Private Tales Sanguis Crassior

[Victoria O'Connor]

The lower Spine’s first snows had come hard and fast and heavy, swallowing the world in white. The trees shivered in the wind like they were trying to throw the powder from their branches, but for every flake shed two took its place, and bows creaked beneath the growing weight. The forest creatures had taken shelter, huddled in their burrows and holes to wait out the flurry. High above a full moon gleamed, though only traces of its light made it to the forest floor.

Victoria trudged steadily through the knee-deep snow, pulling the furs of her traveling cloak closer around her face. Just because the cold did not bother her did not mean she enjoyed snowflakes peppering her eyes. The trail they had been following was long gone, subsumed into the singular white sea. The darkness did not hinder her sight, but the stars were blocked and the landmarks buried.

She placed a hand atop the massive white wolf that padded by her side, running gloved fingers through its thick fur. "The storm is getting stronger," she said, barely audible over the wind. "Perhaps we should shelter before we are truly lost. Unless you can still smell your way forward?"


Fallon

 

[Fallon]

Fallon’s ears twitched, swiveling at the sound of Victoria’s voice as it threaded through the howling wind. Her breath puffed out in rhythmic bursts, visible clouds against the dark as she slowed her steps. Each shift of the cold, snow-laden air pressed a familiar weight into her chest—an anxiety that clawed its way through her even as she fought to focus. The forest, so deeply entwined with memories both fierce and warm, was now heavy with a suffocating tension. This was home, yes, but also a place laced with the sharp edges of risk.

The scents of the forest, dulled by the cold and buried beneath layers of snow, came to her in muted waves. It had been some time since she’d last roamed these woods, yet they remained unchanged in their harshness. Every twist of the trail and shadowed hollow was a reminder of a past marked by loyalty and bloodshed, and now, a gamble that could tilt fate itself. Fallon could feel it—an ache of uncertainty that bit deeper than the wind.

Her massive form paused, the thick fur on her back bristling as she turned her head toward Victoria. Silver eyes, sharp and lupine, narrowed as she strained to catch any scent beneath the storm’s bluster. It was there, faint and fleeting—the musky, wild tang of her pack’s territory mixed with the sweetness of pine and the cold, frozen earth. The familiarity sent a shudder down her spine, a reminder of what it meant to return uninvited. Anxiety rippled under her skin, and her muscles tensed with the urge to turn back, to shield Victoria from what they might face. The Garou were not known for mercy, especially toward vampires.

A low whine escaped her, morphing into a soft growl as she shook herself, snow cascading from her back like a shivering blanket. She let out a sharp huff, signaling that while she could sense a direction, it was risky at best. The storm was no friend, and neither was the forest if they lingered too long. Fallon’s mind raced, torn between the fear of betrayal and the duty to protect, the nagging worry that by bringing Victoria here, she had set into motion an irreversible course.

She leaned in, pressing the warmth of her body against Victoria’s side in silent reassurance. The touch was more than comfort—it was a desperate tether, an unspoken plea for strength. The silver of her eyes met Victoria’s crimson gaze, and in that brief connection, determination warred with the sharp edge of uncertainty.

Shelter first, she seemed to say, the gleam in her eyes softening for a heartbeat. Fallon’s ears twitched again, straining to pick out the echoes of the landscape through the pounding in her head. Even through the thick curtain of snow, she sensed the subtle rise and fall of the terrain, the hidden places where safety might still be found. A low, steady breath steadied her nerves as she nudged Victoria with her shoulder, the gesture a mix of reassurance and urgency. She pushed forward, paws thudding in the snow as she cut a path through the drifts. The forest thickened around them, the trees huddling close to offer some relief from the wind's relentless sting.

Each step drew Fallon deeper into a tangle of memories and worry, but she forced herself to focus on what she knew. The base of a towering pine caught her eye, its ancient limbs cradling snow like a sentinel, and beyond it, a rocky outcrop partially buried under a veil of snow-laden ivy. The dark mouth of a cave opened before them.

As they approached, Fallon hesitated for a breath, the anxiety coiling tight in her chest before she steeled herself and moved closer, muscles taut beneath her fur. This place would have to be enough, for now.

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

Victoria wiped snow from the bridge of her nose and dusted off her hair. The flakes did not melt upon contact with her skin, making her feel very much like the surrounding trees as the powder accumulated on her. Fallon did not share her cold blood, but the massive wolf showed no signs of discomfort. To the contrary, she seemed almost to belong in this crystalline landscape, almost invisible amidst the snow.

