Name: Peyton Holiday
Age: 26
Species: Ailward Guard - Therianthrope  (Lycanthrope)
Rank: Cora's Bodyguard
Face Claim: Jeanine Mason

Life changes in a flash and suddenly you find yourself making a hard choice. One minute you are alphas with two little joyful daughters and a pack that loves you. The next everything around you is burning and the only way to save anyone is to turn, show the world you are Lycans just to be killed by those you just saved.  To this day no one knows how the fire of Alexandria happened, some people blamed other people,  while those other people blamed the sky.  No one knows and it does not really matter. What does is that Peyton was six the night it happened, trying to sleep but not being found by sleep so she found herself watching her sister sleep instead. “Fire" the two little wolves could smell it before anyone, before it even fully took blaze. They told their parents and as alphas they told the rest of the pack, the rest of the pack spread the word from their.  Except the grapevine and those who heard through it were too late.  The blaze engulfed everyone’s home, the reincarnation of the library being the one thing left unscathed.  Peyton and Layla watched from a distance as their home burned, as their parents saved every poor soul they could. Lotus and Skylar are still heroes amongst the Lycans to this day. But it was that night that they signed their death warrant.  During their last sweep through the city they could hear the screams of a family trapped within their collapsed and burning house. The shrieks of children twisting the at their heart. Getting in was no problem for the alphas, getting out with the family was another story and in a moment of desperation to now save themselves and the family they transformed. 

When the dark, soot riddled morning stumbled to the sky the next day a hard knock came to the temporary shelter of Peyton and her family, by the husband of the family the alphas had risked everything to save. Lotus was not a foolish husband or pack leader only answering the door after telling his wife to take the kids and run. Skylar froze once the shot rang through the sky; A grave pain taking hold of her body confirming her mate was died.  She fought through that immense pain for the sake of her daughters but Peyton was intuitive and in tune with her family. She could feel her mother’s pain but she could not feel the bond she had with her father anymore. They ran through the backstreets of Egypt successfully avoiding the mob now searching for them. Their pack had been forcibly scattered by their alphas and displaced with the fire the night before so Skylar and the girls were left on their own. 

Suddenly they were surrounded, Skylar knelt down and kissed both of her daughter’s heads cupping Peyton’s face “Whatever happens do not stop running and DO NOT look back.” Her mother mind linked her before rising as Peyton picked up her little sister; feeling a faint push of encouragement from her mother she took off. Running faster and farther then any ordinary six year old or even Lycan her age. “I love you.” was the last thing they heard their mother say, their heightened senses picking up on her faint words in the wind. 

She collapsed hours later, her bond with her mother severed, their mother was gone and Peyton’s fortitude in the moment crumbled. “I can run PeyDay.” Her sister’s word gave her reason to catch her breath and collect herself “I know but… you should not have to. Neither of us should…” rising she intertwined her fingers with her sister’s; one look and Peyton knew her sister felt the loss of their parents too. But what do you say, she was just one year younger. They were both at a loss for words, confused and heartbroken. They lived like street rats after that, learning the life and ways from others living off the street like them. They were clever, working together to beguile and steal food; Peyton often giving up her portion so her little sister could eat more than just crumbs and scraps. 

The months passed and neither of them ever spoke about what happened and neither had any idea what to do with themselves and their lives. They were a six and five-year-old with no family or family friends to run to for help and no clear clue what to do to help themselves. They thought they would always have each other but they thought. It was under a full moon that they last saw each other; Peyton and Layla had found what they believed was a safe place to squat for the night. Peyton as usual too wide awake to sleep, watched the moon and her sister as she slept until she heard the steps of people quickly coming. Waking Layla, the two-ran doing their best to stick to the shadows and get to the street, that was all they needed because once there with a clear path to run they could rely on their unusual speed. Except these people were organized, they knew what they were doing and where to go to cut the girls off.

They claimed they were child services trying to help as they ripped the two girls apart despite their desperate cries, pleads, and violent fighting to be back in each other’s arms. It was under this full moon and the emotional strain Peyton was under that she transformed for the first time.  She was not supposed to be able to turn this young and to date it is still a phenomenon that others like her cannot explain.  Even still, it did not help because when the sun rose the next day and her senses and self-control returned to her, her sister was still taken. Peyton did her best to follow Layla’s scent but before long she herself was captured too… just by a different group than her sister.  

The league of assassins. They had been following the two girls after they came into their radar in Cairo, their agility and persuasion and tricks to get by day by day piqued the interest of some very important people within the league. And when they saw what Peyton could do under the moonlight, they just had to have her, calming her down with tales of how they would help her get her sister back safe and sound. Promising her a life of peace and grandeur but delivering nothing but lies and torture. 

For the most of her life Peyton grew here. She was built up and broken-down countless times until she became exactly what they wanted of her. A heartless killer. A machine to answer their every violent beck and call. All the while all she wanted, all she held on to, all she cared about was Layla. Eighteen years passed and Peyton was all the league could have asked for not fully realizing the mistake they had just made by asking her to clean up the mistake of another assassin. At first, she did not think much of the target she had killed, just a another human. That is until she heard the assassin before her had killed a Lycan using the targets name instead.  She tried to shake the feeling that sat in her stomach and burned in her soul but something was too off. Too different from every other mistake she was always made to clean up. 

