10.

While the wolf was not entirely thrilled about his inability to see the Belle home himself, he knew that Jace was good for the task so he set off in the direction the other wolves had been headed, his nose leading him up the narrow pathway and into the woodland. Keeping the scent of the other wolves was easy, as they did not seem to be in any sort of hurry to get where they were going and the male felt the need to piss on every rock and tree trunk between them. It wasn't that the pack minded sharing the forest with others, so long as they were respectful of it and those who called it home. This extended to the town of Oakhaven as well, and from what Jace said, it was the latter that these rogue wolves were testing. The pack itself had always kept their distance from the city when in wolf form, if nothing else than for self preservation. People got all trigger happy when they were frightened or trying to exhibit some false bravado by 'bagging' one of their kind. Either way, death by bullet was a bad deal, not simply for the obvious reason of...well, being dead...but also because death would mean a shift back to human form, and the longer the humans stayed ignorant of their supernatural existence the better.

The scent of woodsmoke was now near overpowering to his sensitive nostrils as he creeps up upon a campsite. He glances upward to the seek out his companion, a large eagle circling above the forest canopy. Hiding his bulk behind a large tree trunk his golden eyes scan the area, taking in only one small tent, a beat up silver van, and three human forms, two of which were naked presumably post shift. The woman who had been tending the fire lifts one hand to her eyes, indicating that she is in no mood to see the male shifters now human 'junk'. The man in turn gives an exaggerated thrust of his bare midsection her way. The other naked form, a small, blonde female simply shakes her head and ducks into the tent, the male right behind her. After a brief exploration of the area around their campsite and scenting no one besides the three, the wolf hangs out just long enough to hear moaning coming from inside the tent and a groan of displeasure escape the woman by the fire. Judging them to be no immediate threat for the time being, he reaches out to Jared who was now perched upon a high branch on the other side of the clearing. 'Only three that I can make out.' To which the eagle responds, 'Same. I'll hang out for a bit yet. Go ahead and take off.' The wolf turns, not about to argue, and races off toward Callum's place. Some 20 minutes later he pads up the rock lined walkway and onto the porch of the small, well kept cabin.

Seeing Jace's jeep beside the wood pile and hearing male voices from within, he gives the door a nudge with his right, front flank and steps inside. The two men inside give him a brief nod of acknowledgement, no more, allowing him to walk directly to the doorway on the opposite wall. He enters the bathroom and closes the door behind him before shifting back to his human form and retrieving a battered, green ruck sack from the small linen closet. After drawing on a faded pair of jeans and a well worn t-shirt he splashes some water on his face, rakes a hand through his long, dark hair and walks back out to the other men who were standing in the kitchen, each with a beer in hand. Once he had finally pulled his hair back into a quick and none too neatly done 'man bun' and plucked a beer of his own from the refrigerator, he leans up against the butcher block counter top and says, "Three Rogues. Two of them wolf, the other some sort of cat. They're set up near the west end of the Crag."

The older of the two largely built blonde men, Callum, drains his beer and tosses it in the nearby bin with a clank of glass.. He crosses his arms across his wide chest and exhales slowly. "We'll keep eyes on 'em for the time being. They're a bit fucking bold for my taste but unless they cause any trouble we won't waste time trailing their every move." Jace and Micah both nod in agreement and Cal, having said all that needs be said on the subject, lifts the large platter laden with steaks from the counter beside him before heading out to the deck.

The other men follow him, watching as he lifts the lid of the large, silver Traeger and lovingly lays the sirloin atop the grates. Shifting took a great deal of energy, and the best way to replenish one's self post shift was with calories, and lots of them. Already laid out on the rough hewn log table was a spread of freshly baked bread, tossed salad, a giant bowl of mixed fruit, potato salad, something that looked to be a cobbler of sorts, a bag of pretzels and a chilled pitcher of lemonade. On cue, Micah's stomach sends up a deep rumble and he takes a seat, piling a plate high with everything but the cobbler, and digging right in. Jace sidles in across the table from him, scoops up a handful of pretzels, and just looks at Micah expectantly for a long moment. Micah lifts his gaze and says around a mouthful of romaine, "You know I'm not gonna ask, so stop fucking lookin at me like that." Jace smirks, his blue eyes glinting in the light from the string of bulbs which hangs above the table. "Yeah, but you wanna ask me, so just do it." Shoveling a huge spoonful of potato salad into his mouth, Micah shakes his head and growls. At this Cal turns around, tongs in hand and red apron over his black, wife beater tank that reads 'I ate my spirit animal' which had been a gift from his mother. "He's not gonna ask. He knows damn well I don't approve of that lurking around the library bullshit of his. I say, if he wants her, he needs to stroll on in on two fucking legs and get her. None of this stalkin in the grass bullshit. Give her the golden eye, throw down a bit of the canine mojo and she'll be hiking those skirts of hers right up around that tight little a...." Before he can finish his sentence, Micah is out of his seat with one hand gripping Cal's throat. 

