Disclaimer: Feeling to lazy right now – just look at one of the previous chapters, o.k?

Thanks to: darkknight25276 and ShadowWolfDagger for their lovely reviews.

Note: Although this is the last chapter, this story isn't over – see note at the end!

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12. Chapter

Merton awoke to the delightful sensation of butterfly kisses raining all across his face, trailing from his still closed eyelids to his cheeks and further down to his throat where the kisses turned into gentle nips.

"Hm…morning Tommy" murmured a sleepy, yet genuinely smiling Goth.

"Morning my love, did you sleep well?"

"Uh-hu, but now I could need a cup of coffee and some breakfast..." A low grumbling from Tommy's middle interrupted him. "I take it that you're a little hungry, too?" chuckled Merton at his slightly blushing lover.

"Um…how about you make coffee while I go and fetch us something to eat?"

"Deal."

A few minutes later Tommy sped of to grab some bagels and Merton went to make coffee, but just as he was about to go upstairs he noticed the blinking light on his pc.

He frowned a little and decided to check his mails as soon as he got the coffee machine going.

The second he saw that it was a message from Lycantria his pulse skyrocket, but he calmed himself very quickly after he read the actual message and even managed to laugh a little at himself 'as if Lycantria would have a second mad wolf running around hell-bent to kill Tommy'.

They were probably just coming for Stephen since Callisto had no clue so far that her Cousin had found his mate and wanted to stay in Pleasantville.

O.k. their visit was a bit short notice, and he wondered who the third person was her and her mate were bringing along, but… 'I can put Callisto and Jamie in my parents bedroom' he mused,' and if Mary stays with Sam for a little while longer I have room for our mystery guest, too'.

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After Breakfast Tommy and Merton drove to the camp in the woods to meet with Stephen and the others, informing him that his cousin was going to visit them.

As expected, Mary was fine staying with Sam and her brother for a couple of days, and the two biology students were excited at the prospect to get to know three more werewolves.

Tommy however noticed that Stephen looked less than thrilled, though not at all surprised, as he heard that a third person was coming along.

"I take it that you know who that third someone is."

"It's just a guess…" At Tommy's questioning glance he continued. "His name is Nepomuk, and he's sort of a ceremonial priest, the keeper of our ancient knowledge, like the exact recipe of the mixture of the Lycanamora herbs or the spells that keep our island hidden from humans. And he's quite…conservative."

Tommy nodded "I see…how bad is he?"

"Let's just say he would have been tickled pink if Callisto had mated Ariel."

"So I guess he's not exactly a fan of bitten werewolves or born betas?"

"No, not really, if he'd had his way I probably would have been drowned at birth."

Stephen said it off-handedly, almost jokingly, but Tommy had learned long ago to see through this sort of flippancy and recognise it as a protection mechanism.

He easily detected the hidden pain in his eyes, born from years of name-calling and insults; it was the same look Merton still got from time to time after a particularly nasty clash with Becky or his parents.

Tommy had to fight back a growl; he wouldn't stand for that kind of behaviour in his domain. 'That Nepomuk guy better behave himself or else.'

He was too occupied being enraged at the yet unknown werewolf for causing Stephen distress with his stupid antiquated morals to ask why Callisto would bring a ceremonial priest with her.

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A few hours later Tommy and Merton were yet again waiting at the station in Muhlenburg, only this time Stephen was with them, eager to great his beloved cousin.

They had informed Lori and Rock, both were already waiting at the camp. The blonde was unusually nervous at the prospect of meeting the princess, no wonder, since she was pretty much all the family an orphaned Stephen had left it was almost like meeting the in-laws.

The train arrived just as the sun was setting, their three awaited guests were the only ones who exited.

Callisto was beaming and pulled first Stephen, then Tommy and Merton into a bone crushing hug. Her mate Jamie was far shyer but smiled warmly at them as well.

The third person though didn't greet them at all but did his best to ignore Stephen as well as Tommy and Merton.

The elderly man made such a sour face that Tommy instantly dubbed him 'Grumpy' in his mind.

They agreed to drive directly to the camp site; apparently their visitors were eager to get to know the newbies as well.

However during their short trip Callisto noticed something that troubled her. "Stevie, how come you're not wearing your capsule anymore, have you lost it?"

