Part 22

"Guess they're not coming down," sighed Shawn looking at the two empty places at the table.

"Doesn't look like it," soothed Hunter surreptitiously rubbing his mate's thigh under the table. Shawn flicked him a look before sighing again and calling, "Angel can you make up two plates for them and set them aside before this lot scoff everything."

"Sure thing, Boss," replied Justin instantly working on piling two dinner plate high with the goodies Shawn and Josh had laboured over.

Leaning back in his chair Hunter surveyed the table with a sense of contentment. It had been a long time since the entire core pack had sat down together for a meal. A very long time and even so they were still missing two members. He had half suspected Evan and Randy would stay upstairs. Having seen how angry Randy was and how distraught Evan had become after the encounter with Cody he figured they wouldn't be seeing them until morning at the very earliest. While he was concerned he wasn't worried. If anything he figured time alone was just what the mates needed, even if their absences upset his own mate in the process.

Letting his eyes drift over the core pack members surrounding him, he couldn't help smiling at the interactions unfolding before him. Lex and Chris were sitting with Punk and Daniel, the other three giving Daniel a hard time over his new love interest. Beside them Riley was quietly eating his dinner, every now and then looking up, his gaze landing on the two shifters sitting closest to Hunter. Beyond him at the foot of the table Ted and Cody were engaged in a whispered conversion, the younger shifter looking around nervously although there was a strange emotion fleeting across his face every now and then that Hunter couldn't quite pin down.

Justin was next to him currently working diligently on preparing the plates for the missing shifters, laughing and joking with Josh as he did. Which brought Hunter to the couple sitting beside him. In Randy's absence John had taken the place at Hunter's right hand, a sign not only of his friendship with the alpha but his place within the pack. After all John was the highest ranking gamma of the lot, in fact Hunter knew that in any other pack he would have been beta but instead John had chosen to defer to his best friend. A situation which led to heated and sometime violent arguments but they always made up the moment the arguments finished.

Hunter chuckled as he noticed the way John kept checking on Josh, as if he was afraid the little wolf was going to vanish from his side. Josh for his part seemed content to spend the time chatting and laughing with Justin the two of them had become closer since being transferred to the same show and Hunter was pleased. He was pleased that the little omega was finally finding the confidence to be part of the conversation rather than hanging back like he used to. He had a sneaking suspicion that had something to do with the fact that Josh now found himself being the centre of attention from two far more dominant shifters. And it seemed the little wolf was thriving on the attention even if he didn't realise it himself. But as happy as it made Hunter he realised the same knowledge obviously made one wolf at the table less than happy. He hadn't missed the dark looks being thrown Josh's way from the end of the table.

Hunter's wolf gave a low annoyed snarl. He had sensed for a while that there was something going on at the lower end of the pack but he'd never been able to see what it was. Now, with them all around the table for the first time in ages he was getting an idea of what was transpiring.

He knew from the others that Josh was unsettled in his role. Justin had told him of a few comments Josh had mentioned to him, comments that made Hunter's blood boil. He'd never been sure where those ideas had come from but now, seeing the dark, threatening looks Cody was giving the laughing little omega, he knew exactly who the source was. And that infuriated him. If there was one thing he wouldn't tolerate within the pack it was bullying. There were always tussles and little fights breaking out amongst them, that was part and parcel of what they were but bullying , human bullying with all of its premeditation and malicious intent, had no place in his pack. And he knew he had to act to put a stop to it.

"Is something wrong, Rhodes?" he called gruffly, his voice echoing with his wolf's growl.

The youngest wolf jumped at the call his whole body tensing up as he became the centre of unwanted attention.

"No," replied Cody licking his lips nervously as the core pack turned to regard him.

"Then why are you throwing evil looks towards Josh?" demand Hunter

"Evil looks?" asked Cody trying desperately to look innocent and failing. He shifted uncomfortably as the rest of the pack glared him, Punk going so far as to snap his teeth at him chuckling when the lesser wolf jumped in response.

"Punk," warned Hunter his gaze never leaving Cody, even when Punk turned and offered him the most sarcastic smirk ever.

"You were glaring at Josh," continued Hunter, noting with some pride the way both John and Alex sat up, the two dominant shifters taking a greater interest in the conversation now that Josh had become involved. "Care to explain why?"

"You…you were glaring at me?" stammered Josh, his cheeks colouring a little when Cody flicked him the blackest of looks.

"Rhodes!" roared Hunter causing almost everyone at the table to jump in surprise.

Cody fidgeted nervously, edging closer to his mate but for once Ted didn't respond. Instead Ted looked down showing his alphas and the rest of the pack their due reverence. Something Cody had never been very good at. Without lifting his head, Ted whispered, "Cody, please just behave."

