Disclaimer: Same old….

Note: Yeah, I know, this chapter is so long overdue it's not even funny anymore.

The thing is, my mom's health has been deteriorating so fast these last months it's starting to scare me. And its not just physical anymore either….bottom line is, I have so many other things to worry about right now, it's hard to concentrate on my story.

Though I hope it doesn't show in my writing….and now, enough about me, enjoy the chapter!

21. Chapter

The situation remained tense for several weeks, with no new helpful information whatsoever.

Merton tried his best and searched online for newspaper articles about attacks from wild dogs or unusual wolf-sightings, looked into emergency room-records of people admitted with large bite wounds, but found nothing that stood out.

Asking the three boys they'd found got them nothing as well, the one living with their satellite pack could tell them nothing new and so far they hadn't even reach the other two.

Oh well, at least the upcoming Fourth of July meant Tommy didn't had to worry about work for a few days, he really needed the long weekend with how stressed out he was getting.

And he wasn't the only one; the stalemate was wreaking havoc on everyone's nerves, even the kids noticed that something was up and cried far more than usual.

At three o'clock in the morning on 6. July the nighttime peace was shattered by the telephone bell.

Tommy, who was on duty in front of the surveillance monitor startled and hurried to answer before the noise would wake everyone.

It took him a few moments to make enough sense of the frantic babbling on the other end of the line to recognise the caller. It was Tony, one of the two bitten ones they hadn't reached so far, and apparently something had scared the living daylights out of the poor boy.

"You've got to calm down, I can't understand a word you're saying….and now, start from the beginning."

The teen took a deep breath and started again, and the longer he talked the more Tommy understood why he was so freaked out. Apparently Tony and his parents had used the long weekend to spend a few days by the sea, and had run into the mad wolf in the progress.

Needless to say the bastard was everything but pleased to discover that one of his beta-to-be had managed to contact Tommy and received the cure. It was only due to the throng of tourists nearby that he didn't attack the boy and his parents in his fury.

But as he stormed off the seething werewolf had been growling threats under his breath, and now Tony wanted to warn them about what he'd overheard.

"He said something along the lines of making sure you can't 'steal' more of his betas from him, that he's going to 'get rid of that pest once and for all'….and something about 'why did it had to be my first', whatever that means" The boy rambled on for a while, anxious to know if Tommy would take care of the bastard so that his family wouldn't be in danger anymore.

"Don't worry, the moment he comes here he's toast – though it's a good idea if you and your parents stay with some friends until then, just to be on the save side. I'll call you the moment the coast is clear again." They exchanged a few more pleasantries, mostly to calm the frantic boy, and then Tommy hung up.

Following a sudden inspiration he checked Merton's notes.

Out of those three they had found Tony had been bitten first; and the attack on him had seemed less planned then the others, downright clumsy by comparison. As if their madcap had been still inexperienced…'because Tony was your first, the first you've bitten!' He quickly did the math in his head; Tony had been bitten last summer, which meant their feral had become an alpha only about a year ago.

Tommy took a deep breath for the first time in what felt like ages, knowing that this bit of information changed just about everything.

Granted, they still didn't know how many poor souls the bastard had bitten, but none of them were fully transformed yet, meaning they were nowhere near at full strength nor under the complete control of the madcap….and all could still be cured.

Ok, so Tony's information also indicated that the bastard wanted to attack them sooner rather than later now that he knew that Tommy was trying to find and cure his beta-to-be, but that was alright with the alpha.

He was sick and tired of waiting; they were as prepared as they could be and probably, if not certainly, way stronger than their opponent thought.

Against his first impulse Tommy decided not to rouse his pack immediately, given from where Tony had called the feral would at least need another day to reach them, quite possibly more, and they would need all the sleep they could get before the upcoming confrontation.

However he did choose to share the good news with Callisto right away.

Despite the late hour it took mere minutes for the princess to appear before the screen, this along with the bags and dark rings under her eyes confirmed his suspicions: she too had been unable to have a good night's rest since this whole mess had started.

Seeing her worried expression he hurried to reassure his friend. "Calm down, Cal, I've got good news…"

Tommy proceeded to tell her what he'd learned from Tony. Her face lit up more and more the longer he talked, though he had to explain why the feral's betas didn't had their full strength yet, since it had been several centuries that anyone from Lycantria had bitten and turned a human they'd all but forgotten the finer details of the transformation of a human into a werewolf.

