there were drums in the air as she started to dance
every soul in the room keeping time with their hands

Jaxon Jameson Cole
outfit

It was a bit strange, Lilybelle thought, how a couple of years ago she'd shown up at the Cole Cabin unannounced to visit Jaxon, to surprise him, or make him something to eat. They'd been dating then. Now, well, now Lilybelle hesitated on the path up to the house even after having sent an owl that morning to let him know she wanted to cook him supper. With Bianca out of the house so often, and her bakery only selling, well, baking, Belle missed having someone share her food with her. Jaxon always had an appetite to match the way Lilybelle constantly made more than needed. But now, even after receiving a letter back that let her know he was expecting her, she hesitated. It had been a year since she'd seen him, they may have kept in touch through writing but she hadn't actually seen him in so long.

The Veela had never dated an awful lot, her siblings had a habit of scaring most people off, but even with the few she had dated she knew that none of the others compared to the Quidditch player. They were friends, she reminded herself, best friends, but in a way she still missed him. And approaching his house she was admittedly a bit concerned about him having another guest over, the owls had gone back and forth early that morning and now it was nearly dark -she'd lost track of time working on orders at the bakery. Not to mention the visit she'd taken to Cassian's house earlier in the day. Cass had calmed some of her fears, he was very good at that even if he didn't notice, she had seen Niles there as well and the younger wolf always brightened her day. Seeing any of her pack did, really. She loved them, felt a bit silly for it at times but she did love them, they felt like family. She couldn't help but wonder if they would get along with Jax. If Juan would as well.

For once she hadn't brought any ingredients with her so she certainly hoped Jaxon would have enough ingredients around his house. Taking a deep breath she raised her hand and knocked on the door. She was wearing the bracelet again, when he'd first given it to her she had rarely taken it off, but she did have a lot of jewelry and even though she adored the bracelet Jaxon had given her she did need a bit of variety.

She had fire in her soul it was easy to see
How the devil himself could be pulled out of me

outfit

Jaxon was one happy camper when he had gotten the owl from Lilybelle. He still missed the veela liked nothing else--she was always on his mind. More women had found their way to his bed and left it faceless to him--with only her memory lingering from their time together--than the country boy cared to admit. He didn't like to use women that way. To not see them as people--but as just something to warm his bed for a night...but that had felt like it was all that was safe since he'd become a were and Durant had gone after lycanthropes the way he had. That had made being around Jaxon dangerous--and not just at the full moon, but every day when the ministry goons were out after all the weres the way they had been. That had been why he'd broken up with his veela love when he had done it in the first place. He hadn't wanted to...and there weren't many days that went by when he wished he'd not had to do that...

He hadn't been strong enough to leave her life completely. The man had kept a habit for a long time of checking in on her every week or so down at the bakery. Then when she had gone to Italy, it'd been mostly letters---keeping in touch, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't like waking up next to her. It wasn't like falling asleep next to the beauty. But it had been safer. And that had made it the right thing to do... He had kept himself at arms length, so she might stay safe. Jax had scared off many a potential suitor of the veela--some more intentionally than others. He hated the idea of her with anyone else. It was selfish, but he couldn't help it. She deserved happiness--and he wanted her to have it. He just had a way of getting in the way of that from time to time, which had been part of why he had kept it to just letters for the last year or so. He was letting her get the space from him she needed to have a new love in her life...

But then she had asked to come over.

He could not say no. Especially now that maybe--just maybe--things could be a different. The light knock at the door meant the blonde had arrived---or that he had another unexpected werewolf guest, but he was really hoping that wouldn't happen tonight. He bound across the house in fewer steps that many could have used to travel the distance and threw open the door. A wide grin took over his boyish face at seeing Lilybelle there. "Hey there, darlin', ain't you just a purdy as the day is long," he drawled as he swept her into his arms. The seeker picked the veela right up off the ground, swinging her around in a hug as he crushed against him. Jax was such an affectionate man--and having the Beaumont want to cook dinner for him had made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He was truly happy to have her at his home. It felt right to have her there--he'd missed the way she lit up the cabin when she graced its wooden floors. He smelled another wolf immediately--and with her held to him, he scanned the darkness. Was there someone out there? It did not enter into his mind that the woman in his arms might be the wolf he perceived.

