Chapter 12 "The Decision"

Today I was able to return home to my lair. As we unloaded everyone from the minivan, Gwen put all of the Quads in my arms and giggled to herself at how all four were able to fit there so easily and snuggly in my grasp. Two lay nestle comfortably against either of my bicep and the other two were pressed against my abdominal with their heads supported by my very large hands.

Gwen took the opportunity to take a picture of me to post on her social media pages with the caption world's best dad or with something to that effect I am sure. She definitely had that kind of satisfied and pleased look in her eyes. "You've done this before haven't you? Are sure you haven't fathered other children?" she teased me.

I scowled at her. "My memory is still kind of fuzzy...I might have done this before" I teased back before almost all the female members of my family came pouring out the front door like an avalanche. A couple of them were able to get out while the rest behind them fell and piled up on top of each other. All were gorgeous werewolf women eager to see the babies, I guess they were extremely adorable based off their reactions.

"Oh! That's so cute!" they gushed. All four were plucked from my grasp and whisked away into the house. I was very annoyed with their lack of enthusiasm with my return, but my mother stood in front of us smiling ear to ear. "I'm so happy that you have gotten your strength back" she told me before she looked to Emily who stood by my side despite everything that she had seen I was capable of doing...then again I did just hold an arm full of infants.

"Wow girl werewolves really love babies don't they?" She asked.

My mother giggled. "We all love them, even the boy ones"

Emily looked into the house and some of my cousins were fighting over who got turns holding the babies. I was surprised with how all the blood and bullet holes got cleaned up on the carpet and the walls. I guess my family members worked their tails off to get everything spotless like nothing ever happened.

"But...Daddy is the only boy werewolf here" she commented.

My mother made brief eye contact with me and laughed nervously. "They are...around. Boy werewolves are too rough and scary for little babies not to mention is very crowded inside the den" she rambled before I grew annoyed.

"They better not be raiding my stash!" I raised myself with a low ferocious growl.

I got as far as the door threshold, and Yvonne, a short dark skinned Tenino woman, cut me off. She placed her hand on her hip and the other on the trim standing firm while she glared at me. "Uh-uh! Grumpy wolves stay outside!"

"It's my house! My food!" I raised my voice at her. She did not flinch and turn off to the side. "Bernard! Please take care of your nephew!" she called out.

My uncle came over from a couch inside, and he was a lot bigger than me and also heavier especially around the waistline. My muscles had atrophied so much that I was in no condition to be taking him on. Gwen gawked at him, but she stayed beside my mother awkwardly hoping we would not get into a fight. Bernie crossed his arms over his chest and snorted. "No one is eating your stash that they aren't going to replace. I've already made that clear with everyone" he spoke harshly.

I grumbled to myself, and Gwen came up behind me and rubbed my back. "Relax babe! Relax..." she spoke softly to me.

"They are touching everything!" I told grumbled to myself.

She then grabbed my arm and twisted it. "Please, they are only here to help. Until we get back on our feet. You're still recovering honey" he said.

I could not stop growling over my territory being encroached upon, but Emily distracted me by grabbing my other hand just looking up at me with that cute disarming smile of admiration. She was so innocent and pure, and her cheery attitude was just too infectious for even a brute like me to ignore. I calmed down enough to smile back and ruffle her head.

Gwen went inside and Emily followed her inside looking back at me one more time like she was checking that I was still there, her protector. Bernie came out and frowned. "I heard about what you did with that man, you know it doesn't look good to just slay a human like that when you had already neutralized him"

"Would you have done anything different?" I asked coldly.

He stared out into the fields and wetlands. "I wouldn't have done it any different. That scumbag got what he deserved, so...what happened to the body?"

"I don't know...a hunter came when he heard the gunshots. He watched the whole thing even. You'd have to ask him" I muttered after I looked away at a butterfly fluttering carelessly around the flowers my wife planted. What started as a slow steady invasion of her things filling my bathroom into my bedroom had spread throughout the house like the lycanthropy virus. She had now taken over the inside as well as the outside no longer was this just his den. She had claimed it for herself and the kids.

"Hmph, how did you manage that? You had to have done something very spectacular for a hunter to just allow you to kill someone like that" Bernie commented.