Using her favour and affinity the league had for her she gained access to the file of the Lycan who had been accidentally killed. Staring at the picture of the young woman for days on end as if haunted by It until that haunted feeling drove her to action. Under the dark of night, she crept to where the Lycan had been killed, her body still there. Maybe to send a message to the whoever the original target was tied to or maybe to make this look like a homicide or anything that would cover the leagues tracks. Anything for the league to hide their association and avoid the backlash this accidental assassination might have caused. Except the last thing they were expecting was for Peyton to be the one to find the body and for that body to be that of her little sister Layla; her scent confirmed it.

Again, a full moon rose that night, a Super Blood Wolf Moon and with it manifested the now matured and highly trained wolf of Peyton. The massacre of the league is one of those stories people whisper about but no one can be sure of how true it is, if it actually happened, which version is true, or if it truly ended with a simple silver bullet to the heart. Well, it happened but the silver bullet was several and they did not pierce Peyton’s heart; they just missed it. The silver however was enough to put an end to Peyton’s tirade and the poisoning of that silver flowing through her bloodstream was just enough to kill her. Or so they thought.

The league will take credit and say they trained Peyton to successfully fake her death, which they did but this was not the case. This was a case of Lazarus Syndrome because the league without a shadow of a doubt believed Payton Holiday was died. She woke up three days later and six feet under; clawing her way to the surface. Calmly, with a clear and present ferocity burning in every fiber of her being, she walked right through the league of assassin’s doors.

 This was certainly new and many who witnessed this still question if Peyton is really alive or just some Ghost, Banshee, or Ghoul, of her former self. “You said I was an assassin for life. Seeing as I have successfully died, I am done. I have served my time.” In that moment the league let her go. Pursuing her later only to slowly pull back and give her at last some freedom after realizing they were wrong. They were the reason she snapped; they were the reason her sister was dead. So, to again avoid backlash and risk this whole mistake coming to light they let Peyton have her own life upon finding that she was just trying to move on and find some sort of peace in this world. 

After some time of travel, lamenting and listlessness she decided to start a Private Investigation firm, A Hymn For the Missing. Using her heightened senses and unique training to help others find their lost and missing loved ones, since she was not able to do the same for herself. One case leading her right into the heart of Evermore; after solving it and reuniting that family she decided to stay upon realizing the truth about Evermore through this case. Giving her firm and herself a permanent home for the past two years. Avoiding everything about her questionable past; holding out on the hope that maybe just maybe her sister rose again under that special moon as she did.

She should have just minded her own business, that had been her way for the past years she had been in business; unless she was paid, she did not investigate the strange disappearances happening around Evermore. Except, this was eating away at her conscience though she would never admit it. Something was wrong, and clearly very different from any of the cases she had ever seen before. For someone like her the ever-pressing issue was growing out of control and she could not ignore anymore. Devising and not so simple plan she threw herself into the thick of things, allowing herself to be captured and taken to what she could only hope would be where they were keeping all the other missing people. 

It was not, and what started out as just a basic get in, save everyone, and get out, turned out to be a fight for her life. She intended on bringing this building down once everyone was out from the start but now since no one was here and in need of saving, or so she thought, she was going to just let the building come down on top of her. Drawing everyone into one spot, to let it collapse on top of all of them at once, herself included being that there was no way out alone. Until she stumbled into Cora Ailward, unaware of who she was but fully aware that like herself she should not be here. Forced to rely on each other they struggled to freedom, but they were not free from the men still after them. Sooner or later they found shelter in Cora's home, the Ailward Manor. A peculiar place to Peyton who knew nothing of The Ailwards or their guards. Quickly discovering this safe haven would only be temporary upon finding out that Ivar the evil diviner was the cause for the kidnappings and disappearances, and the ladies refused to risk anyone else’s life by getting them involved. 

Naturally questions were asked on both sides, the guards and Other Ailwards wanting to know who Peyton was and why she was here, and from Peyton what exactly was going on in this Manor? Never in one place for too long anyway after a short time Peyton decided it was best, she move on, maybe take some if not all attention from their pursuers with her. Except that is not at all what happened, the Ailwards and the Guards did not let her go, not for any bad reason of course but instead because of what they had been told by Cora, and Peyton improvingly agreed to, in just the heat of the moment to get them off both Peyton and hers' case. 

“Peyton is my new bodyguard."

Peyton was sure they would not and did not believe it but she went along with it anyway, hoping it would buy them time. Now however, they wanted proof, that proof being watching her actually swear into the guard and receiving the tattoo. Of course, she could have simply had said no, told the truth about the lie and left but she had in this short amount of time come to trust Cora, they owed each their lives, and they were far from through with this situation with Ivar. So, she agreed, the gravity of the oath she swore and the mark on her skin impacting her life and heart more than anyone could know. 

Personality:

Devoutly loyal | Shatterproof | Cunning/Street-smart | Intelligent, Empathetic|

Insidious |Bloodthirsty | Acrimonious | Almost always angry (not with people she grows to care about)