she was not afraid to admit how she admired the passion and loyalty that shone behind jack’s eyes whenever he spoke. he was truly a man now, but she saw it in him all those years ago as well, and if she looked deep enough she could see the same young boy that she had met back then. but it seemed he wasn’t going to meet her gaze long enough for her to try. in a way she couldn’t blame him – she knew the age difference between them was probably hitting him, as it was her. she had started getting used to the abnormality of her immortality and constant youthful appearance a few decades ago, but she couldn’t say that it didn’t bother her more and more as every year passed, her face remaining the same mirror image as before. the more she looked at jack the more started to notice the roughness of his skin, the feint lines of expression between his brows, the years of experience dancing in his eyes from his short life.
she decided that she liked it. she liked how real it made him.
it was true that the demon attacks were becoming more intense around london specifically, and as well-versed in demonolgy pandora was, she was having just as much trouble as everyone else deciphering all that was going on. if only she had more of a connection with her father, she may have more luck with helping fight the invasions … but she doubted it. she doubted he even had anything to do with it, or she hoped he didn’t. she did not reject her demonic half ( in fact, she embraced the power it gave her ), but she knew how dangerous things in this world could become if the barriers keeping out those otherworldly were weakened. maybe that was part of the reason she felt so nervous about jack travelling here all the way from atlanta, where she knew he would be safer with his pack despite being as powerful as he was. he was strong enough to fight here, yes, but pandora hated the fact that he would be more exposed to the possible apocalypse that could happen at any moment outside of the institute walls. “whatever reason they have for coming, it must be valid to them. even i haven’t seen this many demons so focused on one cause…”
she started to smile at the mention of home, the oakland cemetery, the center for puppetry arts – a sense of nostalgia came with the reassurance that it was all still the same, still as wild and eccentric as ever. “careful, some of us warlocks will hex you blind for saying that.” however, her expression faltered when he asked the question she knew was coming: where have you been? why did you leave, pandora? why didn’t you tell anyone you were going? why didn’t you come back? she looked at him, hesitated – oh, how she wished she could have told him before being sent off by the spiral labyrinth, or been able to tell him not to worry about her when there were more important things to focus on. she had so much to tell him, so many explanations that she owed him, that he deserved to hear. she decided to hold back, though. save it for another time. she sighed lightly, a bittersweet smile gracing her lips as she fretted at with the tear in his sleeve idly. “its a long story. the labyrinth needed me, so i had no choice but leave when i did… i’m glad you stayed safe while i was gone, though. i’ll have to catch you up on everything that has happened.”
she knew that was only partly true; she couldn’t tell him everything, for his sake.
dread welled in his chest. jack hadn’t understood precisely what was going on in london until he’d arrived. he had gotten word, of course, that there was increased demon activity, but to hear that they were rallying around one goal? that the demons were so focused on some greater cause? this was worse than he’d thought. that said, perhaps he should have inferred that the situation was dire. that the london institute had invited downworlders and mundanes alike to join them could only mean that things had gotten ugly. nelphim were an especially proud race, and it was almost unimaginable that they would open their doors to outsiders. he shook his head slightly. “never?” jack’s best efforts to conjure up some reason, some imaginings of what had brought them together, had come up short. shaking his head, he managed to meet her eye again. “what would make them behave like this, pandora? what usually drives them?” he couldn’t expect her to have the answers. if this activity was as rare as she’d let on, he wondered if anyone could possibly know.
his part in this was so small, so insignificant, and he found himself wondering if his missions were merely putting out fires or investigating into this larger problem.
even with the threat of the downworld collapsing around the institute, he found himself fixed on his old friend. his joy in finding her again was well worth the trip to london despite the possibility that the institute would collapse inward around them. seeing her now reminded him of those early years. he had been younger then, with hollowed eyes and sallowed skin. there was something light in the way they interacted then. they were new friends that got along splendidly, and in those days she had taught him lessons about everything he needed to know about this new world he’d been forcibly inducted into. in someways, he’d been glad to undergo the changing, it seemed worth it to meet a friend like her. despite their friendship, however, she had seemingly vanished. jack had searched the city for her, had asked warlocks (even braving luther’s strange sense of humor and the puppetry center) to find news of her. they’d had nothing. the feeling of loneliness and worry had loomed over him for more than a decade now, and though he had become close to his pack, he had missed his dear friend.
