Duncan Reidon's Story

Duncan nodded as he stood up from the table nearly everyone leaving, Adrian was right things seemed less of an episode from Law and Order back when they were younger. "Yeah i'll check up on it see if we can catch some of those scents we got earlier, i'll take the early patrol if you want, Your Lyra wants to come out on patrol as well as Calvin i said i'd clear it with you first. Catch you in the morning mate. Thanks for letting me stay for dinner Tai I'll sleep well tonight" Duncan said looking at both at them he bowed his head in respect and left the table carrying his dirty plate into the kitchen putting it on the side. Giving his hands a quick swill with warm water he walked to the upper floor of the house where the control room was situated.

The room itself was fairly large around the size of an office, taking a seat in the large chair he switched on the three monitors, that were linked to the security cameras around town as well as some motion detectors just a few metres away from the border that would set of a system that could be either set to alarm one of the guards via text message or either send a message to the computer with the location and time of the sighting. It was very useful especially during a full moon in case anyone would try to break into the pack house.

Seeing nothing unusual on any of the cameras apart from the odd pack members doing last patrols for the night Duncan set the system to its recording and turned the monitors off, the annoying glow of a computer monitor was always distracting when getting up in the middle of the night. Closing the door behind him Duncan walked into his room for the night to settle down.

Duncan awoke to the sound of his wolf telling him something. There's something in the forest, a Deer. "That's nothing new most of the animals trip of the sensors at night don't become so paranoid" Duncan replied as he sat up and looked out of the window trying to find the location where his wolf was on about His wolf gave a deep chuckle that was similar to Duncan's own. Me paranoid look whose talking, anyway this deer it dead has been for a few hours it might have been one of the intruders you and Alpha sensed last night. "And it might not have been it could have been a cougar, i'll check it out soon" he replied picking out some clothes and heading into the shower, allowing the water to run over him for a few minutes in deep contemplation for the upcoming full moon as well as other things on his mind.

Adrian stood in the doorway of the safe room, hand on his chin, grimacing. The mess down here really had gotten out of control; there were boxes of allsorts piled up everywhere. If there was ever a real emergency which they’d need to retreat into this room for...well, it’d be awkward to say the least. And worse still the escape tunnel at the back of the room wasn’t accessible without climbing over a bunch of stuff.

No two ways about it, it was time for a clear out. With a sigh he rolled up his sleeves, deciding there was no time like the present. If it got out of hand he’d get one of the guys to come down and help him (maybe there were some forgotten treasures down here...old video games, etc). As he clamped his hands onto a particularly interesting looking box, his PDA beeped in his pocket. Seizing the excuse to delay some tedious labour, he took it out and read the email.

Ade, after your message last night I thought I’d mention that someone reported a young female wolf around town yesterday that nobody recognised. Also, there were two people sleeping out in a car on the outskirts last night. Not hidden, nothing suspicious, but thought I’d let you know.

Adrian scratched his head thoughtfully. People roughing it in a car on the edge of town? Nothing sinister about that in itself, but Connorsford wasn’t exactly the sort of town people ‘passed through’ on a road trip very often. It wasn’t on any highway route. He forwarded the message to Duncan, adding the note:

Hey buddy, keep an eye out for this when you take the patrol later alrighty?

Duncan dried his hair quickly as he walked out of the bathroom a towel wrapped around his middle, seeing his phone light up with a new message his eyes scanned the message his brow rising in slight confusion why would someone stop in this small town? the larger city was at least 5 or 6 miles away from the town with a better eason to stay there. Also a female wolf had been sighted too, nothing out of the ordinary for that most travellers passed through the forrest but they were always treated with caution incase of them working for other packs as spied finding out a packs weakness or even trying to assasinate members of the pack.

Thinking about his reply he tapped out a reply to Adrian. Sure thing, i'm heading out for morning patrol soon anyway round the grounds and town. See if i can pick up anything about our rough sleepers from some of the guys in town. I'm sure our female friend would have left a trace of something, young pups are so messy sometimes, need a hand with anything today after i get back?

