Hope found Ryan in their bedroom staring at his reflection in the mirror, while he tugged at his shirt collar.
With a smile, Hope walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Pressing a kiss to his back, she asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm just nervous."
"You lived with them for almost two decades. You don't have to pretend with them."
"But I did pretend. I had to. It's the only way Seylah was able to handle becoming a mother."
"Seylah's not stupid. She probably saw through the pretenses."
Ryan turned around in her arms and pressed his forehead against hers.
"You know I'm right," Hope whispered.
She stood on tiptoe and kissed him lightly on the lips.
"I know." Ryan caught one of her loose curls around his fingers. "She's the closest thing I've ever had to a sister and I want her to see me as her brother, rather than just the one Malivore spat out to make sure Landon was born."
"Come on. I think they're here."
Hope pulled him towards the door, smiling at her fiance.
Ryan allowed himself to be dragged along, and then he too was smiling.
They paused in the entrance to the courtyard and Hope kissed him again, which gave Ryan a moment to relax.
"Hello, Ryan," Seylah greeted him.
"Seylah. It's good to see you again."
Ryan held his hand out, but shock registered on his face when Seylah hugged him. She pressed her cheek against his
"It's good to see you," she said, when she finally released him. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too."
Ryan's relieved grin made Hope's heart twist with happiness.
"And Hope."
"Hi."
Hope linked her fingers through Ryan's and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I can see you're taking good care of him."
"More like he's been taking good care of me." Hope looked up at Ryan, unable to keep from smiling.
"I'm glad to see you happy."
"You haven't been shown to your rooms yet, have you?" Hope asked.
"Nope. Just got here," Landon replied.
"Well, if y'all will follow me, we'll get your bags put away and you can take showers if you want to."
"When will I meet the pack?" Rafael swung his, Landon's, and Seylah's bags over his shoulders.
"My mother, Hayley, who's the Crescent's alpha, should be coming by some time today to introduce herself before taking you out to meet the rest of the pack. Don't worry. She's really nice and inviting you around was all her idea," Hope assured him.
"Okay. I just don't want to cause problems with the pack or anything."
"This is an established pack, dating back to the first werewolves, not a school pack," Hope said. "Things are different here."
"And they'll teach me?"
"We practice the old ways. And we pass that knowledge on to all wolves willing to learn."
"Could I what I learn back to the school?"
"You'd have to challenge the school's alpha and become alpha yourself in order to pass on the knowledge. And it's not shared with people outside the wolf packs, unless under extreme circumstances, so no giving it out to anyone outside the wolves, not even Landon."
"Like what kind of circumstances?" Rafael tilted his head, curious.
"Like because the Labonair's daughter was fathered by the Original hybrid," Hope informed him.
"What if I don't want to be alpha?"
"Then don't share the knowledge."
"I don't see how you do these stairs as far along as you are," Seylah commented, watching Hope climb the stairs to the second floor easily. "When I was pregnant, it was all I could do to make it up and down three steps."
"I'm the tribrid. That helps me be able to move around a bit easier than it would be for a human."
Hope stopped outside a set of doors. Gesturing to them, she said, "Seylah, this is your room, and boys, your room is across the hall, a queen bed and a very comfortable futon."
Rafael handed Seylah's bag to her and Landon opened the other door, so Rafael could enter the room.
"Hope," Elijah's voice drifted from the kitchen.
"Yes, Uncle Elijah?"
"Dinner will be ready in about an hour, so if our guests would like to clean up, now would be a good time."
"What's going on?" Ryan asked.
"Dinner will be ready in about an hour. So, if you wanna take a shower and get ready, now would be a good time to do it."
"How do I dress? I've never been in a house this fancy," Rafael whispered.
"Slacks and a button down if you have them, otherwise, your nicest pair of jeans and t-shirt."
"No tie?" Rafael asked next.
"No tie," Hope confirmed.
"Good." He smiled, relieved.
"I'll be back in about an hour to show you the way to the dining room. This house can be a little confusing when you first get here."
"Thank you," Seylah said.
Hope started to walk away, but Ryan caught her hand and Hope looked up at him, one brow raised.
"I'll see you in a bit." Ryan kissed the side of Hope's head.
"Alright. Spend time with your family. My mom will be here in a bit anyway and I don't get so see her very often since Keelin forbade me from leaving the city until after the baby's born." Hope pressed her lips to Ryan's cheek and walked away.
While she waited for Hayley to arrive, Hope took a shower, the blow dried her hair. After dressing in a comfortably fitting purple dress, Hope applied just enough makeup to be presentable for dinner.
Just as she was trying to wrestle her hair into something decent, someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Hope called.
"It's me," Hayley replied.
"Come in." Hope threw her brush down and turned to her mother. "Can you braid my hair?"
"Of course." Hayley smiled.
Picking up the hairbrush, Hayley smoothed out the tangles, then began twisting Hope's hair into a French braid. Hope wanted to close her eyes and let herself drift away, but she knew that if she did that now, she'd probably sleep for several hours and miss dinner.
"Ryan is with his family?" Hayley asked as she worked.
"He is. They seemed happy to see him."
"Good."
Hayley finished the braid and tied it off with a small bow.
"Thank you. Normally, I can do things myself, but it's getting harder to lift my arms long enough to do my hair. It gets hard to breath."
