JACK: After his swim, Jack wasn't feeling much better. Usually, water was his cure all. Running was useful too, but nothing healed him so much as water did and that wasn't working. It was time, he decided, to face Hunter. He wasn't afraid of him; he was afraid of seeing how much he'd hurt him. Trekking inside, he quieted his mind as much as he could so that he could follow his senses to his alpha's location.

HUNTER: Hunter was in the office. He'd stayed there for the most part over the past two days. Using it as time to just clear his mind and catch up on the business that he did to keep the pack house running. Allt he wolves pulled their weight one way or another but it was expensive to keep the house maintained and nice without really calling attention to them. He was sitting at the desk in his usual business-casual attire, working on a translation of some thick text to send in to the university that he was working for long distance. He could tell that Jack was hovering about but he didn't go to sick him out, he just stayed putl

JACK: The office was the first place to check and Jack knocked firmly on the door. His anxiety could be felt rolling off of him; he reeked of it. But he kept telling himself that he needed to do this; it was the right thing to do. "Hunter?" He called out, hoping that the man would hear the sincerity and pain in his voice so that he would let him inside.

HUNTER: "It's open." Hunter called out loud enough to be heard, though no louder than he had to. He didn't look up from his books, just kept his head down and kept on working. truthfully, part of him knew that he needed to be the adult about this, like he was about everything else, but he'd never felt like such a failure and to hear Jack say it had really just hurt.

JACK: Jack came inside, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it, unwilling to take more steps into the office. "Hello." He started out slowly, pausing to suck in a deep breath. The room smelled of academia, books and papers and Hunter's scent. It was soothing, save for the light air of sobriety that muddled the comfort.

HUNTER: Lifting his head finally, Hunter tucked his pencil behind his ear and just sat back in his chair. "have a seat.' He said, figuring that Jack was just as unsettled by this sort of meeting as he was. It was the first time he'd ever really fucked up badly with the pack and having it thrown in his face in front of everyone had made him a little sour.

JACK: He didn't want a seat, but one didn't exactly deny anything offered by his pack leader at this point. He sat down and put his hands in his lap, a marked change considering Jack's body was usually all over the place. "I didn't mean what I said." He stumbled onto the topic with little grace. "I'm sorry."

HUNTER: "Apology accepted.' And that would be the end of the conversation if Jack would have it, but something told Hunter that it was far from the end, even if it was something he didn't really want to talk about. Being constantly reminded of your failures by the actions of one of the youngest members of the pack was a hard thing to deal with, and though he'd been dealing with it with a lot of tact so far now it was just that much harder.

JACK: Jack didn't move from the chair, but instead seemed to settle farther into it. "You're angry with me. I was being a baby. I still think I should have been able to help Callahan, but I shouldn't have used my problems against you."

HUNTER: "I'm not angry with you, Jack." He was disappointed, but mostly just in himself. "I'm the one that failed you and you are within your right to remind me of it. But I wont fail you again and that is why I wont allow you to bind yourself to Callahan. I'm sorry that I let you get hurt, I'm sorry that i was too late to stop it. But I'm not too late to stop you from making a mistake that could cost you your life." Or could cost the entire pack their lives.

JACK: "You can't be everywhere at once. It isn't your fault. Bad things happen and you can't stop them." It almost sounded disrespectful and it would have been if it wasn't profoundly true. "I hurt you--after all you've done for me. That's horrible. I'm horrible."

HUNTER: "No, you aren't. You're young and you were angry. And you can be angry at me for as long as you would like, but the fact of the matter is that I will never lety ou bind yourself to Callahan, Jack. Nor will I let any of the wolves. I've thought this through and I just don't want to put the pack at more of a risk. I already did by letting him stay here. you don't understand how it works with the fae. I can barely grasp it, but I know that they are infinitely dangerous and it would be a mistake to get in their way."

JACK: Jack frowned. "I didn't come here to get you to agree to helping Callahan. I came here because I didn't like the way your face looked after I said what I said. I came here because I hurt you and I want to take back what I said."

HUNTER: "It's very hard to take back things once they've been said. The best you can do is apologize and you've done that Jack. And I accepted it." There was no way to retract the words or the effect they had had on Hunter. On his thoughts as he tried to think of ways to be better than what he was.

JACK: "I think Arabella would be happy to see what you've done for us." He stood up. "I have dreams about her." Sometimes he'd wake up, swearing he could smell her. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say, but he wanted to say it. Swallowing, he turned to go. "Thank you for accepting my apology."

HUNTER: "I try to be like her." Hunter admitted to him, which was a hard thing for him to do. "I'm not the same." But he tried to be, tried to be the same sort of staple to the pack that she was, even though he couldn't see that in his own way he was. "I can't be what she was."

JACK: "She wouldn't want you to be her. She raised you to be you." Just like she had with all of them. "You're what we need." All of them, even the ones who didn't admit it like Sullivan, and Tes when she was mad.

HUNTER: "I can't protect you from everything, Jack. Try as I might. I can't make all your decisions for you and I can't control every aspect of your life. You are becoming an adult and soon you are going to be completely resposnible for your own life and what you make with it. But I failed you when it counted most and I've been trying to make it up to you ever day since. So let met make this last decision for you, just let do this one last thing for you and I gurantee you'll thank me when you're older."

