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If anyone is interested in what Cyanne looks like I have a picture of her over on my deviantart account jaemistoryteller (because my preferred spelling was taken)
Chapter 26
John's POV
Another week passes in a blur for the ex-army doctor as he works at the clinic, with Jace on his shifting into a wolf, and the cases where Sherlock leaves the house to do them. Despite how busy he has been he takes the time to make a list of people he needs to talk with or deal with. That list includes the Yao siblings, what's left of the Devon pack, Eric, Greg, and possibly Mycroft. Though that last one he is not sure about yet, Mycroft is one of those subjects that he feels the need to consider closely, possibly even have Eric do a report on him, because if there is one thing Eric excels at doing it is finding information that is not supposed to exist.
Stretching as he leaves the clinic he sends a quick text to Sherlock, inquiring if there is a case and telling him he is doing the shopping.
-No. Boring. Bring milk.-SH
-Alright.- JW
What did he do with the milk this time? He wonders as he walks from the clinic down to the Tesco. As he is walking he is joined by Mouse, her dark hair free falling today as she steps in line with him. Unlike many alpha's he has never demanded that anyone from the pack walk behind him and he doesn't plan to start.
"Did you know, I believe that the best use for training would be to put those two together." she chatters, not bothering with a greeting or saying which two. It is really nothing new, for that is how the mouse shifter is.
"Why?" he inquires curious of her logic.
She shrugs, hopping over a trash collector knocked over before answering, "Simple enough, the nestling needs an example of strength and intelligence that continues despite any challenges against it," she pauses side stepping around a man standing in her way, "while he needs a chance to adjust to the affectionate nature wolves bring to the table. Past that, they both need to learn of this pack, its values and codes, information that is best learned when working with someone else."
He nods and the two turn into the store saying nothing else the entire time they shop though they move with a simple grace. He knows to an outsider they look like a couple well aware but never too close but that would never be the truth. He also knows she does it on purpose, her logic simple, it protects the pack by keeping outsiders from attempting anything that might disturb the budding bond. He does not protest because he understands well why she does what she does. By the time they are done, she has a small collection of fresh vegetables to cook up while he has completed the shopping for items he has discovered he can talk his rarely eating flatmate into eating.
Upon leaving the store the two of them continue back towards his flat, her voice soft when she starts to speak again, "Can I ask why Spathi is his protector out of all of us?"
He gives a small shrug, replying, "She volunteered and unlike many finds him to be amusing. I think she would have stayed in the military had any of the others chosen to. But after I was invalided out, the majority of our pack left the army to regroup here she did not. Since she feels the need to have something to do, she picked a task that was up to her skills and a challenge."
"Oh." The smaller woman tilts her head sides thoughtfully. "That explains a great deal." When they get to the flat she stops by the door, telling him, "Our cobra wishes to train them in defense."
His lips curl in a smirk at that, the idea of them learning defense from Eric is rather amusing. "Arrange it, though not here, here would not be big enough for what he will teach them."
She nods before heading off to her flat just a few miles away. Once she is gone he heads upstairs with the groceries in his hands. They had just got off a case the night before so he knows that his dark-haired human probably had not eaten yet. Not even bothering to put the groceries away he quickly cleans the kitchen and most of the table, grumbling lightly about not wanting to know what some of this stuff was before going and changing clothes. After completing that, he starts cooking dinner, not worried about his flatmate since he can hear him in the bathroom showering.
His dark-haired human exits the bathroom with a towel low on his hips and a second around his shoulders and nothing else on just before he finishes up dinner. Since he knows the taller man will not eat a lot, he does not bother to make him a big plate, instead he just makes sure to make things that he will eat.
"Dinner," he calls out to the younger man who had retreated to his room. Personally he thinks that is both good and bad. Good because too much prancing in that towel and dinner will be forgotten, along with all of his good intentions. Bad because he was vastly enjoying the view the taller man was providing.
Just a few minutes later the taller man comes out of his room wearing a pair of loose fitting night pants, tee shirt, and dressing robe. "Smells interesting," he murmurs as he walks into the living room.
Smiling, he carries the small plate he had made for the other man out to the sitting room with one hand, and his in the other. After setting it down on the small table by his chair he goes and gets the two cups of tea he had also made. His smile grows as he watches the taller man nibble at his food cautiously.
"Well?" he inquires as he eats his dinner.