She was truly worried; if he had taken off the capsule which contained his vision on his own accord it could mean that he had lost the hope to ever find his mate – which was a very alarming sign for a werewolf.

But Stephen smiled and even blushed a little before answering. "No, I've found someone to wear it for me."

Her eyes went wide; no wonder, this meant her cousin was basically engaged!

"Who is it, one of the newly bitten ones?"

Stephen blushed even harder and shook his head, while Tommy chuckled.

"Do you remember the energetic blonde who played decoy bird with me? The moment I read Stephen's vision I knew it was her who was meant. Can't say I'm envying you though, she's quite a handful."

"Well, I can't argue with that, but I like her just the way she is!"

Callisto smiled as she listened to their banter, ok so the girl wasn't a werewolf, but as long as Stephen was happy she was happy too, plus as an old friend of Tommy she already knew about werewolves and wouldn't freak at the first sight of fur.

There was a large bonfire awaiting them at the camp, along with some delicious smelling bins from the hungry bucket, reminding the three travellers that their last meal had been breakfast in Lycantria.

After the greeting they all sat down around the fire and ate hungrily, afterwards they roasted marshmallows, chatting, laughing, and getting to know each other.

Jamie came to the conclusion that none of the newbies posed a threat and opened up more while Callisto decided that her cousin had made a good catch. The girl was obviously head over heels for him and had absolutely no fear of contact with werewolves.

What was more, she noticed that for a human female Lori was quite aggressive and protective of her mate-to-be, if she hadn't known better Callisto would have taken her for a fellow werewolf. Yes, this girl would be good for Stephen.

Seeing Callisto laughing with Lori and Mary over some joke while was Rock explaining the ground rules of foot ball to a fascinated Jamie, Tommy was glad that everyone was getting along so well.

Well, everyone except Nepomuk that is. The elderly werewolf had so far resisted all attempts to include him into the conversation and was currently sitting aside and all but radiating bad mood.

Finally he turned towards Callisto and snapped "My princes, must I remind you that the purpose of this journey is not useless prattle?"

Silence fell across the clearing. Callisto narrowed her eyes, nearly growling at him, before taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Very well, then let's get down to business."

Much to everyone's surprise, she turned to Tommy and stated "We have to inspect the exact circumstances of Ariel's death. Don't get me wrong, we're all glad that he's gone, and Stephen gave me a detailed report, but… we have to confirm it." She ended, sounding almost apologetic which confused Tommy - until Stephen spoke up, smiling bitterly.

"You didn't believe me."

Callisto opened her mouth to deny it but he interrupted her.

"It's ok, I understand…"

He sighed before explaining to the baffled onlookers "You know that as a born beta I'm bound to follow every command an alpha gives me, no matter how much I disagree with it…hence my statement is untrustworthy because theoretically Tommy could have given me orders what to tell Callisto."

"Exactly!! A bitten one defeating the strongest wolf that was born in Lycantria in years, in a fair fight, and on new moon to booth! No one can expect us to believe such an incredible story solely upon the word of a beta." Nepomuk all but sneered, stressing the last word in a clearly insulting way.

Tommy bristled at this but tried to remain calm, though his patience with the older werewolf was wearing thin, rapidly. "You also have my word, and if that's not enough either you can ask the three over there, they saw everything."

"Great! Yet more bitten ones – as if those were better than this beta…"

"He's got a name you know!" Interrupted Tommy, fed up with how that bastard was insulting a member of his pack.

Enraged, Nepomuk leaped to his feet "Why, you think you can lecture me you bitten..."

"Alpha; and you're here in my territory, so I think it's high time you start acting accordingly and show some respect!" growled Tommy angrily while slowly rising to his feet as well, for once emphasising his superior rank.

His eyes were flashing yellow, his hands had automatically balled to fists; and suddenly Nepomuk realised that this werewolf before him was less than half his age and at least one head taller than him.

Bitten one or not, he wouldn't stand a snowballs chance in hell against him.

The newly formed pack gathered behind Tommy, instinctively backing him up and pulling the humans in their midst to shield them.

Jamie fidgeted nervously, unsure if he should bestead Nepomuk, who surely was an asshole, nevertheless still a pack mate, but Callisto laid a hand onto his arm and shook her head.

She knew Tommy well enough to know that he wouldn't hurt let alone kill the arrogant prick but was merely teaching him a lesson that was, in her opinion, more than overdue.

