The Normal Life
By Didi

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that are recognizable and I certainly don't own the show. Don't sue me cause all you're going to get is lent, and not much of that either.

Note: Sorry for the delay guys. Life decided to try to beat me down and I had to crawl my way back into some semblance of normalcy.

Rating: R for restricted under 17.
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-Vivian's POV-

"Sophia!"

I almost reached out to pull Matt back as he rushed forward to catch his daughter, not that it would have done me any good. Matthew Donner was not one to be dissuaded from anything he puts his mind to. It is but one of the reason that he is going to make an exceptional leader. That, plus the unexpected bonus of his daughter.

"Lucas," I commanded, grabbing the scuff of his furry neck as he leapt forward to his fallen 'mate.' Matt wasn't nearing seeing his only child as a woman in her own rights. A wrong move by my son now could still mean the death of him, regardless of the leader's reputation for fairness.

When whimper did not gain his release as he had hoped he growled in hopes that I would back off. When I glanced down at him with my wolf just below the surface, he merely bowed his head and watched Sophia as she shifted from snowy pelt to the creamy human skin.

Now there was a surprise no one could have expected, much less my poor Matt. I wonder if Sophia realizes just how much of a shock she had just given her father. White Wolves were rare, one every couple of hundred years, maybe. Two in one generation...never heard of... yet.

I glanced sideways at Sherman, who stood there watching our new Alpha with that grin that was meant to irritate everyone that was within seeing range. I swear, one of these days, Sherman is going to push someone too far and get himself killed. And that day may have just arrived.

"Damn it Sherman!" Matt's eyes glowed dangerously as he turned to confront our Keeper.

"Oh come on Matt," Sherman said amiably. "She was going to have to find out sooner or later. I just thought it would do everyone some good if it was sooner."

"You didn't have to do it like that," Matt growled deep in this throat. The wolf was close to the surface now, I can smell the change in the air. It gladdened my heart to see it in his eyes, reminds of why I fell for him in the first place. It's been so long, so incredibly long since I've seen the wolf within him.

Sherman waved the threat away, knowing fully well that Matthew Donner does not kill for frivolous reason. "How are you doing over there, Kanin?"

"Better," our out of town loner replied cautiously, his yellow eyes still glowing brightly in the dim room. He had one hand clamped firmly around his bleeding ankle and the other around the arm his wife had encircled his shoulders with.

They make a striking couple, her delicate almost fragile beauty with his... his male dominance. Seeing them together, the same wolven eyes flashing, it is of little wonder that I agree to support their marriage together. They would make a powerful pair...if Kanin survives.

The revelation about Mr. John Kanin was the biggest surprise of the night. Sophia making the change and reaffirming her father's position was less of a shock that Kanin's connection to our little town. I remember Richard Lightfoot. I remembered him well. He was one of the few members of the pack that supported Matt's marriage to Marie. I always wondered what happened to him after that night, where so many of us fell by our own. But then, so many of us simply disappeared in the woods that night that we may never know what happened.

Now his son returns into the fold, as the mate of the... a white wolf. How special!

"Won't be long now," Sherman pronounced, suddenly sober and serious as he continued to watch Kanin with keen eyes that I have yet to see glow with the power of the animal within. I often wonder about that. This man, the Keeper, knows all the clan secrets but I have yet to see him 'be' part of the pack.

"What won't be long?" Ruby asked, her voice tinged with fear.

The visible tension radiating from the couple told the truth, they both already knew what was coming. Kanin, if nothing else, was no dummy when it comes to pulling it all together and coming up with the right conclusion.

Sherman, deeming it unnecessary to answer the two, went to Sophia to check on her, make sure she was all right. "Go home Matt, the rest of the pack is waiting outside to escort you back. Creed and his gang of lowlifes are on the run now. Davidson took the hunters to follow at a distance, make sure Creed doesn't do anything stupid."

"No blood let tonight, Sherman." Matt said as he picked up his daughter. "Make sure the rest of the pack knows that. I won't have it."

The Keeper nodded his peppered head with complete understanding. Luke and I followed to the door, waited until the alpha got his daughter into his car before we both made out moves.

"Sheriff!" Luke squeaked out before his larynx had a chance to completely reform. Embarrassed, he made a production out of clearing his throat as the rest of the pack suddenly made their way around their new leader. "I wanted to..." He licked his lips and glanced through the window of the car. "I was hoping to come with you. I... I just want to make sure she gets home safe."

