beta bitch;

atlanta. beta. mama wolf. happiness, hit her like a train on a track

[ofatlantas-blog]

BARE NECESSITIES → ATLANTA & MIRA

[ofatlantas-blog]

roguepackmira:

Mira wasn’t really interested in doing much shopping, she had the day off and wanted to do a little walking. Seeing if she could catch any kind of gossip while she looked around the store, she had a few small things in hand, some candy and a water but she was walking down the frozen section, she didn’t often care for frozen meals but she was kind of a fan of breakfast burritos. Grabbing a couple of them she turned to make her way down the row. She could have made her own but she didn’t drive, and her bike only had so much room in the storage compartment.

Making her way down the row Mira can smell wolf, she can tell it’s State pack but from first glance she can recognize the other woman, but right now she’s not sure if she want to try any kind of conversation, especially since most of her interactions outside of Delaware have been unpleasant.

She tries to avoid it but she backs up and Mira almost dodges her and they lightly bump into each other. Mira waits for the recognition, and sees it pass through the other wolfs eyes. And Mira smiles lightly and shakes her head, “Mira.”

          Atlanta winced again, offering a sheepish smile. “Sorry, right. Mira. That’s a lovely name. I don’t think we’ve actually been properly introduced.” She set the frozen meal back into its slot, then extended her hand. “I’m Atlanta. I’m the State pack’s beta.” 

          Her voice stayed low, soft enough that no one down the aisle could hear their whispers. But then she realized how strange it was to have a hushed conversation in the grocery store, and she forced a brighter smile and straightened her shoulders back. The last thing they needed was for someone to land suspicious eyes on her pack at this time. And she still wasn’t entirely a huge fan of the rogue pack, at all, but she didn’t think they had anything to do with this disappearance. Or at least, she hoped not.

          “Are you all settling in okay? I haven’t heard much from your pack since... Everything that’s been going on.” It was strange how her priority shifted, but like with almost every argument with Del, Atlanta’s temper was quick to spark but just as quick to flare out. She didn’t want to be angry at this other pack anymore. Stay, leave, she didn’t care as long as her own pack was safe. She could at least try to be hospitable. 

[ofatlantas-blog]

BARE NECESSITIES → ATLANTA & MIRA

          Atlanta had been so consumed by the pack’s investigation into why Ashlynn Moore had gone missing that she’d barely even left the house for a week. It was only when they were starting to run low on the bare essentials that she dragged herself out of the house and back into the world of the living. 

          She just couldn’t get it out of her head. A girl didn’t go missing in Rainsburg, with a new pack in town, on a full moon, and leave absolutely nothing in the way of clues. It made her skin crawl to think of a girl, just twenty years old, disappearing from her own town. Rainsburg was supposed to be small and quiet, and it was supposed to be safe.

           Despite the underlying feeling of nausea, Lanta finally ended up at the grocery store. She was beginning to feel like she’d spent whole years of her life here, and she knew the main grocery list so well that she only went through the motions of buying the essentials. It was only when she found herself staring at the ingredients list on the back of a frozen meal that she realized she’d wandered off course. No one in the pack house ate frozen meals, ever. She wasn’t sure she’d even been down this aisle before.

          Pulling back and shaking her head with a firm but startled expression, Atlanta bumped lightly against the person behind her as she turned. “Ah, fuck, I’m.... Oh.” She had to take another step back, squinting as she thought. New pack. Tough chick. Atlanta knew her name, she just couldn’t remember. She winced. “Uh... Maria?”

[ofdelaware-blog]

Silver And White [&&State Pack]

[ofatlantas-blog]

ofdelaware.

Atlanta is trying to distract him and it’s working. She’s close enough that her smell invades Del’s space and he’s already got his book lowered and completely forgotten. He’ll find the page later. Right now, every single sense is focused on Atlanta and nothing else. It’s the draw of the imprint - inescapable and powerful - and no matter how hard Delaware fights it, it never works. It makes moments like this even more difficult, because what if Delaware gave in? He honestly doesn’t think Atlanta would be ready for it, and maybe Del wouldn’t be ready for it either.

Delaware can’t help but shiver at Atlanta’s touch when she uses that tone. It’s not fair, because she’s mocking him and he knows it. But Delaware can’t help it, or the desire to kiss her that bubbles up under his skin. It’s the full moon’s fault. Moonskins emotions get all tangled up and intense when you’re close to the full moon. So Delaware bites that desire back and just rolls his eyes in the most obnoxious way possibly, and leans in closer. Two can play that game.