"I don't know...they follow their code where ever it's convenient. I guess hunters see pimps as beneath even werewolves" I rambled.

Bernie looked around and saw the freshly planted flowers. "I see...he saw that you've been domesticated" He mumbled as he sat down on the stoop. "So you heard about Steele?"

"No...what happened?" I asked.

"His house got broken into by some hunters while you were in a coma. Only Lilian and Toby survived" He said in dismay. I did not know what to think honestly. I met the guy and his family, but I did not know that much about him compared to Bernie. They fought in so many werewolf turf wars and uphold werewolf law. I felt numb and it had not hit me as much as it should.

"No way! Steele was killed?" I shouted before I glanced over towards my mother who nodded to this. "That's really bad! What's going to happen to the wolves up there? Are you going to take over?"

"I don't know...this is sure to stir up misanthropic sentiments for sure. You know all about Peter, right?" He asked before I looked at him knowing about how power hungry this wolf was. "He's not doing himself any favors calling for a vote this soon"

"Yea, no shit! What does Jean think about this all?" I asked.

"He thinks there's more to it than just Peter. You know how SAD has been targeting us to register with them. It's a win-win for them. They get to scare wolves into registering for protection, and they provoke others to attack humans. They want a reaction from us in other words. Peter's too stupid to realize this no matter how smart he tries to make other think he is"

"I guess we'll just see how things go" I mumbled before I sat down beside him. "How's Toby doing?"

"He's not well...I brought him and Lilian along with the entire family, but he's been sitting on the couch the whole time he's been here" he explained before his 5 year old copper toned daughter came around the corner being chased by Emily and other werewolf children. "I can't believe you broke your rule about dating human milfs"

"I can't believe I'm not dead either" I said honestly.

Bernie slapped me on the back and gave a belly laugh. "Hell you got four pups out of it...by the looks of it she'll give you twenty more, haha!" he teased.

"Well I hope not all at once" My mother chimed in with a thoughtful smile. "I hope you are careful doing your filming with her"

I lost my breath and nearly had my eyes pop out of my skull. "W-w-what do you mean? What filming?"

Bernie chuckled as he and my mother looked at each other with a big grin. "We know about your wife's other profession..." he said as if it were not a big deal. "From what I've heard she makes way more money doing that"

My mother blushed and covered her mouth giggling. "She is awfully blessed to have a body like that. I would take advantage of that in a heartbeat before everything sags and wrinkles. Have fun with it" she said half truthfully.

I was mortified that she would be so okay with this, but I guess I was happy she was not bothered by it. "Has she...spoken to you about this before..." I asked before she nodded her head and giggled even more.

"She asked me...she talks to me a lot more than you do" she told me.

Later that week Gwen started down daily postings of videos, pictures, and blogs for her site. Once I had regained the muscle that I had lost, she got me in some however only from my shoulders down was ever seen. My name on her site I guess was Big bad, and someone suggested a POV shoot where I was forced to wear a goddamn Go-pro camera to my chest looking down. I felt like a stupid dildo than anything. It was awkward when she tried to press her boobs into my face and the camera got in the way. Off camera she was sneak passionate kisses, so I guess it was alright.

We have been interrupted a few times with our pups crying, but luckily or unfortunately depending how you look at it, Bernie, Yvonne, and Lilian and their family stayed at my place along with my mother. I like to think they did not know what we were doing, but when I comes to werewolves, we all know what's going on in the bedroom when the music is turned up. Even if we cannot hear the action, our imaginations fill in the blank. Nothing is private with our keen senses. Come to think of it, I guess that is why I am not bothered with doing this and seeing each other naked is normal for us wolves.

We came back to the farm to pick up Jack, which he had been looking like he had been dreading this day. Her parents were very grateful to see me back to full strength, and they wanted to see their new grandbabies. I had to explain to them how the werewolf thing worked and they were worried about them getting bit. I am guessing this was a concern Jack had, but he was too afraid to address it with me directly.

I pointed out that they developed about the same as human infants, and they did not have the virus inside them until they had drunk a werewolf's breastmilk. I was pretty sure that they had been fed from one of my family members. I was not going to tell them that because a little bite was not enough to turn anyone. If they were mauled on the other hand, then that's something way totally different.