Victoria saw the faint moonlight glint in Fallon's eyes as they looked at one another. She understood the unspoken message, and resumed her pace when prompted. Victoria would not perish in the cold, nor was Fallon likely to with her thick coat, but wandering blindly would do them no favors. Eventually the two of them would need nourishment, so best to conserve their energy for now.

She kept pace just behind her guide. She enjoyed watching the way Fallon moved, the wolf always seemed to glide across even the roughest terrain. Her shoulders and hips rose and fell in steady rhythm while her tail, thick and luxurious, kept balance. Victoria admired how Fallon moved through thick snowdrifts with seemingly no effort. Puffs of steam wafted from her nares, the only clue of the simmering heat inside. Everything about her was warmth and power. Everything about Victoria was ice and stagnation. A clever pairing, the two of them.

The wind had built to a low howl through the boughs by the time they reached the great pine and hidden cave. She stooped to enter, letting her ruby eyes dilate and cut through the dark. She could see the cave in a muted greyscale, Fallon’s frame taking up a sizeable chunk on the open space within. The wind outside quieted to a distant hum.

She did not see or smell any other creature in here, at least not one that would pose a threat. She shook the snow off her clothes and her hair, shook off her boots, and stepped closer to her wife.

”You are anxious,” she said knowingly. She could see it in the way Fallon carried her ears, the stance of her fur, how rigid her tail had been. She removed her gloves and stroked her slender fingers down Fallon’s back, dislodging the snowflakes that still clung to her fur. ”Thank you for agreeing to this. I know it is difficult.”

Her voice was soft and nurturing, a tone that would be as alien as Kaliti tongues to anyone else in her domain. Only Fallon softened her heart in this way, which is what made it so difficult to see her agitated.

 

[Fallon]

Fallon’s ears flicked at Victoria’s voice, the low hum of it cutting through the tension that clung to her like the snow on her fur. Her silver eyes, still bright in the dim cave, glanced briefly toward the vampire before shifting back to the entrance, as if expecting the storm itself to take form and follow them inside. She let out a quiet huff, a sound somewhere between exasperation and acknowledgment, before stepping further into the cave.

She shuddered slightly as Victoria’s fingers trailed along her back, brushing snow from her thick coat. She almost melted into the touch—almost. But the tightness in her muscles betrayed the war within her.

Fallon rumbled, and shifted, her massive form shrinking and reshaping until she stood before Victoria on two legs, her fur melting into her naked, sun-kissed skin dusted and the last of the snowflakes steaming against the heat of her. Her silver eyes remained lupine, sharp and searching, even in this form. She rubbed at her arms, the anxious energy in her refusing to dissipate entirely. “It’s a risk. For you. For me. For us.” she said as she reached to take the sack of clothing which Victoria had so kindly carried for her.

Her gaze darted to the entrance again, her sharp features tight with worry. “If they find us before I can explain…” She trailed off, her jaw working as she bit back the rest. Fallon didn’t want to say it out loud, as though the words themselves might call the worst into being.

“I hate this,” she admitted after a beat, her voice quieter now, almost ashamed. “I hate bringing you here, where I can’t protect you like I should. Where I can’t even guarantee they’ll listen.” She exhaled sharply through her nose and dropped her gaze to the ground, her hand absently clenching at her side.

Her eyes flicked back to Victoria’s, searching for reassurance despite herself. The vampire always carried an unshakable calm, a quiet strength that Fallon admired and envied in equal measure. Fallon reached out hesitantly, her hand brushing against Victoria’s cold one. The contrast of warmth and chill grounded her, steadied the storm inside her chest. "We can still turn back."

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

Victoria watched Fallon's rippling transformation, transfixed as she always was with how quickly one body mutated into another. Without the thick coat of fur Fallon's body heat was thrown from her in waves, hitting Victoria square in the face and causing her to inhale reflexively. Even the minute shift in temperature was perceptible within her lungs, which had previously sat as frozen as the air outside.

She sat on a low stone after handing Fallon her clothing. Her eyebrows arched in sympathy, wishing that she could tell Fallon it would be alright, or that she needn't worry. There were so many things she wanted to say as she watched her anxious movements, all of them lies.

She took Fallon's hand and clasped it in both of her own, feeling the dew bead upon her palms from heat meeting cold. "Sit with me."

She placed her forehead against Fallon's. "I hate to cause you distress," she whispered, as though speaking the words in full voice were too difficult. "But that is why we must do this. I cannot keep you caged. I spent a century looking for my family and only found it through you. What monster would I be if I were the reason you lost yours? The way you have spoken of them, and the way you have looked around the castle... you miss them Fallon, you must."