“Is that all that gets you hot?” Despite his unaffected look, Delaware’s voice and low and gruff as he answers her. His hand slips under the back of her shirt, fingers running down her spine in Del’s own kind of challenge. They’re playing a dangerous game right now, and Delaware hates to lose.

           Often times, Atlanta thought that werewolf hearing is more of a curse than a blessing, but she didn’t mind it when she caught the sound of Del’s heart beat speeding up at her touch. Her own heart was beating just as fast, because weirdly, she wasn’t entirely lying about the Nicomachean Ethics. Something was definitely making her hot.

         Her fingers deftly slid down even further, and she halfway considers divesting Del of his shirt before he even starts to strip for the shift that’s coming. The reminder of the full moon almost killed the mood, before Atlanta realized the full moon was probably the reason for her mood anyways. She was always drawn to him this way, just rarely so eager to act on it. She was fully aware that she would probably regret everything later, when the light of the morning cleared her mind. But that was too damn bad. Regret would just have to wait. 

          “I can think of a few other things...” The shock of Delaware’s fingers slyly finding her own skin caused her to bite back a gasp, but then her grins spread further. “There’s this hipster with a neck beard working at Taste now. He has a neck beard. It’s super hot. Do you think he would teach me about Neoteric Ethics?” She was already in so close, she couldn’t resist it. She let her lips press against his ear, not quite a kiss but definitely not anything else. With a small wiggle, she managed to edge her shirt further up her spine, giving him better access to her heated skin.

[ofatlantas-blog]

HEAD FULL OF DOUBT → ATLANTA & ARIZONA

[ofatlantas-blog]

arizonawolf:

The darkness of the room prevented Ari from seeing the full extent of the scowl surely given when the white of Lanta’s eyes gave away her eyelids snapping open. She held back a laugh at the child-like tone of I hate that story and instead offered a silent sigh; she wasn’t going to push the topic further– it wasn’t the time nor place and Atlanta wasn’t quite ready to hear it. So instead, she lightly squeezed Lanta’s hands as if to say ‘maybe later…’ not that she was entirely sure she’d ever want to hear that story.

Guilt nipped at her for keeping her drained beta up any longer– the exhaustion on her face even evident in the black of the night. “Her name’s Alex.” She continued with her comforting tone before leaning forward to kiss Atlanta’s cheek. “But we’ll talk more about her in the morning. For now, it’s time to get that beauty rest you claim to need.”

So instead of going in depth about the girl she’d become enamored with, Arizona told one of her bedtime stories she’d been told as a child; one that mimicked the story of sleeping beauty. It wasn’t rare for Ari to read Lanta or other pack members to sleep… as a child she read to her younger cousins, she’d had plenty of experience. Her voice took on this sing-song inflection, but it wasn’t as annoying as it could have been– it was soothing.

          Her body felt like it was melting right into the mattress, but she was awake enough to still arch an eyebrow at her best friend. Alex. Interesting. She mumbled a muffled reply into the pillow, something that may have been an argument or may have been consent, but the kiss against Atlanta’s cheek earned a pleased sigh. 

         As she listened to Arizona’s voice softly weave a story that she thought she’d heard before, Atlanta moved closer to her warmth. She was glad for the day that felt like eons ago, when she and Arizona had slid their beds together and curled up in a few deep quilts to fight off the cool winter nights. Even when the heat made everything feel like it was steaming, they hadn’t bothered to push it back. And she knew it was more than just kinship, but a kind of sisterhood she had with this pup. And even if she couldn’t get along with her own imprint (half asleep, she mumbled curses), she felt like an older sister at the eager thoughts she had of Arizona finally finding her own.

          With thoughts of how much she loved her pack, every stubborn, infuriating, ridiculous last one of them, Atlanta drifted into a deep and dreamless sleep. 

[adaletneekartal]

Up A Tree || Alex and Open

[ofatlantas-blog]

alex-13-ramos:

Alex laughed, having to agree with Atlanta. It seemed very hard to find a likable Jake. But then again, she had the image of that asshole from the High School football team Jake O’Neill. She shuddered just at the thought of him. Hopefully he was off somewhere far, far away where she’d never see his smarmy face again.

