Hi everyone, yet another story in the Pack Universe. This takes place parallel to Seeking. I will be marking each chapter with where they are in correlation to Seeking. It will be told from Jace, Aidan, Eric, and Charlotte's view. There will be some overlap between the stories. Please bear with me while I get the muses to work with me again. Some reason, they just are not going where I want.

Any parts from the shows transcript have been lovingly gotten from Ariane DeVere's live journal because she was awesome enough to make a complete set.

Oh yeah, "speaking", -texting-, telepathy-human form, telepathy-animal or mixed form, "commanding", , everything else

Thank you to all you lovely people who clicked on some form of communication, I simply adore getting messages about reviews, favorites, and follows. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Sherlock does not belong to me, it belongs to BBC and Doyle.

This chapter starts roughly after chapter 65 of Seeking and goes to chapter 75.

Chapter 1
Jace's POV
In the weeks between when he realized that he was a seventeen year old wolf desiring to bond with an older cobra and the next time he actually got to see said cobra, he had taken the time to make a list of pros, cons, and neutral facts. From there his attention turned to the goals he held. First and foremost finish his A-levels. The completion of basic education was often used as part of a measurement from childhood into adulthood. His goals after that include getting enrolled in one of the universities for his desired medical degree, getting the pack to think of him as an adult instead of a pup, and convince his bondmate that he is worth the risk.

Any time he is not taking lessons with Mouse or spending time with his viper family he spends with the eight that are training under the alpha-second. From them he works on improving his shifting and the using of his non-healing gifts, each having something different that they work with him on. Tobe helps him learn to focus his senses in, learning to use his wolf ability to scent along with his other senses so he can read situations better. Konrad works with him on his language skills, mildly surprised at how fast he picks them up, going from only knowing English to picking up Russian and German rather quickly with plans to learn French next. Keir has been helping me with tracking and hunting, improving his ability to move between forms and to use his hybrid form. Dora jokingly remarked that he lives with some vipers and is wanting to bond a cobra so maybe he should understand about antidotes, so that's what they work on, a variety of poisons and antidotes. Abigail works with him on psychology and the other social sciences, which helps him with his mindhealing gifts because it helps him understand better. Leah helps him with any research that he needs to do. Aaron and Marcus are just friends, helping him to adjust to being around people and shielding him from those outside of their group when he is having a hard time.

Beyond that, Konrad seems to have taken a protective stance over him, and if his parents are not with him the other wolf was. At least any time he had to be around non-pack. That was something he was thankful for. It allowed him a small bit of protection that he sometimes felt he needed. While other times it felt overwhelming.

One thing was for sure though, the group would support him through anything. When he first started his planning, he had thought it would be a bad idea to mention it to them. After all, most wolves in the pack actively fear his cobra. So while he worked on his lists and ideas, he did not ask for advice or help from any of them, worrying that it might strain the friendships.

So he was mildly surprised when the group shows up the day my bondparents, along with the entire military pack leave on a mission.

"May we enter?" the nearly white-eyed wolf inquires when he answers the door.

For a moment he stares at the other eight, surprised to see them there and yet not. He almost wonders if his bondmother had arranged for him to have company, she tries not to leave him on his own too much, something that sometimes bothers him and sometimes doesn't. He is not a pup, he would rather not be treated like one. Giving a small shake of his head, he nods, inviting them in.

Each one greets him as they enter, the girls hugging him.

Smiling to himself he finds that the eight have headed directly to the second living room, the area of the house where his mother had allowed the younger wolves. Apparently Marcus had been bored because there is an entire buffet of food laid out on the side table along with a collection of paper dishes. Someone had brought drinks, mostly a variety of sodas.

"So, Jace, we've decided to play interfering siblings. We know that you are trying to plan for the future but not saying a word to any of us, so here we are," Abigail comments as he makes himself a plate.

He pauses, blinking at each of them with wide eyes. "What?"

