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Lykos - Lone Wolf

Chapter 9

Jack heard the howl of homecoming and came out to meet them, noting the upbeat tone of the howl that his training and sharp ears told him they had been successful. He grabbed the butcher's kit and came out back to wait for them on the concrete slab with water spigot and large sink they used to slaughter the carcasses the pack brought home.

When they emerged from the darkness, the keeper's eyes bulged in shock at their trophy.

"A moose? How did you manage that?" he asked. "You've never brought home something so large!"

"We had a great alpha to inspire us," Kyle told the human. "It's all thanks to him."

Ben shook his head. "My part wasn't the truly significant one. Ken and Luke used great teamwork to steer it into position, Kyle got the throat and Steve made the killing blow. My part was purely supportive."

The pack looked at him in amazement. As alpha, he could have easily claimed all the glory for himself. They, as betas, would have had no right to naysay him. But Ben had been honest, sharing the glory and specifying the contribution of each member of the pack equally. They looked on him, feeling even more respect for their alpha than before. He had shown once more that the feelings of his betas mattered to him and had acknowledged them for their contributions to the whole. Ben was truly a unique wolf and a leader worthy of respect.

"So how do we deal with this?" Ben asked.

"Well," Ken said thoughtfully. "We have the tub. I could get you a floral print dress, a wig and a shower curtain to yank back before you start stabbing away at it. But... I don't know how to play the violin."

Jack gave Ken a pain-filled glare. Ben just groaned in disgust at the 'Psycho' movie reference and let the matter go. Ken wasn't actually making fun of the alpha so he decided to avoid punishing the smart mouth... This time.

It was Kyle who had the useful thing to say. "I'll teach you how, Alpha," he said, beginning to show Ben the art of butchery that involved much more finesse than Ken had implied...

*****

Jessica let herself in and felt her mouth water despite her sour mood and mild nausea as the savory smell of roast meat hit her human nose, hunger warring with discomfort.

*That would smell a lot more wonderful if I thought I could keep anything down!* she thought as she hung her coat on the hook by the door and wandered into the kitchen as Kyle and Steve busied themselves putting away a massive amount of meat. "Did the meat blimp crash?" she asked in shock, referencing an episode of 'Drawn Together' her older brother had talked her into watching.

"More like the moose blimp," Steve answered with a surge of pride.

The woman's jaw dropped. "A moose? Really?"

The werewolf nodded. "It took all of us working together, but despite his protests to the contrary, it was really Alpha Ben's presence that inspired us to succeed. We wanted to make him proud and ensure that his first hunt was a victorious one."

Jessica frowned. "I wish you wouldn't talk about him like that, like he's the second coming, or something."

Steve, who hated religion based on his bible-thumping upbringing, scowled in distaste. "Don't talk like that. It's only natural for a pack to respect their alpha, especially one who's generous enough to avoid claiming all the credit for the kill." Kyle shared his pack mate's opinion, looking at the woman with a frown of disapproval.

Jessica expelled her breath sharply in disgust. "Ever since that man entered this house, you've all been acting differently. It's not right!"

"Yes it is," Kyle said matter-of-factly. "Any time a new wolf enters a pack, the dynamics change and behavioral adjustments occur," he said, reciting from memory what his father had taught him as a pup. "It's perfectly natural. Besides, you're just angry that Ben's our alpha now because you don't like him."

"Well he sure didn't make a great first impression," she muttered.

Steve sighed heavily. "So you're going to hold that over his head for the rest of his life? You're not being very respectful."

"I'm a keeper," she shot back in annoyance, feeling a painful spasm in her pelvis that set her teeth on edge. "I'm not going to grovel on my belly every time he snarls at me! That's not the way it works for us!"

"But you don't have to be a bitch about it," Kyle replied curtly, opening the door to the basement. "And FYI, I mean YOUR kind of bitch, not mine," the werewolf sniped over his shoulder as he carried several tubs of meat down the stairs to store away in the freezer downstairs.

"Yeah," she retorted sarcastically at the doorway to the basement. "I kind of figured that's how you meant it!" She sighed in disgust, turning to Steve, who had always been fairly reasonable. "I don't get it! You are all acting completely different! What's gotten into you guys?"

