"So who's he?" Gimli asked looking at the dirty man on the carpet in the living room.
"He's from one of the tribes in the south. He'd witnessed his tribe get slaughtered by vampires and he lost himself in the first transformation, the bear taking control and focusing on the rage of revenge." Kili explained.
"So when he smelled you he thought you were among those who killed his tribe?" Dori added the facts together.
"He was probably tracking the wildlings we drove away five months ago, and those your coven later killed in town." Fili noticed.
"So does your wolf like your vampire?" Gimli asked with a grin.
"My vampire loves my wolf, and likewise my wolf loves my vampire." Fili smiled wholeheartedly.
"Is he going to wake up soon?" Borin asked looking at the man.
"Soon." Fili replied glancing at the man.
"I'll get some food going, he'll be hungry." Kili noticed. "He might be mentally unstable so Fili be wise and careful."
Borin, Farin, Gimli, Dori and Narvi stayed and watched over the bear with Fili, while Kili went to the kitchen to prepare a wolf-bear size meal for all of them.
The man slowly awoke and blinked his dark eyes looking at the blond man in front of him.
"Where am I?" He asked in a shaken lost voice.
"Do you remember where you were and what happened to you?" Fili asked curiously.
"I had the most bizarre dream." The man noticed unsure of anything.
"What's your name?" Gimli asked curiously.
"Beorn." The man replied in a low voice.
"You're in Erebor, but what you think was a dream wasn't a dream at all." Fili gently told him, brushing against his mind.
"How could it not be a dream, if in it I was a wild beast?" The man asked surprised.
"You're in the company of fellow beasts." Fili replied calmly. "Although we're wolves, and you're a bear."
"That's impossible…" The man noticed.
"A demonstration perhaps?" Fili suggested looking at Farin who was the smallest wolf around.
The boy nodded and stood up and without any shame pulled off his clothes. The man looked at him surprised, just then noticed he himself was also naked and covered only with a blanket.
The boy smiled at him, and in a swift move became a wolf. He lay low on the ground and sniffed the man. The man reached out his hand and gently touched the wolf's fur.
"Unbelievable!" The man whispered with awe. "How is this possible?"
"We might not look like it, but we're all native Americans. In our tribe we worship wolves, we had many legends and in every generation some children are born with the ability to transform." Fili explained calmly.
"I'm from the Carrock tribe, and our symbol has always been the grizzly." Beorn explained. "So you say I have the ability to transform?"
"Yes you do. Have you never had people like this in your tribe?" Dori asked curiously.
"Not that I know of." The man noticed.
"Did your tribe mix blood with other tribes or with the settlers?" Fili suddenly asked realizing the probable reason for the disappearance of the bears.
"Now that I think of it, few in my tribe were pure native, most had a lot of foreign blood in them." Beorn replied.
"But here we have kept it almost pure." Gimli realized.
"We'll talk at dinner, let me show you the bathroom and get you some clean clothes." Fili told the man and helped him get up. He was very slim and extremely tall.
"Thank you!" The man held his hand tightly.
When the man took a shower and put on the clothes Fili found for him, he lead him downstairs into the dining room. The smell of the food was tempting and mouthwatering. The wolves were already sitting at the table and eating.
"Please sit down." Fili showed Beorn an empty chair. "I'll go get my mate."
"Your mate?" The man asked surprised.
"Kili! He's stable now." Fili gently led Kili into the dining room.
"But that's a…" The bear realized.
"That's the vampire whose scent led you here." Fili told him. "But he's not the one who hurt your people."
"How can you call one of those monsters your mate?" The bear man asked with spite.
"He's the only person for me in the whole world." Fili explained and pushed a gentle image of peace and happiness into the bears mind.
"We're both telepaths." Kili told the bear. "You have nothing to fear from me."
"Do you accept this?" The bear glanced at the other wolves.
"We got used to the idea." Dori told the bear calmly. "They are not the only couple like that around here."
The bear was clearly disturbed. Fili put some food on his plate and encouraged him to eat.
"So who killed my tribe?" The bear suddenly said after being lost in thoughts for most of the dinner.
"Let me…" Kili gently stood up and walked up to him. Slowly he reached out his hands and when the bear wasn't saying anything or reacting in a negative way he put his hands on his head.
Kili slowly went into his head in a more controlled manner. He saw images of their village. He saw Beorn go away for university, and return for Christmas. He saw the dead bodies. In the yards, on the snow, in houses. He saw the blood tainting the pure white snow. He saw Beorn's parents and sister dead. He felt the huge rage and pain. He felt the first shift and the animal take over. He felt the huge power in the bear, but now he felt huge strength in the calm man in front of him. He focused on the dead bodies again, he knew it would bring pain to the bear but he had to. He immersed himself deeper into the memory, knowing Fili would always be there to pull him back. He was there, he could smell the faint smell of dried blood and dead corpses. He focused all his senses. Then he smelled what led the bear all the way to their village. The trail left by the wild vampires who had now been long gone.
