Name: Quinlan Reight

Age: 32

Species: Pureblood Lycanthrope

Status: Loner

Place of Birth: Born in Northern Canada - Northwest Territories

Family: None

Personality:
The Good + Brave + Honest + Trustworthy + Strong-willed
The Bad - Short-tempered - Blunt - Quiet - Antisocial

Faceclaim: Stephen Amell

His Story:

Some are born into a life of love, compassion, and family. Other are born into nothing more than a life of responsibility and order. As they grow they promise to never do the same thing to their own children. Little do they realize things don’t usually work out that way and as much as they say they won't do the same to their children, it often ends up that they do.

Jack Reight was born the son of an Alpha. Their pack was a large one, their small village in Northern Canada made up entirely of pack members. It made for a very happy, close-knit village. They were known throughout the country as the largest northern pack. They were well respected in the Lycanthrope community. Jack’s father took everything incredibly serious. He wanted his pack to always be so well liked and respected and he expected his heir to lead them all the same way.

From a young age Jack knew who his mate would be as his parents were very strict in explaining what was due of his position. She was a kind girl, soft and gentle and very pure in spirit and as much as Jack hated having his freedom to chose taken away he couldn’t help but liking the girl. In between his constant training and schooling he would make sure to visit her. On full moons they would shift and run together, his dark fur and her pale grey blending together as they ran. He soon fell into a normal routine within the pack, his mornings filled with combat training for both his human form and his wolf form. A leader was expected to be able to protect his own no matter what. His evenings were filled with schooling, first his regular education that every child received and then even more where he learned to keep stock of the villages food, the jobs all their pack members worked, and overall keeping track of the packs well-being and numbers.

When Jack came of age he proudly worked alongside his father for decades until his sire retired. Him and Caroline had been married for years already and so at the celebration of Jack’s leadership they happily announced that they would be expecting a child soon. The pack was overjoyed, not only did they have a strong, young leader, they would soon have a new heir as well to ensure the survival of their pack for more time to come!

The pack lived a good, happy life. The village had few visitors, often members of other packs would come to visit for a short while, the tundras of the NWT well known as a stunning place to visit and for wolves to run. But overall life in the pack was quiet and everyone was happy. Carolines pregnancy proceeded normally, her body steadily changing and her and Jack working through the emotions that came with the process. They were happy and when the day finally came that their child was born, they were overjoyed to welcome their boy into the world.

Quinlan Reight was loved from the moment he opened his eyes but as much as both his parents had promised him the freedom they had been denied, it was not meant to be. Quin was given the same strict training and schooling schedule his father was and even from a young age he rebelled like his father never had. He argued, his temperament showing itself from a young age. He hated his father, his mother, always the more gentle of the pair, tried to explain things to him, to smooth things over between the pair. But Quin was having none of it. He hated that his future had been decided for him even before he had been born.

Grudgingly, he always agreed to forgive his father and went back to his training and schooling just to see his mother smile. He hated seeing her said and how much his and his fathers fighting caused her pain. She was too gentle, any fighting causing stress and strain on her small body and Quin could see it was hard on her and that her body was steadily failing her so he did what he could to keep her happy. He put his all into training, loving the physical exertion fighting made him feel. The time spent at a desk learning from teachers was less enjoyable for him but he did it anyways.

One way that his parents did give him the freedom they were denied was in leaving his romantic life to his own choosing. Quinlan was known throughout the pack as a ladies man, he flirted and teased, kissing lots but making promises to no one. He knew what it meant to take a mate as a Lycan and he also knew his heart didn’t sing for any of the woman within their pack. On his 18th birthday, as he finally came of age and stepped up to lead alongside his father, the party was halted as a lone wolf entered the village. Her wolf form was a pale blonde, her eyes a striking vivid electric green. She shifted back into her human form, seeking an audience with the pack leaders.