though she answered his question, it was clear to jack that she hadn’t told him everything that there was to say. he found himself frowning slightly, wondering just what she was leaving out, but decided not to push it. maybe they weren’t friends anymore. or at least, maybe they weren’t the friends they had been. honestly, how could they be? she had left, hadn’t even said goodbye, and despite being in london she hadn’t sent word to him about where she was or even whether she was alive. then again, she said that she’d asked after him. jack tried to shake it off. his mind was playing tricks on him, trying to convince him that the things he’d felt for her back then were still valid. “sure,” he replied with a faint smile, “whenever you want to catch me up, i’d like to hear more...” slowly, his gaze fell to the little pull at the sleeve of his jacket, and he found himself watching the way that her fingers worked over the torn fabric. they had done much the same on his own torn skin when he was young. something lurched in his chest and he sighed. he’d come so far, and yet he still felt like the same dumb, helpless kid around her. “listen, i’m sorry if i’m...” he gestured with his free hand to the book she’d been reading, “you know, interrupting. i really ought to get cleaned up.” if she wanted to be left alone, he felt that he owed it to her to give pandora an out. if she had chosen not to be around him, to leave him be, he’d rather save himself the embarrassment.
HER INSTINCTS had not failed her. she knew it , she could feel it in her bones. the werewolf seemed to sober up with ease ; despite the flush of red on her cheeks , the way looking at alcohol made her stomach churn. she sat up , arms resting on the bar , before eyes flickered to the beer bottle. it was almost FULL ; she might’ve made the slightest mistake on ordering another one after FOUR SHOTS & a beer before hand. her eyes lingered on his FIGURE for a moment , only for her to stand up ( with little ease , she almost STUMBLED — ) , beer bottle in hand , sliding into a seat next to him.
“ m’not a PUP , “ is the first thing mai mumbled to the other , but she was unsure if she was mumbling because she didn’t want anyone else to hear or because the alcohol was getting to her head … call it a combination of both? “ —and i can’t DRINK anymore. ” she looked over to the other helplessly. “ i’ll be sick. ”
instinct was powerful in werewolves. since he had turned, jack’s sense of smell and strength had enhanced markedly, but more importantly he’d developed an even deeper sense of loyalty than he’d had before. he was loyal to his people, to his pack, to his species. there was something about the way that she presented herself that made him wonder how recently she’d undergone the changing, he doubted that it had been particularly long. a pup, he figured, or at least she seemed like a pup.
jack found himself preparing to offer a hand as she stepped toward him. perhaps she really had drunk too much. “mm,” he hummed. she reeked of stale beer. he studied her briefly, before permitting himself to relax a bit and lean his weight against the bar top. “alright, alright, i’m not gonna force you. but if you’re planning to stick around, maybe you could tell me a little bit about london?” the pack here was what he really wanted information on, he wanted to know who ran it, what the culture here was, whether he could take refuge with them until he went back to atlanta. “you now, what the people here are like.”
“ NEVER AGAIN , “ she declared , her chin resting on her hand , nails tapping LIGHTLY against the brown bottle of beer that rests in her left hand. she didn’t REMEMBER how many drinks she had had , but EITHER WAY she was what the young kids would call a lightweight. a red flush on her cheeks , pout on her lips , she lets her head fall to the wood of the bar. “ —never again will i drink , “ she mumbled , drowsy eyes flickering over the bar.
her eyes land on SOMEONE ; he’s unfamiliar , and her eyes narrowed for a moment , as if suspicious of him. ( and if she were sober , she might’ve been. it’s probably her sober consciousness poking at the back of her mind. ) but whatever APPREHENSIVENESS that lingered in her system found itself leaving , as her frown melted into a small SMILE and wave towards the other. “ sorry , “ she said a bit more QUIETLY , “ i’ll shut up now. ”
jack had never cared for crowded places. he gawked at the tourists that roamed around london in droves, at the clusters of people waiting down in the tube, at the long long lines that wound around that damned ferris wheel. there were crowds in atlanta too, but they were nothing like this. london was much larger city. despite the crowds, however, jack had managed to find himself a quiet, little pub. sure, it was dingy and dark, but he didn’t mind. he was meaner than anything in there... probably.
