Outfits:
Amanda, Valerie & Alice

Barely a week had passed since Valerie had joined the pack and she'd wanted nothing more than to keep the little girl out of it once she realized how much Equilibrium would want to study her. Eventually though, Alice had pried the information out of her and the Order had been involved. This was one thing she really didn't want to get involved with, but she had no choice as Alice wouldn't really survive if she went into this on her own. So she suited up and was ready to go with Alice. She requested that they didn't go alone though and they wound up bringing a really old lady with them to prove to the overprotective parents that they meant no harm.

The werewolf had called Jack and asked him to bring Amanda to a coffee shop downtown, someplace she knew they would be well secluded as the woman she and Alice were bringing with them would cloak their presence the moment they were all in place. It also seemed to be an innocent location to ask her alpha to come. When the odd trio arrived, they seated themselves in the back before Valerie went to collect their orders. Alice wasn't very talkative at the moment as she seemed to be beating herself up over not knowing that Jack's child was a werewitch after listening to him talk about her before the big fight.

Moira was an elderly woman now. She looked a little over sixty, but in reality she was closer to a hundred and eighty. When she'd learned what Valerie had found out, she had volunteered to go with the wolf and vampire to the small town of Bitter Springs to talk to the parents. She knew they might sympathize with their cause if there was someone like their daughter there as well, and maybe they were less likely to try to hurt her fellow Order members. They might even be convinced that they wouldn't hurt their daughter that way.

Amanda was the first out of the parents to arrive, her shop being only a few blocks away from the place she'd been asked to meet this new pack member. The newcomer had some nerve, summoning them like that. Still, she figured she might as well hear the little wolf out to be on the safe side. So she had more grounds to tell Jack to keep her the hell away from Kailah. She did not expect the wolf to have brought guests with her. The vampire she'd picked out right away, but the old lady she couldn't get a read on; she seemed to be shielded somehow. Maybe Jack could work it out. Ordering something to drink, she paid and brought it with her to the table, sitting down opposite of the three odd ladies, drumming her nails impatiently on the table top until Jack arrived.

Jack was at home, playing with Kailah when he received word from Valerie to let him in a coffee shop and wondered what the wolf wanted to talk with him about. He called a baby sitter to come down and watch Kailah while he got dressed and headed into town. He had a somewhat bad feeling about this and didnt know why he felt like this was going to be a conversation that wasnt goin to be pleasant. He stopped in frot of the door oce he smelt Valerie but also Alice? He frowned and saw Amanda was already there and the witch didnt look all that happy to be there.

He headed inside then and sat down beside of Amanda and looked at the too that was infront of him. He wondered who the elderly looking lady was and turned his attention to his pack mate who looks almost guilty. "What's this about?" He asked.

Valerie had kept her hood up until Jack arrived, mostly because she was uncomfortable with the whole situation. If it hadn't been for Alice and her superior's insistence, she wouldn't have allowed this meeting to happen to begin with. It didn't take long after the alpha had sat down until their presence was completely cloaked by the elderly woman who had promised not to say a word until the younger members had had their chance at explaining to Jack and Amanda what was going on.

Alice smirked slightly when Jack arrived and pushed red curls out of her face to make sure nothing obstructed her field of vision. "Nice to see you again too, Jack," she said and placed a hand on Amanda's hand to stop the drumming of her nails. She was quick to pull back when the witch burned her, but she didn't give her the satisfaction of letting on that it hurt. "You must be Amanda. Feisty little witch, aren't you? You already know Valerie, and this wonderful lady is Moira," she said, introducing the woman who didn't say a word but just nodded courtly. Now that the introductions were over, they could get straight to business.

"Now you know who I work for Jack, sort of at least. Alice, Moira and myself are part of an underground organization that deals with the supernatural," she started, but was abruptly cut off from her trying to explain in detail what they wanted when Alice interrupted. "What Valerie is trying to say, is that we'd like to have a closer look at your daughter."

Amanda had had a feeling this was something strange and possibly dangerous from the moment she'd seen a vampire and a werewolf sitting next to one another as if meant nothing. What they were saying angered her though. Who did they think they were? They couldn't just come in to town, weasel their way into Jack's pack and go after their daughter like that. Looking to Jack, she had to really focus not to lose her temper right now. "Why?" She finally managed to ask without losing control.