She raised her eyes, a bit impressed. She seemed to have pretty good control over the ball. It rolled straight back towards her and Alex stopped it with her foot. “Yes, you do. The ball isn’t up a tree or anything. Okay-” She backpedaled a bit, taking the ball with her so that there was a decent space between the two of them, and then took about three steps back from the ball. “Get the ball in the air: run up, plant whichever foot you aren’t kicking with, and follow through with the kick, don’t just stop at the point of contact.” She demonstrated and the ball went flying back towards Atlanta.

         “Give it some time. You’re just starting out, I’m sure you’ll learn.” She laughed, happy to see that at least she could aim the ball in the right direction. Even with heightened werewolf senses, her sense of coordination was not all that great, and she hadn’t really expected to get that far. 

          The ball arched back towards her in a smooth loop, and Atlanta had to back up slightly to keep from being smashed in the head. As it landed, she stared at it for a moment, as if considering. She didn’t want to kick it too hard, and have it go flying out of the park and into someone’s car window. With a few steps forward, she gave it a half-hearted kick that the ball seemed to disagree with. It landed a few dozen feet to the left of Alex. “Okay, well. There’s always room for improvement.”

[ofatlantas-blog]

HEAD FULL OF DOUBT → ATLANTA & ARIZONA

[ofatlantas-blog]

arizonawolf.

Her eyes moved from the sponge she’d just received to Lanta as she told her they were going back to bed, a slight pout given but Ari understood. “We need sleep.” The younger wolf corrected, offering a soothing smile. This wasn’t Atlanta pushing any help away; this was her too tired to continue her angry cleaning. So seemingly just as fast as she’d found herself on the bathroom floor, she was effortlessly pulled up to her feet as they began to make their way back to where she’d just was.

Following suit like a younger sibling, they tiptoed across the wooden floors, careful to not wake anyone else up before eventually reaching their room and climbing back in between the sheets. Ari’s side was still warm from her wolf body heat, welcoming her like a comforting hug as pillows piled around them. She pushed the ones that had fallen between them aside as she laid on her side and faced her best friend, her hands wrapping around Lanta’s once more.

“Let’s see,” she whispered gently with a tone that could easily put anyone to sleep. “Shall I tell you the story of a brave warrior who looks out for her family along with the grumpy old man who just wants the same?” There we no hostility in her voice as she put her alpha and beta’s earlier fight into layman’s terms. At the end of the day, she knew that Lanta knew she was there… that she cared. And most importantly, that she was entirely on Lanta’s side as a good best friend should be– even if she agreed with some of Del’s ideas.

“Or how about…” Ari drew out the next pause, giving the brunette time to decide whether she wanted to talk about her and Delaware anymore or not. “Maybe the story of a breathtaking princess?” The smile on her lips grew as Alex came to mind, the giddiness rising within her would make it hard to actually fall asleep after this. 

          “We do need sleep,” Atlanta emphasized back. “I need at least a solid four hours of beauty sleep to look this good.” She grave a dramatic hair flip, her dark strands catching in Ari’s. Nevada was starting to rub off on her. No, Nevada would have said she didn’t need beauty sleep to look so good.

            She smiled softly at her roommate before they flew down the hallway back to their room. She’d mastered all of the creaky steps of the floors and could smoothly glide around them, Ari matching her every step. It was just seconds before she flopped into the warm bed beside Arizona, still facing each other with their fingers laced together.

         At the first word in that soothing tone, Atlanta hummed gently and closed her eyes. She immediately opened them again to level a glare at Ari, though her lips still formed a smile. “No, I hate that story.” Grumpy, she could agree with. But she was still too angry to consider Delaware’s side of the argument. It would be a long while before she cooled down enough to `be swayed. Or maybe she never would be. 

          “The breathtaking princess one. I like that one.” Her eyes opened again, watching Arizona carefully. She’d caught the slight uptick of her heartbeat. “What’s the princess’s name?”

[adaletneekartal]

Up A Tree || Alex and Open

[ofatlantas-blog]

alex-13-ramos.

          “Yeah. I mean, he stole my ball, so I figured I might as well name him. But you’re right, Erwin is kind of a nerdy name. Not a soccer ball thief.” Alex looked up at the tree and squinted at it, trying to come up with a good name for the tree. “Jake. I knew a bunch of Jake’s in High School, and for the most part they were all dicks.”

