I Hope You're Ready (Asa//Anyone/Open)

[Jezebel Kendrick]

The last months had been hard in more than one way. She hadn't been expecting the call in which her world would collapse around her. Sure she hadn't been nearly as close with her family as she had once been but it had been no excuse to not tell her what had been going on. The call came and she dropped everything to run home to spend what little time she had left with her mother. They'd all been put through the wringer but unlike the rest she'd had so much less time to come to grips with her mom dying. After everything was done she would like to have stayed longer but knew she couldnt be gone any longer. She had heard of the mess that had gone down in New York while she was otherwise occupied but figured Asa had everything in hand. 

Emotionally she was still a mess but had pulled together as best she could in the weeks since. She was expecting to have trouble when she arrived but what she found was so much more. 

Stepping out of the cab she looked up at the face of the building just taking in the feel of pack that radiated from its walls. How she had missed this. Taking a deep breath she walked up to the door and stepped inside while taking a look around. The place was packed and filled with humans and pack alike. She caught several confused looks and a few of them did in fact recognize her, nodding her head slightly and a brief touch of her wolf she moved towards the back. 

Up on the second floor she found something unusual that hadn't been there before. Two wolves stood to either side of the door that led into the living space. Both of them eyed her as she walked towards them, she had intended to keep going but like she had thought they stopped her just short of the door. Her eyes flicked between them as they told her she wasn't cleared to go through. Stepping back asked why not and the answer they gave her did not make her happy. She told them who she was and neither of them gave to shits and demanded she prove it if she could. She debated simply calling Asa but this would be more fun and would get the message across that you didnt fuck with her.

Opening her shields further she first pushed her wolf across the space letting them see her and feel her power, she didn't really want to hurt them so she was trying to give them a chance to do what she wanted. When that failed she shook her head sadly and pushed her aura and will into the two of them. It was certainly a battle as one was an alpha and the other beta. She hadn't flexed this much in some time but oh it felt good to do it. Shortly after she began the beta was on the floor bowing at her feet while the other still tried to fight his way free of her hold though it would do him no good. Opening herself just a little more and pushing harder had him sinking to the floor in slow motion until he to was in the same position as the other. She kept the pressure on both of them letting them know they wouldn't win the battle as she stepped in-between them going through the door. As she walked away she let them up in slow increments making sure they understood who was in charge and it wasn't them.

No one else seemed to be stupid enough to step into her path as she made for the office where she was clearly going to be waiting for him to appear as he hadn't been in the building when she arrived. Nothing was as she'd left it and she definitely pissed.

[Asariel Wolff]

Asa stepped out of the car stretched and adjusted his sunglasses. It’d been a long day and it was still early. He hated to admit that Eliachem was very smart in his methodologies. He had each of the clans responsible for another clans main home or businesses. It made the urge to perhaps be too militaristic unwieldy. It made those options limited even in a place as big as New York. Sighing he stopped in his usual scan of the block. Inhaling he caught the faint trail of Jez on the wind. His right brow shooting skyward had he forgot to check his messages. Snatching his phone out he looked at missed calls then messages and even checked email. Nope not a blip. He squinted which caused him to frown.



Moving to Leno he had the former Ulfric spread the word for everyone to make themselves scarce for a few hours. He went to the corner while phones all over the Pack house vibrated to life. Anyone not working began filing out. He stood at the bodega sipping an strawberry limeade rickey. Leaving his usual twenty he rolled his shoulders and began making his way. He caught Julian and Lexington leaving. They were worse for wear. Stopping them he asked and was rewarded with their stupidity. It took all he had to not beat them. He would just not here. Idiots. But what did he expect they were rogues when he’d recruited them hiding out near fresh kills strong enough and dumb enough to think what they had going was a pack instead of just meat no one had eaten. He’d hoped that toughness would have translated to more than street smarts. It hadn’t.



