Disclaimer: Sherlock does not belong to me, it belongs to BBC and Doyle.

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Chapter 11
John's POV
When they had first gotten back from Chinese restaurant he had bid his flatmate and potential bondmate goodnight and headed up to his room where he shuts and locks the door. Stripping his clothes off, he stands in the middle of the room and shifts on purpose for the first time since he had been shot besides in the alley earlier this evening.

As he changes from human to wolf he can feel every bone, muscle, and sinew morph. The energy burning through him with a pleasure he had not felt in months. He had worried that his wolf would be comprised by the wound to his shoulder. That the damage would carry over to this form. Now as he stands in the middle of his room, his form that of a dire wolf he carefully looks himself over, observing that while his shoulder fur seems slightly different than it had been, he had not lost any range of motion or maneuverability.

Smiling to himself as he shifts back into his human form he stands there for a moment before putting on his pants and pajama bottoms then going to bed.

oOo

Sherlock's POV
The morning of the pack meeting, John had convinced Mrs. Hudson that his sister was planning on holding a massive impromptu reunion and flat warming at their flat that night. At the idea of a large group of people around she had decided that it would be best not to be home when they showed up, so she had taken off and wasn't planning on returning until the next night.

Now as people of a variety of ages collected slowly into the flat, he was really wishing that he had the same option, but he had wanted to formally join the pack. The idea of being part of something like that was something he had dreamed about as a child when he had first heard of the shifters but as a human he had known it would never occur. Besides he liked the idea of knowing something that his brother did not, of having somewhere he belonged.

There were more people in his flat than he had ever expected to see at one time. He was surprised it was not setting his nerves on edge. Despite the amount of people in the flat however, it was mostly quiet with very little loud noises going on. There does seem to be a clear division though between two different groups. Closer to the door is the first group, a mixed group according to his keen eyes. They seem to all be soldiers. The other group, the second group seems to be different somehow but all share a common trait. He is considering trying to analyze them when the smallest of the people in either group appears at his side.

"A bit overwhelming at times I would imagine." Her voice is soft but bit higher pitched. "You must be the gifted human the Elder said was officially joining the nest. I'm Cyanne," she introduces herself with a smile.

He glances down at her slightly startled. "Nest?" he inquires, thinking about the fact that apparently John had mentioned him as a gifted human, not just a human.

She grins up at him, "Sorry, I should say pack because it is mostly wolves but I am a mouse who grew up within a proper nest, so I still refer to the pack as a nest." She pauses for a moment her gaze sweeping the room, "Actually I am the only omnivore in my animal form."

"And your animal form is prey according to the rest of us," the darkest colored one in the group comments stopping just a few feet away. "Welcome to our pack, don't mind the rodent, she is a bit of a chatterbox. I'm Hyder."

Looking at him, Sherlock can tell that he is of mixed origins, his tone and manner of dress is that of a wealthy British citizen, yet his looks hint at Middle Eastern blood-ties. His stance is much like John's, which screams soldier, and like the rest of the group that seems mixed his eyes are always moving, well aware of where everyone in the room is. Despite the joke about Cyanne being a rodent, he can tell that there is affection for her.

She smirks at the stranger before turning back towards him, "Old joke, as the only mouse in our nest, I spent one day travelling around in each of our nest mates pockets so that they could adjust to my scent and tell me from other mice. I will probably end up doing that with all the new nest mates as well, well if the Elder thinks I should."

The mouse, as Cyanne referred to herself, is one of those people who you could read everything about in her face. She didn't seem to have a single block on her emotions. She was in the military as well, though he is not sure how with as small as she is. Perhaps a special unit?

Before he can speculate any further, one of the taller men on the side closer to the door calls for attention. Most the people listen and fall silent, but there is a small group that keeps on talking until the woman who looks a lot like John snaps at them.

"I believe the beta has called for silence," she snarls voice low, "have some respect."

The rest of them fall silent but he can tell that they do not agree with her or are not happy about the situation. A moment later John comes out of the loo, drying his hands as he does so. "Oh, good, you're ready. First off, it's good to see all of you again. Secondly, we will not be having the full meetings here when everyone is here after this." he pauses eyes catching the attention of those who did not listen the first time silence was called for, "Thirdly, respect Jacob, he's got my full permission to kick your arse if you're not. Now let's reaffirm the bonds, combine the pack, welcome our newest members, and have a pleasant evening alright."

