recklessthings | 彡 cora hale

Yep. That's what he thought. His eyes close briefly as he pulls in a solidifying breath.

"Not here," he says. He doesn't even know why anyone would want to earn it. If he could choose to be anything else, he would. "Being a werewolf here means you're a shapeshifter, and you're given two animal forms. One is the wolf, and the other one is usually a smaller animal, though you don't always immediately find out what it is."

Alek hasn't. For now. He doesn't know it yet, but he will rue the day he does find out.

"The full moon - " He swallows. "We can't control the shift during every full moon, and it's not the wolf we become."

No, it's something far, far more lethal.

It's not the form that Alek is talking about that bothers her. It sounds like it's the wolf form she's had her her whole life. That part at least is comfortable. Familiar. That part she can handle.

It's the other part, the fact that her control on a full moon is being ripped away from her again, that this time she can't get it back, that's so much more devastating. Her body slumps again, hard against the lockers behind her, letting the edge of the metal guide her to the floor so she can rest her elbows on her knees and burying her face in her hands.

She's tired of people and things taking things from her that aren't theirs to take. She didn't ask to be this kind of wolf - she didn't ask to be in this Chicago in the first place. And yet she still has to deal with all the consequences.

Alek doesn't know how to people.

He really, really does not know how to do the comfort thing. He's aware she isn't asking it of him. She isn't, in fact, asking anything of him outside the truth. But that doesn't mean he doesn't want to give it, that there isn't a part of him that wishes he knew what the right thing to say and do was at any given time, but especially in moments like these. He keeps quiet as she slides down to the floor, before he follows in suit next to her. He can't tell her it's not brutal. He can't tell her the pain isn't excruciating; that it's not scary. All of these things would be lies.

But he can do one thing. Something his own brothers have been trying to do for him, and he has not allowed. Perhaps until now, when he realizes he can't teach Cora unless he learns, too.

"I can help you," he says finally. "If you want. There aren't many of us out there in Chicago - you're the first wolf I've met outside of my brothers, but they've already been where we are. They've been teaching me the ropes and I can teach you. You shouldn't have to figure this out on your own." That's what Logan would say, and he's never met anyone smarter than Logan.

Cora shouldn't have to figure it out on her own, but that's how she's used to doing it. She's probably the Hale where losing the pack hit her a lot harder. She was so young when it happened that all of the things that her alpha should have taught her (her mother should have taught her) were learned on the fly out in the real world. She learned to control her wolf because the hunters couldn't see. She learned to control her emotions because emotions were a vulnerability that people aren't allowed to see. She knows she's a predator, she's been one her whole life.

She doesn't want to be a killer.

She knows the world she lives in, and she knows someday she may have to be, but she managed to survive six years on her own without changing the color of her eyes. She even managed to survive what the alpha pack did to her without hurting anyone (anyone but Derek, anyway) thanks to the Beacon Hills pack. She knows that if her control is really, permanently gone she can't do this on her own. But that part of her that was on her own for so long still doesn't know who to trust.

"Are you sure we can't control it?" She presses the heels of her hands to her eyes, brushing away whatever may have been threatening to escape as she takes a breath and pulls herself together. "No anchors or anything to stop the shift?"

A heavy silence follows Cora's questions.

Alek had never heard of an anchor for werewolves, but he's a smart cookie. He can put two and two together enough to figure out what that must mean. He knows his brothers work as anchors of sorts for him. They're what keep him tethered to the world long enough to keep from exploding. Or that's what it feels like sometimes, anyway. Like he'll explode. But once that full moon comes, there's nothing and there's no one. There's you and the cage.

There is no softening this blow. Alek slowly shakes his head. "I'm sorry."

She swallows hard, before nodding some more, hands playing with the bottom of the borrowed basketball shorts. It's just settling in how incredibly alone she is in all of this, alone in a way she hadn't really had before. Even after the fire, and she was running through South America trying to keep herself safe, she had hope that someone from her family was out there. She didn't receive her mom's alpha after all, so at minimum one of her siblings had to have survived.

(In reality, there were two, but she didn't get back there fast enough to see one of them. A part of her will probably never forgive Peter for that.)