They were very relieved as they should be, but Jack was still skeptical. He did not talk to me at at all during the car ride home. Gwen looked back in the rearview mirror watching him stare out the window. "I'm sorry that you had to see all that...Randall was only trying to protect us from him"

Jack sighed deeply like he was trying to think of something nasty to say. "He didn't have to kill him"

"He killed Emily's father...he tried to kill Randall. He would have killed all of us" Gwen stated.

"Why? Why would he do that?" He asked.

"Jack...your father only sees women as property. He will dispose of them once they are of no use to him. I was his most valuable asset. If he couldn't have me...nobody could have me. Not even myself. That was why I Randall is here...but you know something. I wouldn't had let him near you if I didn't think he was good for us" She explained before she looked towards me with an affectionate gaze. "He can be a jerk sometimes, but I think that's just how werewolves are when they're hungry or tired" she added.

I rolled my eyes at her but she scratched at my chest playing dirty. Jack looked around surrounded by the infants. "Mum...I think one of them crapped themselves" he said trying to open a window.

Gwen laughed. "I'm sure more than one did" she said not bothered.

"Mum! It stinks...really bad!" he complained.

"We'll changed them when we get home" she said before she glanced back at me. "I'm so glad that you have a huge family. It's so nice to have a couple helping hands around the house. I don't know what I'd do without them" she said thankfully.

Once we got home, Jack sat on one end of the couch and Toby on the other. Zoe and Emily were in the middle watching youtube videos on the wilderness survival and camping. They seemed to get along very well. Toby was quiet and timid. I do not think he was used to being around children

I was laying on my lazyboy taking a nap when my wife started plopping our four pups onto my lap, chest, and arms before she gave me a smooch on the forehead. "Kay babe, I'm going to go out for a jog with Yvonne and Lilian. Please look after them while I'm gone. Alright?" she said before she kissed me on the lips.

"Can I go with you?" Jack asked.

"Um...Why don't you play with video games with Toby or something. I don't think you want to listen to girl talk" she said dismissively.

Jack looked around the room and then at Toby. "He doesn't want to play or do anything, and he keeps speaking in tongues" he muttered.

"It's German" I corrected him.

"Why is he speaking German? This is America! We speak English here!" Jack shouted back.

"Actually, back then a lot of people spoke German in America. In fact it was more common than it is with Spanish speakers today in this country" Gwen corrected him.

Lilian walked over to her son and smiled faintly. Her beautiful fair skin glowed in the sunlight. Her eyes were large but revealed her Korean heritage. She touched his arm and gave him a look. She did not have to say anything before he got up and attempted to socialize. Zoe and Emily shut their phones and high jacked the itinerary for the impromptu play date.

"Hey let's go catch frogs!" Zoe suggested.

"Okay!" Emily shouted out with enthusiasm. Toby and Jack did not say much, and they followed the girls outside mumbling as they went.

My wife left with Yvonne and Lilian, and I could hear Bernie in the backyard talking to someone on the phone. I think it might be Jean one of the elders, but he sounded like he was discussing something about the history between werewolves in the region, and why there are so many who would not mind having Peter becoming the alpha even after everything that had happened then they went into a discussion about human politics as a reflection, and I could tell that Bernie was pissed when he punctured his beer can with his claws.

The topic of right wing werewolf politics really got underneath his skin, and it was what draw the attention to hunters over this area of the country in the first place. The girls all left the house, and I was left alone to look after the little ones. I dozed off, and I could have sworn that I was out for a couple minutes before there was a great commotion stirred up. It was dark all of the sudden, and Lilian and Yvonne rushed into the house very distraught. Jack and the others ran over and pressed their noses in the crack of door.

I noticed the absence on Gwen, and I growled deeply waking up the pups from their slumber. Instead of human children who would cry out from something as scary as my growls, they retreated into me for protection. "What's wrong?" I asked them.

They both had their heads down low and Lilian took a deep breath. "We were jogging down Jasper Road and went down to the river to cool off. We were on our way back and a car got distracted with staring at your wife's wet t-shirt crossed into the oncoming lane. Another car swerved to miss but it was a corner...they didn't see us, and..." she said.

"They mowed you over?" I interrupted them.

Her head sank down low and nodded slowly. "We got hit too. I think her neck was broken. She said she couldn't feel her arms and legs" she said.