Pressing send he dried the rest of his body getting dressed in a black shirt and baggy jeans making him look like an undercover officer of some sort, actually that was a good idea if he saw the two people roughing it in the car he could question them about why they were there. Opening a draw he picked out a police ID badge it was fake of course but a very convincing fake, slipping it into his back trouser pocket he pushed his phone into his other trouser pocket incase anything came up on the security system or if Duncan needed anything.

Perhaps the ID wasn't needed it was quite simple to find any new people in town everyone knew everyone.

Calvin broke out of the woods close behind Anya and eased up the pace as they crossed the field approaching the house. He couldn't help but wonder if Anya had deliberately taken him on that little 'adventure trail', but in any case it had certainly broken his body in for the day and put a little adrenaline into his system.

"Better offer?" Calvin grunted, "I'll be disappointed if I find out you went to that beach party with the monkeys, but hey it's a free world. I'll catch you later."

He threw a final glance at the girl before he left. Anya was a stunning specimen of a female, there was no doubt about that. Surely no wolf would consider it bad news to learn that she was his mate. But even looking directly at her, Calvin rankled at the thought. He couldn't help the fact that his mind had already made up about who he was going to be with, and even though that sort of revelation was supposed to take place in the female's mind, he was still sure that his certainty was a 'wolf thing'. Anya would make a fine mate...but she wouldn't make him an alpha. No. She could go to some other lucky pup.

Making his way inside, he took a leisurely shower and prepared to while away the hours before class.

-----

After school...

Calvin left the community school building without his bag. He'd left it inside to pick up later before the game; it was easier that lugging it all the way up the hill to the pack house and back. He was dressed in everyday clothes, but he wasn't aware that the older males every wore anything in particular to go on patrol. What would it matter anyway.

Eagerly, he started walking towards the town square and send Duncan a message.

Hey D I'm out, were you wanna meet for patrol? Lyra will join us after her group.

Duncan walked slowly down the forest path the night animals starting to emerge, the soft hoot of owls across the Forrest as they started their own hunt. Stepping over fallen tress he came to a clearing that was close to the community centre where Tai was teaching, he stood a little far back hidden by a couple of ferns and oak trees. Digging his phone out of his pocket he sent a quick text to Calvin

" hey dude I'm outside the community centre just out of sight, Lyra should be coming out soon."

He breathed in the cool night air slowly his eyes looking up at the moon, he felt a bitter pang in his heart as he knew this would be his fathers last moon if his wolf decided to stay with him that long. Lat time Duncam saw his father he could barely move or speak, his mother was worried beyond belief fearing that her mate would die before she did. Perhaps Duncan could speak to Adrian about burial arrangments since a majority of town were werewolves it was often a large burial in the graveyard with most pack members attending. Giving a light sigh Duncan sniffed around slightly the border wasn't that far from here about a ten minute walk depending how fast you were walking.

Anya barreled into the trees, feeling the sweet sensation of relief as they enveloped her from view. All around her animals were coming out from their days sleep, alert and ready for the night ahead. There was a breeze that whistled through the trees and she felt it tug at her hair, causing the trees to mutter to one another. Discarding her flats, she slowed to a smoother pace, but only a little. It felt amazing to escape the confines of school, even more so since Lance had invaded their music lesson. Anya couldn't explain why she had taken a disliking to him, or why her instincts had warned her off. It frightened her more than anything. Instincts brought her closer to receiving her wolf. But how was that even possible? She was yet to even discover who her mate was. As far as she was concerned, none of the guys at the house had caught her eye and probably never would. Calvin? Gavin? Kiyoshi? No, whilst she believed that they were all amazing and she loved them to bits, she wasn't attracted to them. So then who? Perhaps now wasn't the time to think of it. Instead, she focused on her running.

But who was she to know that someone lurked in the trees? That someone was waiting outside of the community centre. Which is why Anya ran straight into Duncan, without even seeing him. It was known that she could be clumsy, but she'd completely missed the fact that Duncan was standing in-between the trees. When she collided with him it was like hitting a brick wall. Anya tumbled backwards, falling with a hard thump. Instantly, she pounced back up, ready to be attacked by some stranger. When she laid eyes on Duncan, she physically relaxed.