"Pride, Jessica," Steve told her firmly. "It's called pride. Ben's making us stronger than we ever were before and I like it! I'm sick of cowering with my tail between my legs all the time! Ben has already raised our rank in the wolven community really far, and we're going to go even higher. Then I can hold my head up high and know that no one can ever look down on me again! And furthermore," he said, glaring into her eyes as his own golden ones flashed, "Don't ever talk about my mate like that. I won't tolerate him being disrespected; not even by you! You're my friend, Jessica, but I won't put up with you bad mouthing him all the time. I don't care how cranky you get!"

She gritted her teeth. "I have cramps, okay?" she growled. It was bad enough that her time of the month was coming on hard, but trying to get the pig-headed wolves to see reason when they clearly didn't want to was making her pain-induced irritability even worse.

"Yeah," Steve growled with a grimace. "I can smell it. Can you go take care of your period somewhere else? It smells like a fish market in here," he snapped; the, to him, disturbing scent coming from the woman was setting his fangs on edge.

Jessica wanted to punch him. She clenched her fists, then stormed from the room. "Fine! I'll go clean out my smelly snatch if it grosses you out so much!" she snapped vulgarly, knowing he hated terminology like that as she stomped her way upstairs.

Steve was revolted, both by the smell and her wording, then opened all the kitchen windows and turned on the fan over the stove to clear the unpleasant odor from the room.

The back door opened, and Luke poked his head in from outside. "Is it gone?" he asked apprehensively.

"She's upstairs tending to herself," Steve said with a sigh.

Luke entered and closed the door behind himself. "Sounds like she's having a bad one this month. Makes me glad I'm gay. If Ken acted like that, I'd strangle him."

"You strangle him enough as it is," the higher beta replied with wry humor as the tension within him eased.

"That's different. He just pisses me off sometimes," Luke answered offhandedly.

Steve could only chuckle at that...

*****

Outside, Ben was helping Jack clean up the remains not worth keeping, like the head. They buried, rather than burning it, so as to avoid attracting lesser predators to the Den. As they worked, Ben reflected on the hunt, feeling a surge of pride in his mate for having made the actual kill. *He seemed so confident tonight. So self-assured.* That made him think more, and he cleared his throat. "Hey Jack," he asked. "I asked Steve about his past, but he didn't want to talk about it. He said it was too painful to remember, but it was okay if I asked you guys about it. What happened to him? I get the feeling that he used to be stronger, but his will was somehow broken."

The keeper sighed heavily. "It's only fair that you know, seeing as how you're his mate. Besides, if he gave permission, that alleviates my sense of guilt... How much do you know about Steve?"

"He told me how he was turned and that he used to be part of a pack, but that's all. Are they still around here?"

Jack shook his head. "Steve's from Nebraska, and as for his pack and keeper... They're all dead."

Ben stared at him in shock. "How?"

"A direwolf entered their territory. Steve was the head beta of the pack and talked his alpha into waiting until the full moon to track the beast, when finding it by smell would be easier. They convinced their keeper to let them run free during the full moon so they could hunt the direwolf down and kill it."

"What about the other packs in the area?"

"The region is small and isolated. There aren't many keepers or werewolves in the area. As for the others, they didn't believe the direwolf was real. All the pack had to go on were old, mutilated corpses from leftover kills. There wasn't enough to identify and no scent remaining on them to track, so the other two packs of the region ignored it, thinking the beast had moved on, but Steve's pack didn't want to take the chance.

"They ran free that moon and managed to track the direwolf to a ravine, where they split up, The scent was scattered and hard to pinpoint, so they figured they could cover more ground by separating; the keeper going with the alpha." He looked up into the sky. "They were cocky. Convinced that a direwolf wouldn't be that hard to defeat. They were wrong. It stalked and killed them one by one. Steve was badly wounded by the monster before the alpha and keeper arrived. They died killing the thing, and Steve was the only one of his pack to live past the night. After that, he fled the state in shame and ended up here. None of the packs here wanted him, so Kyle, Luke and Ken took him in.

"Steve never forgave himself after that. The confidence and fierceness within him broke that night, so he says, and he hasn't trusted his judgment since then. I'm sure that it is, in part, survivor's guilt. We've tried to help him... He's gotten better, for the most part."

"No, he hasn't," Ben countered bluntly. "His will has been broken by his defeat and his guilt. He clearly fears a repeat of the loss of his pack. I can tell because every time he thinks about direwolves, he panics."

"You're right," Jack agreed heavily.