Before anything else can happen, Cyanne glances at him and under her breath tells him, "Unfasten your dominate hand's sleeve, the reaffirming of the bond is done the dominate wrist to wrist pulse."

He nods once, deftly unfastening his right sleeve. A moment later John is standing in front of him, left hand palm up, "Sherlock Holmes, welcome to the pack, if you accept the responsibility of being a pack-mate accept the affirmation."

His eyes flicker over John, taking every detail of him in. He is dressed in one of the nicest outfits that he has seen, though it is all black for some reason. He had said nothing of what was expected of him tonight, and he was pretty sure it was because he was supposed to do this out of the honesty within him, and not with a lot of forethought.

Lifting his right hand he looks at it for a moment before nodding once. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Cyanne place her arms so it is wrist to wrist, on the pulse point. Understanding the message he does so with John. Almost immediately after a slight pressure seems to build up behind his eyes, before a wave of warmth goes through him.

"Welcome to the pack," John tells him as he lets lose his arm and strides over to the other side of the room and does the same thing with the one called Jacob. After that he took to standing still near the window and allowed each person to choose when they were going to do so. He could almost tell the wolves from the non-wolves because the wolves all seemed to want to be affectionate in some way during their turn.

With each person who does the reaffirmation with John he can feel the presence in his mind. It is almost overwhelming because it is a slightly warm feeling, yet at the same time he feels as if he finally belongs somewhere. Swaying a little bit the mouse puts a steadying hand on his shoulder. He hadn't even noticed that she had left and returned because of the focus on the internal feelings going on inside.

Guiding him to one of the chairs she waits till he is seated to perch on the edge of it and begins speaking, "Most races of shifter are tactile, family orient. Our nest that formed in Afghanistan is odd in most are independents instead, with only myself and the four wolves in our nest being tactile. Great cats can be, but generally only with their bondmates or toys. I have never heard of a tactile falcon. Vipers are with their immediate family but no one else." Cyanne informs him softly speaking.

Once everyone has greeted his flatmate, including all of the teenagers and children that he had been originally concerned about, most of the adults with little ones bid him welcome and farewell in the same breath before herding their offspring out. The end result is only about half the people are left within the flat, all of them adults as far as he can tell.

This time when the tall man calls for attention pretty close to everyone listens, the exception being a slender boy who had faded to the background who is playing on a laptop. "Even you Eric," the tall man comments when he realizes that the boy is not paying attention.

"I'm listening, Senior. I am also playing tag with a computer tech that is pretty decent considering," the teen comments, his eyes never leaving the screen.

Apparently that was an acceptable answer, but why would tag on a computer be an acceptable answer he wonders? Before he has a chance to ask, his companion leans a little closer and answers the unspoken question.

"Eric is the computer tech who keeps our files out of stranger's hands, makes sure that camera's do not catch us shifting, and is otherwise useful." Her voice is low, though he is certain most of the people in the room can hear her.

"Why are there two humans here?" one of the wolves, judging by where he is standing, demands.

"There is only one human here," the tall man replies, looking over at the wolf.

The first man snorts, "I have a good sense of smell, there are two humans in the room. That man over there by the mouse, and that female over by the window."

It is John who answers him, his voice sharper than he had expected it, "You are correct that Sherlock is human, however Maria is a multiform, which means her scent is that of a human until she chooses what form to be in."

Again the man snorts, "Bullshit. Why are there so many non-wolves who are not related part of the pack now?"

"Because as alpha I made that choice, you as a pack member who reaffirmed your pack link accepted." John informs him, voice even as he stares at the belligerent wolf. "You're still within your rights to challenge me as alpha, a bit not good to do after the affirmation, but if that's the course you want," he shrugs, eyes narrow.

The other wolf looks around the room for a minute before nodding once, "What do you know of running a proper pack? You've spent the last ten years listening to worthless humans." He steps forward, a feral smile on his face, "Besides your nothing but an injured pup, I invoke the right of challenge."

The female that had spoken earlier, speaks up now, "You are within your rights to do so, however be aware that doing so invokes the council." Her voice is harsher than John's but he can still hear and see the likeness. "Do you wish to continue?"

He nods once and John shrugs, standing at parade rest as he watches the events unfold.