But here there was no hope. There's no chance of her seeing Derek or even Peter again. There's just her, on her own with something she can't control in a place where she's just as hunted as she was before. She stews in those thoughts for a moment, before she rests her elbow against her knee and brushes at her eyes. There aren't tears, not obvious once, but she can feel them forming and after everything that's been taken from her, she refuses to let the dumb rift have her composure too.

"I don't have anywhere to go."

Which is the closest, in this moment, that she'll probably get to asking for help.

That settles it, doesn't it? Alek can't close himself off to what she is asking, even if she really isn't asking. (It's the closest he'd get too, if he were in her shoes. There is something about her that is familiar to him. as he relates to her difficulty in expressing what she wants to, he makes a decision of his own.)

"Yes, you do."

It's said swiftly and without much room for doubt - at least not on his end. Alek brings himself to his feet, having made up his mind, and he stretches his hand out to her in offer. It's Cora's decision whether she takes it or not, this olive branch he is offering metaphorically and literally, but if she does, he'll take her to the Hale Manor. He knows his brothers would agree with him - they can't leave her alone with this.

The look on her face is a mix of relief and confusion. It isn't that she doesn't appreciate what he's offering, because she does. The idea of being around other wolves, wolves who will be able to help her deal with this, is an important one and she wants to accept his offer, that olive branch, for what it is, but she feels he need to ask more first.

"You don't know me." Obviously. "Why help me?"

She's waiting for the other shoe to drop, the catch that will explain it all. Nothing comes for free in this world or any other, and Hales fall into traps like this all too easily. She doesn't want to accept help and wind up selling her soul, not that she thinks Alek would ask that of her.

"I've been where you are." There's a slight pause. "I am where you are."

If only a few steps ahead of her. It hasn't been that long since Alek learned what it was like to carry the wolf inside of him. It wasn't that long ago he had his first full blooded moon. He is where he is today because his brothers wouldn't leave him alone with it, even when he did absolutely everything to push them away. "You're a wolf, Cora. We help each other."

Maybe it's that simple. Maybe it can be.

She doesn't know why she should trust him, but she wants to. She needs to. She doesn't really have anyone else to trust. It doesn't help that her ears were tuned to the steady thump of his heartbeat, and there were none of the other tell-tale signs of deception. As far as she could tell, he was telling the truth. She'll just have to hope he isn't wrong.

She reaches up, taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet.

"I just have to pick up some stuff."

Some stuff being her jacket. She doesn't really have anything else.

Trust doesn't come easily. Sometimes, it doesn't come at all. And then there are other times where you just have to take a leap of faith before you know either way. He realizes he's asking a lot here, but he also knows what could happen if he doesn't persuade her. While they might not know each other, he's already invested in helping. It's not something he can explain. He just knows he can't not do anything about it.

It's why there's an inward sigh of relief when Cora takes his hand. Alek's grip is steady as he pulls her up, before he glances down at himself.

"And I should ... probably shower," he says in agreement. "Meet you in fifteen by the school entrance? The rest of the guys will be here soon."

Alek has a feeling she would rather avoid a lot of smelly, dumb boys.

Yes, yes she would. She nods a bit in agreement, before turning and heading back towards the way she came in. She just has to get back to Grant Park, and maybe steal herself a pair of shoes in the process. She was going to need an entirely new wardrobe, but that's something that can come with time.

In theory.

She pauses, just inside the doorway, before glancing back to him with a look that has more gratitude than she can probably put into words. "Thank you."

That's why Alek will enlist Ava's help, Cora.

... The thought of Ava and Cora in the same room with the former giving the latter fashion tips, though. Anyhoo, Alek gives her a faint smile and nods his head, stepping further into the showers once she's off. True to his word, he'll be climbing down the front steps of the school's entrance, freshly showered, in search for her.

He's half wondering if she'll still be there, or if she changed her mind.

The idea of Ava and Cora in the same room together is amazing and beautiful and maybe it will happen one day. But for right now, it's just Alek and Cora and she will make her way back to the high school again, just like she promised. Her long dark hair is hanging around her shoulders, and she's still in that boy's basketball uniform that is too big for her, but over it now is a leather jacket with sleeves that hang a little long over her hands. She's also got a pair of neon colored cheap flip-flops that she ~~stole~~ borrowed from a street vendor.

