The Dusk Wolf was a tavern near her home in the White District. It was one of the only bars in town that still let the white queen in because she paid for all of the damages and all of the liquor. Right now there were some strangers in her district. Most likely sailors that were passing through. They were a bunch of big men and much bigger than the queen herself.

Toya didn’t look that old but her muscles spoke of many years training out in the field. They flexed as she tried to pin one of the bigger men. It must have been making them sweat that their friend was going to lose. She had long chocolate curls that seemed wild and the lively green and red eyes that the Rosenites were known for. The man tried to shift his weight in a cheating move but Toya merely smiled. “Nice try kid but I’m only trying not to break your arm,” Toya smashed his arm through the table dislodging it. She caught the bottle of Dragonfire whiskey and began to drink it heavily like she had no limit.

“YOU BITCH! His arm is broken,” one of the sailors yelled up at her.

“Oh, stop being a pussy it’s just broken there’s no bone sticking out. They don’t make soldiers like they used to,” Toya said loud enough for all to hear before taking another drink. That was enough to start a brawl in the tavern. The barkeep dodged the flying bottles but when Toya threw hers he caught it. “Don’t spill that! It’s valuable,” Toya wiped her mouth as she back stepped into a chair and pushed her weight backward going over it. She grabbed the chair and broke it over two of them.

They stopped only for a moment before she beckoned them. “Come on you pussyfooted bastards. Show me what the seas have taught you,” she taunted before the fight started up again. Three down and four to go. She caught one of the fists and smoke began to rise up as she roasted his skin. The man let out a holler as she punched him out.

The story was the same for the other two. The very last one stared at her, “Who the fuck are you.”

“Just a wife and mother Friend,” Toya grinned a bit before she grabbed the last guy by the collar and headbutted him clean. The barkeep threw the bottle back to her and she caught it drinking it down.

“You shouldn’t lie to them. At least let them know what kind of hell they signed up for,” her second in command stood nearby. She was a powerful looking redheaded she-wolf with amethyst eyes. “Haul them out back to the port.” Toya rolled her eyes a bit.

“Don’t come into a city full of females and not expect a fucking fight when you open your mouth thinking yer stronger,” Toya put her finger to her temple in a thinking motion. “I’ll have the tavern repaired by the morning but for now… A round on Toya Wintercrest!” Toya held up her hands and there were cheers from the other patrons before Aja groaned and left with the group of guards escorting the sailors.

“Toya, don’t make me call Blaine now…” The barkeep quirked an eyebrow. “It’s almost eight and you know he likes to know where you are causing trouble.”

“He’ll figure it out. He’s a smart man and besides~ Sparrow wanted to play knights and dragons with him. I figure that gives me a solid hour if Little Man realizes what I’m doing,” she grinned playfully. The barkeep sighed in defeat she had that boy trained well.

“I do not envy your husband.”

Toya shrugged and threw up her hands again, “Anyone else wanna arm wrestle or drink?!”

~Yup, this is the right place.~

Not everyone in the Dusk Wolf was involved in the fighting, some stayed off to the side and out of the way. One of them was a six foot tall man sitting in one corner on his own, booted feet propped up on the chair across from him as he sat on a slight angle to watch the chaos. He wore a black wide brimmed fedora on his head of brown hair, pulled down to cover most of his face with the brim. Around him he wore a heavy duster overcoat, also black, that when he stood up would be about two feet off the ground, its collar was also up to cover more of his face. What did show was three or four days of stubble on his cheeks and chin, giving him a scruffy look.

He had watched the whole fight from the moment it started and when something was thrown his way a nearly invisible magical shield popped up and shimmered as it blocked the thrown missile. Otherwise he stayed out of it and only watched as the gorgeous brunet dismantled the sailors, all while keeping her own drink safe. He took a drink from the bottle he had purchased before she had come into the Dusk Wolf, he was hoping she’d show up here and he hadn’t been wrong.

When the fight was over and she called for a round the man grinned under the collar of his coat. One of the barmaids brought over his drink and he downed it before she had gotten far and went back to the bottle he had been drinking from. ~Blaine, huh, wonder how that mutt’s doing, if they’re still together she hadn’t killed him yet or ran him off I guess. Wonder if he’s still a bit of a punk.~

When she called out her challenge to everyone else that was left in the tavern no one answered, that was until the tall stranger finally shifted from his place in the corner. ”Well, I think I’ll take up on the drinking, don’t fancy my chances at an arm wrestle anyway.” A dry chuck floated out from under the hat brim as he stepped over to the bar, but he was careful to keep his face hidden still. He set the bottle on the counter, from the smell wafting out of it he to was drinking Draginfire whiskey, and most of the bottle was gone.