"Now that I know what's wrong with Steve," Ben said calmly, "I know that I can help him."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because I know he still has great power within him... And also because I believe in him...."

*****

Later, after dinner, Ben told Steve to get dressed and they headed outside, the crisp night air of mid-December tingling against their skin where their wolven hair wasn't sprouting. They carried blankets with them to help ward off the chill as they walked a ways into the woods until they reached the spot where Ben had claimed the pack as his.

"Why are we out here all alone?" Steve asked apprehensively.

Ben ordered him to sit and took his own seat in the grass before his mate, facing him. "We are here to help you regain your strength of will. We are here so that you can reclaim your power. Jack told me about what happened in Nebraska. It is time to bury the past and reclaim your power. You are stronger than you think you are," he finished gently.

Steve looked at him nervously, shaking his head with his eyes wide. "But I'm not!" he protested. "I'm not strong! I'm weak! Stupid and weak!" he said, beginning to cry.

Ben snarled savagely at him, baring his fangs. "YOU ARE NOT WEAK! NEVER SAY SUCH A THING!" Steve nearly swallowed his tongue, stifling his guilt and pain. Ben, the alpha, was clearly in no mood to hear his protestations. "You are not weak, nor are you stupid, Steve! You made a mistake and people died, yes, but you cannot let guilt and pain consume you! I know you are strong! You stared at me longer than any other so far has done. I have seen the strength of will you possess! The power you have not lost, but shunned out of shame!"

"But it's my fault they're dead!" Steve sobbed.

Ben tilted his head. "If you knew then what you know now, would you have still pushed your plan to your pack and keeper?" he asked bluntly.

Steve was horrified. "OF COURSE NOT!" he said loudly, forgetting his place. "I loved my old pack! I would never have sent them to their deaths if I had known that they would end up dying!" the beta said, his body trembling with the intensity of his emotions, his tail rigid.

"And that's exactly why you need to stop punishing yourself for their loss!" Ben stated firmly. "YOU DID NOT KNOW!" He sighed. "You have a kind heart, Steve. I know you are not a murderer, yet you insist on treating yourself like one. DO NOT DENY IT!" he snapped, seeing the beta begin to protest. "You made a mistake. You were overconfident, true, but your alpha and keeper were the ones who ultimately had the final say, not you. They chose, in their arrogance and stupidity, to go with your plan, rather than seek outside assistance!"

"We tried going to the other packs and the keepers!" Steve told him hotly. "WE TRIED, BUT THEY WOULDN'T LISTEN!"

"EXACTLY!" Ben snarled back. "THEY ARE JUST AS GUILTY AS YOUR ALPHA AND KEEPER! THEY CHOSE TO IGNORE THE THREAT AND LET A DANGEROUS CREATURE STEAL AWAY THEIR TERRITORY! THEY WERE LAZY, STUPID COWARDS AND THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO CALL THEMSELVES WEREWOLVES!" he shouted furiously in disgust for the cowardice of those people.

Steve was shocked silent. He could only stare at his alpha numbly.

"When they refused to help," Ben growled, "Your alpha and keeper should have looked outside the region! A direwolf is a threat to EVERYONE, from what I've learned! If the packs and the keepers were too spineless to be bothered, then your keeper should have gone to the network to ask for aid! He didn't! Your alpha jeopardized his pack with his overconfidence! Yes, you came up with the plan, but he is the one who put that plan into motion! If he'd had any sense, he would've shut your idea down and come up with something else! His overconfidence is what killed them all, not you!"

Steve stared at him blankly, too numb to speak for several moments. "But it was still my idea," he said finally.

"That is irrelevant. Your say was not the final one. The blame and guilt are not yours to carry. Leave them buried with your pitiful excuse for a former alpha and learn from your mistakes. The next time you face a direwolf, you'll know what you are up against and will act to keep everyone safe. Let go of the pain, Steve," Ben added gently. "You have to let it go."

"But you weren't there..." Steve said softly. "I laid there for hours until I managed to get up the strength to move, until my body healed enough that I could get up... All that time, just staring at their bodies. I shouldn't be here right now. I should've died with them."

Furious, Ben clawed Steve across the face as he smacked him. He growled savagely in Steve's face as it bled freely. "SHUT UP! NEVER SAY SOMETHING THAT STUPID AGAIN!"

