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.

Author's Note: Okay, I said I was going to finish this by Chapter 32 and I will damn it. Even if I have to make these last two chapters epically long. Sorry about that, by the way. But I do hope that you find it enjoyable. I'll do my best to wrap everything up to everyone's satisfaction.

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

It felt like another wake only this time it was in my home and no one died... well, no one near and dear to me anyways. The Beta males had been trooping in and out of the house all day, some to ask questions about Kanin, which my father refused to answer; some to get instructions on back stories for locals on the dead bodies that littered the woods; once or twice to update their Alpha that they found another MIA and some to inform my father where they stand. What it was all about... I'm not all too sure. But the tension was thick though that I wonder why I haven't hurt myself yet just walking around.

My dad's been quiet all day. The dining room had been unconsciously converted to a temporary office. There were papers, books, notepads, notebooks, and varieties of scrolls made of hide that I'm not sure I want to know from what animal they were from littered all over the place. The steady stream of coffee I've been feeding him all day didn't seem to make a dent in the exhaustion I can see in his face. He was tired... so very tired. There was an insane moment sometime around four in the afternoon that I wanted to kick the three guys in there out and help my dad into those ugly pj's he likes so much.

"Can I get you dinner, Daddy?"

He turned to me and I almost jumped. Those flaming eyes didn't seem to recognize me for a moment before he blinked and the ferocious look was gone. He went from Alpha to father in a split second. If it weren't for the raised hair at the back of my neck, I would have believed that I imagined it. "I'm sorry, Honey. Did you say something?"

If I were a religious person, I'd cross myself. There was something horrifying frightening about my father in that second. "I... I wanted to know if you would like me to get you some dinner."

With a sigh that came from somewhere deep, he glanced at his watch and winced at the time. "I guess it is getting pretty late now." He rubbed his face with the palm of his hand, the ways guys do, and glanced at the setting sun framed in the window. There was such regret in his eyes that I wanted to ask what was wrong.

But even I knew better now. It really didn't take all that long to learn the ins and outs of the pack. Whatever was troubling my father, it was pack business and it was Alpha business. Little girls, daughters especially, shouldn't be asking about it. It was like handing a newborn a knife and telling them not to cut themselves.

"No honey, I'm okay," he reached out and touched my face, the way he used to when I was a little girl. It brought me comfort to have something that familiar. "I better shower and change before the others get here."

"Why don't I make you something then go to Jenny's and..."

"Stay," he said quietly. "I want you here for this." He gave a soft chuckle that confused me before adding, "Sherman said it would be a good idea to include you, you are after all a white." He shook his head as if the idea was still foreign to him.

Heck, it was still foreign to me.

I swallowed, not really enjoying the idea that there was some path laid out for me before I even know it. So much for going to Italy for the summer. Doubt the pack is going to like that idea. Although, Ruby did take off for a while... of course she paid for that little act of rebellion pretty heavily, as did John Kanin.

Kanin. Another mystery. This town seemed to be full of them. Nothing new I guess. Now if only someone will explain all of this to me.

"Dad, why don't you shower while I make some dinner for you? You haven't really eaten all day and even I know that we, and yes I do mean those of us that go on fours, need lots of proteins for energy. Don't think I haven't noticed my increase in appetite since my change."

He looked up me almost amused. "24 hours and already she thinks she knows everything. So like a teenager."

"Keep it up and I'll being making boiled spinach for you instead of that nice steak I've been airing all day," I warned lightly as he got up.

Those powerful arms that I tried to avoid everyday closed around me and enveloped me in a sea of warmth. I was safe here. I was protected here. I was love here. Until this moment, I didn't know how much I had and how much I can lose if anything... no, I wasn't going to think like that. My dad was going to be fine... if I have to kill every member of this pack to ensure it, I will.

Whoa... There did that thought come from? But it was true, deep in my heart I knew it was. I'd be more than happy to stand between my dad and someone that tries to hurt him... or me... or Luke. I guess survival and love are pretty good incentives to rip a man's throat out. Luke would be so proud of me right now.

