown before looking at Sandra. "She has a right to know.. This involves her, so she should know the truth." He stated before turning back to her. "Bailey, everyone you see here is a werewolf.. Sandra is the leader of the pack in the territory you live in, and I'm the leader of the pack in my territory... We.. I'm.. I'm not supposed to be going out with you, as some of your friends apparently have already claimed you.. Which I think is bull but there isn't a lot I can do about it." He growled the last part in irritation, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

@ katahdin

Everyone was in suspense as they waited for Bailey's reaction. Many of the wolves on the other side knew Bailey well or were genuine friends with her. Concern was written on their faces. Though what Bailey did next none of them had been expecting. Bailey started to laugh, and she laughed hard. The wolves were quiet as she did so, some had confusion on their face, others frowns and a few had their faces in their hands.

Bailey didn't believe a word that Aiden said, and immediately thought that it was some kind of weird joke. Though, with how serious everyone was being, it was hard for her not to let the ridiculousness of his words get to her. So, Bailey bursted out into laughter. Sandra, glanced over at Aiden, raising an eyebrow at the man, as if asking what he was planning on doing next. She had not been able to stop him from telling her the truth, so she was going to leave this situation up to him.

Reaching up to her face, Bailey wiped a few laughter tears from under her eyes. "Okay, seriously Aiden. What is wrong with all of you?"

@ BearGirl

Laughter had not been what Aiden was expecting, although he considered it one of the better reactions she could have had. "I'm being serious, Bailey. I wish I wasn't, but I am." He spoke honestly, taking one of her hands in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. "You need to believe me. Your friends, the ones that don't like me? It's because I'm the Alpha of another pack, and they've already made a claim to you, and us going out ignores that claim. That's why they've been badmouthing me, because they want you for themselves." He explained softly, reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear gently.

@ katahdin

The smile from her face dropped and was replaced by a rather large frown. She pulled her hand away from his and took a step back from Aiden. "This is not funny anymore." Bailey said before looking at the others. "Is this some kind of elaborate joke? Because, if it is, I don't find it funny anymore."

Vivian pushed her way to the front of the lines and over to Sandra's side. She reached out to Bailey but the girl was quick to pull away again. Vivian frowned but started to speak anyways. "He is telling the truth, Bailey. I always wanted to tell you but we have rules... We aren't allowed to tell humans unless under special circumstances." Bailey's face didn't shift so Vivian looked to Sandra, her eyes wide. "Can I, please?"

Sandra let out a sigh and put her face in her hands for a moment before giving Vi a nod. Vivian backed up a few steps and slowly started to shift, her human form turning into a rather large gray wolf. Bailey immediately froze where she was, her eyes widening at the sight. Unintentionally holding her breathe as she tried to process.

@ BearGirl

Aiden frowned as she jerked away from him, his heart aching and his instincts telling him to pull her back, but he resisted, knowing that if he did she'd never trust him again. He looked up at Vivian when she stepped forward, unable to help but glare a bit at the other wolf, although he was glad that she was receiving the same treatment from Bailey as he had.

When Vi shifted he looked back to Bailey, ready to catch her if she fainted or anything at the sight of one of her friends in her wolf form. "Bailey... are you alright?" He asked after a moment, wanting to make sure she wasnt in shock or anything.

@ katahdin

Once Aiden started to speak, Bailey was pulled out of her trace like state. Still, Bailey had nothing to say to them. Slowly, the girl turned her back to them and started to walk away from the madness that had been occurring in front of her. She had nothing she wanted to say to those... whatever they were. They weren't human and pure fear was running through her veins. Bailey walked past the car, not wanting to get in with Aiden either. She wasn't sure where she was heading, as now she was going the opposite of home but at least this way and less of them.

Vivian moved to run after Bailey but Sandra was quick to grab onto the wolf's fur and pull her back. The alpha raised an eyebrow at her. "Strengthening the boarder means you can't go over either. You and there others need to stand by that." Vivian let out a whimper before quickly turning into a human. Though her feet were planted to the ground on her side, she started to yell after Bailey. "Bailey! Come back! We can talk about this!" Vivian had pure panic in her voice. "At least let me bring you home!"

@ BearGirl

Aiden frowned as Bailey began to walk away, although as soon as Vivian moved to run after he turned to her and let out a low warning growl, grateful for Sandra's intervention. He looked at the other Alpha. "She's in shock. I think you should send your pack members away from here so she can at least get back to her apartment. I can smell her fear, which means you can too, she's not going to let any of us take her home. I'll go talk to her while you get your people out of here, and if you insist on following her home, make sure she can't see you or she'll never trust any of us again." He said before turning to jog after Bailey.