"Oh my...Duncan! You scared the crap out of me!" Punching him playfully on the arm she let out a smooth laugh, shaking her head. "You have seriously got to stop creeping around when it's getting dark! You'll give some poor innocent girl, like me, a heart attack." She pressed her palm over her chest in a joking manner, sweeping her long hair from her unique blue eyes with the other. Ultimately she was relieved it was Duncan, rather than someone like Lance who gave her the creeps from the start. Duncan was reliable and actually, she rather liked him being around. He was a nice guy, unlike some others she could mention.

"How are you?" There was a lot of sincerity in her voice as she looked at him with warm eyes. He was going through a lot at the moment, with being Beta and she'd heard some passing comments about his parents. It kind of made her glad that she didn't really know her own parents too well. But then again, reflecting on it, that was even more depressing. At least he'd grown up with a relatively normal family, unlike her two parents who didn't really want much to do with her any more.

Duncan nearly lost his footing when he was hit by Anya he extended his hand to help her up but it seemed that she had gotten up as quickly as she had fell, Anya had very good reflexes even though she hadn't received her wolf yet she would be a very good student for Duncan's self defence classes. Anya was a very nice young lady always one to listen to who ever had a problem even if they didn't want to talk about it she had her ways of getting it out of you.

Duncan smiled softly at Anya giving a light chuckle to her over dramatic actions he spoke " I'm well thank you.." Duncan paused briefly as if uncertain about his answer giving a soft sigh he continued with a light smile " im just waiting for Lyra and Calvin to start my patrol round the border before it gets really dark, I don't really want you walking around the forest on your own no matter how fast you are, i recommend that you walk through town or hitch a lift with Tai when she's finished teaching, don't want you getting in trouble now do we?" he gave another smile giving her a light tap on the arm.

Anya arched an eyebrow at his first answer, not missing the hesitation and chuckled when he suggested that she walked through the town or hitched a lift. That didn't sound like a good idea to her. In fact, she'd rather take the dangerous road through the forest than have to answer Tai's questions about darting out of the music lesson, or take the boring route through the town. The forest was so alive at this time of the day. Even still, she remembered Adrian's warning the night before. Perhaps, if Duncan was worried as well, then they youngsters should heed what they were saying. Well, when she said youngsters, generally she meant herself. It was usually her that went off on her own. And usually it didn't bother her, but with all of these warnings, she was starting to worry.

"I can fend for myself you know. And for some reason, trouble always finds me anyway." She grinned, shaking her head with a small shrug of her shoulders. Peering at him for a moment, she attempted to read his mood. Whilst he appeared to be visibly alright, Anya didn't know if it was simply an appearance he was keeping up. One could never tell with Duncan. And in that moment, she made up her mind what she was going to do that night. Calvin would have other games that she could appear out, but Ray's birthday only came once a year and she'd just found the person she was going to drag with her. Or so she hoped.

"Look, I know you're having a hard time right now. I mean with your Beta position and all. So, how about you accompany me to Ray's birthday bash tonight? I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun and besides you have to have one night off. Please!" She pressed her hands together with the last word, tilting her head to one side and batting her eyelids. "Pretty please." She smiled a pretty smile to complete the look, allowing strands of hair to fall across her eyes. If anyone hadn't of known better then she would have looked like the perfect angel. But this was Anya.

Duncan thought for a while Anya was right he didn't have many time of from being a Beta he wanted to keep everyone safe but since it was Rays birthday he could spend a while at the party but he did want this patrol done as well as teaching Calvin and Lyra about things to look out for when on patrol.

Ducan looked at Anya as she did the whole puppy dog eyes thing with him, that was truly the way to Ducan was to do the cute goody two shoes thing and boom Ducan would let you get away with anything permitting it wasn't to get anyone hurt or endangering the pack. It didn't work with the guys though mainly it was whoever won in a sparring match got what they wanted.

Duncan heaved a sigh " fine I'll come along for a while after I've done patrol where is it and when? " he smiled lightly as he caught Anya's eyes they were so bright even without meaning to be in comparison to his own light green eyes.

Anya smiled brightly, chewing her bottom lip to conceal how wide it was. She was glad that Duncan had decided to come with her, if only for a little while. Sometimes they just needed to let their hair down. Especially Duncan and Adrian. They had a lot of responsibility to do with the pack and a night off wasn't going to harm anyone at the moment. Besides it would be nice to see Duncan without his Beta hat on.

