Part 8

"Well, I thought that went rather well all things considered," Spencer said.

It was after work and he and Hotch had just gotten back from a quiet romantic dinner, where no work or problems were discussed and the two of them just concentrated on their relationship since they didn't get as much private time as they liked.

Hotch didn't need to ask what Reid meant as there was only one thing that he could be talking about.

"Yes, it did," Hotch agreed. "Jason is stubborn though and he might be to old to change, so we'll just have to see."

"Well, no matter what I will not be parted from you and if that means I have to go up against Gideon, Strauss and the FBI director then I will."

"Don't worry about the FBI director or Strauss," Hotch told him calmly, "I had a word with the director a few weeks ago and explained the situation to him. He was surprised to learn that I was dating someone of my own sex, but I told him it had just happened, which is true and told him that the reason I came to him was that I knew Strauss would find out about it and she would try to fire one or both of us over it. Director Stratton was entirely sympathetic as he knew Erin Strauss by reputation, though he's never met her personally. He told me that he had been keeping a quiet eye on her, but that she never did anything that would get her fired or even in serious trouble as what she did was so subtle that nobody ever caught her at it. He told me that he knew our reputations and that he approved of our relationship so long as it didn't effect our work and to send her to him if she tried to cause trouble."

"You did this without telling me," asked Spencer trying to understand why his mate had kept such a thing from him.

"I was going to tell you, but then we've been so busy I just never got a chance to mention it," Hotch admitted. "The reason I went to Director Stratton is that I knew that he would likely be sympathetic as he met his own wife many years ago during an operation that took down a dangerous drug lord. To tell you the truth I feel just as protective of you as you do me even though I'm not a werewolf and I didn't want you have to put up with Erin Strauss if you didn't have to as trust me she can be very nasty mostly in a subtle kind of way. I didn't want you to have to put up with her opinion of our relationship which wouldn't be pretty."

"A lot a people are against same-sex relationships though just look at Gideon and he is one of the most understanding and least judgmental men I know," Spencer said.

"Yes, that's true," Hotch admitted, "but trust me you've never met Erin Strauss, except very briefly, as I and Gideon have been doing our best to protect you from her for she is one of the most small-minded, mean-spirited woman I have ever met and she also has an acid tongue. She is a petty schemer and she would do her best to undermine the team and find way to fire one of us if she could get away with it without losing her position and I just didn't want to put you in a position to have to listen to her vitriol."

"Alright then," Spencer said finally relaxing, now that he knew his mate had only gone to Director Stratton in order to protect him as much as he could from the the section chief. "I admit I've heard a lot bad things about Erin Strauss and I don't normally listen to rumors, as they tend to be exaggerated or outright fabricated.

"In the case of Strauss they probably understate what she's really like," Hotch snorted.

"So now that Gideon has found out about our relationship are we going to tell the rest of the team?" asked Spencer. "I'll leave the decision to you, because it doesn't really matter to me one way or the other, although they'll probably figure it out at some point, just like Gideon did and be hurt that we kept it to ourselves instead of trusting them."

Hotch thought about it. He knew that Spencer was right that the other four members of the team would be hurt when they weren't told about their relationship, but on the other hand he had always been a very private person just like Spencer was and he didn't like anybody butting into his private affairs. He new Garcia in particular wouldn't be able to stop herself from asking numerous questions and although the others would be more subtle they would be curious to. He knew Morgan in particular would probably corner Reid when he was alone and ask him how and when it had happened while trying to figure out if it was consensual or not. Even if Reid assured him that it was something that they had both wanted, Morgan would likely still be suspicious since he considered Reid a little brother.

"We had better tell them," Hotch finally decided. "We need to do it privately, maybe invite them all out to dinner or something. I'm doing it mainly because of Morgan so that we can get his suspicions out-of-the-way so we can still work smoothly together. You know how he is and he has a very suspicious nature, but considering his background I don't really blame him and he does consider you a little brother and therefore, is very protective of you, which I can also understand."