She flips open her phone and makes a phone call. When she gets off of the phone, she comments, "Where shall we take this?"

"I can have this entire block shielded from view if you wish to use the street. The nice thing is its night time making it easier to make folks look away," a slender female with light skin comments.

John nods, heading outside without another word though he gets the impression that he is having a conversation with the tall man walking to his right.

Annoyed he frowns at him, wanting to be the one who stands in the place of authority with his flatmate. What? Where did that idea come from, he wonders as he watches, the beginnings of jealousy burning low in his stomach.

The girl next to him gets to her feet and smiles at him, commenting, "Come on, this should be observed by the alpha second."

"What?" he asks confused, who is the alpha second? Isn't that the man with John right now?

She smiles at him, answering the question smoothly, "You're the alpha second. He confirmed your rank with his affirmation, only the alpha second and the beta are approached by the alpha, all others approach the alpha. Now the elders will be here shortly, and that means that the two wolves will fight. My money will always be on our elder-alpha, no matter which form he is in."

As everyone files out, she glances at him, watching them all and remarks, "This isn't how these sort of things normally go. Most the time these meetings go along the lines of everyone gathers, the senior-beta calls for attention, the elder-alpha makes whatever announcements need to be made, any comments or concerns that nestmates have are dealt with and the rest of the night is a get together sort of thing with food and visiting. Happens once a month. It's not a required attend for anyone except the elder-alpha and senior-beta. It is when new nest members are formally brought into the nest link as you felt." Once everyone else is out of the flat she motions for him to go ahead of her as they head down the steps.

Outside the street is empty of everyone except for those from the pack he realizes, slightly startled. He had never seen it emptied like this, not even during a crime scene. How?

Looking around he realizes that the pack is still divided into two separate groups, the group closer to the flat are all soldiers. Ten of them to be exact. Across from the flat are the ones he is sure are wolves. Off to the side of them is a small splinter group. He is startled to see Mike Stamford because he thought that the other man had left. Eyes narrow he realizes that there are more here than there had been a little bit ago. Most of the wolves had returned, he thinks. Why?

"Alpha challenges are rare, they are witnessed by as many of the pack as can be here before the Eldest Elders arrive." His small companion tells him as she watches the people in front of her. "Come on, as elder-alpha second you should be with Jacob." She grabs his arm and leads him over to where the tall man from earlier is standing.

His senses are in too much of an overload to comprehend everything and everyone. He had never been particularly good with large groups or physical contact, yet that seems to be the standard thing happening tonight and it is driving him a bit frustrated. One thing is for sure, he's not bored.

When a shiny silver car pulls up, he is surprised to see that he recognizes two of the three men getting out. One is a member of the British government, higher ranked than his brother in fact which is a very rare thing. The other is a visiting diplomat from Germany. He has no idea who the third person is, but judging by their mode of dress and who they are with, they are just as important.

"Alpha Watson," Mycroft's superior intones, voice low but carrying.

"Eldest Alpha," he replies, inclining his head.

"Jacob," the German murmurs, his voice startled as he stares at the man next to him.

"Eldest Falcon," comes the stiff reply from the pack's beta.

"What are you doing here?" the diplomat inquires as he looks at him carefully.

"This is my coop," he pauses, nodding towards John, "he is my Elder since I was disowned for refusing to take a mate who was not my bondmate and would not strengthen the ties of our community."

There is a speculative look in the older German's face as he studies him before nodding and turning his attention to John and the other wolf.

Now that there was a crowd, including some rather influential people, he wanted to back down. He could feel it in the link that had formed when he had been brought into the pack. However, he could also feel that the man was not going to back down. He felt that he was right in his opinion and that John should not be the alpha. So instead he stands there ready and waiting, bristling with anger.

Drama queen, I swear wolves are the worst at times, how the hell do they manage to be at the top of the food chain if they cannot even deal with each other rationally? he hears Eric muttering as he glances up from the laptop. Are you shielding Daria?

The slender woman who had commented on the block earlier nods once, lifting her left hand and etching various things into the air. Her eyes seem to glow for a moment and the air around them seems to change, a pressure being added to it that he finds hard to breathe in until he adjusts. There, no humans who are not pack will be able to see them as long as they are within this street, camera's perception showing only non-den, non-shifters.