JACK: Jack almost winced at that. Last decision. It was frightening to think that someday he'd be an adult and on his own--even though with the pack he'd never be truly on his own. "I know that you're right. I just thought that if I could protect someone else, maybe I could prove I was strong enough to protect myself next time."

HUNTER: "You can't alwyas protect yourself Jack. You just have to learn that someties bad things happen. And if you are strong enough to survive them then chances are you'll be strong enough to survive anything. What happened to you... was probably the worst thing that is ever going to happen to you. But you made it. And you're still here. And now it's up to you to decide if you want to let that one incident rule the rest your life, or ify ou want to try and get past it, get over it, and live the rest of your life knowing that you went through that one horrible thing but that you were strong enough to keep right on living."

JACK: Blinking for a moment, he nodded. That was something he had needed to hear for a long time and now that it had finally been said by the only person who could say it, Jack felt both a weight lifted and a new weight placed upon him. But it was a better weight than the one previously on him. "I know." He said, sounding a little worried about the whole thing, but generally resolved to succeed.

HUNTER: "You know, you can always come to talk to me about anything, Jack. Even if you're scared. I wont ever laugh or judge you, I'll just help you through whatever you are trying to get through." Even if he was older. "Even Shane comes to me for help sometimes." And he was the oldest member of the pack.

JACK: That made Jack's face break into a grin, wide and unhindered momentarily. "Does he?" He liked the idea of that. He wondered what Shane went to Hunter for. "Like how to handle the twins?" Just joking, Jack put his hand over his mouth, stifling a bit of a laugh. The children were a welcomed part of the pack according to Jack. He loved to watch them.

HUNTER: That made Hunter laugh a little bit and he nodded. "Shane comes to me to talk about a lot of things. Mostly about mom." He never called her mom but the comment about the twins had put him at ease so much that it had just slipped out like that. Shane had known Arabella longer than any of them, even Hunter, so they liked to talk about her.

JACK: Hunter calling her 'mom' made Jack's grin soften into a warm smile. Sometimes he acted wise and old while other times he acted very youthful and foolish. "And tips on how to be surly." Was the other thing Jack assumed they must talk about, because Shane was definitely an expert in that department and he must get his prowess from someplace.

HUNTER: "Well of course. Whenever I need to have a stern talking to with any of the wolves I ask Shane to show me his best surly face. It's very insightful." Sometimes Hunter seemed so humorless but when he was caught in the right moment he couldn't help but joke a little and Jack had gotten him in the right moment.

JACK: At times in his life, that had been Jack's only goal to get Hunter into the joking mood. Often times he failed utterly and was met with only a fatherly and slightly annoyed look from Hunter, but today he'd struck gold. Not that he would ever repeat the events that had led up to this moment, but he could still enjoy it. "Can I talk to you about something, then?" He was relaxed now, and he needed help.

HUNTER: "Of course." Hunter said, still smiling a little bit even though he had resumed his alpha hat and was back to being more serious than he had just esconds before. If Jack wanted to talk to him then he would of course listen to him. "But sit." It drove him nuts when people were standing and he wasn't and he was already seated.

JACK: "It's about Warner. I hurt him too and now I don't know what to do. I liked Callahan so much that I--well I kissed him and Warner is so nice and patient and sweet and--" Jack sat, not even sure how to continue. He felt so guilty, he didn't know what he coudl do to fix it.

HUNTER: "What did he say when you told him?" He asked, not sure entirely what to tell him, though he supposed he could have a talk with Warner because he had been in the same situation and it was something he understood.

JACK: Jack wriggled a little in the chair, feeling more himself now so he was antsy. "He said that he felt sick. At first he didn't want to hear it, but I had to tell him. I just had to. And he said that it was within my rights, but I don't want it to be within my rights." Except he'd done it anyway.

HUNTER: "If he really cares about you he'll get over it." Hunter said. "And he will forgive you. It's just something that takes time. It really hurts at first but that goes away. What matters is that you know it was a mistake and that you are willing to admit it and you've already done that. It's sort of up to him now. But I could talk to him if you'd like."

JACK: "No--no that's okay, thank you." He wasn't sure if Hunter talking to him would seem like scolding, though he was certain Hunter would do so tactfully. He wasn't really a part of the pack, and yet he was. He still didn't quite understand how they felt about being around wolves considering what had happened to them.

HUNTER: "Well if you change your mind let me know. I know that Warner and Jonas don't always feel as welcome as they should and I am trying to fix that." Though it was nearly impossible with Jonas because the kid really just didn't want anything to do with them.

JACK: Jack smiled a little at the mention of Jonas. He knew as well as ever that Jonas was difficult, but he liked him very much. "Thank you again, then." This time, when he stood up, he was ready to go and leave on a positve note rather than a defeated one.

HUNTER: "Goodnight Jack." He said, because he got the idea that the boy was ready to leave and he wasn't going to make him stay. "Sleep well when you go."

JACK: "I will." Because tonight, he really thought he could, even though he would be worried about Warner. He paused a moment, then nodded. "Good night." And he left.