           When the girl asked her if Alex could teach her a few moves, she nodded her head and smiled. “Sure,” She dropped the ball back on the grass and took a step back. “First thing’s first: don’t kick it with your toes when you’re passing the ball. Kick it with the inside of your foot- it gives you more control.” She explained before kicking the ball over to her and nodding her head as if to say ‘you try’.

          “Jake. Now Jake, I approve of. Never met anyone I liked named JAke. Jake is an excellent name for a jackass soccer ball stealing tree.” She couldn’t exactly figure out how they’d gotten to such a ridiculous conversation so quickly, but it made an infectious smile blossom on her face. She liked a little ridiculousness now and again. 

          The ball bounced naturally in Alex’s hands, and Atlanta was quickly impressed. She could tell this girl had plenty of practice, and probably some natural skill as well. Lanta would probably be as coordinated as a four year old on the field for the first time, but she didn’t care. Instead, she listened and tried to line up the ball with the inside of her foot. With moderate success, she kicked it back to Alex. “Look at that. Not to brag, but I already appear to be better at this than you are.”

[ofdelaware-blog]

Silver And White [&&State Pack]

[ofatlantas-blog]

ofdelaware.

“That depends,” Delaware drawls, finishing his page before he looks over towards her. Atlanta’s just as pretty, if not more, as the day he met her. Although they haven’t aged much, if any, Del takes a second to study what part of her face he can see. The intimacy isn’t uncommon for them; it just happens to fluctuate between nice happy couple and I’m ready to rip your face off, far too often. "If you find the Nicomachean Ethics fascinating, then yes.“

Delaware knows, for a fact, that Lanta does not find Nicomachean Ethics interesting. Few do, unless studying philosophy, but Delaware likes reading Aristotle’s early works. The book is considered a cornerstone that prompted modern philosophy into what it is today. It’s a bit dry, in the way that most Aristotle is, but Delaware finds the idea of "defining happiness” an interesting puzzle that you can’t technically solve.

Del does his best to not react to her touch. They’re both clothed but his heightened senses are usually in overdrive around her. He lets out a sigh he’s been holding back, his shoulders drooping just slightly in relaxation.

“Everyone’s done in the kitchen,” he murmurs, focusing on his hear. The pups are scattered around the house. Some of the pups are in their rooms, trying to relax over what’s to come. Others are outside, pacing, enjoying the fresh air and serenity that the Rainsburg forest affords. Delaware doesn’t get that luxury. As the pack alpha he spends every minute of the day prepping the house, checking the supplies, taking care of the pack, and readying his own restrains. Del uses triple the chains as a safeguard. He’s not a masochistic person, but no matter what anyone says, Del refuses less. He winds up wrapping one of them across his chest and back, and the prolonged silver exposure leaves wounds that take all day to heal up.

           She could immediately feel his eyes on her, the way they scanned intensely over her features. It still gave her the same feeling it had the very first time he’d looked at her. Like her heart was beating too fast. Like there were butterflies twirling around in her stomach. Like this was some kind of romantic comedy, and the very next thing he said would knock her right off her feet...

          It didn’t, because Nicomachean Ethics rarely did. 

          It took everything she had not to immediately roll her eyes. The universe must have a cruel sense of humor indeed, to match her with such a fucking nerd. Of all the things to be doing before a full moon, reading an ethics book was the last thing Atlanta could imagine wanting to do. But she released only a small groan, one that she knew would rumble through her chest to him. “You know how much I love Neciomalian ethics.” She purposefully butchered the name, wondering if it would garner a reaction. 

          His shoulders started to droop under her fingers, and she kept her hands moving lightly across the warmth of his skin. She hated the way he got before a full moon. Not just uptight — he was always uptight — but downright anxious and masochistic. The chains were a precaution, she understood. But she’d seen enough of the marks the silver seared into his skin to last her for a lifetime. And if all he was going to do was sit and read and ethics book, that left her with only one option.

           She could tell when his attention shifted as well, seeking out the sounds of the pups in the house. They would all be busy, putting off arriving at the basement until the last minute. That left her plenty of time. Dipping past the collar of his tee shirt, she moved her hands to rub down the back of his spine. “Oh, really? So we’ve got the room to ourselves?” Her breath was hot against his ear, her voice dropping lower. “Because you know that Neutronium ethics always make me so hot.”

[ofdelaware-blog]

Silver And White [&&State Pack]

[ofatlantas-blog]

ofdelaware.