He said nothing as the introductions were made and his eyes shift over to Amanda for a moment before looking back to the tip of women and waited for one of them to start before lookin to Valerie as she started speaking and clearly didnt like where it was heading but kept his composure calm till Alice broke in the conversation and almost immediately did his inner wolf growl but his outer exterior was calm.

He heard Amanda asked the million dollar question."Im curious to but even if you give some teasing hell would freeze over before inlet a bunch of strangers study my daughter like she is some freak." He said curtly and glare at Valerie now."So you join my pack and go off to tell everyone about my daughter your lucky were in a public place I have half a mind to break your neck." He said in a chilling calm voice.

Valerie was highly uncomfortable with the whole situation. She really would have avoided it if she'd known how to, but as it was she had to be the one to explain as Alice sometimes got a bit too straight to the point. "I don't like this anymore than you do Jack, but just hear me out, please?" Taking a sip from her coffee, she twirled a lock of hair around her finger rather nervously when she continued. "Alice has a tendency to be too honest, without giving the proper details first. Our organization don't want to study her like she's some kind of freak. We want to help you understand her powers better, and in exchange be allowed to add our observations to our very extensive archives."

Moira still had most of her beautiful, dark hair, but it was streaked with a silvery grey due to age. The woman figured it was best if she revealed what she truly was and looked at Jack, her dark eyes turning a bright yellow for a moment before she waved a hand to reveal the bracelet Amanda was working so hard to conceal. "We don't want any harm to come to your daughter. Equilibrium is as old as any gifted civilization. We keep the balance between the species, the records of all events supernatural and we clean up after events such as that fight you had going on over some young wolves. Our top priority is to keep humans unaware of the existence of supernatural beings as well as try our best to make sure no one race gets too big a domination over any other." It was the most any of the other two had heard her speak at once, but it was exactly what Valerie needed to finish her defense.

"We offer safety when it's needed the most, and your daughter needs extra protection until you find a way to make her smell just like any other wolf. You're lucky no vampire has tried anything with her yet." Hopefully Jack would be able to forgive the brunette for her trespasses when he learned why she'd told her superiors about the child like she had. "Who exactly did you tell about our daughter?" Amanda asked, curious now as to how many people this traitor had actually told their biggest secret.

"Alice knew I was hiding something, so I finally told her, she in turn told Moira since she can relate the most to your situation. Other than that, we can't tell the other members of the Order without your permission. Us talking to you about it rather than studying your daughter from afar is unconventional. But then again, usually the people we end up watching are adults and a lot of them end up working for us in one way or another, finding that a society of equals is easier than struggling out here." Valerie had been looking at Amanda for most of the time she was talking, but now she finally dared to look up at Jack to see what he would do with this new information.

Jack was actually getting madder and madder the second, but took a deep breath
to calm himself before he did anything that might come back to haunt him later on. Valerie appeared nervous now and she had every right to be nervous. This wouldn't go un punished, no matter what because she now got to in cocked and got strangers involved with his daughter and to him that wasnt forgiveable.

"I don't need your assist with protecting my daughter, I'm sure me and Amanda can protect her enough......besides......Kailah isn't going to be a weakling." He said.

He looked to the elderly woman and realized that she was a werewitch as well. He stared at her for a moment before looking to Alice and Valerie. He did listen and took what they had to say in, but he clearly didnt sympathize with their cause and with what they wanted. His eyes flashed blue for a moment t the mention of the two brothers he had taken in when the pack of wolves had come to Bitter springs. He personally didnt like them sticking their nose in everyone's business like they did. The council and him and cleaned the mess up rather well.

He looked to Amanda now and then to Valerie once she admitted that she was the one that had told them of what his daughter was. He just ran a hand through his hair.

