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Part 25

Over the following month summer began to shift to fall as life began to return to normal with Aduro's addition to the pack. Some days he never left his room others he would come out and try and socialize with the rest of us while putting on a brave front, though I could tell he was still trying to come to terms with his new life.

One afternoon I am in the library giving Aaron, the cubs from Wolfie's pack, Shadow, Aduro, and several others a history lesson on the Roman Empire. Having firsthand experience and personal memories of that time I was able to make the lesson much more enjoyable for everyone. But it still wasn't easy keeping the cubs focused on the lesson it was after all still a history lesson.

Just as I am telling about the fall of Rome a flash of lightning and rumble of thunder from outside causes everyone to jump, myself included. The sky had been dark and threatening rain all day. It had decided now to unleash its pent up energy completely destroying what control I had left over the lesson as the youngest cubs shouted and ran to the nearest adult.

After the last echoes of the thunder die away and all the cubs have calmed down I let out a short sigh and say loudly enough for everyone to hear, "I think that's enough history for today, the storm seems intent on interrupting me."

A light chuckle passes around the room as everyone begins to get up and leave the room. As they are leaving I call out, "Next time we talk about the start of the dark ages."

After everyone leaves I turn to the window and look out at the falling rain and grey sky. After a moment I grab the window and pull it open letting the cool wet air flow into the room for a moment. Taking a deep breath I just stand there enjoying all the water in area, rain storms always make me feel stronger and more at ease.

I'm leaning against the window watching the rain as a pair of strong arms wrap around my chest from behind. Shadow rests his head on my shoulder as he looks out the window with me before asking, "What are you looking at?"

I take in a slow deep breath through my nose smelling the rain on the air before I respond, "Just enjoying the rain. It always leaves me feeling stronger and more at peace with myself."

Shadow snorts and buries his nose in my fur as he grumbles, "Well I don't much care for it. Makes me feel like I will never be dry again."

That causes me to laugh and turn in his embrace so I can look him in the face before speaking, "Well the reason you feel that way is because your natural element is fire while mine is water. When it rains I am surrounded by water and it makes me feel stronger while making you feel a bit weaker. By contrast on hot sunny days I tend to feel dried out and overly parched while you feel more energetic and active right?"

He tilts his head to the side and thinks for a moment before saying, "I never really thought about it, but yeah I do like hot sunny days better than any other time." I give him a quick peck of a kiss on the tip of his nose then turn to look back out the window. With a sigh he rests his chin on my shoulder and watches with me.

For several minutes we stand there just watching the rain fall to earth till voices reach us from the ground below. Wolfie's voice is the first to become clear enough to understand, "I have told you before Teagan, I will not tolerate any more talk about doing anything to betray the trust Seeker and his pack have given us. Without them we would be outcasts with no home or worse we would be dead."

Teagan's voice drifts up to us out of the rain sounding agitated and laced with venom, "If it wasn't for that old relic our pack would be more powerful than ever. He is the reason our pack lost so much. We would have a new home now if not for how he destroyed our Alpha."

Just then the two wolves step into view beneath us in the yard. I step back from the open window just enough to not be seen from below. Shadow looks at me with a look of disgust on his face as he opens his mouth to talk but I quickly silence him with a shake of my head and motion for him to listen silently.

Wolfie's voice comes as a barely controlled growl, "You are too young to full understand how hard life was for us under Harandoom's rule while he was possessed. You don't know the fear we all lived under or know the loss we all suffered just because it made that thing happy to hurt us."

From my position I can see Teagan step off waving his arms over his head as he rants, "So you think we are so much better now? Clawing at the scraps that they give us from their table, living here at their whim, not even having a home to call our own."

He turns and jabs a finger in Wolfie's chest as he continues, "All because you are too weak to fight for us. All of you are cowards and traitors to our pack."

In a flash of silver fur Wolfie's paw shoots from his side to grab Teagan's wrist and bend it back from his chest forcing the other wolf to his knees as he whines in pain. With his voice laced with rage Wolfie speaks in a voice almost too low for me to hear over the rain, "You are only in this pack still because I respected your parents. They would be ashamed of the person you have become. If I ever hear you talking this disrespectfully to me or anyone else. You will be banished from our pack. Am I clear Teagan?"

After a moment Teagan nods with a whine and Wolfie releases his wrist and turns to go back in the house.

When Wolfie is about twenty paces away I see Teagan's paw go to his back where he pulls out a dagger from under his shirt. Before I can warn Wolfie Teagan has thrown the dagger at his alphas back.

I watch in horror as the silver blade spins through the air. Just before it hits Wolfie however he is tackled to the ground by a brown blur that came from the trees to his side. In the confusion I lost track of where the dagger went.

