Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Feb 14, 2006 0:23:29 GMT
Her eyes pulled full gold and she lashed out with her arms to straight arm him in the chest - mostly a block move, it took all of her self control not to turn it into a push. Stifling the yell that threatened to come out of her mouth, she said in a choked voice, "Then you need to tell me what you want, and now." One hand remained flat on his chest, the other she forcefully dropped to her side. Oh dear god, don't lose it... please don't lose it now... i won't go back to jail...
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Cole
Alpha Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Fear of the unknown clouds our hearts today. Come into my world, see through my eyes.
Posts: 500
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Post by Cole on Feb 14, 2006 0:25:01 GMT
If she took her eyes from his face for just a moment, she would notice one very obvious thing — the other people in the room were now not so distant, and had in fact, covered quite a bit of the floor. The only thing keeping them back from surrounding in what he knew would be a semi-circle cornering Harper completely was the way he’d raised his hand very slightly; the one not holding the glass. She hadn’t lashed out to strike… simply defend. He’d backed her into it, and had, in truth, been expecting something like it. When she dropped one, he acknowledged that, but remained aware of the hand still on his chest. He made no move to back off, or close in, simply said, “I don’t want anything from you exactly. Just understanding, really.” Quiet for a moment, he persisted, “Tell me something… does the name Hyperion mean anything to you?” He knew it would, but wanted to see how she reacted; more testing the water, as it were.
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Feb 14, 2006 0:26:08 GMT
Of anything he could have said, that was the one thing that she hadn't expected. She dropped her arm in surprise, rage fading. She looked around, suddenly aware of her surroundings and backed up. I have the weirdest urge to show my throat...what the bloody hell.... "The Hyperion" she said, in a low voice, "Was my ticket to freedom last week. And I'm betting you know why... but I don't know why, myself." She swallowed once and looked at him. "Instead of demanding, I now ask simply - what do you want, please?"
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Cole
Alpha Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Fear of the unknown clouds our hearts today. Come into my world, see through my eyes.
Posts: 500
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Post by Cole on Feb 14, 2006 5:02:10 GMT
“I want to offer you something you won’t be lucky enough to get just anywhere,” he said to her in a collected voice. Now that her hand was down, the others eased somewhat, but they were still alert and suitably wary. “My name is Cole Stanton, and I own The Hyperion.” He did not offer his hand; if, at the end, she wished to shake it, he would offer it then, and only then. “It came to my attention, during your incarceration, that you were… well, what you are.” Softly, he smiled. “The lawyer who cleared your name was employed and sent by me; I also made sure you would hear of The Hyperion. It was your choice whether or not to investigate, but I thought it best to come and seek you out myself after a few days.”
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Feb 14, 2006 5:06:54 GMT
"Marion..." She felt redness spread over her cheeks. "I owed you a debt of thanks I had no idea how to repay." She stopped, then began again. "And next week I will be...ah. Rather busy." She looked up, startled as one of the others gave a low chuckle at that phrase.
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Cole
Alpha Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Fear of the unknown clouds our hearts today. Come into my world, see through my eyes.
Posts: 500
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Post by Cole on Feb 14, 2006 5:12:01 GMT
The Alpha assumed it was William, or one of the younger wolves who had chuckled, but decided against calling them on it… for now. Maybe when they got back home, he would remind them about a little thing called discretion.
Cole himself smiled, and nodded his head. “It is, naturally, entirely your choice, but we can offer you a home. We can offer you safety, understanding and loyalty.” He met her gaze. “You don’t have to go through any of this alone.”
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Feb 14, 2006 5:13:05 GMT
Suddenly what he was offering dawned on her. "You mean...you're all..." but before she could finish the sentence she realized she knew it already. Dropping her arm completely and stepping back she wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm doing alright alone." Greg managed... til he bit me. I don't know what it means to BE what I am... what could he do about that?
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Cole
Alpha Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Fear of the unknown clouds our hearts today. Come into my world, see through my eyes.
