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Chapter 2
Jace's POV
In the weeks following being summoned to the pack house, he spends a lot of time out there working with the three wolves in the basement. His goal is to get them to leave the basement and stay above stairs. It is not an easy task, particularly since Cleon really wants to fight with every single shifter that he comes in contact with. Still, he is determined and decides that instead of trying to introduce them to the adults, he will start with the others of their age group, maybe not Konrad though, he is too much like his cobra for that to be safe at this point.

So he does just that, getting each of them to join him for a bit during his visits to the three wolves. The only adult he takes with him is Mouse, she is rather non-threatening and can help them to determine where they are educationally. The first time that he takes Mouse down, the elite wolf snarls at her, lunging at her and she flinches a little but holds her place, keeping her eyes focused on his paws rather than his head.

"My greetings elite," she murmurs softly, her voice low as she politely bows. "I am Cyanne, mostly called Mouse," she introduces herself, wavy hair haloing around her as she moves.

Again he watches as the other elite lunges at her and again she holds still.

"I am a sigma," she murmurs, "a teacher. I am also a trained fighter, compared to the alpha and the nu you are not scary."

This seems to throw the other wolf off because he suddenly stops and shifts, slender form swaying for a moment as he regains his stance on two legs, "Nu?" his voice is scratchy from disuse.

"The master of intelligence, an elite black cobra with the type of temper that only the Old Gods and their Blessed ones can withstand," she replies.

Teachers are not fighters, the elite remarks, returning to the telepathy he feels more comfortable with.

She smiles, "I am, may I return later?" she queries politely. Slowly the other wolf nods and she bows once more before he hears, Your doing a fine job Jace, be proud of yourself, she tells him in the pack link, you are doing an excellent job with them, I actually expected a bit more threatening.

Once more she does a partial bow before she retreats up the steps. He spends a bit of time visiting with them before going to fetch some food. So far he has only been able to get them to come out of the basement twice. Still, it is more than he hoped for.

Over the next few days he spends lots of time coming and going, attempting to get them used to it. Then four days after he brought Mouse to visit he decides to bring Leah to visit. She is the calmest of their generation of shifter, and a bit of an empath which is very useful. She is also the youngest of their group which he is hoping will translate to less of a threat.

When he first brings her into the basement, she shifts into her small dark brown wolf and prances closer to them without actually getting too close. He is mildly surprised at her movements, they are flirty but not, something that confuses him. Eventually she prances right up to him, stopping to sniff him lightly before prancing away again. After repeating this process a few more times, she returns to the steps and shifting back into her human form.

You are an elite, full-blood, both parents carried the gene. Prior to being captured you had hopes of being the packs defender, you did not wish to control the pack, but wanted to protect. You have turned all of your protective instincts towards protecting the female who is your first cousin and carrying a pup. You dislike speaking aloud because it reminds you of the humans that held you captive. She cocks her head to the side, eyes widening slightly as she stares through him, you desire to join the pack but are leery because you are not sure you will be able to protect her. I suggest joining the pack and then joining the sub-pack within that is made up of us that are your age. She pauses for a moment, eyes flickering from him to the other in the room, There is two Trackers and two damn-near Trackers in this pack, very little will ever succeed at causing problems. Not when the alpha of the pack is favored by the Mistress of Shadows, as is his shadow second.

She settles onto the step and watches, dark eyes still observing. Eventually she turns her eyes to the other two, sweeping them across several times before she begins to speak again. You are a wolf, you carry the elite gene but are not elite. As a child before they took you, you were very artistic, part of you longs to be again but fears that to do so sets you up for a weak spot, it does not. Perhaps I could find some sketching materials for you. Your one goal now is to do everything you can to protect your pup. You might not have wished to get pregnant but you refuse to lose this one too. Her voice is soft as she speaks to the female wolf before she turns her attention to the females mate, You seek to protect but have had it ingrained since birth to obey an elite. Your birth pack was led by an elite, but not one favored of the Old Gods judging by the results of what occurred. You do not know what you wish to do with yourself. You have no special talents, and seek only to insure your mate's health and happiness but do not know how to.

When she stops this time, she settles a head on her palms, with her elbows on her knees.

For a few minutes everything is silent then the younger elite inquires, How do you know all of that?

She smiles at him, I started to develop the Gift of Past Sight, it's a form of rememberancy that the record keeper uses to insure that the pack records are maintained. I am to start training with Aunt Sandra after I turn sixteen next year.

