Hayley couldn't think when she heard Tommy was dead she couldn't breath and she didn't want to believe it was true. She didn't want to believe she had lost him, for a second time. The likelihood of her ever getting him back again was gone. There was no doubt this time that he was dead. She started sobbing uncontrollably, not just for her own grief but for the rangers that had looked up to him like a father. She feared for Kira, she had relied on him and now he was gone. She requested to see him but was denied as they didn't think she should have to see what his remains looked like.
She didn't like that answer but didn't argue with them.
"I am so sorry, ma'am," one of the men that came to give her the bad news said trying his best to sound sympathetic. She figured he really did feel bad for her and her plight but there was little he or anyone else could do for her.
After they left she closed up the Cyberspace, went upstairs, grabbed the shirt he had accidentally left there and put it on before curling up in her bed and starting to cry again as her nose was filled with the familiar scent of his cologne and aftershave and she could let out her grief in private before the rangers started calling and begging her to tell them that what they heard about their mentor wasn't true. She didn't want to believe Tommy was gone, she had so much bottled inside of her that she had never told anyone.
"I love you, Tommy" she whispered hoping that wherever he was he would hear her, would know. He would know that she had always loved him and for the last few months been in love with him.
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Tommy arrived in Adam's home to see a few people already there, they seemed sympathetic to his plight and offered words of support and promises that they would help him find his way in this new life. What had happened to him was tragic and they wouldn't leave him without support in this time of need.
It was a Sunday morning so they invited him to join them for the traditional pack breakfast as soon as he put his things in the bedroom that he was given in Adam's home. Eventually he would get a place of his own, but in this critical time while he was learning to control his wolf he would live with the alpha as it was safer for everyone.
He came back into the room and poured himself a cup of coffee before taking a seat beside a Hispanic woman who introduced herself as Auriele and welcomed him kindly. It was clear by the welcomes he was getting that they felt bad for him, and wanted him to know that he wasn't facing this plight alone.
It was clear they had all heard of what had happened to him and while they tried to hide it he could tell that they didn't like how he ended up a werewolf, apparently what had happened to him was illegal by their laws.
He took a sip of coffee before a plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns and French toast was placed in front of him by a dark complexed man who he was told was named Darryl the flourish in the presentation made Tommy think that at one point the man might have waited tables for a living that or he might have been a short order cook, either way he had a job having to do with food. He thanked the other man then began to eat. He would later learn that Darryl was the pack second.
So much had changed in the last 24 hours; his phone had rung too many times from his rangers trying to call him hoping that what they had heard was wrong. As much as he wanted to answer it he knew he could not, they could not know yet that he was alive but he vowed he would make it up to them however he could. At some point the temptation had been so grew he turned his phone off and gave it to Adam. It broke his heart to ignore them again and again but he had to for now. He couldn't risk it while he didn't have full control of his werewolf side, he was a danger to them and they would never understand that the mentor that took care of them for so long had to put distance between them for their own good especially since he couldn't tell them that he was a werewolf.
After breakfast he began to work with Adam on controlling his wolf, the biggest obstacle he would have would be calling forth the change from human to wolf or vice versa. In human form it would be easier for him to keep control but the wolf would want control when he was in that form and that couldn't be allowed as the wolf would want to hunt and fight and that was dangerous for everyone.
A sparing match told Adam that Tommy had a lot of fighting skill already and could easily move up pack ranks as soon as he got control. Tommy was highly dominant and Adam realized that the alpha of the pack closest to where they had found Tommy likely wouldn't have been able to control him. Adam had no trouble with Tommy, being the fourth most dominant wolf in North America had its perks.
Adam noticed Jesse standing in the door to the dojo just moments before Tommy did and Adam watched as Tommy regarded her with a nod and friendly smile. He had been pretty sure that Tommy was no danger to his daughter and this reaction only served to prove him right in trusting Tommy.
Introductions were made and it was back to training.
Adam wondered exactly how Tommy became so skilled in combat; he didn't fight like someone who only got experience on the sparing mat. He fought like he had practical experience; this raised a lot of questions in his mind as to what the younger man's past held. He had done enough research to know that Tommy had never been in the military so where did he learn practical combat skills. He was pretty sure it wouldn't be easy to get the answers from Tommy and, this early in the game; he didn't want to compel the truth out of him as he feared that would damage what trust the younger man had already given him. He figured Tommy would let him know in time if he saw fit to trust him with that knowledge, if not it really didn't matter as long as it didn't put the pack at risk.
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It was only a few days after his arrival that Adam gathered the pack to officially bring Tommy into the pack as he desired.
Warren and Tommy had struck up a quick friendship in the short time Tommy had been in the area so Warren helped him learn what the ceremony held for him.
"I'm nervous about this, Warren" Tommy admitted.
"That's fine, a lot of us were when we joined our first pack, don't worry about it there isn't a wolf in that room that hasn't been in your shoes once." Warren replied honestly.