"Actually, I have no idea." She frowned, her eyebrows knitting in concentration. "But, meet me at the house when you've finished your patrol. I'll be the blonde in red." She grinned, giving his arm a gently squeeze with her fingertips. "This is going to be fun. And I'll take your advice and walk through the town. I actually want to make it to the party. See you later." Giving him a sweet smile, she turned and headed towards the community centre in order to find the road. She supposed it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, the boring route looked a lot better now that she had persuaded Duncan to accompany her to Ray's birthday bash. It was going to be a good night. Sweeping her hair over her left shoulder, she wondered for a moment what she was going to do with it.

Retrieving her ballet flats from where she'd thrown them, she decided she would still run home. Running was exhilarating and it gave her time to escape. And she didn't have much time to get ready now, so she would have to rush a shower and all of the other things that needed to be done...

The forest creaked with the movement of life – critters creeped and creepers crittered, scurrying along the terrain of a thick forest floor. The sun was just beginning to fall across the sky closer to the horizon leaving the clouded dome with faint pink and orange illuminated lining, only a few more hours still it set fire in a blazing sunset.

If you wandered through the crowded bush you would find a small woman rested on her rear against a thick ancient tree trunk, one of which had been wrapped in thick deep green vines, the vines – they wound up the base and twisted in intricate patterns until disappearing in the crown of said tree.

There sat Sahvanna her eyes to the sky viewing naked branches which were assorted with the red and orange hued leaves, leave that had been swaying in the autumn breeze, threating to detach and drift to the floor of earth. With a rock in one hand and a short dagger in the other this strange woman ran one along the other in a smooth rhythm, the scrapping sounded about the forest. She wasn’t far from the town now, maybe half a mile.

A large black duffle bag rested at her side, lumpy and foreign, covering the canvas material were small stitched flags. The red white and blue of Czech Republic, France, Yugoslavia, Iceland, and America - The red and yellow of Spain and China – If one knew their flags they would see a vast array of a strange collection: India, Rwanda, Brazil, Germany, Ethiopia, New Zealand, Cambodia, even Antarctica. The most prominent was the Russian flag which was clearly the largest and the only flag with not a speckle of dirt.

Sahvanna took a long lean finger pushing it to the tip of her blade, with the softest touch a small bead of blood bubbled at its tip. A threatening smirk of satisfaction became etched on those plump and luscious lips. Coming to a slow stand the woman placed her blade back in its sheath and tucked it in the waist of her skin tight leather pants. “Is looking aboaht time to go.” She spoke to herself - the rather hefty Russian accent rang in her own ears – She almost missed her little Russian buddy, eh, maybe not.

The natural light of the sky showed the beauty that was Sahvanna. Long chocolate brown hair fell to the small of her back, the shine showing hues of red, thick lips pouted naturally on a narrow face. The body of this woman was of average height standing at five foot five inches, and deep running flattering curves held tight in all the right places. Those curves which drew the eye were coated in sun kissed flesh – flesh which had several faint scars including one of which that ran through her bottom lip to the base of her chin. Her attire consisted of skin tight leather pants which looked as if they had been painted on clinging to the bends of her lower body, knee high loose fitting – steel toed leather boots with gold buckles up the sides, and finally a tight fitting deep V-neck tee - which had smears of dirt and blood.

With her bag heaved over her shoulder long lean legs lead Sahvanna closer to the town – Once breaking from the tree line her speed slowed to something more casual making not a sound, not even to the most sensitive of ears.

There it was – the source of the smell – a building – a school. “Zere ve go.” The words slipped from her mouth like silk as she made her way closer to the entrance and passing two males – Duncan and Calvin. Abnormally bright blue eyes snapped to each in hopes of making eye contact, if the connection had been made her lips would part in a warm welcoming smile; a faint blush of pink rising to the apples of her cheeks. Long delicate fingers would brush the silk of her hair behind her ears as she looked to the ground in a bashful manner.

The sound of Sahvanna’s bag hitting the pavement outside the doors of the community school would echo about the building, ‘Vanna instantly dropped to be seated on her bag – she looked tired with deep dark circles surrounding her eyes – and in truth she was weak with hunger, maybe she should have hunted before coming, but, she had to come – didn’t she?