"Bailey, wait, please. They're going to leave so you can walk home, no one's going to bother you if you don't want them to alright? Just.. Wait while they leave so you don't get lost here, ok?" He said as he stood in front of her, wanting to stop her but not daring to touch her for fear she'd reject him more than she had already. "I'm not allowed in that territory anymore, so you dont have to worry about seeing me again, and I promise I won't go looking for you.. I wanted to tell you the truth sooner, but I didn't know how.. Please don't be angry."

@ katahdin

Sandra gave Aiden a nod before turning to the pack and sending them away. They all seemed to hesitated but slowly left one by one. Though there were a few that the woman had to growl at before they shifted and headed off to go back to the house. Sandra physically took Vivian by her ear and pulled her into the woods with her before making the girl shift and following her home closely, making sure that Vivian wouldn't follow Bailey home and fuck it up.

Bailey tensed up as Aiden ran out in front of her, her fear radiating off stronger than before. The woman wrapped her arms around her waist and took a few steps back from him. She could hear him talking but her head was pounding so hard that she was only able to take in a couple of words at a time. Despite that, Bailey felt that she was able to get the gist of it. She stayed where she was, but ready to run if she needed to. Bailey wasn't sure what would happen now that they told her. After a minute or so, Bailey looked back to see that the others had already disappeared. She slowly stepped away from Aiden, trying to make sure he wasn't going to move towards her anymore. Though once she was sure he would stay, Bailey turned and started her way home.

@ BearGirl

Aiden frowned at how scarred Bailey was, knowing it was his fault. He held up his hands to show her he wasn't going to do anything, and even stepped back when she did, knowing that the girl needed space at the moment. He watched as the last of Sandra's pack disappeared into the woods, letting out a little sigh as he looked at Bailey.

"They're gone, it's alright. No one's going to hurt you, I promise. You're free to go home, and I promise I won't bother you anymore. But if you need anything, anything at all, you have my phone number and I'll come help you, ok? Have a good night, Bailey.." he said, watching as she turned to leave before getting in his car, waiting until she was out of sight before starting up the engine and driving home. He felt terrible for how things had gone, but could only hope that giving her space was the right thing to do, and that Vi and her friends wouldn't do anything to Bailey.

@ katahdin

It took Bailey a week and a half before she was finally willing to come out of her apartment and see the rest of the world again. She wished she could say she was better, but she wasn't. Aiden had kept up his promise so she hadn't heard from him since that night, which Bailey thought was better that way. She was still terrified of what she saw, still having a difficult time wrapping her head around it all. Though she managed to pull up enough courage to head out of the apartment, reminding herself that most people were just normal humans... she had a hard time believing it though.

What didn't help was knowing that they could hide in plain sight, that she wouldn't be able to know who was who when she was out and about. And, if werewolves existed, what else could there be? Bailey had resorted to pinching her arm out of nervousness, trying to pull herself back from the nightmare. Though all she was really doing was making little bruises on herself. What only made it worse was Vivian and the others coming to her apartment, knocking at her door, leaving things outside of it, trying to call her phone or email her. Whatever they could do, they did it.

But now Bailey was at the point where she had skipped too many classes, and called in sick for work too often. She needed to go to school, to work... She just hoped they would keep their distance and get the hint.

@ BearGirl

Aiden had kept his promise and not contacted her or tried to see her for the past few weeks. He desperately wanted to, but he didn't, as he knew if he did before she was ready then he'd never have another chance again. By the end of the second week he and a few of his pack mates had to go into Sandra's territory for a brief meeting, and had decided to grab lunch at the diner before they headed back into their territory. It wasn't one of Bailey's usual shifts, so Aiden simply assumed that she wouldn't be there.

However, when he walked in and caught her scent and saw a gimps of her walking through the kitchen he turned around and told his pack members that they were leaving and that they'd get lunch somewhere else, cursing softly under his breath. He'd really thought she wouldn't be here, but she must have traded shifts with someone or picked up a few extra hours. As much as he wanted to stay and talk to her he knew he couldn't, and so he busied himself with trying to herd his three friends out of the door, although they protested very heavily and kept getting stuck in the door as they complained about how hungry they were, causing a bit of a commotion.

@ katahdin

As she heard the commotion from outside of the kitchen, Bailey looked up and saw Aiden and four others causing a scene at the door. For a moment, the woman froze. She had not been expecting to see the man again, having thought that he would keep his end of the deal, that he wasn't allowed over in his side anyways. Though, as she looked closer, Bailey could also see that he was trying to push the other three out who seemed to be refusing to as they moaned about how hungry they were. It was obvious that Aiden was trying to leave...