The alpha trembled with emotion as he stared angrily at the other wolf with unshed tears in his eyes until his sadness won out. "If you had died," he growled softly, "I would never have found my true love. I would've had the pack, yes... But not you." He watched his mate sit there, the slashes on his face healing rapidly. "I would've been alone." He took a deep breath as he calmed himself. "Steve, you're not the only sole survivor of a bloody encounter that I've met. I grew up on a series of military bases and met many other people like you; ones who believed that they should've been the one to die so that others might live. It's only natural to grieve for their loss and feel guilty that you are still alive, but you need to let go and move on. This pack NEEDS your strength. There's a direwolf around here and no one has been able to find them, whoever they are. I got lucky, but the next person will likely die. We need your strength to help keep us together as a pack. You must face your fears and overcome them. I made you my head beta not because you're my mate; I did it because I can see just how powerful you truly are."

"I don't feel powerful," Steve said softly as the skin knitted together on his face.

Ben's instincts drove him, inspiring his decision as he understood how to accomplish his goal. "Then let me show you your power. Look into my eyes," he commanded gently, yet firmly.

Steve did as he was told, and felt the power of the alpha bore into the very depths of his soul. Deep within him, the wolf that had grown timid perked up in interest and stared back. They began to speak silently, Ben's wolven instincts talking silently to the wolf within his mate. The alpha called out to the savage might within his mate and nurtured it, like fanning an ember to help it to grow into a flame. Steve felt power swell within him as he fed off of the alpha's powerful will, using that strength to bolster his own. The wolf in Steve rose up, hungry for that power, wanting to be strong once more. His mate wanted him to be strong. NEEDED him to be strong, and he embraced the power that flowed into him, inspiring his own which he had buried under a mountain of fear, guilt and shame, until it burst free.

::Do you want to be strong like me?:: Ben's instincts asked.

It wasn't the same as when Ben and his wolf had communicated, but it worked on the same level.

::Yes,:: Steve's wolf answered.

::Then release your pain. Your guilt. Your weakness. Embrace the savage pride of the wolf within you and accept your role as head beta. Be the mate I know you are capable of becoming. Not for me, but for yourself. Your pack will be stronger for it... And so will you.::

Deep down inside, Steve had begun to feel jealous of just how easy it was for Ben to be in synch with his animal instincts. Ben never hesitated. Never doubted. Those were weak, human concepts. A wolf knew what he was. He believed in himself without hesitation. Steve had envied that power and longed to have it for his own.

::Do you want to be like me?:: Ben asked, sensing the envy within his mate.

::Yes:: Steve answered as both human and wolf.

::Once this is done, it will be permanent. You will need to have a strong sense of self-control to live as I do. Are you certain you want this? Do you understand the risks?::

::I'm not afraid... I hate feeling like two people... To not be able to understand myself... To feel like two people sharing the same body as friends, but never truly understanding one another. We want this; both of us,:: Steve said as both human and wolf.

He felt the power of the alpha fill him, pulling the man and the animal within him closer together. They embraced eagerly, wanting to be one... And the man and wolf fused together within him as they had in Ben, turning two friends sharing the same body into a perfect, unified whole. Steve growled as his instincts merged with his human intellect, filling him with a confidence he had never hoped to feel again. He finally felt like the beast he had longed to be.

As Ben released his mate from the power of his will, the beta rose up, feeling like a new person. He was still the same Steve. He liked the same things, had the same opinions and memories. Unlike in Ben, his personality essentially remained intact in a form that others would recognize. But there was one striking difference...

Steve was no longer afraid.

The fear and self-doubt that had held him back for the last several years fell away like dust, or like a blanket that had been smothering him, allowing him to stand tall. He could still be humble, he still could laugh and joke and be his jovial old self. All that he had lost was the bouts of timidness that had held him back, the nagging twinges of uncertainty that had always made him second guess himself. He felt the power of the wolf... No... His instincts, he realized, knowing that he could never again see his wolf as a separate part of himself, fill him with power. He became aroused as the power filled him, making him feel not like a new wolf, but rather as the strong and confident wolf he had been when he had first received the gift of lycanthropy.

As the power built to a crescendo, He lifted his head and howled, announcing his restored might to the world.