He held his bottle out and when he spoke you could hear the grin in his voice. ”Cheers.”

It looked like the queen had run her luck of people wanting to wrestle with her. After all, the table was in pieces now and she threw up her arms in a dramatic shrug at the new stranger. “I’m always up for new drinking friends,” she gave a playful grin now as she made her way back to her chair. “Hey can my new friend and I get some of that special brew that Ang sends for me?” The question was posed as innocent but the keep gave her a look.

“It will kill him. You and Blaine might drink all day but I don’t think anyone else can stomach that crap,” the keep was stern but still, he was grabbing a ruby-colored bottle. He plopped it on the counter and popped it. Just the pop alone had started to set fire to the keep’s sleeve. He waved his hand and poured Toya and the man both a shot. “Angela brews this with actual dragon fire so when it's first opened the magic is still lingering. Only a total masochist like Toya drinks it straight from the bottle though~”

Toya offered a grin as she slid it over to the man, “Name is Toya~ You are new around these parts but that isn’t anything out of the ordinary we get travelers from all over Revaliir.” After she raised the shot she thought, “To new people I suppose.” She downed it fast and slammed her fist on the bar as it went down. “Damn that sister of mine can brew a good whiskey!” She took the bottle and poured her another one and the keep sighed a bit.

"I'm going to have to call Blaine aren't I?" There was defeat in his voice.

"Who knows~ Say friend, why come all the way to the desert anyway?" She directed the question to the man sitting next to her.

When the keep said that the drink Latoya requested would kill him the stranger grinned, it could try. Despite the protest the keep poured the drinks anyway, after setting himself on fire, rising a chuckle from the stranger as the man put the fire out. When the keep spoke to him the strange turned slightly to look at him, the same grin could be heard in his voice. ”Good thing I’m a masochist to.” He replied as Latoya pushed his drink over to him and he scooped it up.

She introduced herself as Toya, but he already knew that. ”To new people.” He replied and down his shot at the same time as her, having left out introducing himself for the moment. ”She does indeed.” He stated as she poured another drink for herself, getting a comment from the keep. ~Depends on how she reacts, might want to call him anyway.~ The man thought as Latoya asked him why he was all the way in the desert.

”I’m looking for someone, heard she was in this city. Figured I’d stop in for a drink and ask around for any information on her whereabouts.” He replied and reached for the bottle. ”Guess I don’t have to ask though,” He put the bottle of Ang’s whiskey to his lips and gulp a few mouthfuls and barely reached, as the keep looked on with wide eyes.

The stranger set the bottle down on the bar top again and lifted his face up and his fedora to reveal his face as he said. ”since it looks like I found her, Latoya.” Ice blue eyes stared back at her green and red eyes.

It was her lucky day! She found a drinker! This wasn’t like the time she accidentally found that pompous ass old man that she now couldn’t get rid of! She found someone new! A drinking buddy! THAT WASN’T HER HUSBAND! Not that drinking with Blaine was bad but most of their drinking was them hiding in their bedroom naked and passing a pipe and bottle.

First, he dodged her question, then he took the bottle and started to drink like her, but it was the very last thing he said. That he didn’t have to ask that alarmed her. She quietly took the shot and swallowed. It was a damn good thing she had gotten it down.

There was a reaction from her at the name though it wasn’t quite noticeable unless you knew her. “I only get called Latoya when I’m in huge amounts of trouble,” she reached for the bottle acting like she was pouring herself another shot when she smashed it up against the stranger’s head full force.

It would be enough to knock him out and if it didn’t she would finish the job herself. “TOYA HAVE YOU GONE INSANE AGAIN?!” The keep yelled in surprise as she grabbed the man by his leg and started to drag him.

“Stay out of it. I’m arresting this person on impersonation,” Toya was panicking now as she started to drag faster. Once she was out of the way the keep ran out of the door.

It didn’t take long to find one of her kin and thankfully it was a reasonable one. “KEIRA! It’s your ma she’s gone fucking insane again! She beat a stranger with a full bottle of whiskey and is dragging him to the dungeons!” Keira’s eyes were wide as she looked up at Daylor who wasn’t far from her.