I growled to myself knowing what needed to be done. This was super fucked up, but I there was no going around it. Yvonne scooped up two of the pups up out of my arms, and Lilian picked up the rest as I got out of the chair. "Is this some sort of a cruel joke!? I just got out of the hospital last week!"

They both rubbed their arms and looked away submissively. "We're sorry...we tried to save her, but we didn't have enough time" Lilian mumbled.

Jack and Emily pushed the door open little wider looking towards me like fearful for their future. "Daddy? Is mum going to be okay?" she asked with a shaky voice.

I bit my tongue before Lilian went into damage control. She crouched down and touched their shoulders. "Everything is going to be okay" she reassured them.

"My mum is paralyzed from the neck down...how is she supposed to be okay?" Jack interrupted.

She knew where this was going and changed the topic. "I used to be human...before I married my husband. I did not forget who my family and loves were"

Jack gave me the most evil of stares. "You planned this didn't you!? You're the one who caused this! This is all your fault!" he shouted at me.

This was where I had it, and my eyes changed color and my fangs enlarged. "Oh yeah? Well do you think your life would be any better without me in it!?" I shouted at him.

"You killed my dad!" he retorted.

"Your dad shot me in the head...and he beat you and your mother. He's no saint!"

"He protects us Jack! Has he ever hurt us like your dad did?" Emily asked.

"Shut up!" Jack shouted frantically.

Emily went to my side and glared at him. "I don't care if mum is turned into one. I like them better than humans" she protested.

"What's wrong with being a werewolf?" Zoe grumbled with her arms crossed over her chest. "Did you even know that Toby and I are werewolves too?"

Jack held his breath and glanced between them. "You are? But you two are so..."

"Normal?" Zoe finished before she got into his face. "You're lucky I can't transform yet! Nuff Said!" She was much shorter than Jack, but Jack was definitely scared of her.

Yvonne grabbed her and pulled her away. "Zoe! You don't threaten humans" she scolded her daughter.

Toby stared Jack down. "Humans broke into my home and tried to kill me and my family. They killed my dad...then they burned my house down. They did it just because of what we are. I never hurt anyone...neither has my mother, but you talk like one of them" he spoke lowly.

Jack stopped and gulped. "I'm sorry...I don't hate you guys...I just...I don't want my mom being a werewolf when I'm a human. I don't want to..." he muttered before he teared up and sniveled.

Lilian sighed deeply and gave him a hug. "It's going to be okay...you aren't going to lose her. I just know it" she spoke in soft gentle tone. "She'll love you and take care of you. It doesn't matter if she's human or not...that's what mothers do" she finished.

I walked to the door and stopped to looked towards them. "You two look after everyone"

"Why can't I go!" Jack shouted.

I gave him a look and growled. "I don't want you to see her bruised up and bloodied"

"But I've already seen that!"

"I said no! You'll get in the way! I don't even think that they'll let me in" I said before I trailed off as I turned and headed out the door.

"It's probably best you let her rest. You can see her tomorrow" Lilian said before she flashed him a smile. "I should know. I'm a nurse"

With that, I left the house to drive to the hospital. I had to wait two hours before I could see her. They had stabilized her neck and secured it to the table immobilizing it. She looked up at me with tears streaming down her. I was beyond pissed but I was not sure if I hid it well or if I had transformed again. I surveyed her injuries, and I then touched her hand. "Can you lift your hand?"

"N-n-no...I can't" she said before I let her go and caressed her head.

I kept at it for about ten minutes before I mustered the courage to ask her, "I'm considering turning you right now. I don't know how much money stem cell therapy will cost...the pups are going to need you"

"Do it...please...I don't want to be stuck in a chair my whole life! I don't want any more bills piling up on us. Just do it babe. I trust you" she begged me weakly.

I looked around quickly to see if anyone was inside or about to come into the room. Once the coast was clear, I went back to her and got near her neck and examined where I could place a mark on her. I looked towards the scotch tape then the IV bag then I took it off the rack much to her surprise. "What are you..." she mumbled. I made sure that she watched me flip the bag upside down bite into it before taping it back up. I had made sure that a lot of my transformative saliva got mixed in with the saline before I turned it back upright.

"Will that work?" she asked.