The princess blinked "Hu, who would have thought….all I was ever taught about the matter was: 'should you one day accidentally bite a human, you've either got to feed them wolf's bane before the next full moon or kill them'. And you really think they won't interfere?"

Tommy shook his head "His beta's are more likely to root for me to get rid of the bastard who turned them against their will – it was just the same back when Ariel turned Sam and Luke, they secretly did their best to hinder him.

Since their inner wolves are quasi still pups the human side can still easily overrule the instinct to follow their alpha's order if they truly want to – Rock and the others merely followed me from the beginning on because they liked me and had no reason to rebel."

A few hours later, after everyone had woken up, Tommy told them the good news which turned their breakfast into a spontaneous mini-celebration – even though it meant that they had to double their attention now that they knew the feral was on his way to Pleasantville.

Oh well, be that as it may, right now all Tommy needed was sleep. He was completely bushed after a long night in front of their surveillance monitor and calming both Tony and Callisto down, yet too wired to fall asleep what with everything that was on his mind.

As if to answer his silent prayers Merton entered their bedroom, stating "The kids are playing outside with Sparky and his pups, Shao is watching them."

He sat down on their bed so that his back was resting against the headboard, pulled Tommy's head into his lap and started to pet him.

"I thought you said you wanted to work on your next book" mumbled the werewolf, already relaxing under the soothing caress.

"I do, but you know I can easily type one-handed…" Merton trailed of as he noticed that his beloved was asleep by now.

He quietly chuckled to himself before he opened his laptop, easily balancing it on his other thigh just like he'd done back when Tommy had been pregnant. As he started to type with one hand, the fingers of his other hand never stopped carding through his mate's hair.

- - + - + - + - T & M - + - + - + -

After all the trouble he had caused them, the final confrontation with the bastard was so short it was downright anticlimactic.

The idiot had been so full of himself, apparently he had wanted to sniff and snoop around a bit before attacking with his betas when he set off their motion detectors.

Taking no risks, Tommy sent Sparky ahead as a distraction. The feral barely acknowledged the cute puppy before dismissing it as no threat, only to whirl around slack jawed when he suddenly sensed another alpha behind him.

"How did you…? I came against the wind!"

"I don't need to smell you to know that you're here…I see you already met my watchdog?"

The fool snorted amused "Yeah, he looks really dangerous!"

However, his amusement quickly turned into horror as the 'cute puppy' was engulfed in a whirlwind of flames and grew to nearly thrice its former size, was now sporting impressive, very sharp looking teeth and… "Oh god! The eyes! What is this thing?"

"I told you, he's my watchdog. Now, I think you came here for a fight?"

By now, the feral was so terrified by Sparky's demonically glowing eyes he couldn't form a coherent answer anymore. Mentally shaking his head, Tommy pounced and pinned him to the forest floor, teeth barred and claws digging into the others wrists.

"Do you yield or do I have to kill you?"

His sole answer was frightened whimpering before the other actually wet himself. Disgusted, he let go of the idiot, who instantly curled up in a fetal position, and ordered Sparky to keep an eye on this picture of misery.

Following his nose Tommy quickly found the makeshift camp of the feral.

About half a dozen frightened teens clustered around a small fire, and from the sounds of it at least two more were sleeping inside the minibus which apparently had been their mode of transportation to come here.

He was appalled, there were no tents and no provisions either; heck most of them hadn't even a jacket against the cool evening air.

Tommy approached the group slowly as to not scare them further, though it was of little help.

The one who spotted him startled violently and actually screamed in fear, while all the others hurried to get to other side of the fire, as if the flames between them would ward him off.

He sighed "Look, I know you've been through a lot, but I really mean you no harm, ok? The one who hurt you is taken care of and will never bother you again…."

At this point he was interrupted by the sound of the backdoor of the minibus opening. A teenage girl was looking at him, scared but also defiant, it was clear she was trying to protect something…or rather someone.

Behind her, sitting on an old mattress and clutching onto each other for dear life were two young boys, 12 at most.

"Holy shit, those are still children! That's…" His genuine shock must have been obvious and did wonders to relax the others. "Ok, look; just come with me, ok? Then you can call your worried parents, get a warm meal, a shower and a bed, and tomorrow we'll talk about how to fix this mess. For now, rest assured that there is a way to cure you. None of you have to stay a werewolf if you don't want to."

The last statement earned him sighs of relief, and, after quickly putting out the fire, they all followed him without further ado.