To be honest, she could hardly keep the grin from her face as the swellhead swallowed hart, lowered his eyes and forced out an apology through clenched teeth.

Tommy relaxed, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Stephen cleared his throat. "How about we show them the place of the fight? I mean, although we disposed of the corpse there are still traces left, maybe even some lingering scents since it hasn't rained since then…"

"Good idea." Agreed Tommy and lead the way, but making sure that Merton stayed by his side and as far away from Nepomuk as possible for he still didn't trust the older one bit.

Once there, the visitors were shocked at what they were seeing and smelling.

The scent of blood, from Tommy as well as from Ariel was still very present, a sure sign that both had lost plenty of it.

Deep claw marks crisscrossed the ground and strands of ripped out fur had snagged in the twigs of the surrounding trees and bushes.

Underneath one of the larger trees still lay the rope that had been used to tie up Merton, which was partially crusted with blood as well.

All in all, there was no doubt that a vicious fight had taken place in this clearing.

Callisto struggled visibly to maintain her composure, her eyes glued to the blood crusted rope, before turning to Tommy again. "Would you please give us permission to question your three betas?"

Tommy blinked, surprised at her formal phrasing and shrugged. "They're grown up guys; they don't need my 'permission' to talk to someone."

At her request, Luke, Sam and Rock started telling what they had witnessed that night, all three clearly still agitated by what had happened.

Needless to say, their story matched Stephens in every detail.

Nepomuk remained surprisingly quiet during all this, looking like someone whose world picture had turned upside down.

Lori and especially Mary, who were both hearing the full story for the first time, were horrified to say the least and clinging to their beloved ones.

In the end, everyone was glad to leave this sad place behind and return to the camp.

Sitting once more around the fire, Callisto cleared her throat "Well, I guess that settles the matter once and for all, Tommy has proven himself worthy and deserves to receive the scroll."

Nepomuk cringed, but didn't dare to object. He swallowed hard. "As you wish my princess, but I would like to point out that we might want to take a look at his wolf form first, to make sure it's big enough for the spell to work safely."

"Scroll? Spell? What the heck are you two talking about?" exclaimed a confused Tommy.

It was Stephen who answered him. "Lycantria´s most valuable possession is a collection of scrolls from our ancestors which contain age-old knowledge, including some powerful spells. One of them was made especially for cases like you and Merton."

"What do you mean, 'cases like us'?" asked the Goth, puzzled, though also thrilled at the possibility of getting to know more about ancient werewolf magic.

"He means cases in which two people of the same gender are mated." explained Callisto.

"You see, our ancestors hated to see strong werewolves remain childless instead of having offspring to carry their strength into the next generation just because their mate was of the same gender.

So they created a spell to fix this problem, but put a restrictive condition on it: only werewolves who have surpassing strength or skill, or have done something extraordinary for the benefit of Lycantria are supposed to profit from it. Tommy clearly matches both criteria."

Merton gaped wide-eyed, and his love was still completely bedlam so the princess clarified "The spell will allow you and Merton to have a child."

At this, Tommy's eyes went wide, his head was spinning; it was just too much for him to take in right now. A hand on his shoulder made him look up into the smiling face of his beloved.

"Don't worry Tommy, no one says we have to use this spell here and now, it's merely a possibility. One we might use, one day, after finishing college, and after thoroughly thinking it through, ok?"

Tommy returned his smile, amazed yet again how naturally Merton dealt with even the strangest situations and always managed to calm him down to boot. God, how much he loved this guy!

"Ok…but then I would say you check my size now, so that we know where we're off before Merton and I start looking forward to something that might not even be possible."

Callisto nodded and Tommy stand up, walking towards the tent, which confused her.

"Where are you going?"

"Behind the tent; for I'm so not going to drop my pants in front of everyone…why, did you think I would give you a show or what?" He teased her, not understanding why she looked so perplexed.

In a jiffy he was undressed and transformed. The humans gasped at the huge wolf came out from behind the tent and calmly padded over to where Tommy had been sitting before.

The animal nuzzled Merton lovingly, who, much to the amazement of all onlookers, didn't flinch but embraced the feral creature happily.

Though were especially Mary was more horrified, the Lycantria-natives were pleasantly surprised to see that a human could accept the wolf form of his mate wholeheartedly.