"Yes, I can't seem to convince Morgan that I can take care of myself quite well, but then I can't exactly tell him I can transform into a wolf anytime I like," Reid said with a wolfish smirk, which definitely made Hotch's cock stand up and take notice.

Hotch actually chuckled at that, as he imagined Morgan's reaction if Reid changed into his wolf form right in front of him. "I was just imagining you changing right in front of Morgan and his reaction to it," Hotch explained at Reid's confused look in his direction.

"Yes, that would be extremely amusing," Reid said, now also chuckling. "It's too bad that I can't actually do it ,as I would absolutely love to see Morgan's reaction as I'm sure it would be photo worthy and something to tease him about for years to come."

The two men were silent for a long time just enjoying each other company.

"So now that Gideon knows when are you going to move in with me?" asked Reid. "You spend most of your time over at my place anyway since it's a much nicer place in your apartment."

"Well, now that Gideon knows I don't see why I can't move in immediately considering most of my things are over here anyway, since I've been moving them a little bit at a time for months now."

"Good!" Spencer said excited, "I've been looking forward to this day for quite awhile. Once we tell the team you can just quietly move in and let your apartment go and they probably won't even know about it for months."

"Won't they be shocked when they learn I agreed to move into your house, even though you're six brothers don't leave for college for a few months yet. They know me well enough to know that I never would have agreed to move in with you if I wasn't sure that our relationship is going to be a permanent thing. I believe there'll be more surprised with the fact that I have finally settled down, then with the fact that you have, since I've been single for years and I'm 36 and as far as they know I haven't had any serious girlfriends in well ever, but you are still young and supposedly have plenty of time to find someone."

"They should also know me well enough to know that I'm not the type to lightly give away my heart to just anyone and that if we are together that means that it's a serious and permanent change. They should know I would never have gotten involved with my superior if it wasn't," Spencer said.

"Well, we'll see," Hotch said sounding cynical.

"I know Morgan considers me innocent, but if he really knew about what my childhood was like that opinion would quickly change and I'm willing to do that if it will get him to see that I am more mature than most young men my age and very capable of making my own decisions as Aunt Shannon made sure that."

"Not your father?" Hotch said in a teasing tone knowing very well that William Reid had had very little to do with Spencer's childhood other then giving his son half his genes.

Spencer actually snorted and said in a growl, "The only thing my father was responsible for was being a lazy, no good, son of a bitch who would have let the seven of us end up on the street if it hadn't been for Aunt Shannon. That very well would have been the likely outcome if not for the pack stepping in because there is no way in hell I would have allowed me and my brothers to be separated and placed in separate foster homes."

"Well, I'm very glad that didn't happen because it is very likely you would have died on the street along with your brothers and we never would have met, which means I would've gone through the rest of my life lonely, never knowing I was missing something vital."

Hotch actually shuddered at that possibility.

"Well, that didn't happen because the pack did step in," Reid said, as he cuddled closer to Hotch on the couch in order to comfort him.

"I really need to meet Keenan that you keep talking about to thank him for looking after you and your family. I know you said it was his responsibility, but he could've been like your father and not taken his responsibilities to the pack seriously."

"If he had done that he wouldn't have been pack Alpha for very long," Reid said, "although I understand what you mean. Yes, I agree we do need to go to Las Vegas sometime in the next year or so, as it is only proper to introduce my mate to the Alpha of my childhood pack."

"You know I've noticed over the last few months that your brothers are a lot like you at least when it comes to their intelligence," Hotch said changing the subject, but leaving the statement open ended and Reid nodded. "I'm surprised they didn't skip a few grades like you did, as I'm sure they could have, since a lot of times that kind of thing runs in families and I know your mother was extremely intelligent before she came down with schizophrenia.

