SOL - Generation Five - Chapter Six
I had nothing else I wanted to use for the FC..
I think this is a fairly tame chapter. Only one inappropriate joke, this time courtesy of Ven.
I think it's about time we checked up on the cousins, don't you?
Last Time...
“Fury?”
Fury gave a grunt. He rolled over and burrowed under the covers. His name was called again. “I was up until three trying to sort Bryn out,” he whined. “Lemme sleep, woman.”
There was a distinctly unladylike snort to his right. “A big, strong man-thing like you? Needs sleep? Why, you’ve spoiled every one of my dreams.”
“Kinda dreams are they?” Fury asked, poking his head out the covers with a sleepy grin. He saw his beautiful wife roll her eyes. “Wait, man-thing?”
Autumn laughed. “What? The fae and elves call men manlings. Man-thing doesn’t sound nowhere near as bad.”
“Why am I a man-thing?”
“Because you’re with lust - you know what, never mind. You’re just a man.”
“You say that like it’s an insult, baby.” He gave her another grin, and she briefly reached out to press her palm against his cheek. Then she smirked evilly and jerked the covers back, laughing at Fury’s gasp as colder air hit him. “You evil woman! You evil, dark, cruel, wicked -“
“Yes, yes. Come on.”
“Why?”
“I’m taking you someplace.”
“At seven in the morning?!”
Autumn smirked and beckoned him out, backing up to the door. With another groan, Fury pulled himself out of bed and stretched, giving Autumn a knowing smile when her eyes trailed down his body. She continued to coax him out of the bedroom - a shame, really, Fury thought - and when they got to the kitchen she laughed at him.
“Oh, you’re whipped.”
Fury gave a sigh of agreement.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It turned out this someplace was a forest. Fury woke up when the car rolled to a stop, looked out the window and saw the huge acreage of trees. His mouth opened slightly at the sight; the forest spread out until the mountains, which were snow topped and reaching to the clear blue sky.
Fury let out his breath in a motion similar to a sigh of awe. “It’s beautiful,” he said softly.
“That’s because elves live here.”
“Elves?” Startled, Fury’s bright eyes swung to her. Autumn gave him a small smile and gestured for him to get out the car. She followed him around to the other side, taking his hand.
“I found them a few days ago on the off-chance.” She made an odd gesture with her hands, but Fury had known her long enough to interpret it as I don’t know what to say. “They’re as close to family as I’ll ever get, Fury. And I wanted you to meet them.”
“Have you already made contact?” He screwed his eyes up and squinted into the forest.
“Yes.” Her breath hitched. Fury turned back to her, already reaching out to cover her hand with his. “One of them knew of the elves I stayed with. They spent many years living together until joining this group. I’ve been talking to them a lot, I -“
Fury let her pause and organise her thoughts. She wasn’t as good at wording emotions as him.
“I want to join them.” She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“I want to be part of their group, but I don’t want to live with them. But some of the things they do, the celebrations we have, they open it to other races. I’d like you to come to some. And Bryn, when she’s old enough.” She let Fury process that, but as he began to nod she ploughed on. “I mean, elves are very in touch with nature. A lot of celebrations overlap with that of other species. Warlocks, werewolves, fairies... Not vampires, so much, but the races that still honour the moon. It’ll be good for all of us.”
“You want some of the team to come along?”
Autumn nodded. “It’ll be a good atmosphere for Xander and Ash. He doesn’t have the links and resources to teach Ash about their history yet, and this could help. The same with Ven and his pack.”
Fury smiled at her, the motion making the corners of his eyes crinkle. He squeezed Autumn’s hand, the other going to cup her cheek. “Baby, you don’t need to ask my permission for it. I’d love to come along if it makes you happy.”
“You’re such a sap,” she snorted. Fury shrugged a shoulder.
“Aren’t you glad?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Come on, you wimp!” Korra called, placing her hands on her hips and grinning around at the tomb.
Tore materialised beside her, stumbling slightly before regaining his balance. He coughed once. “I think my dust has dust.”
“I think our pockets have treasure!” she grinned, scampering forward and using the key Tore had retrieved to open the next door. Sure enough, treasure. She whooped and grinning, rushing forward.
