Connorsford

Kiyoshi turned as Ares and Lyra approached, smiling quietly at them.
“Hello, Ares-san,” Kiyoshi answered, bowing slightly to the boy, as though he had forgotten to that the new member that still might seem strange. In the back of his mind he reflected that, all things considered, ‘kun’ might have been a better suffix for Ares… but Kiyoshi held respect in highest concern. Such familiar suffixes would come in later, when Kiyoshi knew Ares better, and the boy was more comfortable. “It’s good to see you again.”

Wordlessly, Kiyoshi fell to gathering flowers alongside the others. He seemed completely absorbed in the task, his entire aura smooth and calm, until Lyra suddenly slipped a flower into his wild black hair, behind his ear. He blinked slowly, looking up. A chrysanthemum…?

“Kiku,” he whispered, stroking the flower gently and nodding. “Arigato-gozaimasu, Lyra-sama,” he murmured.

He had hardly had a chance to respond before Ares, too, was picking flowers for his companions.

He turned to Mister Kiyoshi and gave him some small, white flowers "u-uhm...E-elderflowers...u-uhm" He swallowed thickly and then took a deep breath before continued, his voice became more steady "...E-elderflowers...com-compassion..." He squeaked weakly "f-for y-you..."

Kiyoshi studied Ares for a moment, examining the boy’s nervous face, listening to his trembling voice. The boy’s entire manner was submissive, frightened. Kiyoshi had not been given any details on Ares’ history, but he did not need them. He was a highly observant person, trained to see all that was there, and some that wasn’t. He had noticed the scars, the way the boy cringed at loud noises and sudden movements. A history of pain, and abuse. Kiyoshi could not empathize… but he could sympathize.
Gently he reached out and took the Elderflowers, bowing slightly from his kneeling position. He let their hands touched lightly, not flinching at the roughness of the scars there.

“Arigato-gozaimasu, Ares-san,” Kiyoshi whispered. “Thank you very much.”

He turned calmly to picking flowers. He might as well join in on the party – he was not one to jump on bandwagons, but that was different when you were with friends. He shifted to his feet, simply rocking back from his knees and rising to stand, and crossed the garden to pluck a flower planted near the edge. He kept a small section there himself – garden was a practice important to Bushido, and to his memories of his father.

“Ederuwaisu,” he whispered. “Edelwiess. And ajisai. Hydrangea.”
He returned on silent feet to the pair of them, kneeling once again in the flowerbed. He passed the Edelweiss gently to Ares. “For courage and inner strength.” He turned then to Lyra, offering the hydrangea bloom to Lyra. “For pride.”

Tai furrowed her brow further still. "Maybe we need the rope to fit to a pulley over the swimming pool and reinstate ducking for certain young girls who push their luck too far."

She blew out an exhasperated breath as Reina sauntered off to the dining room, and she found herself left with only James and Kathy. She tried to rationalise whether Ray was really going to do anything with the washing that could cause concern, but decided to jump that hurdle when and if they got to it.

"James," she said, "do me a favour and start rounding people up for dinner? I'm going to start serving and you know how it goes; if you snooze you lose, quite literally."

Pulling the combined roast out of the oven and looking it over with a satisfied smile and a long intake of the flavour through her nose, she made her way across the hall and placed it in the middle of the table, noting how immaculately it was set. It was nice having some young people in the house who liked to pay attention to detail.

Tai sometimes felt bad for Lyra that she did - to an extent - live in her brother's shadow. As a general rule female werewolves didn't resent the patriarchal preference when it came to inheriting the alpha title, but for a teenage girl in the modern world living with a 24/7 reminder that she was disqualified from a certain position simply because of her gender...it must be difficult. Not that Lyra openly complained about it...at least not to her or Adrian.

Scanning the table to plan how she would maximise the space to fit all the side-dished on and puffing her breath upwards to blow her fringe out of her eyes, Tai drummed her fingers on her hips and hummed. Reina was already sat down looking deep in thought (deep in thought was fine, as long as she was also in sight), and Duncan came in soon after. Tai smiled at the beta.

"Evening Duncan," she said, "I'd ask if I need to prepare the guest room but I don't think it's been touched since the last time you crashed here."

Calvin came in close behind Duncan, though it was not the Beta he was following, but the food. He took a seat one place down from the Beta, and lightly pressed a fist against his arm in greeting.

"Hey man," he said, in a manner rather more respectful and pally than he used with most people in the house. After all, beta was at least a rank he himself could aspire to. "Anything going on out there these days?"

Jacquelyn found herself sitting on the roof outside of her window. At first she had been watching the others outside in the garden and thinking about nothing in particular, and then Tai had called dinner. She sighed and shook her head. It was hard for her to entertain the idea of ‘family’ because she didn’t really have a place, and so she didn’t want to be around ALL of them at once…that was usually when the wolf instincts kicked in and you where shoved down into a submissive role…and she was anything but submissive…she would even bet she could beat one or two of the boys at one on ones….but she didn’t WANT to.

Her tummy growled and she glared at it.

“Traitor” she muttered and found herself hoping someone would make her come down…but knew the hope was futile because they where all left to their own devices. She sighed and climbed back in the house, then slunk down stairs and into the kitchen.

“Smells amazing Tai” She said with a bright smile.