"The only reason they didn't skip grades is because Aunt Shannon and I forbade it and wouldn't let them mention it to mom and get her to sign the forms to allow them to. Mom did and does have her lucid moments and they could have easily gotten her to sign the forms if we hadn't taken them away and torn them to shreds. My brothers didn't understand our decision for quite awhile, and were mad at us for weeks, but I'd rather than be mad at me and Shannon then put them through the hell that I had to go through because I did skip grades. I kept telling them that it was better to learn to blend in with their peers and that just because they were of above average intelligence didn't mean that they had to let the world know they were. I told them that the kids that went to that school would resent it if they got moved up several grades, and they'd be in classes with students that were four or five years their senior. I told them that children could be extremely cruel and I didn't want them to suffer like I had. I didn't really go into detail because I thought they were too young and I didn't want to give them nightmares, but I made it clear that I would not be changing my mind and neither would Aunt Shannon."

"Ah, that explains a lot," Hotch said finally understanding.

"When they go to college in a few months it will be okay for them to show how intelligent they are a little and I won't be surprised if they finish their degrees in half the time that it normally takes. Of course, in Brock's case he won't rush his college education because he'll want to be with Blanche until she finishes and although she is very intelligent she isn't on my brother's level, but the rest of my brothers, probably."

"Anyway, I've decided that I do want to be a werewolf as they're numerous advantages including being able to run with you or the pack whenever we have free time," Hotch told Reid out of the blue.

Reid stared at him in amazement and then gave a whoop of joy, which was very unlike him, but in this case he couldn't contain his excitement or happiness at his mate's quiet pronouncement

"That makes you happy I see," Hotch said smiling at Reid's joy.

"It really does," Reid told Hatch giving him a very passionate kiss on the lips leaving the older man looking dazed. "I've been wanting to see you in your wolf form, which would be all black since your hair is that color and see how fast you can run. Because of your rather bulky and muscular form that's what you'll look like as a wolf and therefore you won't be as fast as I am simply because I'm built for running when I'm in that shape and I'm also not clumsy in the least, although why that is I don't know."

"Yes, I can tell when I've seen you in that form," Hotch agreed. "You have long and thin legs and also a slim aerodynamic body, which would make it easier for you to be able to slice through the wind, unlike me as I would have to bull my way through it. As for why you're not clumsy if you haven't figured it out then you're not thinking."

"What do you mean?" asked Reid.

"Just that your wolf instincts take over when you're in that form," Hotch explained, "and a wolf is never clumsy and always runs smoothly and powerfully, while your human body doesn't have a wolf's instincts and your center of gravity is also bound to be changed."

"You're right," Reid admitted, "I never thought about it in that context and I should have."

"Well, sometimes a person who doesn't grow up around something like that has an easier time seeing then a person who did. I didn't grow up a werewolf or being part of a pack and therefore I have an easier time seeing things as I am an outsider looking in. You grew up within a wolfpack and I as a normal boy that had no idea such things as werewolves as you call yourselves existed until very recently and therefore my perceptive is bound to be different."

"So when do you want to be changed?" asked Reid trying to contain his excitement.

"Well, if we manage to make it up to the local pack lands this weekend then that's when I want to be changed, but if we don't then it will have to wait until the next free weekend," Hotch said.

"You really need to take at least a couple weeks off as you need that time to get used to the changes," Reid warned. "I've been a werewolf all my life so I didn't have to go through that process after my first transformation at five, but for you, you'll need awhile to get used to all the changes that being a werewolf brings and the Alpha will tell you the same thing."

"Alright, if that's the case then it is going to have to wait until after we head to Las Vegas in a few months time to meet your childhood pack, as I planned for both of us to take it at least a couple weeks off, kind of like our first vacation together."

"That will be fun," Reid said smiling as he thought about two or three weeks off with his mate with no team popping up unexpectedly to interrupt their alone time. "If you master your new form quickly, we might even be able to do a tour of my old haunts from when I was a child."

"That will be nice," Hotch said smiling now as he would love to see all the places that Reid hung out as a child with what little bit of free time he'd had.

"I know my brothers will be happy for you when we tell them your decision and they'll also think you're very brave because even though they were born werewolves they have also heard the same stories I have and know it's supposed to be a very painful process," Reid said. "Of course, once the transformation finishes, which only takes a few hours, you'll have all the advantages that a child who was born a werewolf will have. You'll have a werewolf's healing ability, the ability to transform at will and not just during the full moon, although I warn you the first transformation is very painful, but after that it's not too bad."

"The ability to feel your emotions from a distance," Hotch mentioned and Reid nodded.

"That too," Reid agreed. "When you are transformed into a werewolf you'll definitely be an Alpha because that's what you are as a human, although I wouldn't be surprised if your personality is also more aggressive, which is something you'll have to learn to control if it occurs like I believe it will. I also know what other werewolves have told me that you'll likely be much more protective of me at least until you get used to all the emotions you'll be feeling as a new werewolf, which will take anywhere from six months to a year or at least that's what I was told."

"Well, I already feel very protective of you," Hotch admitted, "so you're telling me that will increase."

"Oh, yes, and you'll have to be careful not to snap at someone like Morgan, who teases me for example and you'll want to believe me, even though Morgan is only teasing me because he thinks of me like a little brother. Also you'll want to attack someone like Garcia who likes to hug me even though she doesn't have any romantic feelings towards me and thinks of me much like Morgan does. The feelings will fade over time as I said, but you'll have to be really careful around the team or anybody else until they do."

Hotch made a mental note of what Spencer was telling him he would be experiencing emotionally and agreed that if those things occurred because he was a werewolf he would have to be really careful not to figuratively bite off the head of anybody on the team just because they were acting normally and didn't mean any harm.

"The part I'm going to like the best," Spencer said with a wide smile, "Is you attacking me because my scent is absolutely driving you wild with desire and is utterly irresistible. I won't be surprised if we stay in bed at the hotel or even out in the forest for days and get very little sleep as we have sex constantly during that time. Neither one of us at that point will even have to worry about sore muscles because a werewolf heals incredibly fast and even if we start out with them because of the roughness of the sex, they'll be all healed up by morning."

"Well, I'm certainly looking forward to what you just described," Hotch said with a wide, lecherous smirk as his dark eyes roved up and down his mate's body that he already knew from experience was very fine.

"So am I," Spencer told him also with a wide smile not even blushing as he thought about that. "Our sex life has always been damn spectacular, but it will get even better after that or at least that's what I've heard and I can't wait to see if what I've heard is true."

"They probably are true since you got this information from the pack," Hotch said.

"I did indeed and we've had several humans that were turned into werewolves in the last thirty years because they were mates of someone in the pack at their request, as we would never force anybody to go through the transformation. Of course, there were also a few humans that decided to stay as they are, which as I told you is perfectly acceptable. In any case, they are also considered part of the pack and any children that the human/werewolf couple has is treated just like the children of two werewolves."

"You know that's one thing I miss," Hotch said wistfully, "and that's children. I never married as you know, although Haley Brooks back in high school sure gave it her best shot, but I wasn't about to marry someone I wasn't sure that I loved. I'm always wanted at least a couple of children, although I wouldn't have objected to more than that, but since you and I are together and I love you so much that I would never think about leaving you I know that children are out."

"Well," Spencer said looking at Hotch thoughtfully, "there is a way."

"What way?" asked Hotch in surprise, "We're both male after all, so neither one of us can exactly get pregnant."

"No, as that would go against nature," Spencer calmly agreed. "However, occasionally, something happens to the parents of a werewolf pup or pups. The mother dies during childbirth for example and the father kills himself, because he lost his mate not even thinking about the fact that he needs to stick around for his children. We werewolves have very strict laws, and that is if you have sex with a woman who is not your mate or that you aren't at least married to then you have to use protection because we can't have werewolf pups being born outside the pack because then humans would find out about us and that's a big no-no. Really it is a very strong rule, although not precisely a law that if the father in question is determined to take his life after his mate dies then he leaves whatever children he has in the care of other werewolves, preferably ones that are related to him, although that's not always possible for one reason or another."

"So you're saying that a lot of times if a werewolf's mate dies in childbirth that they often take their own life because they don't want to live without them," Hotch said and Spencer nodded in confirmation.

