House of Wolves, Plus One

The pack were as a whole, happy for Gerard and Frank...though Mikey still had his reservations. There had been no sign of Andy Black or any of his pack, but Mikey still kept his pack on high alert at all times, meaning that Frank and Gerard still didn’t get to spend much time together. It was three days after Mikey gave the pair his blessing, but so far they’d spent a total of just an hour in the same room...though Mikey didn’t leave them alone for even a minute.

The Alphas and Betas were out patrolling as they did every day, while yet again, the Omegas and pups sat bored on the porch. The pups had given up on their game of eye spy, and were now eating cookies that Ryan and Lucas had made that morning. Ryan was talking excitedly about baby names...still...while Lucas braided his hair and Gerard sat on the top step, staring out at the trees, waiting for a glimpse of Frank.

Gerard had woken late that morning after everyone else was already up. The sheets on either side of him were cool, meaning that Daniel and Philip had been gone for a while, but the sheets he was laying on were hot and damp with sweat. He stretched, then whimpered when he realised that he didn’t feel all that well. He felt hot and his stomach was achey, but knowing how much Mikey and Ray would fuss, he decided not to let on that anything was wrong.

Now, as he sat on the porch watching the tree line through the light rain that had been falling for the last couple of hours, he had to bite his lower lip to stop from whining and curling up in a ball. He kept his back to his companions as he knew that the pain was likely evident on his face. He wasn’t certain what was wrong...but he had an idea.

*

*

*

Frank was patrolling the Eastern edge of the pack's territory, taking him just over a mile away from the house. He was about as far from the house as he could be, and still be within the pack's borders...and he knew Mikey had done that on purpose. Mikey may have given his permission for Frank to court Gerard, but that didn’t mean he would make it easy for the pair.

Frank was in full shift as it heightened his senses tenfold. His large grey, black and white patterned wolf-form stalked silently through the wet trees, ears twitching at every tiny sound. He paused as the scent of a rabbit caught his attention. He thought about catching it for dinner, but shook off the idea when another scent entered his nose. Human...and far closer to the village than he was comfortable with. Frank moved silently forward, keeping low and fighting the urge to growl. It could just be a family on a camping trip, and he didn’t want to frighten them if it was. Frank had spent enough time around humans to know that a scared human is a dangerous human. Even if these ones were peaceable, it didn’t follow that they wouldn’t go away, then come back and bring others with big guns if they felt threatened at all...he had to handle this carefully. Creeping forward through wet leaves, he started to hear voices. They were kept low but he could make out at least four male voices. As he reached the edge of a small clearing, just outside the pack's territory, he saw what he had feared the most.

There were five large human men, all getting themselves ready for a hunting trip. They were wearing camouflage and had various weapons attached to their persons, and each was currently readying some pretty lethal looking high power rifles. Frank swallowed heavily, these men weren’t here to hunt bunnies, they were after bigger prey. Taking a final look and shivering slightly at the implication of his discovery, Frank silently crept away, then once he was out of earshot of the hunting party, ran back toward the house. He had to warn the others and make sure everyone was safe.

*

*

*

Gerard hadn’t eaten that morning, but everyone else had already finished breakfast and started their day when he woke, so when he’d gone straight into the empty kitchen and not come out for ten minutes, everyone assumed that he’d helped himself to something. His stomach was doing flip-flops and he wasn’t sure he could keep anything down, but he wanted to keep up the illusion that he was ok. He was definitely hungry now, but he couldn’t risk it. The pups had finished off the large plate of cookies a few minutes ago, so at least the smell of them wasn’t tempting him any more. He tried to stay relaxed, but his fingers were tensed up, gripping the front of his shirt til his knuckles were white.

"I’m gonna have a shower."

He said quietly to no one in particular as he stood and turned to go into the house, relaxing his face and hands so the others didn’t see how much discomfort he was in. Ryan and Lucas looked up curiously, but after a second, they just smiled and nodded, returning to their conversation. Gerard let out a quiet breath he was unaware that he was holding, then headed inside. He stepped into the cool of the house and started up the stairs. His fingernails dug into the wood of the bannister as pain flailed through him. He faltered, his knees nearly giving out as he tried to catch his breath, tears leaking from his eyes. He’d known this would be bad, but no one ever told him it would hurt this much. He needed Frank...now.

*

*

*

Frank was just a few steps from the village when he ran into Brendon and Dallon as they patrolled. He was already shifted back to his human-form, so he greeted them with a small wave.

"Hey guys, I think we’ve got a problem."

Brendon, who was part way shifted right now, tilted his head.

"Black?"

He growled, sharp white fangs flashing in the dull light. Frank shook his head.

"No. Humans."

Brendon’s lip curled with distaste, Frank remembered how much the other Alpha hated humans.

"Where?"

"At the far Eastern edge. I hoped it was just a family on a camping trip...but it’s not."

"Hunters?"

Frank nodded.

"Yeah, five of them. They’re heavily armed too..."

He shuddered involuntarily.

"Brendon, find Mikey and the others. Get everyone back to the house. I’ll go make sure the Omegas and your babies are ok...alright?"

Brendon thought about arguing, about how he wanted to go to Ryan and his pups...but he knew Frank was right.

"Ok..."

He turned to Dallon, taking the Beta's face in his hands and looking deep into his eyes.

"Sweetheart, go to the West edge. Find Steven, Ashton, Daniel and Phillip...fetch them back to the house...Ok?..."

Dallon nodded, his eyes wide with worry as a small whine escaped his lips and he pressed into his Alpha's touch. Brendon pressed a soft kiss to the boy's nose and offered him a reassuring smile.

"It’s gonna be ok sweetheart, we just have to get everyone home."

Dallon nodded again, a little more assured now.

"Ok Bren. I’ll see you soon."