It was obvious Jack didn't like what they did or who they represented. There was no other way to make him understand though than to explain, and if he didn't want to listen, there was nothing she could do about it. Amanda on the other hand they could work with. She wasn't gullible by any means, but she seemed rational and able to see both sides of their little dispute. "We know she won't be a weakling, but until your witch, no offense Amanda, figures out how to make your daughter appear as either witch or werewolf, not as she is, she's in danger." Valerie didn't mean to sound grim, but there was truth in every word. If they could disguise the girl, no one would be in danger anymore, but clearly Amanda didn't know how to do that. Even without her magic, the girl smelled of it.

Moira pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Amanda. "This is what you'll need to hide her. There are two options there, but you have to discuss it between yourselves. Either she hides as a werewolf until she comes of age, or you hide her as a witch. She won't lose any of her heritages, others just won't be able to sense the part you've hidden. It's very much like when the pair of you arrived here today, until I choose to reveal the truth, no one is able to sense it." Amanda was grateful for the potion recipe and spell that accompanied it, though looking at the writing, she realized it was a really old spell. The language was unfamiliar to her for one thing.

"So, as a sign of good faith, I take it you will be translating this for me as well?" She asked and raised an eyebrow in curiosity. It was Alice who responded, to her big surprise. "On the contrary Amanda, we intend to invite you to our Quarters and provide the books you'll need so you can do the work yourself. Then you'll see we truly do have a book for everything."

Amanda looked at Jack now, confused more than anything. On one hand, she really didn't like that they knew about their daughter, but on the other hand, they were offering them the solution to how best to hide Kailah and make her life as safe as possible, without strangers wanting to take her away because she could potentially be dangerous one day.

Jack knew he was being somewhat irrational about the whole thiing and put it down to thhe wolf in him. Wolfs were naturally protective creatures and when it came to their children, that instinct only went higher to the point where they barely wanted strangers around theirr child. He stayed quiet then, only listening as the trio of women had come up with a perfect solution to their daughters scenet and watched as they handed a piece of paper over to Amanda that had a spell and ingrediants to the spell that would cover Kailah's scent or aat lleast one of them.

Amanda looked to him, clearly confused but their wasn't any confusion in his stare as he turned his eyes back to Alice. "What exactly do you get out of helping us, expect Kailah to join your group when she gets older?" He asked, still not trusting them.

He then looked to Valerie."I advise you to not come near me or my pack again, I don't trust you anymore." He said. If Valerie came around any of his pack mates, he wold come after her and kill her, he wasn't playing and would let his pack mates know to know associate themselves with Valerie or any new comers that they hadn't seen before without coming to him for Hunter first. New wolves wanting to be apart of his pack would get a thorough tepeathic screening from Hunter and if they resist, he would tell them to go on their way.

It was pretty obvious that nothing they said could change Jack's mind about their purpose, but they seemed to have convinced Amanda to at least come with them to work on the spell. They couldn't force the parents to do anything as it wasn't their place to try to change people's minds. Valerie had known that exposing Kailah, even if they came up with a solution to their problem might cost her a place in the pack, but Moira had convinced her that it was more important to help the child than for the wolf to join a pack.

"You misunderstand, Jack. We can't force anyone to join us. Membership requires a loyalty to the Order over all other things and it is for life. It must be a choice made by a potential member to take the first step once they've learned about our existence. Our main concern when it comes to your daughter is to ensure that no one who would wish her harm learns the truth." Smiling slightly, the vampiress studied Amanda as she could practically hear her thinking things through. "Equilibrium offered me and my sisters a way out of our hunted existence, the same way we're offering it to your daughter before she becomes a target," Moira said. The old werewitch had spent most of her youth trying to fit in, but in the end there had been only one place for her to go.

Amanda was thinking about Alice's offer still when Jack threatened to kill Valerie if she approached him or the pack again and sighed. "Jack, all she seems to have done wrong is to help find the solution to a problem I've been unable to solve. Can't you give her another chance if they promise to wait till Kailah's old enough to study her? Both from close up and from afar," she asked, adding that last bit to make it clear that they were not allowed to watch her at all. She would even go with them if it meant leaving Kailah out of it.

To hear the conditions that were made if Kailah were to join didnt suit well with him at all. He would make sure that none of the members of this order would come near this daughter, he personally didnt want her to know of them at all. If she were to find out and join, he would hate it and despise them even more but he would love his daughter still and accept it for her sake. He just looked to Amanda when she asked him to give Valerie a second chance since she had found a solution to their problem.