He blinks rapidly at her, he doesn't believe in magic but that sure looked like magic. How? Turning he quickly raises an eyebrow at Mouse, hoping that she will understand because he is not sure he could figure out how to voice that question without sounding stupid, and stupid is one thing he never likes to sound.

She seems to understand because she smiles, "Here let me do the introductions. This is Jacob, the senior-beta, an elite falcon." She points to the one who had spoke earlier. "You've already meet Hyder, he's the great cat standing there looking bored. On the other side of him is Eric, computer tech and elite cobra. Those two," she says pointing to a pair who are standing in parade rest just past the teen with the computer, "are Yana and Edward, our owly friends. Yana was actually accepted formally into the nest today, Edward's been with us a while." Motioning to the other side of Jacob she directs his attention to the girl he just saw use magic or something like it. "That's Daria and her bondmate Nathan, you can see their bonding marks on their right wrists since they are both right handed, their vipers, though I could not tell you the exact type. Daria has Gifted blood, as you might have gathered from her use of the psionic talents. Those three who act like wolves really are wolves, but they are military like the rest of us on this side. The two that look similar are Trace and Damian, the other one is Scott."

She had just finished up with the three powerful men, move to form a triangle around where John and his challenger are standing.

"Who issues the challenge?" the British wolf demands.

"I…I do, Thomas Lane," the wolf stutters.

"Who accepts the challenge?" the German diplomat queries.

"John Watson, elite alpha wolf of the Watson mixed-pack."

"Who witnesses the challenge?" the third man inquires, voice low.

"Jacob, elite beta falcon of the Watson mixed-pack." The tall man answers stepping forward and taking parade rest.

"Challenge permitted, the remaining wolf will be the alpha. Form of choice, trail by combat, death acceptable." The British wolf intones, stepping back at the same time as the other three.

The entire group is silent at that pronouncement, it is rare for alpha fights to be to the death, though Sherlock doesn't know that. What he does know is everyone seems to be shocked. Finally the wolf who issued the challenge starts to change, his body morphing into that of a nice sized timber wolf, fur sleek as he stands there and growls.

John merely looks at him thoughtfully for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders a bit.

What a pup, he hears the cobra mutter, did he not listen to the elite part of his name? Idiot.

When Thomas lunges forward, John merely side steps, allowing the wolf who is half his size to go sailing past him. Spinning on the ball of his foot, he keeps his eyes on the wolf as he takes another lunge at him. when John's eyes narrow he realizes that the other wolf must be speaking to him in some form but he cannot hear it. The next thing he knows, John's form is shifting and morphing. Where moments before a rather short blonde man stood, now a massively tall golden wolf stood instead. The only reason he could easily identify this massive wolf as his flatmate was the large patch of fur that seems to be a different color in a star burst shape on his shoulder and those blue eyes that match his human form.

One moment Thomas is lunging for him, the next the smaller wolf is back pedaling, trying to get away from the much large wolf who pins him simply by swatting him with a paw and pushing down on his throat.

Listen closely. He hears John's voice in his head snarling, and with a glance around realizes everyone else there hears him too. There will be no discrimination between any member of this pack. Do so and face my wrath, I will not tolerate it. Each member has their place which is mine to know and yours to accept. This pack is mixed. It will remain mixed. If you do not like it find a different pack. Understand?

Every single one of the wolves that had been grumbling shift and present their throats in submission before John hops backwards returning to his human form as he does so, still fully dressed. The others slowly turn back into their human forms, most of them even managing to do so fully clothed, but there are a few who do not.

Thomas inches a little closer, his voice a low beg as he babbles at John about how sorry he is. However John's not listening, his gaze is sweeping the area. It will be one of the few times he would see that temper he would realize years later.

"Deal with him Jacob," the alpha wolf comments, before flashing a smile to the rest, "Either go home or enjoy the rest of the night, the reason has already been completed. There will not be a comments time this month."

The tall man next to him inclines his head, murmuring, "Sir," before walking over to where the graveling man is.

The three 'elders' all bid farewell to John before getting back in their vehicle and leaving. Lost in thought he barely notices the passage of time once he gets back into the flat, nor does he notice that it is early morning when everyone has finally left.

AN: So this chapter did not go at all like I expected it to, I mean seriously, in my head it was mostly fluffy, but when I started typing it decided to change its mind and here we are! Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys.