Chapter 5

The small wolf who'd attacked Ziva on his way out of the area had vanished at their approach. Tim coldly catalogued the scent, recalling exactly what he'd looked like in human form, passing a death sentence on the individual for hurting someone from nothing more than spite and frustration that Tim could smell. Sevannah was the closest, and he mentally sent the order, receiving acknowledgement before he dropped down next to Ziva's crumpled form and took the shirt Ari offered as a bandage and pressed hard on the wound in her leg. She was conscious and groaned at the pain.

"Damnit, Ziva!" Ari cried, pacing behind Tim.

"How could you let me believe you were dead?" She asked her brother through gritted teeth. She coughed and blood splattered from her lips, staining her teeth. She had major internal injuries. He sent Gibbs to bring Ducky and an ambulance, but he knew there was little chance either would arrive in time. She was dying, and Ari was out of his mind and unable to focus enough to do anything.

"Ziva! Focus on me," Tim snapped. Her eyes turned to him, automatically deferring to the authority in his voice. "You have two choices," he began. Ari moaned and his pacing increased. Tim ignored him as best he could. The decision would be Ziva's now. "You saw what we are," he stated. She nodded. "Through my mate bond with Ari, and his blood tie to you, I can try to strengthen you and stabilize you until help arrives. But you're hurt bad," he shook his head. "I don't think that will be enough. I don't want you to die. I can turn you, make you like us, and bring you into my pack. Then I can use the pack's energy to get your body to heal itself. You'll survive, but you'll be a werewolf. Once you're healed, I can release the pack bond, but I hope if you choose to become one of us you'll stay. I've wanted to tell you since the first week you joined NCIS, wanted you in my pack. You're strong and loyal and good; you'd be very welcome..."

"I will live. I will know the truth about my brother, then I will decide if I stay with you," Ziva said, her conviction firm even as her words began to garble with the blood filling her lungs.

Tim could feel Ari's pain like a knife in his own body, but he held onto his determination as he looked over his shoulder at him.

Ari had all too human tears in his eyes as he stared hard at his lover and his sister. She'd chosen, and his heart broke for her loss of control of her life. Going from the steel, barbed yoke of Mossad and Eli to the velvet, gentle lead of Tim's pack was still tragic in his perception. He glared at Timothy, hurt and betrayal pouring out to break on the vastness of the Alpha's resolve. In that moment, he understood as he never had; Timothy truly was Alpha. Ari had gently nurtured and guided and manipulated him through their bond, believing he was the one in control, but that had been an illusion. And now Ari knew it was time to choose for himself as well. He was Timothy's mate, but he had never surrendered totally to him as leader. This was it. As a solo wolf only connected to a pack through his mate, Ari had never actually been part of the family. He needed to either join, or leave.

Tim could sense the moment when Ari finally discovered the truth, and his heart ached for fear of loss as well as the pain he knew Ari felt. He wanted Ari to choose him, choose the pack and come truly into the fold, but he knew that Ari saw it as enslavement and might very well walk away. And no matter how much he wanted to, Tim refused to push, or to beg. Instead, he gave Ari one long final look, then returned his attention to Ziva, making his body to produce the activation enzyme and push it to the surface of the skin of his palm. Moisture beaded where no sweat glands existed in a human, and he peeled back the bandage from her wound and gently placed his hand on it.

Ziva cried out in pain at the touch, then felt a maddening itch spread from the contact, racing through her body. She gasped as her vision changed, her brain assaulted by a million new sensations; overwhelmed, she passed out. Tim let go, instead feeding energy through the pack bond into her, shuddering at the pain from too much use of that ability as his mind screamed in protest and he sat back on his heels, wanting to look again at Ari but instead watching as his newest pack member's wound knit together. It still amazed him to see what the wolf gene was capable of.

Ari turned and tried to take a step to walk away, but a feeling, like a pulled muscle straining, tugged within him. He froze. This was truly the make or break point. If he left now, he'd be tearing away from his mate, and through him, the pack, including the sister he'd regretted abandoning for most of his life. His breath came in short pants as he tried to imagine what it would be like to move through the world without the warm strength of Timothy nestled in his mind and heart, to leave behind the pack's constant, unyielding support. And to leave Ziva. Watching her he'd seen a woman at complete odds from the girl he remembered, but if he was ever going to break through to be close with her again, he would not only have to stay, he'd have to submit totally to Timothy's rule.