There was nothing like the adrenaline rush of adventuring with the knowledge that she was more than well equipped to handle whatever the tombs could throw at her.
She turned, pockets heavier, to see Tore watching her with an amused smile on his face. He was good for her; his mildness and laid back nature didn’t clash with her bossy tendencies and temper. He let her stomp and yell and vent and when she was done he’d simply take her in his arms and talk about the latest book he’d just read.
“You should chronicle this. Is that the right word?”
“You’d use it even if it wasn’t,” he said, smiling. She came towards him and lightly put her arms around his shoulders; he responded in kind. “But I was thinking something along those lines. I’d like to write.”
“Ha. Knew it. Can your heroine be a kick ass independent girl with sass the size of this tomb and as much awesome as your lovely wife?”
“Yeah, and she can be stubborn as a mule and bossy as a...” Tore trailed off. “I think you’re too bossy to be compared to anything.”
Despite herself, Korra grinned. “You say the sweetest things.”
“I was thinking -“
Korra held up a finger. Anyone else would have snapped, Tore merely fell silent and waited, eyebrow raised.
“Let’s leave the rest of the tombs and go back to camp. Then you can tell me all about it.” She waited and, sure enough, a smile blossomed on Tore’s face. It was only fair: he put up with her exploring, and she would show an interest in his writing. There were very few things that interested Tore enough to start and direct a conversation about it, so whenever he found something, Korra would take the time to listen and keep the ball rolling. It was how they made this work.
She laced their hands together and pulled him back, retracing their steps with ease. They returned to camp soon enough and, huddled around the firepit, he began to describe his ideas and she nodded along attentively, asking questions on ideas he needed to flesh out and responding with eagerness.
“Hey, ghostie?” Korra mumbled sleepily when Tore had said all he could think of and had fallen into a half doze beside her.
“Hmmm?”
“You can’t really write while we’re exploring.”
“I know.” It was said with quiet acceptance and no resentment.
“So let’s go home for a while,” she said, looking up at him. “After this adventure.”
Once again the smile blossomed. Once again she felt good for doing this for him.
“I would very much like that,” he smiled.
“That’s good.” She grinned at him, butterfly nerves fluttering in her stomach. “Because I don’t think we’ll be able to go adventuring for much longer. I mean, it’ll be difficult with a stomach this big and -“ she hesitated, took a breath, and said it all in a rush. “-and dealing with our baby in eight months time.”
Tore opened and closed his mouth several times until a coherent thought formed. “You’re pregnant?”
“Looks like it. You’re going to be a dad, ghostie.” She smiled at him tentatively.
The smile blossomed again, and Tore kissed her. “I love you so much.”
“That’s good, because if not I’d have driven you up the wall by now.”
“This much is true,” Tore allowed, cuddling up to her and brushing his fingers over her stomach, smiling against the back of her head.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Sosha has put me in contact with a coven who can help us deal with Ash,” Xander said as soon as he got in the door. He ran a hand through his hair and smiled at Risa, who looked tired and beautiful.
“Yeah, he’s been hiccupping bubbles all day and whenever I turn my back he’s conjured up the remote control.”
Xander chuckled. “How have the twins been?”
“Havoc.” She sighed and sunk into his embrace. She loved being a mother, the feeling of doing so much good without risking her life or seeing others around her get hurt. The worst that could happen here was the twins gang up on Ash, or Ash accidently use a spell on them - hence the need for a coven. Xander had no knowledge of how to teach his craft - only what he had learned. Apparently that wasn’t enough.
“Need help with anything?” His lips brushed over the top of her head. “I’m sorry I’ve been out all day.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Ash just needs to be put to bed. The girls are already sleeping.”
“You’re superwoman,” Xander grinned, pecking her forehead before leaping up the stairs to enter Ash’s bedroom. The little guy lit up when he saw his dad, and he shot to his feet and held out his arms.
“Hey, little guy!” It was a redundant nickname. Ash wouldn’t be so little in less than a year’s time. “It’s time for bed, my little spellcaster.”
“I’m not tired!” Ash whined.