Those were the same vampires that attacked Erebor and later came onto our territory! Kili told Fili.
"Where are they now?" The rage was rising in the bear. "You know where they are!"
Kili focused and showed the bear the demise of the vampires, he showed him as his coven ripped them apart, and the gruesome images brought some relief to the bear.
"So they are gone…" The bear whispered feeling at peace for a moment. "Thank you!" He held Kili's hands tightly.
"You are safe now." Fili put his hand on the bears shoulders. "Those who did it are long gone." He assured the bear in a calm voice.
"What am I to do now?" The bear mumbled. "I have no one, no home to return to."
"You'd best stay here." Fili told him. "I'll talk to our leaders."
"What did you study?" Kili asked sitting down next to Fili.
"I wanted to be a vet." Beorn told them. "But since Christmas much time has passed, and I bet my studies went to hell, along with my grant."
"I'll try to find out more tomorrow." Kili told him. "Write down the details and I'll contact them."
"And he'll manipulate them enough to get it sorted out." Fili assured the bear. "We have a good vet faculty at the local university, you'd be nearby."
"Is it important for me to stay nearby?" Beorn's eye became narrow and he glanced warily at Kili.
"Wolves live in packs. So we have to stay in a group to keep stability. I'm not sure how it is with bears, I think in nature they can function alone, but considering what happened to you you'd better stay close. In case you transform again we'll help you return to human form." Fili explained to the bear.
"You'd better talk to Frerin before making a decision." Dori noticed grimly, because of the transformation Fili was already talking as if he was the alpha.
As if fate intervened there was a knock on the front door.
"What's all the commotion?" Frerin demanded in a firm voice, followed closely by Dain.
"We were attacked by a bear." Borin told their leader.
"Fili transformed." Gimli added.
"And the bear turned out to be just like us." Farin added his bit.
"Kili forced him to transform back to human form after being lost in it for over half a year!" Gimli spoke quickly.
"You can do that?" Frerin's eyes went narrow and menacing.
"That's fantastic!" Dain interrupted. "I was always scared what would happen if one of our boys got stuck!" Dain reached out and shook Kili's hand, he nudged Frerin slightly with the same move.
"So you're the bear?" Dain asked looking at the tall scrubby thin man.
"His village was slaughtered, and the shock of the massacre pushed the shift." Kili explained to the elder wolves. "Because of the extreme rage his bear took control and sought revenge. After going into his memories I can tell the wild vampires that passed through your land and were later killed by my coven, are the same that slaughtered his village."
"So their scent led him here." Dain added the facts together. "And he probably attacked you so Fili's transformation pushed forward two weeks."
"So does your wolf like your vampire?" Frerin asked Fili in a strained voice.
"My wolf loves my vampire." Fili laughed gently, his eyes were sparkling and clearly he was very happy.
"What are you planning to do now?" Dain asked the bear in a calm voice.
"I'm not sure…" The bear looked down clearly lost.
"It will take some time for him to regain balance." Kili notice. "He was a bear longer than it should be considered normal, so his humanity is withdrawn and he could revert to bear at any moment."
"I would suggest for him to stay here for now." Fili spoke in a firm voice glancing at Frerin. "Then he could continue his studies nearby just in case he loses control again."
"Will he be a danger to our people?" Frerin glared at Fili strongly.
"As long as he's nearby, he'll be fine. We can stabilize him to keep him in human form now." Fili told them with his powers suggested.
"So it looks like this is going to be an even more mad house than normal. A wolf, a bear and a vampire under one roof…" Dain began laughing. "Anyway since you've finally transformed we can suspend the shifts for now. Tomorrow meet me in front of my house, it's time to practice your own transformation and control."
"Can Kili come along?" Fili asked worried.
"He can, I'd suggest the bear to come along as well. He got lost the first time, so his next transformation has to be with both of you next to him just in case Kili will have to pull his human out again." Dain noticed in a strong voice. Frerin glanced at him clearly irritated, but Dain just smiled at him and winked.
"We'll call in the pack once you've completed the training." Frerin told them in a calm controlled voice, but both Fili and Kili could sense he was annoyed to say the least.
Fili showed Beorn to his bedroom after dinner, and told him to relax, and assured him he was safe.
"How can you sleep calmly with the vampire around?" Beorn asked Fili in whisper.
"Because he stays with me all night." Fili laughed gently.
The bear just glared at him."What about when he needs to feed?" Beorn insisted.
Fili moved his neck more into the light to show his now permanent bite marks. "I'm his favorite food." He laughed again and bid the brooding bear goodnight.