Bailey grabbed four menus and buried her fingers into the plastic before she forced herself to walk towards the door. Her heart was pumping fast and she felt apprehensive about it. Though, if she was honest with herself, Bailey knew she was in need of Aiden's help. Despite what he was, Aiden hadn't been messaging her, calling her, trying to sneak into her classes and such to see her. Ignoring this particular moment, he had given her distance but she was having issues with the others and it was making her life difficult. Once she was standing behind the four, Bailey tried to speak up but her voice was timid. "Can I get you four a table?"

@ BearGirl

Aiden froze when he heard Bailey speak behind him, picking up on how fast her heart was pumping and her fear. He shot a glare down at the three wolves who had been arguing with him and they quickly fell silent, suddenly realizing why he'd been trying to get them to leave, peering over at Bailey from around Aiden's broad frame.

Once he was sure they were hushed Aiden slowly turned around to look at Bailey, offering her a nervous smile. "I'm sorry... We'll leave, you don't have to serve us." He murmured softly, not wanting to make her uncomfortable with his presence in the restaurant. "We can go somewhere else for lunch, really, it's not a problem.."

@ katahdin

Bailey glanced back behind Aiden for a moment, seeing the three behind him, and how fast they fell into order. She could only assume that they were also wolves... Admittedly, she didn't love the idea of a bunch of them in her diner but it felt important to talk to Aiden. The woman knew that if she didn't do it now, when he was here, she wasn't going to reach out to him later. Aiden might be more respectful of what she wanted than the others but he was still one of them.

"I want you to stay." Bailey said softly, her nails pressing harder into the plastic menus. "I... I want to talk." Without waiting for Aiden to agree, Bailey turned and headed into the restaurant. She brought them over to a booth in another waitress' area and set the four menus down. Bailey didn't want to serve all of them, she still needed her distance away from Aiden and the others but she also needed his help. After setting the menus down on the table, Bailey turned to Aiden. "My shift is done in an hour. Can you wait until then?"

@ BearGirl

Aiden was surprised when she asked for him to stay and that she wanted to talk, standing by the door in shock for a few moments while she led them to a booth, his friends scrambling around him to take their seats and look over the menu, thanking her profusely for letting them stay to eat. Aiden followed them after a moment and took his seat, thanking her as he sat down next to his friends, focusing his attention on the menu in front of him. He looked up in surprise when she asked if he could wait for an hour until her shift was done, nodding a little. "Yeah... Yeah, of course. I'll have these guys fed and out of here by then, don't worry."

@ katahdin

After an hour went by, Bailey walked up to Aiden's table, seeing that he was the only one left now. While she had waited for her shift to come to an end, the girl was running through what to say in her head but no matter what it all felt like a jumbled mess. Though now there was no more time to think of the right words to say and Bailey needed to get Aiden to understand what the last two weeks had been like, and hopefully he would know what to do.

Her nervousness was rolling off of her as Bailey started to pinch at her arm now that she was in front of him. "We should talk outside." Bailey said softly before heading out of the restaurant. She didn't have to go far before they were at the entrance to the park. It was overcast so it was rather empty as people waited for the storm to start.

Bailey turned back to Aiden, shifting on her feet a bit. "There is something that I want to ask you about. I've been having some issues since I found out but... I just want to know first if you're upset with me? or mad? I need to ask for your help but I don't think I should if you are."

@ BearGirl

Aiden waited patiently for her to show up, having given his car keys to his friends so that they could go home, planning on walking home once Bailey and he had talked. He looked up when he came over, standing and nodding as she suggested they speak outside, following her quietly out the door after paying, looking around the park anxiously, as if worried Vi or one of the other pack members would appear out of nowhere.

He frowned when she began to speak, shaking his head quickly. "No, Bailey, I'm not mad at you. I'd never be mad at you. It reasonable for you to want space, and I'm glad that you're feeling well enough to ask me for help, and I'm happy to give you as much advice as you need." He explained, starting to reach for her hands to keep her from pinching her arm, noticing the little bruises, although he stopped himself when he realized that she might be freaked out by the sudden gesture, and he quickly withdrew his hands to shove into his coat pocket.

@ katahdin

"Okay...Good." Her eyes lifted up so she was properly looking at Aiden. The woman took a few moments before she started to speak. "I've been having a lot of issues since I found out, with the others. I kinda understand that you and them are two different, um, groups but maybe you can help me? Some of them haven't been leaving me alone. I tried to tell them that I didn't want to see them, or to go away and stop but they haven't. I-I just want to live my life now, okay? I can't keep skipping classes because they might be there and I-I can't quit my job even though they'll just show up."

Bailey eyes started to well up with tears. "It feels like they're following me around sometimes and it scares me. I had to block them on my phone because they won't stop messaging and calling and it's constant. They keep saying they just want to talk but I don't want to talk to them. I don't want to see them. I don't know what to do anymore." She started to pinch down on her arm harder. "I feel like I can't tell anyone cause I'll sound crazy and I don't want to hurt them, I just want them to go away."