"Go on," pushing him toward the stairs. "You're beginning to stink up the place."

"Is that any way to talk to your father?" he laughed gently as he headed for the steps. "Oh by the way, honey, tonight is black tie, all official meetings are. Call the hotel and tell them I'll need the usual."

I frowned at him. "The usual?"

"Don't worry honey," he looked a little resigned. "They'll know what you mean if you tell them who you are and I gave the order."

"Cause you're the Alpha?"

He sighed and looked older suddenly. "Yeah. That's exactly it."

The answer didn't make me feel any better.

I waited to hear the shower turn on upstairs before picking up the phone. Millie at the hotel didn't even bat an eye, or at least I'm pretty sure she didn't, when I requested the usual for a meeting at my house tonight. "Official, Sophia?" she had asked. I don't even want to know what was going through her head. When I hung up, I felt sick to my stomach and ready to throw up. Why that was, I couldn't even begin to say.

The knocking on the windowpane almost made me jump out of my skin. As it was, it made me burn my finger on the hot stove. Sucking on the burn, I opened the back door. Luke stepped in wearing a three-piece that immediately made me forget the pain.

"You clean up nice," was the only thing that came to mind.

"Thanks," he replied quietly, not a hint of humor in place. Not a good sign. "Is the Alpha around?" An even worse sign.

I turned the boiler down low. "He's taking a shower. I'm making some dinner for him before the meeting so he isn't distracted by food. You want anything?"

"Some of that steak you're cooking might be nice," he replied, sitting down at the breakfast table causally as if he wasn't wearing a tuxedo in my kitchen while I'm still in sweats and a tee shirt. "How are you doing? I heard you were sick."

Frowning, I forked another piece of the steak onto the stovetop. "Does anything happen around here that everyone else cannot find out within like seconds?"

"Not really," getting up to open the frig door. So far, he's had ample opportunities to touch me but he's avoided physical contact. Strange... not to mention very disturbing. "Don't you people keep anything to drink around here?"

"I've got vodka in the cupboards if you want," I replied sarcastically.

His blonde head popped up. "Where?"

"I wasn't serious."

"I was," shutting the door with a sigh. "And to answer your question, no one knows what the Alpha is thinking right now. So I guess not everything gets around."

"I live in the same house with him and I don't know what is going through is head." Turning the meat with more force than necessary. "Luke, what's going on?"

"What do you..."

"Kanin. Diamond Black? What is it? I've got to know."

He frowned, his pale blue eyes narrowing a bit. That serious as hell look shouldn't be so becoming on such a smartass playboy but it was. Even now, with everything dear at stake, I cannot deny that I notice that. "You really don't know, do you?"

I wanted to slap some sense into him. "Pack history isn't my forte. Or did it escape your mind that up until not too long ago - hum, like last night - my dad was pretty much determined to keep me as far away from 'your kind' as possible?"

He grinned suddenly, that cocky arrogant boyish smile that always sent my heart pounding a mile a minute. "Boy, you're hot when you're bristling." The subtle once over he gave me made my toes curl with heat. Damn him for being able to turn my insides into jelly without really trying.

"Easy on the hormone, big shot," slapping a half raw beef on a plate and turning the stove off. "And give me the 411 on Diamond Blacks."

He look slightly uncomfortable, an unexpected turn of events, as he picked up the knife and fork I had set down for him. I half expected him to go at it with his teeth and hand instead. "Aren't you eating?"

"No," I answered abruptly. "Now give it to me straight."

"I don't know, Sophia. I'm not the most reliable person when it comes to this kind of stuff. I mean, I sleep through half of Blackstone's classes and cheats on the rest. Maybe you should wait for your dad to..."

"My father isn't talking and is not likely to either. We are hosting a meeting in my living room in like two hours and everyone in town knows something that I don't. So talk fast."

