Le Pact des loups

Posted on Wed Apr 9th, 2025 @ 9:44pm by Connor Bruin & Rahne Sinclair

2,268 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 6: X-Fernus Agenda
Location: X-Mansion
Timeline: December 12, 1990

Rahne stood in the mansion’s kitchen barefoot and barely dressed as she attempted to make herself lunch. She was inclined to hunt rabbits in the woods for her midday meal but the winter storm and its freezing rain prevented her from spending too much time outside today. If Rahne couldn’t have rabbit she would have the next best thing, chicken nuggets.

After warming a pile of dinosaur shaped nuggets along with chips known as tater tots, all that was left was the red sauce. Shaking a glass bottle of ketchup, Rahne began to add an egregious amount to the side of her plate.

“EXCUSE ME BUT THOSE ARE MY NUGGETS.” The digitized monotone voice sounded out from the doorway to the hall. “PLEASE ASK PERMISSION BEFORE YOU EAT MY NUGGETS.”

The girl looked up with wild eyes and a faint sneer on her lips. Her small voice and its Scottish brogue were laced with a sound that could best be described as a growl. "I dinnae see yer name on them."

She glanced down at the packaging that once held the nuggets, it was ripped to shreds in dozens of pieces across the kitchen floor before she aggressively dunked a chicken nugget into the mountain of ketchup before messily shoving the whole thing into her mouth. Her dark eyes returned to Connor’s gaze, staring at him with a blazing intensity while she chewed.

Connor opened the freezer door and pointed to the sign which was taped to the inside. It clearly identified the chicken nuggets as belonging to him. “I AM CONNOR. THOSE ARE MY NUGGETS. YOU DID NOT ASK.” As he signed, he fought to remain calm. There would be more nuggets. This was just a matter of house rules. Being nice to the new girl was important. “PLEASE READ AND OBEY ALL POSTED SIGNS. IF YOU NEED HELP READING, THEN ASK FOR HELP.”

She didn’t acknowledge his polite request to ask for permission or help, instead Rahne began to shove greedy handful after greedy handful of ketchup covered chicken nuggets and tater tots into her mouth until her cheeks filled up like a chipmunk. Her defiant gaze remained locked on Connor as she gorged herself before preparing to run away.

“No!” Rahne mumbled through a mouthful of food. As the last morsels of smashed nuggets and potatoes were stuffed into her mouth, she turned and ran out of the kitchen leaving ketchup handprints on everything she touched.

When it came to running, Connor was hard to beat. He ignored the ketchup smudges and followed the sound of her clattering feet.

“CLEAN UP YOUR MESS,” he signed while sprinting after her. “I KNOW YOU HEAR ME, RAHNE, AND I KNOW YOU UNDERSTAND.”

Connor redoubled his efforts and not only outpaced her; he did a forward flip over her head and landed in front of her. Landing in a crouch, so as to sign his hands faster, he asked, “DO YOU NEED SOMEONE TO EXPLAIN THE HOUSE RULES TO YOU?”

Rahne’s bare feet came to a skidding halt as Connor landed in front of her and intercepted her retreat. Slipping and falling on the waxed hardwood floors, she looked up at him with terrified eyes and rather than snarl and snap at him, Rahne suddenly cowered. Like a cornered animal that had been beaten over and over again, she suddenly flinched and lifted her arm to shield her head from the impending blows she expected to receive.

“I’ll bite ye!” Rahne threatened as she scrambled and scooted across the floor while remaining in her defensive position. "Father at the kirk needed fifteen stitches when I bit him; I’ll do it to ye too!"

The threat struck Connor as very strange. His brow contorted into an S-curve that nearly reached his hairline. “IF YOU ARE THAT HUNGRY, THEN YOU CAN HAVE MY CHICKEN NUGGETS,” he signed. They had to be civilized. Chicken nuggets were a high price to pay, but he would allow it. “IN CASE YOU DID NOT KNOW, EATING YOUR HOUSEMATES IS ALSO AGAINST HOUSE RULES.”

“I dinnea eat folks.” Rahne slowly lowered her arm once she realized she wasn’t going to be struck but she seemed offended by his reaction. “I dinnea eat cats or dog ither, they taste like shite.”