Posts: 500
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Post by Cole on Feb 14, 2006 5:14:45 GMT
His expression had a visible degree of understanding and compassion in it, and though he still held the wine glass, it was clear he didn’t spare it a scrap of his attention anymore, focused on Mara instead. The handful of his pack who had loyally accompanied him to the gallery lingered in the background, unmoving and silent; attentive. “I’ve heard that before, trust me. In fact, there’s one or two behind me right now who said the very same words to me in the past.” He fell quiet for a moment, saying after the pause in the same calm, gentle tone, “Understanding isn’t something that’s going to be easy for you to find now; my advice would be to take it where you can get it.”
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Feb 14, 2006 5:15:46 GMT
She moved slightly, beginning to feel uncomfortable again. "I'm sorry, I am feeling very cornered - and.. I'm.. having trouble...maintaining..." Her eyes held chips of gold, though she didn't know it. She looked up. "And I need to turn off the cameras and the security equipment." She looked up at him. "If I pack all this up - will you - " She looked around furtively - "Stay? Just you?"
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Cole
Alpha Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Fear of the unknown clouds our hearts today. Come into my world, see through my eyes.
Posts: 500
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Post by Cole on Feb 14, 2006 5:17:33 GMT
Behind him, Cole could sense the tension in his pack members as they took in the meaning of this request, but he glanced at them briefly to silence any protests that might beat him to the punch, as it were. Looking back to Mara, he studied her silently as she stood before him, nervous and obviously confused by everything that had happened to her recently… and then he nodded. “I’ll stay.” He added, “Just me,” so that his pack members would understand him completely, and even as he turned to look over his shoulder, one of them, Kyle, was opening his mouth to debate the idea. He quirked a brow with a calm smile, but said nothing; he didn’t need to.
Kyle quickly closed his mouth again, clearly understanding the command to be quiet.
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Feb 14, 2006 5:18:37 GMT
The power this man obviously wielded was one of the things that unnerved her. She bit her lip, then said a little louder -- "In my bag - there" she pointed, "are the keys to this gallery. If it would be more... appropriate... your friends may wait outside with the keys - hell, with the bag. Those are my lenses and my - my camera. It's my livelihood. If that makes any of them feel better about it." She stopped, feeling a little foolish, but the feelings in the room shifted visibly. They like honour...I've done something right...
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Cole
Alpha Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Fear of the unknown clouds our hearts today. Come into my world, see through my eyes.
Posts: 500
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Post by Cole on Feb 14, 2006 5:20:49 GMT
She’s starting to understand.
Cole sensed a little of his pack’s tension lessen as the situation evened itself out, and taking his eyes from Mara once more, he said to the foremost of those present, “Kyle…” and then added in a very low voice, “it’ll be fine, but you know what to do.” Getting a silent nod from the blonde male werewolf, he watched as the bag was retrieved, and then carried out of the room with those who had followed him to the gallery in the first place. Cole’s green eyes turned back to the woman before him. “Better?” he inquired calmly.
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Feb 14, 2006 5:22:06 GMT
She took a deep breath. "Yes." She regarded him quietly. "Thank you." She moved over to the first set of cameras, calmly unhooked the cords and placed things into cases. Before the silence stretched too far, she said, eyes on her work - "Why are you so calm?"
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Cole
Alpha Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Fear of the unknown clouds our hearts today. Come into my world, see through my eyes.
Posts: 500
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Post by Cole on Feb 14, 2006 5:27:57 GMT
The male werewolf watched her. “I’m calm because in my ‘line of work’, losing my composure costs lives.” He actually sipped the wine in his pause; he’d definitely tasted better, especially since he had lived in France for a time, but it wasn’t too disagreeable.
"No. I mean... how are you so calm." She finished the camera and moved to the next one, fluidly changing everything and turning off switches.
“How?” Cole repeated, lowering the glass. “Experience… battle of wills. It’s a number of different techniques.” He smiled reassuringly.
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Feb 14, 2006 5:37:07 GMT
"I..I am a martial artist. I count in Korean - the way m...my ....instructor used to. It sometimes helps me gain a center. But when it's close to the ...moon... like now." She shook her head. Suddenly she threw the cord she was holding down and looked up at him. "I'm a monster. How the hell do you live a monster? How do you LIVE? How do you keep calm? You're maddeningly CALM!" She could feel something in her head fighting to keep control, but her eyes flashed gold and she felt a growl coming to her throat. Angry tears came to her eyes as she fought herself, running to the other side of the gallery, tearing at her forearms with her nails. No. Not here. Not now. Not yet...
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