She pulled back just enough to look into Fallon's wild eyes and see the moonlight dance through them. Her heart had been drumming out a quiet, steady beat against the silent cave. "You were their leader when you found me, and you did not best me. What hope have the rest of them if they do not listen?" She smiled fuller, showing her pristine white fangs. It was half a jest, but enough of her perpetual bloodlust shone through her grin to give credence to her words.

Despite her confidence, she knew Fallon's fears were justified. She had matched Fallon years ago, but a healthy pack of garou was a terrible adversary. She had imagined several ways in which they could maim, desecrate, and devour her body. She had to trust that they would listen to Fallon, even if just enough to let them leave. They were Fallon's family, and Victoria did not wish to harm them. Of course, if they turned on Fallon, Victoria fully intended to leave several bodies in her wake.

"Tell me again what I must do to put them at ease." Perhaps walking through this again would help Fallon maintain her nerve.

 

[Fallon]

Fallon’s shoulders sagged under the weight of Victoria’s words, though the tension did not entirely leave her. The gentle softness of Victoria’s cold hands against her own steadied her, though her pulse thrummed like a drumbeat in her ears. She let the vampire’s forehead rest against hers, allowing herself the fleeting comfort of the gesture. The storm outside raged on, but here, with Victoria, it felt distant—a ghost of the chaos within her.

“I miss them,” Fallon admitted at last, her voice low and raw, the words dragged from some guarded corner of her heart. “But it’s not the same as before. I’m not the same.” She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing as her fingers tightened instinctively around Victoria’s. “The pack follows strength, yes—but they won’t just see you as my mate. They’ll see you as a threat. A predator.”

Her silver eyes flicked to Victoria’s fangs as the vampire smiled, her expression softening despite herself. “And they’re not wrong,” Fallon added wryly, a faint hint of humour cracking through her anxiety. “You are a predator. I need to try and convince them not to attack on sight."

She drew back slightly, studying Victoria’s face, her wild gaze still shadowed by doubt. “But if they sense weakness in me, if they think I’ve gone soft…” Her jaw tightened, the thought too bitter to fully voice. “Then it won’t matter what I say. They’ll challenge me. And if that happens...” she trailed off at the thought.

Her eyes searched Victoria’s, desperate for understanding. “The pack is more than family, Victoria. They’re my past, my roots, my bloodline. But they’re also my responsibility, even now. If I fail them, I fail everything I’ve been taught to be. Everything I wanted to be and taught them to be.”

Fallon exhaled sharply, the sound heavy with frustration and longing. “Just.. stay close to me, but not behind me. Beside me. They need to see you as an equal, not a subordinate. And for the love of Shaevwa, don’t make any sudden moves.”

She paused, her hands still clasping Victoria’s. The frost of their skin mingled with Fallon’s heat, creating a delicate equilibrium. “I’ll make them listen,” she said firmly, though a shadow of doubt lingered at the edges of her voice. “Just… don’t give them a reason to doubt you—or me.”

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

Though she smiled, Victoria felt the seriousness of Fallon’s warning. The bonds she had left here were stronger than anything Victoria could imagine. She doubted she would ever fully understand, even if Fallon tried to teach her. This felt like something that only a Garou could know, and the weight of that alone was terrifying.

”You are still you.” She clenched her fingers harder over Fallon’s. ”You are still strong, and wise, and fair… and beautiful, in case that matters to them.”

And I am still me. She swallowed a gulp of guilt. Fallon would not be in such a precarious situation if not for her, if not because of what she was. Neither of them had chosen this, of course, any more than a river chooses its path, but Victoria could not help but realize her very existence was a threat. A complication.

”They won’t like what I am… but maybe they can tolerate who I am. You have changed me, Fallon. Before you I was… cruel for cruelty’s sake. Despite my best efforts, you have caused me to see some worth in humanity.”

It would be a weak story if Fallon’s pack knew anything about her. She had not slaughtered a village in quite some time, yes, but she still had thralls in her castle, still fed on humans when the thirst struck her. Did pausing before an execution make it less of an execution? There was something dark inside of her, something not even she fully understood, that would never leave.

In contrast, Fallon carried a light so bright it had nearly consumed Victoria in its fire. There was a reason the garou’s blood had almost killed her - it was such a pure and total opposite of her being. The fact that she could tolerate it now, even with severe effects, was incredible. Victoria didn’t know if that meant she was turning more towards the light, or if Fallon were tilting further into darkness.

”I will be on my best behavior.” She said sweetly, trying to conceal her doubt. She had to do this. She would do this. For Fallon. She would swallow whatever pride she had to.

 

[Fallon]

Fallon shook her head gently, letting out a mirthless laugh under her breath. “No…” Her smile wavered, a crack forming in her composed facade. “I am not the same, Vic.”

