Chapter 11: A Stray Beta
Blaine yipped joyously as he followed closely on the Pack's heels, enjoying the freedom to run and play among his Pack-Mates. This was their second day at the Estate, and their second run together as a Pack, much to the relief of everyone, Blaine had fit in easily within the Pack dynamic.
They stumbled into a clearing and Jeff pounced on him in delight, the two of them rolling around in the grass nipping and barking at each other like pups. The others looked on with amusement, while Sebastian scouted around the clearing to ensure the safety of the Pack before settling on his hunches, watching with amusement as the two Betas tussled.
Feeling the hunger begin to take its hold through the Pack-Bond, he gave a sharp bark and Nick broke away, coming to stand before his Alpha-Leader. Sebastian indicated to the dark-grey wolf that he would be responsible for keeping the Betas safe while the rest of the Pack hunted. Nick acknowledged the request, understanding that Sebastian was relying on him to keep Blaine safe while he sought out their meal. Turning swiftly, the Alpha-Leader lead David and Wes from the clearing , in search of a meal which would satisfy them all.
Nick watched them go before turning back to the Betas in concern at the lack of noise they were making. He watched as Blaine stumbled to his feet uncertainly, having transformed back into his human form, his nudity, normally a problem for humans, not even a second thought. Blaine was standing still, head cocked to the side as he listened for something. He frowned and made his way towards what he had heard, not leaving any indication what he was doing. Frowning, Nick chased after the wayward Beta, fearful that he would get hurt and Sebastian would be really unhappy. Jeff, curious about what had stopped their game, followed on Nick's heels.
Transforming quickly as he caught up to the stumbling human, Nick frowned, his own ears picking up a distinctive sound. "Blaine?" Nick called, pulling the Beta's attention back to him.
The Beta frowned, indicating for Nick to be quiet, as he stumbled closer to the sound. Nick bit his lip, not comfortable with the thought that the Beta could potentially be entering a dangerous situation. He followed the Beta, making sure to be ready to attack if necessary. He froze as Blaine entered a clearing, watching as the Beta cautiously approached a young blond girl who was singing to herself. Her gaze met Blaine's and she wearily watched as he approached cautiously as not to scare her.
"Hi," she said brightly, her humming stopping as she took in Blaine. "Why are you naked?"
"Um," Blaine frowned thoughtfully, before shrugging. "I lost my clothes," he offered in response, smiling slightly at the thought.
"Well that's pretty silly."
Blaine laughed. "It is," he agreed, settling down a few paces from her in the grass. "I'm Blaine." He could feel Nick and Jeff's eyes on him from the edge of the clearing.
"Oh, how rude of me," she giggled, moving closer to the Beta without thought. "I'm Britney S. Pierce." She studied him for a moment before settling into his side, sighing softly at the warmth his body heat was providing. "You're a wolf," she calmly stated. "I like you. You make me feel warm and happy."
Blaine sputtered at the strange girl's proximity, before wrapping a comforting arm around her. "How did you know?" he asked, gaze looking over his shoulder at Nick and Jeff who still stood at the fringes of the clearing. He heard Sebastian howl their approach and knew that the Alpha-Leader would not be happy with Nick or himself but he refused to move away from this girl. Like Jeff, she called to his inner Beta, indicating a kindred-spirit. "You're a Beta too," he whispered in surprise as his own inner wolf reared its head and his protect instincts kicked in as Sebastian came striding into the clearing, an angry look on his face and naked like Blaine.
"Oh, you've lost your clothes too," Britney giggled, eyeing the angry Alpha. "He's very pretty," she whispered to Blaine, eyeing Sebastian unashamed. "Your very lucky to have such a protective Alpha."
"Blaine get away from the deranged Beta," Sebastian snapped, eyeing the girl curled into Blaine side with concern.
