My Place- Randall Carpio Love Story

The Rise of a New Champion

Manhattan was the epitome of a concrete jungle. The steel-beamed buildings stood taller than even the most ancient trees, their glass exteriors reflected all lights that blanketed them in a bit of camouflage.

Remi hadn't been in Manhattan very long, but her time was so consumed with Secret Societies, Statistics and Werewolf Brotherhoods that she didn't have any time to be a tourist. She always loved traveling to a new place and exploring the world alone. She always felt so unimportant surrounded by businessmen and tall buildings.

For just a moment Remi remembered things as they once were: she was just a girl visiting a big town and feeling so incredibly small. There was no good or bad, no werewolves or magic, no creeps at the bar who wolf whistle at her as she gets their drinks.

It was a breath of normalcy, and she soaked it all in in its entirety.

"I need to ask you for a favor," Randall popped up besides her and started to jog alongside her.

So much for the normalcy.

Remi pulled her headphones from her ears and wrapped the cord around the back of her neck but she didn't stop running. She looked up at Randall to see a mischievious twinkle lighten his dark eyes. "No, absolutely not." She decided as she looked ahead of her. She looked both way down a single street before she crossed it.

"Why not?" Randall sounded mildly offended as he crossed the road with her.

"Because-" She looked back up at him as they jogged side-by-side. "You're giving me that puppy-dog look. You only do that when your favor is less than innocent."

"She has a point," Hamish jogged up to her other side.

Remi jumped and turned to look over at Hamish. He wore a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black joggers. She looked back to Randall to see him in his running garb too.

"A point about what?" Randall looked over Remi's head at Hamish.

"You do have a look when you want to do something bad." Hamish answered easily.

"I never noticed it before," Lilith came up behind them and jogged to Randall's other side. "But now that you say something, he totally has that look."

"Come on, guys. I do not have a look-" Randall defended himself as he looked over at Lilith.

"Were you all following me?" Remi asked as she leaned forward to peer at Lilith, who was also wearing a pair of leggings and a loose top. None of them answered, which was all she needed to confirm what she suspected. "Unbelievable." She looked forward and turned a sharp corner. She picked up the pace, running ahead of the others until they sped up to match her strides. "I'm just going for a run!"

"We need a favor," Hamish reiterated. "We weren't following you, but we were looking for you."

Remi crossed another street before she ran down a wide stretch of sidewalk. People were in front of them, walking straight towards them, but they weren't a force to be reckoned with. The people understood that as they moved out of the way before they chanced getting bull-dozed over.

"What favor could I give?" She asked as she picked up the pace again to a faster sprint. It felt freeing to her. There was no resistance. She felt as if she could keep running for the rest of her life. When she first became a wolf she focused on all the negatives that came with it, but now the positives were starting to show up more and more. 

"We need the entire pack to corrall Jack Morton into the basement so he can be chosen as a Champion." Hamish explained.

Remi slowed down and the others slowed to match her.