he had just started to enjoy his first beer when he caught the voice behind him. quickly, jack glanced over his shoulder and spotted the young woman. her head rested on the table, her hand still on the bottle, and he found himself wondering if anyone had bothered to id her. she caught his eye at the very same moment that he noticed there was another wolf in the pub. he blinked, glancing around briefly, before his eyes fell upon her again. her? no way. he squinted slightly. jack had always trusted his instincts, but this girl didn’t look at all like a werewolf. he hesitated briefly before continuing. “you know, where i come from it’d be a crime not to finish that. drink up, pup.”
she couldn’t help but grin bashfully at his words, and for a moment she felt the odd sensation of reality hit her; it had been doing that a lot lately, more than she would like. she had been keeping up with him through conversations at the shadow markets, occasionally bringing him up to others during downworld gatherings and listening intently during parties whenever she heard someone bring up the atlanta pack – she never wanted to be obvious about it though, considering a lot that hung around those places weren’t the safest crowd. she would never want to bring jack’s name into the attention of someone dangerous. the only reason she wasn’t able to contact him was because of the spiral labyrinth and the mission they had put her on. she wasn’t allowed to keep close ties with anyone for safety purposes, which she agreed to for their sake, and by the time she was done they had called her to london for help. that didn’t mean thoughts of the werewolf and his well-being weren’t constantly hanging in the back of her mind, stubborn and fretful.
“i don’t think anyone here knows for sure, but the attacks around the city are getting worse and worse,” she responded, her voice dropping a bit from the previously excited tone to one of more caution. “there’s been talk of something a lot more powerful orchestrating the whole situation, though.” when she first arrived, the heads of the institute sent her to repair the wards almost immediately. it had become almost a daily routine – eat, sleep, train, and restore the wards where they had been diminished or worn down. she was almost jealous of jack’s missions, since she herself had only been sent on a few real ones.
she grinned at him, “then the alpha was right. i can’t think of a better representative to come here. it’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she glanced at the shelves full of various books and scrolls, but her eyes found their way down to the tear gashed through the arm of his jacket, her eyebrows immediately pinching together with a tinge of worry. he was definitely skilled enough to help fend off the demon attacks parading london, and no doubt more than capable of protecting himself as well, but she couldn’t help the small voice in her mind whispering maybe he shouldn’t have come, maybe it’s safer for him in atlanta. she tried to laugh it off though, pushing away her urge to sit him down and check him for any injuries ( force of habit, she told herself. that’s all it was, right? ) running her fingers over the tear, she looked up at him questioningly with a small smile, “i’m glad you found me before we got ourselves into any more trouble … how is atlanta, by the way? still as bright as always?” i’ve missed it, i’ve missed you.
his life was a fleeting flash of lightening, a drop in the bucket, a blink of the eye. perhaps this was why jack felt insignificant when standing beside someone like her. pandora had seen so much, lived so much, and yet she was still so bright and vibrant. he wondered what his life must look like through her eyes. like the lifespan of a fruit fly maybe? in truth, she had meant a great deal to him. those tender days that they had spent in each other’s company, in which she nursed him to health and taught him the ins and outs of this new world that he’d happened upon, had meant the world to him. that kindness was what he’d missed throughout his childhood and was what he’d longed for as a teenager, and he’d found it in her. stranger still, pandora hadn’t wanted anything from him. therefore, when he had stopped hearing from her after she had left atlanta, he figured that she had likely helped dozens before him and would go on to help many, many more. jack thought that he was forgettable. he was a single drop in the bucket, not the first or the last, so who could distinguish one from the other?
but he’d been wrong.
despite those years that he’d spent trying to push her out of his head, trying to convince himself that she hadn’t wasted a moment of her long life pining for him. that part of him that clung to hope, that thought of her as family, had been right all along. they had been pulled apart, but she had been asking for him. that had to count for something, didn’t it?
their reunion wasn’t entirely sweet though. they had both been brought to london for a reason, and no matter how he’d have liked to spend time rekindling their friendship, jack realized that there was work to be done. “are they?” he asked, frowning slightly in response to what she’d said. how could that be? jack had never seen the inside of an institute before, but even he realized that the reinforcements here had to be more than what one would usually see. after all, the london institute now housed shadowhunters as well as seelies, vampires, werewolves, warlocks and even mundanes. how could there still be more attacks? squinting slightly, he considered the rumor that she heard. though he hated to admit it, that certainly made sense. “the demons must be here for a reason. a more powerful force seems as good a reason as any...” he confessed. power beget power.
jack was still frowning when she had complimented him. thoughts of something more powerful lurking around london, putting innocent lives at risk, worried him. it took a moment, but as always pandora’s words touched something gentle in him and he smiled despite himself. it was a small smile, but it was present all the same. “dunno about that...” he mumbled, a bit embarrassed. jack ran a hand through his hair, as if trying to soothe himself or look relaxed, but he looked quite the opposite. he felt like a gawky teenager around her, just the way he’d been when they’d first met, and he hated himself for it. get it together, he scolded himself. “nothing new there,” he managed a little laugh. “still the same old demons hanging around oakland cemetary. and luther is still scaring the pants off of people at the center for puppetry arts... some of you warlocks have a real strange sense of humor.” the thought, of these people that they shared, made him smile faintly. “the pack is holding their own. they don’t need me around and it’s nice to see somewhere new.” especially if she was here. “... where have you been, pandora?” he asked, meeting her eye for just a moment before he averted his gaze. it was a question that had been pulling on him, nagging him, and he couldn’t help but ask. better now than later.
I wake up in the morning and I don’t know where I’ve been.
All alone on a mountainside, and huddled in the wind.
And it feels like I’ve been away for an era but nothing has changed at all.
And it feels like I was with you, but what did we do and where have you gone?
JACK NAVARRO - made by the super talented @pandxward
It can't be unlearned
I've known the warmth of your doorways
Through the cold, I'll find my way back to you
Oh please, give me mercy no more!
It's a kindness you can't afford!
I want you baby tonight, as sure as you're born
You'll hear me howling outside your door
Don't you hear me howling babe?
it had been over a decade since that fateful night in the alleyway, and she couldn’t deny the obvious differences from the boy he had once been to the man he was now – he was taller than her now, far from the skinny teenager she had force-fed healing elixirs to in the living room of her apartment. she thought about that night from time to time (more often than she would have you believe). she saw his potential then, even as she sat and explained to him the workings of the downworld and all of it’s details, and the day she heard about his success in their city’s pack she couldn’t help the grin that had slipped across her lips.
that grin was back now, full of pride and excitement as they embraced, and the sudden firm strength of his arms around her back nearly threw her off guard – he really had grown into himself. “of course you could’ve found me, you’re the best tracker in the atlanta pack, from what i’ve heard,” she boasted before letting free of the hug, knowing how he was when it came to physicality. that didn’t mean she didn’t do it with a bit of reluctance, though. at his questions she chuckled, shrugging casually. “i got here maybe a few weeks ago, to help maintain the wards.” also i’m head warlock of the city now, but she didn’t want to bring too much attention to herself. she wanted to hear about him, about how he came all the way here from georgia, about the decade of his life that she had missed out on. it made her feel weirdly old, even though any onlooker wouldn’t have guess it from their physical appearances.
“when did you get here? did you get sick off all the pack drama back home?” she joked, pulling her eyes away from his face for a moment – she couldn’t help it, he looked so much more… jack. not different per se, but more worn, more experienced. if she kept staring like that she would’ve drawn attention to it, so she let her eyes focus on his clothes beneath her fingers instead. “… and why are you covered in dirt?”
despite his painful indoctrination to the downworld, jack found himself more at home here than he’d ever been in the human world. his parents had been thieves, his siblings con artists, and his friends had been few and far between. his family name was sullied in savannah, and it was only when he’d left, when he’d been bitten, when he’d finally joined his pack that he was home. in truth, however, his feeling of acceptance had started long before he’d joined the atlanta pack, it had started when he met pandora, and when she’d taken the time to aid him without asking for anything in return. his name hadn’t meant anything to her, nor had his family’s reputation, and he couldn’t help but feel that she was the one who’d changed his life. she was the first one that didn’t seem to draw away.