“WHY DO YOU BITE PEOPLE IF NOT TO EAT THEM?” Connor asked. “MASTICATION IS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF TEETH AND DIGESTION IS THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF MASTICATION. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD TRY ANOTHER METHOD TO REACH YOUR PERSONAL GOALS.”

“Dinnae be daft! Animals bite folk aw the time oot o’ fear an’ protection.” Rahne appeared outraged by his obtuse comment like the cause and effects of a situation were so plain and simple to everyone but Connor. “And ma personal goal was to no’ get beat until ma eye swelled shut or ma nose went crooked. Ma da is three times ma size, what did ye expect me to do?”

“YOU ARE NOT AN ANIMAL. DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT IT IS WRONG TO HIT GIRLS?” Connor looked even more confused. “IF YOUR DAD IS HARMING YOU, THEN YOU SHOULD TELL PROFESSOR X. HE WILL PUT AN END TO IT.”

Connor's lip began to curl. “OR BRING HIM TO ME. I WILL EXPLAIN THE HOUSE RULES TO HIM IN WHATEVER WAY IS NEEDED.”

"Has anyone ever telt ye that ye're exhaustin' tae talk tae? Because they shuid hae." She finally got back to her feet and brushed her frizzy hair from out of her eyes with a still ketchup covered hand. "Aye, the Professor kens, and so does Moira. My da is unfit tae care for me, which is half the reason I’m here." Rahne spoke about these terrible events like they were casual topics of conversation, her matter-of-fact tone and drifting gaze made Connor feel like she didn’t want to talk to him anymore but not because it was challenging but because she simply didn’t want to. Rahne began to take a few slow casual steps away from Connor and the kitchen as she attempted to slip away from him.

“I NEVER KNEW MY PARENTS,” Connor signed. “IF THEY WERE AS BAD AS YOURS, PERHAPS THAT IS FOR THE BEST. MOIRA TOOK ME AS HER OWN WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG. SHE EVEN NAMED ME CONNOR. UNTIL THEN I WAS JUST BOY BRUIN.” While he looked on her with pity, he didn’t care for her brusque demeanor or ketchup-stained fingers. “I KNOW WHERE THERE ARE MORE NUGGETS IF YOU WANT SOME.”

Rahne’s whole body bristled in response to something he had said and she practically shouted her response at Connor. “Ma mither is an angel in heiven!”

As if challenged to a fight, the small Scottish girl flung herself at Connor and began to pummel him with ketchup covered fists. “She wis kinder an nicer an prettier than onyone else. How dare ye say she was a bad person! God called her tae heiven because she was too guid for earth!”

Connor's reflexes kicked in the instant Rahne lunged at him. His body shifted, muscles coiling and releasing with practiced precision. As Rahne swung her fists, Connor caught her by the wrists and pivoted, maneuvering her momentum against her.

In a fluid, grappling maneuver, he pulled her arms across her chest and locked her elbows down with his thighs, trapping her movements. With his feet wrapped securely around her shoulders and neck, she was immobilized but unharmed, her ketchup-covered fists now held fast. Connor’s hands remained free, his fingers moving hurriedly as he signed.

"WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING ME?" his speech-generating device said. "THAT'S AGAINST THE HOUSE RULES."

“Cause ye are big mean clarty bastard wha called me mum a bad person.” Rahne began to squirm and wiggle in his grasp for a moment before she fully lost her temper.

Connor felt the frame of the small girl shift beneath him and he lost his hold on shoulders that no longer existed. Sleek auburn fur brushed against him and Connor was no longer restraining a girl but was entangled with an enraged wolf. Before he could truly react to the shapeshifting mutant, Rahne rolled out from under him and delivered the exact blow she had warned Connor about early. The wolf opened its maw and bit Connor’s calf with all the fury an animal could offer.

“Oww!” Connor helped, pulling his leg back from the bite. He rolled over his shoulders to give clearance while he got back to his feet.

The right leg wouldn't support his weight, not fully. Possible tibia fracture, which meant Rahne could bite with over 200 pounds of force. He would have to avoid her maw.

“STOP BITING ME,” Connor signed with a furious expression. “I ALREADY TOLD YOU IT'S AGAINST THE RULES.” The fact she had morphed in front of him seemed of secondary importance. He pointed his finger at her and yelled a wordless rebuke.