Her hand trembled faintly as she lifted it to brush a stray strand of hair from Victoria’s face, her touch lingering with a tenderness that belied the storm brewing within her. “Because I know,” she swallowed hard, her voice lowering into a fierce whisper, “that I would slaughter every last human, every Garou in all Arethil that would stand between us. I am changed. And I have never felt stronger, or more dangerous than I do now."

Fallon’s jaw tightened as her silver eyes searched Victoria’s, her expression a mixture of ferocity and anguish. “You’ve become my reason, my everything. My light, my darkness… my balance. And I don’t know who that makes me anymore." She frowned deeply, as though grappling with the weight of her own words. She had been a creature of light, and Victoria had become a creature of darkness, but it seemed as though together they had struck some sort of balance between the two.

Her voice cracked slightly as she continued, the raw honesty in her tone cutting through the little cave’s cold stillness. “Ours is a balance that I could tip so easily, Victoria. If it meant keeping you safe… keeping you mine. And that terrifies me.”

She pulled Victoria closer, pressing her forehead to hers again, her breath warm against her mate’s cool skin. “So yes, I’ll walk back into that pack. I’ll face them down, do whatever it takes to make them see you the way I do. But if they don’t—if they try to hurt you—I won’t hesitate, Vic. I’ll burn it all to the ground.”

Fallon’s lips quirked into a small, somber smile, though the resolve in her eyes never wavered. “You say you’ll be on your best behavior, and I believe you. But know this: if it comes to it, I won’t be.” She closed her eyes briefly, the weight of her confession settling over her like a shroud. "Bringing you here... I fear more for my pack than I do for either of us. I fear what I'll do."

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

If Victoria were a better woman she would have felt guilt. She would have sympathized with Fallon’s changing sense of self and her relationship to her pack, and she would lament that she had been a cause for such turmoil.

Victoria was not a better woman. She loved Fallon telling her how many she would slaughter for her. She felt a palpable tingling through her body as she imagined it. Free of any filter, her mind cut through scene after scene of rage, violence, and blood. So much blood. White fur stained with red swam in her mind’s eye, making her pupils dilate and her breaths quicken.

Pride swelled in her. She had taken a Garou, an incarnation of divine justice, and turned it to darkness. She had captured and won the heart and soul of the most powerful, determined, and beautiful woman in existence, who was singing her such wonderful praises. Well, that spoke pretty highly of herself, did it not?

She bit her lip to keep from being obvious to the point of insulting with her bloodlust. She didn’t want Fallon to be upset, and begrudgingly acknowledged that such a glorious bloodbath might leave her incomparable wife miserable and broken. She allowed the quiet voice, the one that was almost drowned by sadistic longings, to ground her. Fallon was perhaps the only creature who did not deserve to suffer, and the only one for whom Victoria would sacrifice her pride.

But now Fallon was pulling her into an embrace, and Victoria surrendered to the all-consuming fire. She inhaled the scent of pine and snow and life. She let the drumming of Fallon’s heart against her chest rock her into a trance. And then that annoying voice told her that she ought to same something to console her spouse.

”You know how much I love it when you speak savagely.” She did not step back from the embrace. ”But it will not be necessary. They are sure to notice how much I have changed you, but they will also notice how you have changed me. They have to. I am not angry all the time anymore. I don’t want to murder or eat everyone anymore.” she paused. ”Most people… but not everyone.”

She nestled deeper into Fallon’s warm body. ”I didn’t realize how tired I was before I met you Fallon.”

Then, for some reason, her thoughts diverted. ”What is the thing that creatures like me are born from in your stories? A snake?”

 

[Fallon]

Fallon exhaled slowly, her breath warm against Victoria’s temple as she pressed a kiss there.

She hummed, a quiet sound of consideration. "A snake?" she repeated, the ghost of a smile tugging at her lips. "Oh.." Her fingers trailed idly along Victoria’s spine, slow and thoughtful as she considered the stories and lore she had been taught and had passed on to her pack.

Fallon shifted slightly, tilting her head as if listening for something unseen, something ancient that only Garou blood could recall. "In our stories, the first monsters came from the Basilisk," she murmured. "Not a snake, but something older, deeper. A great, endless thing that devours and corrupts, turning all it touches to ruin. It wasn’t always that way. Once, it was a force of balance. Death to counter life. Decay to make way for new growth. But it lost itself after being tricked by the Lupa, the great wolf. It became hunger without end. Destruction without purpose."

Her hand curled at the base of Victoria’s spine, firm, grounding. "Before i'd have looked at you as a child of the Basilisk. A thing that takes, and takes, and takes without remorse." She smiled, pressing her lips lightly to Victoria’s temple. "But I don't."