Calvin was absentmindedly bobbing his head from side to side when he became aware of Duncan approaching. He quickly stood upright and slipped his hands into his pockets semi-casually.

"Hey man." he said, "Yeah I'm all set. Just a routine thing tonight yeah? It'll be good to know the route, having more eyes open in the pack can only be a good th-"

His words trailed off as his eyes slid distinctly to the side, clocking the noteworthy figure who passed by throwing them both a glance. Her unmistakeable she-wolf scent tingled his nostils...again, utterly unfamiliar. Not a part of the local pack. Not that Calvin needed to rely on his wolf senses; hell if she lived in Connorsford he's have remembered seeing her.

The momentary fixation did not, however, stop him from considering how strange it was...

"Hey D," he said in a low voice, "she's the second out-of-town wolf I've seen in ten minutes. You know anything about people visiting?"

Ducan nodded slowly at Calvin's first comment his head tilted at the sound of someone approaching, sniffing slowly his eyes locked on a female wolf the scent matched the one he found in the forest earlier by the stripped down deer in the forest. There was a faint trace of the scent in town too perhaps the young wolf was there too. perhaps he could talk to Tai about the new visitors later on in the day of course he would tell Adrian too.

When he was sure that the new woman had left he spoke " well that older female was the scent I picked up in the forest, and on my walk through town today I caught a young female too she's in there with the other kids, I find it strange that the town has suddenly become popular. We must be cautious Right?" Ducan asked to see if Calvin understood.

Lyra chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully as Tabby spoke, her mind dancing on what the underlying causes anyone could have for sending this poor girl here. Unfortunately, she came up empty handed. As Tai lurched into another tune, Lyra joined in quickly. At first her toe tapped in rhythm to the beat, but she found herself easily distracted by how late it was getting. She did not want to miss patrol with Calvin and Duncan. . . Nor did she wish to sacrifice any time to prepare herself for the party tonight. Unusually, Lyra was not a girl of fashion; a skirt and top were enough for her. For tonight, however, she had purchased a new dress. If she had already gone that far, she might as well go all the way. Although make-up was not her thing. Perhaps she could ask Jac for advice, or use this as an excuse to meet Dante, or. . . Lyra breathed out impatiently, not knowing what she was going to do. This entire event stressed her out enough, including the fact that she had no idea why this mattered to her so much.

As the last note was played, Lyra stood up slowly and collected her belonging. "That was awesome guys. I'm going to head out so I don't hold up Calvin and Duncan, okay Mother?" she asked, turning to Tai for a moment. Lyra glaced to Tabby and smiled, scribbling down her address and phone number and handing it to the girl. "Here's where I live and my cell phone number if you need anything. It was nice meeting you, Tabby. I hope to see you tonight!" Lyra said cheerfully. With a soft wave, she headed out the door to the front preparing to send Calvin another text but saw him nearby and tucked her cell safely away in her bag's pocket.

With a gentle jog she went over to the guys, blinking in surprise to see a female sitting near the door that she hadn't used. She hurried her pace to find Calvin and Duncan, not wanting to keep them waiting anymore. "Hey guys, I'm here. Did you happen to see the girl near the music room?" Lyra asked cautiously. Whereas Tabby seemed innocent at the beginning, something about Sahvanna settled uneasily with Lyra. Once again came the frustration of what race the newcomer was. "Is she a. . . " Lyra cleared her throat softly, not wanting to finish the sentence in case Sahvanna was human.

Calvin raised his eyebrows as Duncan mentions yet another new wolf in town...in the community school with Tai’s music group? Well, the choice of activity certainly made the whole thing seem less ominous. If it was rogues on the advance it hardly seemed likely they’d be joining music groups and attending basketball games. Besides, that guys he’d seen in the square hardly seemed the threatening type. A little sleazy, perhaps, but not dangerous. After all he’s walked away slightly awkwardly, like he had an old injury that caused him pain. Maybe he’d been into sports himself, and that’s why he’d been interested in coming to the game. Calvin mused on it, resolving to try to find out more later.

“Yeah we ought to keep our eyes and ears open.” He said, “At the same time it could be nothing. Not like any of them have done anything worrying yet, and two out of three so far are females.”