Duncan smiled back at Tai bowing his head and speaking " well I am always able to lend a hand whenever you or your husband needs it " he explained giving a nod. Duncan's head turned as Calvin sat next to him he returned a smile as a reply and spoke " Hey Calvin , nothing really to report a few scents that were a bit off but that is about it" he explained giving a soft shrug of his shoulders.

His eyes looked over to the steaming roast his mouth watering, licking his lips he waited for everyone to come to the table at any other time if he was staying in the town he would have mainly steaks and a few vegataes. Tai was a great cook but food in the house was always delicious and Plentyful as long as you got there first.

"Sure." Gavin returned the smile and let her disappear into the house. She was an interesting one, kind of reminded him of his human-self a little bit. He sighed and caught the strong scents of dinner, and realized that his munchies were setting in. Giving his dark hair a passive scratch, Gavin headed inside.

He noticed Kiyoshi, Lyra and some younger fellow wandering around the flowers. It seemed very much like them to be handing flowers to each other- at least, Lyra and Kiyoushi, always concerning and training together about balance and silence. Stealth. Whatever works for them. His human-self shrugged nonchalantly. His wolf-self huffed arrogantly, but did not fail to recognize the importance of a wolf pack being well-rounded. If all of them were one way and had one strength, they could be bested a lot easier than if they all had a variety of strengths. Not that they had much to worry about these days in terms of protection.

Not having much to say to either of them, Gavin passed by giving a genuine smile and wave in their direction. His stomach was growling, and he didn't want to lose a seat. He opened the door to head inside when he suddenly heard the high-pitched, thick-accented voice of his mother.

"Gav-rosh!" She separated his French name by syllables, making it sound that much more piercing. Gavin's neck stiffened and he took in a slow, harsh breath. He despised his real name. After squeezing his eyes closed and turning his head to the side, as if forcing himself to remain calm, he finally looked up at her with as blank of an expression he could manage.

"What?" He asked, the annoyance couldn't be supressed. She was standing in the doorway, arms crossed and her brown eyes narrowed in that knowing way of only a mother. It was clear where Gavin got his dark features and freckles. Evon was only a few inches shorter than him, but the steps didn't make that visible right away.

She tilted her head down at him with severe disapproval. "I don't want to tell you again to stay away from them." Her accent was suffocating. "They are a bad influence on you." Nothing escaped her notice.

"Well," Gavin walked up the steps with grim determination. "When you're an adult, you can do what you want, mother. I am going to eat now." His voice was trembling with rage. Both sides of him hated being ordered around by anyone he considered inferior. By her own doing, his mother made that list. He walked right by her and into the kitchen where people had already started sitting at the table. Aggravated, he plopped down in a seat catty-corner to Calvin and stared at a spot on the table.

"Gavroche, mon fils" Evon moved swiftly next to him, putting a hand on the back of his chair. "I do not appreciate you speaking to me like that."

"I don't appreciate you telling me what to do." Gavin responded curtly, his jaw clenching. To Gavin, the kitchen seemed to silence a little more, like everyone was watching. That didn't bother him so much, he belonged here. She didn't. She just stopped by to see how her "troublesome" son was getting along.

After a soft sigh of forfeit, Evon turned to Tai with an apologetic expression. "I am sorry." She said lowly. In her mind, putting Gavin with a wolf pack was for his own good, but it was slowly backfiring. She simply did not understand his want to hang out with inferior beings.

Anya watched from her perch on the worktop as the others slowly began to join them for dinner. Her long blonde hair fell around her shoulders, her wispy fringe covering her blues eyes. Blinking in surprise, she could hear others talking in the garden. The young girl had good hearing when she concentrated hard enough on it. It appeared as though Gavin's mother had joined them for dinner. That possibly wouldn't go down so well. Anya had only met the woman once, but that impression had been lasting enough. She had dumped Gavin here and now it appeared as though she was thinking twice about that. It was amazing what little snatches of information she could pick up. A chuckle escaped her pink lips as she shook her head, though it was only meant for herself. Humans really astounded her. Especially ones that were directly linked to the wolf world. They were so ignorant about it. If they ignored it then perhaps it would go away. Her parents had thought like that. Even though the pair of them were wolves. If they ignored the fact that their daughter was likely to be as well, then perhaps she'd be normal. Ha, that was unlikely.

Smiling at Duncan when he entered, Anya hopped off of the worktop, just as Gavin and his mother walked in. Arching an eyebrow, she smoothly walked to the table, flashing a smile at Jacquelyn as she passed. The food there smelt positively delicious and her stomach gave a little grumble. She'd been in the forest all day so that chance to eat had been non-existent. She would enjoy this meal. Even more so if she could wind someone up. And she'd already picked her target. Quickly, she slipped into the seat next to Gavin, possibly the one that his mother intended to take. However, would she be rude enough to ask Anya to move? She hoped so. It was a game that she liked to play. If she could at least wind one person up then she would happy. Although Anya could be a quiet little thing, she could also be completely cheeky and mischievous when she wanted to be. And this dinner time was when she intended to do so, but in a good-natured way. She never did it to offend or upset anyone.

"And this is why I'm glad my parents are touring in North America. No interference, no problems with them." She muttered to Gavin, pulling a face as she did and glancing at his mother. "Why hello Mrs Argentum. I didn't see you there. It's positively lovely to see you again. Are you staying for dinner? I'm sure the pack will be welcoming..." She gave her biggest smile, before turning back to Gavin and winking at him mischievously. Placing an arm around Gavin's shoulders, she gave them a squeeze before returning her gaze to his mother and addressing her. "I must say, we've been so pleased to have your son amongst us. Me especially. I hope he has no intentions of leaving us soon..." She left the sentence hanging, giving a gentle shrug of her shoulders. It was not said rudely, nor to cause offence. But she wanted to imprint the impression that Gavin was appreciated where he was.