Not seeing anything in the darkness, Jax ushered his guest down inside, and closed the door behind them. "I sure am glad you wrote, LB. I ain't had one of your dinners in longer than I can remember. Miracle I ain't starved to death," he joked, punctuating the jest with a wink--he couldn't help but be playful with her. They'd been together for awhile back before he gotten bitten--and even for a bit after he'd been turned, before he met Alex...before he learned the truth about how viciously the Ministry hunted their kind--before he knew how much danger he really posed any person he loved. But now things were different. Now, the Ministry had no crazy werewolf hunting division. Now, he was a very distant relative of the woman in charge. Maybe he did not pose the same kind of danger to those who he got close to...Maybe he could have all the things that he hoped for.

He could still smell another wolf...and the scent had not gotten weaker coming inside. It was strong. Confusion slowed his mind. The seeker still was not quite putting it all together.

Lilybelle lit up the second the door opened, yelping in surprise as Jaxon lifted her off the ground only to dissolve into giggles as she wrapped her arms around him in return. Jax had always been affectionate, it would be a lie for Lilybelle to say she hadn't missed it, even after the time apart he felt warm, safe. He always had. No matter who she met she knew she would always be safe with him. "I've missed you," the veela admitted softly, keeping a hold on him as her feet touched ground again. Steadying herself with her hands on his shoulders she frowned when he tensed. It took a moment, while he looked past her, for the veela to recognize the scent of another wolf. Lilybelle wasn't what anyone would call perceptive, oblivious more like, but wolves were territorial, even she had taken to being a bit more protective of her home since the bite. One of the first things she was taught was to use her senses to recognize other werewolves. She almost wanted to convince herself that, perhaps, he'd just forgotten to send out an overnight guest before she arrived. Jaxon had more class than that, though, and she knew him. Even if it was the first time she had seen him in nearly a year, she knew him. He was the first person outside of her family that she had loved so deeply. He was a werewolf.

Dropping her forehead to his shoulder she took a deep breath -he smelled like wolf, not pack- and tried to calm her mind. She had enough experience calming other people down but she was on another werewolf's territory. She was invading his space and that shouldn't be safe except that it was Jaxon. It was Jaxon and if he had kept this a secret from her he must've had a reason. She was so lost in her thoughts she almost missed it when he spoke -so casually it almost seemed like he hadn't recognized her as a 'wolf- but she didn't have time to dwell on it because his words caused an automatic huff from her. The blonde put her hands on her hips as she looked up at him, she couldn't keep a smile from her lips. "Flattery won't get you out of trouble if I don't see vegetables in that kitchen, Jaxon Cole," she teased.

She had written him because she missed him, werewolf drama could wait as far as she was concerned. Though she did recognize a suspiciously Cass-like voice reprimanding her for not addressing a possible danger. Jaxon wasn't a danger, not to her, whether he howled at a full moon or not that much wouldn't change. She bumped him with her shoulder affectionately as she stepped past him to make her own way to the kitchen. The interior was as she remembered it, a bright smile lifting her lips as she recognized different little things. This house had once been like a second-home to her, seeing it again just made her happy.

Jaxon was not dumb, so much as he was resistant to the idea that was so blatantly obvious. His mind did not want to do him the injury of asserting the confirmation that Lilybelle was a wolf. Jaxon might not have bitten her, but pushing her away had not kept her safe. Not really. Sure, she had stayed out of the clutches of the Ministry...but she was still afflicted by the same curse that transformed him every full moon. The seeker did not want to acknowledge this...Not yet.