Ben growled in approval as the beta made his declaration, never having felt more proud of his mate. Once Steve had ended his howl, the alpha rose up to greet him. Steve turned to him, a look of wonder on his face. "Alpha," he growled. "I feel... I feel like myself again." he looked no higher than Ben's nose, acknowledging that even after the restoration of his power and confidence, he was still a beta. He felt no bitterness at that; he accepted it as fact, without resentment. He knew his place in the world: to be the head beta of his pack and mated to the most powerful wolf he had ever known.

Then emotion overcame him and he started to tear up. "Alpha... Ben... Thank you."

Ben growled possessively. "There you are. My head beta... My mate... The wolf I knew you really were. So powerful..." he growled, his voice trembling with passion, "So masculine... So confident... You're everything I could ever have wished for in a mate." He growled in lust and pulled the beta close, crushing their bodies together as their proto-muzzles interlocked in passion. Steve pressed himself close, still submissive despite his restored glory, humping Ben's torso lustfully until they pulled apart just enough to fumble at their belts before dropping their pants and kicking them off along with their shoes. They wore no socks... The claws would've shredded them within moments. The shoes had steel toes, so could withstand the friction of their claws.

Ben pulled away with a snarl of need, spun Steve around and shoved him to all fours. The beta lifted his tail, presenting his eager, musky hole. Ben practically pounced on him, driving his stiff dick inside of his mate to the hilt before battering away savagely with abandon until his knot formed, binding their bodies together. Ben snarled fiercely as he orgasmed, filling his mate's eager butt with wolf spunk. He groaned lustfully as he felt the beta's sphincter begin to clench and release rhythmically as he came, the sensation of the alpha's knot grinding away at his prostate driving him over the brink, and Ben smelled the musky tang of Steve's seed as he came. They didn't howl... They didn't need to. This moment was not for the world, but for them alone, to savor together.

"Steve. You've made your alpha proud. The strong, sexy mate I always wanted. The kind any alpha would be jealous to have. Never be afraid again. And when we find that direwolf..."

Steve snarled savagely. "I'LL RIP IT TO FUCKING PIECES!!!" he roared, his hand claws cutting deep gouges in the frozen turf as he continued to cum. Ben growled savagely in approval...

After their orgasms ended, they began to shiver. "I'm cold," Steve growled with worry. He could feel Ben shivering against his skin.

"M-m-me too," the alpha admitted, stuttering as he began to shiver.

"G-g-grab a blanket," Steve suggested.

"I c-can't; they're over th-there," Ben said, seeing that the blankets were a fair ways out of reach.

"Wh-what do-oo we d-do?"

"M-move with me," Ben said. "N-no. Left f-foot f-first."

It was awkward as they practically crab-walked across the forest floor, but the strange, eight-limbed cluster of bodies made it over to grab the blankets and drape them over themselves. "As s-soon as I c-can p-pull free, w-we head b-back to the D-den," Ben stuttered again as he shivered.

"B-ben? Next t-time we do this-s... C-can we do it s-somewhere w-warmer-er?" the beta asked.

"G-g-good idea," Ben replied, feeling embarrassed at their plight...

*****

They managed to avoid getting sick, but it was clearly only due to the healing abilities and enhanced immune response all werewolves had in a greater or lesser degree. They let themselves back inside to find Luke, Ken and Kyle waiting for them.

"Steve," Ken said as they entered. "Dude! What was with that howl? You sounded... I don't know... Different."

"Yeah," Luke added thoughtfully. "You sounded confident."

"I feel confident," Steve said with a smile that was marred by his shivering.

Kyle leaned in and took a whiff. "Oh ho! You two got wild in the wild huh? But out in cold like that?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Man, that's cra-" He stopped himself from completing the word, but Ben growled at him angrily. "Alpha! I'm sorry! Really! I shouldn't have said that! Please forgive me!" he pleaded.

Ben, weak from his exertions and the cold, reached forward slowly with an index claw and made a vertical slice down the beta's nose in punishment, causing Kyle to hiss with pain. "You're lucky I don't have it in me to do more at the moment," Ben grumbled in annoyance." We're going to bed," he finished, his earlier euphoria ruined by the beta's offhanded comment. With that, he and his head beta made their way up to their room for some well deserved rest.

"Smooth move," Luke told Kyle, the later grumbling in pain and shame at his slip up. He had indeed gotten off lucky. He, too, remembered that Ben hated the 'c' word being applied to him and was embarrassed at his blunder. "You're almost as bad as he is," Luke added, jabbing a thumb at his mate.