She leaned back just enough to meet Victoria’s gaze, silver eyes burning with something resolute, unshaken. "You are not mindless hunger. You are not destruction without purpose. You choose. You change. And the Basilisk—" she exhaled sharply, "—the Basilisk does not love."

Her thumb brushed along Victoria’s jaw, reverent and certain. "Whatever legend might have written for you, whatever my people might call you in hushed whispers, they are wrong." Her lips quirked, wry amusement slipping through the intensity of her words. "You are not some old god’s discarded nightmare. You are Victoria. And you are mine."

Her fingers tightened ever so slightly, not in possession, but in certainty. "Let them say what they will. Let them call you monster or corruption. I will tell them the truth. That you are the only thing in this world I would break for. That you are the only thing I have ever chosen freely."

She sighed, grazing her lips across her cold cheek. "And that I am better for it."

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

"Flatterer..." Victoria muttered. Fallon's body heat was starting to get intoxicating. The sweet clarity of her voice covered the howling wind outside, and each touch and pull and kiss made Victoria feel totally, blissfully secure. She just wanted to go limp and somehow meld deeper into Fallon. Let her powerful wife carry her and kiss her and remove any and all worries.

It would be lovely, and had actually happened on more than one occasion (sometimes being carried at her own request and sometimes in spite of her protests)... but Fallon needed that sort of care more than she did right now.

"...you are the only thing I have ever chosen freely."

"I will do everything to make that choice worthwhile." She turned her head to gently kiss Fallon's lips. "And I will start by reminding you that you actually need to sleep sometimes." She wore a soft smile, and though the wind seemed distant in Fallon's arms, it had only grown outside the cave. "That storm isn't letting up anytime soon. Rest now. I will be here, keeping watch."

 

[Fallon]

Fallon let out a breath that was half a laugh, half a sigh, her lips still tingling from Victoria’s kiss. Rest. The word felt almost foreign now, something distant and unnecessary when there was so much else to think about—so much else to worry about. She wasn’t sure if it was the nearness of her pack or the way Victoria was looking at her, tender and unwavering, that made her pulse drum so fiercely in her ears.

She hesitated, the warrior in her resisting the idea of closing her eyes when danger could be anywhere. But then Victoria was danger, wasn’t she? And Fallon trusted her with every fragile, reckless piece of herself.

She huffed softly, nuzzling the tip of her nose against Victoria’s. She hated that she had to sleep and Victoria did not. It felt like time wasted. And yet, she already felt the weight in her limbs, the exhaustion creeping up now that she wasn’t forcing herself to push forward. She had spent so long moving, so long fighting, that she had nearly forgotten what it felt like to let someone else hold the burden for a little while.

Her silver eyes roamed over Victoria’s face, searching, as if memorising every angle, every slight quirk of her lips. Fallon exhaled through her nose and finally, finally let herself relax. She shifted, pulling Victoria down with her until they were settled among the roots. Nestled against Victoria’s cool form, she pressed a lingering kiss to the dip of her collarbone before whispering, “Only because you asked so nicely.”

Her arm draped over Victoria’s waist, fingers tracing idle patterns over her back as her body slowly gave in to the warmth, the safety, the quiet promise of rest. “Don’t let me sleep too long,” she murmured, her voice already thick with drowsiness. “And wake me if you hear anything. Anything.”

She was asleep within minutes, her breath steady, her body finally, finally still.

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

“Only because you asked so nicely.”

Victoria bit back the urge to playfully reply. She wanted Fallon to sleep, and teasing her usually resulted in something else entirely.

She settled in alongside Fallon, burying her nose and lips into the silver hair atop her head. While Fallon traced fiery paths across her back, Victoria swept cool currents down the nape of Fallon's neck, stroking with tender fingers. Fallon's breath over her chest made the skin there flush and dewy, but Victoria never minded this sort of heat. Fallon smelled like pine forests and rainwater, and the closer they got to her pack's territory, the more the world smelled like her.

“And wake me if you hear anything. Anything.”

"Of course."

Victoria tracked the rhythm of Fallon's body as she drifted off to sleep. She listened to her heartbeat slow to a steady drum, her breaths coming deep and heavy. With her lips she could even feel her temperature drop, ever so slightly, as her body fell further beneath the veil.

For a long time Fallon's breathing and the winds outside were the only sounds. Victoria lay still as the grave, not wishing to give her love any reason to start awake. Her blood sat motionless in her veins, her eyes staring blankly and only half-seeing as her thoughts wandered over the hours. She reflected on their journey. They had gone by carriage as far as possible, but the roads quickly became impassable as the Spine drew ever nearer. Lesser women would have switched to horseback, but Victoria and Fallon could move more quickly on their own two feet. In the end, even the sturdiest mount would have faltered several days ago when the snows deepened and the paths disappeared. Winter may not have been the best time to visit the high mountains, but the cold had never bothered Victoria nor Fallon.