For the next couple of hours the teens took turns showering and calling their respective parents, telling them various made-up stories about their whereabouts. Shao meanwhile prepared a huge pot of stew, brimming with meat and noodles to feed their hungry guests.

Steven briefly examined the youngsters, but they were all in good shape save for a few scratches and mild signs of shock – except the two youngest who were underfed and had quite a few ugly bruises and welts, but those were already several days old.

Tommy frowned as he heard this, he could clearly smell that they had been bitten only recently, together with the fact that they made no move at all to call their parents and adamantly refused to give them their last name this added up to a picture he didn't like.

He quietly asked the girl who had tried to protect them and got to know that they were brothers, 9 and 11 years old and had only been bitten because they'd been in the old barn the feral had picked as their quarter for the night.

This had been two days ago, and going by the fact that they'd each been carrying a satchel with clothes, food and blankets it was save to say they'd been running from home. And given the nightmares she'd witnessed, they had every reason to do so.

Tommy sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day 'looks as if Mary might be getting more kids soon'. Oh well, he'd talk to the two boys tomorrow, for now he had to inform Cal, and make arrangements for the bastard that was currently lying chained up in their basement.

After they'd stuffed themselves the teens stumbled to their assigned sleeping quarters, dead on their feet after the stress of the past days.

The girl, Laura, crashed with Sakura, while the two tallest guys shared their other guest bed, which left the sleeping couches for the remaining 4.

The two boys ended up on Tommy's and Merton's couch, both because it was the largest and comfiest and so that they'd hear it if the little ones suffered from nightmares again.

They were indeed woken during the night from their bad dreams, several times actually, and from what Tommy and Merton gathered from their screaming and pleading in their sleep they were determined not to let the boys so-called parents anywhere near them again, ever.

- - + - + - + - T & M - + - + - + -

Early the next morning, the ever-chipper Gil came and fetched the defeated ex-alpha. Tommy smiled as he watched them drive off, knowing the everything-but-evil-nowadays werewolf-syndicate was the best place for the former feral.

He'd been a werewolf for too long to be cured, needed a place to stay, and someone to help him finding his way in life again. At the syndicate, he would learn to do good to repent for his former misdeeds, as Tommy had ordered him to. Even Callisto agreed, going against her royal aide who had voiced protest and wanted to see him executed.

Speaking of the princess, now that the danger was over she planned to visit them, eager to finally meet Steven's daughter and to show them her son, Ganymede (and boy was Tommy glad that he hadn't been born in Lycantria and ended up with a name like this!)

But first, the Pleasantville pack had to deal with the load of involuntary turned werewolves.

After breakfast the next morning Tommy had a serious talk with each of the seven teens about whether they wanted to stay infected or not.

The six males all stated that they wished nothing but to go back to their old lives, just like Vera's assistant they only wanted to forget that this had ever happened to them. So they, like Mark, received an injection with werewolf-antibodies – after swearing not to breathe a word of them or the existence of werewolves in general.

"Also, please give us a call should you come across something suspicious again."

"You mean…?"

Tommy shrugged and told his rapidly paling audience "You'd be surprised how many other 'monsters' are out there. We like to take care of them before too many innocents get involved." The boys nodded and he took them to the train station.

The only one who seemed to be interested in more than getting away was Laura.

She listened closely to what Tommy explained and asked many questions. He answered them all, though he got a bad feeling when she asked things like how many females he had in his 'harem' or how he was treating 'his women'. As it turned out, the feral had planned to force the tall and athletic girl to become his 'breeding bitch'.

Tommy was aghast and hurried to explain the concept of life-mates to her, and to assure her that his two kids weren't the result of him keeping a harem somewhere but that he actually had been the one giving birth to them.

Needless to say, that piece of information made her jaw hit the floor, though she was able to recognise the faint silvery stretch marks on the skin of his belly from her cousin's pregnancy.

"I need some time to think this over."

"Take as much as you need. The cure works for nearly two years after you've been bitten, so you've got plenty of time to decide. I only ask that you'll submit to me on the next full moon, you know, so that you'll be unable to infect others, if only by accident."

The girl nodded, knowing from his previous explanations what he meant and agreeing with the wisdom of such precautions.

Meanwhile Merton was talking to Robby and Toby, the two brothers, who were playing with the hellhound puppies.

