Reviews pretty, pretty please? I really appreciate reviews.
Recently updated when it was pointed out that I forget to update the parts I had fixed over on AO3
John's POV The following day goes quickly and it is soon after dinner. Telepathically he asks the other seven shifters if they would meet him after dark where they had had the dominance fight, they each agree. Roughly an hour later the eight of them meet, with Zachary being the last to get there. As soon as their small group is assembled he greets everyone.
"Well, I am sure you all are wondering why I suggested that we meet, its simple, I would like to suggest making our informal pack into a formal one." he suggests to the collected shifters.
For a moment silence reigns until the falcon inquires, "What brought you to this idea?"
He shrugs replying, "Those in a pack tend to have better protection than those outside of a pack. We all act like a pack already, and I am fairly certain that we will all be assigned to work together once we get past our training."
Again silence falls as the eight of them consider his words. It is the cheetah who states, "Some of us are going into extra training after this."
"Of course, I know I am going for officers training, but I still have a feeling that we will be put together in the long run." He answers softly before questioning, "Who all is going for training past the basic?"
Computer training, the cobra answers.
"Officers training," the falcon responds.
"Scouts training," the cheetah and female cat reply at the same time.
He nods, thinking about it, "Well it is still up to all of you. I just thought I would suggest it."
"You're a wolf, can you create a den-bond?" the hyena in their group queries.
Once more he nods, "I can. It is something my uncle tested me on before declaring I was one of the alpha-heirs."
All of the other shifters except the cobra nods. He is mildly surprised when the tall cobra drops down on his knees, inclines his head so the back of his neck is showing as the scales fade away, and offers his left wrist.
I accept your offer of a den, Elder. My loyalty you have. The cobra formally states using telepathy.
"I accept your loyalty, Eric, please get up," he accepts the offer, taking hold of the taller mans arm so their wrists connect. The flare of power between them surges, nearly sending him to his knees. With the connection comes the intimate knowledge of pain and loss, it flares hard, catching every part of his empathy and ripping through him with a force he can barely withstand. A sense of his innate personality shines through. Memories flash through his mind.
— The little girl was beautiful. She had jet black hair that was slightly curly and obsidian eyes. She was tiny, barely over three feet tall and wearing a brightly colored sundress. Excitement poured off of her as she prepares for her first formal lessons with their cobra grandmother about the Old Ones and her natural gifts. —
— Pain ripped through him, both within his mind where he could feel his sisters and physically from where the bullet had cut through his chest before exiting his back. The scent of pain and blood fills the air. He can feel the blood pouring down his body as his legs give out. Crying out, he hits the ground even as he blacks out. —
— The bodies of his family surround him, each one dead. Nearly all of them are dead from a bullet to the brain, except two. His youngest sister Aphrael and his second oldest sister Desari had not died so easily. They had been harmed, brutally tortured and used before they had finally had their throats slit. He had awakened some time during it, dark energy surging through him, coursing through his body as he attempted to attack the hunters who were harming his youngest sister. All that had done was caused them to kill her before turning their attention on him. He had screamed as a knife had sliced through his back. That was just the beginning of all of the pain he would suffer. He was thankful when his body finally shuts down, sending him into unconscious. —
— Peace fills him, a warmth filling his body. A soft presence fills the air around him. All of the pain he had felt upon waking is gone. He can feel the bones and flesh knitting back together. —
As soon he releases the cobras arm, the taller man stands, bowing once before inquiring, Are you alright?
I am alright, he replies as just before the falcon steps forward.
Bowing low once, he presents his right arm, "Elder, I accept your offer of a coop."
Like with the cobra, he clasps arms with falcon. Energy surges between them, with it the link blooms between them. Emotions and thoughts cross between them but it is not nearly as much as what comes from the cobra. Once the link is set between him and the falcon, he feels the bond between the cobra and falcon form, bring the base of their new pack together.
He is surprised when the female multiform steps forward, her golden eyes narrow, "Elder," she murmurs offering her right arm the same way as the previous two, inclining her head enough that her neck shows without doing a full bow. She might not be elite, but she has the pride of one, which is to say she prefers to bow to none. Of course that could be because she is a cat too.
The surge between them is nearly as strong as the one between himself and the cobra. It is full of emotion and need, a desire to belong but an understanding that the chances of that happening were slim. She had been an outcast nearly all her life despite her parents best effort to accept her, the fact she was a true multiform with the ability to become a mouse had made her family uneasy, however they were not the ones who had refused to accept her. That had been the pride and nest elders, neither had liked the fact that her form was so fluid and that she was not submissive to them. A large part of their problem with her was the fact she enjoyed violence, something not considered acceptable among female cats or any mice.