"I remember what it was like right trying to move before you were born," Hayley laughed softly, then kissed Hope's temple.
"Though I'm pretty sure I'm further along than you were when I was born."
"You are, no thanks to some crazy witches." Hayley pulled a face.
Ryan entered the room just then and, with a grin at Hope and Hayley, headed towards the bathroom.
"I'll be out in a minute," he called over his shoulder. "My family is waiting for you to take them down to dinner.
Taking Hope's arm, Hayley said, "Come on, let's meet them. It's time I was introduced to the wolf."
When they reached the guest bedrooms, Hope knocked on both of them and said, "Dinner's about ready."
The two doors opened and the three stepped into the hall.
"I'd like you to meet my mother, Hayley Marshall-Kenner, Alpha of the Crescent wolves, and hybrid."
"Mom, this is Rafael Waithe, Landon Kirby, and Seylah Chelon."
"It's nice to meet you." Hayley smiled. "Especially you, Rafael."
"Raf," he corrected.
"Raf. Perhaps we can get to know each other better over dinner," Hayley suggested, guiding them towards the dining room.
"I think your dad is in love with my girlfriend's mom," Landon said suddenly.
"You're dating one of the twins?" Hope asked.
"Josie. Have you met her?"
"Uh, no. I just know of them from my time with Triad and from what I hear around the house. I'd like to meet them though, because the way things seem to be going, they're probably going to be my step-sisters."
"I always knew there was something between Caroline and Klaus, from the first moment I saw them," Hayley commented, a far away smile on her face.
Even though Hayley and Klaus were never in love or going to be in love, they cared very deeply for each other, and Hope marveled at how lucky she was. She was the product of a hate-fueled, one night stand, and yet, her parents found a way to come together and be good parents for her and good friends to each other.
When they reached the dining room, Elijah was setting the last platter of food on the table and the group went their separate ways around the table.
Before Raf could find a seat Hayley caught his arm, leading him to where she wanted him to be. She sat at the foot of the table with Raf to her left and gestured for Hope to go to her right, across from him.
"Why don't you sit here, Raf, so we can talk? I want you know what to expect when I take you to meet my pack. And as Hope is my daughter, she needs to learn more about how to handle pack matters." Hayley said the last part looking at Hope, to explain why she'd pulled Hope to sit where she had.
"Sounds great."
The words rang false and Hope glanced at Hayley.
"Don't be nervous. You're among friends here, I promise. I only want to help you." Hayley assured him.
"You might be struggling because it's difficult for one natural born alpha to bow to another," Hope suggested.
Ryan entered the room just then and sat down next to Hope. With a quick smile, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.
"Alright, so I have a couple of younger wolves who want to meet you," Hayley said.
Just then, people started passing around the platters nearest to them and serving themselves.
"Are they all triggered?" Raf asked as he spooned some roasted butter potatoes onto his plate.
"They are. None of us committed cold blooded murder. That's not tolerated in my pack. But with hot tempers, accidents happen, as I'm sure you know."
"Dr. S. asked if he could tell you my story, so I'm guessing that's where you heard it." Raf hung his head.
"Don't be ashamed, Rafael. To trigger the curse, you have to take a life and some wolves can go their entire lives without triggering it, but more often than not, our tempers get the best of us and something happens."
"I think mine was one of the only ones in the pack that wasn't an accident," Hope offered.
"Though it was in self-defense," Hayley excused. "Which is allowed. You were eight years old, and all alone, surrounded by people who wanted you dead. Also, you feel guilty about it now, so not cold blooded murder."
"I've never seen an established pack before," Raf mused aloud.
"You should have been raised in a pack, surrounded by people who knew what could happen to you," Hayley said softly.
"The perks of being in the foster system."
"We should probably do something about untriggered wolves in the adoption and foster systems, because Raf can't be the only one who was in that situation," Hope suggested.
"We really should. I'd hate for someone to think that a wolf is demon possessed for throwing a lawnmower and needs an exorcism, only for the wolf to turn right in front of everyone." Hayley winced at the thought.
"I could create a spell to start tracking them." Hope offered. "I could do something with bloodline spells and since I'm a witch descended from the witch who created the werewolf curse, I should be able to work something out."
"Get started, when you can. It should keep you busy for the next little while, at least until Nyssa is born. Wolves need a pack, especially when they first turn." Turning her attention back to Raf, Hayley asked, "Do you have any questions?"
"Your pack doesn't have to turn? How is that?"
"After I became a hybrid, I married the former alpha of the pack, Jackson Kenner, in a mystical ceremony that allowed his pack to accept the part of me that gave them my control of the turn."
"So how would I be able to control my turning? By becoming a hybrid?"
"Unless one of my pack splits off and creates her own pack, and you marry her in the same sort of ceremony, yes it is."
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna stick to asking to become a hybrid before that happens." Raf chuckled.
"Becoming a hybrid has it's own downfalls," Hayley warned him. "So it's not a decision to be made lightly."
The rest of dinner passed with Raf peppering Hayley with questions, things most wolves would know at his age, if they'd been raised in a pack. And, as she listened, Hope became more and more convinced that finding the wolves lost in the foster and adoption systems was the best thing she could do.
She wouldn't be able to find them herself, at least not until Nyssa was a few months old, but she could still find them, and let other people find them for her.