Blaine moved to comply, his inner wolf whimpering at the tone of voice used by his Alpha-Leader. "I won't hurt him," Britney insisted, as Blaine moved away. "I would never hurt Blaine. He's really nice."
"What are you doing in Pack territory, Stray?" Sebastian demanded, ensuring Blaine was slightly behind him as he addressed the unknown wolf.
She looked around confused before surprise filtered onto her face. "Oh!" she gasped. "We didn't realize that we had crossed the border."
"We?" Sebastian's eyebrows raised, as he watched in amusement when two more Betas strode into the clearing. One was a dark-skinned girl with hair coiled tightly to her head and the other was a brown-haired girl whose blue eyes were fixed on the Alpha-Leader currently in their midst.
"Britney, what did you do?" the blue-eyed girl hissed, taking in the angry pose of the Alpha before them and the confused look of the Beta who was standing off to the side. Her gaze trailed over the Beta's three Pack-Marks in surprise before returning her gaze to the Alpha.
"Nothing," the girl replied sullenly, arms crossing over her chest and a pout adorning her face. "Blaine came over to talk to me and his Alpha got angry." She turned to Blaine. "I think you forgot to ask permission to play with others, Blaine," she admonished to the amusement of her companions. "It's not nice to make your Mate worry about you like that."
Blaine choked. "W-w-we're not Mates," he answered, a blush adorning his face. "Sebastian is my Alpha-Leader." Sebastian smirked at the blush.
She studied them for a minute. "You will be," she predicted, nodding to herself in confirmation. "In two, if not three, mating moons."
"Alright," Sebastian broke in, clearly no longer amused by the turn of conversation. "Who the hell are you three and what are you doing on Pack territory?"
The three girls stiffened at the mention of Pack territory. "We're sorry," the dark-skinned one mumbled. "We had realized we had crossed the border."
Sebastian eyed them wearily for a moment, seeming to judge the sincerity they had. Deciding the three Betas didn't pose any threat, he glanced over his should and indicated for the rest of the Pack to join Blaine and himself. The four wolves cautiously entered the clearing, unsure of what to make of the situation. Sebastian indicated for David and Wes to bring forth the five rabbits they caught.
"You seem hungry," he offered, quietly. "We'll feed and you can explain to me what brought you into our land." He glanced over his shoulder, giving permission for Jeff and Blaine to begin preparing the meet.
Grateful that Sebastian seemed to have forgotten his anger for the time being, Blaine helped Jeff gather firewood and roast the rabbits on a spit. They had been planning to eat as wolves, but with the new circumstances raw meat wasn't as appetizing in human form.
Once sated on the rabbit, Sebastian regarded the three Betas across the campfire. He had Blaine securely in his grasp, having admonished the Beta earlier about danger, unknown Strays, and worrying his Alpha-Leader. The Beta had tried to hide his amusement as Sebastian made him promise to not leave his side for the rest of the evening, his excuse of fearing for Blaine's safety among the unknown completely lost as Wes cozied up to the one of the unnamed wolves. He had simply rolled his eyes and promised, appeasing Sebastian as much as possible.
"Explain," Sebastian demanded, eyes flickering around to his Pack-Mates before resting on the three Strays.
"Our Pack was attacked, and the Alphas were killed," the blue-eyed girl stated bluntly, causing her companions to gasp quietly.
"April," the dark-skinned girl admonished. "You don't have to be so blunt about it; those were our Pack-Mates. You could show some remorse."
"Hush, Cordelia," the other replied. "The Alpha-Leader doesn't want to hear a sob-story. All he cares about is the facts."
Sebastian couldn't deny that, but gentle probing from Blaine had him sighing and saying as gently as possible, "How did you three escape?"
"We weren't with the Pack at the time," Cordelia offered quietly. "We had been sent by our Alpha-Leader to take Britney to run. She was getting a bit rambunctious and he needed her to settle before the Pack had our mating ceremony."
"Your Alpha-Leader sent three Betas out into the woods without an Alpha?" Sebastian demanded, appalled.
