Charlie Macintosh

Picture credits: Rebecca Romijn @ Famous Babes.com

Nickname/s: None
Species: Shapeshifter - Wolf
Clan Position: Dominant
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Hometown: Reading
Current Residence: A 2 bedroom home from Lawrence Housing
Studying: Medical Sciences BA, second year
Employment: Works part time at the local hospital in the mortuary
Family: Father; Frank. Mother; Tallulah. Siblings; three brothers and a sister.
Friends:
Relationship: None Currently

Background

The second youngest child in a group of five children, Paige went from being the baby of the family to being in the middle when her younger sibling was born. For her family life was as normal as it could be for a shapeshifter family that had fallen from grace. Her grandfather had been Clan leader at one point, creating a place of power for the O'Connors in Reading. But like all Clan Leaders, her Grandfather was challenged and killed. Both of Paige's parents were submissives, and as their children grew older it seemed that only their eldest son was a Dominant. The combination of both of these events lead to the Novans losing some of their power in the Reading Clan.

None of that made a difference to Paige as a child, she was blissfully ignorant of it all. When puberty came she did not batter an eyelid, expecting to be a submissive like her siblings before her. It was quite a suprise when around the age of 13 she began to show Dominant characteristics, namely the ability to shapeshift her hands into claws. As puberty continued on it's course, Paige began to feel the pressure of her family for another Dominant ability to show itself.

The teenage years of any child is never a good time of their life, and with this added pressure Paige began to have problems at school. She had never been a particularly social child, always having different interests to most of the other kids. As the pressure from her family grew she began to pull away a bit more, and only her closest two friends stuck by her.

At the beginning of her final year at secondary school, while in the middle of studying for her GCSEs, her English teacher fell ill and had to be replaced. The replacement was a witch who instantly knew what Paige was. She began to treat Paige differently to the other students, punishing her for silly things that she would let other students get away with. During one detention the witch let slip her reason for treating Paige badly; she was a shapeshifter.

Once her GCSEs were over Paige moved to a different school to attend sixth form college and complete her A-Levels. Although her English teacher was gone, Paige still had problems fitting in with other pupils and trusting teachers again. Her other friends had stayed behind at her old school, and although she kept in contact with them, Paige had the daunting task of making new ones again. She became good friends with a human girl called Suzy, and one night they both had a bit too much to drink at a party. They ended up making out, and although Paige still cannot remember how they got to that stage, she did remember that she enjoyed it.

When Paige tried to speak to Suzy about it, her friend brushed it off as a bit of 'drunken fun' and not something she wanted to try again. By the end of the school year the two of them had drifted apart. Over the summer Paige began to realise that it was girls that interested her, not boys, and during her final year of A-Levels she had a few relationships with other girls.

Paige had also developed an interest in forensic science, and applied at Reading University for a course in medicine. Her aim was to get a degree in medicine and then move onto a Masters in forensic science. Paige had hoped to move away from her family, but pressure from her family kept her from doing so. Paige never did end up displaying any more Dominant abilities, marking her as a weak Dominant. Nethertheless, she was still a Dominant and did not require the protection of anyone. As a compromise for staying in Reading, Paige's parents allowed her to move out of the family home. Instead she moved in with her brother Randall when she started University. Living with Randall has allowed Paige much more freedom than she previously had, giving her the chance to explore her sexuality and interests further.

Physical Appearance

Tall and slender, Paige has a willowy form that is accentuated by long limbs. Paige is far from cautious about what she eats, yet never piles on the pounds. A pretty girl with dark blonde hair and blue eyes, Paige's looks are the envy of most women. Paige considers her looks to be one thing only; a curse. She appreciates that she is pretty, but her looks draw her to the attention of too many male students and Clan members. That wouldn't be an issue accept that Paige has absolutely no interest in them. Due to this Paige will often be found in causual clothing unless the situation requires something else, or she is performing with her band. Then her style has a distint punk-rock edge to it, and can be quite daring.

The result of Paige's style and her desire to play down her appearance is a wide range of hair colours and styles. The beauty of working in a morgue means that she doesn't have to conform to a dress code, and her hair has been every colour under the sun. It's currently a more 'normal' shade; pale blonde and white highlights over the top of golden blonde. Paige has been growing her hair long for the past year now, and it falls a few inches below her shoulders in loose curls. That is where Paige's interest in styling her hair ends, and usually it's tied up or down loose. She has no patience for hair dryers or straighteners at all.

Personality

Paige has a rebellious nature, and has a unique spirit. She likes to do her own thing, and this often tends to go against the norm. The freedom of University has given her the chance to explore her interests further without the pressure and expectations of her family. However, Paige is still very cautious and private person and this is due to her family and the Pack. She finds it hard to open up to people, and only has a few close friends who she confides in. There is too much at stake for her to open her life up completely to people, and many find her anti-social, especially Pack members. Men in particularly find her hard to deal with, and while some back off easily, others have a tendency to make a nusiance of themselves. As a rule Paige does try to avoid men, especially ones that seem the womanising type.

It's this defense mechanism that has kept her family and the Pack from finding out about her sexuality. Dabbling in relationships with other species and the same gender is not discouraged, but Paige is aware of the importance of children to shapeshifters. As they are something she doesn't intend on having, she sees her degree and her career choice as her future, a way to escape her family. This means that she is very focused on her work, and willingly puts in hours at the local morgue in order to learn more and gain experience.

Talents & Weaknesses

Paige is an intelligent young woman with an interest and talent for forensic science. She has always been fascinated by how the body works, and has a good memory for recognising anatomy and illnesses. Her work is well planned, and Paige has had the foresight to find work experience to back up her degree. Academically she has no talent for creative subjects such as English, Art or Drama. However, she does have an ear for music and is a member of the band 'Ashes' with a group of friends. In the band she is the lead guitarist and back-up vocals. She has been playing the guitar for years, beginning with percussion and then moving onto an electric guitar. Many have noted she is a skilled musician, and she is able to play classic and alternative music. Although she helps with the creation of the music, Paige does not have a way with words and so does not have an input into the lyrics of the songs.

Between her music, University work and working at the morgue, Paige also keeps quite fit. She has dabbled with a lot of different sports, and this year has limited them to archery and a pilates class. When she gets the time or wants to relax she will also go swimming. Archery and Pilates are held at the University and involve others, but neither are sports where she is required to interact with others a lot. Paige tends to find most students do not understand her, do not want to understand her or they just annoy her. She fits into a particular social group, and when socialising she prefers to stick to places with like minded people, such as the Rock Music Society.

As a shapeshifter Paige is only a weak Dominant, and is only able to shapeshift her hands into claws. This ability is useful for defense, and Paige is aware that other such abilities are not as useful. As a Dominant in the pack, Paige uses her position to keep herself to herself, and protect herself from others. Her dislike of male shapeshifters is caused by an underlying fear of being over-powered by one of them, or one of them finding out about her sexuality. She isn't ashamed of her sexuality, she is just scared of how her family and the Pack would react. Due to this fear, Paige does cut herself off from the Pack and this means that she is sometimes without the protection of the Pack.

Around certain types of people Paige can have a completely different personality. Around men, especially shapeshifters, she becomes agressive and cold. Authority figures make her defensive and stubborn, while girlie girls just irritate her. Her family trigger a much bigger and varied response, and her moods fly all over the place when she's experiencing family problems. It has become better now that she is no longer living at home, but with such a large family Paige is sometimes unable to avoid them.

Played In: Dark Pretenses