After the tender moment was over, the wolf turned towards the princess with a clearly questioning look in his golden eyes.

She blinked "Uh…I don't think you have to worry about being too small…right, Nepomuk?"

The priest only nodded numbly, fighting to keep the shock from showing on his face.

Callisto almost pitied him, knowing that the man's world picture had been shaken to its very foundation more than once tonight.

First, he had to see with his own eyes that the story about the death of his precious Ariel was true, that he had indeed been beaten by a bitten one, and then said bitten one transforms, seemingly easy although the moon hasn't even risen yet, into the greatest wolf she had ever seen.

In short, Tommy Dawkins had indeed rocked his world.

As soon as she had picked her jaw of the floor again Lori leaned over to her mate-to-be, whispering fascinated "Do you look like this when you're fully transformed, too?"

"No, not exactly…. my colouring is different and I'm way smaller - more the size of a real wolf or a large shepherd dog." Stephen answered, slightly nervous at how she would react.

He didn't need to have worried; Lori just smiled at him before leaning even closer, purring teasingly "How about you show me?"

Stephen froze for a moment, eyes wide in surprise, before jumping up and all but dragging her off into the woods. No one was surprised when they didn't return until morning, both looking tired but very happy, with Lori sporting a fresh mating mark.

Callisto, Jamie and even Nepomuk bid them farewell, Callisto promising to pack and send Stephen's belongings express and wished him and his new mate all the very best.

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A few weeks later everyone was sitting around a large bonfire again. It was their last night together like this, for semester break was nearly over and tomorrow Luke, Sam and Mary would be driving home again.

But it was a happy goodbye, knowing they would see each other again soon enough. They would return in November for Sam's Lycanamora vision, and Mary had already invited everyone to visit them between Christmas and New Year, pointing out her cooking skills and how quiet and empty the big house felt after their parents' death.

Tommy was still a bit unsure about accepting the invitation, knowing how important it was for his mother to celebrate Christmas with the family, and decided to wait and see how she would behave around his beloved when they saw her again.

If needs must he would rather spend Christmas Eve alone with Merton at the lair then at his parental home without him.

Hopefully he wouldn't have to go that far, but if that was what it took for his mom to finally realise that he wasn't an 'I' anymore but a 'we' now, that Merton was his family above all, then so be it.

Lori's joyful laughter tore him out of his rather sombre thoughts. Smiling over at her, Tommy truly appreciated that his inner wolf had finally stopped seeing the blonde as a threat but regarded her now as a part of his pack as well, since she was mated to his beta Stephen.

'My pack' Tommy thought, and even now, weeks later, he still felt the warm rush of delight and contentment at it.

He looked at the people surrounding the fire, Merton, Stephen, Lori, Rock, Luke, Sam… and that was just the beginning, his pack would continue to grow.

Mary felt already nearly as pack as well, probably because she was Luke's twin, but Tommy had no doubt that her and Sam would mate, the boy's Lycanamora vision a mere formality.

In a few years Luke and Rock would find mates too, and some more years ahead the first children would be born, including his and Merton's own.

His pack would prosper, for generations to come if he had any say in the matter.

Tommy's smile grew as he pulled Merton close, feeling almost grateful for the whole Ariel mess if only for this result. And when his beloved mate snuggled up to him, his last thought before kissing him was: Life is great.

The End……for now!

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Note: As already announced/threatened, there will be a part 3, here are a few teasers:

- More trouble with Sally Dawkins (Do you really expect her to change her mind about Tommy and Merton being an item that easily? Neither do I!)

- An old friend from the show will reappear (dedication of first chapter to those who guess him right – I give you a hint: fire!)

- You finally get to know why Merton is the black sheep of his family (Treating their own son like dirt, basically repudiating him and banish him into the cellar? There's got to be more behind this than just him being a Goth!)

- The future of the pack (I've got some surprises in store for you – and poor Tommy)

- And yes, I will make our beloved couple parents, meaning: there will be an mpreg (O.O!) though it won't be too graphic (aka no yucky details - unless you ask for it) I just need them to have kids for my storyline, plus I can so see them being cute as parents…

- Oh, and I'll give Dean a girlfriend! I just love his character and feel he's highly underrepresented in most stories…if he's playing a role at all.

Everyone who left a signed review or put this story on alert/in his favourites will get notified once the first chapter of the new story is online.