Calvin turned to Lyra when she approached, and hastened to be the first to answer her question.

“Yeah she is.” He said, “And there’s at least two more outsiders in town as well. One of them was in there with you, we believe. Know anything about that?”

He gave one last curious glance at the female stood by the school building. He had to admit that she looked like a classic honeytrap, but he didn’t want to say so in front of Lyra.

---------

Tai dismissed the rest of the group shortly after Lyra and Tabby left, and patiently started to put the equipment back as she found it. Naturally she had to be the last one out so she could lock up and set the alarm. As she went through the procedure her mind rolled over all the things that had to be done. She’d prepared a whole buffet of food which just needed to be laid out, or in some cases heated up, ready for Reina’s birthday.

After about ten minutes she was ready, and stepped outside, closing and locking the door behind her.

Lyra nodded to Calvin's question, glancing back at the school building unconsciously to watch Tabby leave the building. Her gaze lingered on the other female that appeared to be waiting for someone. She turned back to Calvin and Duncan casually, wondering what they thought of the new female. She defiantly was not what you saw every day in Connorsford, she could already see the heads spinning at Vanna's looks. "Yeah, Tabby joined the music group. She's definitely a wolf, Tai confirmed it, but if it's worth any input Tabby doesn't know what she is." Lyra paused to give the boys a chance to react to this before continuing. She never referred to Tai as "Mother" when not speaking to her directly, a subtle indication of the rift formed between mother and daughter. That, and Lyra did not want to appear better than anyone else in the pack due to her heritage.

"Tabby went to a monthly music camp back in her town; conveniently whenever the full moon was around. And she said that her town was set up like ours with a pack house. She's been kept ignorant of what she is. Tai and I think something may be up with her coming around here so close to the full moon. Not to mention the fact that someone sent her here on a wild goose chase for some production studio that doesn't even exist. She's here with a human, Lance, claiming to be her uncle." Lyra hesitated before added her last piece about Tabby into the conversation. She was going to forget about it in general, but decided it was better for it to be put out into the open. "I invited her over for the party tonight. Before you say anything, the poor girl has been traveling in a car with Lance for who knows how long. She just needs a good place to rest her head for the night and plan her next move."

Lyra sighed and tussled her hair, giving Vanna a final look and then stepping closer to the woods in anticipation. "If anything, it will be good for Tabby to spend some time with her own kind. Are you guys ready yet? You can gossip and drool over the new comer later," she teased, sending Calvin a soft smile.

Ducan watched as Vanna introduced herself to Tai, he found Vanna to be nonthreatnas of yet he didn't really want to endanger the female alpha. He looked over to Lyra and nodded. " sure come on Calvin, Anya convinced me to go to a birthday and I said I go so we can get this done in about half an hour that all right with you?" he asked walking up to Lyra turning his head slightly still watching the community centre incase anything developed between the two female before he left.

Turning back to Lyra he spoke " so this girl Tabby hr parents have been hiding this from herr all this time, poor kid, she is going to panic when she recieves her wolf " he commented

Calvin frowned when Duncan said he was meeting Anya for the party, knowing that meant she’d obviously decided not to come along to his game. Ah well, he thought, she probably had a crisis of conscience about not being there for Ray’s birthday. Calvin himself didn’t have a choice of course; he had to go to the game.

He laughed out loud when Lyra mentioned about ‘Tabby’ not knowing her own nature as a wolf.

“Are you serious?” he scoffed, “What’s going on? Wolves hanging out with humans, wolves thinking they are humans. Seriously messed up. See this is why we need to be getting involved with stuff like this, so at least some of us are remembering what it means to be what we are.”

Saying nothing about the fact that he wouldn’t be attending Ray’s party because of his game, he peered towards the older female loitering outside the school, and wondered to himself if she knew she was a wolf. Given her age, it seemed likely that she would have ‘recieved her wolf’ and at least been made aware of her mate...as to whether she’d actually ever been mated was something nobody could tell without asking or witnessing them shift. His eyes shifted back to Lyra and he smirked.

“Pah,” he said, “forget her. I’d rather spend my time with some people who I know are real wolves. Lead the way Duncan.”