The storm raged and the wind howled across the entrance of the cave. Even with her superhuman senses, Victoria could not pick out any sounds beyond the rushing snow. It took several hours before the gales quieted and the blizzard turned to a flurry, and then to a gentle drift. It was likely close to noon, and when the clouds thinned a cold sunlight peeked through.

Victoria kept her gaze away from the cave entrance. The thick snow cover reflected the light harshly and it made hurt to look at. It also silenced the footfalls of the mountain creatures, so Victoria only noticed that they had been joined when the sunlight from the entrance flickered. She could look easily now, for almost the entire entrance was taken up by the largest wolf that she had ever seen. It could have been a bear if it weren't for the long snout and piercing eyes.

"Fallon," she whispered, finding her voice broken and hoarse. The creature's gaze was cutting through her, she was sure of it, seeing through her cold, lifeless skin to her black, dead heart. Victoria imagined her heart in those jaws, crushed like a grape. "Fallon, wake up."

The wolf's lips quivered, showing just a flash of fang. As it did, Victoria swore she heard a word spat from within her own head.

Vampire.

Fear. Fear the likes of which Victoria had not felt in a century of more. Fear that ripped her open and bared her soul at this monster's mercy. She felt her body shiver as it tried to decide whether to turn into mist or bat and flee as quickly as possible.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the wolf was gone. Victoria blinked. Had she dreamt it? No. Fuck no. Her heart was still pounding, her whole body was shaking.

"There was... a giant wolf... gone now." She spoke in between quick, panicky breaths.

 

[Fallon]

Fallon’s eyes snapped open, her body tense as Victoria spoke, her voice sharp with panic. She sat up instantly, her senses flaring as she scanned the cave entrance, a growl barely contained in her throat. Her eyes were wide with the same primal urgency that she had inherited as a Garou, every instinct alert.

Nothing.

Victoria’s voice was shaky, but Fallon knew her well enough to know that the terror was not feigned. The fear had been palpable.

Fallon’s brow furrowed deeply as she turned toward the cave entrance, her mind immediately calculating. A spirit walk. She could only guess that her pack had somehow felt her presence and were watching from afar, sensing her, sensing Victoria.

Fallon inhaled sharply, stepping closer to the entrance as her breath slowed. The pack knew. They knew she was here. And worse still, they now knew who she was with.

Her voice was low, almost a growl as she spoke, her words careful but heavy with warning.

“It was Garou." she confirmed and turned back to Victoria, her gaze intense and searching. "A spirit walk.." Fallon paused, swallowing the knot of anger and fear that tightened in her chest.

“They know I'm here. We're here.." Her eyes softened briefly, a flash of sorrow crossing her features, the firmness in her voice faltering over panic. "They'll be on their way here. We should meet them on open ground." she said, reaching to take her hand.

"Don't leave my side. Don't attack unless I do." she said quickly, fingers threading into crimson hair as she stole a kiss she prayed would not be their last.

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

Victoria wasn't used to this. Her body had always felt somewhat separated from her emotions, a vessel of preserved flesh that reacted only to the strongest of stimuli. Only Fallon had been able to make her feel like she lived in her own skin, but when her wife was near it was a wonderful sensation. Fallon made her feel warm, with full exuberant heartbeats and hungry breaths. It felt like strength, like a melding of Victoria's unnatural power and Fallon's unyielding vitality.

This didn't feel like that at all. Victoria trembled. She breathed, but the breaths were quick and shallow. Her heart beat not from excitement but from desperation, a hollow hope that if it pumped her stagnant blood perhaps they could outrun the wolf. She was at once ready to bolt and utterly incapable of moving. There was electricity in her, but it was cold. This felt horrible.

This felt human.

Her hands clung impotently to Fallon as she leaned towards the cave mouth, though she dared not lean closer herself. She wanted to retreat further into the cave wall, if that were possible.

“They know I'm here. We're here.."

Victoria felt her already rapid breaths rise to a fever pitch. The scant amount of air they were pulling in could not have sustained anything living, and it was only by virtue of her undeath that she did not pass out. She knew her eyes were open wide, and she clenched her jaw tight enough to ache.

Do you know how terrified we are of death?

She had asked Fallon that not months before. She had gloated in it, as she mercilessly extinguished one of her subjects for speaking ill of her wife. Humans lost years. Vampires lost eternity. Victoria felt the weight of infinity crush her spine as it threatened to leave her forever.