Lyra smiled warmly to Ares as he accepted the offer, pleased by his shocked expression of warmth and gratitude. It was things like this that Lyra focused her intentions on in her race for alpha. It was easy to strike fear, and hence undoubted loyalty, into a wolf's heart, but it was trust that an alpha required from the pack. If they could gain their trust, then everything else flowed easily into place. She laughed lightly as Ares presented the flowers in return, grinning sheepishly as he commented upon the meaning of Calla Lilies. Although Lyra was often commented at her luck in gaining the best features of her parents, she never focused much upon external beauty. It simply was a feature, something that would waste too much of her limited time to fret about. "That is very kind of you Ares, thank you," she said as she continued plucking flowers, this time for the table centerpiece.

She was satisfied by the slow progress Ares was making. He seemed much more relaxed now than when inside the kitchen. The only trouble now would be keeping him this way. "For pride."

Lyra hesitated as Kiyoshi spoke, surprised that he had joined in on the flower exchange. Then again, Kiyoshi always seemed to be full of surprises. She smiled and accepted the cluster of blossoms, bowing customarily to her friend. "Arigato-gozaimasu, Kiyoshi-san," she said softly, looking down into the beautiful petals. "Thank you."

She smiled softly and shook her head in good humor at the boys and herself. "I think we have enough for a wonderful centerpiece now. We should head inside, I wouldn't want Ares to miss his first pack-dinner." Lyra sorted through the flowers in the basket, careful to keep the ones presented to herself separate from the rest. Those she would put into her room once the night quieted down. Lyra took a deep breath and smiled to Kiyoshi, seeding him a quiet thanks in assisting with Ares. He was someone that Lyra could always rely on.

"Let's go, it looks like almost everyone has already seated themselves," she tossed over her shoulder as she began up the short trail to the house. Her steps were silent and calculating, quickly scanning over who had entered the room. It was a good crowd so fat. Careful not to damage any of the flowers, she fitted thm into a vase and gave them a drink before setting up her own vase to later transfer to her room. The hydrangeas stood proudly in the center, giving Lyra a small smile of comfort as she brought the original bouquet to the table and seated herself at the table. It was always interesting to watch there the others decided to sit. Both location in reference to the room and other wolves told much about their personality and how the day had gone. She smiled to Gavin's mother, noticing her appearance, but remained silent for some of the conversation, not wanting to appear rude by interrupting. It was obvious that Gavin's mother cared about him, something that Lyra often wondered about with her own parents. Not that she would every let them know this doubt, but still it persisted every time she caught their gaze smiling upon James. As the fist born and male. . . It was only customary for him to be their joy and pride. She was, after all, just a weak and female without her wolf. Lyra scowled softly at this thought, her hands tightening on the hem of her skirt as she cast her gaze to the floor.

I will beat him.

Jacquelyn smiled back at Anya, with a slight bow of her head.

"Why hello Mrs Argentum. I didn't see you there. It's positively lovely to see you again. Are you staying for dinner? I'm sure the pack will be welcoming...I must say, we've been so pleased to have your son amongst us. Me especially. I hope he has no intentions of leaving us soon..." she heard Anya say to Gavin's mother before Jac could say something not so polite to the woman for being so blatantly rude to her son.

"I must agree Mademoiselle Argentum, he is quite a welcome addition to our family." she said providing backup for Anya, though she doubted she needed it. She sat down across from Gavin so that he wouldnt have to face his mother all night either, taking the idea from Anya.

"Je suis Jacquelyn, c'est un plaisir de faire le aquaintence de celui qui nous a apporté Gavin." Jacquelyn said. She didn't look like the type to speak anything other than English, Bad English and Sarcasm, but she had picked up some french from her grandparents, who where full blown Frenchies. She smiled politely at Gavin's mother then grinned at Gavin.

"And this is why I'm glad my parents are touring in North America. No interference, no problems with them." Gavin heard Anya mutter to him. The sympathy had a mixed effect. In a way he was thankful, but part of him was just too angry to feel anything but grim aggravation. He just couldn't be comforted at the moment. Still, he gave her a forced smile for her effort. After she had done her little mischievous greeting, the grin came more naturally.

"No. She's not staying for dinner." Gavin answered for Evon, still not looking at her. Evon's brow furrowed hurtfully, but her disappointment remained the most dominant emotion in her eyes. "She'd rather kill her own and eat it raw."

Ignoring Gavin's rude statements about her lifestyle, Evon turned a forced smile to Anya. "Thank you, it's nice to see you again as well, Anya. But my presence makes Gavroche horribly uncomfortable these days. I hate being the source of his unnecessary anger."

"Oh, is that so?" Gavin muttered with heavy sarcasm, returning his eyes to that same spot on the table and clenching his jaw. His arms crossed over his chest. There were a few additional things he'd like to say with her, but he knew talking would only make her stay longer. And he wanted her gone. Now. He felt Anya's arms around him for a brief moment and felt the comfort of sympathy. But he still wanted to throttle something. Run. Do something to expend his pent-up anger. Hopefully the basketball game with Calvin and James would help. Assuming Calvin wouldn't fuel the fire and make things worse.

