Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

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"We were wondering if we could speak with all of you." The man looked to be about 30 and spoke with an accent I couldn't quite place. I deferred the question to Markus, as he was technically in charge of them.

"Have a seat," Markus answered.

The two men sat and looked around nervously.

"Don't be afraid. We're here to help you! What are your names? I'm sorry, I haven't memorized everyone's faces yet," Celeste encouraged.

"My name is Jonah, Luna Celeste." The one with the accent said, before elbowing the nervous man next to him.

"I'm Nicholas." His English was definitely American.

"We have been talking and we were wondering if we could change a few things," Jonah started.

"To make things easier for us," Nicholas continued.

Jonah looked at Natalia and me and when I nodded at him to continue, he said, "Some of us are having trouble being cooped up downstairs. Not - Not that we don't know why we have to stay down there. We don't have a problem being there, but..." "But we think some of us would do better if we could change the way we're set up downstairs." Nicholas finished for him.

"What did you have in mind? Zack, can you get us some paper and pencils," Markus asked.

"Well, some of us have been getting used to being in our own room just fine, but we wake up to some of the others freaking out in the darkness of their room. We were hoping we could either set up some beds in some part of the open areas with more light for people that need more.... reassurance, and reminder of where they are at." Nicholas looked at us nervously, as if waiting for us to say no.

"We could do that. We have a few bunk beds from when we rescued the girls from Blood Moon. We could set them up, but how many would want to sleep like that?" Markus asked the rest of the table.

"Or..." Celeste said, "Maybe we should remove the doors from some of the bedrooms and set up a bunk bed to buddy up. That way, people have their own space and a safety buddy, depending on what they want, we could have two bunk beds to a room for those that need that sense of comfort and some of those light dimmers in the rooms so they can choose how much darkness they can tolerate."

"Yeah, that would work. If it's not too much trouble. To be honest," Jonah rubbed the back of his neck, "some people sneak into other rooms, but since we've got single beds, they end up asleep on the floor."

"When we rescued my friends from Blood Moon, they would do that too. I think it's a safety in numbers thing." Celeste nodded in understanding.

"Would you prefer the rooms without doors or bunching all the beds in the living space?" Markus asked the rest of the table.

There were a few mumbles and then I felt Natalia stand up on my side. "Show of hands for rooms without doors and buddy bunk beds," she asked, and everyone raised their hands. "There you go, Markus." She smiled and sat back down.

Markus stood up then, "I'll get a few people down there to remove the doors and set up the bunk beds. If you have a person you'd like to bunk with, please let Luna Celeste or Gamma Maya know and we'll try our best to set you up with those you feel safest with. If you are comfortable with sleeping alone or want to keep your door, let Zack or Gabriel know so they can make sure you're comfortable. You are our guests. We want to make sure you feel safe and comfortable. Please, don't be afraid to let us know what we can do to help you."

He sits back down and addresses Jonah and Nicholas, "Were there any other things you wanted to discuss?"

"Yes, umm. You're an Alpha, right?" Jonah turned to me. I nodded. "You don't have a pack though? You're here at his packhouse."

"We are a new pack. It's a long story, but my home blew up when I got taken to the lab and we need to find permanent lodgings. Alpha Markus has been kind enough to house us until we do."

He nodded, "I remember you in the lab," his eyes went to Natalia briefly and I tried not to let Ezequiel's jealousy ooze out because a man was looking at our mate. The look didn't even seem like an interested look, just curious. "She is your mate? She has the aura of a Luna, but she's not marked."

"She is," I said, trying not to growl. Ezequiel was demanding that I put Natalia on my lap so they didn't look at her anymore, but I was doing my best to ignore his suggestions. It wouldn't help anyone if we growled at anyone that looked at her and I'm sure it wouldn't go over very well with Natalia.

"Sorry, I mean no disrespect. This is going to sound crazy, but we trust her. She healed the ones at the lab, and the others say she brought down food for them when they were rescued. We were wondering. We were hoping...." He said nervously. "Being part of a pack, even if it's just temporary, will help us feel safe. We miss that connection. That sense of belonging," Nicholas finished, "We were hoping you would allow us to join your pack for a bit. Some of us that have been without a pack for longer are scared of our wolves going rogue."

I was glad to see that I was not the only one surprised at that. "We mean no offense, Alpha Markus, Luna Celeste," Jonah added, thinking they had offended their hosts, "We are very thankful that you have taken us in and rescued us, but we-"

"You don't have to explain. You are not offending us. We are happy you feel comfortable with them." Celeste interrupted, and when Markus nodded, Jonah and Nicholas looked relieved. They turned to look at us, waiting for a response.