It was difficult to hear Fallon's words above her rushing blood. She vaguely felt hot fingers in her hair before the kiss sent a searing iron through her thoughts. Fallon's lips blanketed Victoria's mind in a warm, soft embrace. Her thoughts muffled beneath it, quelling her panic bit by bit. Her breathing slowed, and her heart settled into a brisk but steady rhythm. Dread faded...

...then the rage surfaced. What the fuck had that been? Victoria's eyes flashed in the darkness as their kiss broke. How dare anyone make her feel that way. How dare she succumb to such feelings. She had been useless in those seconds. What if Fallon had needed her aid? Would she have been able to stand? To fight? Color flushed her face, and only Fallon's soothing presence kept a lid on her boiling fury. Her wife's instructions echoed in her head, clear now that the fog of hysteria had passed.

"Don't leave my side. Don't attack unless I do."

"Fine. But you said you'd kill them if they tried to hurt me. Know that I will do the same."

She stood alongside her wife, uncomfortably aware of the sweat that made her clothes stick to her skin. She drew her hood high over her head and fastened her cloak tight across her collar. The sun was behind thick clouds and snow, but its light was not fully blocked. Still... she favored her odds out there more than in a small, dark cave if a pack of Garou came to call.

We are here to convince them I am not a threat, she reminded herself. "They are your family, and therefore my family. We will make them see that." She said out loud, looking at Fallon from within her hood. She wrung her left hand, feeling the cool metal band around her finger, and drew strength from its presence.

 

[Fallon]

Fallon led them forward, her grip tightening around Victoria’s hand as they reached the clearing. The air was sharp with the bite of winter, but she barely felt the cold—her pulse quickened for an entirely different reason. She could smell them before she saw them, could hear the quiet crunch of footfalls in the snow, the steady, predatory rhythm of her pack moving through the trees.

She stopped just before the open stretch of land, scenting the air.

“Cas?” she called, voice steady despite the tension that curled in her gut.

A low growl answered. Then, from the shadows of the trees, a figure emerged. Caspian stepped into view, broad and imposing, tying a sheet loosely around his waist as he straightened to his full height. His golden eyes swept over her, searching, before locking onto Victoria with an expression that made Fallon’s hackles rise.

“This is where you’ve been?” His voice was thick with something that wasn’t quite anger, wasn’t quite betrayal—but burned like both. “This is what you left us for?”

The sneer in his tone struck like a slap. Caspian had never looked at her like that before. Never spoken to her like that. It sent an answering growl rising in her throat before she could stop it.

His lip curled. “I can smell her all over you. You all over her. It’s hard to tell where one of you ends and the other begins.”

The snow crunched behind them. Fallon turned slightly, already knowing who it would be.

“Tyr,” she called, the name leaving her lips with something like resignation.

A tawny-colored wolf padded out of the trees, stepping to Caspian’s side. His hackles bristled as he leveled a low, warning growl at Victoria.

Fallon squared her shoulders. “Yes. This is where I’ve been.” Her chin lifted, her grip on Victoria tightening for just a moment. “You all suspected something had changed when I came back. It had. I had tried to kill her—I couldn’t. My soul wouldn’t allow it. I'm bound to her, and she—”

“She’s a bloodsucking leech who’s twisted your fucking mind.”

The words cracked through the clearing like a whip, and Fallon’s breath left her in a sharp exhale.

“She is my wife,” she said, each syllable measured, unshakable. "And don't. Don't insult her.." she warned.

Caspian’s eyes widened. Tyr stilled beside him, his ears flicking up toward his Alpha as if seeking confirmation.

“You can’t be serious, Fal.”

Fallon met his gaze without hesitation. “As serious as I have ever been.”

Silence stretched between them, the cold creeping into the pause like a slow, insidious thing. When she spoke again, her voice was softer, but no less firm.

“I love you. All of you. That has never changed, and it never will. But I love her more than life itself and I needed to know if you can accept this. If you can’t…” She exhaled, her breath a ghost in the frigid air. “I will go. And I won’t come back.”

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

Victoria braced as they crossed the cave threshold. No sunlight struck her skin directly, but she could detect its heat through her thick cloak. The thick cloud cover had diminished the snow glare, and she thanked whatever gods or demons were still looking over her for this small mercy. She would not be meeting Fallon’s family blind and immobile. She stood as tall as she could, using all of her natural height plus whatever her boots could offer.

She could smell them. Rich, earthy scents in the crisp air. They bore many similarities to Fallon, but the pine and snow notes were stronger, the odor of nature-worn flesh more powerful.