"I must say, we've been so pleased to have your son amongst us. Me especially. I hope he has no intentions of leaving us soon..."

Gavin tore his eyes away from the table and looked at Anya with depth. Right into her blue eyes. He held her gaze. Just because he spent his free time did not mean he had any intention of leaving. Humans were his escape- just like plenty of them played music, worked out or ran to escape. To be by themselves. It was an unconventional escape among their kind, certainly, but Gavin could not fathom not being in the pack. Not at all. He wasn't immediately aware that Anya's saying such a thing was a method for her to bother his mother, and was a little irked that she would even think such a thing!

Thankful that Jac took the seat across from him, Gavin's mood started lifting. He was impressed with how easily the two of them seemed to disarm his mother. "Kill them with kindness" came to mind. Evon was all too eager to take the credit of the compliments the two were giving Gavin.

"Well." Evon crossed her arms indignantly. "Maybe you two can knock some sense into him, then." She stated passively, returning Lyra's smile as she entered the kitchen with her flowers. "Because I sure can't get through to him." Evon wasn't entirely a social type, but she offered another apologetic smile to anyone who would catch it, and made her leave without causing any more waves.

When she was gone, Gavin exhaled as though the whole time she was around he had been holding his breath. He slumped back into a more comfortable position in the chair and rested his head on the back of it. He rubbed the side of his heavily-freckled face, then turned to Jac and Anya. "Thanks." he sighed.

Calvin raised his eyebrows at Duncan's mention of other scents. It wasn't much by itself, but nevertheless he seized the opportunity to discuss anything that might be something of interest. Most of all, if there was something noteworthy, it would give him great pleasure to know about it before one of the alpha kids...

"Scents?" he said, "Travellers like? Or possibly some desperate ratty old rogues? Maybe I could come on a patrol some time? You know, familiarise myself with the perimeter? I'll be on the garrison in a couple of years so it's just as well if I get to know the route."

He spoke with a tone of sincerity and gravity, but inside he knew exactly what he was doing.

---------------------------

It only took three journeys to the kitchen and back to get everything on the table, and by that point Tai was pleased to note that people were well and truly starting to assemble. She greeted each in turn, responding to their respective complements about the food with a modest, "Good."

She took a step towards her own usual seat - next to Adrian's at the head of the table - and suddenly noted how odd it was that her partner was not already at the table. He would surely have been with Duncan the whole time (wherever the two of them had been lurking, but she wasn't going to tug on that thread just now...) so why wasn't he at the table? The only time Adrian did a disappearing act was if there was somebody approaching who he wanted to av-

"Gavroch!!"

Tai winced a pained wince. Evon Argentum?? What was she doing here? How on earth did she even get in? Not that Tai wouldn't have answered the door to her...but that woman was a tour de force who seemed to only turn up when she wanted to give an opinion about something. Usually a disapproving one. It had always been a bone of contention betweem the Argentums and the rest of the pack that they chose to live a somewhat rustic, itinerrant life, whilst cheerfully relieving themselves of their son to have the usual rite of passage in the pack house. It was up to every wolf to choose how they wished to live, but Evon and her husband were neither fish nor fowl; they sniffed at the idea of living among humans, and yet they were reluctant to fully extricate themselves from the benefits and safety of being part of a town pack.

"Evon, I wasn't expec-" Tai began, but she barely got the formidable frenchwoman's attention before the brief verbal mêlée, in which Evon seemed to be fended off with indirect tactical flattery. It suited the alpha female just fine that she didn't have to get overly involved before Evon left. That had been weird. "Well," she said, "do help yourselves guys. There was supposed to be mashed potato too but...well, I'm sure there's enough food as it is."

She lowered a slightly pointed look over at Reina, before turning her head to the side as Lyra entered the room.

"Hey sweety," she said, "and Ares, good to see you joining us. Here, come and sit up here between me and Lyra. We have a very strict dinner rule in this house; you keep helping yourself to food until you've had enough. Going away hungry is strictly forbidden."

She smiled genially at the boy, and looked up at Lyra again. "Haven't seen much of you today honey. You haven't been running yourself ragged with training have you?"

She stopped herself from saying any more. It was obvious enough that Lyra had a competitive chip on her shoulder, but Tai knew from long experience that pointing it out didn't make things any better. It was as well to let Lyra do whatever she wanted to do.

-----

Just then Adrian peeked around the door and looked directly at Tai with that familiar 'is it safe to come in now' look on his face. Realising that Evon was gone, he walked in, adopting a confident manner once again, and sat down at the end of the table, between Tai and Duncan.

"Evening everyone." he said, relaxing into his chair and wasting no time in serving himself a generous portion, before offering the spoon to Tai. "All stations go in the house tonight it sounds like. Don't think the place has been so 'festive' since the summer bonfire."

James walked into the dining room, sitting and waiting for the food to come towards him. He smiled at his mother, muttering and apology to her for disappearing. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath through his nose, enjoying the smell of the roast. His glance drifted to his sister and before he could wipe it away, a small, sad smile appeared. He looked over to his father and the smile grew happy.

There was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he spoke, "Hey dad, where you been? Downstairs playing video-games huh?"

He chuckled softly and looked over at Duncan, acknowledging him with a nod of his head and a smile. He looked around the table, smiling at everyone that was around, especially at Ares. He really hoped the boy would grow comfortable with them soon.

Kiyoshi relished in the time he spent alone with his closest friends, but he was a diverse man, who enjoyed many things in life. One of those things was dinner with his packmates. ALL of his packmates.