That was when the running started and she about fell on her face if it wasn’t for Daylor catching her. Blaine was with Sparrow like Toya had thought. “DADDY!” Keira screamed and it was odd as well. She didn’t tend to call out for Blaine like that unless there was a problem. She was trying to catch her breath, “Apparently Ma broke a bottle of whiskey over a man’s head. It was FULL. She’s dragging him to the dungeons at the castle. The barkeep said she’s fucking lost it again!”

Meanwhile, Angela had caught rid of it from all the screaming and she was trailing behind her sister as she dragged the man down the steps. “Toya, what on earth are you doing?”

“Fuck off, I don’t have time for you right now,” Toya go him into a chair and tied him up. “WAKE UP,” she slapped his face hard. “How the fuck do you know my name and why do you look like him?”

“Toya,” Ang was surprised but she tried to reason with her clearly panicked sister. “Toya you need to stop.”

“I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF THIS,” Toya roared as the went up in flames around her and Seth. “Stay the fuck away,” Toya sounded exhausted and Angela held up her hands showing she was leaving. She glared at her sister until she made her way up top to wait for Blaine’s enviable arrival. “AND YOU,” she spat with fire as she pulled him by his collar. “Who are you?” There was crazy in her eyes and clearly she was willing to burn whoever got in her way.

Once Blaine arrived Angela shook her head at him, "I'm going to have to sedate her she isn't going to listen to reason with this one… but if you think you can calm her down first go for it. I would prepare yourself first." Ang motioned to the stairs down to the dungeons.

The stranger only had an instant to react to what Latoya was going to do, and he wasn’t fast enough. Or, was it that he knew what she would and allowed it to happen? Since he didn’t react to try and dodge the bottle strike and went down with one hit, it was possible he hadn’t wanted to dodge the hit in the head. He wasn’t out of it, however, a bit dazed perhaps, but he could hear what was going on, and feel the fact that he was being dragged. ~Not exactly what I expected, but close.~

He didn’t move or react to be dragged through the streets, though the thumps on the back of his head as they went down the stairs didn’t help. He heard Ang’s voice and creaked open eye to look at her, grin, give a small discrete wave, and closed his eyes again to pretend to be knocked out. At the same time his hat slipped off but he managed to snag it as his hand went past it, leaving his messy brown hair lose.

He grunted when he plopped into the chair and then tied down to it, he didn’t resist or react. Now until she screamed in his face and slapped him, ow. Now opening his eyes, mostly cause he didn’t want to get slapped again, the stranger didn’t answer right away, just worked his jaw, nope, not broken, that was good, stung like hell though.

Angela interrupted again before he could answer and she brought up a ring of fire around them, before Angela left and Latoya grabbed him by the collar. He looked back to her eyes again, still as beautiful as ever, if only things hadn’t gone bad between them after their son’s death than maybe everything would have been different now. ”I know your name because, what feels like a lifetime ago, we were married, Latoya. I am Seth.” He finally said, keeping his eyes on hers for her reaction, while using some of his magic to carefully work the ropes on his arms off in case he needed his hands free. He had expected her to react poorly upon seeing him, but he hadn’t expected this level of reaction from her.

Today was surprisingly peaceful at the White Rose Manor, which typically meant that its Queen was out and drinking (and causing more problems as a result), but Blaine was holding down the fort as he was playing with his youngest son while in his wolf form. A large, golden furred and winged lycan was flying low as Sparrow had a wooden sword in hand, trying to smack him down. Garland wasn’t too far off, praising the boy whenever he connected. “Thataboy, kick his ass!”

“Trying, Big Paw!”, the young one replied as he hit his father’s paw, causing an over-dramatic whine from him as he gently landed on his side upon the ground. “Die, fiend!” Sparrow poked him in the stomach and Blaine let out a willful cry. Aurora, also close by, grumbled as she tended to the garden of roses as she cut off another head. “Girl, that’s supposed to keep you at peace?”, her grandfather spoke questioningly.

“Yup! “, she said right before beheading another on. “Peace, tranquility, and all that crap.”

“She’s more and more like her mother”, Blaine said, right before shifting back and slipping into a nearby robe. “Of course, I feel sorry for the poor bastard that she lures into a relationship.”

“Nonsense, she’s a Wintercrest. No Wintercrest woman settles for some cuckold”, Garland said proudly yet Sparrow looked at him and then at Blaine.

“Papa, what’s a…”

“Don’t worry about it. And don’t tell your mother you heard that.” Blaine looked at his own father with a death stare, which unsurprisingly didn’t faze him.