"We'll find out" I told her before placing a gentle smooch on her lips.

"I should have let you bite me once I got fired...then none of this would have ever..." She told me before I chuckled at her.

"It was probably for the best that things went the way they did. You don't know if things would have turned out better. Could you imagine how that Hans guy would have reacted?"

"What will he do when he finds out about this?"

"It ain't his goddamn business what we do. He won't find out if I keep you distracted on full moons" I told her with my arms crossed over my chest.

"You mean I'm not going to be in a cage?"

"I don't run a zoo babe...no cages" I finished before I gave her a smooch. "Lilian and Yvonne both told me what happened to them when they were turned by Steele and Bernard. I'm not worried about you running off" I whispered into her ear.

"Why's that?" she asked.

"We've got pups. Your instincts will drive you to stay in the den and protect them. It may not sound like a progressive structure but..."

She laughed at me and smiled. "I get it...that's just the primal side of things. I don't have any problems with it. I know what you all are like" she assured me.

After we said out goodbyes, I went back home to rest, and I brought back Jack and Emily to see their mother while I left the pups at home with my mother and the other werewolf females. When we got there the doctors were very excited over sensation coming back to my wife's fingers. Fortunately I told Jack and Emily to not speak of what I did for their mother.

They had already moved her into recovery as her hands were already moving while the doctors examined her truly baffled. They turned to look at me and nearly shit themselves. I had almost returned to my spectacular pre-coma stature. I presume they had worked on me before. I growled at them and Gwen laughed. "Well, don't bite their heads off. They're only trying to help"

I scowled at them. "I'm not bait for some medical dissertation. She's not one either. We're not experiments!" I growled at them.

"Babe! Relax! Jesus, you're not making this any better!" She raised her voice.

"Daddy's afraid of needles" Emily said.

"I am not!" I retorted before Jack smirked.

"Then why don't you like doctors?" He pried.

"They charge way too much money for medical supplies and procedures just to manipulate the insurance sector. I don't have insurance that covers for much...I don't believe it to be ethical that health and safety should be a business. We don't charge people to put out fires and we don't charge people to arrest a burglar. Why should we charge all this money for life saving drugs and surgery? Either they end up homeless, bankrupt...or they just die"

"Sir, most the money goes towards research and development..." one of the doctors said.

I shot him a glare. "Please...most the money goes to investors and corporate CEOs. Don't you think it's stupid to make the patient pay for something that may die if they don't get it" I asked.

"We pay money for food, water, and shelter" he retorted.

"You don't pay money for air, and we do have government programs to pay for basic needs, which I think the government should pay for research and development, but I guess you don't want to give up the third house or that Rolls Royce. Don't you?" I spoke down to him.

The doctor got extremely pissed and stormed out of the room, and the other doctor looked at me and smiled weakly. "I voted for Bernie" She said before she shook her head. "I never seen anyone get under his skin like that before. He's some piece of work he is" she admitted.

"I don't care who you voted for...it's not like the votes matter. This whole country is a mess" I rambled on.

"Randall...please..." Gwen called out to me.

Jack went quiet and drifted towards his mother nervously. "Um, are we going to be poor again?" he asked.

"Psh, we aren't going to be poor. Stop worrying about it. We're just going to have to cut back on food and luxuries for a while...maybe electricity and internet" I said before Jack whimpered.

"We aren't going to have our electricity or our internet cut. I'll just find a part time job" she stated before she tapped her finger to her chin. "Maybe I can work at restaurant or something..." she mumbled.

The doctor stared at her in shock. "You're arm! This is great news!" she exclaimed. She reached into her coat pocket and putted out a pin then slid around on her stool and ran it over her big toe. "Can you feel that?" she asked.

"Um...yea...actually my legs feel all tingly that's good right?" she asked.

"No that's amazing! Your spinal cord wasn't as damaged as we first feared!"

"Oh, that's good. You hear that honey? We don't have to worry about therapy and relearning how to walk!"

"Oh well...we'll see" the doctor said.

"Isn't there a full moon this week? Ow!" Jack mentioned before Emily punched him.

Gwen looked towards me and rolled her eyes. "You two knock it off...you're going to cause someone to get hurt with your rough housing" she spoke softly. Though she sounded very amused when she said this.