She's hanging back, just outside the entrance until she sees him, and she pushes away from the wall, falling into step next to him with a small smile.

"Hey."

Alek's wearing a leather jacket, too.

He never really goes anywhere without it, if he can help it, and he jogs the rest of the way to catch up with her. "Hey," he says, flashing a small smile of his own. "You hungry?"

Because there's a lot of ground they need to cover, and they might as well not do it on an empty stomach.

"Starving."

Which comes out with a little more emphasis than she'd like, but she's essentially been scavenging for the most part. While she's done it before and it's not hard to survive on it, sometimes you just need more. Plus, one thing that's consistent between both kinds of werewolf - shifting still takes a lot out of you.

She looks a little sheepish before nodding. "I could eat."

Alek lets out a laugh at how naturally her first reaction comes.

"I hope you like pizza," is his answer, since that's pretty much all he would eat if it was left up to him. Her brother will find that out for himself as well, down the road. Alek's already fishing his cell phone out of his pocket. The way he sees it, if he orders it now, it'll be waiting for them by the time they get there, since it's quite a trip.

'There' is the Hale manor, on the outskirts of town. Nothing surrounds the property but woods and grassy green knolls. Alek pulls up at the front gate, and once it opens, it won't be long before it comes into view.

"Pizza is awesome."

Granted, she could eat anything, but pizza is always an A+ option. She's pretty quiet for the rest of the drive there, eyes making note of all the different landmarks so that she could find her way there and back. When she sees the actual manor though, she can't help but have her eyes go a little wide at the sight. "Wow. This place is huge."

Alek wouldn't have forced conversation.

He's someone that enjoys silence as much as the next person. He doesn't feel the need to fill it with small talk, and he knows there's a lot Cora's trying to wrap her head around. He forgets, sometimes, what the place must look like to someone that's never stepped foot in it before. Alek closes the door to his car, and glances over at it.

"...Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it?" He smirks a bit, faintly. "Seems smaller when you toss all my brothers in there."

He loves you guys, but really.

She nods a bit, keeping her eyes on the rest of the house for a moment, before she glances back over to him.

"How many of you are there?"

Aka now many not!Hales is she going to have to deal with here. It's not that she isn't over it, but she does still want to be at least a little prepared.

"Five. ... Ish." Alek cringes inwardly, since he realizes that answer can give way to confusion. "Four of them live here with me, technically, but we have an older brother that lives in Chicago, too. Just not ... here."

Because Adam. Adam and his world of issues.

Her eyebrows climb a bit at that, but it's not at Adam's lack of presence in the house. She figures that he just moved out or something.

"Big family."

She used to have a family like that once. But that was a very long time ago.

Alek smirks faintly at Cora's remark.

"You could say that. They're all strong personalities, too. So sometimes it feels even bigger."

Than it really is. A honk interjects before Alek can say anything else, and when he cranes his neck to look behind him, he finds the pizza has arrived. Delicious, cheesy pizza.

Cora is immediately distracted by the smell of food, something that claws at her. She hadn't realized how hungry she actually was until food was in chomping distance. Still, she waits for him to pay the pizza guy before following him into the house, looking at everything else to keep her from staring at the food.

Alek smirks at her reaction, dutifully paying the pizza guy and leading Cora into the kitchen. He opens up the pizza box and is equally swift at retrieving paper plates for them. They have nice plates, but that means washing dishes, and Alek is still an eighteen year old boy. "I hope you don't mind pepperoni," he says to her, nudging the plate in Cora's direction.

Because Alek is big on pepperoni and extra cheese.


	✔ Cʀᴏssᴏᴠᴇʀs/AU ✔ Aᴄᴛɪᴏɴsᴘᴀᴍ ✔ Pʀᴏsᴇ	✔ Pɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛs ✔ Oᴛʜᴇʀᴡᴏʀᴅʟʏ ✔ Sᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀs	♥ F/M, F/F ⏰ Uᴘ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ

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