The route initially took them along the edge of town before snaking up onto the hillside. Being in the forest gave Calvin a tingle of excitement, and he threw his mind ahead to the full moon when everyone would congregate in the glade and shift together. Sure, the purpose of it was to make sure it took place out of sight of any humans, but the communal aspect of it was still emphasised heavily in their classes.

“Shame we can’t do this in wolf form.” He mused out loud, “Could cover ground twice as quickly. Bet you look forward to receiving your wolf, huh Lyra? Should be quite impressive in your case.”

Lyra smiled as Duncan mentioned that he would be accompanying Anya to the party. It would be good for him to have some fun for one. As beta, Lyra thought of Duncan as a second father to herself. Whenever Adrian hadn't been around, his second in command was only a call away. She felt bad for Duncan, though, struggling with decaying patience at his mate to reveal herself to him. This must have been a challenge for any male, the waiting period of uncertainty and confusion at the female that would choose him. All the boys were at the mating age, and girls for that matter. Would everyone be ready when the time came? Lyra sighed softly, wondering if she was ready.

“Pah,” Calvin said, “forget her. I’d rather spend my time with some people who I know are real wolves. Lead the way Duncan.” Lyra returned Calvin's smirk, laughing slightly as she did so. She was grateful for the excursion into the woods. It gave her a time to think, to fully consider the options that laid before her. And she was glad to have Calvin with her also. She did not feel that they spent enough time together. He never once doubted that she could one day reach the title alpha. All throughout her life he was always there, right beside her. Lyra trusted him as a confidant, blinded by her own ambitions to realize that he was there beside her intentionally. She never saw that he was hoping for more than she could ever give him. To her, Calvin was just someone she could be herself with, someone who would listen, and someone she could trust. Sure, he may have his disagreements with Kiyoshi, but Lyra did not expect everyone in her life to fit together perfectly. Perhaps she could help the two work through their differences. She chuckled to this though, smiling to Calvin, biting her lower lip shyly to his next comment, "Shame we can’t do this in wolf form.” He mused out loud, “Could cover ground twice as quickly. Bet you look forward to receiving your wolf, huh Lyra? Should be quite impressive in your case.”

Lyra's gaze tilted toward the sky, allowing the last few rays of daylight to strike her features. "You'll just have to be patient for a little bit longer, Calvin to find out what my wolf form looks like. I am excited, I think every female is when it comes time. It's different for us than you guys, the waiting and anxiety over who hold the key to unlock us. But," she smiled softly in hesitation, her eyes darting around the forest. "You guys might get a new addition to the pack run for this moon."

So few words had enough impact to send Calvin into a dizzying stupor, though he tried not to be too transparent about it, taking a deep breath and retaining his outward composure. What did she mean? By the next moon...really? That was just a few nights away. Which could mean that she was planning on telling her mate very soon...and might that be a hint that she needed to speak with Calvin alone, away from Duncan? Is that why she'd agreed to come on this patrol?

Or it could mean that she had already told her mate...which was such a repulsive idea that Calvin could scarcely get his mind to entertain it. More than anything he hated how the words "you guys" seemed to include himself, and refer to 'recipients' of a new wolf rather than 'participants' in the inaugeration of a new wolf...No, it couldn't possibly be that. It must be that his first impression at the dinner table was correct; this increased interest in pack duty was a portent by their wolves, and the pack's destiny was soon to be revealed...

He took another deep breath and eventually spoke, as they made their way deeper into the forest.

"Really, huh?" he said casually, "Well goodness knows we could use it. If you mean what I think you mean, then do yourself a favour and don't waste time over it. Destiny waits for nobody, that's what I say. And the moon's pretty close; anybody actin' on it at this stage it cuttin' it pretty fine."

His heart was throbbing with anticipation...as well as desperation. More than most males, it was especially difficult to accept that the mate situation was completely outside of his control.

" I agree..." Duncan began as he lead the two along a path through the forest that forked into differents sections all going past the territory border he pointed down one of the paths " this path goes past our borders I wouldn't recommend going there in case you want to meet some dangerous wolves, so well be be going this was just a half mile to the border to the left and straight ahead, and I do occasionally patrol in my wolf form but staying as a human gives me time to think we as me in wolf form in concentrating on everything, but I am concentrating now though don't worry" Duncan reassured as he maintained a reasonable pace, he looked to Lyra and smiled " it's good that you are positive Lyra you need to be positive before a full moon otherwise it seems to be more painful if you panic about something." he added looking back to the path ahead. Duncan paused suddenly his ears picking up a sound he lifted his hand telling everyone to stop, he sniffed rapidly trying to pin the smell it was far away but seemed to be approaching on the border, he looked around he didn't really want to shift into his wolf form just yet incase it was a false alarm, Duncan stood still and watched.

