"Your Guess Is At Good As Mine," She Said Quietly. There Was No Guesses, Really, And Charlotte Was Certain

—  ELEXIR APOTHECARY / OPEN

"I'll be right there," Amara said from the back. The bell hung above the door had rang more than usual today, or so it felt to the witch. The air in town felt different, she could feel it, almost taste it. Not that one needed to be a witch to see it, everyone waking up to the gruesome news. And of course, Amara knew it was just an animal attack, all witches knew. It was hard to think one of the wolves in town was behind this but one could never be too careful. "That crystal is almost priceless." The words were said with a smile as she walked into the shop. The crystal was one of the most priceless they had, more to help the shop's energy then to be sold. "Such a tragedy," she said with empathy. It was almost all anyone talked about, and with reasons, it wasn't the kind of things that happened in town.

As soon as she knew, well, as soon as she processed it, she had told Kayden and her siblings. The whole pack, really, in order. This wasn't the kind of thing to found out from the news, not for them. She hadn't ask if it was of them, she knew it wasn't. But the ranks needed to be solid, all of them needing to be closer than ever. Charlotte knew what those who knew would think, whisper. Already, she felt some had came by only to have a look. Still, when Kayden asked, she couldn't say it hadn't crosser her mind, at least for a second. "Not from the pack," she said confidently. "But can't know for a lone wolf. Or anyone just passing through." Keeping their eyes open, that was for certain. Charlotte couldn't help but feel guilty, like this was her fault. This would not have happened if her father was still here. Maybe it wouldn't have happened if her brother was in charge. "I went this morning, before the news really got it. It wasn't pretty Kayden." She had seen death before, but that was especially gruesome. "It was deliberate, I'm sure of it." Maybe this was only her way of putting the blame on someone other than her. "Gonna need one of these board, 2 days without an incident. It's been years since we saw that. Have you been there?" @kaydenbedard

Gossip is poisonous, malicious, and destructive. But to the ones who knew the reality of the situation, that this animal attack was far more malicious then what false narrative the news was setting forth. This was no accident. It was deliberate, but Kayden was aware that Crescent had more structure then this. So, he found himself navigating to Brennan's like it was second nature. "You can say that again." Clearly, he wasn't the only one who had worries about this incident. Something wasn't right. "Do you think it was a straggler?" His tone barely above a whisper, not wanting to gain any unwanted attention considering the subject matter. Perhaps it was a lone wolf who wasn't a native. "We should keep our eyes open." Or better yet, determine who did this so they could be dealt with.

[ PHOEBE TONKIN, 34, CIS WOMAN, SHE/HER ] CHARLOTTE BRENNAN just walked down main street. They are a OWNER OF BRENNAN who has been in Silverkeep for ALL THEIR LIVES. They are part of the CRESCENT pack and act as ALPHA. People know them as LOYAL & CUNNING but also as CLOSED-OFF & IMPULSIVE. They are described as BURNING EYES, BOURBON ON HER BREATH AND LEATHER JACKET.

TW MURDER, DEATH

For generations, the Brennan have led the Crescent pack, it was never a secret in the Brennan's household, what they were, or who their father was. The town was small and rather quiet and the Brennan's household often felt too small to Charlotte, with her three siblings and all those from the pack who constantly came around. Little Charlotte's escape was colors and papers, paint, crayons, and anything that could leave a mark on a canvas. With her nose in her sketchbook, everything around her faded.

Charlotte was 14 when their mother left and she chose to feel nothing but anger toward it. Charlotte and her twin were the eldest and their father was busy with the bar and the pack so it too often fell on them to make sure the two younger ones were fed, clean and their homework done. Charlotte often stayed up late, making sure her father ate when he closed the bar down for the night. Then she stayed late because she couldn't take the way the house felt anymore. She would go out and wreak havoc wherever she could, getting herself in trouble as much as possible. It followed her, trouble, attracting it.

Charlotte wanted out. Out of the town, out of her family. Graduation was supposed to be her golden ticket, gone the day after, not telling anyone. But things didn't work out that way, her curse being triggered one week before graduation. The TISH acceptance letter was thrown in the garbage, her acceptance was turned down in an email. No one knew and no one would.

They all knew that her father wasn't immortal, but the sickness came quicker than they could see it and before anyone knew, he was on his deathbed, begging for mercy. And Charlotte was the one giving it to him, that mercy he so much needed. She thought her twin would take his rightful place as Alpha and that maybe, she could leave then, at least for a little while. But once again, things didn't work like she thought they would and she was the one to be made Alpha.

Charlotte always loved the pack, that was not the problem. She just had dreams that did not work with it. And the second she became Alpha, the pack became everything. No one could ever doubt her motivations, not before and not now.

#being in your 20s like

You (2018), dir. Victoria Mahoney Season 1 Episode: The Captain 

Having Kayden by her side in all of this was almost soothing. It was anchoring, the other having been in her life for so long. Who would have thought that they would end up here, from trying to raise hell in town to protecting it. Not that they have had anything against it, never tried to hurt anyone, at least anyone other then themselves. And now here they were, all grown-up and responsible. The thought almost made Charlotte smile. It was ridiculous how much the simple act of him telling her they would figure it out was enough to renew her faith. The process of leading the pack had not been easy, still wasn't. But Kayden was there and that helped. Charlotte had to lead with confidence if she wanted the pack to respect her, to follow her. Confident was the last thing she felt and with Kayden, she could show the doubts she had in herself. "It's the only reason it was in the town's square. I didn't see any signs of struggles near. No blood around, no signs of attack, just the body." What was left of the body at least. A game of cat and mouse, as if they needed that. Charlotte nodded at Kayden's words, it was exactly what it was. Someone was taunting them. "We can't let that happen, not a second time. It shouldn't even have happened this once," she grunted. "We all need to be watching ourselves and find out who did this. Some people will blame us." /@kaydenbedard

The only positive thing to come from all of this was the act of prioritizing how this information was spread through the pack. At the end of the day, they all had to be united. Personally Kayden didn't think any of them were the culprits, not because they weren't capable of such violence - but they were better then that. The whole premise of who they were within was they didn't act on their urges. Just because they were animals in nature didn't mean they had to have that aspect take control of who they all were besides that one aspect of who they were. "We will figure it out." The man promised. There was no other option. This was their town and it wasn't going to be messed with. "I didn't want to draw unwanted attention. But you're right, whoever did this wanted to flaunt it." In making a scene at least. Kayden had this nagging feeling that whoever was behind this wanted to send a message of sorts but that message was still unclear. "Something tells me they're playing a cat and mouse game. I'll keep my eyes and ears open, someone's gotta know something. If they're so unhinged - it's only a matter of time before something like that happens again." The tone of his voice was laced with concern and dread.