( michiel huisman. male, he/him, my girl + the temptations. ) that’s ROGER WHITTAKER hanging in that gang of friends? i heard they’re a part of the ECLIPSE pack. rumor has it they’re THIRTY-SIX years old. currently, they’re posing as a OWNER at RIVERDALE DINER, and during dark you can always find them going home to THE BRONX by CAR. (deanna, 26, she/her, est)
roger was born and raised in riverdale which is in the bronx, from a fairly wealthy family that had their kids go to private school in manhattan. his parents owned the riverdale diner, a local staple, and as the oldest in the family it was clear from the beginning that it would one day be roger’s.
he never really minded, loving the restaurant like a second home. it’s what drove him to go to culinary school in paris in his twenties, and while he owns the place now, he does have a big say in the monthly specials the kitchen cooks up.
his family had the werewolf curse, but none of them had ever known. ( how could they? they never killed anyone. ) roger’s curse was triggered when he was jumped one night in paris by a man who was trying to rob him, but roger was ready to fight. it was accident, the way the man’s head hit the pavement killed him instantly. thankfully he never got in trouble for it, with several witnesses that it was self-defense.
his full moon shift had been in paris, which was incredibly scary. it’s something he still doesn’t talk about, but there had been bloodshed because of him. thankfully a witch had found him before he could’ve caused anymore harm, and was able to sedate him until it was over. when he woke up, she explained what had happened to him. he was on the first flight back to new york immediately after, dropping after culinary school. he was only gonna run a diner, after all. what did he need fancy schooling for ?
he spent almost the first year of being a werewolf alone, unable to tell anyone and not knowing who to turn to. it was through some research and whispered names that twenty-two year old roger found the eclipse pack. the alpha at the time helped him learn more than the witch had told him, and soon enough roger had a community of people to help him. he didn’t need a new family—he was still incredibly close to his own—but they did become a second family to him.
he eventually got the role as beta after beck had been crowned the new alpha. a close friend to him, it just made sense. though lately it’s roger who deals with the new wolves, takes on more responsibilities that most alphas would do. and honestly ? he loves all of it.
it was through the eclipse pack that he met a woman that would one day become his wife. the spark was immediately and the romance went quick, engaged within six months of dating and getting married nine months later. they had agreed that they didn’t want kids, not wanting to pass the curse onto anyone else, but she accidentally got pregnant and by the time they found out, a flip switched for roger. he realized he WANTED to be a father, more than anything else. it took his wife some convincing to keep the baby, and maxwell whittaker was born, roger’s entire world.
apparently there was more to his wife not wanting kids other than the curse, however. by the time max turned one years old, she was out of the picture, leaving the family without much of a goodbye.
max is five years old, loves hanging out at the diner just like roger had at his age, and obsessed with firetrucks.
roger’s father passed away a year ago, and it was then that he went from manager to the diner to the legitimate owner. his mother and siblings still work there as well, a revolving door of people to provide roger support, but it is hard not being able to tell them about the werewolf side of him. he’d never want them to find out though, because god forbid they got curious enough to want to be a part of it.
roger is more soft-spoken than one would picture a werewolf in power to be, particularly in contrast to how beck is with the pack. he’d rather talk things out than get into fights, but nobody can say that roger doesn’t care. the riverdale diner has been granted as the unofficial eclipse hang-out area, and anyone in the pack who stops by knows to expect a free meal on the house.
he’s currently getting set up by some eclipse elders to marry talia demir, the alpha of the crimson, in order to unify the eclipse and crimson packs together. the eclipse pack is hoping that with their help, they’ll get more say in the council. and after his first failed marriage, roger is willing to offer himself up for the sake of his pack—so long as it won’t negatively impact his son.
