The thick snow was glistening, a blanket over the ground with only the tops of a few long blades of grass visible, the sun beating down on them, full moon only half visible in the tangerine, pink stained sky, but the frigid dusk air ensured the temperature was low enough that the snow wasn't melting. Oliver huffed, thumping his tail on the patio flooring and shaking out his dense dark grey fur, his ears erect and twitching as he remained alert and on watch as his pack ran about playing in the snow happily, yelping and yapping as they chased each other around the large expanse of the Queen mansion's gardens.
When the snow had started falling the day before on November 24th, Thea, Felicity and Roy had been ecstatic. None of them had ever experienced a snow day while in their wolf forms, and were thrilled when the temperature held overnight so that by the 25th, the snow remained thick and fluffy on the ground for their full moon day.
Oliver, on the other hand, hated snow. It reminded him too much of the cold nights he spent freezing to death on Lian Yu, the days he had been forced to run for his life from mercenaries that were looking to capture and beat the wolf for their own entertainment. Diggle, knowing of his dislike for snow, had offered a compromise for his alpha, suggesting they invite the pack and a few of their tagalongs over to the Queen mansion for a play date in the snow covered grounds, which would allow Oliver to stay out of the snow and anybody else who wished to stay dry to stay on the patio.
Although the alpha felt a little left out as he watched his pack and friends rolling around, having fun together, he preferred staying on guard duty. Protecting the pack and protecting their territory was the most important thing to an alpha, and as the Starling City pack's alpha, he felt a responsibility to make sure his wolves were at least safe as they played. Considering how large their party was that evening, with Lance in his black wolf form and Laurel in her dark brownish form tagging along, he figured it was a good call. Lance was playing with Laurel for the meantime, while the rest of the pack bounced and chased each other around, stirring up the snow and getting each other covered in the thin cold powder, so their pelts glistened when beams of sunlight streamed across them.
"Thea!" Walter called exasperatedly, from where he was seated on the porch with a glass of lemonade with a whitish-grey furred shifted Moira curled up comfortably at his feet. As the only human in the group, he took it upon himself to protect the secret from getting out and deal with the press, while also making sure that the wolves all behaved if Oliver couldn't get them in line. "Please, stop trying to drown Tommy in the snow. And yes, that applies to Roy too!"
Oliver huffed in amusement as his eyes flickered over to where he could locate his sister in the snow. The slim, short-furred red wolf guilty got off the small grey wolf she had been smothering under the snow, with the light brown coloured wolf that was Roy helping Tommy back onto his paws as the grey wolf shook the cold ice out of his fur, ears pressed against his skull. Thea whined in response to Walter, but a quick nip in the side from Diggle and a sharp warning growl from Oliver was all it took to stop her complaining, and the alpha watched as the red wolf tentatively apologised to both Tommy and Roy by licking their shoulders, before running off off to play with Laurel a few metres away.
A rustling in the snow just in front of Oliver made him frown and he got to his paws to investigate, jumping from from the patio and nosing and pawing at the snow cautiously. Startled for a moment as a sleek silver head popped out just under his muzzle, his wariness quickly transformed into fond amusement as he realised that Felicity had managed somehow to use her camouflaged pelt to burrow under the snow and surprise him.
She gave him the equivalent of a beaming smile, tongue lolling out of her mouth and panting lightly as she blinked up at him with shining blue eyes. "Hey! Aren't you coming to play?"
"I'm a little busy at the moment, Felicity," he replied, gazing out over the pack once again before turning back to her.
She wriggled out of the snow, shaking her coat out before settling down in front of him in a classic submissive yet playful pose, nuzzling at the fur on Oliver's chest before rising and pulling at his scruff lightly with her fangs."If by busy you mean sitting on the patio and sulking. You don't need be to all big powerful protective alpha today, Oliver. Walter and Moira are watching us. Come on! Please? Come play with me!"
He snorted, shaking his head and turning away, brushing her shoulder with his tail as he trotted back to the patio. "I'm not in the mood, Felicity."
She pouted up at him, but then Lance barrelled into her, his black wolf form dwarfing hers, nipping at her haunch to encourage her to come and join the group, where they appeared to be playing tag and Roy was it. Felicity squeezed underneath his belly and raced to join in, where she playfully skidded into Diggle. Lance paused to glance up at Oliver for a second, giving him a small nod of respect for guarding them while they played, before loping back towards the pack.