"Yeah, you're right." Tommy sighed and small smile formed on his face "Thanks, I… I think I feel better about that."
Warren didn't point out that he could tell way too easily that Tommy was lying to him.
The pack gathered and Tommy found himself standing in the center of the room, Adam in front of him Darryl to his right, Warren to his left. Tommy had learned early on that Warren and Adam were a good bit older than he was and he held a lot of respect for them.
Adam smiled as he looked at the latest addition to his pack, he knew Tommy was very dominant and it would be long before he was fighting his way through the ranks.
"Look me in the eye with no offense taken or mean, Thomas James Oliver."
"I see you, Adam Alexander Hauptman, alpha of the Columbia Basin Pack"
"Will you join us, to hunt, to fight, to live and run?"
"Under the moon, I will hunt, fight, live and run with you and yours who shall be mine."
The pack magic had started to build the moment the pack gathered in that room and it continued through the ceremony getting stronger and stronger.
"We claim you" Darryl said the rest of the pack echoed his words as he placed the knife in Adam's hand.
This was coming to the part Tommy wasn't so sure about, it had seemed morbid when Warren told him but there was part of him that craved this, part of him that saw this as good and was eager to get to this part of the ceremony and he leaned on that part of himself to get through this.
"I claim you, alpha's flesh and blood you shall be. Mine to me and mine, pack" Adam handed Tommy the piece of flesh he cut from his arm and Tommy relied on that little part of himself that was eager for this to get him through what came next as he ate it.
"Yours to you, mine to me" he replied.
The magic was a small zap to the wolves around him but it was an inferno in Tommy's veins, after what Rita had done to him all those years ago he had developed a healthy dislike for magic but this was different.
The flash fire in his veins faded to a soothing presence in his mind that reminded him that he was never truly alone anymore; he had his pack around him to help him through this. To get him through the hard times that lay ahead of him.
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The weeks went by and Tommy joined the staff of Kennewick High School as soon as Adam told him it was safe for him to do so. The wolves were brought out to the public but Tommy elected not to come out as he figured the humans wouldn't want a werewolf teaching their students any more than they had wanted a Fay in the classroom. He had heard what happened to the brownie kindergarten teacher and really didn't want that to be him as well.
Mercy was shocked to learn that there was a new wolf in Adam's pack, she somehow hadn't met him yet and when she finally did, she was more than mildly impressed by him. He had shot up the ranks quite quickly in the months that he was part of the pack and was looking at top ten pretty soon. Adam hadn't been sure of him moving up the ranks so soon, but control had come easily to him so as long as the power didn't go to his head Adam wasn't going to stop his rise. Tommy had a lot of qualities that would make him a fine leader, a fine alpha one day.
Tommy had been shocked when he learned of the demon ridden vampire and wanted to do more to help the pack rid themselves of him, but after Warren came back in such bad shape he figured it wasn't wise for him to get involved He knew it hadn't been easy for Adam to find out about Mercy being raped and knowing there was so little anyone could do. Tommy had heard what Ben told him and realized that the British wolf, no matter how unpleasant he could be was right.
Tommy watched as Mercy muddled through the after effects of Rape and he sympathized with Adam on what he did as he figured had it been Hayley or Kira instead of Mercy he would have been there within seconds and would have done nothing differently than Adam did.
"Adam," Tommy walked up to his alpha a concerned look on his features, he knew there was something wrong with Adam, he knew his alpha well enough to be able to read when something wasn't right. He was now in the top five of the pack and given he had been a wolf for a little over one year that was quite a feat.
Adam had come to the conclusion that in a lot of other packs Tommy would be close to third or even second by that point, if not vying for the alpha position. He was very dominant had a clever tongue that Mercy likened to a young Samuel or Bran Cornick, Tommy was the type to be able to be able to strike up a conversation with just about anyone regardless of age or background as both Bran and Samuel had shown a flare for doing. He had a strangely gentle demeanor for a dominant wolf much like Samuel and it came as no surprise that he and Samuel got along well.
She had also made note that he seemed to relate well with Jesse, he could easily talk to her and she opened up to him about her issues with her mom. Tommy tried to give her what nuggets of advice he could and remind her that she still had others that loved her dearly.
Mercy had confided in Adam that it would be a shame if Tommy never got the opportunity to father children as she figured he would make an excellent dad.
"I got word that you need to meet a couple of women at the airport this afternoon."
"Okay, how will I know who they are?" Tommy asked in confusion.
"Trust me you'll know them when you see them." Adam assured him then told him what terminal to be at and what time he needed to be there.
Adam's cryptic response had Tommy extremely confused, but he didn't dare argue with his alpha he just got into his jeep and drove to Kennewick airport.
It didn't take him long to find the right terminal and baggage claim. He was early but that's how he liked to be when he picked people up from the airport.
The plane arrived fifteen minutes after he did so he watched as people disembarked and waited to see if he saw any familiar faces.
His heart sputtered to a halt as two people he thought he would never see again stepped into the terminal.
To Be Continued…