It's actually the nearly white-eyed wolf that replies, "We can all smell your confusion and worry. Since you haven't said what has you worried, we decided to approach the subject ourselves. After carefully discussing it, we came to one conclusion you know who your bondmate is and are trying to figure out how to deal with that situation. None of the older members of the pack that are unbonded have new marks and you do. So we all thought about it carefully and came to a single conclusion, it has to be one of the cobras, either the visiting one or the one that is pack. Since you have shown no desire to be around the younger one any more than you have any of us. That made it pretty simple to figure out."

He blinks at the slightly at that but before he can comment, Abigail remarks, "Most of the adults within our pack dislike the military pack, none more than the cobra who stands as the alpha's guard." She shrugs, getting up to make a small plate for herself, "As glimmer has already stated, we determined it had to be a cobra, and that particular cobra makes the most sense." Settling herself back into the chair closest the fireplace, she continues, "You're still adapting to the pack, even though you have been here over a year, that short amount of time does not overwrite how long you were with the other corrupt pack."

"What Abby and Kon is trying to say is, we want to help you out, support you. Everyone knows that your mother dislikes the cobra nearly as much as the adult wolves. That means you probably have not turned to her. Since you tend to be quiet, and your scent has been growing in emotion over the last few weeks. When we heard that the military pack was going to be gone for at least overnight, we decided to approach you today about it," the youngest in their group breaks in and tells him.

"Oh," he murmurs, a bit shocked, he never thought that the others in his age range would be willing to work with him so well.

Marcus smiles at him, almost a smirk as he comments, "We're friends and we're pack, that means we support each other, so outline it to us what your planning, and we'll help you see if there is any holes in your plan." His grin grows as he continues, "And eat, your too thin, I made food."

"Marcus why do you take deduction and chemistry classes if your passion lies in food?" he inquires after being silent for a few minutes.

"'Cause they are useful, 'sides, I don't know what I wanna do with myself yet." He replies, "now come on, tell us."

Blushing, he heads to his room and grabs the note books he has been keeping all of his ideas in before returning to the second living room with them. Settling back into his seat, he sorts through them, trying to figure out where to start. Finally he decides to start at goal one and work his to the end. "I ummm, three goals, graduate with A-levels, attend university to get a medical degree, and convince him that I will make a better mate than that female he had Aidan with."

The eight nod and he can just about hear the thought process going through their minds.

Abigail is the first to speak, commenting, "Well A-levels is simple enough, you are as smart, possibly smarter than me, and I have already sat them. Haven't you been working with Mouse as well?"

He nods, blushing at the compliment. There are still a lot of times that he does not feel like those around him are right. Too many years being told how stupid he is have left a mark on his psyche that makes it hard for him to believe the pack members when they tell him otherwise.

"So, A-levels are immaterial, by spring when the next round of testing is done, you will be ready. Do you know which university you want to attend?" the researcher inquires cutting in.

Shaking his head, he glances down. "Not yet, there are a lot of them, and I…" his voice trails off. It is embarrassing to admit he is a bit overwhelmed.

"What degree are you after?" she queries.

"One like the alphas." He answers softly, not actually sure which degree the elder has, but knowing that it is in medicine but not anything more.

"I believe that he has a bachelor's in medicine with a specialty in surgery." She remarks, "Do you wish to be a trauma surgeon?"

He shrugs, "I don't know, I want to be able to heal, humans, shifter, or gifted equally." He blushes again, "I don't know if I would be able to handle the pain of surgery."

"Hmmmm," she murmurs, "Perhaps Queen Mary University of London, it's the same one the alpha went to, there are several pack members who work there." She tilts her head, "You could work on a general medicine degree and decide later whether you want to specialize." Her eyes narrow as she thinks about it for a moment, "As an elite you will be alive for at least one-hundred years, you can always revisit the idea later. It is not something you have to do now."

He blinks at her confused. A hundred years? But he thought that the average lifespan was only into the sixties? Maybe that was just the pack he was born to. "A hundred years?"