I can almost see the wheels of his mind spinning as he considered his words and chewed at the same time. "Okay, keep in mind that half of what we learn about the pack is through legends and lore. Most of it doesn't even make sense. Some of it is damn near creepy if you ask me. Take you for example." I must have been wearing some kind of expression on my face, "No, I don't mean you're creepy." He gave me a good frown. "White wolves are rare. Very rare. Even in natural wolves there are few pure whites out there. There is like one in a hundred that are whites."

He was so not making me feel any better. "Okay, I got your point. I'm special. Get on with it."

"Legend has it that the white wolf is always female, at least those of us that can shift, and always the mates to the Alpha." He grinned again. The suggestion in his eyes wasn't so subtle this time.

"I know about the White Wolf. Tell me about the Diamond Black."

All the humor fled from his face. Those sober eyes seemed so unnatural on him yet... It was a good look on him. He swallowed before he answered.

"Diamond Blacks are also known as 'Clan Breakers,' Clan breakers are exactly as they sound," he looked almost resigned. "Every few hundred hears you hear of a Diamond Black being born. Diamond Blacks are even more rare than whites. They don't come along very often and they're strong, unnaturally so. It's like Mother Nature built them as deluxe model or something so that they can take down the Alpha."

"Don't say that!" Even I was surprised by my outburst.

Luke immediately reached for me. His arms closed around my arms and torso before I can get away from him and his words... and the images his words evoked. I couldn't stand it; I just couldn't stand it.

"Shh... It's okay," he murmured into my ear as I struggled to get away. "It's okay. Nothing is going to happen to your father." God I wish he wasn't so damn strong. It's really annoying that he can overpower me so easily.

"We don't know that, Luke," I replied, calming down slightly but not completely. I could still feel the fear threatening to bubble up and overwhelm me. A part of me, somewhere inside, had already known. How could not have when everyone looks at him, Kanin, and my dad in that assessing manner. Like they were choosing sides of the battle line or something. And I've seen what Kanin can do. He's strong. Very strong. "We just don't know that. He could die, Luke." That wasn't an idea that I wanted to dwell on too long. It made my eyes sting and my blood run cold just voicing it the possibility out loud. "He could die."

"I know." I didn't want to hear that, I didn't want to hear it from him. "I know."
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-Luke's POV-

It wasn't easy. Wasn't nearly as easy as I thought being detached from the situation, not when I'm looking at her eyes and seeing the fear... feeling the fear... tasting the fear in her. It crackled the air around us. If Kanin wasn't my brother-in-law, I'd... ah hell, whom am I kidding? He's a Diamond Black and just took down Tyler Creed on his baby-legs. I won't last ten seconds with him... and I know it. And Sophia knows it.

"Sophia?" the voice raised the hairs along the back of my neck and I wondered how the hell he could have gotten there without alerting one of us.

"Daddy!" she pulled out of my arms so fast that I nearly stumbled. Forget the fact that I was really holding on, she was stronger than she seemed when she wanted to be.

I turned to look at the Alpha. His eyes took us both in, flickered gold and frowned. "What's going on?"

It was definitely wiser not to let him know that I just scared the pants off his little girl. "Sophia was just feeding me dinner." And took a seat again, finishing the half rare steak Sophia had been good enough to make for me.

He didn't believe us, no one with half a brain would but he chose not to say anything. Probably didn't really want to know in case it was one of those things that parents really shouldn't know about their kids unless they want to be in therapy for the rest of their lives. Instead, he sat down and had dinner in silence with just me and his daughter. And since none of us felt much up to conversation, it was just as well.

Sheriff Donner... the Alpha was sipping wine and staring out the window when the back door opened and Sherman, in a baby-blue suit, came in. The things that guy gets away with always amazes, not to mention amuses, me. Donner spit wine all over the table.

"Evening, Matt," Mr. Blackstone greeted as if nothing extraordinary had happened.

