After we composed ourselves and quickly left the scene, we returned to the cabin. Crafty was there waiting for us, and I could only look down in shame. We had broken the Veil horribly, our only lead to the killers was gone, and Luke had disappeared. Crafty, however, didn’t even scold us. He told us mistakes happen and said we should get to know each other so these kinds of things don’t happen again Even though I felt bad for Foss’ death, Crafty told us to not feel bad either as Foss had made his choice and had to deal with the consequences of it. He told us he was setting off to fix the damage and we were to stay at the cabin.

We sat down, brokenhearted at our failure. We spent a little time trying to get to know each other and admitting what had went wrong earlier. Each of us knew what we did wrong: Eli didn’t take leadership of the situation and let everyone remain too close to Foss, Luke completely lost it, William shouldn’t have said anything to Foss, and I didn’t manage to coax the information out of him fast enough. After we did this, Wolverine appeared to us, told us we weren’t a War pack, and we did not deserve him. He left us and it was our punishment for the act.

However, Quetzal was still very interested in joining our pack. I was happy to hear the spirits would still deal with us and that Quetzal wanted to join. We once again voted, this time choosing Quetzal whose benefits were immense, but required we never be rude or ignoble to anyone, even our enemies. We apologized to Stag for not choosing him, but he told us apologies weren’t necessary as we were his children and he would always be with us.

After this, Kyle brought us a new packmate, Jonathon Riley. He was a quirky 12 year old who said he was Theurge and spirits were attracted to him. We welcomed him to the pack and William acted like a Galliard for the first time and told Jonathon, or as his Garou name “Walks with Spirits,” the events up until then.

After getting to know Jonathon a little, we set off to gather the rest of the kinfolk together for safety. We were unable to get ahold of Lindsey and we quickly made our way to her apartment. The place looked as though it had been ransacked and Eli sniffed the same smell as before from the landfill. We tracked the smell to a train yard where Lindsey was being very pushy with a group of men. She demanded to know what they had done with Foss since she hadn’t found out the truth yet.

I warned Eli this could be a trap so we went to the top of the trains and moved silently towards her when we saw several people closing in on Lindsey and the others who we knew were Garou from appearance. We chose not to intervene yet as the man Lindsey was talking to sent his friends to get their car. Once his friends left, another Garou with multicolored patchy fur leapt out of one of the trains and mauled the man talking with Lindsey.

Eli chose to have us quickly rescue Lindsey, but not get involved, as we didn’t who was on what side. Once he said that, Jonathon stood up and began acting bizarrely, pretending to be a superhero. He charged off to “protect” the Garou getting mauled. We quickly moved into action to get her and Jonathon out of there. As we closed in on them, William thought he saw Luke’s backpack he usually carried and decided to attack against orders.

William took down the Garou on the man who never had a chance to react while Eli told Miguel and “Captain Amazing,” as Jonathan declared himself, to get Lindsey out of there. I tried to get to the fight to protect William, in spite of his constant vulgar statements to me, but I couldn’t make it. Eli managed to jump over William to the other side as the two other Garou tried to escape on orders from someone near a yellow van. Two of the Garou were killed while one was left alive to confess. He told us Samson was their leader and they were Vulture Walkers of the Skin Dancer tribe, the tribe created by Samuel Haight.

I took away the skin he managed to get from the guy he killed when the other friends of the Garou who was killed returned. We quickly and diplomatically told them we were only protecting our kinfolk and our prisoner was the one who did this. The prisoner showed no remorse and the Garou who we were talking to angrily chopped his head off with a klaive. I was shocked to say the least.

I struggled to make it back to the cabin. After the nasty fight we endured, I couldn’t even walk. I laid down in my bed while the rest of the pack was talking with Crafty. He congratulated us for an impressive battle. We were lucky to have survived and we learned an important lesson: never turn your backs on a Spiral. We went to sleep in pain, but high on the Glory of our battle.

The next day I was still too hurt to do much. Ryan came into the cabin and asked me how I was, commenting on how bad I looked. He took out a small pouch full of some type of dust and sprinkled it over me. I had heard of this before in Chicago. It was a Talen and it healed me some to where I could get up.

After getting up, Crafty told us Foss was picking up a new Sept member, Noah Harliss. He told us this is the time to decide if we should be a pack or not. Bjorn has not returned since he remained with Gina to ensure nothing happened to her or her family. After deciding we were going to be a pack, it was time to decide who would be leader.

Eli offered himself up as a leader and I decided I should try as well too. Luke declined after what happened at the beach, realizing his Rage is too much and would be dangerous as a pack leader. William tried to put in for it, but after his constant immaturity we’d endured for two days, nobody took him seriously.