He sways a bit when they release each other, but gives a smile to the cat that is so sure she is not worth having a proper home because of her mixed status.
The tiny mouse is excited as she offers her arm, head low so her neck shows but barely able to hold still. "Please accept my loyalty into the new nest!" she exclaims, joy pouring from her scent, almost overwhelming the other scents in the area.
Pleasure zings between them when their wrists touch. She is overjoyed to belong to a family again. Her birth nest has broken apart due to a bad elder who had gotten several members killed. She is an easy going sort, but there are limits to how much bull she is willing to deal with. The entire reason she had joined the military was to find somewhere to belong. Eventually she wanted to be a teacher, preferably among their own kind. Every part of her mind was open to him, though he pulled back rather than explore it.
When she straightens up and steps back a huge smile covers her face and her eyes shine with pure joy.
Surprise fills him when he notices that the blue-green eyed man he had noticed the first day seems to appear. Now that he is close to him he can smell the human overlay, but its fake, beneath is his real scent, that of a viper and he is certain that if he was not an elite he would not be able to tell the difference. The viper mimics the cobra for actions and states, "I offer my services and loyalty to you and the den," as he offers his right arm.
Information swirls through him as the link is formed when their wrists touch, though it seems to be less than it had been with the first four, he still can go through the older shifters mind if he chooses and gets a feel for the type of personality he has but the flood of information is not nearly as heavy.
After the viper the process seems to get easier as if the base pack needed to be formed first before the others would be able to be added. There was still a swirl of information and emotions when he connected with them. He could still feel the bond as it formed between each but it was not nearly as overwhelming. Instead it felt like when he had practiced with the human shifter-children his uncle had enlisted to check if he could create the bond.
Zachary had volunteered after the surprising viper, his grey eyes unsure since he had not belonged to a shifter clan before, "How do I…" he starts to question but his voice trails off.
Smiling reassuringly at the leopard-eagle, he answers, "If you wish to belong to our mixed pack, simply offer the wrist of your dominant hand and I will pull you within the link."
Nodding once the young man offers his arm after unfastening his sleeve. When their wrists touch, he watches as the mixed shifters eyes widen, his other hand touching the side of his temple as he can suddenly feel the others within the link and hear the low chatter going on within it. He knows that the shifter is amazed by the feeling of belonging that comes from the joining of a pack. When he releases the cat, he steps back, his eyes wide as he glances at those also within the pack.
The hyena offers his arm with a smile, bowing slightly so his neck shows, "Alpha," he murmurs, "I thank you for a home and pack."
The hyena's scent is content and as their wrists touch, he feels the flare of pleasure and joy as the link settles between them, then between him and the pack. As soon as he releases the other shifters arm, the hyena steps over by the leopard and the two discuss the feeling since they had never belonged to a pack before.
The cheetah stares at him for a long time, eyes calculating as he does so before he presents both his throat and wrist, "Elder," he murmurs in exactly the same tone as he had stated after losing the dominance fight. The link between them is the weakest of the pack links, but he can still feel it as it courses through him before merging with the rest of the pack.
Afterwards, the eight of them just visit with each other. A new awareness has been instilled in each of them, though it has a bigger affect on Cyanne, Christopher, and Zachary than it does anyone else. Eric tends to stay back and watches rather than actively seeking to speak with anyone. He has to start the conversation, and it feels odd having someone speak in his head who is standing right nearby rather than aloud. None of the other telepaths he knows does the same thing. Eventually they head back to the barracks to sleep.
As he showers and prepares for bed he carefully feels the link and its connection to each before turning his focus to his original pack link which is just as active though it seems to be slightly different. He can just about hear the people on both links but at different levels so it seems as if he has two different groups of people speaking to him at once though he cannot understand words from either.
His granddame had told him about this before, explaining that when a shifter belonged to more than one pack, the links would each develop differently. Since he was a telepath and an empath, he would be able to feel and hear those within the pack-link without much difficulty. He would have to adjust to having two different sets in his head, because while he was used to his birth pack in his head, this new pack would take some adjusting.
Week seven goes much the same as five and six had, the biggest difference being now they were able to communicate via telepath with an ease. Even the non-telepaths could use the pack link to speak even if they did not do so often and it only reached short distances. That was one of the beauties of the link. The group shared information and due to that, they were never surprised when the humans that were also training pulled off stunts.
At the beginning of week eight they were taken to a remote area for a field test to see how well they had learned. While they were on the way he had felt the cobra focusing on something but he did not listen in, knowing that as soon as he was ready, he would say, instead, he stayed quiet and enjoyed the flight to wherever they were going.