to be here, before her again, was exciting. though jack wasn’t usually one for big, wide grins, he found that the smile tugging at the corners of his lips matched hers. he was thrilled to have found her here. “... you’ve heard?” he asked, pulling away slightly to get a better look at her. it had been so, so very long since they’d spoken that jack had genuinely thought that she’d forgotten about him. it made sense, after all. she was an immortal being, one that would go on far beyond his mortal lifespan, and she couldn’t be expected to remember the names of every mortal she came across. perhaps, he’d let himself think, it didn’t mean all that much to her. oh, but her actions had meant the world to him and to hear that she’d checked in made him feel strangely exhilarated. it wasn’t often that anyone checked in on him unless they were a part of his pack, his family certainly hadn’t bothered. what was better still was that she’d heard that he was doing well. the alpha had undoubtedly passed on the word. a faint pink bloomed in his cheeks. “makes sense,” he admitted, “they’d need someone powerful like you. what’s going on here? how have things gotten so bad?” he’d heard snippets of it from his alpha, but he hadn’t been quite able to understand, it seemed unimaginable that demons were threatening to overtake london.
as for him? well, jack felt a bit embarrassed. he typically preferred not to talk about himself, and he squirmed a bit when given the opportunity. “no, the alpha sent me along to help take care of the situation here. i guess he felt that i’d be a good... a good representative.” he was powerful, careful with his words, and unquestioningly loyal, so he seemed like the ideal candidate to send far, far away from the supervision of the pack. he smiled slightly. “i’ve only been here for a few days and they already have me going on missions... i just finished one up, but i was dyin’ to see what was in here.” he gestured to the library, its colorful array of books and the intricate carvings. "never expected to find you though. luck is on my side.”
“kthonos ghdhem ane erysichthon et…” she murmured under her breath, reading the pages of the demonic script in her hands with uninterrupted interest. it shocked her, really – with how adamant the clave was with keeping anything demon-related out of their vicinity, she seemed to have no trouble in finding shelves full of demonic texts here, many of which were written in the languages of the underworld. pandora had been spending more than enough time scaling the walls of this library, always finding an excuse to escape into the pages upon pages of information she hadn’t been able to explore until recently. needless to say she was here the moment she was notified that she wasn’t needed on ward duty today in the city. london as a whole was much different than the other cities she had visited in her lifetime, especially her familiar streets of atlanta. she couldn’t deny how much she enjoyed it here though, with its stone paths and rich history, the flow of the thames always steady in the distance. the voice that spoke up behind made to pause, breaking her from her thoughts, the low tone far rougher than she remembered it being all those years ago…
cries and hisses of pain, dirt and blood smeared across the alley floor, the spark of a healing spell and the strain of getting his stumbling body back to her apartment – and that voice, laced through the low curses that slipped through his gritted teeth as she tended to his wounds and poured potion after potion on his injuries. his voice was different now, deeper.
“jack…” she almost sounded unsure, as if the grown man in front of her weren’t the newly-changed boy she had found in the dark alleyway of ponce de leon avenue. within a second, though, she had already dropped the text in her hands and had let the excited smile make its way onto her face at the sight of him. “jack!” she jumped at him, enveloping him in a hug and paying little mind to the mask of dirt covering his body. he was larger now, the sturdiness of his shoulders flexing beneath her as a reminder of the time passed. he was a man now, she shouldn’t be surprised. “i could never hide from you, pup,” she chuckled, her face bright.
even now, even though he had become far more experienced in the ways of the wolves, jack hadn’t gotten used to the changing. his experience had been forever colored by the excruciating pain that accompanied his first transformation. never in his life had jack felt pain like that. he prayed for death to be merciful, to take him then and there in the alleyway, but she had come instead. truly, pandora had been a blessing. when he’d come to hours later, he found her caring for the wounds that he’d tried so desperately to patch up, and strangely they felt better. nothing he’d done had worked, nothing he’d done had even begun to heal him, but she had worked wonders. now, of course, he understood why. pandora had quite literally used magic to heal him, and it had been all that had worked. potion after potion, hour after hour, she had spent time and effort nursing him back to health and he was forever grateful.
jack owed her his life.