Sparrow nodded before he spotted his other big sister. “Keira’s coming.”

She indeed was, with Daylor closing in behind her. “What’s wrong?” Blaine knew something was up from the moment he heard her- she didn’t call for him unless something happened, like her mother doing something stupid. While he wasn’t shocked hear the bottling smashing, it was a different story when it came to her doing it while the whiskey was still in it.

“That settles it, Ma lost it”, Aurora shrugged before she turned around and cut off several more rose heads. “She’s gonna end up in Aunt Ang’s clinic again. Sparrow pouted and crossed his arms. “Mama’s not crazy. She’s the best.”

“Damn right!”, Garland nodded but Blaine didn’t have time for this. “Watch your grandson, I have a mess to clean up.” He headed for the castle and as he headed for the stairs towards the dungeon, Angela of all people was there. “I hope I haven’t lost my touch.” It had been a very long time since she lost control the way he had heard and if her sister was threatening to sedate her, then it sounded like she was heading back down the road that she had been years ago. What the hell had stirred her up to this point?

Whatever the case, he was her husband and he was the one that needed to snap her out of it. The lycan rushed down the stairs and was granted entry into the lower floor.

Normally a person would knock or open the door carefully, but he was a Wintercrest and it showed as he kicked the door open and his icy eyes immediately fell on his pyromaniac wife. “By the gods Toya, what the hell happened now?”, he spoke, not in a scream but certainly loud enough to get her attention. He circled around her to see the poor fool that got entangled into her web. “What in the world did he do to…”, he started at her before he looked at the man for a brief and a dumbfounded look fell onto his face. With that, he had to look at her prisoner again and saw that he was oddly familiar. The scent was as well. The man was silent for moments as his mind was retracing the small memories he had of the other man before he slowly turned to Toya and pointed at him. “Why…how…when did Seth get into town?” And now it made sense as to why she was going berserk now. It had been a hell of a time since he saw him but he was all but sure that this was her former husband and the birth father of Rose. “Toya…stop”, he whispered, placing a hand onto her shoulder. “Just release him.”

Keira reached over and pat Sparrow on the head. “She just has bad moments Sparrow. It doesn’t mean she’s crazy despite what some might think.” There were her maternal instincts showing as she bent over and hugged her youngest brother.

Once Blaine had reached the castle he might have heard the remnants of the fighting down below. “LIES. HE IS DEAD AND YOU ARE IMPOSTOR!” The queen was off her rocker but everyone could tell that much. There was crazy in her eyes probably more so out of necessity and survival than anything else.

“That’s not Seth! IT’S AN IMPOSTOR AND YOUR NOSE DOESN’T WORK!” She was full of venom and fire as she tried to shoot fire at Seth. Angela had flagged Krystopher down to go help, Blaine. It wasn’t long before Toya wasn’t just beating on the two of them screaming like a bewildered animal that they betrayed her~ but that Angela had sneaked into the room and behind them.

Rose had been called down to help prove who Seth was but she just looked at her birth father and started to tear up before running away. That just made Toya fight harder as she shot flames and Angela had to stifle her magic. It made Toya even wilder as she repeatedly kicked Krys as hard as she could.

“I do hope you’ll forgive us Toya. We don’t want to do this again,” Angela said as she brought out the needle.

“KEEP AWAY FROM ME YOU BITCH,” Toya was twisting herself while being held by Blaine and Krystopher all while shouting as Angela took a needle and jabbed it into her neck lightly. She let out a cry and slowly the fire died out.

Toya was out in their arms letting out a light whimper. Angela was hesitant about removing the needle but she put it away. “You really should have come found someone other than Toya,” Angela looked up at Seth. "She's not well but it's been a while since we had to sedate her. Blaine as much as you hate it we'll have to keep her heavily under its influence for a few days until she calms down completely. Maybe Sparrow or Jayden can get her to snap out of it faster."

This was not going remotely as well as Seth had hoped, he knew Latoya would act reacted badly to his return, but this level of bad was, well, on a different level. ”I didn’t die. Larka managed to save my spirit from my body and she took over my body…” He didn’t get to finish as Blaine arrived by kicking in the door, typical, and Seth was at least thankful that Blaine recognized him after a few moments.