Cal's blue eyes glint with amusement as he lowers the tongs to playfully snap near the zipper of Micah's jeans. "Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. I don't know if I'd choke her out right off the bat, just cuz Esme digs it doesn't mean they all do, but those yellow eyes should get your little Belle all kinds of wet." Hearing this, Jace leaps up from his seat and separates the two before Micah can try anything really stupid. Cal chuckles and lifts both hands, the tongs in his right giving one final snap. "Relax, man...I'm just playin. But seriously, you're letting your wolf run around like a lovesick pup when all you need to do is let the human side handle the situation." Micah lets himself be drawn back from Cal, knowing full well that as Beta, he's the only man who could ever get away with such bullshit behavior, whether his Alpha had been provoking him or not. With utter calm, Cal once more turns about to inspect the steaks and with a growls says, "Shit man...hand me your fucking plate. Hurry." He reaches out behind him, already pulling one sirloin from the grates. Micah shoves his plate into the man's grasp and is soon rewarded with a lovely slab of beef, just the other side of rare. "Belle's different." Micah mutters, seating himself and wasting no time hacking into his steak. "I'm not gonna compel her into bed. That's not how I wanna play this." The other men join him at the table with their own plates and Jace, while spooning fruit onto his says, "No offense man, but what you ARE doing isn't getting you anywhere at all." Micah lifts his gaze. He knew that Jace himself had always held a bit of a torch for Belle, but would never make a move unless given permission to do so. Not able to argue with Jace's words, Micah simply nods and focuses on the meal before him.

The men eat in silence then, because...priorities...and only once they're digging into peach cobbler, do they resume conversation. "So....." begins Cal, then actually tasting what's in his mouth, exclaims, "...fuck, that's good. That woman knows her way around a dessert." At this, Jace chuckles, for 'that woman' was in fact his mother. "I'll tell her you approve." he says, before falling silent again and allowing Cal to regain his train of thought, after a few more bites that is. He clears his throat and takes a swig of beer then tries again, "So, we're coming up on the full moon again." Micah growls, "Fucking Were-beasts." Jace pushes his now empty plate away from him and leans back a bit in his chair. "Hey, they're not all bad. Some of them get a bit agro when their time of the month rolls around otherwise they play pretty nice." Cal nods in agreement. "They don't usually wander on over our way all that often, but with our rogue situation being unpredictable right now I'd like to up the eyeball count on all perimeters starting tomorrow. I don't see our rogues getting in the Weres' way, but if they're cocky enough to go into town, who knows what else they'll be dumb enough to do." Micah snorts. "The male's a fucking moron, pissing all over everything, and with two females of breeding age, shit has potential to go sideways if the Weres come across them." Cal looks to Jace, "You'll have things covered on the town front then? I'll station some of our non-wolves near the Crag in the evenings and they'll keep you updated." Jace nods, rising to take his plate inside. "Sounds good. Just have 'em radio me if shit gets tense.. Hey, I gotta swing by and check on Ma before I head home so I'm outta here. Take care of that casserole dish of hers or it'll be my ass and the last cobbler you'll ever see." Cal chuckles, "Noted." then nods as Jace makes his exit.

Shifting his gaze to Micah, Cal pours himself a nice big glass of lemonade. "Just because I was poking fun at you earlier about the librarian..." Micah cuts in, "Belle." Cal takes a sip then grins, "...Belle...just because I was fucking with you before, doesn't mean I don't take it seriously. I've nothing against bedding the non-supes but when it comes to finding a mate, that's a different deal altogether. You know why we distance ourselves the way we do. With relationships come truths that can't easily be taken back once shared." Micah feels his back stiffening, having heard the 'can't easily' rather than simply cannot. He knew that in the past when 'slip ups' had occurred, Esme and her coven had remedied situations for them. The thought of the witches in Belle's mind did not sit well with him. "I know." he says, the gravity of the covnversation snapping him into submission. Micah jumps as Cal slaps him good naturedly on the shoulder then rises from the table, taking both their plates in hand before heading indoors. He calls over his shoulder, "Go get some sleep. You look like shit."

Micah blinks and nods, rising slowly from his chair. He was feeling a quite drained, despite the copious amounts of food, but he had let his wolf take free rein the fair portion of the day. He didn't do it often, but some days it was nice to just run. Far and fast. He did his best problem solving that way. Thankfully, his own cabin was less than 30 yards from Cal's, so with beer in hand he lopes down the stairs of the deck and heads for home, his bare feet falling softly upon the cool ground. 

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