After that the tension vanishes and the visit gets a lot smoother. For a while the five of them merely sit in silence before Qamra finally decides to talk, "Why are you both such strong mind speakers?"

He smiles at her, answering, "Practice, I live with vipers, they tend not to speak aloud in public, so I picked up telepathy before I picked up any other gift."

"Family trait, lots of telepaths in my family." she answers aloud but keeps her voice soft and low, it's the same type of voice she used when dealing with him when they first met. "I also have a bit of empathy, which allows me to read emotions. Mum is a mindhealer, not a full omicron but she has some ability and has been teaching me since I was little to control mine."

Confusion curls the other elites features as he looks at her, You do not plan to be a healer?

She shakes her head, Nope, before she has a chance to say anything her mobile goes off, making them jump in shock, himself included because he had not realized she had it with her.

Blushing, Leah ducks her head and pulls it out of her pocket to check the message before sighing. I am being summoned, it was nice to meet you, I hope to see you all soon, she tells them before standing and looping up the steps.

"She's different," Qamra comments, eyes wide as she stares at where the other wolf had just been sitting, "Are the others like her?"

He grins, shaking his head, "Nope, they are each different. Tobe is easy going and light hearted, but he wants to be a detective and solve crimes in both the human world and our world. Konrad is far too serious, he is training to be a Tracker, and is probably the last one in the bunch I will introduce you too," he smiles a bit at that, shaking his head, "Keir also wants to be a detective, though his is more because he wants to prove it is possible to straddle both worlds without being in conflict. Marcus cooks a lot, I mean any time he can he cooks. Dora is learning how to make antidotes to poisons and toxins, going to school for that purpose, or plans on it. Right now she is studying chemistry with the alpha-second who does consulting work for the human detective force."

He pauses to take a breath, thinking about how to finish describing them and whether he should include the newest or not. "Abigail is learning the human methods of mindhealing, and how different things can affect it. She has been a big support since I joined the pack. Aaron is Abigail's younger brother, he wants to be a forensics expert, able to deal with crime scenes and determine who is guilty based on evidence. You just met Leah, she is the youngest of our little group and loves to study and record things." Again he pauses as he makes up his mind, perhaps if he tells them about the pack, they will feel more comfortable with the idea of joining it, because they really shouldn't be on their own, they need a family and this pack is good at being family.

"Aidan is relatively new to the pack, he's a black cobra, not a wolf and is super good with computers. Though he is rather light-hearted when compared to his sire. Charlotte is new too, only been part of the pack for a few months, she is a jackal who is just learning to control her form, I think she wants to be a veterinarian." Frowning, he focuses for a moment to recall the other two sisters names, "Madeline is Charlotte's sister, she is gifted, not a jackal, though she is really shy." Who is he missing of the ones in their age range? Oh yeah, "Cassie is the last one in our age range, she sticks to herself a lot, though you can often find her in the library. I think she is the only wolf who does not train with the alpha-second in some form."

When he is done, he pauses to look at them and see what their reaction is. That was a lot of information in a small time frame. Could it have been too much? Hmmmm. He would have to wait and see.

Several minutes pass in silence before the other elite slowly asks, "Why are you telling us this?"

Even with his not very well honed sense of smell he can tell that he is uncomfortable speaking like that and he tries for a friendly smile as he replies, "Well, if you wanna stay in the pack, maybe you would feel better about it if you knew a bit about them before you meet them." Softening his voice a bit he suggests, "You can continue to use telepathy if it makes you feel better."

"You don't," the other elite remarks, eyes narrow.

Giving a small shake of his head he comments, "After years of forced silence, the right to speak when I want is one I value, there are still times I will not talk and it worries my parents, particularly my ma."

I thought you said you were adopted? There is confusion in the other shifters tone as he switches back to telepathy.

"As far as I care, my bondparents are my parents. I do not blame my sire for what happened, he was killed by the pack when I was young and I barely remember him. But the female that birthed me is of no relation to me as far as I care." His voice lowers and he knows his emotions spike because he feels the soft brush of his cobra's mind against his, a silent inquiry if he needs assistance and is alright. He tries for the impression of a smile through the link, trying to reassure the cobra that he is alright since he knows his cobra is out hunting for those who did this and does not need to be interrupted. "She wanted me dead, but did not dare kill an elite pup, so instead she was going to allow the pack I was born to to do so." He shrugs, accepting it as part of his life.