The note is impossible to miss on the fridge. Number one, it’s written in thick black lettering. Number two, the paper it’s written on is bright gold. The note itself is simple: all pack members must be in the house by six that evening, sharp. No exceptions. Delaware keeps the full moon marked on their little hanging calender very clearly, and it doesn’t matter if the wolf has work or school or anything else really. The full moon is when they’re the most dangerous to themselves, and everyone in Rainsburg.

Delaware has dinner cooked early, by four, and leaves it out for the pups. By five he’s downstairs, reading, the very small amount of wolfsbane he has left as well as the silver chains. There are oven mitts set out and about so that everyone can move the chains freely beforehand, as well as hook, extra support pillars made of steel, and of course, more silver. Delaware’s position is the furthest into the basement. He has triple the chains set up for himself, as always. It’s a safety precaution that’s a little overboard - wolves only need a small amount of silver to subdue them - but it’s Delaware. The thought of injuring a human, even blacked out, makes his stomach roll.

“You’re early,” he calls out over his shoulder once the person reaches the bottom of the stairs. He doesn’t have to turn to know a member of his pack is there, ready to get this whole ordeal over with.

          Atlanta never needed the calendar to remind her when the full moon was coming. The prominent note on the fridge was no surprise either, because she’d been dreading seeing it for weeks. She wasn’t sure that her current method of dealing — denial denial denial — was actually useful, and it only ever worked until the day of. Then she was faced with the unavoidable.

          With a knot in her stomach, Atlanta had spent most of the day in the kitchen and the basement, preparing for that night. She gathered the ingredients for her only infamous dish, the rich and fluffy blueberry pancakes, the recipe so classified even Del didn’t know it. She stacked warm blankets and fresh clothes on the stairs for everyone to change into when they woke, a first aid kit for any minor injuries the chains might incur, though the thought made her sick. Towels and toothpaste, bottles of water and Gatorade. She’d somehow mastered the practice of preparing for the full moon while shutting off her mind entirely. 

           Then it’s nearly six (or not even close, but she wants to get it over with), and Lanta headed downstairs. Unsurprisingly, she found Del already there, clearly trying to distract himself for a bit longer with a book. She steppedup behind him, resting her head on his shoulder. With the full moon coming and the memory of their oddly intimate night together, she felt somewhat more drawn to him than normal. She let her fingers draw patterns over his shoulders. “Good book?”

[adaletneekartal]

Up A Tree || Alex and Open

[ofatlantas-blog]

alex-13-ramos.

     Atlanta. Another place name. Damn, there seemed to be a lot of them around Rainsburg as of late- maybe it was just a thing. Had state names become popular when she was little and no one had bothered to tell her parents? Well.. at least Atlanta seemed nice enough. 

Alex watched as Atlanta scaled up the side of the tree, rather impressed. She caught the ball as it was thrown down from the branches, and a few moments later the young woman followed it down as if it was nothing. “Thanks,” Alex said cheerfully. “I think so. I mean, they might kick me off my team if they heard that I couldn’t even beat a tree, so if we could keep that a secret between you, me, and… Erwin over here-” She motioned towards the soccer ball eating tree. “That’d be great.”

          Safely back on the ground again, Atlanta brushed the dirt from her pants. She was somehow intrigued by this girl, who was apparently tlented enough to join a soccer team, but still capable of losing a ball in a tree. And she’d seen Arizona with a soccer ball a few days ago. Maybe soccer was becoming the newest thing... She suddenly felt old.

          “Secret’s safe with me.” At the nod towards the tree, Atlanta quirked an eyebrow. “Did you... name the tree? He’s obviously kind of a jackass, but Erwin is more of a nerd name than a jackass, don’t you think?” She teased, then took a step forward. If everyone was playing, she’d give it a shot. The pack could always enjoy a good game, something team building and athletic. They always had plenty of energy to burn. “Can you teach me a couple moves, or something?”

[ofatlantas-blog]

HEAD FULL OF DOUBT → ATLANTA & ARIZONA

[ofatlantas-blog]

arizonawolf.

Since the first week in the State Pack house, Lanta and Ari had pushed their beds together. Arizona had always been relatively touchy-feeling, though this took on a whole new level with Atlanta. It wasn’t a rare sight to find one curled up in the others arms; it seemed their love for each other often overflowed and usually left them showing it through physical affection.