He trusted in Timothy's goodness. The younger man would always take care of his pack, would do anything to keep them safe. But Ari's own will would be taken from him. As his father had raised him, he would be nothing but a tool for someone else's use. He didn't think he could bear it.

Timothy... And Ziva, who would need guidance in her new abilities, much as she had as a child. He saw her in his memory, running, dancing, laughing. He imagined showing her the joys of lupine abilities, the freedom in running and running for hours through the forest, of the satisfaction in being a part of something greater which was pure and good. His own dark soul always felt lighter with Timothy and his pack.

Oh, Timothy. The life they'd made, together. How could he end that? He loved his mate desperately, needed him. He could have them both, he just had to join the pack. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad...

The darkest part of him pushed back; the obsessive, twisted self he tried to hide but he knew Timothy was aware of. That part of him laughed derisively and whispered seductively at the same time. It was the cruel yet pragmatic Ari who had been trained from birth to be a spy and a killer. And it told him that the only choice he had was to embrace the darkness. He would leave, and delve further into the underworld of Mossad vs Hamas vs CIA vs SAS vs... The list went on, down into blood and madness and death. It was really all he was good for. He had nothing to bring to his lover or his sister. In fact, Timothy would take better care of Ziva than he ever could, and perhaps she would come to love him; that they would mate and rule the pack together, a fully bonded Alpha pair.

Warm hands touched his, drawing him back around. Timothy's beautiful eyes met his, and shame filled him. Shame from the mad, dark ravings of his damaged soul.

"Ari. My love. It's your life to choose. Be wise, and please, be kind to yourself, whatever happens. You were never deserving of the punishment you put yourself through," Tim said softly. He'd seen the trembling of his mate's shoulders, and sensed the downward spiral that his mind had been taking. He'd never turned away from Ari when he needed him, so he tried to let him know that the choice truly was his, but that he loved and wanted him, still. That he always would.

Soothed as only Timothy could, Ari let go. He wanted Timothy, and he wanted to have a chance with Ziva, and he wanted to feel part of something bigger than himself that was righteous.

Joy suffused Tim's face and he kissed Ari, softly placing the pack bond onto him.

The world and Ari's entire perception of it imploded. His dark side rose screaming, a rancid bubble rising to the surface of a pond and bursting, the putrescence dissipating amidst the welcome he received from all the other pack members. The mad obsession with his father was absorbed into a larger pack mind, healing the broken part of him which had walked a tightrope, always a moment away from snapping and embracing the sociopathic tendencies his upbringing had fostered. That danger vanished. He was greeted by dozens of pack members, some far away across the city. Timothy...Tim... His pack was larger than Ari had known. There was even a child who had been activated by a bite from some crazed and lonely solo wolf who'd lost all humanity. Of course Tim had found her and helped her, dampening her wolf side so she could have a normal childhood, but keeping watch on that youngest member. An elderly couple, cut loose from their former pack when they could no longer keep up. Several people who had lost limbs, an inpatient at a drug clinic, three foreigners, a homeless woman... Tim had built the strong core of his pack around his NCIS team, and drawn in strays other packs abandoned; including anyone who needed them. And when Ari turned his mind to Tim, he understood he'd been Tim's first rescued lost one. From their initial meeting in Scotland, Tim had stabilized the psychological damage done by his father. He'd known Tim was compassionate and protective, but he hadn't realized the depth and breadth of his capacity to help others. Those other pack members provided strength to the more active individuals, a well of energy to draw from in exchange for all the financial, mental, and emotional support Tim provided.

Ari had never loved his Timothy more, and with his mind freed from the toxic influence of Eli David, he truly understood that rather than enslavement to Tim's will, he'd been granted complete freedom. He would get to know his dear sister, and they would heal, together. The welcoming he sensed from all the other pack members moved him, but none more so than Tim, standing tall and strong before him, his eyes shining with love, proud of the choice Ari had made.

Freed forever from the dark, twisted mindset his father had created in him, Ari stepped forward into the bright future with the support of the pack, the shining beacon of Tim's power and compassion welcoming him home, finally.

~~~NCIS~~~

A/N Well, I hope you liked it, Ciera! Thank you again for asking for this. It was so much fun to write. To everyone else who has read, followed, favorited, and reviewed, deep thanks.