“How about a story?”
The magic words. Ash’s eyes lit up again and he settled down in his bed as soon as Xander put him down. He grabbed the large book from the shelf - full of stories hand written by his line, which Quinn had helped him track down before Ash was born. They were a good way of teaching Ash the basis of Wicca.
Before the end, Ash’s eyelids were dropping. At the last paragraph, he was fast asleep. Xander smiled and tucked him in, kissing him on the forehead and muttering the spell of protection that was habit by now. He placed the book back on the shelf and returned to his own bedroom, where Risa was sitting.
“Do you think the girls will show any powers?”
“Maybe simple ones.” He sat on the other side of the bed and pulled her into a hug. “They’re leaning more towards vampire than warlock. They will be like Caddy. Vampire magic uses.”
Risa looked surprised. “I didn’t realise that was how she got her magic.”
Xander nodded. “I’ve been talking to her about what it was like. It might help. And of course now that Autumn is making arrangements with the elves, we’ll have a lot of help for whatever the kids need.” He kissed the side of her head. “Ash is going to be pretty powerful, though. Magic increases through the line.”
“The girls will be too. After what Caddy did...” Risa felt her throat tighten. The scene that had changed the tides in their fight was forever imprinted in her mind.
Xander was already shaking his head. “Arcadia was grief stricken. She reached inside a part of herself that she wouldn’t normally be able to touch, and she drew from the pain and fear and grief from everyone around her. That’s why the fight ended so quickly afterwards. No one had the energy to stand, let alone fight.” He paused. “To be fair, it is a pretty rare feat to be able to channel all that, but magic is at its purest when it’s closest to emotion and raw instincts.”
“It was still... amazing.”
“It was. But that’s magic.” He grinned at her. “I doubt the girls will ever get a chance to access even a bit of that power. Caddy was an exception in exceptional circumstances. I doubt she can use much magic now, actually.” The thought had only just occurred to him, and he frowned.
“I think she’s doing alright.” Risa smiled. “I think she’s found a guy to heal her heart.” When Xander arched an eyebrow, she continued on. “There’s a guy from one of the other teams. I think Quinn played match maker. They’ve both lost people. They’ll help each other heal. That’s the plan, anyway. And it will be good for her.”
“It will be,” Xander agreed. “We can only hope that she’ll take the chance.”
“And prod her in the right direction,” Risa said, giving a grin.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somehow, suddenly, Ven and Dova’s lives had become so hectic with teaching Netalia how to walk and talk, and keeping up with Ares while his ever increasing curiosity about werewolf heritage.
Ven took on less work when the Council became more established, so that he could look after the pups while Dova tried to cover two seats. As such, most the time when he went to bed Ven was already fast asleep and the pups were in their respective cots, snoozing as well.
Weekends, though. Dova loved weekends. There was once a time when he’d spend it catching up on TV, but now that time was a precious commodity he looked forward to spending most hours with the kids, while Ven stretched his legs outside the house to stop himself going stir crazy.
As fine as it was for Netty to crawl along and run like a wolf, it was time for her to learn how to walk like a human. Dova scooped her up in the morning, grinning when she nuzzled into him and made a sleepy noise, and took her into Ares’ room for learning how to walk. His master plan let him keep an eye on both, even if sibling rivalry did rear its ugly head.
“You have to learn to balance, Netty,” Ares said, playing with the blocks. He glanced over his shoulder when Netty huffed and growled.
“What do we say about growling, Netty?” Dova asked, raising his brows. “And what do we say about being mean to sisters, Air-bear?”
“Growling is for wolves,” she pouted.
“You’re always mean to auntie Korra!”
“She’s mean to -“ he protested, and waved a dismissive hand. “You can be mean to your sister when you’re an adult, how’s that?”
“Hey!” Netty said, looking up at her dad with wide eyes.
“And you can be mean to him, Netty. But only when you’re adults.” He scooped Netty up and gave her a quick hug. “Trust me, sisters can wrap older brother’s around their fingers,” he told her. Netty grinned and stuck her tongue out at Ares, who snapped his teeth back at her petulantly.
