Demetria
Rogue Werewolf
'Entrepreneur'
Give me a reason to love you, give me a reason to be a woman.
Posts: 11
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Post by Demetria on Mar 18, 2011 16:18:16 GMT
Demetria was by no means a stupid woman; she had very good reasons for keeping her name to herself. There was no way to be certain what resources Stathis had at his disposal, he could have eyes and ears in every city for all she knew. The only reason she had stayed in Los Angeles this long was because trouble had not yet found her here and she had been incredibly careful about who possessed any information about her that could potentially lead her insane brother to her doorstep. So Alswytha was right to assume that it was a possibility and Demetria didn't even try to come up with something feasbile as a cover, seeing little point in insulting this old female.
"Jane," she said without flinching, though a slight flicker of a smile betrayed the fact that she knew as well as this other wolf knew that there wasn't any reason to give her real name. It wasn't meant as an offence. Demetria pushed her fingers into the pockets of her jacket and took a few casual steps closer to the dark haired woman, a non-threatening approach that was more about conversing without having to raise voices. "You know the pack, then? Stanton's?"
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Alswytha
Rogue Werewolf
Former Alpha
Steeped in denial, the daily grind.
Posts: 79
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Post by Alswytha on Mar 18, 2011 16:23:25 GMT
Alswytha smiled when the name was offered, looking obviously amused. It was a knowing sort of smile, the kind worn by those who knew exactly what was going on but saw no need to change anything. "Nice to meet you," she said, adding a particular emphasis as she added after a beat, "Jane." It wasn't the other female's real name, not even close she suspected, but everyone had their own little secrets and they were entitled to them. It made them interesting or at least much more interesting than they otherwise would have been.
It was the mention of one pack in particular and the name offered so straightforwardly that had the smile dropping away from the old female's face, a slow fade that spoke of displeasure that sat heavy on her tongue like a bad taste she just couldn't shift. "You could say that," she returned simply enough, managing to summon enough of a smile back to keep the conversation from becoming darker and more dangerous than it needed to be. Alswytha was curious about this other wolf. Things didn't need to be tense or uncomfortable, at least not as far as she was concerned.
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Demetria
Rogue Werewolf
'Entrepreneur'
Give me a reason to love you, give me a reason to be a woman.
Posts: 11
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Post by Demetria on Mar 21, 2011 14:15:10 GMT
Demetria smiled a little: what this female didn't say was as important as what she did say; clearly there was bad blood there, something that the Grecian female wasn't particularly interested in getting in the middle of but something she was curious about none-the-less. Still, she knew better than to pry directly. Instead she nodded, "A pleasure," she said of the introductions. It had been a long while since she had encountered what she assumed to be an Alpha female, or at least a female who had once been one; there was no retinue of fighters with Alswytha and unless she was part of some progressive (or arrogant) pack who didn't feel the need to protect its elders, Demetria took that to mean that she was no longer in possession of that title in the strictest sense. Not that she was about to hold that against this woman.
"Packs aren't quite what they used to be these days," she sighed a little, casting her eyes down the line of cars in the garage. "I mean hiring humans as they do, taking in just about any stray that drags itself to their doorstep." Her green eyes came back to the other female, older by Demetria's estimation. "Quality ought to outweigh quantity, but that seems to escape Stanton and the other one." The less said about the other pack the better, their carelessness made her feel sick.
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Alswytha
Rogue Werewolf
Former Alpha
Steeped in denial, the daily grind.
Posts: 79
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Post by Alswytha on Mar 21, 2011 16:02:15 GMT
Alswytha needed no fighters, at least not yet. She hadn't succeeded in finding the right candidates yet even though there had been promising individuals over the years whom she had failed to convince or convert in one way or another. A shame, really, a small number of them would have been truly invaluable. This female before her would be a genuinely interesting and promising candidate herself. Alswytha could tell just by looking at her that there would be no success though, not without serious struggle. She almost sighed. A shame.
A smile crept across Alswytha's face at the development of the conversation. Very promising indeed. It was something she would have to consider at length, the potential of this female before her and whether or not there might be some way to convert her and lead her into the pack the wolf inside of her so desperately craved. "You and I think alike, Jane," she told the other wolf, a special but subtle emphasis on the name she had been given. "It isn't often I find someone of the same opinion as myself when it comes to these things. So many wolves today take the safety in numbers philosophy to ridiculous extremes. A pack of ten can be more powerful and successful than any pack of forty or whatever absurd numbers they parade around nowadays."
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Demetria
Rogue Werewolf
'Entrepreneur'
Give me a reason to love you, give me a reason to be a woman.
Posts: 11
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Post by Demetria on Mar 21, 2011 16:41:58 GMT
Demetria gave a light laugh and a nod. "Safety in numbers is the refuge of wolves too weak to look after themselves," she said. While she did believe in packs like the one she had been born into she also knew that every member of that pack had been able to take care fo themselves were they to get into trouble. There had been no dead weight in that pack, and she didn't believe there ought to be in any pack. The point was to have a strong, cohesive group that could defend the borders of its territory, not to have weak links that could be the downfall. Weak links like her insane brother. Look how well that had turned out. In the end of the day a pack ought to be able to look after its own no matter what, whether divided down the middle, or whatever circumstances came upon them; sixty or seventy members were useless if forty of them needed to be packed away in swaddling to save their hides when things went wrong.