'You should do it. If it helps them. I know we feel more connected to each other now that we're a pack, Gonzalo mind linked me. I added Theo, Sebastian and Natalia to the mind link, my connection to her allowing me to put all of us in one mind link. 'Would everyone be OK with this? They need a lot of help, and we'll technically be responsible for them until they find their homes. It will add more to everyone's plate,' I asked.

'We can handle it. Besides, I doubt Celeste and Markus will stop helping just because they have joined our pack. We'll find our footing, like we always do. Theo said.

'I don't have any inspirational words like Theo, but I'm in,' Natalia laughed at Theo.

'What Nat said,' Sebastian added.

I ended the mind link and looked down the table. "Anyone that wants to join our pack let me know by tomorrow morning. We'll get the formalities out of the way tomorrow afternoon." There were relieved looks from a lot of people and nods. "Was there something else?"

"No, those were the two big things, Alpha. Thank you." Jonah and Nicholas stood up and went back to their seats.

"I'm uh...I'm going to need you to teach me how to induct people into the pack, Markus," I whispered, and Markus laughed.

"Well, you are going to need a pack name first, then we can deal with the rest. It's a small enough ceremony."

"s**t. Are there requirements for a pack name?"

"That's a good question. We can go look at the council rules if you want?" He asked.

"I would appreciate that," I said, getting up, "Pack meeting in half an hour to come up with a name?" I said to the rest.

"Yes Alpha," they said, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'll be fine love. The others are here and they are enjoying the nice day out," Celeste said as Markus stood up.

"OK, but if one of them gets agitated, let Gabriel or Zack help them, OK? Just use your aura to help. I don't want anything happening to you." Markus kissed Celeste before joining me.

'What, don't I get a kiss?' Natalia asked via mind link. I looked down at where she was looking up at me with an amused look on her face. I knew she was teasing me, but the joke was on her. I bent down and grabbed her, brought her up flush against my chest and crushed my lips to her, letting Ezequiel's jealousy fuel the possessive kiss. I smirked at her as I pulled away, happy to see her dazed look and blush.

'You really shouldn't poke the wolf, amor. It's hard enough to keep my hands to myself in public,' I mind linked as I left with Markus. Theo, Sebastian and Gonzalo were all giving me thumbs ups and grins.

'Duly noted Alpha, she responded.

We went up to the third-floor offices. Markus printed two copies of the rules and we sat down to find the section for new pack requirements. This was more complicated than I thought and I was getting a headache just thinking about it. You tricked me sister! Your punishment was endless paperwork and bureaucratic red tape?

"How does anyone have enough of these requirements to become a sanctioned pack?" I asked Markus in frustration. "I need to have a Dr and a hospital for every 1,000 members with 10 to 20 registered nurses depending on size. Schools for packs bigger than 500. How does anyone become a sanctioned pack with these things?"

"I don't know. It takes a long time to grow a pack to that size. I was lucky enough to inherit this pack. We'll help you Helios, it might just happen a little further away than in the next month," he said honestly.

I sighed, "Can you print out a few more copies of this document and a couple of applications? I want to go over all of this with everyone."

"Yeah, why don't you talk it over with everyone? The most urgent thing right now is the name. The rest can wait, but once you have a list of what you need, we can meet and come up with a plan."

"I appreciate all your help, Markus. I really do."

Markus nodded and handed me the papers. "I think these guys having someone they feel will protect them at all costs will be great for them. Feeling safe does a lot for people. The women from Blood Moon only felt safe once they realized how much everyone went through to help them and it was much easier for them to heal when they realized they weren't alone."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I really hope I don't f**k this up," I confessed.

"You led your warriors for years. The fact that most of them are coming back tells me that you were already their Alpha long before you became shifters. You know how to do this already." Then he smirked, "Plus you have your Luna. You will be amazed how far that goes with a pack."

I grinned, "She's giving me a chance, which is more than I could have hoped for."

"Yeah well, I figured she would. She was ready to rip Celeste's head off when she tried to get her to stop healing you at the compound. That's how we found out she was your mate."

"I didn't know that. I did wonder why the guys didn't seem surprised that she was my mate that day at the lab." I said. Markus nodded and then I saw his eyes glaze over.

"I gotta go deal with some stuff for Celeste. Let me know once you have a name and have gone over that list. We can brainstorm how to get what you need."

"Will do." I said as I walked out, mind linking the others to meet me in the first-floor conference room. We had a lot of work ahead of us.