"This doesn't always happen of course, it all depends on the werewolf in question, some decide to struggle on because they know they are needed and that they will be joining their mate in death soon enough. If that happens a werewolf never completely gets over losing their mate and they often have kind of deep sadness about them that is nearly visible, especially to a werewolves keen senses. A perfect example of that is Aunt Shannon and as she lost her mate due to a hunter when he was just 60 or so and she was 10 years younger, and she decided that she was needed to much by the pack as she often acted as kind of a grandmother to the children making sure that they followed the right path as they grew. I would often catch her gazing off into space when she didn't know I was watching her and she had the saddest expression on her face. In a way she was lucky though, as she had many years with her mate and all her children were grown when he was killed by a hunter. She told me once when I asked why she was so sad that she had lost her mate, many years ago and that she was too much of a coward to take her own life like so many that lost their other halves did."

"I don't consider staying alive and not taking your life cowardliness," Hotch snorted. "In fact I consider it pure bravery because from what you've told me you feel as if your soul has been ripped in two when your mate dies."

"That's what I was told," Spencer agreed shuddering, "and is not something I would like to experience for myself because I love you so deeply that I know I would be totally lost without you so I can certainly understand why one of a pair of a mated couple decide to kill themselves when they lose their other half or at least that's true when we are talking about two soulmates as you say, and not just a werewolf who marries a woman because they love each other, but not as deeply as a True Mated couple does. I realize that you are considerably older than me and it's quite possible that you'll be killed out in the field, and even if you're not, you're still likely to die before I am simply because of that age difference, but hopefully, that won't happen for many years."

"You can never tell how much time you have with someone that you truly love," Hotch said philosophically, "and although you hope you have many years with that person sometimes fate intervenes or they die because of an accident or some kind of medical problem. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get."

"In any case, it's quite possible that what we were talking about will happen, and if we put our names down on the list with the local Alpha, we'll be considered at least. Now it's also very possible that we'll get more than one or two children and though it is unlikely we could end up with a dozen as the Alpha will want to find a home for all of them preferably with the same couple, although that's unlikely. Most werewolf couples only go through pregnancy once or twice and if they only get say twins the first time and they want a couple more then the female allows yourself to get pregnant again and sometimes that produces triplets or more."

"Like in your mother's case," Hotch pointed out with a smile. "Where she got pregnant with sextuplets even if the doctors kept insisting up until the end it was only quadruplets."

"Well, yes, that's true," Spencer admitted with a smile. "That's extremely rare though, especially if the woman is human, although not so much if both of the couple are werewolves. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that at least twins run in mom's family, but then again it's very possible that it just occurred naturally simply because she was over 35 when she got pregnant that second time and scientist have pinpointed that fact that a woman starts to ovulate more when she reaches that age and therefore more frequently has multiples, add in my fathers werewolf DNA and that's probably the explanation as to why mom had six that second time. You know what the ironic thing is, though?"

"What?" asked Hotch curiously.

"That mom had all boys without at least some girls," Spencer said.

"Why is that ironic?" asked Hotch.

"Well, for one thing having all of one sex with so many, especially boys is rare. Over 80 percent of all multiple births are female as they tend to not vanish as often in the womb like males do. It is believed that over 75 percent of all pregnancies start out as twins, but a large percentage of the time one of the twins 'vanish' absorbed into the DNA of the one that survives. This is known as the vanishing twin syndrome. Now with werewolves this doesn't happen or at least not as frequently as it does for a human woman, and on average for a werewolf the number of births per pregnancy is anywhere from two to four, especially with your True Mate."

"I didn't know that," Hotch said fascinated.

"Also arranged marriages are still quite common among our kind as some werewolves that come from wealthy families don't believe in True Mates and even if they do they believe that marrying someone who is similarly well off is better as that keeps their son or daughter from marrying someone who they consider inappropriate. Of course, great tragedies have come from that kind of attitude because it has been known to happen in the past that a werewolf who had their marriage arranged met their True Mate and even the parents of the one that arranged the marriage in the first place can't prevent their child from cheating on their spouse as there is no way you can resist the scent of your True Mate. When this happens there are no repercussions from the Alpha of the pack as normally those who try to have more then one spouse and children by both are rejected as we do not practice polygamy."