“Teeth!” Dova scolded. “No wolfy things while you’re human.”
“But why?” Netalia asked, whining.
“Because,” he began patiently, bouncing her on his hip. “Other children your age won’t understand and might get scared. And you need to be able to fit in with humans and learn to control your instincts and nature until you’re in the forest with your papa.”
Netalia pouted. Ares huffed.
“Papa will only back me up.”
That got their attention. Ven had explained - rather patiently - to Dova, that the instincts of the wolf was to obey their Alpha in everything, so while they’d be happy to test Dova’s limits, they’d never do the same to their Alpha. Which was kind of frustrating, but Dova understood. His law was second, anyway. If Ven wasn’t around, leadership fell to him.
They both accepted the reason and instead of growling and baring fangs at each other, they bickered like normal siblings. Dova rolled his eyes and tried to tell himself he hadn’t done the same with Korra.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first day of Winter, Korra came home and stopped by Dova’s house. By this point their lives weren’t so busy; with the solid foundation to the elves that Autumn had found, Ven had help with teaching the pups about the traditional side of werewolf culture and Ares was getting old enough to fully understand the difference between his human and werewolf instincts. Ven had come back to the Council full time, and they were expecting to hear back about the vampires in Oakley soon.
The first thing that Dova spotted was Korra’s slightly rounded stomach. He shook his head in mock sadness, struggling to keep the grin off his face. “You’ve let yourself go, Korra.”
She snorted and swatted at him. “I’m pregnant, you nitwit.”
“I like how you didn’t even tell anyone this.” He rolled his eyes as she protested - I did just now! - and pulled her into a hug. “Congrats, cuz.”
“Auntie Korra?!” Ares ran towards her, and she picked him up.
“How’s my little Fido?” she said, grinning. “My, you’ve grown so much! Look how big you are!”
Ares beamed. “I’m going to start big school soon!”
Dova laughed. “You have ten months to go.”
“That’s soon, right Rover?” Korra said, bouncing Ares before letting him down to run back to his toys.
“What is it with you lot and calling werewolves dog names?” Ven asked, rounding the corner from the kitchen. There was a smudge of flour on his cheek and Dova brushed it off with a grin.
“It’s fun, Scrappy.”
“Scooby,” Dova corrected.
“My bad.”
Ven shook his head. “I don’t know how I’m still sane with you two around.”
“You’re sane?” Dova said, sounding surprised. “Damn, I’d never have guessed.” He laughed when Ven swatted at him. The conversation quickly returned to Korra’s pregnancy, and Ven discussed it with her with growing enthusiasm.
After she left, Ven came into the kitchen with a small smile on his face and slipped on the stool next to Dova.
“You look like a lovesick puppy,” Dova accused. Ven’s grin widened when he recalled the words he’d first growled at Dova so long ago.
“Maybe I am.”
“Now you’re just buttering me up.” Dova smiled at him. “Was there a reason behind you looking at Korra and her growing stomach with envy?”
Ven ducked his head. “Maybe.”
Dova reached out and brushed his fingers over his cheek. “How about one more? I think five is a good number for the start of a pack.”
Ven smiled softly. “I do too.” He laced his fingers through Dova’s. “What about another girl?”
“Do you have a name in mind?”
“Unless you...?” When Dova shook his head, Ven went on. “Elyssia, then. Running with the theme and all.”
“Elyssia sounds perfect.” He slipped off the stool and kissed Ven briefly, before Ares skidded into the room with Netalia quick on his heels.
“Papa, papa! Look what we found!” He opened his hands to let a large butterfly free.
“Did you catch that yourself?” Ven cooed. Ares nodded rapidly.
“Do you think you could catch it again?” Dova asked, watching the butterfly flit around the room. Ares and Netalia both fanned out, Ven watching them with pride. They managed to pounce on it after a few failed attempts, and Ares presented it to Dova with trusting eyes.
“Would you like to keep it in a special cage?” he asked. Ares nodded excitedly, Netalia creeping up beside him.
“I want one!” she pouted.