I watched and waited, wanting to see how Donner was going to handle this.

His eyes flashed for a moment, all the protective instincts of a father flaring to the surface. But he knew, just as anyone that got close enough know, Sophia already belonged to Luke, there was no way around it. And like any good father, he knew when to push his limits and when to relent.

He held the door to the car open, motioning to Luke to enter by his daughter's side.

My young pup leapt forward like the eager protective young male that he is but I stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. "Will she all right with you?" never taking my eyes off the new Alpha.

Luke turned to me, obviously startled. But Matt studied me for a moment, sensing my intentions. My intentions? It's what it has always been, to protect me young, just as he protects his. What could possibly make us any different? Except in my case, I've just questioned my alpha, a sure death sentence in the old days. But Matthew Donner was hardly archaic.

Tilting his head, Donner gave a dangerously amused smile. "I haven't decided whether to maim him or castrate him but he'll live another day. Death would be too fast and too easy."

Luke backed up a step and almost stepped on my toes.

I grinned. My son's fate was secured for now; it was time to see to other aspects of our lives. "I need to speak with you for moment."

He nodded, sensing my shift in moods. "Luke, take her home. Touch her again before the night is done and I'll lean toward castration."

My son nodded his head, knowing now that Donner was merely enjoying torturing him. Giving the alpha a wide berth, Luke slipped into the driver's seat and started the engine. He took off faster than either one of us would have liked but what can I say... he's a teenager.

"Brad, take a team and follow him," Donner said, he held up a arm to stop the protest that never made it out of my throat. "I don't want Creed or any of his posses any where near my daughter, now or any other night. I hear anything other wise, you are the first person I'll be look to for answers."

Brad's shaggy gray turned for a moment before he and six other took off after the speeding SUV.

"The rest of you, go home. Meeting of the Betas tomorrow, six o'clock, town hall basement room. Get the word out." He watched the shadows move, melting into the woods as a howl followed by another echoed in the woods. In the distance, members bayed at moon. Message by word of mouth...muzzle, still the most reliable source of information in town.

"Wise choice, Matt." Referring to his putting one of the more uncertain member of the pack on alert. "Brad was one of the swing votes."

"Keep your friends close but your enemies closer," he sighed and turned to me. "Before you ask..."

"Ask what?"

"About the Alpha House."

He knew me so well. The house where I live, where my son grew up in, was traditionally the home of the Alpha. It was pack property, to be passed from one leader to the next. Now that he was the Alpha, it was expected of him to live in it. "Go on."

He turned his face toward the moon, letting the silvery light caress his face. "I won't take it from you. You and Luke and Ruby and John can stay there as long as you like."

"It is your home now," I pointed out softly, aching to reach out for him. "Yours and Sophia's."

"We have a home and you don't." He turned to look at me. "Can't throw you out into the streets now can I? Not exactly a good example to be setting for the younger sets."

"Willard did not beggar us when he died. We have the money to buy a new home. If fact, we can probably buy yours, since you'll no longer be needing it."

He shook his head. "What do you propose, V? Cause I know this isn't what you had in mind when you ask to speak with me."

I didn't hesitate like I thought I would. "Move into the house."

"And into your bed?" he asked, jumping logically to the right conclusion.

"Would it really be so bad getting into bed with me every night?" I asked.

He didn't answer. He didn't have to. There are certain things a man cannot hide. "I loved Marie."

"And I loved Willard," I replied softly, not daring to touch him. "And they are both gone. Life goes on, Matt. It always does. It is our choice how to live it."

He nodded his head slowly.

For the first time, I think he heard me.

It's been sixteen years since he's had a tasted the wind on his tongue and the woods sing with life. Sixteen long years since he denied the animal that cried to come out and longed to feel the heartbeat of nature under his paws. Sixteen years of dormant power that raged against its confinement. Tonight, he shifted into his natural state and lived once more. Left the rich earth sing out to meet him. Feel the current of the woods as it brushed against the fine fur dark fur. Became one with himself once more.

And just as he denied the wolf, he denied the man. Sixteen years since he repressed the need of the man that crawled into a lonely bed every night dreaming. Sixteen years since he's felt the touch of a woman, tasted the essence of passion. Tonight he knew that he could have it all again with just one word.

How long can he resist it?
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Hope you all enjoy that! Some feedback would be greatly appreciated.