A pang of jealousy hit Oliver as he watched the pack accept Lance back into the game easily, incorporating him in effortlessly. He found it so hard as a wolf to be social like the others, due to the isolation he had been used to on the island and in Hong Kong, and seeing a tagalong being more friendly with his pack than he usually was as a wolf… It made him immensely jealous. He wished he was as bouncy and social as Laurel and Lance were.
"You should go and join in," Moira said, raising her head from her paws and blinking lazily at him. "The pack's safe here, sweetheart. You know, even as an alpha, you're entitled to some fun too."
"I'd rather watch," he answered, curling up and lying down, covering his paws with his tail and swivelling his ears to survey for danger instinctively, pausing before admitting quietly, "I haven't really liked snow since the island anyway."
Moira gave a soft whine of sympathy before rising elegantly to her paws, licking Oliver's shoulder as she passed before bounding down the steps and gracefully galloping over to her daughter. Walter went back inside the house briefly to grab some gloves for himself and towels to dry everybody off when they decided to head in. Oliver was left alone on the patio, and he shrunk into himself slightly with a heavy sigh.
Keeping a close eye on the pack, he let his mind wander back to the days before they were all werewolves, back to the days before he had a pack so close they were considered family. His tired eyes danced over the pack again, subconsciously counting their numbers, but then he realised suddenly that somebody was missing, and bolted to his paws. Counting more carefully this time, with a jolt of horror, he realised it was Felicity who he couldn't see.
Sweeping the garden searchingly with his eyes, heart pounding, he immediately relaxed with a relieved exhale when he caught sight of some rustling under the snow nearby to him, barely a metre from the porch. Felicity was trying to sneak up on him again.
Slipping down onto the snow and digging down into it, fully intending to give the small beta wolf an earful for making him worry about her, he yelped loudly in shock as he was leapt on from behind and shoved down face first into the snow, legs sprawled out beneath him, trapped under the wolf's body. Laughter hit the air and he rolled over, shaking his pelt in distaste to free it of snow before turning with a snarl at his attacker.
"Bet you weren't expecting that," Felicity laughed, lifting her tail up and tilting her head sideways, her snow powered pelt glowing under the light of the moon.
He couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter, genuine and light as his snarl died away. "No, I certainly wasn't. That was a good one."
Her tail lifted even higher. "Thanks! And by good, I think you mean great. You can't defend against a sneak attack." She smiled and tried to point something out with her muzzle. "You've got a little something right there, Oliver -" She stretched her neck to knock a clump of snow off of the top of his head.
A sudden elation overtook the alpha and with a playful growl, he jumped onto her and pinned her to the ground.
"Oh! Oliver!" she giggled. "What are you doing?"
"I think I can recall a certain somebody asking me to play with her," he said teasingly.
Her eyes lit up and Felicity wriggled under him, batting at his chest with her paws. "You're going to play with me now?"
"You should know, I get very competitive," he chuckled.
Felicity escaped from under him, crouching and cocking her ears, eyes sparkling. "I'll give you a head start."
He straightened and bowed his head, brushing the ground with his tail. "For what?"
With an adorable little growl, the white silver she wolf launched herself after him. With a laugh, he dodged her first attack, but then within seconds they were chasing each other across the gardens, Oliver slowing down every so often to allow Felicity to catch up with him and Felicity looking smug whenever she managed to bowl him over. The alpha forgot all about his dislike for snow as he rolled around in it, skidding and slipping over in it, too focused on Felicity to even worry about watching and guarding the pack. Everything else faded away, leaving the silver she wolf being the centre of his attention, and for the first time since the island, he felt like he could laugh freely.
She pounced onto his shoulder, forcing him backwards so he fell onto his back on the ground, with her standing over him, eyes alight with mischief. Usually he didn't like having his belly exposed, especially since he was an alpha and this was the position of submission for many betas and omegas, but with Felicity, he didn't mind.
"Ha! Gotcha!"
"Actually, I think I -" He dug his claws into her scruff and spun them over so they had switched positions, with him now standing over her. "- have got you!"
"No fair!" the she wolf complained. "Using your weight and massive muscles against me! I pinned you first! I win fair and square! And besides -" Oliver yelped as she kicked her hind legs into his stomach, dashed out from underneath him and leapt onto his back so he was face first in the snow again. "Last who pins, wins!"