But that didn’t end what was happening with Latoya, as she was in an utter frenzy by now. Seth had worked the restraints off behind the chair, but when she tried to shoot fire at him. Seth’s shield came up in response as he also used some of signature ice magic to counter the fire, making the room fill with a bit of steam as he did. He knew what Latoya was like with her fire magic, so at least he knew how to anticipate it when she was about to throw some around.

”Rose!” Seth called as he saw his daughter and a smile came to his face, only to be dissolve back into a frown when she ran off upon seeing him. That hurt him, a lot, and it was written plainly across his face. This was enough of a distraction for him that for a bit he lost track of what Latoya was doing, that was until she screamed at Angela who injected her with a sedative. At some point Krys had arrived to, Seth hadn’t seen him come in.

When Angel looked to him Seth sighed and stood, revealing that he had worked on the restraints already that had bound him. ”I’m sorry, I hadn’t expected her to react that way to my arrival.” He apologized and then looked at them all. ”I suppose you all have questions.” He looked to Blaine. ”But I can answer what you asked first. Why is because it was time, my twin Larka found a way to become a true wolf once again and live with her pack, the way she wanted to. That left my body open for me to inhabit again and take control, at least that’s the shortened version anyway, and I guess that parts of the how. As for the when, that’s a bit easier. A few months, but only about two weeks in these lands, honestly I’m still getting used to these lands, even my magic hasn’t caught back up to where I once was, as I’m finding the magic here… odd, in some ways.” He explained. ”All of that aside, would it be possible for someone to check on Rose please? I saw her run off, I wanna talk to her, when she’s ready of course.” He sighed and looked at each of them in turn, this was awkward in many ways. ”Or I can just leave all of you alone, if that’s what you want, I don’t expect to be welcomed back with open arms. Not with the way things played out back in the old days anyway.”

“Toya, for Pete’s sake. Calm down- it is Seth.” It had been too long since she had seen her former husband; hell it was the same for Blaine as well, but there he was, clear as day. But he wasn’t entirely surprised by her denial- it took a long time before her fractured mind pieced itself together enough to drive away from the insanity she held onto early into their relationship and prior to it. The weave was undoing itself now that he had come back and she couldn’t cope with this. At least she couldn’t right out threaten him with her flames as he countered them with ice…for now. Unlike Toya, Blaine didn’t have bad blood with him; they barely knew one another and only had two people in common- Toya and his brother. Speaking of which, he was relieved to see that he was retrieved, likely by Angela. Krystopher didn’t know what was going on as he trod over to peek around them and saw the prisoner. “Still can’t keep out of trouble I see, old friend”, he spoke casually to him before looking at his younger brother, “She’s coming down soon.”

“Who is?”

“You’ll see.” But first thing’s first, they would have to take control of the situation, which unfortunately met that they would have to deal with the very out of control and pissed off dragon lady. Despite their combined strength, they were having issues in restraining Toya, particularly Krys as he had to suffer through her kicking repeatedly. “Get a grip, Toya!”, Blaine roared as he got her arms around her back, “You can’t just go and undo all that hard work to keep you sane!” Unlike the previous times, he wasn’t able to reach her through her rage. Things only got worse when Rose came, saw her father, and promptly left. He did feel for his adopted daughter but he couldn’t let himself ease up as he felt his wife going more unhinged by the second.

“Damn it, Blaine, I’m not a dancing floor”, Krys uttered between Toya’s kicks.

He might have not wanted this come, but sadly there was no other option. He nodded with Angela as she made her threat very clear and proceeded onward with the brothers keeping her restrained. As much as it was a pain for Blaine, he had no choice and she needed to calm down. It took a bit, but eventually, she was sedated and he held her in his arms to keep her from falling over.

“Do what you have to, Ang”, he grumbled before looking at Seth. “One hell of a tale you’ve given. Fortunately, you don’t have Toya nagging you about it spewing that it’s false. You probably got mixed up in the whole sundering thing as we did to add to the chaos of you and your sister.” Krystopher was mentally licking his wounds but was otherwise fine as he offered his hand. “Don’t worry about it. A lot has changed, myself included.” He would soon rush off and headed at the door before turning to them, “Gonna go see Rose and check-in. I’m sure it’s rough for both of you to see the other after ages.”

“Might as well stick around. Once Toya wakes up, she should be in a better mood, though it will take days since Angela will keep her like this just to be sure.” Blaine threw his wife over his shoulder and proceeded to lead Angela and Seth out. “In the meanwhile, we can head to the house and inform the others know about your arrival, especially Remedy and Astrid.”