April shrugged. "No expected the actual Estate house to be attacked and we hadn't even gone that far from it. By the time we returned, though, the house was gone and everyone was dead."
"Do you know the Pack which did it?" Nick asked quietly, an arm curled protectively around Jeff.
"No," Cordelia answered sadly. "There were no clues. We've been on our own for the last few weeks, hoping to find a Pack to take us in."
Sighing, Sebastian took in the looks Wes was throwing at April the girl returning the looks with some of her own. Britney had ventured closer to himself and Blaine, curling into Blaine's side once she had received a nod of consent from Sebastian, falling asleep easily. Blaine had absent-mindedly been running his hands through her hair while he listened to the girls explain.
"My Dad is going to kill me," Sebastian mumbled so only Blaine could hear before address the larger group. "You're going to come back with us, and we'll talk about adopting you into our Pack," he said. "It seems one of my Alphas is rather smitten with April," he added, nodding to Wes who turned scarlet in embarrassment. Blaine stifled a giggle.
They gathered their things and headed back to the Estate to convince the Primary-Alpha that their Pack should be expanded to include the Betas.
"Sebastian," Nathaniel sighed, taking in the defiant stance of his son. "What did I tell you about collecting Strays?"
Smirking, Sebastian retorted, "This time it was Wes, and Blaine; mostly Blaine."
"Blaine?" Nathaniel muttered in surprise. The two days he had spent around the Beta had left him with a sense that Blaine was kind-hearted, but shy. "Where did Blaine collect Strays? You don't normally leave him out of your sight for long." He couldn't help but tease the other Alpha, causing a blush to bloom on Sebastian's face. He still needed to talk to the boy about the mating process for an Alpha-Leader, and the protective nature he had observed in Sebastian regarding the Beta had only confirmed his suspicions that Sebastian would be taking him on as a mate.
"Don't ask, Father," Sebastian groaned, knowing he still need to discuss with Blaine the need to listen and stay with Nick when they were running as a Pack. "But Wes is taken with one of the girls, and I can see that he will want to take the Beta as a mate in the next ceremony."
"Of course," Nathaniel nodded in understanding. For some pairs, the understanding that you had found your mate came as a jolt upon eye contact and led to quick mating ceremonies; others it took time and energy to create a bond which would withstand the mating ceremony. He knew that Sebastian had felt the first type of Bond with Blaine, the way the two worked around each other made it obvious that they would become Mates, he just needed his stubborn son to acknowledge the link and made his formal declaration of intent. With Blaine being part of their Pack, they had no need to seek the permission of his Primary-Alpha, although Nathaniel would be more comfortable if they found out who the third Pack-Mark Blaine supported belonged to. Sighing and pulling himself from his thoughts, he regarded his son. "I'll give you permission to adopt these girls into the Pack, since one of them is going to be Mate-Bonded anyway. Just, Sebastian, please stop collecting them; at some point I'm going to need to put my foot down and tell you no."
"I understand Alpha," Sebastian replied, smirking slightly. "I'll pass along your message to Blaine about the Strays and the need for him to stop collecting them." He moved to the office door, before pausing and regarding the older man again. "Thanks, Dad," he called softly before disappearing through the door.
Nathaniel sighed. It had been years since Sebastian had even remotely bothered to call him Dad, usually sticking with the formal "Father" or "Alpha". He knew his pup hadn't had an easy childhood with him as Alpha-Leader then Primary-Alpha, his attention was often centered around Pack duties but Lycée had done everything she could to counter balance the demands of Pack life on their son. He had grown into a fine young man, someone Nathaniel was extremely proud of. He and Lycée were also happy about the boy Sebastian was subconsciously courting; Blaine would make a great mate for the Alpha-Leader having already shown his prowess in conquering the legendary Smythe temper and grounding Sebastian in a good way. Nathaniel was looking forward to that ceremony a lot.