"Felicity! Get off, my muzzle's in the snow and I can't breathe!"
"Admit that I win, then I'll let you up."
"Fine! Fine, you win! You win!"
She laughed and eased her weight off him to release him, but before jumping off of him fully, she reached down and gave his muzzle a gently lick, her tongue scraping his whiskers before she pulled away, trotting away, swinging her tail and glancing back at him with a grin. Frozen in shock but also something that could be delight for a moment, he scrambled to his paws and rushed after her, pressing into her side gently to make sure his weight didn't push her over and laughing when she pushed back with her whole body, obviously trying to trip him but, being half his size, not managing it.
"Felicity!"
Oliver startled, straightening and whipping around with his ears back, but then he tried to flatten himself to the ground slightly in embarrassment when he noticed that the entire pack were settled, sitting back on their haunches, watching their alpha and Felicity play and run around like pups. Moira, Thea, Roy, Tommy and Diggle looked happy at seeing him actually letting go of his usual serious attitude for once, while the Lances looked a little put out, Lance especially because he thought of Felicity like a daughter. It had been Tommy shouting for Felicity, and it looked like they were about to start a new game, which was why they were calling her Oliver.
Now Tommy looked sheepish, backing away a little with his tail between his legs and lowering his body in submission when Oliver glared at him for interrupting them.
"Thanks for playing with me, Oliver," Felicity said shyly, a little hesitant to show the affection she had earlier now they were under scrutiny.
He nodded, swallowing, straightening to make himself seem taller and larger, shaking out his fur. "Sure."
She gave him a swift lick on his shoulder in respect, before saying quickly, "I wish you'd play for often, Oliver. It was fun. You've probably got alpha stuff to do, so…"
"Yeah," he answered. "Go - go and play. I should - get back on guard watch."
She hesitated. "Are you sure? I mean… That's gotta be boring." She glanced back at the pack, whom were waiting for her. "You could come and play with us - you know, if you wanted to."
He paused then shook himself. He was an alpha. He shouldn't have been playing with younger wolves, he should have been keeping watch over his pack and making sure they were all safe. It had been irresponsible for him to play with Felicity, but he hadn't been able to say no. He hadn't been able to stay away.
"No," he replied stiffly. "It's fine. Thanks for the invitation."
He turned to leave and walk back up to the patio, but then he felt a tugging on his tail, a sharp pain lancing through him, making him snarl and force Felicity into a submissive pose, but she didn't seem scared, only nipping more at his fur. He gave a hefty warning growl to try and warn her off, but she whined in response, licking at the underside of his muzzle in an apology but not backing down.
"What?" he questioned, a bite in his voice.
"Come play with us!" she whined.
"Felicity!" he protested.
"Oliver!" she countered in a mocking tone, as if teasing him for the way he said her name. "Please? You've never really played with the pack before - you've only ever sparred with John and Roy." She started just licking his muzzle, pleading, "Please? Please, come on, Oliver! Come play with us! Please?"
He sighed and licked her muzzle back. "Only for you," he grumbled.
She gave a few little delighted yaps, squirming under his paws until he let her up, at which point she bounded off to join the pack, bumping into Roy and Lance as she went. The alpha flicked his ears, trying to catch a few snippets of the pack's conversation, but all he could hear was Thea's excited clamouring and the low murmurs of Diggle and Moira attempting to calm her.
Oliver hesitated before cantering towards them, as Lance sent him a disapproving and somewhat hostile look, but Felicity and Roy standing beside him looked happy at his approach.
"Ollie, Ollie, Ollie!" Thea squealed, doing a strange little dance of bounds and leaps as she ran over to greet him, her sleek russet tail wagging eagerly as she rubbed her short red short onto his thick dark grey one, scent marking him as family.
He chuckled, nosing her side. "Hey, Speedy. Room for one more?"
"Definitely," Diggle cut in. "We're playing ambush, girls vs boys, and Quentin's dropped out but with you that makes it equal teams." He tilted his head with a wolf-equivalent of a smirk. "And I know you're pretty competitive, man, so that gives us an advantage."
"No way!" Felicity protested, jumping onto Diggle so her paws were on his reddish grey back, her head popping up and cocking sideways, making Oliver rear back, chuckling. "I want Oliver on my team! He can be with us girls!"