"Shut up," Kyle growled in annoyance as the flesh on his nose began to knit itself together. He left the room with his tail dragging low in shame.

Ken turned to Luke with annoyance. "Really? You have to keep rubbing it in?"

"Are you kidding? I'm surprised all you've gotten so far is a sock on the nose," Luke told him in an exasperated tone. "You're lucky I love you enough to have as much patience as I do."

Ken pouted. "Sure, take everyone else's side," he sulked.

"I love you all the same," Luke told Ken gently, giving him a quick lick on the side of his proto-muzzle.

"Don't butter me up," Ken pouted half-heartedly, then swatted his mate hard on the butt with his tail before he made his way to the kitchen for a bone to ease his injured pride.

"Love you too, Jerk," he said with subdued flippancy over his shoulder as he went...

*****

Jessica was feeling better the next day and therefor in a more pleasant mood, but no where near as much so as Steve, who was whistling "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" enthusiastically as he got ready to make omelets. She stood in the doorway with a slackened jaw as she saw him crack eggs onto the hot griddle build into the stovetop. Kyle was sitting at the table and after exchanging a glance with her, shrugged helplessly. She entered the kitchen slowly and sat down. "Good morning," she said slowly.

To say that Steve was acting strangely was an understatement. While he was always vaguely jovial, he had never been the type to sing. He had been rather put out last night as well, so his cheerful demeanor was even more out of place as he was notorious for being moody and withdrawn after an argument. To see him singing with his tail held high and wagging lazily behind him, rather than silent with his tail drooping timidly so soon after an argument was shocking.

"Morning," he said cheerfully, as though he didn't have a care in the world. "Want an omelet?"

"Sure," the woman said slowly, feeling confused.

Jack came in, stifling a yawn, and poured himself a cup of coffee with a small amount of sugar before he sat down at the table. Jack was never one to wake up quickly, so they knew it wouldn't be until his third cup of Joe that he would be mentally coherent.

"Hungry, Jack?" Steve asked jovially.

"Yes... With jalapenos this time," he grumbled blearily.

"Coming right up!" the werewolf said cheerfully, practically danced to the fridge, fished them out along with mushrooms and cheese for the dishes he was making for himself and Kyle, then tossed the mushrooms over to the counter, slid the jar of jalapenos along the countertop to join them, then flipped the package of shredded cheese through the air where it plopped squarely on the linoleum counter with a healthy smack. "Yes!" he said softly to himself, pumping his fist in victory as he gently kicked the refrigerator door closed and moved back to the griddle.

By this point, even the normally still oblivious Jack stopped to stare at the werewolf as though a complete stranger had suddenly appeared in the kitchen. "Steve..." he asked slowly as his brain remembered what it was designed to do and began functioning. "Are you alright?"

"Never felt better!" Steve said as he slit the cheese pack open with a claw and began to sprinkle some of the contents over two of the already poured omelets before he cracked more eggs on the grill to make breakfast for the humans.

"You seem different," Jack persisted.

"I am different," Steve said simply. "Alpha Ben helped me regain my courage last night... Among other things, of course."

"What kinds of things?" Jack asked nervously.

"Well, he-" the werewolf paused as a bird darted past the window, his body perfectly still. After it had passed by, he leaned forward to peer out the window, looking to see where the avian had gone, then snorted and resumed motion. He shook his head. "Sorry; you were saying?" he asked, returning his attention to the cooking.

Now the other three knew something was very wrong. Before, Steve had always flinched at sudden movement, as though afraid of being attacked, not frozen to avoid detection as he had just done, like a predator who had stopped moving to avoid having his prey detect his presence.

"Alright," Jessica said sharply. "What did he do to you? You're acting like a completely different person!"

Steve growled as his tail went rigid. "Watch your tone, Human. That's my mate AND my alpha you're disrespecting!" he said grimly as he kept his attention on his work.

At that, all three member of his audience went numb with shock. Steve NEVER talked to anyone that way; speaking with such authority or referring to the keepers as human in an aggressive tone of voice.

"Steve," Jack said with worry. "What's gotten into you?"

The werewolf turned to him, and Jack was shocked at the expression of confidence on the wolf's face; an expression he had never seen there before. "My courage is what has gotten into me. I thought you would be happy for me. Now that I'm in full harmony, you're acting like I've gone crazy or something!"