It was much better to just bask in the beauty that was Lilybelle Beaumont. And Merlin, was she gorgeous! The man had always had a weakness to the veela allure--but it was so much more than just genetics with LB. She was magnificent. Jaxon was certain a kinder, warmer heart had never beat than the one that lay within the woman's chest. His eyes glowed warm as he took her in--affection softening the boyish expression he wore. He still carried the flame he had had back years ago for her. Time had not changed how much he cared, nor how much he wanted to protect Lilybelle.

"Ah, nah, darlin', you ain't even gonna get to all feathery." The joke was light and teasing--aimed at poking a little fun at the avian transformation that veela were prone to when they got particularly angry. He kept talking as he trailed down behind Lilybelle, eyes quite fixed on her rear as the pair began to descend down the stairs to where the kitchen was. "Soon as you said you were comin', I went on down to the market and bought a little bit of everythang they had. Got almost a bushel of okra, hoping you'd fry a little up. I ain't no good at it--no matter how many times my grandmama try to teach to me every I go over to the other side of the pond."

Jaxon was actually fairly excited for LB to see his kitchen. He'd done a bit of work on it since she had been there last--there was more counter space now--and a huge gas powered stove. There was even a stone brick oven that vented out the side of the cliff. He'd gotten that put in on a whim after he'd gotten obsessed with fire roasted wings and pizzas---two things he had been able to cook for himself with relative success.

When they reached the base of the stairs and the pair had entered into the expanse that was his kitchen, he could not deny the truth anymore. The wolf smell was not someone just out on the property. Lilybelle was the wolf. She had to know about him already. He was not sure what to say. Jaxon moved in and hugged the woman again, tucking his head into her hair this time, breathing her in. It could not be denied. No matter how much he wanted to say it wasn't so--somebody had bitten LB. He wondered how long she had been that way. He wondered if she had a pack. Had she joined up with Alex? Jaxon had a tremendous amount of respect for the man--his worries about LB would diminish considerably if she were allied to Alex. The other were had taught Jaxon a great deal--including how to control himself when he was transformed. Because of Alex and Larissa, Jaxon did not required Wolfsbane to keep his sanity when he transformed. They had taught him to tame the wolf. Perhaps the same had been done for Lilybelle. He just didn't know--because he wasn't part of that pack anymore.

Jaxon had left Alex's pack in 2016 when he went to visit his family in the United States for the quidditch offseason. When he had come back to the UK, he had not rejoined. Since then, he had began to grow a pack of his own--he did not pull from those already affiliated, but looked to recruit other weres hiding in plain sight. Fellow celebrities and persons of influence, though they were few and far between, of course. He had a few pups that had been sent his way over the years to spend the full moon out on his land--there were hundreds of acres around Cole Cabin that Jaxon owned. It was a good safe place to run and hunt on the full moon. They were part of his pack. It was small--and he was fine with that. He wasn't looking to build himself an army. He took care of those that needed taking care of, of course. Still, that was not his focus now, he was looking for brave souls in the public eye that would take the risk with him to come forward, to reveal themselves as werewolves and force the public and political dialogue about creatures to change.

He was passionate about it. The Cole was destined to have a future in politics, if everything played out as he hoped... But those goals were not on his mind in this moment. Right now, he just had to figure out how to talk to the first woman he ever loved about them both being werewolves. It seemed like a more daunting conversation than the one he was intending with his distant relative: the Minister.

"LB..." He said, once he released her from the lingering impromptu hug. "What happened, darlin'? How long you been like me?" Jaxon knew it had to have happened since he saw her last. Had that been a year? Maybe a little bit more? His heart broke at the thought of the woman dealing with that change on her own.

