[Open-2] Sanity - Maintenance Required

I flat out laughed when Onyx said 'whore story' instead of 'horror story'. The others probably thought I was a total weirdo, but man that shit was funny and the situation was so weird anyway. I mean I was alone with two naked wolves in a hot spring at night. Not exactly something I had signed up for, and it was definitely crazy weird -- we were discussing Greek myths and shit.

As for the horror story shit... vampires and the pack and shit were definitely fucked up, no doubt about that. But I couldn't say that wolfdom itself had been a horror story. I hadn't worn a coat in ages, and my knee injury healed up pretty much perfectly after I was turned. Now it was like it hadn't even happened, if it weren't for the scars I probably would've started to believe that it hadn't. I was pretty much in peak physical condition, and I had been a pro athlete pre-change. The whole having to turn into a wolf every full moon was annoying at times, but even then I was communing with my pack. Wolves were powerful, and it was nice to know that my pack had my back. (Well, probably, it was hard to tell with Onyx leading, but as their bartender I'd developed some loyalty among them.)

Books? There were wolf history books? The journal Onyx had given me came to mind. In fact, it seemed pretty likely that the journal of the late alpha would contain some wolf history. What secrets did it contain that made the new alpha forbid me from reading it, but care about it enough that he trusted me to take care of it? It was no secret that we didn't exactly get along.

Booze... I could go for a drink. Or could I? Shit had been so hectic I could almost feel myself losing the firm control over my drinking that I had maintained. It was just damn hard to stop, especially since I didn't want to have to go completely sober all over again. Total sobriety would make this already fucked up shit unbearable. I had taken Landon's jeep to Seattle and now it was parked in the Index Visitor's Center's parking lot, conveniently located at the edge of town with nice access into the woods where fewer tourists went (the paths were more treacherous or nonexistent). It wasn't unusual for Landon to keep a handle of whiskey or a pack of beer in his trunk -- if we were lucky we might find both. But that also meant trekking back to the jeep soaking wet on the chance that there might be some booze. Still, a drink sounded good right now. Might have some in the trunk of my car, I mumbled after a moment's consideration.
I was beginning to feel like the ultimate bartender or something.

Good to know I wasn’t the only one laughing at shit around here. My own lips twitched up in a smirk at Onyx’s slip up and honestly, I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know where the hell his thoughts had gone. Fuck it, like he was a man and all so I guess I couldn’t blame him. On the other hand I was just like really fucking glad that the whole telepathy shit was something I could choose to turn off. It hadn’t been when I’d first turned and that had been the fucking pits. I dunno, have you seen the pack? ‘Whore story’ might actually be way more fucking accurate for them. Fucking rabbits. Seriously, you couldn’t even go to One Shot with seeing a least a few pairs of wolves getting all worked and up, all sloppy and off-putting as fuck.

When he mentioned history and all that shit I scoffed for a second before looking away, leaving them to talk about it if they wanted. Who the fuck cared about the history of the wolves anyway? I could probably recite it to you without a fucking history lesson in it. Some fucked up shit happened, and then some more fucked up shit happened, probably. And now lots of fucked up shit happens and who really gives a fuck? If Limpy here wanted to get all curious and play Q&A then that was fine, maybe I could take a fucking nap or something. But the mention of elder being picked off had me rolling my eyes. Trust him not to see there was an easy fucking solution to that.

The mention of booze had me turning my attention back to them, looking at Onyx as he spoke and then at Limpy. Booze in your car? Fuckin’-A. Why the fuck had she just said it instead of actually doing something about fucking getting it. That was fucking stupid. I’d offer to help get it.. No I fucking wouldn’t. ... but looks like you’re the only one who kinda has any clothes. And turning was fucking pointless because a wolf wouldn’t be exactly fucking helpful for retrieving booze. I grinned a little, turning to Onyx with an arched brow. Bad day bring out the ol’ birthday suits, huh? I joked, turning back to the chick and wondering if she’d just been saying she might have some to get everyone’s fucking hopes up or some shit.