"Its," there is a long pause as he takes another bite, "interesting, textures different."
He nods, "Then I will add this combination to the menu that I have been working on," he remarks as he finishes his up and collects up his companions dishes from him.
Once that is done he sends a text to Eric. –What did you do with the Devon wolves?- JW
-Put them to use.- Tech
-Dare I ask how?- JW
-Training toys.- Tech.
He can imagine the smirk that the black cobra is giving his phone with that message. Eric enjoys fast and hard training, but most will not spar with him because of how fast he is. He also had a tendency to only barely pull his hits.
-Where are they?- JW
-I allowed them to return to their day life but they are all tagged like mutts so I can track them at will.-Tech.
A moment later his phone chirps at him again before he even has a chance to consider replying.
–Tagged all of them, even the ones the viper and falcon are dealing with.-Tech
Ouch, he thinks, though for Eric that was nice. He had seen the cobra rip a person in two with his tail once because of something they had said about a child so he could easily see him doing massive amounts of damage or killing over the situation with Jace.
-Assemble them. I wish a word with that pack.- JW
-Acquire the rest as well?- Tech
-Yes. Tell me when and where you do so at.- JW
He does not get a response, but that does not surprise him. Particularly when he knows that the cobra will message him as soon as he is done. In the meanwhile he gets out his laptop to work on the blog about the cases that they had worked on. As he types on it, he keeps an eye on his dark-haired human, considering the situation that he finds himself in.
Perhaps Daria is right and he should tell him about the bond. Just get it off of his chest and allow the human a chance to consider it with all the facts before him. Yet that does not seem like the right choice. For one thing, his human is not very good with people and the emotions that goes with them. Dumping the mess at his feet would not be a very fair thing. Particularly when he can smell on regular bases the confusion that Sherlock is having over the fact that he is attracted to him.
Eventually, he thinks as his fingers fly over the keyboard. He will have to tell the dark-haired human eventually. Because eventually his behavior will force the issue. As it is there are times when he has a hard time controlling his desire to protect his bondmate, to touch his bondmate. Luckily enough the protection part is simple due to Elspeth. She makes an excellent protector due to her very nature. Of course, other parts of his nature seem to be easily controlled for now with enough other things going on in his life to make it easier still.
Eventually he gets a text from Eric about the Devon pack. The group will be gathering up at Watson Pack estates in three days. It is also the night of the new moon so he sends a message to Harry asking her to gather the wolf part of the pack at the estates as well. Might as well do this right, he thinks to himself.
He is just about ready to text Daria when he catches her scent as a soft knock sounds on their downstairs door before the viper comes up with Jace close behind.
In the few weeks since Jace had been brought into the pack fold he had went from looking like a waif lost in the storm to looking like a healthy teenager. There were still little signs of the abuse he had suffered in the form of his posture and edginess, but it was lessening over time. He is also certain that the viper iota had been taking the time to mind heal her bondchild as well as continue to improve his body. Judging by the outfit he is wearing, it is one of the ones that Sherlock had ordered for him.
"Hello Sherlock," the teenager murmurs softly upon sitting down on the chair that Eric and Sherlock use most.
His tall human smiles at the younger boy, "Hello Jace, how's your studies?"
With that the two of them are off on a role conversation wise leaving Daria and him to speak in the kitchen.
"The Yao siblings are waking up," she informs him in a low voice.
"Good," he replies, "I was just getting ready to text you about that."
She flashes a smile at him and nods once, "She awoke yesterday but has been staying near her brother. They are currently in the small bedroom on the second floor. I thought it best to keep him away from the Devon pack members. I also got Eric's message about them. It is arranged for Nathan to escort them to the estate. We will be there as well, it is a full moon that night, plan to do a full meeting?"
He nods once, considering it, "I will." He pauses a moment, eyes narrowing, "Already sent out a message to the wolf pack through Harry, figured the rest of you would show up because that's what those two do."
She chuckles, giving a shake of her head. "You're gathering those involved in the situation with Jace, we would all gather for that alone."
"Well lets go deal with the two of them," he tells her, walking into the kitchen he flashes a reassuring smile at Jace and a warm one to his dark-haired human before commenting, "Daria and I need to take care of some things, try not to get into trouble while we're gone."
Sherlock barely acknowledges that he spoke, but Jace nods earnestly before returning his attention to the dark-haired human.