Hotch knew that meant having more then one spouse and was practiced among muslims and several others peoples.

"When this does happen there is no choice, but to divorce your spouse so you can be with your True Mate, although any pups from the previous marriage are taken care of, either by the pack or the parents, usually their mother with the father still getting to see their children and also providing for their care. Occasionally, however, the spouse who has been left takes their own life after making sure that their children will be looked after."

"Well, arranged marriages are still quite common among well off families even today," Hotch said with a twitch of his lip in what was a repressed smile. "In fact I've never told you this, but my mother wanted to arrange a marriage for me."

"She did?" asked Reid in surprise, although he knew he probably shouldn't have been considering what he knew about his mate's mother and none of it was kind.

"She did, but I had to give my consent and I told her that there was no way I was going to marry someone I didn't love and she told me that love was overrated. She wanted to arrange a marriage for me for right after I graduated college, but I was 22 at that point and capable of making my own decisions and my mother couldn't really force me into it."

"So who did she want you to marry?" asked Reid curiously

"That same woman I told you about a few minutes ago," Hotch said and Reid understood who Aaron was talking about immediately.

"She wanted you to marry Haley Brooks?" asked Reid in surprise.

"Yes, her family was similarly well off and both of our families would have profited greatly from our marriage. Haley chased me pretty hard in high school and we dated for a long time and I'm not sure even to this day if she even knew what her parents were trying to arrange and was part of it or totally innocent."

"Well, that's not too different from an arranged marriage in a werewolf family," Reid said. "The man and woman in question have to give their consent, but then again our kind for the most part are raised to believe in family first. In other words, it's very hard to buck your family's expectations and go your own way, although a lot of wolves are strong enough to do it. Also in most families what their children wants is more important then what the parents want, but then most werewolf parents are good and loving and always listen to what their children want to do with their lives and try their best to help them fulfill those dreams. Some werewolf parents, however…"

"Are no different from humans ones who try to force their expectation onto their children and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't," Hotch said finishing Reid's sentence quite easily. "So what do you think the possibility is that we'll get at least a couple of children to adopt?"

"I don't really know," Reid admitted. "I never really thought about having a couple of children but then I've been so busy raising my brothers, studying or working I've hardly had time to breathe much less think about having a family of my own. If we do get more than two children that's okay too, although we'll have to make arrangements for the local pack to look after them when we're out of town for work, but that shouldn't be a problem. This house is big enough for half a dozen children so long as they are willing to share rooms like my brothers do."

"I doubt very much that if there is that many of them that they didn't share a room in their parents house, because I can't see most families having more then four, possibly five bedrooms and if a couple has a dozen children they're bound to have to share unless you have the money to build on or move someplace bigger."

"Most families probably have the money to build onto their houses since most werewolves have good jobs just like humans do," Reid said, "but yes, I see your point. My brothers definitely had to share when we were growing up, two to a room, and I know we were very lucky that we had seven bedrooms so that Aunt Shannon had a place to sleep and have some private time, which she didn't get too often, not while my brothers were still very young, anyway."

"You got a room all to yourself, huh?" Hotch teased him.

"Well, I was the oldest child and I also had the smallest room, which was just big enough for a twin bed, a dresser, and a desk to do my homework. I also had a built-in closet for all my clothes that hung, which was a good thing because there wasn't much space to walk as you barely entered the doorway and a couple of steps later you came up on my bed, that was sideways against the only window and then on the other side of the small room was my desk and on the opposite wall was my dresser. I moved there after my brothers were born since they needed my bigger room more than I did. I believe that the room I moved to was originally intended for somebody like a live in housekeeper, or perhaps, a guestroom. In any case, I really didn't spend much time there, except to sleep as I preferred doing my homework at the kitchen table, so I didn't feel claustrophobic, as wolves don't like to feel confined."

The two continued to talk for some time and Hotch learned several things about werewolves that he hadn't known before and the two of them then headed to the bedroom to make love.

~~~Spencer and Aaron~~~