"What do you mean by 'full harmony'?" Jessica asked apprehensively.

"Alpha Ben unified the two halves of my being into a single mind. Now my human and wolf sides are one and the same, just like it is for him. To be honest, I like it. It makes me feel even more connected to my lycanthropic power. I like it and it makes me feel more confident in myself."

Kyle looked at him thoughtfully. "So that's why you're acting like a unified wolf-born type of personality. I thought that's what it was."

"Unified?" Jack asked, the blood draining from his face. "How the Hell did he do that?"

"Through sheer, unadulterated willpower," Ben said from the doorway. He walked in, nodded to Kyle in greeting and moved up to Steve to press up against him from behind. Steve reacted by wrapping his long wolf tail around his mate's butt in an affectionate hugging-posture. "How you feeling?" Ben asked huskily.

"I feel incredible."

"Good," Ben growled lustily and wrapped his arms around Steve in a way that left his arms free to cook. "Make me one too... With mushrooms." Then he bent his head down and bit Steve on the bare shoulder lustfully, drawing a small amount of blood from the beta in a fierce display of affection. Steve growled passionately in appreciation at the attention while Ben licked the bite clean with his canine tongue as it healed up.

"Ahem," came the feminine protest behind them.

Ben ignored her. "You liked that?"

"Yeah," Steve growled. "It felt great." He sighed in satisfaction as the alpha's hand squeezed his right buttock sensuously.

"AHEM!" Jessica repeated loudly.

"What?" Ben snapped in irritation, his tail going rigid and his body tensed up in agitation, angry that his fun had been interrupted, especially since he had no plans to take things farther and risk the food burning if he distracted his mate for too long.

"I do NOT need to see that," the woman said bluntly.

"Then change your seat," the alpha replied curtly. "The living room works for me," he said dismissively, turning back to his mate.

Jessica swelled up in indignation, but Jack had put up with more and he cared to. "Enough arguing!" he snapped at the both of them. "I am too tired to listen to this shit! Jessica, they're mates. You don't act this way when Luke and Ken become affectionate, so I can only assume this is all about your blatant hostility towards Ben! It ends now! As your instructor, I'm beginning to have serious doubts about your ability to maintain a professional demeanor!"

She stopped in shock. "He came in here and stole them away from us and I'm supposed to LIKE it?!?"

"I didn't steal anyone away from anyone," Ben said coldly. "This pack needed an alpha to lead them and I became that wolf. I've tried to work with you, but you lash out and me and belittle everything I do. Frankly I'm sick of it! I APOLOGIZED to you and you still hold my initial treatment of you over my head like the Sword of Damocles! If you can't let it go then I'm beginning to have serious doubts about you living here and being a keeper to us!" He sighed. "I'm trying to get along with you! Will you please stop punishing me endlessly and try to do the same?"

The woman closed her eyes. "I just don't want them to get hurt or be abused," she admitted thickly. "I swore to protect them, but ever since you came along, everything has changed so much that it scares me. Just what do you plan to do? What IS your ultimate goal?"

Ben sighed as he let go of Steve, turned around and leaned back against the counter. "The wolf packs around here are in turmoil, from what the guys have told me. It's like a perpetual series of tribal feuds and it's only a matter of time before someone does or says the wrong thing and a mistake is made that will expose us all. The problem is that the packs are all vying for control to a greater or lesser degree and refuse to listen to the keepers. If something isn't done to stabilize the tension, disaster WILL strike. My plan is to unify all the packs under my own overall leadership to bring them under control. I'm going to become Head Alpha."

The humans stared at him in shock. "You aren't serious!" Jack said slowly, unable to believe what he had heard.

"Each pack will retain it's personal autonomy, but be under my ultimate authority. With a single strong leader to settle inter-pack disputes, we can become a stronger, more stable society free from turmoil that could ruin it all for everyone. It's a lack of a single strong leader that threatens the stability of wolven society in the region and the keepers along with them. I know the keepers have tried, but the wolves clearly don't listen and don't respect or appreciate them. With me as that leader, things will begin to settle down and the threat will ease as the packs learn to control themselves instead of acting like a bunch of rival biker gangs. They'll also need to start working with the keepers, rather than struggle against them. It's like the werewolves around here have forgotten just how important the keepers are to our kind and only seem to care about playing dominance games with each other."