"I think we might be a dying breed, Alswytha," she continued, saying the other female's name to demonstrate that she had noticed the intonation on the name she had given this dark haired wolf, but that she didn't particularly care that it was obviously an alias and a lazy one at that. "No one remembers the old ways, it seems." Respect. Loyalty. So many wolves these days seemed too attached a pitiful value to them.
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Alswytha
Rogue Werewolf
Former Alpha
Steeped in denial, the daily grind.
Posts: 79
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Post by Alswytha on Mar 22, 2011 0:29:57 GMT
Alswytha had decided that she liked this female before her. They shared the same ideas and opinions and it was enough to bring a genuine edge to the smile on the old she-wolf's face as she dipped her head in a nod. "Unfortunately," she began, "I cannot argue with you there." Alswytha remembered days gone by when she had been an Alpha with a pack, when she had commanded respected from all beneath her and her word was never questioned. The pack now ruled by Stanton was too large and needed to be thinned out so it could be stronger and if Alswytha -- and by association her mate -- had any say in the matter that was exactly what would happen. Did she want the pack back? No, not really, but if an opportunity presented itself then she would reclaim what was rightfully hers.
"It isn't often I meet people like you, Jane," she said to her companion, her posture relaxing a fraction but the readiness of an experienced wolf was still there plain for anyone with an experienced eye to see. "Dying breed indeed," she echoed quietly, a distant kind of thoughtful glaze in her eyes for a moment. "You live here alone? No loyalties, completely independent?" In her own way Alswytha was testing the waters whilst disguising the fact with simple curiosity. This female before her had piqued her interest, there was no denying that, and the only way to find out whether or not she was in fact viable as a candidate was to ask these questions.
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Demetria
Rogue Werewolf
'Entrepreneur'
Give me a reason to love you, give me a reason to be a woman.
Posts: 11
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Post by Demetria on Mar 23, 2011 14:53:48 GMT
For the most part Demetria didn't like people full stop. To like people she had to get to know them, and to get to know them was to put herself at risk of discovery, and while she wasn't sure she trusted this Alswytha she did actually find herself liking something about the female. There was some intimidation, yes, she knew this wolf was much older than her, she could just sense it, but there was also the austerity that she missed from her birth pack, lost to her long ago. In a way Alswytha reminded the Grecian female of the senior fighters of that pack, those she had been so desperate to prove herself to as a pup, those who had trained her and who had acknowledged her skill and determination. There was a aura of the old world around Alswytha, the world that the Andreadis pack had once inhabited before fire and rage had brought it all crashing down.
"My only loyalty is to myself," Demetria paused. "I live here alone and I don't get caught up in the business of others. People who meddle find more trouble than they need," she said carefully; she looked out for herself with the intention of staying alive and that was the intonation she gave her words, making sure that Alswytha got the message when it came to packs or other rogues. If they stayed out of her business, she stayed out of theirs: which was to say that she would come down hard on anyone who thought to make waves around her. "I've spent a lot of time moving around," she went on, gesturing blandly to the horizon beyond the parking structure. "Los Angeles seemed like a sensible enough place to spend an extended period of my time, however." It was big, loud and anonymous; perfect for laying low.
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Alswytha
Rogue Werewolf
Former Alpha
Steeped in denial, the daily grind.
Posts: 79
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Post by Alswytha on Mar 23, 2011 16:05:56 GMT
Trusting Alswytha was a dangerous thing to do and so it was wise to doubt her. Alswytha had spent many years manipulating her own mate and serving no one but herself and even though she had been seeking out candidates for a potential pack in the future that didn't mean she would change her ways overnight. Far from it. When she assembled a new pack she intended to be a very firm and strict Alpha, unwavering in her rules and restrictions and so help anyone under her wing who defied her. She had learned her lessons the hard way in the past and she wasn't about to make the same mistakes her mate had made. Gareth had let them both down and there was no way Alswytha would allow that to happen again.
She smiled at the other female's words and nodded her head as though in approval. "Loyalty to oneself is a vastly underrated trait." After all at the end of the day who did you have but yourself? Alswytha was loyal to herself and while she was devoted to her mate to a degree she valued herself above all others and there was no denying that. There was a respectable air of independence around the she-wolf who had called herself Jane and Alswytha couldn't fault her for that; she was wise to trust only herself and it was those who trusted too easily and too eagerly that earned her disapproval. No, the wolf before her was much smarter than that. "You and I do indeed think alike, Jane," she said to her companion with a pleased sort of smile. "It's a big city, there's lots of room to get lost here," she went on to say, a knowing sort of edge to her voice. It didn't hurt to lay low sometimes and for the time being Alswytha was doing just that herself. It wouldn't do for Stanton or his bitch and their followers to know their old leaders were in Los Angeles just yet.
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