Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

She's Got A Plan

When the 'silent' alarm went off, signaling an intruder on the property, Blake soundlessly slipped from his bed of webbing to check it out, not surprised to see who the visitor was. He'd been expecting her, after all. She'd probably set off the first alarm to let him know she was coming, and now he could ignore the alarms she'd set off accidentally later on because yeah, the security measures he'd put in place got more extreme the closer to the cabin one got. And while she was an absolute genius when it came to computers and such, breaking into secure locations wasn't her forte, especially when the security was designed to keep out hybrids and wolves with serious skillsets in that area. So yeah, Blake was one of the very few people who could get through the security he'd set up, both because he'd installed the security measures in the first place and because he had his webbing on his side. Though he'd put sensors and such in the trees too, just in case.

But either way Blake appreciated the heads up, returning to his web with the handheld device so that he could monitor her progress as well as make sure that someone else didn't coincidentally try to enter at the same time. Odder things had happened after all. So he watched until she was on the cabin's porch, Blake setting aside his toy and cuddling back under his blankets, knowing she'd make her way up to the attic once she got into the house. Going downstairs to let her in would just piss her off.

His keen hearing picking up her presence from the slight noise she made when she used the walls below to springboard herself up so that she could haul herself up and into the attic, Blake waiting until she was up and walking towards him to lift up his blankets in a silent offering for her to join him.

Slipping off her boots first Beta set them off to the side and then with practiced ease got on the web and moved to spoon up against Blake's chest, smiling as the blankets dropped down and her alpha's arm came around to hold her in place.

"I was expecting you later in the morning." It was nearly one, currently.

"I hung out with Arthur, Eames, and the babies for a while first."

Made sense. "How are they?"

"Worried about you, but good. The babies are even more adorable in person than they were in the photographs you two sent me. If I wasn't stuck about coming here I'd have been tempted to steal them for my very own."

"They were lucky to take after our side of the family."

A feminine chuckle greeted that statement, as well as the observation that Eames wasn't exactly hard on the eyes either. Blake was just biased.

"True enough."

Comfortable silence descended for a bit, both simply enjoying the security of sleeping beside someone they had absolute trust in. And then Blake asked her if she intended to show herself tomorrow, or she was just dropping in so that he knew she was around while they all worked out some sort of plan as to how they were going to handle the wolves. Because while Salar would keep his mouth shut if Blake ordered him too, odds were Beta's father, Barsad, and possibly Bane would likely all be coming by in the morning to make sure he was still around.

"I already have a plan."

"Well that works provided I'll like this plan." Which Blake doubted he would, otherwise she'd be telling him about it right now instead of just saying she had one.

"You won't like it, but you're going to have to trust me. It's the only way."

Okay, it was a bad sign when she outright admitted that he wouldn't like whatever scheme she'd come up with. Unlike Arthur he was prone to stupid, seat of the pants schemes himself, so he wasn't the sort to dismiss a cockamamie idea right off the bat. That she was convinced he wouldn't like whatever she had planned, to the point where she wasn't telling him what she had planned, did not bode well for her. Because his own life Blake knew she would never risk, but her own…

"Beta."

"I've got this. And you don't need to do anything besides trust that I know what I'm doing." Her voice broke no argument, as well as making it quite clear that she had no intention of telling him what she had planned so that he could talk her out of it.

"You'll destroy your compound sweetheart for good if you up and die on him again. Just so you know."

"My compound sweetheart?"

"Your mate." Blake shot back, both of them well aware that that was how Beta felt about Barsad, even if she'd been pretending for years now that that wasn't the case so that she could survive without him.

Telling silence.

"He doesn't know me. Not really. I'm not who I was and he's not who he was. To think that what we had will still be there would be stupid. But I don't have an intention of ending up dead. Far from it. That would defeat the whole purpose of my plan so stop worrying. Injured likely, but when I'm done I'll be fine and the mess we're in will finally be fixed once and for all. You might even get your mate back."

"Do I have one of those?" Blake asked in mock surprise. "You'd think I'd remember getting ones of those. And that he'd object to you sleeping with me."

"Smart ass. You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"I am smart, which has nothing to do with my spectacular ass. But no, I don't know who you're talking about. Because if I had a mate, and neither of my species is known for being particularly interested in real relationships, I would certainly never pick some idiot who had his chance with me and blew it."

"Did he?"