Quin couldn’t take his eyes off of the woman, a girl name Selene as she followed them into their home and sat down in the study to speak to them. Running a hand through long honey-blonde locks, she told them the story of a pack of rogues that had come up north from the US and that they were running rampant, destroying packs where they could for no reason other than they could. She explained that her pack had been destroyed, her parents killed and any members that didn’t join the rogues murdered before the rest of the pack. She had fled from Alaska, not sure where to go, she had remembered her family talking about a pack, strong and well liked among the Canadian packs. So she had come here, seeking asylum and hoping to join their ranks.

Quinlan looked to his father who was looking at his mother silently, his hazel eyes thoughtful. Selene looked at him, her stunning eyes wide and pleading but he could also see the pride in them, she would not beg. If they said no he knew she would leave without another word. He offered her a small smile as his father spoke. Telling her that she would be on probation for the first year. After that she would become a full member of the pack. With the ease of long practice, Quin’s face remained expressionless and revealed none of the excitement he felt.

Selene steadily became more and more at home with the pack. She was quickly liked by the members as she dove into any of the work assigned to her with eagerness. She was a skilled hunter who used logic over sheer brute force, often devising detailed and complicated hunting plans that led the pack to making more than one kill in each session. She rarely hunted in human form, preferring to work in the village more when this was the case. She was popular among the young men of the pack but it was soon quite clear that she was still in mourning for her family and relationships or flirtations with anyone were the last thing on her mind.

With this in mind, Quin was cool towards the newest pack-mate for quite a while. They would exchange a few words of casual conversation in passing but not much more. At pack gatherings or barbeques he would be his usual flirtatious self with the other ladies before leaving for home for the night. It wasn’t until they had a patrol together just the two of them that something changed.

It was a beautiful dark night, the full moon shone down from a clear sky, stars shimmering across its black velvet surface. Two wolves, one with a coat as black at the night sky mingled with greys and browns and the other a pale golden cream coat, ran through the woods. The pair leapt and bounded through the trees at such a high speed, dodging trees at the last moment. Finally, they reached a bluff, a rocky cliff overlooking an open tundra and river below. Quin shifted back to his human form, sitting on the edge and looking at the view below as he caught his breath. He could see her hesitate, but eventually Selene shifted as well and joined him.

Her long golden locks fell down her back and over her shoulders as she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Quin glanced at her side-long and when she caught him, offered her a wolfish smile. She chuckled, shaking her head and then they started talking. The pack would be up late celebrating the full moon. After the pair finished their patrol they stayed away from the village playing together as wolves before shifting back into humans and talking late into the night. It wasn’t until the first light of the sun was hitting the mountain peaks that Quin kissed her quickly before they headed back to the village.

After that, things seemed to return to normal. The pair would exchange a few short words and smiles as they carried out their daily duties, but Quinlan made sure to give Selene her space. When they were next scheduled to patrol together he couldn’t have been happier. It was different this time though, Selene was very quiet and closed-off, impossible to draw conversation from until Quin gave up entirely. As they finished their patrol and shifted back to their human forms, gathering up their clothing and getting dressed. Selene moved to leave but Quin stopped her, his bright eyes hard. “What game are you playing. What do you want from us? My Pack. Me?” he growled.

She didn’t meet his eyes for a moment but when she finally did her eyes blazed as brightly as his did. “I had no expectations when I came here. I had just lost everything and so I came here just hoping to find something that would help me feel normal again. I never thought this place would become a home,” she answered, her voice tight. “Or that I’d fall in love,” she added. Quin was taken aback for a moment but no longer. He moved in and kissed her and the rest was history. He told his parents he wanted to make her a full member of the pack, that it was close enough to her one year that it shouldn’t matter. When he told them he wanted to make her his mate they were surprised but then happy and accepted his proposal.

