historypowered // Natalie
“I know. You’re a good man and alpha, Will. I haven’t met a TON, but the others I had the misfortune of meeting were just…” Natalie shuddered. She chose not to elaborate, but she felt lucky that she hadn’t been scratched or bitten by any of them. If she was to join a pack, she would want it to be Will’s. At least she wouldn’t be forced to capture humans and hunt them down in an insane ritual to constantly prove her worth to the pack or to prove she was worthy to be the alpha’s mate. A part of her did wonder why some werewolves went ‘bad’ while others maintained some level of decency. Maybe it had something to do with their self-control and ethics.
With the pleasant distraction that Kaiser and Trigger provided, she gently snuggled the former. “Strong and mighty, just like your older brother,” she conceded with a smile. Natalia wasn’t planning on starting a rivalry between the two, and she would have hugged Trigger too, but she didn’t think the older dog felt closer to her. Just because she got along with Will didn’t mean she was going to get the same friendly treatment from his dog. Even if she thought Trigger was so adorable and fluffy! “And I dunno, he smells like he ran through barbecue smoke. He didn’t steal another hotdog, did he?”
From the goofy puppy grin on Kaiser’s face, though, she had a feeling that that was the reason why he smelled a little. Not an unpleasant smell, but not like the sweet, flowery scent of his shampoo, either. She scratched the back of Kaiser’s ear, and the pup eventually lay on her lap, his furry paws dangling from either side of her lap. “Wait, so…how old does a natural-born werewolf start shifting?” she asked. “Is that the right term? Those who were born and not bitten?” Some movies depicted young werewolves turning into wolf pups and running after their elders, but that was fiction. This was reality.
“I know some give us a BAD reputation, which I can’t help but being who I am and the alpha I am is what I believe helps change perspective. Well, if people gave us a chance. We’ve been lucky with about two towns willing to keep our secret. This one has been learning slowly, the one back home is well aware by NOW yet my pack and them have a bond.” He shrugged. Will knew some packs acted more animalistic, living up to the very bad name that the stories and Hollywood made them out to be. It was a SHAME really and killing them all wouldn’t do any good but only make more enemies. It was a tough position to be in but the alpha could at least take solace in the fact that he did have an EFFECT on those he met.
“They are a pair, the kids love ‘em.” Will replied as he patted Trigger on the side while Kaiser received a good amount of attention from the other. Trigger was rather picky on those he CHOSE to let his guard down around and that meant being extremely protective of Will. Maybe that was why he sat at his feet and just stared at Natalie with the occasional glance at Will. Sooner or later he would LEARN there wasn’t a need to be on his toes with Natalie around, it just took time. She had a different scent compared to the others around them, maybe that was why. She was different. A laugh left the wolf as he shook his head. “Can’t say for sure, I mean maybe ONE of the pack members was grilling and the kids gave him a hot dog. Wouldn’t be the FIRST time.”
Patting at the empty spot beside him, Trigger jumped up and laid down next to Will on the couch. That at least showed he was feeling somewhat BETTER in this encounter. And with the change of his position, Will moved to scratch at the German Shepherd’s head. His brow rose a moment as he took in a deep breath before moving on to explain. “You’d be right, I guess that’s the best way to describe it. Uh, usually they DON’T begin to shift until they’re older. I would say about preteens? Maybe? It depends on the wolf.” It was hard to explain sometimes. “We are mostly born, so it is normally around the SAME time. They’re raised to understand it all before it happens so there usually isn’t a shock.”