Not liking what she was insinuating, especially since he knew she was right, Blake tried to change the subject by asking how she wanted to handle the wolves who were going to be circling the cabin tomorrow, if not actually coming in. Her scent would be hard for their canine noses to miss, after all, though he could wash her scent off easily enough in the morning if need be.

"I have no problems dealing with them. Any of them. Now shut up so that we can go to sleep already."

There were any number of reasons why they should hash this out now. Namely the fact that a misstep on their parts could cause an all-out war between the two wolf packs currently residing in the area, which the obviously wanted to avoid. People could seriously die; including themselves which was so not on Blake's to do list any time soon. But he also knew that he'd get further sussing information from her as opposed to interrogating, and hopefully he'd at least have all morning to work on her before any wolves but Salar showed up at their door wanting answers. Though that was probably too much to ask for.

Still… "Are you sure you're up to handling Barsad?"

"Are you sure you can handle Bane?"

"Where Talia is concerned? No. I can't stand him really, much less handle his stupidity where she's concerned." Snorting at the very idea, Blake pushed aside the thought that it should be Bane he was cuddling up with currently. Stupid thoughts about a stupid man.

"Well maybe I can work a little magic there too. But for now…shut up, seriously. I need to be well rested for tomorrow if I'm going to save the day and all that jazz."

"As you wish."

"And don't quote Cary Elwes from 'Princess Bride'. You are not now, nor will you ever be as hot as he is."

"Now that we're definitely going to argue about tomorrow."

)

The next morning they both slept in a little, though Blake made a point of getting them out of bed a good forty minutes before Salar was due to arrive so that they'd look somewhat presentable when he got there. Plus Salar finding them in bed together would definitely murk up a number of waters, and Blake figured the fact that he carried her scent on him, and he on her was likely bad enough all things considering. Not that he was above being a big enough ass to use that to screw with other people's heads, but not Barsad's. He would not do that. So he'd also donned a shirt that carried a hint of Bane's scent on it from earlier contact. Just for Barsad's sake of course.

And in an unusual show of chivalry Blake didn't comment over the fact that Beta had very obviously taken care with how she looked for once that morning. Not that she usually looked bad, but generally Beta was a T-shirt and jeans sort of girl, her hair in a ponytail or very messy bun. Unless she was going somewhere fancy or it was for a costume Beta didn't care about looking like a girl. And while she was wearing jeans she'd paired it with a girlie peasant blouse, light makeup, and had left her hair down for once. Of course part of that would be to hide the eye patch, but still…she'd dressed up for Barsad whether she was willing to admit it or not.

If she weren't a redhead Blake speculated that she'd be pale at the moment too, but again he didn't comment as he put some breakfast together, making extra since Beta tended to eat when she was nervous and that was definitely the case currently.

And as promised Blake distracted her by returning to his argument about how he really was way hotter than Cary Elwes, which of course led to their usual debate about what actors currently gracing the movie screens were the best looking. The fact that they had wildly different tastes in men meant that they could never agree with the other, and Arthur wasn't around to keep them in line with his own opinions, which was a good middle ground between their tastes.

So it was okay, but Blake really wished his twin was around to walk Beta through all this. Arthur was the sort who knew how to handle just about anything when it came to emotionally charged situations. Mostly because his brother had far more control over himself in that area than Blake and Beta had put together and they knew it. But alas, his brother was not around to help and so Blake did his best to simply distract, hoping against hope that their future wolfie visitors would behave themselves when they dropped by.

But yeah, they were two thirds of the way through breakfast, and deep in discussion of what Tom Hardy's best look for a movie had been, when Blake's phone signaled that Salar was on his way, the sound of the man's car pulling into the driveway reaching their sensitive ears a very short time later. That was followed by the sound of the wolf's feet on the porch, the door then being opened and Salar calling out that he'd arrived just in case a warning was needed.

Without commenting Blake and Beta both pushed back their chairs and got to their feet, walking in tandem out of the kitchen and into the hallway where Salar had been walking towards them, though he came to a standstill at the sight of them. Or to be more specific, the sight of Beta.

"Layla."

"Hello, Salar."

Going from absolute stillness to lethal speed in the space of one breath to the next, Salar was standing in front of them in a flash, scooping Beta up into his arms for a tight hug. Murmuring his name against the side of her throat Salar held her aloof for several moments before finally setting her back on her feet to grin down at her.

"It's good to see you again, My friend." Beta smiled and reached up to cup his cheek.