“Well, go out and catch another one,” Ven challenged, slipping off his stool and heading for the back door. Ares and Netalia scampered after him, running out just as he opened the door, and he winked at Dova and blew him a kiss, to which Dova rolled his eyes and tried to figure out where to put the butterfly until he could find a cage.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“So, we’re going to be taking Elyssia home in a week, and Ares is going to start school in a month...”
“Where are you going with this?” Dova asked, glancing up from the computer with Council paperwork on the screen. “You know Quinn’s planning to update us about the vamps in -“
Ven pressed a hand over Dova’s mouth. “No work stuff,” he said firmly. “The children are in bed, and the house is quiet. You know the last time we went on a date?”
Dova laughed. “Ven, we went on one date. Years ago. If you try to take me out to a candlelit dinner I will end you.”
“As if. I could take you any day.”
“Please,” Dova scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh.”
Ven smirked at Dova, jerking his chair out and spinning it around. “Come on then,” he said grinning.
“It’ll wake the kids up.”
“Sure, you pansy.”
Dova scoffed. “I’m above this. I refuse to be lowered to your level.”
“I know a level you could be lowered to, though,” Ven quipped, giving him a grin. Dova stood up and stretched, shaking his head. When Ven glanced away, he dove for him and the two rolled to the floor, wrestling and laughing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Netalia peered over Ven's arm to see Elyssia, who looked like a cocooned bug to her. She decided to pout through the day until Ven and Dova promised her that she wouldn’t get any less attention.
It was nice to have a baby in the house again, especially because she was quiet and easy to make happy. With the handful that Ares and Jason were together, it was a blessing.
Netalia, thankfully, kept out of Ares and Jason’s trouble. She was more interested in playing with her toys quietly than running up and down the halls squealing noisily. There were times - usually closer to the full moon - when their tempers rose and they’d play roughly, but every time Dova got anxious about them hurting each other Ven had just assured him it was a wolf thing. The only time that one of them had been hurt was when Netalia had scraped along her arm from something or other, but by the time Dova could patch her up it had healed anyway. It didn’t stop him from watching them anxiously whenever they began to snap at each other.
It was times like these that Ven often interfered, more for Dova’s sanity than anything else. He’d take them outside to burn off energy or, if the weather was bad, take them on his lap to tell them stories. Sometimes they were of whatever the pups wanted (they never ran out of why questions), but sometimes they were more structured and organised stories.
Ven rocked with Netalia in his lap and Ares cuddled by his feet. The moon was almost full, so they had both been out in the garden running around and ‘hunting’, so they were thankfully worn out enough not to make story time difficult.
“What’s the story today, papa?”
Ven ran a hand through Netty’s hair. “Do you remember what I told you about one of the most famous werewolves?”
Ares perked up, always happy to look like the smart pupil. “Lycaon?” He almost pronounced it correctly.
“No, not him.” Ven smiled. “That's a story for another day. No, do you remember what I told you about Shaddix?”
Netty’s face screwed up. “The one who bit the vampire?”
“No, the one who made the treaties.”
Ares eyes lit up as he remembered. “Between the different packs?”
“Yeah,” Ven said, nodding. “Shaddix is either a blessing or a curse, depending on which wolf you ask. She was a powerful Alpha, and fair, and she set about stopping the petty wars between packs and established proper territories. When that happened, being a wolf was a lot safer. Not only did she stop all the needless deaths over silly disputes, but she also reduced the deaths of wolves who were targeted by anyone hunting us. They had a more difficult time tracking us down and catching us off guard. She wanted to make treaties between the only organised hunters there were, too, but she was killed before she could do that.”
“Who? Why?” Ares blinked up at his father.
“Packs who didn’t want to talk to the hunters. Packs who didn’t want things to be organised. Idiots, basically.” Ven shook his head. “And since she died, a lot of her work has been undone. Packs rarely outwardly attack each other, but neither do they contact each other, lend help when it’s needed, or even keep on good terms. It makes things difficult when you don’t have the neighbouring packs on your side, but its rarely done now.”
“What about the hunters? Do they still hurt us?”