We debated on why we should be leader. Eli stated we were in a time of war, making an example out the fight with the Spiral pack. I felt it was weak argument considering it was only one battle. It was true we were being hunted, but it was doubtful the Spiral pack knew who we were. I argued an Ahroun leader would charge us recklessly into battle when we should be taking more measured and cautious approaches to things considering our lack of knowledge and youth. Ultimately, I received only one vote from Luke who was moved by my courage in the fight with Spirals. Eli was chosen as leader and I was a little depressed by this. Still, I decided it would be better to take up the position as pack beta in order to make sure Eli didn’t get too reckless.

After this, the pack did agree with me on the name of the pack with only a slight modification. I thought the name should be the White Lion’s Roar to let the other Septs know White Lion had returned. We decided on the White Lion’s Pride, which I felt was an acceptable compromise.

Once we got our leader and name in order, Crafty told us to come to the heart of the Sept. He laid out a lion’s pelt and told us to meditate. We did so and were shown two visions. One involved my ancestor who was in love with Eli’s ancestor though they both knew it was wrong. The second involved William’s ancestor being terrified of going into battle.

After the visions, we were told to elaborate on what were the violations of the Litany and where the Litany was being upheld. Once we completed this, we entered the Prenumbra where we saw White Lion with three other spirits, Stag, Wolverine, and Quetzal. Each of the spirits had been drawn to us over the past two days based on our decisions. The spirits petitioned we join them and we were told to choose which one we wanted.

Wolverine was the front-runner and I was strongly opposed to this. His bans on not showing mercy and being extremely violent were dangerous in my opinion. We needed to be cautious, observant, and respectful due to our youth and no experience. I wanted Quetzal, but the disparity of Ahrouns in the pack leads them to choose Wolverine. Still, as usual, I accepted this judgment since I was being open-minded with the pack.

After the choosing of our pack totem, Crafty had received word from Mabe; a spirit friend of his, Noah was dead in a landfill. Eli ordered Foss to take us out there to find out. Once we arrived, sure enough, we found Noah dead and stripped of his skin. There we met a Garou by the name of Smoke Paw. He questioned why we were there and we likewise did the same of him. He told us he had an argument with his pack and left to cool down.

We asked him about Noah and he denied doing anything to the teen. When mentioned about how he was killed, Smoke Paw told us the story of Samuel Haight. I had never heard of him before, but the story inspired awe and even fear in me. I had never heard of kinfolk amassing such power before. Eli tried to do some tracking, but only came up with the smell of formaldehyde.

We returned to our Sept and buried Noah near a tree at my suggestion so he would nurture the tree and continue serving Gaia even in death. I made up a little prayer for him, placing a rock with our tribe symbol by the tree. After this saddening event, we returned to the cabin to rest.

The next day, we were called to lodge because of a problem. Smoke Paw had been killed, skinned, and left behind the lodge. Thankfully, no one saw this, but it was apparent it was a message being sent to us. We quickly gathered his body before anyone seen us and had Foss take us to near where his sept, the Sept of the Three Waters, was. There we howled for them to come to us while Eli sent Foss away. Once they arrived, Eli let me do the talking since I was more socially acceptable than any of the pack.

I apologized for his death and told them it was not by our hands he died. I told them we had lost one of our sept members in the same way. They thanked us for taking the time to bring him to them and we warned to be careful because the Skinner may have returned.

We entered Lupus form and ran back to our Sept. Along the way we talked about the situation. The rest of the pack tossed several different ideas back and forth about who could have done it, suggesting Foss was followed. I brought forth the idea it may have been Foss himself, or at least he lead Noah to the killer. I mentioned his attitude lately, my rejecting him at the party, and us bossing him around might have pushed him over the edge.

We all agreed to talk to Foss about what had happened. I told Eli to let me speak with him alone and he agreed as the taking on of Wolverine had increased their Rage. We lied to Foss and told him we needed his help tracing back what had happened after he dropped Noah off. I took Foss ahead by the area and tried to gradually coax information out of him, but he remained quiet. Eventually, Luke and Eli lost their cool. Choosing to not remain behind, they intimidated Foss until he revealed his treachery.

We decided to take Foss back to the lodge to have Crafty determine what should be done with him. I wanted to him to be punished in some of reasonable way, but the rest of the pack wanted death. After arriving at the lodge, we got out of his truck continuing to discuss what was going to happen while trying to get more information out of him. In the meantime, William was whispering into Foss’ ear things about his family and this set him off. He cussed out all of us until Luke attacked him in Crinos form.