"Elites can live well past the two hundred year marker, so at least you will live at one-hundred years, your bondmate is very protective so I can see you living past that marker. Like the alpha, you will end up outliving a great many members of the pack and will probably live through three or four generations. Any children you have in the future, unless they are elite as well, you will most likely end up burying, possibly even grandchildren." She explains to him, her voice gentle. "Our pack is unusual in we have a great many elites in it. Most packs do not have elites and when they do it is only one, maybe two, not six." Again she pauses, "however both of you are elites, so it is altogether possible that all of your children will be elites as well, since it is rare for two elites to have children together it is rare that the chances of said children would be so high to be elites."

Abigail waves that off, "Shush Leah, first we got to make sure step one works. Step one is the A-levels. I can get you the information from the school I did my testing with if you like, since I tested out early and was completely homeschooled I have all of that information."

All seven of them nod at this, but their eyes are on him. "That would be good," he responds after a long pause. "If I am going to be alive that long, then getting a basic degree now would work out well."

Several minutes pass in silence before Abigail comments, "Since parts one and two are in the process of being taken of, now let's get to part three."

The oldest of the females bounces in her seat, excitement pouring off of her, "Oh this is too good! Jace will be the first in our generation to know who is bondmate is and actively pursues him."

"Calm down Dora, geez, someone would think you were the one bonding." Leah grumbles playfully at the other wolf. "Though that jackal, Charlotte, she has a spiral on her wrist too, that means that she has a bondmate, though we should pull the younger cobra and the jackal into our group as well, there is no reason that we of the same generation cannot all be friends. Anyways, back to the subject. What do we know about the elder cobra? Brainstorm people."

Konrad is the one to comment, "He uses the most traditional of values, lives in his own home with an indoor garden, enjoys cooking, is very protective of both the alpha and Jace due to both of them being healers, he is a Tracker, he obtained such status after the death of his birth den. According to the pictures he has in his study, he has three children by his first bondmate, two females and a male, of those three the youngest is his son Aidan whom we have met."

"You know more about him then I do." Jace mutters in surprise as he stares at the nearly white-eyed wolf.

"I should, I have been training with him for over a year and part of my training as a Tracker includes recall and noticing things even further than what we get from the alpha-second, whom I also train with," the slightly older wolf remarks.

"Oh," he murmurs.

The rest of the night goes smoothly with the nine of them discussing how the to deal with the plan. Since he is expecting his parents back the following day, maybe the day after, he determines that this is the perfect time for him to work on his goals. For most of the night and early into the morning, they discuss plans and ideas, ways for him to achieve his goals. Eventually the conversation changes over to trying to draw the newest cobra into the group along with the jackal female. As they begin to get tired, most of them shift into their wolf form, and curl up on the floor together. Someone had started a fire and as the wolves curled up in front of it, their fur glowed with the light. Eventually he decided to join them, having never slept in wolf pile before.

Hesitantly, he shifts, he is the largest of the wolves in the room, his body nearly twice the size of the next biggest which is Konrad.

Slightly hesitant, he tries to figure out where to lay and paces a bit when Marcus' eyes flicker open and he remarks, Just pick a spot, we will shift around to get comfortable. Since you're the biggest, we'll probably end up surrounding you.

He nods once, edging closer to the group and settling down onto the floor. Within moments, the other wolves shift around a bit and he soon finds himself surrounded by warmth and affection. Soon he drifts off to sleep, thinking that this is most unusual but so very welcome.

The next day the majority of them leave, shortly after breakfast. Only Konrad, Abigail, and Leah remain. A short while later, pain rips through the link between him and the cobra, echoing through him. Nearly as soon as it hits his knees give out and the nearly white-eyed wolf catches him, a concerned look on his face.

"Jace? Are you alright?"

"He's been shot, my mate has been shot, why isn't he healing it? He could easily have it healed," he gasps as the pain continues to cut through him.

He is startled when the other wolf lifts him easily settling him on the sofa.