After that night nothing had been the same, nothing had been safe. Lilybelle couldn't even remember who helped her through the transition, her memories were blurred together, had she met with Gio and his friend first or had it been Cass? The first moon she remembered was in Italy, though she had made a point of not thinking about it. Staying with her cousin had helped a lot, really since then she'd considered going back a lot but her brother was still in France and she wouldn't know who else to ask to run the shop. Making a noise at his teasing, Lilybelle batted the taller man's arm, pursing her lips. "I do not get feathery!" Though after a moment she pouted while amending, "At least not often. Brat." She would threaten him with cooking something he didn't like but he knew her well enough to see an empty threat. It just happened that she preferred cooking what someone liked, especially if she was a guest.

At the impromptu hug, Lilybelle leaned back against him, resting her head against his chest as she tilted her chin up to see his face. "What's wrong, Polpetto?" He looked troubled, she would always want to make that look go away. When he stepped back she turned to face him, keeping a hand on his arm in comfort. But when he spoke her hand fell and her heart froze. She really would have preferred if they ignored it, nearly wanted to lie and say she didn't know what he was talking about. It was Jaxon, though, and she knew he wasn't going to let her brush him off. She could pretend, she'd done it often enough with her siblings while growing up, smile and make everything better than it was. It was part of who she was, she worried while she made sure no one else would. She hadn't lied to him before, she had never needed to, when they were dating he was the one she went to when she knew her siblings would get too angry. He had been her safe place. But now it felt like she hadn't had a safe place for a long time.

"I think," she started slowly, pausing to think because time had been so strange since then. "Nearly a year, perhaps just over that." Lilybelle didn't want this to be a serious conversation, she wanted to have a fun dinner after having gone so long without seeing her best friend. She knew she had only answered one of his questions, it was just that she really couldn't... she hadn't talked about what happened yet. She didn't want to. But she had to ask, "What about you?" When had he been bitten? After they had broken up? While they were dating? She was nearly mad at herself for never noticing a change-but after they broke up he had distanced himself. Lilybelle had attributed it to wanting space, he had more partners before her and he had more after, if she had spent a lot of that time lying to herself about feeling hurt that was her own business. If-if she had known before would he have helped her through the transition? Would she have let him? He'd made a comment earlier about her getting feathery, and while she was staying with Gio those first few weeks she had felt more volatile than she could ever remember feeling. Even now she hid for her shifts, she didn't use wolfsbane because she didn't have a direct supply. Being a werewolf and a veela, her nature conflicted with the change, creatures were known to support creatures but what was Lilybelle? She wasn't a proper veela anymore, she would never be a proper werewolf- she didn't want to think about it. Wrapping her fingers around her biceps she let her nails dig in, centering herself.

A broad genuine grin took over his face as they played back and forth. These were the things he had sorely missed since spending time with LB regularly. It was just fun to be in her presence. She was so lovely, too... Merlin was she ever. He had always been weak to the veela allure--and for him, there was so much more than just that when it came to his affection for Lilybelle. They had so much history. She had taken up so much of his heart for so long. It was easy for things to feel right and natural when they were in the same room.

Riding that high of just being with her again, Jaxon did not want to make things serious and laborious. He knew the topic would not be one easily discussed... But he just could not keep from asking. He wanted to make sure she was okay...or as okay as someone could be after that sort of change. It was a punch in the gut to know that it had been so long. That must have meant she had been bitten fairly soon after the last time he had been to her bakery. Had his scent led another wolf to her? He would hate himself if that was the case. But he could not think of such possibilities. There was no way to know and he wasn't going to press for details just now. If she wanted to open up about what happened, she would...and if not, he would understand.

She asked about him and shame flashed across his features. "A long time--" the seeker drawled. "Almost ten years now. Happened 'bout two weeks 'fore we broke up." He hung his head, shaking his curls as he took a few steps in the blonde's direction. He wanted to hug her and didn't resist the urge, wrapping his strong arms around the beauty once he was close enough to do so. "Sorry I didn't tell ye..." The apology was made softly into her hair. It seemed so inadequate. He hated that he hadn't been there for her through her first transitions.