"And you. I…I don't know what the hell to say but fuck…you're alive and here and…I'm so glad that you are."

Laughing, Beta pulled him into another hug, obviously needing it as much as Salar did now that she was actually about to face her old pack head on. "Glad to be here. And that you're in our little cat pack now too. I've been sick of being the only canine in it. Constantly being surrounded by cats." A long, dramatic sigh punctuated that last part, plus a mock shudder for emphasis.

"I'd say we were happy to hand her back over to your pack, but you're part of ours now so we're stuck with both of you. One more dog to train properly." Blake made a face at both of them, though his eyes revealed that he was actually amused and pleased with the warm greeting between the two.

"Cat." Beta and Salar said at the same time, like it was a swear word.

"Dogs."

Amused by them Blake glanced down when his phone went off, the feline pulling it out to see that it was a message informing him that Kingsley was dropping by to see him in ten minutes if that was alright with him. He was bringing Barsad with him.

"Looks like we're about to get some company, Puppies. Your dad and Barsad are on their way, Beta." Not bothering to mention that Kingsley was asking his permission, Blake shot back a message giving the okay. Better to get this over with then draw it out. Plus this would cut down on the number of times Beta had to retell the story of how she'd ended up with the Gotham hybrids. It wasn't a fun story for her to tell.

"Oh." Forget pale, Beta suddenly looked a little green.

Walking over Blake reached out and acting on instinct cupped her cheek in his hand. "We'll be right here. I won't leave you alone with any of them unless you ask me to. And hey, at least Bane or the Bitch didn't come with them. That's a silver lining."

"True. With Bane around you might be too distracted to run interference." It was a weak comeback, but Beta was smiling a little as she said it, nuzzling her cheek into his palm for a moment before drawing back with a determined look on her face. "I've got this."

Giving her shoulder a squeeze in added support, Salar basically made it worse by stating that her dad and Barsad couldn't be more excited or anxious to see her. But she didn't tell him so, smiling instead like that wasn't half the reason she was terrified.

To distract herself while they waited for the next two wolves to arrive on their doorstep Beta asked Salar about his current life and his family, already knowing plenty from her research into her former pack but feigning ignorance quite well. And it worked pretty well too, right up until the point where all their sensitive ears picked up the sound of a car pulling into the road that led to the cabin.

Beta froze for a moment at the sound, her eyes immediately locking with Blake for the reminder that no, she wasn't doing this alone. That this might be one of the biggest moments in her life, and potentially emotionally devastating for her, but he had her back, and would come to her rescue if need be.

So she squared her shoulders, a soldier from birth, and with her head held high Beta nodded at them and then spinning around on her currently booted feet Beta marched towards the main door, Salar and Blake bringing up the rear.

)

Regardless of what name she'd answered to, Beta being her latest and longest of the main three, Beta had endured hellish situation after hellish situation without tears or running away from whatever horror she'd been presented with. She was one badass bitch if she did say so herself, which she was known to do. She took pride in that. And still…even the weeks she'd spent basically strapped down to a board while her back healed, the mental and physical torture she'd faced as she'd relearned to walk and believe that she wouldn't be stuck in her chair anymore, and worst of all, being separated from Barsad for what she'd thought was life, was nowhere near as bad as walking towards the front door and opening it up, knowing that Barsad would be on the other side.

What if he didn't like who she'd become? What if he found her ugly because of her scars and lack of an eye? What if he wasn't how she remembered, and his time under Talia's control had warped him into a man her Barsad would be ashamed to be?

Add in the fact that she about to meet her biological father for the first time on top of all the rest and Beta was really regretting eating so much at breakfast even if gorging was one of her coping methods.

But she'd lived through the Gotham compound, and for once Beta was grateful for that because it meant that she'd learned there how to present an untouchable, in control persona even if it was total bullshit on the inside.

She opened the door and stepped through it, her boots hardly touching the planks of wood that made up the front porch when the passenger door of the car coming up the drive opened and a man was jumping out of the still moving car and coming at her like a heat seeking missile.

And it didn't matter that the man was a blur of motion, or that the wind was blowing the wrong way to let her get his scent, because Beta knew who it was, and just that quickly she forgot everything else, her brain pretty much shutting down on her. Acting on pure instinct Beta became a blur too as she ran across the rest of the porch before throwing herself off of it, Barsad catching her on her landing in a tight, unbreakable grip that she returned as they both buried their faces against the other's neck like drowning victims getting their first gulps of fresh air.