So when Ari turned over in her slumber, arm outstretched for Lanta only to find an empty spot in the bed beside her, her eyelids slowly fluttered open. With the seemingly constant bickering between her alpha and beta, Ari always heard about it. But their latest fight had left Lanta far more shaken up than usual, and the younger moonskin knew her far too well to not notice.

She honed her hearing, not having to scan the house long before hearing the scrubbing in the bathroom. Not surprised at the revelation that Lanta was cleaning out her feelings so early in the morning, Ari rolled out of bed almost instantly and started towards the person she considered her best friend; though their bond seemed stronger than those two words gave it credit for.

In hindsight, she should have been a bit louder in her approach as she saw Lanta jump in her position under the sink. “No, no.” Ari quickly reassured and softly smiled, shaking her groggy head for clarity before entering the bathroom and, without another word, laid on her back next to the brunette. “What are we doing? Cleaning the pipes?” And there she was, diving right in to help without even fully knowing the chore she was signing up for… one hand reaching for the spare sponge while the other softly grabbed and held onto the idle hand at Lanta’s side.

         The scent was familiar,  and even before Lanta’s eyes adjusted from the bright light of the bathroom to the darkened hallway, she knew who it was. She’d actually assumed that Ari would appear eventually, though she’d been hopeful that maybe she wouldn’t wake her this time. But it was unlikely, the way they slept curled up in each other’s warmth and blankets. The only person who suffered from as much insomnia was Atlanta was probably Arizona, who always seemed to wake up when Lanta couldn’t sleep.

          Arizona plopped down beside her, reaching immediately for the sponge to scrub at the already spotless pipes. Atlanta sighed, laying down her own. “No, we’re not cleaning the pipes. You need to sleep, pup.” Just the warmth of a body beside her made her eyes heavier, her body more relaxed. She probably could’ve climbed into bed a few hours ago beside Ari and drifted off, but she’d fought the urge to sleep too hard. Now it was starting to fight back.  

          She was too tired to be angry anymore, and she was definitely too tired to clean. You could eat off the bathroom floor as it was, although she knew that wouldn’t last from one muddy patrol to the next. It was just a stress relief to clean, to have control over one thing in this house. She couldn’t make everyone happy, couldn’t even make herself happy, but she could make damn sure everything was clean. 

          A yawn built in her throat, and she shook her head. Taking the hand Arizona had wrapped in hers, she sat up and pulled her friend up beside her. “Let’s go back to bed. I want to sleep now. You can tell me a bedtime story. ”

[adaletneekartal]

Up A Tree || Alex and Open

[ofatlantas-blog]

alex-13-ramos.

     Someone had seen her yelling at a soccer ball. Of course they had. Alex removed herself from the trunk of the tree, brushing herself off a bit and trying to seem a bit more sane and flashed a smile as she turned around to face the woman walking up.

     “Yes! If you have any brilliant ideas right about now, I’ll owe you forever.” Usually Alex could come up with some ridiculous scheme to knock the ball out of the tree, but the ball was a bit too high up for every idea she was trying. Maybe if she threw her shoe up… If whatever idea the girl had to get her soccer ball out of the tree didn’t work, her sneakers were coming off and were going to be thrown up in the tree behind the ball. But then what happened if her other shoe got stuck?

      “I’m Alex, by the way. And this usually doesn’t happen.”

           The girl seemed to be a bit embarrassed when Atlanta approached, but she quickly flashed a friendly grin at her, which Lanta returned. She looked around again, trying to gauge whether anyone was watching. It wasn’t particularly wise to to reveal any hints of her supernatural species, but she wasn’t sure that jumping up quickly to knock the ball out would be too questionable. 

          “Nice to meet you, Alex. I’m Atlanta.” Making a decision, she took Alex’s place at the tree and began to climb. The ball was fairly high and stuck deep in the branches, but she reached it quickly and tossed it down. She landed with an easy grace. Brushing the dirt from her hands, Atlanta smiled and nodded at the ball. “You any good with that thing?” 

[mumuinfinity-blog]

market day || ryder && atlanta

[ofatlantas-blog]

ryderlee.