Cody tried to look away from Hunter but his wolf refused – it was yapping and hissing in both annoyance and fear, the two battling with each other meaning he was left almost defenceless when Hunter suddenly shot a flare of power down the table towards him, the alpha snarling, "For once in your life, listen to your mate."

Cody whimpered as the power flare slammed into him. His wolf howled in distress and instantly the spirit rolled over, its tail well and truly between it legs. Cody bowed his head and shied away from Hunter. He turned towards Ted who slipped a hand onto his leg, the slightly stronger wolf trying to ease his mate's pain. Hunter let the flare carry on a moment before pulling it back. He let out a low sigh his fist flexing as his wolf raged inside him. He hated using power flares against his pack but there were times when as alpha he had to remind them of their place. He hated it mostly because the flare never just hurt the wolf it was directed at. The side effect was that it affected any lower wolves in the vicinity as well, the more submissive the wolf the greater the effect.

Just from a quick glance around the table he could see it had affected Josh and Justin and to a lesser degree Lex. Lex simply clutched Chris's arm and gritted his teeth, but Josh and Justin both recoiled from the blast. They both whimpered loudly as their wolves reacted to the alpha's power. The flare was strong enough that John felt the need to reach over and calm them both, Josh instinctively curling up against him, seeking the protection of the more dominant wolf. Justin managed to keep upright but he gripped John's offered hand as if it was the only thing keeping him sane.

As Josh leant against John for support, grasping at John's t-shirt to increase the contact, a low rumbling noise filled the dining room. For a moment no one could work out where the noise was coming from then, with the laughter bubbling in his voice, Punk exclaimed, "Jesus – Riley? That noise is coming from you? That's awesome. Do it again."

Alex blinked in surprise then bit his lower lip as he realised the angry roars he'd been hearing in his head from his tiger had actually manifested itself as a low growl. Flicking Hunter an apologetic look, he murmured, "Sorry, I didn't mean to…I didn't realise you could hear me."

"I recon the whole house heard you," grinned Dan, turning and regarding Alex with sudden interest, "Do you purr like that? I mean give that low rumbling sound because it's kinda hot and…"

"He's right," interrupted Lex all but climbing over Chris to get a closer look at Alex, "Do you purr that loudly when you have sex? Cats are always loud purrers and I…"

As the Guns joined in the playful interrogation on Alex, the pack started to settle down. Slowly Josh uncurled himself and pulled away from John's embrace, although it was clear he was more than reluctant to do so. Within moments the banter was flying around the table again and dinner resumed although Hunter couldn't help noticing the dark little glances Cody was throwing him. They were glances that on a more dominant wolf might have been viewed as possible challenges but in a wolf as low ranking as Cody they could be brushed aside as little more than the angry snaps of a sulking pup.

"He's always been trouble," sighed Shawn leaning back in his chair, shifting in his chair so his head was leaning against Hunter's shoulder.

"His whole family are trouble," growled Hunter his wolf giving embarrassingly happy yaps at having his true mate so near, "But at least you know where you stand with his father and brother but with Cody…" he paused and sighed before lowering his voice and confessing to his mate, "I sometimes think he's more trouble than he's worth. It's like he goes looking for trouble and when he can't find it, he causes it."

"Me too," agree Shawn yawning slightly as he.

"Are we keeping you up, old man?" teased Hunter only just resisting the urge to kiss his mate.

"Nope," grinned Shawn adding with a wicked smile, "But you'd better keep me up later. You've got a lot of lost time to make up for"

"You can count on it," promised Hunter, favouring his mate with a salacious smile. This time he didn't fight the urge and leaning over he brushed his lips against Shawn's, loving the scratch of his mate's stubble against his chin.

"No! Don't' you… damn it, Lex, give me my phone!"

The shout broke the alphas apart and as they looked down the table, they were in time to see Dan diving towards Lex. The smirking Gun simply side stepped him and carried on dialling a number, laughing his head off as he did. Punk and Chris were killing themselves laughing as Dan screamed all sorts of threats at Lex, demanding his phone back and that Lex stop making the call.

"They're like a bunch of naughty kids," sighed Hunter unable to stop the smile lighting up his face.

"Yeah," agreed Shawn, "But you know you love it when they're all here. You miss them when they go away."

Hunter chuckled and nodded in agreement, laughing even more when Dan managed grab Lex and promptly threw him onto the floor. After a brief scuffle Dan got both his phone back and managed to lock in a Guillotine hold on the now protesting Lex. Shaking his head, Hunter leant back and made himself comfortable, he had the feeling it was going to be a very long few days.

TBC x