Adam let Collin get in front of him and get to the door first so he could get Nicole into bed as quick as possible. He was surprised when the door opened for him without him knocking or even touching the door.
"Thanks Jesse" Adam said coming up behind Collin he had planned on opening the door for the younger werewolf but his daughter beat him to it. "Can you show him to one of the guest rooms where he can put his daughter down to sleep."
"Sure, dad" Jesse replied.
Adam got into the living room and noticed that Darryl and Auriele were still there.
"We thought it wouldn't be a good idea to leave Jesse by herself." Auriele admitted honestly and Adam had to concede that she was right.
"Who is he?" Darryl asked looking at the new arrival as he followed Jesse to the guest bedrooms.
"His name is Collin Phelps and he's joining the pack." Adam replied then told Darryl and Auriele his story as he knew it. He wasn't sure why Nicole's mother wasn't in the picture, he just knew that she wasn't there. He figured if Collin wanted them to know he would tell them eventually.
"There is a lot I don't know right now, but that will take time to get out." Adam continued.
Collin had got the other bag and put the bags in the room where Nicole lay asleep then returned to talk to the preexisting pack members. He had seen very few wolves in the room but he had heard from the Marrok that there were about 30 wolves in Adam's pack give or take
"I hear you're joining the pack." Darryl said as Adam went to call Warren and the other pack members to set up a meeting to welcome Collin into the pack.
"Yes, I just... I haven't been in a pack since before Nicole was born... she isn't familiar with anything to do with being part of a pack." Collin sighed.
"Don't worry about it, she'll have plenty of understanding teachers." Auriele smiled warmly "She's only four so she isn't expected to know how to act within a pack yet, even the sternest of wolves won't expect that of her." Auriele paused "The pack is likely going to spoil her a bit... or some members will if you let them"
A strange look crossed Collin's face.
"She's so adorable and she'll be the youngest child in the pack, don't worry about it they won't go against your wishes for her." Auriele assured him though secretly she wondered if there would be any stopping the whirlwind known as Kyle Brooks once he got a look at her as she figured he and Warren would both melt in front of the cherub like face of that little girl.
Adam came back and informed them that there would be a pack meeting in a few hours. They all noticed Collin's fear rise at the announcement. They understood why he felt that way his little girl was going to be surrounded by lots of strange wolves, they would have had a lot of questions if he had reacted any differently to the situation.
"Don't worry, there isn't a place in the world your daughter would be safer than in a house full of werewolves." Darryl assured him calmly.
"He's right and not only that you'll be pack in a few hours meaning they'll all be ready, willing and able to protect her." Adam added sitting on the couch in the living room as Mercy entered the house.
"Collin..." she was slightly surprised to see him. She had hoped he would agree to join the pack, she just didn't realize that Adam would work this quickly to get him in, she guessed it was to get the support structure in place for Nicole who desperately needed stability as there were rumors that someone was on the verge of calling CPS because of how they moved around due to evictions. Now no one could call, he had a stable roof over their heads thanks to Adam.
"He's staying here for a while." Adam told her and she nodded in reply. She hadn't brought it up but the smell of mold in the apartment had her sneezing for several minutes after she left there in an attempt to get the smell from her nose.
"Welcome, the pack." Mercy shook his hand politely then took a seat beside Adam and Collin noticed that she leaned into Adam's side as he put his arm around her so that had her scent not told him she was his mate, their actions would.
"Yes," he replied "Thank you".
The adults spent the next hour getting to know each other, and somewhere in there Warren, Tommy and Ben both arrived at the house and joined in the conversation.
Tommy was starting towards the kitchen when he noticed a little girl coming out of one of the bedrooms looking like she had just woke up.
"Who are you?" she asked as she rubbed at her eyes, he noticed she didn't immediately get scared by his presence she just became curious.
"My name is Tommy." he replied kneeling down to her level.
"Do you know where my daddy is?" she asked.
"What's your daddy's name?" he asked
"Collin Phelps..." she said sounding more as if she were reciting it than she was ever used to calling him that, Tommy didn't think too much of it as most children didn't call their parents by name on a regular basis.
Tommy noticed Collin coming as Nicole said his name.
"He's right there" Tommy smiled pointing towards Collin.
"Daddy, where are we?" she asked
Collin explained to her that they were at Adam's house and would be staying there for a while until they could get a nice place of their own. Adam had told Collin that he had no problem with Nicole playing outside since his property was fenced in and the neighbors they knew would be more than happy to help keep watch over her. He also said if Collin ever saw her playing with a white werewolf or coyote he shouldn't worry, the white werewolf was the Marrok's son Samuel who loved children, the coyote was Adam's mate Mercy she didn't love children as much as Samuel but she would shift and play with them if given half the chance.
"How about we see about getting you some lunch?" Collin suggested to Nicole who nodded her agreement.
Nicole smiled and followed her father into the kitchen. Adam had informed him that he was welcome to anything in the kitchen for himself or her so Collin went to making her lunch while Tommy got a drink and just watched.
This annoyed Tommy who could tell Collin was underfed and likely very hungry.