Victoria did not move. She did not breath, her heart did not beat. It is not as if those weak imitations of life would fool the Garou. Her crimson eyes did not blink as they locked on to Caspian, though she did feel more acutely aware of the sharp fangs behind her lips.

Victoria knew hatred, and it was all that showed in the eyes of Fallon’s family. Victoria gave barely a though to their insults. The remarks were mundane and lacked imagination. She focused instead on the rippling muscles that clearly itched to tear her apart, and the steaming fangs that salivated for her flesh.

I will go. And I won’t come back.

Something about that hurt Victoria. Family had been her obsession for the last century. She had clawed together crumbling remains of a dead lineage, and it was only because of Fallon that she found any living relations at all. She could not then take the same away from her wife, not without a fight.

"Do I get to speak on this?" She asked in a playful lilt. She kept the corners of her mouth upturned just enough to brighten her voice, but not so much as to appear ignorant of the garou's threats. "It was my idea to come here." She paused, thinking on her words carefully, knowing that wrong one could cost her dearly.

"I love Fallon." She poured every ounce of sincerity she had into those three words, and let them hang in the air for a few precious moments so that their weight could be felt. "I know how important you all are to her. I can see how she misses this place. I do not wish to keep her away from her family."

Her ears pricked, she could feel more presences around them, though it was difficult to tell from behind her hood if they were threats or not. She held onto Fallon's hand tightly.

"But where Fallon goes, I go."

 

[Fallon]

Fallon’s chest swelled, her heart aching with a pride so fierce it nearly broke her. Victoria’s voice rang through the clearing like a bell, clear, brave, steady. The pack might not see it, but Fallon did. She saw the tremble held in check, the flicker of pain buried deep in crimson eyes, the quiet steel woven through every soft word.

And gods, how she loved her for it.

Fallon drew a slow breath, the cold searing her lungs, and turned to face the others. She stepped slightly in front of Victoria, not shielding her. Victoria needed no shield. But she stood beside her, equal, unwavering. United.

The silence that followed wasn’t one of reverence.

A low growl rumbled through the gathered Garou like thunder over distant hills. From the tree line, a wise voice broke the hush. “You claim to know of love?”

Thoren stepped into view, her aged form draped in the weight of countless winters. Fallon’s heart ached. She could not remember her own mother, but Thoren had been something close. The elder’s milky eyes stared through her, unseeing, but she dipped her chin with the respect Fallon had earned long ago.

"How could she?" came a sharper voice. Serra. The dark skinned woman stepped forward, her glare fixed on Victoria. Fallon’s grip on her wife's hand tightened.

“Your heart is black and withered,” Serra spat. “You’re a corpse. A leech. A dead thing that mimics love, but cannot feel it.” Her gaze cut to Fallon. “She has you fooled, Fallon. I didn’t think you could be fooled.”

The words sliced the air, jagged and cruel.

Fallon’s expression darkened, not with shame or doubt, but with a cold, righteous fury. The kind that starts in silence and ends in flame.

“You don’t get to decide what she feels,” she said, voice low and cutting. “You don’t know her. You see what she is, not who she is. And I get it. I used to see the same, until she proved me wrong when I felt it for myself.”

She turned, slowly, meeting each pair of eyes in the circle with defiant calm. “She saved my life. She settled my heart. She loves me. Fully. Fiercely. And she had every reason not to. She has every reason to hate me just as much as I should have hated her, but the fates chose differently, and I am grateful that they did."

A pause. A breath. A hard truth.

“I did not come here to claim back my position in this pack. I didn't come back to stay. I came back to seek your blessing for my own peace, to know that I can still call each of you my family. This is where I stand, and if your blessing is too much to ask, as much as I want it - I do not need it, and we will leave here without it if need be."

“If we allow it,” Serra sneered.

"Careful." Fallon growled a low, warning, and the sound rippled through the gathered Garou. Muscles coiled beneath her skin as others growled in return, a tense harmony of challenge and instinct.

Serra stepped closer, lips curling.

“Do you even remember what you taught us? What it means to be Garou? You trained us to hunt leeches like her. You told us we protect Arethil from their corruption. You followed your own alphas in that purpose. Now look at you, betraying everything you believed.”

Fallon’s jaw tightened. “She’s not—”

“How many are there?” Serra snapped. “Did you run off to join a nest of them? Let them feed on you?” She sneered, her voice rising. “They do bite you, don’t they? Fuck, of course they do, I bet our blood is extra rich.." her nose wrinkled as she looked the couple up and down with disgust.

Her voice shook with something venomous. “We looked up to you, Fallon. You were the fiercest of us. The proudest. Now you’re just a fucking embarrassment. A bloodbag in heat. You make me sick.”

Fallon’s bones snapped.