"Nuh uh!" Tommy bowled into her from the side, knocking her off Diggle and wiggling between Oliver's fore paws so the smaller grey wolf was underneath the larger alpha. "Oliver's with us. You can have Mr Lance as your mascot."
Lance whipped around from where he was chatting to Moira, black fur bristling. "I heard that, Merlyn!"
Tommy shrunk backwards until he was hidden underneath Oliver's belly. Uncomfortable with knowing a wolf could so easily claw his stomach open, Oliver stepped away from him, raising an eyebrow as the smaller grey wolf whimpered at being exposed to Lance's wrath, jogging away briskly.
Oliver couldn't even bring himself to defend Tommy as Lance snapped at his hind leg, however after a moment, when it became evident that Tommy was going to end up getting his leg torn off, he unleashed a deep rumble that ordered Lance to go easy on him. Lance sent a snarl in his direction, which he returned with even more depth and amplitude, and Diggle shoved himself into Lance's side with his own growl, advising him to back down from challenging the alpha, which he did after realising Oliver, the larger and more powerful wolf, had readied himself for a fight.
Felicity and Thea meanwhile watched with fond amusement, watching the battle of snarls between the males and exchanging glances towards each other every few seconds to show how funny they found it. Laurel just looked between them all with narrowed eyes. After Lance had submitted, Felicity let out her own little snarl to show her place in the hierarchy and Oliver couldn't help but throw his head back in a small laugh because she sounded like a puppy.
Roy nudged him from his other side. "Hey, moon's getting high. Are we gonna…"
"If you say howl at the full moon," Oliver deadpanned, "You'll be slapping water for two weeks."
He glanced at his beta and questioned Diggle, keeping his tone light, "So how do we play ambush?" He had never joined in with any of the pack's games before. Their personalised games were unknown to him.
"Like this!" Felicity crouched, preparing to pounce on him, except he dodged her again, sending her bowling over into a massive snow drift. It was half melted already, so when she appeared, popping her head out out of the snow, her pelt was partly soaked. She leapt out, shivering. "Oh, that's cold! That's really really cold!"
Oliver had to admit his paws were beginning to be bitten by the frost as well and the cold was seeping into his pelt, making him shiver a little, and the memory of the biting frigid night winds of Lian Yu flashed through his mind.
Shaking himself free with a tremor, he said, "It's actually getting quite cold out here. We're all drenched; Walter's got some towels for us to dry off with on the patio and I think I smelt Raisa making us some of her cocoa earlier.
Thea perked up from where she was dancing around Roy. "Wait, did I hear somebody mention Raisa's cocoa? Last one the house gets no marshmallows!"
She hurried ahead, appearing like a a red streak as she raced across the glistening but now greatly disturbed snow, leaping up the steps in one jump and dashing into the house.
Moira rolled her eyes, coming up beside Oliver, so he had Felicity on one side and his mother on the other. Felicity gave some kind of purr, pressing into his side, and he nipped her shoulder playfully to get her to step away to stop her from soaking him too.
"Oh, don't be silly, you're already wet, me being wet too isn't going to make you any wetter." It took her a moment to realise what she had just said before her ears pressed back against her skull in distaste and she huffed, complaining, "My brain thinks of the worst way to say things, especially when I'm shifted."
He smiled sideways at her, nuzzling her scruff before he lifted his and announced his song to the sky. Immediately, Felicity started her song also, howling beside him, her song stunningly beautiful and incredible to listen to. For a moment, it was only them two, male and female joined in song, but then the pack broke into chorus as well, until it was a symphony of wolf song harmonising in the dusk of the cold night. The howls tapered off, Oliver ending the song and finishing off last as the alpha, before he turned to lick at Felicity's muzzle affectionately, winding his wolf form around hers until grey intertwined with silver and they were gazing up at the brightly shining full moon together, surrounded by their family and friends, snow slowly beginning to drift down around them.
They only had to wait three minutes after their song ended before Walter's voice came yelling: "THEA, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU BEFORE, NO WOLVES IN THE HOUSE! LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO YOUR MOTHER'S BEAUTIFUL PERSIAN RUG! YOU'RE A WOLF, NOT AN ANIMAL, ACT LIKE IT PLEASE! BAD WOLF, VERY BAD WOLF!"