As such, he was all too willing to stand and leave the flowerbed, following Lyra and Ares back into the house, to the kitchen which brimmed with good smells. Perhaps this was why he took such pride in willingly helping Tai cook every day - it all smelled so much better when you were a part of it. He drifted on silent feet into the kitchen, flowers still tucked into his ink-black hair. Another man might have been worried about looking like a pansy, but Kiyoshi had never seemed to care about Calvin's nickname for him. He even seemed to enjoy it, in a way. Why be worried about the negative opinion of another? Especially when it was something as beautiful as being compared to a flower?

"Tai-sama," Kiyoshi murmured, pausing to bow as he walked through the door. "Adrian-sama, James-sama."
And then he turned to the rest of the room and bowed to the pack at large.
"Minna-san," he murmured, as he had taken to calling the entire group. It made sense to him, being a fluent Japanese speaker. Anyone who hadn't looked it up would probably be terribly confused by the generalization. "Konbanwa."

He fell into step alongside Lyra and Ares. Normally he would have taken the last open chair, having absolutely no preference for where he sat each night. But tonight he had decided that he was going to stay near Ares, help shelter the boy and keep him comfortable. It was the most he could do, after all, so he might as well do it. He turned his blue eyes on the timid boy and smiled.
"I will stay with you," he murmured, making sure that Ares knew he was not going to be alone in this sea of strange new wolves.

Anya was glad when Jac provided back-up for her and she gave her a small grin and a wink, before her attention turned back to Gavin's mother. She sensed that the french-woman could be somewhat stubborn when she wanted to be. But surely she would listen to the pair of them? She also did not miss the look that Gavin gave her, staring directly into her eyes. She gave him a questioning look, but said nothing more to him than that. It had been true what she had said. Having Gavin around was a lot of fun and she'd hate to see him leave them now, just because his mother felt he was being influenced badly. Jac seemed only to happy to continue the assault and disarm her, even resulting in her speaking in french. Anya was able to pick up a few words, after all languages had never been her thing. It seemed to work however. With a final statement to the two girls and a range of apologetic smiles, she departed. Beside her, she felt Gavin physically relax and release a breath. Turning back to him and Jac, she smiled brightly at them, glad that it was over.

"Thanks."

"No thanks needed. It was our pleasure." She told him, removing her arm from around his shoulders as she did. "So she believes we're a bad influence then? I like the thought that I'm a bad influence on someone, don't you Jac?" She grinned impishly, as she put some vegetables on her plate and then some of the roast. Dinner was always a huge event. Everyone gathered around, chatting, laughing, just having some fun. She noticed Lyra, Ares and Kiyoshi enter the room. Offering a small smile to Ares, she nodded her head at him, before returning to her conversation. He was in safe hands with Lyra and Kiyoshi and he looked as though he was alright. It would take time, but he would grow use to this way of living and used to all of them. Sooner rather than later, Anya couldn't help but wish.

"Besides, what we said...We meant it." She glanced at Jac for confirmation, before meeting his eyes again. "It's nice having you around and we would hate for her to spoil it. So don't let her." Giving a small pat on the shoulder, she brushed her hair out of her eyes with the other hand. "Anyway, don't worry about it now. Just enjoy dinner and then whatever you have planned this evening." Although she was mischievous and a little cheeky at times, Anya had a heart of gold and just wanted to help. If she could be mature and sensible about things, well then she would be. Such as now.

Ares never felt so grateful in his life. He was sure this day must be the happiest day in his life. He hadn't been hit once and he made new friends and knew their names. They were all good people and had pretty smiles and really gentle and kind to him. He blinked his eyes rapidly to prevent the tears from escaping his eyes. He felt all warm and happy inside, a feeling he hadn't felt since the day he lost his Mother. Ares felt the first tear fell and he hastily wiped it off, unwillingly to appear to be weak. He would be strong for them.

"I will stay with you," Kiyoshi whispered and Ares looked up. He wiped his eyes again and nodded silently. He sat down hesitantly between Lyra and Kiyoshi but still near Tai as the woman had already ordered him to sit near her. Looking at the food on the table, he folded his hands and put them on his lap, waiting for everyone to sit. He was so nervous! This was the first time he ate with so many people! Unconsciously, Ares' body trembled slightly.

(Writer block)

"So she believes we're a bad influence then? I like the thought that I'm a bad influence on someone, don't you Jac?" Gavin had started filling his plate, and Anya's words made him grimmace. It wasn't them his mother was talking about. It was the humans. Maybe she would be perfectly fine if he chose to spend his free time with the nerdy, studying types of humans... But to be honest, they were boring. He thought of correcting Anya, but wanted to be done with the issue. Instead, he looked at Jac with a subtle hope that she would just play along, and not bring up his "unacceptable" behavior. After their conversation earlier, he assumed she knew what his mother was referring to.

Anya's comforts became annoying- Gavin really just wanted the whole thing to disappear. He wasn't that unstable, he knew he was welcome here just how he was. If it was that big of a deal, Adrian or Tai would have asked him to stop, and they haven't. To him, her reiterating the fact that he was wanted here made him feel like he was being talked down to. Sympathy. Like he couldn't take care of his own problems. He knew she meant well, but really, he just wanted the whole thing to go away.