Stepping inside he was greeted but hugs from the hostess handshakes form the manager on duty nods form the made men who used the place as a veritable mafioso mickey D’s and the few hitters who knew the best place to lay low was where the local power ate. He made his way upstairs having taken about fifteen minutes to glad hand either actually or virtually with nods smiles and the like through the restaurant. Stepping upstairs he flicked the cell jammer on which would make them all but invisible to anyone trying to listen in electronically.



Dropping his phone he slipped off his jacket. Opening the office door he set his glasses on the filing cabinet just inside the door. Raising a brow he asked as he dropped on the couch kicking his feet up, “been back long?”

[Jezebel Kendrick]

She felt a range of emotions as he came ever closer, it had been a while since she'd last seen him and it made her slightly ansy. She wasn't going to show him how she was affected but she couldn't deny that she was. She yawned heavily a few minutes before he walked through the door. She was just flat out tired from everything as she lounged on the all to comfy chair.

Her eyes flicked to the door as it opened and Asa stepped through like he always did, like he owned the place and right then that was just more fuel on her already fanned fire. She tracked him across the room to the couch he took up residence on. Her eyebrows rose a bit as her face adopted a bored look "probably no more than 30 minutes, you should really pick your guards better." Meaning they needed brains but she knew he had already figured that out for himself. "The question however is why did I go through guards to begin with, they were not there when i left so what have you done." She wasn't going to sit here and play head games, what she wanted to know it was just easier to ask straight out.

[Asariel Wolff]

He smirked a new habit hed picked up watching Eliachem. Then he focused his attention on Jezebel a habit he was trying to develop as it worked so well for the Rex of the Pride.

Fixing her with a heated look he let three breaths pass before speaking. Finally saying with a shrug everything she needed to know in regards to the guards and the changes.

What had she truly expected. He made no secret about who he was. He hurt people for hire. In fact he often hurt people simply because it was easier than explaining things as pain was a great educator.

Pain could also be expedient.

He sighed knowing the shrug wasn't so much an answer as a reply. As Ulfreya she deserved an answer.

"Despite why you left you look good. Tired but good."

Kicking off his shoes he rolled his shoulders and neck settling his arms over the back of the couch.

"Jez, things changed we needed to change to keep up. Especially with the Silver Claws making us all look bad. So if you don't like the changes we can talk about it...but not if you're this angry. Nothing's gonna be accomplished like this. At least nothing positive."

[Jezebel Kendrick]

She listened quietly to what he had to say and while some of it made sense not everything did. Especially some of the ways in which he'd gone about it. Essentially he had turned the Pack into a Mob and that wasn't what she wanted. What she wanted was a family not people that were terrified to come to her or them with their problems. If what she wanted didn't work out then she could settle for less but she hadn't yet had the chance to try. And now that he had done what he'd done it would take a lot to change it.

Stretching a bit she needed to move so she got up and walked around the office the anger he mentioned just below her surface. The problems she was having with this whole situation really was only the tip of the iceberg. Finally her walk brought her to the edges of the couch he sat on and she stopped looking down at Asa. "I'm pretty sure you look better then i do right now." She shook her head her hair swaying slightly to partially cover her face.

"No i am not happy with most of the changes. Some of it I can leave alone but not everything." She growled a little before she could say more but it wasn't directed at him per se. "I cant help that i feel angry, I am just so angry and there has been no real opportunity for me to release any of it. So excuse me if my emotions are running much higher then normal."

No they hadn't been together or whatever it was that they were for long but she knew that he knew that this , the way she was acting, wasn't her. At least not the her that he had come to know.

[Asariel Wolff]

It was hard not to rsie to the bait she was laying she wanted to fight and he could so understand that. Fighting was easier than dealing with problems emotionally. He was so very much okay with making a mess of things so they could just gut the elephant in the room but if he didn’t at least offer her a way out she’d resent him for it. He didn’t want to make a huge uncleanable mess of things. Especially as he thought he was just getting the hang of things. One hand playing along the back of the couch he followed her with his eyes as she moved about the room. She was wrestling with things in her head.