Ven hesitated, but ultimately he couldn’t afford to misinform them. “Hunter is a general term. Anyone who actively seeks wolves down to trap or kill them are hunters. The organised kind, that Shaddix wanted to create a treaty with, are small in number. There aren’t any around here; what remains of the pack treaties explicitly states that you have to warn other wolves if there are, whether you like the pack or not.” He didn’t tell them that he doubted Mal would extend that help to him, but he’d foreseen that problem as soon as he had realised who the Alpha of the closest pack was. He’d made sure to contact the next pack along - the Trey’s - and they’d at least told him that much. “The point is, Shaddix’s work has been practically destroyed. It’s something a lot of wolves are either concerned or happy about, and you need to be informed about it.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“You realise,” Ven deadpanned, “that the havoc they’ve been causing already is only going to get worse.”
“Yeah.” Quinn laughed as Jason and Ares chased each other around the legs of family, which was quite a feat considering how many people were packed into the kitchen for Ares’ birthday. “It’s almost worth taking bets on how long it’ll be until one of them ends of in jail.”
With that, Danni glanced over to them with a raised eyebrow. Quinn smiled, giving her an innocent look, and she rolled her eyes.
“Has she given up on trying to make a good father out of you?” Ven laughed. Quinn tensed for a moment before his frozen expression melted into a grin.
“Hey, the best kind of father breaks his kids out of jail, what kind of parenting books have you been reading?”
“Are we counting an actual stay in jail, or just a light slap on the wrists and warnings? They’re underage. Besides,” Dova gave them both wicked grins. “They might not get caught.”
“You are a horrible influence on our children,” Ven said, straight faced. “I bet four years for a warning.”
Quinn cocked an eyebrow. “You have faith in them.”
“I just think they won’t get caught,” Ven snorted. “Ares is a wolf; he’ll love the adrenaline rush of it. What’s Jason’s excuse?”
“That Ares talked him into it,” Quinn said, cracking a grin.
“Ha! As if.”
Dova rubbed a hand over his face. “Oh God. If this actually happens I’ll sic Danni on you. I’m not going to be the parent of a kid who steals like he breaths.”
Quinn laughed and Ven bumped his shoulder, leaving Dova to wander over to talk to his cousins. Ven cleared his throat and shouted over to him, “get their opinions on the bet! We could make a nice pool out of this.” To which Dova groaned, shook his head, and accused Ven of encouraging illicit activities. Ares and Jason played with Ash, mindless of the playful banter of their parents.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course, there was never just one birthday. As soon as Ares was done and over with, Elyssia was sprouting up and moving about and gaining a curiosity about the world that only a toddler could have. Ares, who spent a lot of time playing in the centre park with Jason, Ash and Bryn, took to Elyssia quickly. He played peek-a-boo with her and Netty, enjoying helping his father teach El the beginnings of their werewolf nature.
“She’s actually scratching the furniture!” Dova called up to Ven, who was upstairs at his desk. “You promised me this wouldn’t happen!”
“No I didn’t,” Ven’s voice returned. “Deal with it! But if I hear you say the words bad and dog in the same sentence, I’m coming down!”
Ares, who had been listening to the conversation with a silly grin on his face, turned towards Dova as he scooped Elyssia up. “Daddy, wolves aren’t like dogs.” He giggled as Elyssia bared her teeth at Dova, and Dova gave Ares a meaningful look.
“It piss - annoys your papa though, so it’s worth it.”
“Is that what people do when they like each other?”
“Not normal people,” Dova returned, with a grin.
Ares tried again. “Is that what werewolves do?”
“I’m not a wolf, Air-bear, remember? But your papa - Christ, Elyssia, don’t chew my ear!” Dova ticked her, rolling his eyes. “Do you know how difficult it is to help pups when they teethe?” He groaned as Ares blinked up at him. “Never mind, pup. You are far too young to ask those questions. When you like a girl, or guy, then we can talk about why you shouldn’t be mean to them or hey, I don’t know, shove them up against walls.” He raised his voice at the end, and he wasn’t disappointed.
“You deserved it!” Ven’s voice shot back.
“You have anger issues,” Dova grinned, hearing Ven’s huff and subsequent low curses. Ares cocked his head, probably hearing them too, and Dova made a mental note to tell Ven that even swears under his breath were not allowed.