Finally, she suggested the he'd forget it and move on. Gavin had a sarcastic thought, but then immediately felt bad about thinking it. Giving her one final smile- he had a feeling it did not look genuine at all- Gavin mentally let the issue go and started eating.

"So she believes we're a bad influence then? I like the thought that I'm a bad influence on someone, don't you Jac?"

“Lets be real here, when and to whom am ever NOT a bad influence?” Jac asked with a grin.

“Thanks”

“No thanks necessary, I do like playing nice sometimes…but only sometimes so don’t get used to it…besides Anya had the right idea…I was just going to jump down her throat about being so rude…but hey, im just aggressive like that” Jac said still grinning.

Jacquelyn ignored Gavin’s ‘dot correct her’ look and gave him one of her own ‘well no duh’ looks then winked at him.

“Hey Ares, it looks like you made some new friends, that’s good. Sorry about not joining you in the kitchen, I got caught up…forgive me?” she asked with big puppy dog eyes.

Dante entered the house quietly, her bag over her shoulder. With any luck she could avoid her twin. She heard noise coming from the kitchen and knew it would be polite to introduce herself to the Alpha and his Mate, but she REALLY didn’t want to see her twin just yet. She bit her lip and thought about it….but eventually her sense of loyalty to her new pack won out.

She went up and dropped her bags in her sisters room, knowing which one was hers just by the look of it. She quietly crept down the stairs and into the dinning room where everyone sat. She immediately spotted the Alpha and his wife and put on a polite smile. Much as she had been taught in France, she approached the Alpha first, her head low and her eyes on the ground before she knelt before him and waited.

“Alpha Adrian Khöller, I request permission to enter your home and become part of your pack” she said, her tone respectful.

“Do you always have to make a scene?” a familiar voice asked from across the table. Dante didn’t lift her eyes but she knew without a doubt, her own face would be staring back at her, full of scorn and irritation, with a contemptuous smirk. Her sister. She did her best to ignore her other half and sighed, still waiting for a reply.

“What no hello for you twin?” Jac asked quietly, sounding sincer for once. Dante wasn’t exactly sure what to say so she kept her head down.

“Fine” she heard Jac whisper.

Jac turned her attention back to Gavin across the table, and swallowed the wound she had just gotten from her twin with a smile.

From across the table, Gavin watched Jac ask Ares for forgiveness for ignoring him only a few moments before a new werewolf entered the house and approached Adrian. Gavin, along with most others, looked over at her. It was interesting. Today was an interesting day. Not wanting to seem like he was staring, Gavin took another bite of the roast. It was delicious. Jac made her sarcastic remark, which put him off guard a little bit. Clearly the two girls knew each other. His interest rose when the blonde girl ignored Jac.

He watched her mood sink, and for some reason, turned an irritated glare at the new blonde girl. She wanted to come into the pack, but couldn't give an old friend a simple hello? What was her problem?

"What, no hello for your twin?" Jac almost whispered.

Gavin did a double take, not believing his ears. Jac. New girl. Jac. New girl. Only his eyes moved- he didn't want to look like he was staring or anything. They didn't look anything like! Blonde hair. Brown hair. After looking a bit closer, he did start to pick out their similarities, actually, they did look exactly alike, minus the hair color. Gavin let out a sigh of a laugh at himself.

He caught the subtle heartbreak in Jac's voice and looked at her with as blank of an expression as he could keep while she gathered her hurt. When she smiled at him, he returned it, not knowing how else to make her feel better.

"I will stay with you." Lyra's eyes darted up at the sound of Kiyoshi's voice, even if it wasn't directed at herself. She had heard him say that many before, and those words always brought comfort to her when in a sour mood. As Ares took the seat between herself and Kiyoshi, she smiled softly, glad to have Ares slightly more comfortable than before. As he began to shake, Lyra leaned close to him, a soft smile upon her lips. "You're going to shake down the house, Ares, if you keep that up. Just calm down, you are fine. Here, let me serve you some food. Oh, and check your napkin," she cooed with a wink, amused that she had predicted the correct seat that Ares would sit at to slip the chocolate into the napkin as she began to scoop the meal into his plate.

Lyra brought her attention to the other happenings of the room, surprised as a new female entered and bowed before her father. It was a customary practice that many of the new wolves no longer had the patience to follow. Her golden eyes slid over to Jac, wondering how her packmate was tolerating the interruption. Although she tired not to pry, Lyra knew that the siblings were not on the best terms. The reason for that, however, she would need to seek out now that Dante had returned. She would not allow sibling rivalry to destroy her pack, an ironic thought upon self reflection. However, Dante intrigued Lyra. Why, after all these years, had she decided to return? Lyra remained silent, however, waiting for her father's reaction to all of this. Later on she would find Dante for a private conversation.

"Scents?" Calvin said, "Travellers like? Or possibly some desperate ratty old rogues? Maybe I could come on a patrol some time? You know, familiarise myself with the perimeter? I'll be on the garrison in a couple of years so it's just as well if I get to know the route." Lyra twitched slightly at this conversation between Calvin and Duncan. New scents? She sat up straight at this announcement, her eyes flickering over to James who was currently chatting to their father about his pathetic gaming habits, something that infuriated Lyra with a passion that the Alpha still seemed to find time for such toys. Lyra smirked slightly, wondering what edge investigating the scents first would give her above James. Surly if Adrian saw his daughter going to such lengths for the pack, than he would give thought to who his successor should be, not just what gender suited the title. Lyra turned toward Calvin and Duncan, butting innocently into their conversation with intentions as dark as Calvin himself. "I'll come with you also," she said. "I've been meaning to check up on the borders lately, get a feel for how far the territory goes. That is, if you two don't mind." She smiled, knowing that it was almost impossible to deny the request of the alpha's child, but still gave them the appearance of such an option.