Laughter lessened the blow of embarrassment, if  that's what you even wanna call it. I wouldn't say I was ever embarrassed, I didn't get that twisted feeling in my stomach over shit I did, I just got pissed at myself for saying or doing something stupid. There was a difference. Then Oveyx had to chime in with that fucking comment and that feeling of being pissed at myself started to return, I didn't want to laugh but fuck, that was the most accurate thing anyone had said all night. I've never really considered that a bad thing. I admitted. Despite the obvious, that being wolves and the different standards and ideals of just life in general, something told me even if we were living by the ridiculously detailed standards, expectations, and morals of the human race, I still wouldn't mind the fact that the women gave it up so easy. It wasn't like it was just females either, that shit was a two way fuckin' street.

I suddenly perked up and my eyes darted between the two of them with raised brows. Well? - Fuck I'll get it if no one else is. Just need keys and location. I wasn't some dried up fucking boozer willing to suck any dick for my next pass at a bottle, but this conversation was running fuckin' stagnant. The easiest way to give incompatible company a splash of fucking personality was to infuse some damned liquor in everyone's blood. It was a temporary fix to an uneventful situation. Now, booze wouldn't be at all necessary if they'd stop fucking talking and just admit to themselves that they wanted to makeout with each other. Fuck the chemistry between the was fucking obvious, I didn't understand the damned point of holding back.

My internal rant was interrupted with a very faint stench. My body went still and ears tensed as I started to feel this overwhelming and indescribable feeling. I slowly brought my finger to my lips, signalling for them to be silent. That leech couldn't have been that fucking stupid could he? Then again maybe it wasn't stupidity causing him to near, hunger made fangers do stupid shit. I looked to Oveyx with glowing eyes and a fanged mouth and using my index and middle finger I tapped at my temple, signalling for her to turn on the connection.

I jumped out of the water a man and landed on solid ground a wolf. I could smell it more strongly now, which I knew was from just being in my second form. There wasn't just one either, I sensed at least three, maybe four. My ear twitched as a barely audible voice reached me, they knew we were here, they were farther away but nearing. Their enhanced awareness to our presence made one thing clear, it was a nest of the fuckers. This wasn't just any old vampire, looks like my old friend decided to go get backup. Fuck, for all I knew it could have been a trap, intentionally leading me to the forest where the rest of them were waiting, and now they'd just hit the fucking jackpot considering those in my company. I didn't know if Olympia was ready for a nest, they were different, tactics were brutal and methods unforgiving. Oveyx may have been, but even then I had my doubts. Not even I would willingly take on a nest with only two at my side. We were in a shit circumstance, that was a fucking fact, and we had no way out. They knew we were here and they were coming. A howl would only encourage their brutality.

I started towards the entrance of the caves, opening up my mind hoping to fucking God Oveyx understood what I was trying to tell her earlier. ''You with me? Olympia too?

As the newly dubbed ultimate bartender (what, I like the title, okay?) I know all about the pack's sexual exploits. The combination of heightened senses and being in the place where the wolves let loose meant learning a number of my packmates' secrets and having a very deep knowledge of who was hooking up. If you ever want to learn all the things you didn't really need (or want) to know please come to One Shot and I'll hook you right up.

Oh, we know. I said in response to Onyx's comment, but it was more good-natured teasing than sarcasm. It wasn't like I didn't enjoy some of those benefits myself.

I pulled myself out of the spring, recoiling slightly from the cold air. As a wolf I had no problem staying warm, but I had been enjoying the toasty spring. My keys and phone were buried underneath the clothes I had stripped off, and I leaned over to dig through the pile. I was mid-search when I saw Onyx tense and signal us to be quiet. I froze with my butt in the air, and slowly moved so that I was in a crouching position. Then I sniffed the air, which probably would've looked ridiculous to any non-wolf who happened to be watching, but it was necessary to understand what was threatening Onyx. I took a long, quiet breath and caught the distinctive scent of vampires. He/she/they were apparently not very smart, as they were hanging out upwind of a bunch of wolves - especially an alpha (well, there wasn't really such thing as a smart vamp, but these were dumber than normal.) Immediately my mind flew to the Halloween party. The vamp, defending Onyx, him yelling at me. Every time I thought about it I felt stupid, but I couldn't help but cast an angry glance in his direction. Some fucking alpha he was that night.