Sophia calmly got up to get a dishcloth to wiped off the table.

Donner glared at Mr. Blackstone.

Typically, Mr. Blackstone just smiled back. But when he turned those ancient soul-seeking eyes at me, I was anything but amused. "Good evening, Lucas. And how are you?"

Maybe it's because in the past he has always treated me with the kind of nonchalant teacher-student relationship that I suddenly became warily of the polite tone in his voice. "I'm doing all right?"

He thanked Sophia for the coffee she handed him with a smile. "You got wounded last night, didn't you?"

Now how the hell did he know that? "Wound closed up nicely; no scarring, no bruising."

"Oh good," Blackstone nodded, more to himself then to me. "And you Sophia? How are you feeling today? Jacob took a nice chunk out of you last night."

I swear to the bright lady, I thought I saw red again. Not just the kind of red that you see when you get mad, I'm talking about the inferno kind. The red that I saw in Sophia's body last night when my life flashed before my eyes and everything was dark and ugly and all I wanted to do was tear a hole in the sky to let in the sunshine again. That kind of mind numbing red.

The small hand on my shoulder was like being dropped into a warm bath after a hot terrible day. "I'm doing great. No scar, no bruise, not a mark on me. I do so love these new healing genes of mine."

"Good, cause you are both so going to need to be in tip-top shape when..." the doorbell rang. "Ah... must be the caterers."

"I'll get it," Sheriff Donner said quietly as he got up and headed for the door, giving Blackstone a sharp warning look.

We sat there in silence, with me and Sophia taking turns peeking at the door and out the window and at each other while Sherman Blackstone sat there and enjoyed the Columbian coffee Sophia had served it. It would have been nerve wrecking if not for the fact that none of us were eager to get on with tonight's meeting. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, could possibly be good about the outcome.

It was nearly nine when the last ray of sunlight disappeared over the mountains and darkness descended like a death shroud. I could hear the gathering of pack members in and around town... and those that surround this house. The night is when we play and when we hunt. And the night is when we are at our best. Tonight was no different.

Of those that were gathered in Donner's living room, Kanin seemed to be the only one not affected by the tension. Sure, he was aware of it, what with those detective's instincts he's no doubt honed to perfection, but he chose not to comment on it or allow it to effect him. And he was the only one that was eating anything. I couldn't eat anything now if you paid me to.

"I can't believe I slept all day?" Kanin muttered as he forked little cocktail hotdogs. The guy has been eating non-stop since he got here. Man, and they thought I was a bottomless pit.

"I can," Ruby replied affectionately as she sat down behind him on the loveseat, one arm around his waist and the other resting on his knee. "The change is very tiring the first couple of times but your body will adjust and adopt to it. Eat up, your increase metabolism is going to need all the food you can possibly put in your mouth." If those two care any cuter together, I'd throw up.

"Hum, another mystery solved," Kanin responded with a soft chuckle. "I always wondered why this town had the most fit people around when all I see is everyone eating red meat. Not exactly the stable of healthy diets."

Ruby smiled, her smile full of indulgence, joy and fear as she gazed at his profile with such tenderness. She was hurting, and she was hiding it from her mate. "Eat up."

"Aren't you going to have anything?" holding out his fork for her to take a bite. She took the bite of food to please him. Her eyes searched out Donner's.

The Sheriff and Alpha of the pack looked as if his aged ten years in the ten minutes that everyone's been gathered. The strain was showing on his face and he was preparing himself for... for something. His eyes had been on Kanin from the moment the guy walked in and hasn't left it since. It was almost like Donner was... weighing him in some manner.

"Why isn't anyone talking?" Sophia's voice was like a touch, soft and gentle. Her fear was there but it didn't hide the fact that she had strength within her.

"We just getting ready to, Honey," Donner answered from across the room. Sophia flushed pink, probably forgot about the wolven hearing that was so good for eavesdropping.