Reina glanced around the table, presumably looking for some way in which to cause mischief. She saw a girl kneeling before Adrian. Reina found that odd in and of itself, but sensed it was too touchy a subject to mess with. Especially seeing as Jac hadn’t seemed too happy when mentioning the girl being her twin. Furthermore, she had absolutely no need to draw the Alpha’s attention toward her any more than was necessary. She didn’t want to get into trouble before she’d even done anything fun. Reina looked around and spotted the new guy surrounded by his entourage. She hadn’t yet seen any opening to introduce herself so Ray decided that now was the Ideal opportunity.

Ray reached past Lyra to boldly extend her hand, “Hey, I’m Reina, though most people call me Ray. I’m pretty sure someone told me your name, but I kinda’ didn’t listen, so…” She noticed too late that he seemed kind of, frightened. She winced, hoping she hadn't scared him already.

Calvin was pleasantly surprised at Lyra's interjection, and had to suppress a grin forming on his face.

"More the merrier huh?" he said, trying to keep the conversation discreet from James. "Sounds like a plan to me. After all we're coming to the end of our time in the house...well, me anyway. It's about time we started showing a willing to take the reins a bit, right? Waddya say Duncan?"

Calvin looked across at Lyra again...wresting her attention away from that Kyoshi was a fools errand at the best of times, but this was a golden opportunity to get her away from him for a while...and in a situation related to pack matters. He needed to make sure that happened enough that if Lyra started hearing from her wolf about who her mate might be, she'd have the best chance of hearing it right and not starting to be misdirected into thinking she was being nudged towards Kyoshi just because he always happened to be around...

-------

Adrian smirked and tilted his head at James with a shrug of his shoudlers.

"Work hard, play hard." he chuckled. He topped up his plate with a little more food; he had something to say to everyone and although he was sure they'd listen, that didn't mean they would keep attacking the victules while he spoke, so he secured a second helping for himself now rather than miss out later.

Things were strangely disrupted once again as another young female appeared in the doorway. Adrian had been aware of someone coming in, but at mealtimes it was so hard to keep track of individuals that he'd not given it much though. But now that the newcomer presented herself, he could tell by similarity of sight and scent who it must be.

He sat upright as she approached. He'd had a communique about Dante's arrival, but hadn't expected her until the following day. He didn't quite know how to react when the girl observed the traditional introductory rite...it had been a long time since he'd seen anyone do that. But then again, the old ways had been somewhat better preserved in continental Europe than they had elsewhere.

"We're pleased to have you," he replied, "apologies for us not being quite prepared, you managed to get here quicker than we expected. Feel free to take a seat and we'll get you introduced."

He remained silent during the frosty exchange between Jac and Dante, putting it down to some off-the-shelf sibling rivalry which would be dealt with in due course. It wasn't the first time siblings had been in the pack house together...

Standing up, he rapped his knuckle on the table to get everyone's attention.

"Hey guys," he began, "just a couple of things I wanted to say. First up, this is Dante Marie; she's joining us for the last few years of her training. Obviously you can imagine how it is having to move to a new pack house which is, by it's very nature, a close knit community, but she has her sister here already and I'm sure the rest of you will make her welcome."

"Second point, times are definitely changing and there's a lot more comings and goings in town and in the pack in general. It's getting more difficult to keep track of visitors and people passing through. I'm sending out an email tonight but I'm telling you guys now; if you become aware of any wolves who aren't part of the pack, make sure the right people know about it. It's a free town, obviously, so don't react adversely, but it is important we keep our records in order. It only takes one gap in the armour for someone to land a fatal blow.

"And lastly I'm supposed to remind you that music group is on after final classes tomorrow in the Community School; a few people have dropped out recently and if numbers get any lower Tai's gonna have to start opening it up to humans. As interesting as that would be, we'd rather not run the risk of any humans seeing anything they shouldn't, so if you're part of that group, show Tai your support and be there at 4:30.

That's all guys, except to say...good effort with dinner everyone, it's another triumph."

He sat down with a smug grin and winked across at Tai, who narrowed her eyes with a suppressed smile and shook her head. Adrian leaned further across towards James and said to him in a low voice so nobody else would hear;

"Hey son, make sure Dante gets set up OK and keep an eye on things between her and Jac. Consider this a training exercise in mediation...very important as an alpha!"

James chuckled, shaking his head as he finished his second helping. With a small smile, he pushed the plate away and let his head drop as he listened to the conversations around him. He had heard Duncan talking about the patrol, but he figured if he was gonna talk to anyone about it, it would be his father and it sure as hell wouldn't be at the dinner table. He lifted his head as a girl that looked almost completely identical to Jac, with blond hair.

He smiled warmly at her. While he hadn't know when she was showing up, he had know there was supposed to be a new girl coming in. He listened to his father's announcements with half and ear, he had already heard all of it. When his father told him to keep an eye on Dante, he nodded. Standing, he grabbed an extra chair from the side of the room and place it next to his seat, motioning for Dante to come sit.

He spoke, his voice calm and soothing, "Dante, come and sit. I'm sure you had a long trip."