Keep an eye on them please, he directs the multiform cat he can feel in the pack link not to far from him.
Please, when don't I keep an eye out for the elder-second? He's too amusing not to. Her soft reply echoes through his mind as he feels her entering the flat though he cannot smell her. Let us see if the pup can smell me.
He shakes his head, and motions for Daria to go through the door first. Nothing is said on the trip from his flat to her house in one of the better parts of London where there actually are houses with small yards to them. At the house she leads him upstairs to where he can smell the two Asian's with shifter blood. By the door, she inclines her head and withdraws, leaving him to deal with them while she goes to her bondmate.
"Hello Soo Lin," he murmurs after knocking on the door and slowly opening it.
She is perched on the armchair by the window. On the bed pressed against the furthest wall a slender but muscular young man is sitting up rubbing his eyes. Those eyes seem to lack most emotions but a quick probe into the link tells him that he is not emotionless, just trained out of most of them. Currently the male is feeling confusion, anger, betrayal, and just a tiny spark of hope.
"Good morning, Elder," she murmurs in reply, before continuing to introduce, "This is my brother Liang."
He turns to face the other shifter, eyes taking him in carefully even as he continues to read his emotions in the link that Jacob had formed to the pack and his scent. The other man says nothing however just locks onto him with a singly focus gaze.
"Pleasure to meet you in a less violent turn," he states in response.
"What do you plan to do to me?" the Asian shifter asks, voice tired.
He closes the room door and rests against it casually, watching the younger man as he responds, "That depends on you. Your ties to the Black Lotus have been severed, as far as the world knows your dead. So I present you with a few options to choose from. You've already been submerged within the pack. You may choose to stay and become a full member of the pack. You may choose to leave, your shifting being completely bound first, becoming effectively human at which point you will be monitored and any sign of your return to the crime world would result in your execution. Or you can choose to be directly executed." Pausing, he shrugs before turning his attention to the young woman, "No matter which choice he makes you may keep your place here with the full backing of the pack as you rebuild your life. Eric has already got the papers together so you can return to working at the museum if that is your choice. "
A flash of surprise registers in the younger man's face at the options. He can tell that it was unexpected. He can also smell that Soo Lin is surprised as well.
"I'll give you a few minutes to consider it." he tells the two before turning and going out the door after opening it. He can hear the two of them speaking, but focuses his attention elsewhere, not listening in on the conversation at hand, preferring to allow them their choice in private. He has other things to consider anyways.
A few minutes later she opens the door and motions for him to come back in. When he does so, he is not surprised to see the younger man standing at the window staring out.
"Soo Lin assures me that you will be a better Elder than those of the Black Lotus," he comments as he turns from the window, his voice gravely after so long unconscious and the venom that had ripped through his system.
He inclines his head, thinking that is really a simple one. He waits for the young man to continue.
"I would prefer to stay with my sister, however my skills are such finding a way to support myself would be difficult." He pauses looking out the window again before turning back to face him. There is emotion running deep behind those eyes, trying to break to the surface and failing, but it is there in his scent. The younger man had accepted the offer to stay and was just trying to figure out how to say so. Striding over to where he is at, the younger man bows low, offering his right wrist as he does so. "I would accept the offer to stay."
He smiles, unfastening his left sleeve and pressing his wrist to the younger man's as he gently slips into his mind. Calling on his abilities as an iota he carefully works the edges of his psyche, restoring some of them to the smoothness that came before the mind damage, removing the sharp edge that had occurred due to years of conditioning. This young man had never been part of a proper pack or family so there was no previous linking to overwrite.
"Welcome to the Watson Pack," he murmurs as he pulls him upright much to the younger man's surprise. "Speak with Jacob, I am certain he could find you proper work or training. There is a new moon in three days, the entire pack will be gathered, you two will need to attend to be formally welcomed into the pack. Daria can make sure a ride is arranged." He lets go of the younger man's arm and smiles at the two of them.
She stares at him with wide eyes, her scent full of shock at the ease of it all. She was not expecting it to go like that. Her brother hasn't moved as he stares, the pack link sinking into the empty space that he had probably always felt but never understood. He nods to the two of them before withdrawing, a murmured farewell the only thing said as he leave the pair to discuss their new future a bit more.
Heading down stairs he stops to speak with Nathan and Daria for a bit before the two of them return to his flat so she can pick up her pup and he can see what kind of trouble his potential bondmate is considering.