@ofatlantas

Nothing good every happened on a Wednesday. There was something odd about it. His first relationship ended on a Wednesday. The day he became a wolf, his birthday, fell on a Wednesday. They were long, tedious, never ending days and he hated them more than he ever did a Monday. But change was in the air, he could almost taste it – or that might have been the freshly baked zucchini bread being sold at the stand two stalls down. The market was fast paced, its usual hustle and bustle present even as he walked around plastic bags filled with tomatoes and squash. Mindful of his steps around the humans, he was not paying nearly enough attention to the wolves around him and bumped smack into one, his own bag of lemons and lettuce fell to the ground. Typical Wednesday bullshit. “Jeez, sorry. Sorry, I’m, oh –.” 

           Atlanta loved to go to the farmer’s market. Maybe it was the many shoppers, the pleasant noise and chatter coming from every direction, or the various stalls filled with fresh fruit and vegetables and flowers. After her home, it was her favorite place to be. A place where she could disappear into the crowds and clear her mind for a few hours. 

          She was standing at a vendor’s stall, wondering just how fresh the asparagus was and how on earth she could tell, when someone jostled into her from behind and she stepped back. She caught his scent instantly and by the time she turned around, she was struggling to hold back a frown. But she was trying to remember what Del said. They wouldn’t be here forever. She could at least try to make nice. 

          Bending down, she scooped up the fresh produce and handed it back to him. “You’re okay. It’s fine.”

[ofatlantas-blog]

After Midnight [ Delaware & Atlanta ]

[ofatlantas-blog]

ofdelaware.

“We can talk about it later, just breathe” Delaware mumbles, very aware of a sleeping Arizona in the same room. There’s no point in staying angry at her. And even if he wanted to stay mad at Lanta, how could he? Del said some shitty stuff in the heat of the moment too. He’s awful at apologizing so he just doesn’t, instead moving one of his hands to brush some of her hair back and rub at her neck. Atlanta is so tense under his touch and Delaware just focuses on keeping his breathing steady and even, and ignoring her emotions welling up that feel like an awful mix in the pit of his stomach.

“It’s all going to be fine. They’ll be gone before you know it. Six months is like a bad weekend for us now.” He’s not wrong. In the grand scheme of eternity, what is six months, really? It’s barely a blip on the radar, a small moment in time that’ll be easy to forget in a decade and hard to remember in a century. It’s all about keeping it into perspective.

         She ignored his suggestion to wait to talk about things later, rolling her eyes. She was never particularly prone to listening to such orders, so why would that change now? Instead, she further pressed back against his chest. “You’re still an asshole, though.”

          Her statement was negated when his hands moved to her neck, and she let out a soft moan at the touch. She could feel his soothing movements leeching away her anxiety, her pulse finally slowing to match his. “If they leave at all, and that’s a big if.” Her eyes were starting to feel heavier and heavier.  She partly wanted to go back to sleep, but she didn’t want him to leave. 

         “It still feels like a long time though.” She reached back, pulling his hand back towards hers to entangle their fingers again. “Don’t leave me. Tell me... something nice.” 

[ofatlantas-blog]

After Midnight [ Delaware & Atlanta ]

[ofatlantas-blog]

ofdelaware.

It’s panic that hits Del low in his belly like a line drive hit by Micky Mantle himself. He sucks in a breath through his teeth, his grip on his pen tightening in reflex until it snaps into three pieces. Del doesn’t notice the red ink stuck to the palm of his hand or the little bits of plastic everywhere. The fear is palpable and Del clenches his teeth, trying to make sense of it. It only takes a second before it dawns on him, Lanta, and his feet are moving before his brain can catch up.

There are a million asshole replies on the tip of his tongue. The first and most obvious, ‘what the fuck do you think?’ to the ‘remember when I said life was cruel and I’m stuck feeding off of your emotions’? But Delaware doesn’t say either of those. He’s tired of the fighting, the animosity in the pack house over his decision. He’s felt her anger waning, too, even though she’s too stubborn to admit it. Her eyes are wide and Atlanta looks incredibly small. She’d hate the comparison, of course, but Del can’t help it when instincts take over. This is her fault, really, when you think about it.

So instead of talking - which, by the way, Del kind of sucks at when it comes to this stuff - he’s climbing into her bed, wrapping his arms around her. Atlanta smells like sweat and vanilla and Del does his best to not be creepy. He pulls her close to his chest, where his heartbeat feels like it’s going half of the speed of her own. It’s only when she stops resisting that he talks, his voice a low rumble from the hours he’s spent in silence hunched over his desk.

“It’s alright, you’re alright. Just a bad dream.”