even now, even after all of the years that had passed since their first meeting, he knew that he would have to find some way to repay her. even with his debt in mind, jack found himself thrilled to see his old friend. it was she, after all, who’d taught him all that he knew about the shadow world and he appreciated her tender touch and lessons about this new world more than words. the brightness in her voice was home, was everything that he remembered, and he grinned wide in response. it took a moment for him to register her embrace as a hug, it wasn’t often that he let anyone get so close anymore, and jack hugged her back tightly. she was just as warm as she’d ever been, just as comforting, just as home. the muscles in his arms pulling taut, holding her close as if to keep her there for good. he’d been lonely when pandora left atlanta, and it was so good to see her here in this new city. “no,” he teased, “you couldn’t. i can track damn near anything now.” his words were a reminder. more than ten years ago she had met him when he was a wolf pup, entirely inexperienced with the newness of his form, but presently he was one of the very best that his pack had to offer. he was a formidable no matter which form he took. “hell, maybe i should have. i would have found you sooner. it’s been too long, pandora.” he’d missed her. the words felt too intimate, too familiar, to say aloud so he’d settled for something close. “when did you get here? why are you here?” the questions came quickly, too quickly for him to stop, and he looked vaguely embarrassed afterward.
jack had grown up amidst historic homes and antique furniture. he’d had an early education in the art styles of the victorian era and prohibition era, but he’d never seen anything quite as lavish as the london institute. ornate spires stretched toward the sky, their barbed tips threatening to puncture the very clouds, and the inside was even more awe inspiring. he was surrounded by ornate carvings, handsome furniture, motifs of angels and swords, and he couldn’t help but feel like he’d missed out. he should have come to london much sooner. even now, even a few days after he’d arrived, jack found it challenging to peel himself away from the institute to go on missions. and upon returning home, no matter how tired he felt or how hungry he was, he found himself wandering through the grand rooms like a wide eyed tourist. what was more startling still were the people who’d congregated here, they were an eclectic mix, of all shapes and sizes and he found them to be just as curious as the building that sheltered him.
jack was still panting from the mission that he’d just completed when he stepped through the institute’s doors. though he’d had a shower and a few moments of rest in mind, he found himself following a particularly angular man toward a large set of doors and let himself in. what he found was truly outstanding. books of all colors and thickness were stacked in shelves as high as the handsome ceilings. so he’d finally found the library. suddenly the smear of dirt on his face or his own raw knuckles didn’t matter. he wandered through the library studying each book and shelf and person eagerly. it was only when he’d managed to get most of the way around that he spotted a blonde woman. the sight was so familiar, reminiscing of home, that he felt stunned. “... pandora?” he murmured, more to himself than to her. he stepped closer, unable to pull his eyes away, and he found himself staring. “is this where you’ve been all these years?” he asked, the corners of his lips turned up in a smile, “and here i thought you were hiding from me.” she was still just as lovely as she’d been more than ten years ago, and suddenly he felt aware of his age and the dirt on his face. great. just great. what a way to reintroduce himself.
FRANKINCENSE — FAITHFUL HEART; BOB MORLEY is JACK NAVARRO, a THIRTY-ONE year old WEREWOLF. He is said to be INTUITIVE but SARDONIC as well. Let us welcome THE STEADFAST into the Institute with open arms.
BIOGRAPHY;;
raised amidst southern live oaks and spanish moss, jack seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of his father and forefathers. unfortunately, it wasn’t the handsome, historic side of savannah that he was fated to join, but the city’s seedy underbelly.
the navarro family had arrived in savannah a century before and they’d asserted themselves as swindlers and hustlers, doing damn near anything necessary to make a buck. sometimes it meant claiming that the home they rented was a part of savannah’s rich history and charging for tours, sometimes it meant cheating at cards, and occasionally it meant outright stealing from other residents and selling furniture to other families looking for antiques.
as the sixth of eight children, jack often found himself getting lost in the chaos of the household. most of his eldest siblings had already gotten involved in the family’s schemes and were constantly scheming, and the middle children played pranks on one another in little tests to see what might work when they started on their own careers. jack, however, was a quiet and modest child who didn’t much care for trouble.