I was tense - ready to spring into action. Onyx leaped out of the water, changing forms mid-air and landing as wolf. I had no idea what he was planning and only a faint idea of what the threat was - without the advantage of being in wolf form I could only barely sense their presence. The best course of action seemed to be changing forms, at least that way I would be able to assess the threat better. It wasn't like I could read Onyx's mind... but Peyton could. In a few swift movements I stripped off my remaining undergarments, changed forms, and turned to Peyton in hopes that she would send me one of her telepathic messages so I would know what the fuck to do, or at least what Onyx wanted me to do.

In my wolf form I was actually able to determine the number of the vamps and even hear the faint sound of their voices. I had a little experience fighting them, although never in this type of situation. In Wyoming I had run into one or two and had no choice but to fight them. It was a dog-eat-dog world out there - well, more like dog-eat-fanger, but you catch my drift. Of course whenever I'd had to fight them I'd had more than enough backup and they were all pretty young weak things. Now it was possible that we were outnumbered by a group whose numbers suggested a nest - and I'd heard about nests. Never encountered one, but if I was going to I would have liked to be better prepared than we were. I didn't even know if I could use my gift on them effectively.

As far as I was concerned this conversation had officially crash and fucking burned. Now the wreckage was making a break for the gutter and I had to admit I'd played a hand in that. Like yeah, he'd said 'whore story' but I'd made it about the pack and now I was just fucking stuck thinking about how normal they probably thought the whole 'fucking like dogs in heat' thing was. I mean, from an outside perspective I guessed I thought it was normal too, I just wasn't sure how the fuck to apply myself to that situation too. Still, I laughed at what Limpy said, briefly but still a laugh. Fairly fucking sure everyone knows. I shot back, a smirk pulling up one side of my mouth as I turned my attention from the she-wolf back to Onyx, becoming ridiculously aware of the fact that due it him I wasn't a complete oddball within the pack when it came to this stuff. Not saying that was good or bad, it just... was.

I heard Limpy get out of the spring but didn't do much more than glance at her. Hey, I might be cool with people being naked and shit but that didn't mean I wanted to go and eye her up or whatever. Chicks definitely didn't do it for me, whatever the fuck 'it' was - still wasn't completely sure on the small details like that.

Maybe it was because I was determinedly looking anywhere but the chick, but I noticed it when Onyx froze up and was on alert myself before he'd even signaled or us to do anything. I used my good arm to pull myself out of the spring just seconds behind him, phasing as I did so to make it easier while opening the telepathic connection to link us. The scent, their proximity. It hit me all at once and I barely held back an instinctual snarl. Fucking fangers. There was no way I could do anything in human form, not right then with my arm like it was. Even wolf form didn't completely take away the goddamned pain. Fuck, this couldn't have happened on a better day. Too maybe thoughts crowding out heads would just make shit confusing, so I'd have to act as a buffer to make sure only the important thoughts were sent through.

Limpy shifted then, her thoughts already coming through so I knew when she turned to me, waiting for instructions. I heard Onyx's thoughts, wondering if the she wolf was ready for it, and whether I'd be up for it either. Usually I would've just fired back on that, pissed off. But fuck it, I couldn't deny that I was working with a disadvantage. When he spoke to my mind, I tensed, adrenaline starting to pump through my body, my hackles rising. I'm with you. I passed the thought along to the she-wolf, then expanding the link so that she could answer him herself. Thoughts spoken with intent would reach all of us, but the chatter of back-thought would be blocked out.