           She stayed hunched over, her knees drawn up to her chest, still the littlest tremble staggering down her spine. And even though she wanted to check on her pack, see everyone safe, the last thing she actually wanted was Del to be here. To see her like this. Or maybe it was what she needed most. 

          She could feel his irritation, the moment where he started to snark something off at her, and she turned away. She could go back to sleep eventually, if she could just close her eyes and lay still long enough to... 

          Her whole body jumped when Del climbed in beside her, his arms wrapping around her, warm and tight. She stopped fighting the instinctual urge to melt back against him and just allowed herself to be held. Sometimes she got tired of putting on a brave face day after day, of acting like she didn’t care, when all she could feel was sad and angry and...

          “Scared. I’m so scared.” Her hands sought out Del’s fingers, tangled his up in hers in a tight grip like no one could separate them if they tried. “If someone hurts them...” Her eyes landed on Arizona again, who was now sleeping much more calmly. “I think I’d go insane. The new pack... I can’t trust them. It feels like I’m living in a bad dream because I can’t protect all of them at every second. I can barely handle it. I don’t know how you’re...” Her voice trailed off a bit, and she moved back to be closer against him. “I’m sorry. About the argument. I’m not... thinking clearly. Okay?”

[adaletneekartal]

Up A Tree || Alex and Open

[ofatlantas-blog]

alex-13-ramos.

Of course, the one time Alex went to the park on her own, she managed to get her ball stuck in a tree. Of course. She had just been kicking and juggling her ball, bopping her head to one of the several playlists on her phone, minding her own business, and suddenly the ball went a little too high.

“Son of a bitch!” She exclaimed, staring up through the branches of the tree. There the ball sat, wedged between branches and far too high to reach without climbing or hitting it out with something else. How had she managed to do this? She took out her earphones and ditched her phone on the ground, glaring up at the ball and trying to figure out a way to get it down

First, she tried to see if there was a branch or a stick that had fallen that she could use to knock it out with. Unfortunately, no stick seemed to be long enough. Maybe she had to climb? But the branches were so far apart… She tried scrambling up and reaching for the lowest branch, but even that didn’t work. After several minutes of fighting with the tree to no avail, she started swearing at the inanimate object, not caring who was around. “Don’t taunt me, you asshole. How the hell am I supposed to reach you?”

          A run through the park had seemed like a good idea when Lanta left the house, but that was after a stack of waffles and two cups of coffee. Once the sugar rush wore off, she began to feel like melting into the ground was probably a better idea. But she pushed through it, until she was all sore muscles and rush of adrenaline, and the ache started to reform as a runner’s high.

           When she’d made a couple of circles of the large pack, she started to slow down, eventually finding a bit of grass to stop and stretch in. As she worked the muscles, she watched some children play on the playground, a girl kicking a soccer ball on the opposite side of the field. She chuckled a bit as the ball flew up into the tree, sticking in a few branches. The girl began to search for a way to get it down, and Atlanta looked away, moving to the ground to stretch her hamstrings. But after a few more moments, she looked back up and saw that all her hard work had been frugal. Standing up and brushing the dirt from her yoga pants, Atlanta glanced around the park and then headed towards her. 

         “You need some help there?”

[ofatlantas-blog]

After Midnight [ Delaware & Atlanta ]

           Atlanta woke up with the taste of blood in her mouth, her teeth scraping her lips just to bite back the screams. She was covered in sweat, hair damp and warm, but somehow a shiver rippled through her body. Her eyes searched out in the dark, finding the side of the bed where Ari usually slept. Deep under a layer of blankets was her best friend, deeply asleep but tossing and turning. 

          Arizona whimpered softly, and Atlanta reached out to smooth down her hair, but then pulled her hand back. She was probably feeding off of Atlanta’s emotions in the first place. It wouldn’t help to get her further entangled in the panic rolling through the beta. 

          Instead, she slipped further away in the bed, wrapping a blanket around herself and trying desperately to remember what she’d taught Nevada about breathing. Despite the slow and labored panting, Atlanta couldn’t get her heart to stop racing. She needed to get up, check on everyone else. When she was they were all safe and asleep, she could maybe…

         A sound at the doorway startled her from her thoughts, and Atlanta let out a small yelp this time. Seeing Del stand there without warning didn’t calm her frantic pulse. “Fuck,” she whispered under her breath. She cringed back against the bed, head lowered. “What are you doing here?”