The still scared boys thawed a bit and started to talk, be it because of the cute pups, the cookies Mert had brought or simply because the Goth looked so non-threatening that even preteens didn't fear him.

Looking for a way to steer the conversation from trivial stuff to the important matters Merton noted how the boys seemed to favour two pups in particular. "Their names are Ash and Cloud, a boy and a girl…they'll be moving to live with good friends of us soon.

They live on an old farm, with a few hens and a cow, and lots of space for those two to run around…there would be a place for you too, if you want."

Robby, the older, looked stunned but Toby only asked "Do they have a horsey, too?"

"Uh yeah, I think so."

Toby squealed in delight, while Robby asked dead serious, but with a slight tremble in his voice "You won't send us back to…?" He couldn't even bring himself to say the names of his tormentors out loud, but Merton understood him nonetheless.

"No, you don't have to go back to them, just like you don't have to become werewolves if you don't want to…but you'd have to go to school – well, sorta, Mary is a teacher herself and would educate you at home, together with Stuart, another boy living with her.

She also got some kids of her own, so you'd have both a big brother and become big brothers to a bunch of toddlers." The two looked thoughtful, even young Toby seemed to understand the seriousness of the question now.

"You don't have to decide right away. Mary and Stu are coming over in a few days to fetch Ash and Cloud. Then you can meet her and see if you get along…and if not, we'll find another solution.

But come what may, you don't have to go back to your parents ever again, I promise." At this, both boys launched themselves into his arms, trembling and crying with the sheer relief that their nightmare was over.

- - + - + - + - T & M - + - + - + -

During the next days Laura had long talks with all pack members, especially the girls and Merton. When Callisto and Jamie arrived with their son and Sakura's potential mate-to-be she watched interestedly how those two got to know each other.

Seeing the shy young man make the first tentative moves to court his intended confirmed everything the others had told her. Werewolves weren't rapists but romantics at heart, the idiot who'd turned her had merely been a bad apple with his crazy fantasies of a harem of breeding bitches.

By now, Laura was nearly certain that she wanted to stay a werewolf, but was still unsure if becoming a part of the pack would screw up her plans for life. She'd just graduated from high school and had been dreaming of going to college and become a doctor for years.

After fretting quite a bit she realised that there was no better way to find out then to grab the bull by the horns, thus she gathered her courage and went to Tommy to ask him.

He listened carefully to the girl's concerns and answered "What you do with your life is up to you, I'd never tell you what job to choose, if anything I'd try to help you to live your dreams.

However, if you choose to stay a werewolf, you'll need to live in an area with woods were you can go on full moons; this, and your sharpening senses, makes living in a big city near impossible. Also, you'll need to stay near enough to either Pleasantville or Mary's place so we can guide you through the changes."

The girl frowned as she considered this new information, but before she could ask further questions he continued "Of course, you could just stay here – Pleasantville has a small, but good college. You can ask Steven, he made his degree there, and his residency at the hospital over in Muhlenburg….plus you'd save the money for the dorm room.

We'd planned to furnish the rest of our guest rooms anyway, so it would be no problem to adapt one to fit your needs." Laura was beyond floored at the generous offer, but as his words sunk in fully she started to beam and hugged the stuffing out of Tommy.

The alpha was glad to see the girl so happy; though he also had a tiny ulterior motive - his satellite pack needed a doctor too after all. So far, whenever Mary was due Steven had to make the long journey and wait for days until she went into labour so he could assist at the birth.

After the still smiling girl had gone inside to grill Steven for details about the medicine faculty of the Pleasantville College, Tommy continued to look outside into the garden. He was watching Sakura and Sean, her potential mate, as they sat underneath the weeping willow.

Even from the distance he could make out that they were sitting rather closely so he wasn't surprised to see the boy lean in and give her a short kiss, which she obviously returned. The alpha smiled to himself, those two were clearly on a very good way, by now he was all but convinced that Sakura's own vision this upcoming November was but a mere formality.

Of course, this raised the question of where the couple would live, here in Pleasantville or in Lycantria.

He'd already talked with Callisto about it and made it clear that, as far as he was concerned, it was solely up to those two to decide where they wanted to live.

The princess agreed, and for once even her royal aide did, they even suggested making this rule a new law, for future matings between their packs.

Both Tommy and Callisto were pleasantly surprised, taking this as a sign that they were finally beginning to accept the Pleasantville-pack as a friend, and even more important, as an equal of the werewolf kingdom.