Most of the day passes in a blur as he feels the pain echoing through him. Twice he tries to reach out with his gift to heal the older cobra and twice he is bounced away. Why is he not getting healed? Someone has to heal him! He knows his bondmother dislikes the cobra but surely she would not allow him to die, not when she knows what the results would be like for him. It is sometime around dinner when the pain suddenly stops but he still cannot seem to reach his mate when he tries to. Not long after dinner time Marcus shows back up with more food.

The rest of the night seems to go rather smoothly and when he cannot sleep because he is feeling stressed, Leah suggests he shifts and cuddles. For a few minutes he is hesitant about doing so but eventually does so because he is just so tired. Sure enough, almost as soon as he lays down in his second form Leah and Abigail also curl around him, not long after he feels Konrad join them.

Sometime during the night he is awakened as he feels his parents come home and his bondmother check up on him.

Eyes flickering open, he lifts his head, glancing at her, Is he alright? I felt him get hurt, he was in so much pain but no one helped him why?

The cobra is a stubborn pain in the ass who did not mention he was shot until we had completed the rest of the mission. I can promise you, had we known, either John or I would have healed him. That place was so full of pain and misery that we could not distinguish his being shot from anything else. She pauses, smiling reassuringly at him, I may not like the cobra but I understand exactly what that mark on your wrist means, love. Go back to sleep, there is a similar custom within the viper den I grew up in so I understand well.

Come morning, the three wolves leave after breakfast, each politely excusing themselves before they head out. However he ends up spending much of the day on his own because not long after breakfast his parents head to the pack home, though he is told he is not going to the pack home until the strangers are resolved which he understands. That night when his parents get home, his bondmother is exhausted and he cuddles close as she will allow in his human form, head nuzzling against her as he does so. She sleeps and he stays close.

The following day is much of the same except for the fact that Konrad and Leah show up. At least it was until he got summoned to the pack house by his bondmother, he was very confused. After all, his bondmother severally dislikes him being near any non-pack that she does not trust. She had already stated she did not want him anywhere near it so why was he being called over?

Confused, he asks that very question allowed and it is Konrad who answers, explaining that it is probably because he is a strong healer. Frowning, he is trying to figure out how to get to the pack house, should he shift and run? No, he is in the city and doesn't know how to shield. This is solved by Konrad who offers to drive him in the car that he is currently using and the three of them head to the pack home where he thanks the other two for bringing him.

His bondmother had summoned him to help with the three wolves in the basement. Sadly, he discovers that the condition that they are in is a lot like the condition that he spent most of his early life in. When he is in the basement he is mildly surprised by the fact that one of the wolves is an elite in his wolf form. despite the fact the other wolf is trying to scare him, he still manages to get what he went to the basement to do done.

When he awakens curled against something that is cool to the touch and slightly rougher then skin he is confused at first. He barely recalls leaving the basement and the being caught by his cobra. Yet that is exactly what happened according to what his mind is replaying. Nor does he understand why he is still curled up in the coil of his long black tail, particularly since he knows the older shifter really does not cuddle. Still, he is comfortable and after nuzzling his nose against the scales before drifting back to sleep.

The next time he awakens he can feel that time has passed and he is now laying stretched out on a bed. Though how he got to that bed is a totally different matter since the last thing he recalls is being curled around his bondmates tail.

Sighing, he stretches, long limbs loosening as he gets up. Unsurprised he finds a change of clothing and a collection of his preferred soaps. Smiling to himself, he heads into the bathroom in between his and the next room to clean up before heading downstairs where he is mildly surprised to discover that it is past midnight. Wandering through the house, he comes to the realization that he should continue his work on the female wolf downstairs. Perhaps she is physically healed, but there is still mind healing to be done, and the physical healing of the other two. Hopefully it does not require a second round of posturing.

Maybe his work with them would help to show that he was not a pup. That he was an adult or at least an almost adult. It was definitely worth trying. So he heads into the kitchen, making up a large tray of finger foods and juices, before switching to a wolf's superior sight and carefully making his way down into the basement. He is unsurprised to find that the other male wolves are not sleeping. Nor is he shocked when the female wakes up.