The situation had gone from bad to horrible. I tried to save Foss, but I wasn’t fast enough. Luke entered the Thrall of the Wyrm again and the entire pack had to enter Crinos form to grab him. Eli tried to grab him in Crinos form, but frenzied and ran into the woods to prevent the situation from getting worse. Because of the pack totem, Wolverine, Luke would never run out of Rage and therefore, never stop being in the Thrall. I made the hard choice to stab and kill him with my fang dagger. He managed to Rage back, but this brought him out of the Thrall and into a plain frenzy. He ran off into the woods while we tried to figure out what to do next.

I awoke early the next morning thanks to not drinking and proceeded to start cleaning up the lodge. Bjorn awoke next and helped me clean which I appreciated very much. A little later on, the rest of the pack awoke to some obvious hangovers.

Gina told us she wanted to have us meet one of her friends, then show us around town, so we got ready, and set off with her. She first took us to meet her friend, Lisa. She was a pretty girl who came from a very well to do family. I could tell just from the look on her face she was terrified on the boys. I’d seen this a few times before in Chicago. The Sept leader there told me when our Rage was too high, mortals would fear us. However, she seemed very comfortable with me and gave me a hug.

We sat down for some lemonade and chatted for a while. Gina wanted us to go to a party, which happens frequently on the beach with other teenagers. Lisa seemed apprehensive to this obviously, but Gina didn’t seem to be paying attention. We finally worn our welcome down some as Lisa was getting obviously very uncomfortable with the guys and Gina took us out for a drive around town.

She took us around to the various sites around Santa Cruz, which I found enjoyable since I had never been here before. Some of the sites we seen were West Cliff Drive, the Wharf, the surfing museum, and finally the Boardwalk. At the Boardwalk, we met Lindsey who gave us some tickets to get into the amusement park on the Boardwalk. We spent a few hours having fun and left as it was getting dark.

As we left, I noticed several individuals waiting near an alley with shotguns. I pointed this out and after the rest of the pack noticed, Luke got very agitated. He looked as though he was going to fight and we tried to get him into the car before something happened to break the Veil. All of the commotion got Gina frightened and upset and we left in a hurry. After returning Gina to her home, Eli suggested we split up and have one group guard Gina’s house in case they follow us there and the other return to the Boardwalk and take out the people we seen, who we assumed were Wyrm tainted based on the way they looked.

Bjorn and William stayed with Gina while the rest of us returned to the alley where the individuals were. Luke was eager to attack and charged without warning. It was my first real fight and I got to use my fang dagger. I marveled at how much destruction it was capable of. After making short work of the individuals, who turned out to be Black Spiral Dancer kinfolk, we were approached by a pack of Black Spiral Dancers. They were clearly of the Wyrm, twisted, and deformed from it.

Luke once again charged them and this time completely lost it. He entered the Thrall of the Wyrm and we didn’t have any time to think about what to do. The others charged and started to fight and the alpha of the pack attacked me. I was terrified, having never faced a Black Spiral Dancer or even another Garou before, I almost ran, but I fought the urge to do so and stabbed the alpha.

The alpha retaliated and nearly dropped me to the ground with a hard claw slash. I summoned all my Rage and lashed out with my fang dagger, stabbing him twice more until he was dead. I looked to the others and seen they had handled the rest of the pack creatively with Eli tossing one of the Spirals at Luke. Eventually, we defeated the pack, but Luke was still in the Thrall. He had nearly killed John when I healed him with Mother’s Touch and with the help of Miguel dragged him around the corner. Eli hid as well while Luke destroyed the bodies until his Rage ended. I was reduced to crawling from the injuries I sustained, which were the worst of the group after healing John. I handed my phone to John and had him call Gina to quickly pick us up. Luke and Eli dumped the bodies in the ocean and Luke took a Spiral’s head as a trophy.

One thing was certain; we definitely weren’t going to the party.

As written in Caitlyn Whelan’s journal…

I stood before the leader of the Sept of the Second City. He told me I had been called to another Sept. I asked why, but he told me even he did not know why. I packed the few things I had left: my family Bible, the dedicated gold cross necklace my foster mother gave me, my dedicated clothes, my fang dagger, a few things of makeup, my smartphone, my journal with a couple pens and pencils, and of course, a few womanly things in my backpack.

Before I left, the Sept leader gave me a bankcard. It was all they could muster from what my parents left behind. Thankfully, he said I would likely not have to worry about a basic lifestyle, but anything more would be on my own to accomplish. This was their final gift to me and all they could do for me.

They gave me a bus ticket and wished me well. The trip was both boring and anxious as I waited to find out why I was arriving. I was dropped off near the border of California. I waited at the bus station until an older pick-up truck arrived with older man bearing a scarred face. He motioned me over and told me to get in.