"You’d definitely be wrong." He said rubbing one hand across the stubble quickly taking over the lower part of his face.

"You’re focusing in on the pack when what we should be focusing in on is you. I get that urge… So, do you want to fight about it or talk about you?" He could have taken a different tact but in the end even as much as he hid it and played the nicer version of himself he was a bastard that liked pain. Giving receiving, especially as a vent to release pressure. And it was clear her mission of mercy and closure left her raw. "And you’re excused by the way. I am only going to ask you once more what would you like to do then I decide okay?"

And while he knew her or at least thought he knew her enough to gauge her response their was enough room for error that he felt that charge he’d been getting accustomed to before making big decisions.

[Jezebel Kendrick]

How was it that he was being the reasonable one here. She had to turn away from him to keep herself from trying to do bodily harm. She already knew from the lines of his body he was ready if she chose to fight him rather than talk.

Truthfully she didn't want to fight. All she wanted was to sleep and sleep some more until she felt better but for more then one reason there wasn't that kind of time for her. Shaking her head harder she turned an launched herself on top of him, her knees going to either side of his hips. He caught her like he'd been about to stop her from attacking him but she simply sat in his lap looking at him.

They stared at each other for several long minutes before she broke the silence growing between them. "I'm not sure I can talk without raging, it's still to fresh." Why did life have to be so unfair she wondered.

Taking in a deep breathe she smelled him, his wolf and everything he'd been in contact with. Wrinkling her nose a bit she leaned forward and rubbed him down until he smelled strongly of her. She wondered silently what he was thinking as he sat there and let her do as she pleased.

[Asariel Wolff]

She went airborne temporarily her weight settling into him not quite like a glove but close enough to that phrase for him to realize how much he missed her. The scent of her enveloped him and his mind went to what she looked like unclothed. The way her hips begged for touch and the soft velveteen of her lower stomach. As he reminisced she made it very difficult to concentrate. She played in his hair across his shoulders moving cheek to cheek pressing the wholeness of her against him.



Not only was she scent marking him she was bathing in his scent making it as much a part of hers as she was insuring only a noseblind idiot would think they were divisible in any sense of the word. He held her gingerly at first the ore forcefully returning the effort. Finally his lower some would say smarter portion so wound up their position became uncomfortable he wrapped her waist pulling her to him. As he did s he lifted his legs pulling them to him and turning so as to place them both on their sides on the couch. Back to back or belly to belly the couch was large enough for three to sleep. The two of them would be no problem.



Reaching back he pulled the well used blanket off the back and threw it over them. His breathing slow and steady in direct opposition to the throbbing want. Rearranging himself so that he wouldn’t keep time against her stomach he moved one arm to encapsulate and hold her the other her pillow. “I like rage but its not for everyone, lets sleep. Everything is better with fresh eyes.”

[Jezebel Kendrick]

As she lay there next to him wrapped in his arms she would have happily accepted it if he'd made a move but instead he chose sleep. It was a little confusing but she did need the sleep. Plus this was something she had missed. Oh who was she kidding, she'd missed him for more than just cuddling.

She scooted closer to him until they touched from head to toe. Tucking her head into his chest, his heartbeat loud in her ear she slowly fell asleep. If only sleep would fix her problems.

[Asariel Wolff]

It was not easy taking the slightly higher rod but he did because as fun as it would be to push them to the limits of their stamina he knew rest a clear head and maybe a run would do wonders. The part he wouldn’t admit even to himself was the fact of how tired he was or the reason he slept in the office more nights than he would like to admit. He missed her deeper than he’d thought possible. Yet he knew if he gave in now he would loose what control he held on to and definitely go too far. Jez was giving gaming and good but he held the true monster at bay by sheer will power. He wouldn’t have those flood gates thrown wide without reason namely him seeking an end, a final end.



He was fine with nondominative relations but only because he’d had her so often. If he were to go as long as he had without that sort of relation it would be sheer pain and more. The other vice he held was vented in his dealings wih ether rest of the world it was why he was okay with the breakdown of diplomacy and him needing to break rogue packs it gave vent to parts of him he couldn’t sate otherwise.