"We're pleased to have you, apologies for us not being quite prepared, you managed to get here quicker than we expected. Feel free to take a seat and we'll get you introduced. Hey guys, just a couple of things I wanted to say. First up, this is Dante Marie; she's joining us for the last few years of her training. Obviously you can imagine how it is having to move to a new pack house which is, by it's very nature, a close knit community, but she has her sister here already and I'm sure the rest of you will make her welcome. Second point, times are definitely changing and there's a lot more comings and goings in town and in the pack in general. It's getting more difficult to keep track of visitors and people passing through. I'm sending out an email tonight but I'm telling you guys now; if you become aware of any wolves who aren't part of the pack, make sure the right people know about it. It's a free town, obviously, so don't react adversely, but it is important we keep our records in order. It only takes one gap in the armour for someone to land a fatal blow. And lastly I'm supposed to remind you that music group is on after final classes tomorrow in the Community School; a few people have dropped out recently and if numbers get any lower Tai's gonna have to start opening it up to humans. As interesting as that would be, we'd rather not run the risk of any humans seeing anything they shouldn't, so if you're part of that group, show Tai your support and be there at 4:30. That's all guys, except to say...good effort with dinner everyone, it's another triumph."

Dante smiled at the alpha relief washing over her as she was welcomed by him. Her smile brightened at the notice of a music class. She loved to sing, and with it play piano. Her sister had chosen to take up guitar while she had headed towards the more classical direction. She frowned. Her twin and her couldn’t be more different, for that she was glad. She bit her lip and looked around unsure. Spotting her sister she did her best to avoid eye contact, but for a brief second they caught each others eyes and locked. The tension rose and her eyes watered as she looked back at her own face, which held a sorrow. She looked away.

James, the Alpha's son stood, grabbed an extra chair from the side of the room and place it next to his seat, then motioned for her to come sit.

He spoke, his voice calm and soothing, "Dante, come and sit. I'm sure you had a long trip."

Dante brightened and nodded before taking a seat next to him.

"thank you, it means a lot" she said her eyes not quiet able to meet his, partly out of respect, partly out of shyness.

Jacquelyn did her best to ignore her sister but just couldn’t. She stood suddenly and looked around for an escape. She had not touched her food and she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“I’m going to start my chores” she muttered and stepped out of the dinning room, and into the kitchen. She decided to start cleaning up in there, all the dishes that weren’t being used she put in the sink and began the water, her hands shaking with repressed emotion. She just wanted to go to bed.

Ares flinched violently as a girl offered her hand to him and he chewed his lips, unsure of how to act. Did he really have to shake hands again? He didn't want to show anyone his scars. Not anymore. He looked down and shook his head slightly, sniffing while doing so but he just couldn't bring himself to show the girl his hand. And so, he shook his head again before his eyes widened and his whole body trembled. He didn't want to make the girl mad. He was just...just scared...scared of everything.

He buried his face in his hands and began to cry silently, silver teardrops dripped from his chins and into his clothes but he didn't care. He had made a person angry with him...again! He was so useless...so worthless...so stupid...so...so ...everything! He just had to reject the nice and kind girl. She must hate him so much right now! Why did he have to refuse to shake hands with such a beautiful girl? Ares was too confused that he didn't even notice that he had considered the girl beautiful. Tears just continued to spill from his eyes. He also stood up, so quick that he had thought for a moment he would spill everything on the table. He choked, his head lowered to the ground and Ares refused to look at anyone's eyes "...I-I'm s-sorry...I h-had to l-leave..."

He ran down the dinning room as fast as his small legs could carry him and didn't look back. He stumbled several times before pushing himself back up and continued to run again. At last, he was exhausted and he fell to his knees. Hugging his body as if he was trying to protect himself, Ares sobbed "...I-I'm sorry, M-mom...I t-tried...I r-really did...w-why did I have t-to make h-her angry? It-it was m-my fault...I-I'm us-useless...I-I'm s-sorry, M-mom...now, t-they w-will force me to go back f-for sure...I-I d-don't w-want to g-go back t-to F-father's house..." He curled himself into a tiny ball, each heartbroken sob came out filled with more grief than the last.

Kiyoshi settled silently into his chair, taking food, eating and listening in silence. He had never been one to eat much – especially not compared to the others – and it took little conversation to consume food. And so it was that as conversation turned to new scents and possible trespassers, the martial artist had already finished his meal. He devoted a part of his concentration to the conversation… and part of it to Ares. The boy was frightened, that much was clear, being assaulted from all sides by new people and new things. He was beginning to think that, perhaps, it had been too soon to expose Ares to the pack. Maybe introducing them one at a time would have been better…?

Seemingly without warning, the tension from Ares exploded, and even Kiyoshi nearly jumped as the boy fled. For one frozen moment he stared after Ares, and then he was up, hurrying after the boy. Pack dinners were important…
Helping new members was more important.

He pursued Ares by sound – his footsteps and his sobbing. It was not difficult to find the boy where he had collapsed, in tears. Kiyoshi was not usually one to hesitate, but he did now… what was the best way to approach this? Was there a best way?
Was there any way at all? No, that didn’t matter. He had to deal with it.

Walking softly, but making sure that his feet brushed against the floor so that Ares would know he was there, he crouched down beside the frightened boy. Reaching out he laid his hand against his back, rubbing soft circles. He did not know if Ares would flee – all he knew was that he hoped his own calm nature would soothe the newcomer.
“It’s alright, Ares,” he told the boy gently. “Breathe.”