I reached for her hand, linking fingers and giving my silent assurance that everything will turn out all right. I just prey to whoever is listening up there that it will be. I honestly don't think Sophia can get through another night like the last one. Especially if it is going to end with the outcome of a fight between the Alpha and the Diamond Black.

"Why don't we have something to drink?" Mom was always a good hostess. But then Dad always said that she had been brought up to be the best at what she does. What the particularly part is, is anyone's guess. "And then we can talk about this like the civilized people that we are." Was there a hint of a warning here? Ruby certainly thought so since her eyes became sharp and deadly.

"No alcohol," Donner reminded gently but the authority was there in the tone.

"Of course," came the forced cheery reply as my mother poured sparkling water into glasses.

Oh yeah, this was a load of fun.

"I take it that Ruby hasn't had a chance to update you on anything?" Donner said without preamble.

Kanin shook his head slowly, his eyes searching the room for some clue as to the tension that seemed to suffocate the air around us. "I slept all day and woke up naked in a bathtub." He glanced at Ruby.

She shrugged. "You needed a bath."

"You could have just wakened me up."

"I liked giving you a bath." She responded with an overly innocent smile. "It's one of the privileges of a wife."

I honestly think Kanin blushed.

"If you two are done with the lovey-dovey thing," Sherman said with a smile that was not at all innocent, "Maybe we should get to the point of this meeting. I've got a 10:00 PM appointment with a very lovely young lady to read her palms." I almost laughed but Mom's sharp look had me biting my tongue.

Donner didn't stand; he didn't even look up from the fire that someone had started in the fireplace. "I don't want there to be bloodshed. This pack cannot go through another war, not after last night."

"We've not lost too many," Mom responded, her eyes shifting uneasily as she watched Donner with the kind of concern that I've learned over the years to be wary of.

"A life is a life, V," his eyes glowed dangerously bright, the man and animal barely suppressing their anger. "And they were of this pack. They were one of ours. One of us. I would think you of all people know that no matter what happens, it will always be us against them."

Whoa... nobody, and I do mean nobody, talks to my mother like that. You'd be lucky if you can get the first sentence out before she turns you inside out.

But color me shocked; did my mother just bow her head?

Okay... this is all just a little too much for my feeble brain to take in all at once.

"Are you okay?" Sophia asked, her hand squeezing mine. Her big brown eyes were soft, gentle, so full of goodness.

"This isn't going too great," I whisper back.

"What were you expecting?" she asked urgently. "I'm just glad that no one looks too eager to spring fangs and claws."

"The night is young."

She glared at me and yanked her hand away. "You are so not help, Luke."

"No matter what, we have to stand united in the decisions made here," Donner's voice drew my attention again before I could tease Sophia about her touchy nature today. "I cannot allow the pack to falter and drop back into ... violence, not when we've come so far." The anger was something new. I've never seen him this angry, not even when he's warning me away from his baby girl.

"Then do something about it," Mom wasn't suggesting something easy, was she? Her eyes were dark, and looked just a little too dangerous now.

The sheriff linked his hands together and rested his elbow on his knees as he looked at Kanin. "You're strong, no one doubts that. You're also new to this game, and no one knows it better than you I think. But you are a Diamond Black, which makes you dangerous to me as the Alpha."

Kanin seemed to be taking things in quickly and assessing the situation as only a cop could. "Look, I didn't come here looking to be a wolf or to step on anyone's toe. I can here looking for Ruby, that's the one and only reason I came to this blip on the map. That hasn't changed."

"Everything has changed," Donner shook his head as his gaze came to rest on Sophia's concern face. "The only thing constant is change. And we all have to learn to live with it." He sighed and looked up; a strange resolve seemed to have taken place. "I'm not a greedy man. I don't need the position of power."

"Think about what you're doing, Matt," my mother warned sharply.

"I am, V. This pack has survived because we put its survival ahead of everything else. Willard understood that. And I would like to think that I do too." He nodded his head and turned to look at Blackstone, who for once had nothing to say as he watched the proceedings with a strange disapproval. Were Keepers allowed to be disapproving of what their Alpha does? "I've read the chronicles."