He can feel the recoil in the bonded couple, and the shock off of the other elite. Apparently the idea that any parent could not want their child does not sit well with them.

Shrugging lightly, he flickers a glance at the female wolf before inquiring, "Would you like to know what kind of pup your having?"

She nods, scooting closer to where he is sitting but doesn't actually close the gap between them. He understands that it is her way of saying yes but trying to not challenge her cousin who is between them still.

Smiling lightly, he moves closer to them, but waits for the other elite to nod before he closes the distance and carefully reaches one hand out to touch her. As soon as his fingers make contact with her hand, because that's the only place on her that he touches her, he drops into his gift and carefully reaches for her. A moment later he has ghosted through her, doing a little more healing as he goes before stopping when he reaches her pup. Carefully, he touches his healing gift against the little one before actually touching her with his empathy, and it is a her. She is a bit small still, so he bolsters her immune system before carefully withdrawing.

"You are going to have a daughter." He tells the chocolate colored wolf, enjoying the scent that fills the area and the joyous feelings he is getting from them.

For a while the four of them continue to visit, it is mostly her speaking with him about their life prior to the raid that had changed everything. Several times he fetches food from the kitchen. Once even getting them to come up the stairs to the kitchen door though he doesn't get them to come out. Eventually he bids them farewell heading home for the night.

Over the next few weeks the cycle continues with him bringing the others to meet them slowly. As he suspected, Konrad and Cleon did not hit it off, and they actually got into a fight. Nearly as soon as Konrad had entered the basement, Cleon had shifted and attacked, only the nearly white-eyed wolf was faster. Surprisingly so considering that Cleon was an elite and Konrad is not.

Afterwards, when the small wolf releases him, shifting back to his human form as he does so, he snarled at him, I train with the deadliest members of this pack, you're not nearly as deadly or fast as them. Before turning his attention to the chocolate female and bowing politely, protector to protected, Do you need anything dame?

She shakes her head no, watching her cousin with wide eyes and huddling deeper into her blankets because she can feel the emotions rolling off of him.

"Cleon, you need to calm down, your upsetting Qamra and that is not good for the pup," he soft suggests to the other elite, voice low and soothing. He had been working on his empathy and ability to broadcast positive emotions during his time down here.

The chocolate colored elite glances at him, still in wolf form, his eyes mostly wild but he slowly returns to human form, going through several stages of mixed before he is done. As soon as he is in human form he nuzzles his cousins cheek gently, the same type of reassuring motion he had seen the other wolf do many times.

I am Konrad, training to be a Tracker of the Blessed Mother, the Mistress of Shadows. The older wolf introduces himself, bowing slightly once more

"Qamra," she murmurs as she curls close to her mate and pulls her cousin down next to her so she can rest between them, "my mate Trey," she continues rubbing her cheek against the lighter wolf next to her shoulder, and my cousin Cleon," she finishes pulling the similarly colored wolf closer.

It is another thing he has seen them do on several occasions. Any time Cleon would start to get emotional she would seek comfort from both, probably as a way to calm them.

It is a pleasure to meet you Dame Qamra, his light eyed friend replies.

"Why dame?" she asks, confusion in her tone.

It means mother, you smell of child, and shall be a mother, thus you are a dame. Besides I have not been invited to call you otherwise, he replies lightly.

She blushes, ducking her head a bit and nodding, "call me Qamra, please," she remarks.

The light eyed wolf nods and settles onto the floor waiting for them to make the first move.

It is a long few minutes before anyone comments but eventually Trey is the one to break the silence by inquiring after Konrad's reasoning for becoming a Tracker. Konrad smiles in response, politely stating that is his business and he plans to keep it that way. After that the five of them seem to have a far easier conversation.

That is also the turning point. While he had been moderately certain that the others would join the pack, he knew that they were very leery of doing so. After that visit however, they started coming out more often. Though from what the others of the house said, they never strayed far from each other's sight and Cleon would sometimes stalk around the house at night while the other two were resting, exploring it carefully and trying to stay out of sight.

It was a good feeling, particularly when the packs omicron, Jeffery, an older wolf with kind eyes, told him that he was shaping up to be a fine healer and a valuable pack member. The big test for how well he was doing would be the full moon meeting coming up when all the new pack members would officially join the pack and have the bond formed. Still, he was happy with the progress they had made in such a short period of time.