That night they had a celebration, welcoming Selene as a full pack member and from there out it was like every piece to the puzzle that was Quinlan’s life fell into place. It was only a short year later that they were married and Quin couldn’t ever remember being so happy. Life in the pack was great, even as Quin’s father aged he knew it would still be a while before he stepped down from his role as Alpha and so he and Selene made the most of their time together before they had to lead the pack.

But the good was not meant to last.

The pack of rogues, long forgotten by the Reights and Selene had heard of the mighty pack of the North. Late one night while the entire village slept and pack members patrolled they attacked. Before long the village was burning, women and children being pulled into the village square before the men that were clearly the Alpha’s. Quin and Selene were out running under the light of the moon. At the first smell of smoke the pair looked at eachother and turned for home. The reached the village as Quinlan’s parents were brought before the rogue leaders, shifting into his human form with a painful snarl, her fought against the now human Selene to try and get to them. “They will kill you! You are the next Alpha. You can’t help anyone if you’re dead!” his wife snarled at him, her electric green eyes blazing.

He crouched down with a snarl and watched; watched as the arrogant leaders teased, taunted, and harassed his parents. Finally, one approached his mother from behind, forcing her and his father to look at each other as the first killed her, breaking her neck and laughing as his father howled in pain and heartbreak. Then they shot him and left him, still alive, to lay next to his dead mate as he too died. Quin could barely control his rage, his skin rolled and shifted as he fought off the transformation but with a touch from Selene he managed to get some control. With a sob he turned to flee, only to hear a gunshot and a small cry from behind him.

The male turned back, his eyes wide with surprise as he looked at Selene, only a few short paces behind him. She held her stomach, a stunned look on her face as her eyes met his. Then she collapsed, her open eyes sightless and staring in death. A ragged cry left Quinlan’s throat as he shifted and attacked the male that had shot and killed Selene. He ripped the man's throat out but not before he got one shot in. Injured and mindless with rage, Quin fled deep into the forest. He didn’t even know where he ran or how long he ran for, only stopping when his body could barely pull air into his lungs. Falling to the ground, he shifted back into a man and cried until he slept.

When he awoke, he realized he was at the same bluff he and Selene had had their first kiss. His body shook with with sobs as he cried again, trying to understand what had happened. Then he realized he didn’t want to understand, didn’t want to feel anything. Shifting back into a wolf, he left his home territory, leaving his pack, his friends, his family. He stayed as a wolf, pushing his emotions back until he felt things a wolf would feel. He hunted, he ate, he drank, he found shelter, and then he moved on. It was unheard for someone to stay permanently in wolf form but that is what he did.

Eventually Quin barely even remember that he was part man, a Lycanthrope. All there was to him was wolf, no emotions, just survival instinct. As a wolf he hadn’t even realized how far he had travelled, making his way out of Canada and into the US. It was only when he crossed the scent lines that marked the territory of a pack. The scent was strange and that was enough to knock a small amount of sense into Quin. His brain started to register what the scent line meant and his memory of his own pack finally snapped his mind out of it’s clouded wolf-mind state.

His human form was difficult to shift back into after several years in wolf shape but he somehow managed, breaking into a house on the edge of a small town and luckily finding clothing that fit him. He entered the city on foot, the fine hair on the nape of his neck raised as if he were still in his wolf form as the scents of the city hit him. It was strange to be suddenly thrust back into the real world again. Being wolf was easy, being human and all the emotions that he had immediately felt again were far from easy.

He lingered in the city, staying away from heavily populated areas as he decided what do and learned where exactly he was. The city turned out to be some kind of supernatural haven known as Evermore or as the locals like to call it the ‘Eternal City’. That would explain the scent line he had crossed, there was obviously a pack of some kind within the city. Finding himself a small studio apartment to rent, he got a job bartending to make more cash as he tried to decide what to do. He didn’t know if he actually wanted to remain in this place but if he chose meeting the Alpha’s of the packs here would be a good start. He might once have been an Alpha but that was long ago and not who he was anymore.