"Hello," he murmurs, "Its been several hours since I was down here last and I thought that you all might be hungry. She needs to eat, even if you two do not, in order to be strong for her pup."

He watches as the three wolves have a conversation using their telepathy, he can almost hear it, and if he focused his empathy he knows he would but he instead allows them for their privacy, understanding how important that it is.

A moment later the other elite has shifted back into human form, and hesitantly beckons him forward.

Smiling, he moves with ease, the simple loop of someone who has dealt with predators their entire life and settles the tray onto a small box that someone had pulled over by them earlier.

"I didn't see any allergies in you three earlier, however I figured it best to still bring simple foods and drinks. I know it is not a feast, but you really should start of with small light meals if you have not been receiving food regularly." He tells them as he settles beside the box and takes a piece of pineapple off of the plate of fruit to nibble on. Healing the way he did required a lot of energy, even if his cobra was providing him most of it, his body still required fuel to channel it.

What are you doing? He hears softly murmured against his mind, a brush of power filling him.

Working on getting these three to come upstairs and healing the males. The alpha had me heal them, so I am going to do just that, if I need extra energy will you have some? He replies just as softly, trying for reassuring. His cobra is not one for niceties but those niceties are greatly needed right now.

A single mental nod is all the response he gets before he feels a small surge of power and the connection breaks.

"How did you sleep Qamra?" he politely inquires, intentionally promoting a peaceful feeling in the room.

She dusks her head, softly answering, "Good."

He smiles at her reassuringly, "Good," before he takes another piece of fruit.

You do not smell like that other wolf. Actually you do not smell like any of the shifters I have met so far, the other elite remarks after several minutes of silence.

He nods once, "I am a bondchild, adopted by the packs iota, the viper female Daria and her mate, a bronze adder male Nathan."

This is a wolf pack, why are there other types of shifters? He queries with a slightly confused look.

"The alpha was part of the military, while he was in the military he formed what is called the military pack, a collection of mostly non-wolves. When they got out of the service, the military pack stuck together, and was merged into the primary wolf pack." He answers, still keeping his voice soft and reassuring.

"There are more non-wolves?" it is Trey who asks this time.

Nodding again, he starts listing them, "A viper, bronze adder, an elite falcon, two black cobras, a mouse, an eagle owl, a great cat, a multiform cat, a multiform canine, a family a jackals, a gibbon, and a barn owl." He frowns for a moment, "I think that's all of them."

"What's a multiform?" she asks looking at him in confusion.

"Someone who can turn into any form within their type. Maria can turn into any sort of canine, such a wolf, jackal, fox, coyote, or domestic dog." He replies.

All three stare at him for a bit before Trey asks, "Do you like this pack?"

He nods energetically, "I do, I was born to a different pack, and this pack has accepted me as is, encouraged me to grow, and helped me get past a lot of my problems. They have been supportive. I think you would like the wolves of our generation."

Why didn't you flinch when I lunged at you before? the other elite demands, eyes narrow.

Shrugging he answers, "As I said yesterday, I grew up in a pack that hated me for not being like them. As such I was treated as worse than the omega. Your threats were not that bad compared to growing up with that." He shrugs again, his mind recalling every mark covering his skin. Hopefully his cobra would not care about that.

Oh, he the other wolf mutters.

Several more hours pass as there small group talks, he tells them about each of the pack members as they inquire, happily talking about whatever they want to. On the rare occasions that he brushes against the other wolves when they are both reaching for something near on the tray, he sends small surges of healing through them. He is determined to heal as much of the damage as possible.

When his cobra tells him about the gathering in the library, he makes it a point to convince the other three to go up and listen to the pack history. It takes him a bit, but he is eventually able to convince them to go upstairs and listen to the alpha speaking from near the door. While they listen to him talk, he carefully works on continuing to heal the two males. They are only out of the basement for a short period of time before they return to it, but he feels rather accomplished.

Once they go back down into the basement, he stays upstairs for a bit, considering his options. Perhaps he can slowly get them to accept the other wolves of their age group before trying to get them to accept the others of the pack.