Fenrir stalked through the long, twisting hallways of Malfoy Manor looking for his newest pup. He should be up and about by now, Fenrir had bitten him two days ago. He had no idea how many other people he had bitten before the Malfoy boy. Hundreds probably. His intention had been to bite as many people as he could in order to take over the wizarding world. That goal was on hiatus now, though. Now, he was a Death Eater, he would follow the Dark Lord's objectives, as long as they aligned with his own.
The new army that the Dark Lord wanted to create was right up Fenrir's alley. Fenrir would be in charge of this new army and he would rule it with an iron fist. If he was good enough, he might be able to surpass the number of Death Eaters, and that's what he really wanted. Fenrir had grand plans for himself and his pack. He just had to find his new pup to get started.
Five days ago when that bitch, Bellatrix Lestrange, told him he was needed for part of an "inner circle" meeting, Fenrir had about hexed her. How the Dark Lord could put up with her, he had no idea. She had gone on and on about the "inner circle" this and the "inner circle" that. Like Fenrir cared about the gods-be-damned inner circle. He didn't want to be part of the inner circle, he had enough on his plate trying to get his pack in order. He didn't want a pack of new pups. His policy had changed, now he was contacting every lone wolf he'd bit in the last 30 years trying to convince them to become pack. There had to be intention with a werewolf bite, if you didn't intend for the recipient to be pack, then they wouldn't be. If Fenrir or the recipient wanted to become pack later on, Fenrir had to bite them again with the pack intention. Second time wasn't as bad of course, but still, took some convincing.
Over the last two days, while recovering from the full moon Fenrir had come to terms with who his newest pup would be. He hadn't any idea what the Dark Lord wanted when he called him into that meeting earlier in the week. It was just of a surprise to him as it seemed to be to the Malfoy kid. Fenrir did have to admit to being impressed with the way the pup had taken the news, yes he looked shocked, but he had recovered quickly. He took his "punishment" like a man. Fenrir chuckled to himself under his breath, being a werewolf was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Sure, as a kid he had felt plenty of resentment, it was the reason he went around and bit as many people as he could, he wanted everyone to have to go through what he did.
But then he'd gotten a pack and everything changed. It took him a few years to figure out what it was about having a pack that made being a werewolf better, but he finally did. It was the collective. It was subtle and took a while to find it and really tap into it, but the collective was the best part about being a werewolf. He almost felt sorry for all the lone wolves out there who didn't have access to the collective, but then he thought about Lupin and snarled. Dumb sods, the lot of them.
Fenrir stopped and sniffed the air, turning slowly as different scents hit his nose, ah, there, that's it. Fenrir took off at a quicker pace and ended up on the ground level near the solar, his new pup was just leaving.
"Malfoy," Fenrir growled at him.
Malfoy turned around and looked at Fenrir, he couldn't hide his revulsion fast enough. Fenrir saw the look slip through before the pure-blood mask was back in place. Fecking pure-blood ponce.
"Let's talk," Fenrir turned around and headed to the dungeons, there was a dueling court under the east wing. The Dark Lord had directed Fenrir to train his recruits there.
Fenrir didn't even bother to see if Malfoy was following him, he could hear him keeping pace. He hoped the pup would be strong enough to be Beta, Merlin knew the rest of the pack was singularly unqualified to be Beta. He couldn't believe the stupidity of his last Beta to get himself killed. He was just happy the Dark Lord had decided that losing his Beta was punishment enough. While Fenrir's goals aligned with the Dark Lord's at the moment, he didn't think he wanted to take anyone's punishment. Fenrir was a cold-hearted bastard, he knew this, the Dark Lord was a fucking terrifying psychopath. Fenrir was smart enough to know he didn't want to get on his bad side.
After passing through the dungeons Malfoy and Fenrir arrived at the dueling arena. Malfoy Manor was built on a hill, the dungeons were all underground, in the hill. The dueling arena was on the side of the hill, so while it was mostly underground, the east wall was made of windows, with a set of French doors in the middle of the wall. Outside the windows the lawn sloped downward until it met the river that ran through the Malfoy lands. The dueling court was a large open space, it used to have a small set of bleachers on either side of the center circle. Since Fenrir and his pack had taken over, the bleachers were gone. The dueling circle was still there, and when Fenrir and Malfoy had walked into the room, there were two men in the circle, fighting hand to hand. Around the outer edges of the circle there were several tents set up, other men were moving in and around the tents.
"This is the rest of the pack," Fenrir waved his hand around the court. "You'll be staying here, I'll show you to your tent." Fenrir started moving forward once again.
"What? No, I have a room upstairs..." Malfoy began, hurrying to catch up.
"Not anymore, you're pack now, you'll be staying with the pack." Fenrir tossed over his shoulder. "Don't make me get the Dark Lord involved, pup. You won't like it."