"Collin get something to eat, you're welcome to anything in this kitchen and you need to keep up your strength if you're going to keep up with her." Tommy said allowing a little bit of his authority as a more dominant wolf to slide into his voice. "I'll keep watch over your daughter while you eat."
Collin hesitated but then went to fix himself some lunch. He knew he needed to eat and try to gain back the weight he had lost but it wouldn't be easy, it took effort to put weight on a werewolf. He stopped suddenly as the scent of a strange wolf drifted to him, it was a dominant male and the first thing his instincts told him was to get Nicole as far from the intruder as possible, but he pushed that part down, he was part of a pack now, he would have to get used to dominant males coming around Nicole. He looked over his shoulder to see a man with shaggy brown hair and brilliant blue eyes looking Nicole over with some interest.
"Hi, might I ask who you are and why you're so interested in my daughter?"
He wondered why Tommy hadn't said anything about the new arrival, maybe he was a pack member or a trusted friend of the pack.
"Oh, I'm Dr. Samuel Cornick, she's adorable." the man replied.
Collin let his shoulders fall, the man was a doctor and probably trying to asses her health.
"She's a handful, those curls can be a pain to take care of but she's more than worth it." Collin admitted.
"Have you found a pediatrician around here? I can recommend someone if you haven't." Samuel offered.
"I haven't been able to afford a doctor or anything else and she needs vaccines before she starts Kindergarten next year." Collin admitted.
Adam overheard this as he entered the room; that was unacceptable.
"Samuel can you get the information for that pediatrician we will need to set up an appointment for a checkup as soon as possible," he turned to Collin "The pack will cover her medical expenses no strings attached and I will accept no protest. I want to do all I can to help you raise your daughter to be as healthy as she can be."
Collin had opened his mouth to protest when Adam cut him off with the 'no protest' comment.
"Sure I'll bring the information by tomorrow." Samuel replied "They're going to love the woman I'm recommending them to; she's been in practice for a while and has the type of personality that children just love."
Samuel didn't say it aloud but he figured if the woman were to become a werewolf she would be an omega.
"Thank you." Collin added as that was pretty much all he could say "both of you, I could never do this on my own and you have no idea how hard that is to admit."
"Remember what I said, pack takes care of their own." Adam said softly "Once we get you into the pack we'll modify one of the guest bedrooms so she'll have her own room and you'll be next door to her. Honey and her mate Peter are looking at bedroom furniture geared towards children her age as we speak, I trust them to get something good and with Honey making the design choices don't be surprised if it is something fit for a princess." Adam warned Collin.
Collin wasn't sure what to say to that suggestion but he wanted her to have that, wanted her to feel like the little princess he felt she was. On his own he could never give get what he thought she deserved, he could barely feed her on some days.
They all started to the basement, Samuel had volunteered to sit with Nicole as they ran through the ceremony to bring Collin into the pack.
The magic built in the room as the ceremony began.
"Look me in the eyes with no offense taken or meant, Collin Andrew Phelps" Adam said
"I see you, Adam Alexander Hauptman, Alpha of the Columbia Basin Pack"
"Will you join us, to hunt, to fight, to live and run?"
"Under the moon, I will hunt, fight, live and run with you and yours who shall be mine."
The magic was building through the room and Collin was on edge, it had been years since he was in a pack and he looked forward to the bonds forming and having the support that only comes from a pack.
"We claim you" Darryl said, handing a knife to Adam as his sentiment echoed through the room
"I claim you, alpha's flesh and blood you shall be, mine to me and mine, pack." Adam said after cutting a bit of flesh from his arm, after he spoke he handed that to Collin who ate it.
"Yours to you, mine to me."
The familiar burn ripped through Collin as the bonds formed and then he could feel them so strong around him and his wolf wanted to howl his joy that they could relish in the support of a pack and have that to help them with their pup.
"Welcome to the pack, Collin," Adam smiled.
"Thank you, Adam, for everything," Collin replied.
They headed back upstairs and found Samuel laying on the floor with Nicole with coloring books and crayons that neither Adam nor Collin recognized. They would later learn that Samuel picked them up on his way over to Adam's house.
"Can you believe he is the Marrok's oldest son?" Adam asked a chuckle coloring his voice.
"I'm going to be honest, I wouldn't have believed it, I've only met one of the Marrok's sons and I'm going to be honest he was one scary wolf."
"Then you got to meet my little brother, Charles Cornick." Samuel said not looking up. "Trust me he isn't as bad normally as he has to be when he's on the hunt. "
"He was shockingly pretty tolerant with Nicole." Collin replied.
"Mr. Cornick was strange, he was so serious… but he protected me" Nicole said.
"The Alpha of the pack whose territory we left had little tolerance for children or lone wolves. She ended up on his bad side and your brother got in the way… probably saved my baby's life. There is no way I can repay Charles for that." Collin admitted.
"I think just knowing someone sees him as a hero would be payment enough for Charles." Samuel replied.
"For him, maybe, but not for me; Nicole is my life… I probably would have lost it if I lost her… if I lost her he would have likely had to…" Collin let the thought hang in the air but Samuel knew where he was going with it. Had Nicole died that day Collin would have likely lost control of his wolf and Charles would have had to kill him as well.
To Be Continued…