We drove for what seemed like hours and he leered at me several times during the trip in a way I knew as a girl what he wanted. I tried to be polite though, considering I knew nothing of him. I just smiled and tried keep my eyes out the window.

We finally arrived at the destination: in the middle of nowhere. He pointed me in the general direction of where I was supposed to be going and told me to start hiking. I thanked him and left with the uncomfortable feeling he was staring at me as I walked away.

Walking for what seemed like forever, I finally ran into someone along the way. He was teenager just like me with dark hair and steely blue eyes. I nodded politely and we continued walking together silently. Eventually, others joined up with us as we walked until there were seven of us.

We eventually arrived at a clearing where we met a man who looked like he was in his early 30’s. He announced his name as Ryan O’Reilly and told us to follow him. We followed Ryan until we arrived at a cabin. Outside the cabin was a large, bald man chopping wood whom Ryan introduced as Kyle. I smiled politely at him as I walked by, but one of the people I was traveling with motioned to Kyle in a way that angered him. He charged at the one who did it as Ryan motioned for us to get back. A brief fight ensued as Kyle nearly beat the guy to death. I wanted to help him, but I was told to leave him where he lay and go into the cabin by another man named Keptner, better known as Crafty.

We brought our stuff in and chose the beds we wanted. The guy who had been beaten finally made it inside after nearly a half an hour. It was getting dark so we went to sleep that night. The next morning we awoke to Ryan, Kyle, and Crafty were waiting for us at the table in cabin with some McDonald’s. We ate and after an awkward silence, Bjorn introduced himself. We then took turns introducing ourselves; though I was nearly last since I was nervous about the whole affair. Our group consisted of Bjorn “Born Twice” Nordholm, Luke “Rage Heart” Deboi, John Whitmeyer, Miguel O’Hare, William Scott, Eli Yoder, and of course myself, Caitlyn Whelan.

Crafty proceeded to tell us the story of the White Howlers and their bond with the Fianna. He then told us about fall of the White Howlers and the disappearance of Lion due to his shaming. We had been called because we were the last of a bloodline connected to the White Howlers through kinship. The Sept was to be given to us and only White Lion, the Sept totem, would accept us as leaders. Crafty stated once the Sept was in order, he, Kyle, and Ryan would be returning to their Septs.

After explaining why we were called, Crafty took us to meet a few of our kinfolk. Although he had not spoken, we already knew of Walter Foss, the man who brought us to the road by the cabin. He was a survivalist and had instructions to teach us any survival skills we would need considering many like me had no experience in the wilderness.

We were next taken to meet Clifford McDorn. He ran the lodge near the cabin and gave us the rundown and rules we were to abide by. He seemed like a nice person and he didn’t ask much of us. Just that we make sure to announce our comings and goings with him and to feel free to donate any excess meat we get from hunting.

Next, we met Gina Blessing. She was around our age and very friendly. She had her own car, an SUV, and offered to take us anywhere we needed to go provided she had the time. I liked her very much considering she was the first person not over 30 we had meet.

Finally, we met Lindsey Carol. She dressed very provocatively and I felt myself feeling awkward around her since it contrasted so much with my personal style and beliefs. She offered to help the pack get certain items like liquor if we wanted since she works a job at a local liquor store. Eli and Luke immediately hit on her, which I found not surprising at all.

By the time we had met all of the kinfolk and gotten settled in, night was falling. Crafty told us to meet him, Kyle, and Ryan out in the forest. There we shifted to Lupus form and went on a group hunt. I found myself having a lot of fun chasing a large deer. I tried to take it down, but ultimately it was Luke who did the beast in. Adhering to the Litany, we let Crafty take the first of the kill, but he only nibbled before we got our turn. I actually found it very good tasting considering it was my first time ever doing something like this.

After the hunt, we made our way back to the back of the lodge where Gina and Lindsey were waiting. Most of the guys didn’t have dedicated clothing like me, so they had to basically wrap up with some robes provided by Clifford from the lodge. Lindsey had brought alcohol and passed it around, however I politely declined since it wasn’t something I cared for.

After most of the crew started to get rather drunk, Eli and Luke had an almost brotherly dispute about who would have sex with Lindsey. Luke went first, and then followed by Eli. Bjorn went off with Gina into another room while Miguel, William, and I sat around. Eventually, Walter arrived, clearly drunk. He tried to ask me if I wanted to have sex, but I politely declined. It wasn’t really anything about him per se, it was just I didn’t want have sex with someone I didn’t really know and my last experience with it ended with my pregnancy and the father of the child denying it. He nodded and said it was okay and left out the back of the lodge.