"And?" he asked mildly, not a hint of humor in sight.

"I cannot put the pack through a war. I won't."

Mr. Blackstone was completely stoic.

Ruby sat forward. "Sheriff..."

"I knew what taking the role meant and I know that I have to do to insure that this pack survives to see the next millennium. John, Ruby, I trust in your sense of honor and justice. I trust you to do the right for this pack. And in that spirit, I resign my position as Alpha."

"You can't!" My mother snapped, her fury almost tangible. "No one gets to just quit."

"Well, I just did," Donner said simply and got up.

"Oh no, you can't!" Kanin said following suit. "You are so not going to be laying this one on me. I didn't ask for this!"

"No one asks to be Alpha," Donner replied dryly. Honestly, the guy looked almost exasperated.

"I think that last night's fighting would disagree with you," came the comeback. The man did have a point.

"Sheriff, please..." Ruby's hand was knuckle white against Kanin's arm. "We came here to..."

"We all know what's going to happen out there," Donner pointed to the window. We all felt it, the constant presence of our brothers and sisters of the night. They were sitting out there; waiting for the next step, for the first move... whatever that may be. "You really think that just before he wasn't born one of us that they aren't going to follow him? He's a Diamond Black, accounted to be 'the' strongest of us. And he's proven it. On the bonus side, he's married to you, a white. You honestly think I'm not wise enough to know when I've got a fight on my hands? The best thing for me to do, the one thing that I can do to keep the blood from spilling, is to step down."

"And what would that prove?" Mom isn't done getting her say in here. "That you're a wiser, stronger, more dedicated leader of this pack than any we've seen in centuries? That you're still the best man for the job, Diamond Black or no? You think your people are just going to roll over and follow someone else? An outsider?"

"They'll do what I tell them to." And he was dead serious too.

Ruby's eyes glowed fiery hot. "John is not an outsider!"

"Sure I am," Kanin came back with. "I'm not going to deny that."

"No you're not. You became family, part of the pack when you married me and flipped." Ruby turned those eyes to Donner. "John and I have had a chance to talk while we were dressing for this meeting. We're here to advise you of our plans."

"Whatever plans you may have, cancel them," Donner replied in the most authoritative tone I've seen. If he wasn't going to be Alpha any more, he'd better learn to curb that. But then again, he's lived in this town for so long under another Alpha in that manner that there probably isn't any reason he has to. "We have to protect the pack, no matter what. Personal wants and desires no longer have any place here."

"No," Ruby shook her head, hair wild mane of hair flying as her fury and fear began the change without her meaning to. Or at least, I think she doesn't mean to. "John and I just want a normal life without any of the..."

"Tough," Donner spat back out at them. "Get use to the fact that you're in leadership position, whether you are Alpha, Alpha's mate or not. You were born into it Ruby and we both know it well. So suck it up and let's get on with this. We make the announcement now and maybe prevent any more of our own from killing each other before the night is through"

The clapping was so out of place that it was thunderous. Everyone turned to stare at the lone figure across the room. Sherman Blackstone sat there, in a chair by the fire, his dark eyes like the night, twinkled with amusement and annoyance. It was weird, for someone so important and so... there, everyone seemed to have forgotten his very presence for a moment there.

"Very prettily said, Matt. Really, that was a great speech, noble sentiments. And Ruby... what can I say." He sighed and pinned the lot of us with eyes that were all seeing then shook his head. "You're all idiots."

Donner frowned at him as Kanin made unrecognizable noises with his throat. My mom and sister exchange glances of puzzlement and surprise as Sophia attempted to gauge holes in the palm of my hand. Me, I couldn't even begin to comprehend what was going on.

This was way beyond me.
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TBC... (like the rest of you won't kill me if I didn't finish this up like a good little author)

Feedbacks are welcome.