In a flurry of fur, Rahne scrambled to flee from Connor and his grasp. Her paws slipped on the wood floor and only her claws provided traction, the lack of forward movement caused her to panic further. Seeking out an exit from her interaction with Connor, Rahne ran for the nearest piece of furniture and crawled underneath it.

It would have been funny to watch the large canine attempt to wiggle and hide under the ancient floral print recliner had Connor not been in agony. Only once the wolf had squeezed under the chair did Connor see a pair of yellow eyes peeking out and staring at him.

“I KNOW YOU UNDERSTAND ME,” Connor signed. “DIFFERENCES DO NOT IMPACT COGNITION AND UNDERSTANDING AS SO MANY PEOPLE PRESUME.” There was no reply. Was Connor using big words again? He might need to summarize his meaning better. “YOU MIGHT LOOK LIKE A WOLF BUT YOU ARE A PERSON. A PERSON CAN THINK. YOU DO NOT ACT LIKE YOU THINK OFTEN, BUT I KNOW YOU CAN.”

Examples help. What would be a good example? Connor thought for a moment and realized he had an obvious one.

“I AM CALLED CAVEMAN,” he began. “IT WAS MY CHOICE BECAUSE SOMEONE SAID I ACTED LIKE A NEANDERTHAL. I CALLED HIM A CAVEMAN BECAUSE HE WAS THE STUPID ONE BETWEEN US. NOW I USE IT AS A REMINDER THAT NOBODY IS WHAT THEY SEEM.”

No reply yet, so Connor leaned toward those yellow eyes and said, “I AM NOT SCARED OF YOU, SO YOU SHOULD NOT BE SCARED OF ME. NOW SAY SORRY AND OBEY THE HOUSE RULES.”

There was a long pause as the eyes stared at him before the wolf’s snout appeared from under the chair. Rahne looked up at him with a sad expression before she whined and crawled out from her hiding place. The wolf grew bigger and contorted in shape as Rahne’s feature changed from canine to human before Connor’s eyes.

A hunched girl was now present where the wolf once was. “Ah'm sorry ah bit ye, even though ah told ye ah would.”

“I AM SORRY ABOUT YOUR MOTHER,” Connor said. “MOIRA IS THE ONLY MOTHER I EVER KNEW. IF SHE TOOK YOU IN AS SHE DID ME, THAT MEANS YOU ARE LIKE A SISTER.”

Rahne seemed disarmed by this comment and it made her stand up a little straighter but she remained silent and observant.

He put weight back on his wounded leg and winced. “Argh!” he gasped in pain. As tough as he was, he couldn’t hold back a chin quiver.

“I NEED TO GET DOWN TO THE INFIRMARY,” he signed. “THERE IS AN AUTODOC DOWN THERE WHICH CAN TEND TO MY WOUND.”

Without another word, he pivoted on his good leg and did his best not to fall as he hobbled toward the elevator.
"Here, Ah’ll help ye,” Rahne said with much more kindness in her voice. She moved in closer to Connor and allowed him to lean on her a little whenever he attempted to walk with his bad leg. It took them a few steps to work out the rhythm of the unified movement but they eventually found a way to work together.

“Ah’ve never had a brither before," Rahne eventually said between slow limping steps together.

“I NEVER HAD A FAMILY BEFORE,” Connor signed slowly with one hand. His other arm draped around Rahne’s rather indelicately. “NOW I DO. THAT IS WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE HERE. THAT IS WHY HOUSE RULES ARE SO IMPORTANT.”

Rahne made a sound that could best be described as a Scottish sound of disapproval as her thick eyebrows furrowed. "I dinnae like rules, they mak' life harder than it needs tae be."

Connor slowed his pace slightly, shifting his weight to lessen the strain on his injured leg while allowing Rahne to steady him. He let her words hang in the air for a moment, considering them carefully. Then, with his free hand, he began to sign, his motions deliberate despite the pain.

"RULES MIGHT SEEM HARD AT FIRST," his speech-generating device intoned, calm and measured. "BUT AS LIFE GOES ON, THEY MAKE THINGS EASIER. WITHOUT THEM, LIFE STARTS EASY BUT BECOMES HARDER EVERY DAY."

Rahne made a Scottish sound of disapproval in response to Connor's love of rules, but she had to admit that a routine, consistent meals, and warm bed to sleep in every night all sounded really nice. "Maybe. Let's get ye to the medical bay first. Then we'll see aboot what rules I should an' shouldnae follow."

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