At that moment Shadow and I both leap from the window summoning our weapons as we leap to the muddy ground below us. The drop from the second story window not being much of a challenge for two werewolves in good shape.

With a pair of wet thumps we both land on the ground and immediately set off for Teagan who is getting to his feet to continue attacking Wolfie unaware of two guardians charging him.

In a blur of blue I use the staff of my trident to knock Teagan's feet out from under him causing him to fall on his back with a look of shock on his face. Before he can react Shadow has the blade of his sword pressed to his neck holding him in place on the muddy ground.

Without taking his eyes off Teagan Shadow says, "Go check on Wolfie and the other wolf. I will keep this scum here." With a nod to him I turn and race over to the two prone forms on the ground.

As I reach them I see that Wolfie is getting to a sitting position rubbing his head which has been half covered in mud from where he landed on the ground. In a hurried voice I ask him, "Wolfie are you ok? Shadow and I saw what happened but were too far away to stop Teagan from attacking you."

He shakes his head to clear it before replying, "I'm fine, what happened?" Teagan threw a dagger at you while your back was turned but this wolf came out of nowhere and pushed you out of the way."

We both turn to look at the other wolf next to us and instantly both of our eyes are drawn to the dagger that has impaled itself to the hilt in the wolf's lower back just to the left of his spine. I kneel down beside the wolf, dropping my trident to the ground where it splashes into water, and begin checking the wound that has a rapidly spreading pool of red around it.

Careful not to jostle the young wolf to much I lift him in my arms and begin to carry him to the house while Wolfie starts checking his face for signs of life when he lets out a cry of shock. I look at him from the corner of my eye as we quickly walk and ask, "Who is it Wolfie?"

I know the wolf is not from my pack so I know it must be from his. He lets out a pained sigh before saying, "Its Lance Michaels a younger member of my pack who has been following me around a lot lately for some reason." I look at Wolfie with a raised eyebrow but say nothing as we enter the house.

With a loud bark I yell out, "WE NEED HELP DOWN HERE!! BRING BANDAGES!!!" There is a burst of movement from all directions as wolves and visiting humans begin racing around the house getting what they can to help us.

I move from the door to the dining room where the table is thankfully bare while not in use. Carefully I set Lance down on the table and begin to use my claws to cut his shirt away so we can see where the dagger has hit him exactly.

After getting the bloodied remains of his shirt away I can look at the wound closer while Rosalie and an elderly female wolf from Wolfie's pack enter the room. The wolf speaks up first, "What happened?"

Wolfie is standing by Lance s head holding one of his paws as the young wolf slips in and out of consciousness so I answer her, "Wolfie and Teagan were out front having a... discussion. After they were done and Wolfie was walking away, Teagan took out a dagger and threw it at his back. Before the dagger hit him Lance here came out of nowhere and pushed Wolfie out of the way, but got hit by the dagger instead."

The wolf looks up at me with rage in her eyes, "Where is Teagan now?" I nod my head toward the door, "Shadow has him outside right now under sword point." She nods then sets to work on Lance s wound with Rosalie's help.

The whole time they work on the young wolfs injury Wolfie doesn't leave his side or let go of his paw, talking encouragingly to him. I step back and guard the door from any extra onlookers from entering.

A yelp from Lance catches my attention causing me to look up just in time to see the dagger being pulled free from his back by Rosalie who quickly sets it to the side and sets to work with the female wolf to stop the bleeding and stitch up the wound.

After several agonizingly long minutes Rosalie and the female both step back from working on Lance. Rosalie wipes her hands off on a nearby towel as she says, "Well we have done all we can. Provided he doesn't reopen the wound he should be fine. He was lucky, nothing major was hit."

With that Rosalie and the female wolf step out of the room into the waiting crowd outside to give them the news. While the door is open I can see that Shadow has brought Teagan in and that he has been tied to a chair and placed under guard.

After the door closes I turn to Wolfie and watch as he sits beside Lance still holding his paw while he sleeps. I clear my throat and say, "Lance means more to you than just being part of your pack doesn't he."

I said it as a statement rather than a question causing Wolfie to look up at me with a bit of surprise on his face. Before he can respond I continue, "It's kind of obvious from the way you have been holding his paw the whole time my friend."

He looks down at his paw as though seeing it for the first time before blushing under his fur as he says, "I didn't realize I was. Guess he does mean more to me than I realized. Under the old leadership I was never able to act on my feelings for other males and I admit I had a bit of a crush on him a while back, but I thought I was over it."

I chuckle softly, "Well it looks to me as though it's a bit more than a crush now. For both of you." I nod back towards their paws where Lance has tightened his grip around Wolfie's paw after waking up and looking at him through tired eyes.