“I think I’ll just go play with Jason and Ash,” Ares said, slipping off his seat. His father snorted.
“Yeah, probably a good idea. Don’t forget, werewolf parkour at eight!”
Ares rolled his eyes, which was unnervingly how Ven did it. “Papa doesn’t like it when you call it that.”
“Essentially, it is werewolves doing parkour, so the name fits. Be back for tea, pup.”
Ares nodded and ran out the door, knowing the quickest route to Jason’s like the back of his hand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sessions went on, and as Ares gained a new intensity of curiousness, Ven gave him more to learn. Alongside school and normal lessons, Ares learned a variety of things - and not just about his heritage and werewolf mythology. Ven and Dova had sat down together and gone through all the things they’d wished they had known earlier, so Ares was rapidly taking in information about all kinds of supernaturals, the old council, even the beginning of proper fighting moves. Dova was happy to be able to cover the non-wolf lessons, and it gave him the opportunity to spend more time with Ares.
Alongside werewolf parkour and not nearly as interesting other lessons, Ares was fast beginning to look up answers to questions for himself. They had a book on loan from the elves, a huge supernatural encyclopaedia. There was a large section on werewolves, and Ares was devouring the information and telling his parents about it like they didn’t know a thing.
Well, sometimes they didn’t.
“Mates?” Dova asked, pausing in his preparation of muffins. “Mates, seriously? That’s a thing? I thought it was just bad fanfic and Twilight.”
The references went right over Ares’ head, but he bulled on. He’d grown used to his dad saying things he didn’t really understand yet. “Mates!” he said excitedly. “But it’s very rare, and only full wolf Alpha’s can ever get it. Even so, it happens in a -“ he paused and squinted his eyes. Dova waited patiently. “A one in... in... eighty? Ninety? Chance.” Ares looked put out. “Something like that.”
“So, theoretically, how many Alpha-mate pairs or whatever, are there in this country?”
This was a common thing: test time. Ares bit his lip and thought it through. “There are about a hundred packs spread out all over, technically, but a lot of the bigger ones are split into two but even so they wouldn’t be controlled by two Alphas.” He went on. “But there are omega packs, ones like papa said he had, where even if there are two or three wolves there will still be an Alpha, even if they’re not registered as a pack. But you can’t know how many there are.”
“Estimate,” Dova pressed.
Ares huffed, and Dova grinned at how alike to Ven’s moody huff it was. “It could be any number.” When his father said nothing, he gave in. “They think there could be up to three hundred of these small packs, but it... changes.”
“Fluctuates,” Dova corrected.
He nodded. “And so there could be anywhere from two to four or five Alpha-mate pairs.” He looked troubled. “But what if an Alpha has a mate and then his status is revoked? The book didn’t say anything about that.”
“You’d have to ask your father that one.” Dova paused, thinking. “Not sure if he knows about mates, though. Sure as hell never mentioned it to me in our bad-werewolf-tv marathons.”
“I’ll go ask him,” Ares said, promptly running off before Dova could even blink. He grinned, shook his head, and got back to work baking. Tonight they were going to have a birthday celebration for Netty, and although she didn’t want a huge party with all the family over, they were going to make her favourite foods and spend the evening doing whatever she wanted.
It was all planned, and that was why Dova was ready to punch Quinn when he announced that it was time to pay the Oakley vampires a visit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow it wasn't going to end like that but then I realised my last picture was wrong and I am not loading up the game to redo it. Also, I'd left the vampires too long. Two birds, one stone and all that.
I know this is so late but I don't think I'll be able to get the pictures for the next chapter before I go to uni. I have to move all my sims stuff onto my laptop too. /mourns the loss of most of my cc.
The next chapter may take 2 or 3 weeks to come out unless I am in a serious simming mood. Apologies!
Also I just realised that Netty and Elyssia look so similar and I even dressed them in the same clothes. Oops..
I'm thinking the stories that Ven tells the kids may become important. I may play around with Lycaon's myth too, but I promise you now that I'm not going to do a hunter story line. I've already got a cliche to play with this gen, I don't need hunters too! :D