in school, he rarely asked for help and shied away from the adults in the classroom and at after school programs, but it was obvious that he preferred to be there than home. summer breaks were particularly challenging, for he didn’t want to have to deal with the challenges of his home life and his siblings, so he often hung around the city and picked up odd jobs.
by age sixteen he only ever returned home when he needed sleep. jack took care of meals and his other care all on his own. it went almost without saying that he moved out as soon as he possibly could. he’d worked as soon as a ma and pa restaurant was willing to hire him as a dish washer, and had saved up enough to move out by the time he was seventeen.
he was still managing to go to school, and thought of it as something of a refuge, but he’d never done particularly well. the eagerness of his early life had worn off and he’d become more interested in working so that he could get by in his life outside of the classroom. despite this, he managed to graduate on time at eighteen.
jack did not apply to go to college. as far as he was concerned, he didn’t have the money to spend or any idea of what he wanted to do.
by eighteen he was working as a bartender at a tourist trap in atlanta. he worked hard, and though he wasn’t particularly flashy or outgoing, he was a hard worker. one night, after the bar had closed, jack was on his way home when a stray dog sprang from behind a dumpster, knocked him down, and bit him on his right shoulder. he’d tried his best to protect himself, to cover his head and face, but the animal managed to get ahold of his hand and leave a scar there too.
after he was bitten, jack did his best to bandage his injuries all on his own and tended to them carefully. strangely, he couldn’t get them to heal. they seemed like fresh wounds even two weeks later and he found himself feeling ill and more pained with each passing day. the day of the full moon, he was too pained to work. he called out, was promptly fired for missing yet another day, and spent the day trying to recover when finally it happened.
there was pain like he’d never felt in his life. he remembered screaming, feeling sure that he was dying, and the next thing he knew he’d woken up in an alleyway in a part of the city that was entirely unfamiliar to him.
it was here, he thought, that he would die. he was still in pain, still ill, still bleeding, and he let himself rest in the alleyway. the next time he awoke he found himself in a young woman’s care. she went on and on about warlocks and werewolves and all sorts of things that he didn’t understand. frankly, he didn’t pay her much mind until he’d started to feel better. with her care he’d started to heal, and faster than ever before, and as he felt better he spent more time considering the things she said. pandora was a cornerstone in his recovery and his understanding of the new world that he’d accidentally stepped into.
even after he left her care, the two remained close. he understood what was happening to him more so because of her, and he went to her with questions and concerns that he had.
he remained in atlanta, even after pandora had left, and became an integral part of atlanta’s very own pack. he trained with them, honed his skill, and became one of the best warriors in the pack. it was his mission to protect the city, those that he loved, and his pack from the dangers that lurked in the shadows.
more recently, he was sent from his home in atlanta to help the wolves of london fight the rising demon activity there. he’s only just arrived in the london institute and is absolutely blown away by its beauty. more importantly still, however, is that he’s found an old friend.
WANTED CONNECTIONS;;
pack members - these are other werewolves that came from atlanta with jack to provide support for the werewolves of london. they are some of his most trusted friends, his allies, and people that he would protect with his life. he chose them to come with him because he knew their abilities and trusted that they would be able to do the job and to do it well.
trainees - whether he met these werewolves back in atlanta or in london, he keeps a careful eye on these pups and does his very best to direct them. he has provided them with training, guidance, and does everything in his power to keep them from biting innocent mundanes until they get their abilities under control. sometimes they annoy the hell out of jack, but overall he loves them dearly and treats them as his own.
savior - she took jack in at one of the most vulnerable times of his life, and helped him gain control of himself as well as to understand this new world he’d been pulled into. jack still admires pandora greatly, thinks of her as one of his dearest friends (though they spent quite a great deal of time apart), and is thrilled to see her again in the london institute. from here, he hopes to rekindle their friendship now that he has more experience in the shadow world. [ taken by pandora ward ]
unlikely friends - likely a vampire, this creature is one that his species simply hates, but he finds them somewhat bearable all the same. jack enjoys their sense of humor, their wit, and has taken a liking to them even if he won’t admit it himself. they don’t spend all that much time together, and would never be caught grabbing a beer together, but there is an unspoken trust between the two.
stormborns
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
areudirty
vaporwave