After blinking a few times he looks up at Wolfie and says, "I have always cared about you Wolfie, first as a friend, then a crush, now as my Alpha and I hope, maybe, something more someday." Wolfie smiles down at him as I begin to feel that I am intruding on a private conversation and excuse myself out of the dining room and into the main area.

I close the door behind myself quietly and look about the rest of the room where everyone is waiting for news. I clear my throat and speak so they can all hear, "Lance is going to be ok, and he and Wolfie just need a few minutes alone for now."

An older member of Wolfie's pack speaks up from a seat near a window, "Well it's about time those two realize they have feelings for each other. Most of us realized they did a long time ago." All eyes turn to the older male wolf as he grins, "Just saying, I want my Alpha to be with someone who makes him happy and that's all Lance wants to do."

A round of chuckles goes around the room before a growl is heard coming from a chair near the door and everyone looks to see Teagan tied up and under guard. My mood goes from happy to pissed off in less than a second as I lock eyes with Teagan.

In the same instant that our eyes lock he goes from his arrogant angry bearing to that of a whipped pup. All around us the room grows silent as I slowly begin to approach him. Without a word Shadow and the other wolf guarding him step to the side to give me free access to Teagan.

When I am inches away from him I shoot my hand out and grab him by the collar of his shirt and lift him and his chair up off the ground and slam him against the wall at my eye level and growl at him in a voice so low that it vibrates around the room, "If you were a member of my pack and had just pulled the stunt you did on me you would already be dead. As it is your fate is not in my hands, you should be grateful for that small mercy. Your punishment is up to Wolfie now, but I tell you this, if he spares your life for any reason and you ever pull another stunt like this I will not hesitate to make sure that your life ends at that point. Am I clear?"

Teagan's eyes are wide with terror as he nods his head whining with his ears pressed hard against his skull. I drop him and his chair to the floor with a loud clunk. With that I turn back to the rest of the gathered crowd and say, "I think everyone has other stuff they need to get back to. The show is over here."

With that everyone begins to scatter back through the house. I glance over at Shadow and say, "Take that trash somewhere out of the way for now please." With a nod and a grim look he unties Teagan from the chair and escorts him out of the room. I find a seat near a window and sit down as I wait for Wolfie to finish his talk with Lance.

Before long the door to the dining room opens and Wolfie walks out with Lance in his arms. He is half asleep with his arms wrapped around Wolfie's neck while his head rests against Wolfie's chest. I just smile at the pair as they go past and Wolfie smiles back at me with a blush not saying a word as he carries Lance upstairs to a room.

I shake my head as I get up from my chair before heading to the door and opening it to watch the rain fall. For several minutes I stand there watching the storm move through valley listening to the occasional clap of thunder following each flash of lightning.

The smell of wet air and earth flows around me for several minutes rejuvenating and invigorating me. I close my eyes and just let the smells and sounds clear my mind.

When a pair of paws settle on my shoulders I jump at the sudden sensations having let my guard down. I turn around and there stands Shadow looking at me with raised eyebrows asking, "Did I startle you love?"

I raise a paw to rub my eyes before answering, "It's ok, just let my mind wander a bit is all and wasn't paying attention to my surroundings." I lower my paw and look at my love asking, "Is Teagan secure?"

He nods, "Jasper and Rick are guarding him now. Though I think they are doing it more to keep him alive till Wolfie can pass judgment than to keep him from hurting others." At that I raise my eyebrows in a questioning manner. Seeing my look Shadow answers the unspoken question, "Some of Wolfie's pack got a bit... upset once they heard the whole story while waiting for news on Lance but they have calmed down a lot now so we don't have to worry about anything happening now."

I nod as I say, "That's good, last thing we need now is for someone with a temper to do something they would regret later. For now we just need to make sure everyone is safe until a decision is made."

I turn back to the storm and watch as a bolt of lightning strikes a tree not far from the house and splits the trunk in two. Shadow steps up next to me and says, "The storm is getting worse isn't it." I nod even though I know he was not asking a question as I reply, "Yes it is getting worse, and there is another storm that will be more terrible yet coming. One that will test all of us I'm afraid."

He leans next to me lays his head on my shoulder saying, "Well at least Wolfie and Lance finally got together. Some of us were beginning to consider making bets on how long it would take those two to realize they were made for each other."

I chuckle, "Sometimes it takes a tragic event to make people realize what is obvious to everyone else. Though this could have been much worse today, Lance was very lucky."

Just then a loud thump followed by shouting comes from upstairs. I look up at the ceiling and let out a sigh as I say, "What now?"