He looked to Valerie and growled, looking away from her now and got up. He ordered a drink and came back to sit down. "Fine ill let the pack decide.....but I assure you they won't take this lightly." He said and had a smirk on his face. If Valerie really wants to he apart of the pack she would had to get the approval now of the entire pack and that wasnt goin to be easy and he hoped she would just say no to her still wanting to join.

It was obvious they wouldn't let Kailah join the secret Order, but they couldn't really stop her from making her own choices when she was old enough to understand what they meant. "Well, you won't have to worry about us trying to recruit your daughter, we do have a lower age limit for potential members, except for the ones born into the order. Like we've told you, for now we just want to help you hide her, so you still have eighteen more years before you even have to begin to worry about her learning about our existence." Alice was bored of this conversation now. They were just going in circles, but at least they had made some of the circles mean something if Amanda would come with them to translate the spell she'd need.


The witch knew that Jack would be hard to convince, and she didn't want them to study Kailah either, but they did after all have a way to make Kailah safe from anyone who would want to hurt her. "Don't worry so much, Jack, I don't need Dahlia's help anymore. If she tries anything at all, she'll wish you'd just killed her for this," she said with a smirk. Sure, Dahlia would still take what didn't belong to Amanda whenever she saw the other witch, but she didn't need the odd witch to help control her temper anymore. Or Casey for that matter. "Find a way to get this off, and I'll go look at your precious books," she finally said, showing the three women the bracelet she couldn't for the life of her find a way to remove on her own.

Valerie was relieved when Amanda made Jack give her a second chance, even if the conditions to her joining the pack had changed. "Whatever you have in store Jack, I'll be ready. Wouldn't be much of a wolf if I ran scared any time someone threatened my life, however subtly." The brunette looked at the pair of them curiously. How had they managed to keep Kailah's true identity a secret for so long on their own? The girl reeked of magic, even if her strongest scent was that of a wolf. It surprised her that vampires hadn't picked up on that when they were outside with the girl.

"Would it help if we gave you a copy of our records on werewitches, Jack?"

Alice explained to him they did have a age limit on who could join. What he was worried about though was them showing themselves to Kailah when she did get old enough. He said nothing though and only nodded to acknowledge that he understood. He looked to Amanda who told him not to worry and cocked an eyebrow at her offer to help them if they could get that bracelet off.""Are you sure thats a good idea?" He asked.

Valerie didnt seem deterred from the conditions that were placed upon her. "No I don't want to look I would rather find out my own way," he said. He stood up now." If there's no more to say ill be going." He said."oh and Valerie come to the head quarters around six." He addedz

Everyone involved looked to Amanda at her offer and to Jack at his reaction. Amanda herself just shrugged. "One of these days, people will have to trust that I know what I'm doing. That dreadful creature hasn't bothered me since the birthday party, and even then it couldntbe bothered to intervene." Either Casey wasn't bothered with her anymore, or there truly was no need for the dragon anymore. There was really not one way to find out for sure, and she knew neither Dahlia or Casey were willing to try yet. "Besides, the only way to find out exactly what they want is just to see what needs to be seen in order to make the spell work."

Alice was highly amused by how Jack and Amanda interacted, especially since they seemed to be such complete opposites in so many ways. How the pair of them had remained friends was beyond her, especially if the rumors she'd heard about the witch were true. "Giving you the spell and letting you come with us to see the books you need is all the favors you're getting today, Amanda. It should make up for this inconvenience and show you we truly only wish to help. Further favors won't be cheap." Alice had no doubts they'd be able to work out a mutually beneficial deal if she still wanted the bracelet of, but it would be best not to discuss that in front of Jack as the wolf might try to have their heads for even trying to drag Amanda into things.

Valerie looked to Javk when he asked if that would be all and nodded. "We've said all we had to say. Your daughter remains a secret. I'll see you tonight then." She was a bit worried about what Jack had in stores for her that evening, but did her best not to let it on. The three strange companions remained where they were after Jack left, they told Amanda they would let her know where to go in a day or two and then the four women went separate ways.

End // just close your eyes.