"You're making a lot of assumptions, true as some of then may be, but you barely understand how things work for keepers and werewolves, yet are already trying to become head honcho!" Jack said grimly. "You haven't even had your first full moon and already you're playing Napoleon!"

"Berke and his head betas were tracking Steve at Wal-Mart!" Ben snapped "A public place, for crying out loud, just so they could bully him! And from what I've heard, Angela's pack are all sadistic hedonists and James runs things worse than Stalin! As for Lester and Monica's packs, they're acting like the Bloods and the Crypts! How the Hell has a disaster NOT already happened?!? Not to mentioned the fact that the direwolf is still out there somewhere, just waiting to shit out the remains of his next victim and the packs are too busy squabbling with each other and opposing their keepers to find the fucker and finish him!" Ben snapped. "This region needs strong leadership and I'm it! I may not have been in the service officially, but does any werewolf around here besides me have both the drive and the training I've had to lead properly?"

Jack sighed heavily. "No, no one. There's two other wolves who've had formal service training, but neither of them has the drive to be an alpha."

"So I'm the only one who can lead the wolves of the region with skill and authority. I'll work in synch with the keepers to ensure that our society remains both stable and hidden from humanity and get the local wolves to start recognizing the value of your kind to us. Isn't that a goal worth fighting for? Peace, unity and safety?"

The human man sighed heavily. "Yes; it IS worth fighting for. If that's your ultimate goal, then I'll do my best to support you. I was wrong to assume your motive was to be king of the hill for the sake of your own ego," he said, lowering his head in acceptance of the situation.

"Actually, both are correct," Ben admitted, surprising Jack, who looked back up at him with raised eyebrows. "My alpha ego demands that I be in charge, but I also want to do it to make the community a better, stronger, safer one. In the end, it will be in the best interests of everyone if my superiority was acknowledged as absolute."

Jessica snorted with disgust. "Oh brother."

"Get used to it," Ben told her bluntly. "That's the way I am and in the end, it will benefit everyone. If you can't handle that, then leave."

"I'm not going anywhere," she said in an offhanded, yet defiant manner. "I made a promise to the guys that I'd be here for them and I'm not going back on my word."

"Then stop interfering in my plans and belittling me all the time; it's getting old. I love my pack; I want them to be strong and respected. Aren't you sick of worrying about them every full moon, wondering if they'll still be a pack when the force field comes down?"

"We call it a barrier," she replied in a subdued, curt tone, "but yes; I worry about them. I want them to stay their own pack and be happy... I also want them to be safe."

"Then let me make them strong enough to defend themselves during the full moon and beyond. I want them to stay safe, together and happy just as much as you do, so stop butting heads with me and let me do it," he finished firmly.

Jessica took a deep breath to steady herself. "Fine," she said grudgingly. "We'll play it your way. But if anything happens to any of the guys, it'll be your fault, not mine!"

"Deal," Ben said, offering his hand.

Jessica sighed in resignation and shook his strong hand.

"Shit!" Steve swore, spinning around and began frantically scraping away at the eggs. "Fuck! I'm sorry Kyle..." he said, wilting. "It looks like your breakfast burned a little."

"It's okay, I'll eat them anyways."

Steve scooped them onto a plate for Kyle, then refocused on his cooking.

"So you made Steve like yourself?" Jack asked Ben with a frown.

"By his consent, from both the human and the wolf halves of his soul, yes. He's like me, now. The human and the wolf are a single mind and heart within him. It helped him to overcome his fear and guilt over his past and regain his courage. He's a stronger, happier wolf for the experience."

"Are you planning to do this to the others?" Jessica asked grimly.

Ben glared at her, but answered her question. "Only if they want it. To be honest, I don't think any of them need that. Kyle is already that way by birth and the mates don't have anything obstructing their connection to their inner power. Their empowerment will be all about training. Speaking of training, I'll begin teaching them all how to fight the way I do, combining human resourcefulness with wolven power to deadly effect. By the time I'm done, they'll be the strongest betas anyone has ever heard of," he growled in prideful anticipation.

"Speaking of Luke and Ken, what are they up to?" Jack asked, looking around in curiosity.

Ben cocked his head, using his superior canine hearing. "I think it's the reverse cowboy... But it could be the regular cowboy," he said thoughtfully, analyzing the series of lustful grunts and the tangs of their combined musks wafting down the stairs from above as he sniffed a few times to test the air.

"Eww," Jessica said...