- - + - + - + - T & M - + - + - + -

Meanwhile in Lycantria, the ultra-conservatives were making full use of the absence of the royal couple by having a conspirative meeting.

The recent developments had troubled them deeply, though unlike the princess they hadn't only been terrified by the reality of a feral pack out there but also by how quickly and efficient the Pleasantville-pack had been prepared for an attack.

Those few among them who were still part of Callisto's aide brought the others up to date. The latest news caused quite a few growls, granted, the madcap was taken care of, but…

"That blasted Pleasantville alpha gained four more betas! Four! And he refused to execute the feral!"

"Maybe he's getting weak…"

"No, he's not" declared Nepomuk, and all the others fell silent.

"Don't make the same mistake I did, my brothers, don't underestimate him. He may appear weak and careless at times, but that's all just a ruse…remember how he killed Ariel, my strong, but misguided apprentice…and what he did to me! No, he isn't weak, he's dangerous!"

Consenting murmurs arose and one yelled "Nepomuk is right! Why else would a foreign alpha help us to get our territory in shape, with better seeds and solar panels and whatnot…our ancestors could very well do without all this newfangled things!

No, he wants to take over; it's as plain as the hairs on my paw!"

"That's got to be the reason he kept that feral alive, he has use for one more fighter…or, possibly, one more stud. Didn't you say that his betas breed like rabbits?"

Nepomuk nodded "Sadly, yes, our only hope is that there'll be many more homosexual matings or they'll be numerous enough to overrun us within a few generations" he sighed, deeply troubled.

"There may be another way to weaken them" grinned one of the aides. "As I´m sure you've heard, there seems to be a possible mating pair between them and us…"

Unhappy growls arose, and one grumbled "How the hell is that supposed to be good news?"

"Well, for one, the girl in question isn't another bitten trash, but a born werewolf…"

"Curse him for finding her!"

"All born werewolves belong to Lycantria!"

"Would you please let me finish? As I was saying, one of our own had a vision of this werewolf girl which sadly is still a part of the pack of that bitten menace, but apparently our princess for once managed to pull him over the barrel….by making him agree to it that the future couple can live were they want."

The aide grinned smugly at his stunned friends "Of course we agreed right away and used the golden opportunity to make this a binding law – now all we have to do is butter the little girl up when she comes to visit and she'll be ours!"

Large smiles broke out on the faces all around, even Nepomuk's perpetual scowl softened "Oh yes, we'll be giving her the warmest welcome ever! Just like all the other mates that'll come after her too!"

He bared his teeth in his twisted version of a grin as he pictured it in his mind; the strongest offspring of those bitten ones would mate into Lycantria, infusing them with new blood, just like back in the good old days when they still used to turn the occasional human to have breeding bitches for those males who couldn't find their mate.

They would get stronger, while their enemy would get weakened, until one day….he barely managed to contain his glee and sober up enough to speak again.

"These are indeed good news, but don't crow too soon, we need to continue to lay low and keep our heads down. Remember that right now Lycantria is basically without a ruler, with only a female on the throne" here he snorted disgusted, and he wasn't the only one.

As if hadn't been bad enough that their former queen had died before she could give birth to a real heir, no their princess also had to mate a weakling who couldn't even rule over her let alone the kingdom.

If he just thought about how Jamie honestly had allowed Callisto to decide when they had young instead of just impregnating her the moment they were mated his blood started to boil.

What kind of male asked his bitch for permission?

He sighed and continued "Our only hope is Ganymede, we need to make sure that he learns all about the evilness of bitten ones and the threat this twisted parody of a pack in Pleasantville poses to us.

Though that will be a feat of its own, given that we have to do so behind Callisto's back, but in the end it will be worth it. Once he comes of age he'll take over the throne, and by that time this cursed alpha will already be past his prime so Ganymede should have no problem to finally put an end to him."

Nepomuk sighed wistfully, pictures of a slain Tommy dancing through his mind, along with fantasies of Rock and the others becoming working slaves and breeding stock for Lycantria.

"I only pray to the moon gods that I'll live long enough to see it."

In the next chapter: After all the trouble is finally over our boys have finally some time for themselves again…in other words, there will be sex ;-)

Also, the previously announced conflict involving Shao will take shape….as will other, unexpected ones. Let's just say some people will finally get what they deserve, be they werewolves or not.

And soon, there will be a huge time jump to when the twins are teens, so if there are some scenes from their childhood you would like to see please tell me!