They shared a last soft kiss, then Dallon turned and headed into the trees toward the West...as far from the human hunting party as Brendon could send him. Brendon turned back to Frank and nodded.

"I’ll find the others. Take care of my family Frank...I’m trusting you."

"I won’t let you down Brendon, I promise."

With that, the two Alphas headed off in different directions...Brendon to the South to find Mikey, Ray, Bob, Pete and Patrick, while Frank headed quickly into the village and straight toward the big house in the centre.

*

*

*

Gerard had made it up to the bedroom he currently shared with Daniel and Phillip, and was just grabbing a change of clothes when there was a small knock, and his door opened. He turned and was surprised at who was there.

"Milly?...what’s up?"

Milly stepped into the room and closed the door with a soft click, then smiled gently at Gerard.

"I was gonna ask you that..."

She crossed the room to stand in front of the older boy, though Gerard noticed that she barely even had to look up to meet his eyes.

"...but I think I know already."

Gerard swallowed, looking away as his already pink cheeks darkened more.

"You...you do?"

He couldn’t help the whine in his voice, and it made him feel weak. Milly nodded, reaching out to take Gerard’s hand in hers...they were almost the same size.

"You’re coming into your first heat...right?..."

Gerard looked up with tears in his eyes and nodded. Milly smiled sympathetically.

"I remember when poor Sara had her first...she was so sick with it, and she didn’t have a mate to help her. You do."

Gerard sniffed.

"But...but Frank's patrolling, and Mikey won’t even let us be alone together."

Milly reached up to wipe away Gerard’s tears.

"Mikey’s a good Alpha and a great big brother...he'll see sense."

Gerard chuckled slightly, amazed by the child's maturity.

"Are you sure you’re only eight Milly?...you’re more grown up than almost everyone else here."

Milly giggled and nodded.

"Yeah, I’m sure. But Alpha eight is different from Omega or Beta eight..."

She smiled, then pointed to the clothes in Gerard’s pale hand.

"You were going to shower, would you like me to keep you company?"

Gerard nodded thankfully.

"Thank you Milly, that’d be nice."

He finished collecting his things, then they headed downstairs to the washroom.

The room had undergone a bit of a transformation since the night that Mikey and Bob had to clean up the newly arrived and unconscious Frank. There were clean towels, candles on the windowsill and new cushions on the couch. There was also a large collection of soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and everyone's toothbrushes too. An old dresser had been painted white and placed in the large room to store everyone's personal items. The room now looked less like a prison bathroom, and more like a relaxing spa.

Gerard leaned on Milly slightly when they reached the room, as pain blossomed through his small body. He whimpered, and Milly cooed to him as she helped him into the bathroom and over to the couch. She sat him down and placed his clothes on the couch next to him.

"Ok Gee, shower or bath?..."

Gerard looked up with pain filled eyes, his lower lip trembling. Milly sighed sadly.

"Bath..."

She answered her own question before setting about running the water and adding soothing lavender oil. Once the bath was half full, she turned back to Gerard.

"Come on then, let’s get you undressed."

Gerard nodded, swallowing back his discomfort and starting to unbutton his shirt. A couple of minutes later, Gerard was sinking into the deliciously hot water with a sigh of relief as the pain seemed to ease straight away, and Milly was pulling up a chair she’d fetched from the dining room, and sitting down next to the large tub.

"Better?"

She asked softly. Gerard smiled, turning his head a little to look at the the little Alpha.

"Yes, thank you Milly."

"Do you want anything else?...something to eat maybe?"

The knowing look in the girl's eyes told Gerard that she knew he’d not eaten breakfast...even if everyone else thought he had. He gave her a timid smile, but shook his head.

"Not sure I could handle food right now...maybe later?"

"Alright...but if you’ve not eaten by nightfall, I’m telling your brother...ok?"

Gerard gave her a shocked look, then giggled slightly, rolling his eyes.

"Ok, Ok...I’ll eat before dark. Happy?"

Milly nodded with a grin on her face and Gerard sighed, leaning his head back against the edge of the bath.

*

*

*

Frank ran up to the front of the house and was surprised not to see Gerard there waiting for him. Lucas and Ryan both looked up as he approached, the smiles dropping from their faces when they saw the serious look in the Alpha's eyes.

"What’s wrong Frank?"

Frank panted slightly for a moment to catch his breath, then looked between the two Omegas.

"Where’s Gee?"

"Inside, now what’s going on?"

Frank frowned slightly, looking back toward the trees before facing the Omegas again. He saw two of the three pups had moved closer as they apparently sensed something was amiss too. He wondered where the third pup was...maybe inside with Gee?

"You need to go inside. The others are on their way back and we’re all gonna stay inside for a while."

"Frank!...please tell us what’s happening."

Frank sighed, he didn’t want to scare them, but maybe they should know that there was something to be scared of...that way they would be more likely to listen and stay hidden and quiet when they were told to, and not continue to ask questions.

"There’s humans in the woods...hunters."

Four pairs of eyes widened at him and then the Omegas were all collecting their things silently and heading into the house. Frank marvelled at how easy that had actually been. He looked back at the woods, then went inside himself, closing the door with a quiet click.

The first thing that hit him as he entered the house was the most amazing smell he’d ever come across. It was sweet and strong and it made his inner Alpha claw to get out. It took him a minute to realise what it was, but when he did, he cursed the Goddess for her bad timing...why did something so wonderful and magical have to coincide with the arrival of hunters?...why couldn’t life be easy for just one day?

Notes

Hi there chipmunks, how’s you?

Sorry this chapter is so late, this bitch of a life just won’t stop trying to drive me mad.
I hope this update makes up for it being over two weeks since the last one, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Until next time...PLEASE COMMENT and peace out babies!
<3