As such once Jez drifted off he lay awake breathing in her scent taking the warmth of her skin and agonizing.

[Jezebel Kendrick]

Some time later she stirred and found that at some point she had rolled over , her back now to his front. But what woke her was Asa's lips creating a hot trail of kisses slowly up her neck. Stretching some she noted how happy he was to be snug along her backside. Smirking a bit she twisted some to catch his wandering lips in a kiss that was just as slow.

Finally they pulled apart a fairly large smile on her face. "I think you missed me" she said as she stared up at him. She needed him pretty badly but he wasn't the only thing she needed and he probably knew it.

She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair before pressing her mouth to his again.

[Asariel Wolff]

He’d listened to her breathing. He was sure when she drifted off but not when he had his last thought before waking was definitely something that was very unfamily friendly. Looking down on her listening to the light snores coming from her and feeling the weight of her against him it was all he could do to not wake her with ravishment then and there. As such tired as he was minutes turned into quarter then half hours. His hands playing lightly along her. His breathing growing heavier as time ticked by. Before long the ache and soreness got the better of him and he was out.



However due the many things needed doing he was up just as the suns light creeped along the floor of the office like a spider determined to rouse even the most secure sleeper. As such he awoke with her warm and inviting sleeping like the beauty she was. So not one to put off things for too long he found himself kissing her awake slowly so she could if she wanted sleep through his butterfly kisses.



Her smile dancing his beginning he replied, “You only think? You think too much its obvious…" s she pressed her mouth against his to shut him up he smirked. Her stomach mad ethe decision obvious. Food then other needs. The smell of an authentic Italian breakfast being cooked downstairs was enough to have him not fighting her too much if she wanted to rise quicker than parts of him would dream.

[Jezebel Kendrick]

She growled shaking her head at the bad timing. She could ignore it but the smell coming from below them made her not want to.

She did probably think to much most of the time but she wouldn't admit it. Swiping her bottom lip with her tongue she knew he was watching her almost like a dog with a bone but his gaze was much hotter.

Pushing him up so she could get up she stood and stretched. She began running her fingers through her hair as she turned to look at him. She studied him for a few minutes as she worked the knots out.

Honestly he looked a little ragged around the edges and some of that was her fault for not being there. Smiling a little albeit sadly she waited until he'd stood getting ready to follow her out before she approached him.

Snaking her arms around his neck she went up on her toes to better reach his ear where she whispered "I've missed you so much.." she trailed off before giving him another kiss and she headed for the door, giving him the chance to do something or nothing at all.

[Asariel Wolff]

The secret to him was he took direction easily. The haptic information absorbed like breathing it was beyond his control and yet filtered through into every facet of his being. As such as she said yes and continued with her no he swallowed hard and counted to ten several dozen times.



Putting himself away he rose with her urging and held the door open. Silent as the grave he met her eyeline hoping she noticed his hairline and beard or even the twenty pounds he’d packed on due the constant late night meetings.



As she passed on the way down he nearly whispered but said “missed you too…”

[Jezebel Kendrick]

They had barely gone through the door before she whirled on him shoving her finger into his chest. "Seriously? You're just going to let me walk out of here without even trying to do what you know we both want?" They both knew food could wait or even better it could be delivered above stairs just as easily. He wasn't acting like the man she knew and it was bugging the hell out of her. He needed to let lose and she was going to make it happen. He could fight it all he liked but at some point soon he'd break, either because she poked him hard enough or because he chose to let go.

Jez glared up at him mostly in disbelief. She could appreciate that he seemed to be trying to do better but this was not what either of them needed. Baring her teeth she shoved him backwards with everything she had, he didn't move as much as she would have liked but it was enough to see his face darken.

She had to stop herself from grinning as she dropped her shields enough to let her wolf come out to play. Her hackles were raised as she stared down him down growling all the while.