Fenrir walked to the furthest corner from the eastern wall, he stopped in front of a tent, "This one is yours, just had one of the Omega's set it up for you. The Dark Lord wants you to be Beta, you know what that means?"
"Not really, I looked through my Defense books…."
Fenrir laughed, "You can't learn about being a werewolf in a damn book, pup. Look, I know this isn't what you wanted, but this is your lot. The Dark Lord wants you to be Beta, so that's what we'll work on. There's no guarantee that you'll get to be Beta, someone could always challenge you for it. But Bellatrix assures me you are smart, that's what I need in a Beta. My tent is over there," Fenrir gestured to the right. Fenrir's tent was the largest of the lot. "Beta gets second best tent position in the pack. I'll call in my sire and have him start your lessons."
Fenrir walked into his tent and found his sire, Arnou Mingan, lounging in his favorite chair. He sighed heavily, Arnou refused to be pack, but he was so old, Fenrir couldn't bear to throw him out on his own. Fenrir might look, sound, and act fierce, but he had tremendous loyalty. Arnou hadn't meant to bite him as a kid, it had been an accident. It had taken Fenrir 30 years to come to terms with it, but now Arnou was one of his best advisers. Probably his best friend.
"Arnou, don't you have your own tent? I swear I had asked an Omega to set one up for you." Greyback walked to the small kitchen and grabbed a bottle of firewhisky off the shelf. He pulled out two glasses and looked at Mingan.
"None for me, pup." Fenrir let out a low growl. "You'll always be my pup, firs' and only pup I ever bit, you've had 30 years to get over it. So get over it."
Fenrir nodded and put one of the glasses back. He poured himself a firewhisky and knocked it back in one go. Then he poured himself another one and went to sit in the chair next to Arnou's.
"I jus' came by to see how your newest pup was settlin' in."
"I've just found him and brought him down. So we'll see. He took the bite like a man for the most part. He's got an awful girly scream, but I suspect that can't be helped. Bite hurts something fierce, I do remember that," Fenrir mock glared at Mingan. Mingan had bit Fenrir when Fenrir was eight. He had been out on a dare from one of his friends, he was supposed to trek through the woods between his cottage and his friend's and go back again. Mingan had been in Wales, it was his first change not in America and he hadn't been able to find lodging for the full moon. Fenrir had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, he might tease Mingan about it, but Fenrir knew how much regret Mingan had over biting him.
"I need you to give him the werewolf rundown, politics, etiquette, whole works. Didn't even know what a Beta was." Fenrir took a sip of his firewhisky and looked toward the door as a cheer went up from the middle of the room. Fight must be over.
"Aye, I can do tha'. Yer Dark Lord still want him for Beta, then?" Mingan swished his wand and his cane jumped up off the floor and settled itself between his knees. Mingan put both hands on top of his cane in preparation to stand up.
"Yes, the Dark Lord and Bellatrix both think he's smart enough for Beta. Looks like a nancy, but he's got a spine of steel. He'll need quite a bit of trainin' up in order to become Beta though. You up for that?" Fenrir swallowed the rest of his firewhisky and banished his glass to the sink.
Mingan slowly pulled himself to his feet, nodding at Fenrir.
"I'll go find the kid and give 'im the low down," Mingan began his slow shuffle toward the tent flap.
"I want you to spend every morning with him. We've got a month before he's got to be back at Hogwarts. Damn, we need to figure out what to do with him for full moons at Hogwarts. I guess Snape can brew him Wolfsbane that should help him some, we'll still need a place for him to be during the transformation. Lupin went to Hogwarts, what did Dumbledore do for him, do you know?"
Mingan raised a bushy white eyebrow at Fenrir, "Now why would I know a thing like tha'?"
"Och, you're right Arnou, off with you, I'll see if any of the younger wolves know." Fenrir waved his hand at Mingan, dismissing him from his tent.
Fenrir ran a hand down his face ruminating his newest pup. He hoped the kid wouldn't be as bad as he feared he would be. Seemed like a damned spoiled brat to Fenrir, but hopefully he wouldn't cause any problems. Fenrir needed a Beta, damn Raul for getting himself killed. Since he didn't have a Beta, Fenrir would have to figure out what the plan was going to be when the pup went back to Hogwarts. Maybe he could owl Lupin? They hadn't spoken in a few years and Lupin had always had a pretty contentious relationship with him. Part of it had to do with Lupin being an Alpha in his own right, even if he didn't have a pack. The rest was the resentment between a sire and a pup. He did not want Dumbledore to know he'd turned the Malfoy kid into a Were, it would be better if it was kept as secret as possible. Snape might be better to contact than Lupin. He was at Hogwarts with Lupin, so he would know. Salazar knows Lupin probably wouldn't answer his damned owl. Snape it was then. Fenrir left his tent to head to the Malfoy Manor owlery.
A/N: Beta love to twztdwildcat!