Lyra looked to Calvin, surprised by his encouragement in revealing who her mate was. The possibility that he was anticipating it to be himself never crossed her mind. Calvin was Calvin. He was the type of brother she would be proud to have, rather than the lazy, unmotivated one that James turned out to be. Loosing Alpha to Calvin wouldn't be as much as a disgrace as looking to James would be.

She smiled to the boys, running her hand through her midnight hair in thought. "Thanks, Duncan. I'll try to remember that. Adrian mentioned some wolves around, right? Do you think they would try to invade the pack territory? And Calvin," she said, patting his shoulder softly with a warm smile spreading across her face. "Thanks for the advice. I think I'll take it actually. You are right, if I wait any longer, I'll miss the moon. It only comes once a month," she giggled, adding a wink. Her golden eyes were dancing with confidence, her features elegant with the soundless bells even when trekking through the woods. "Calvin, you have a game tonight, right? It's a shame you'll have to miss Ray's party."

"No way." Calvin answered the question ahead of Duncan. "Not without us seeing them coming. Pack our size, it'd be a full scale war to try to take us on and even rogues wouldn't risk drawing that kind of attention."

He said it with confidence, taking upon his own generation some of the pride in the events from eighteen years earlier. But it was true. The Khöller pack was large and well established. Not the kind of target picked by have-a-go rogue bandits.

Lyra's words did nothing to placate him on the whole. He would have preferred if the words "I think I'll take it" had been accompanied by a sense of immediacy...like she meant in the next ten to fifteen minutes or so...

"Yeah yeah..." he continued absentmindedly, "...tell Ray I'm sorry I couldn't make it. It's a big game tonight."

He was actually more inclined to feel that it was a shame more people couldn't come and watch the game because of Ray's party, but naturally he didn't say so. Just then Duncan stopped. Calvin halted and listened carefully. He couldn't pick out anything obvious.

"What's up D?" he said in a cautiously low voice.

Gavin laughed at Jac, before letting go of her face and-

“There’s a wolf!!!” Rory shouted, “A huge wolf over there! Everyone run!!”

Gavin jumped up on his feet, pulled Jac up with him, watching Rory run freakishly fast. No one listened to him- of course they didn't- but Gavin picked up the feint scent, despite the smoke. The humans laughed and taunted Rory. Gavin, still holding Jac's hand, made his way over without trying to look too serious.

From the look on Rory's face and the way he was shaking, Gavin knew he saw whatever it was. He scowled at a young man commenting on possible lineage the wolf might have to Rory and Gavin scowled at him, wanted to punch him... Jac's kiss made him feel more masculine... But settled on a disapproving scowl instead.

He could tell it wasn't someone from the pack, and he didn't think it would be- they had no reason to come down and check on them. Or at least, they never had before, and certainly wouldn't have let themselves be seen if they did. It had to be a loner, probably scared off by the number of people here... If it had malicious intention. But Gavin didn't know.

Safety in numbers. He recalled that Calvin and Duncan and Lyra were patrolling tonight, but he didn't want to leave the humans- if there were more... that could be bad. This whole thing was bad.

Gavin leaned in to Jac and whispered, "I'm going to call Duncan." giving her the invitation to come along or stay, he turned and walked out of hearing distance from the humans and away from the forest opening. He dialed Duncan's number, waited for him to pick up the phone.

---

"Hey, Duncan, it's Gavin." He started, turning around and looking back at the humans. He grinned when he saw Jac comfort Rory. "There's a guy who cried 'wolf' so to speak. I picked up a scent, it wasn't one of us... It also wasn't familiar to me at all." He waited a moment. "I don't think it's here any more, but I thought you should know."

When they were done talking, Gavin shut his phone and returned to Jac, giving her a side-nod of his head, indicating that he wanted her to follow him.