Coming of Age Ch. 03

"For now would you mind if we put you in a room near those four?" Amy asked.

"We can always move you if you don't like it there." Wolfgang added.

"ENOUGH!" Keira yelled at Ghan the moment Amy and Wolfgang walked Ash into the entrance hall, both winced as this was not a good first impression. "Get it through you thick Neanderthal skull," Keira continued, her fists were balled up and she was a moment away from breaking something. "I am being trained for Beta status, whether you like it or not."

"Keira..." Ghan said slightly frustrated. "You have the rest of time to train..."

She nodded, "Yes, because I am immortal which means we also have forever to start a family, we don't have to do it now!" She glared at her mate, "I am going for a run before dinner, don't follow or I might take my anger out on you." She turned and stormed from the room.

Ghan turned to Wolfgang to ask for support, Wolfgang help up his hands, "don't look at me, I wouldn't dream of forcing my need for cubs on Amy. When they come they come."

"Ghan," Amy said, "you have eternity to start a family, why do you feel the need to start one now?" She asked wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"Amy... I am over ten thousand years old... I have been mated 14 times to different incarnations of Keira, however... in all that time... we've never had cubs." He explained, "I just want to see if we have that potential... to try."

"Have you told her that?" Wolfgang asked. "Have you explained why trying to start a family is important to you?"

Ghan's silence was the answer.

"Look... you and Keira need to start talking to each other, explaining what you both want out of your relationship." Wolfgang said firmly.

"And you need to remember that Keira has been looking forward to Beta training since she was accepted as being Beta rank two years ago." Amy added, "A compromise, let her do her training, it should only take her two years instead of the normal three, then you can start trying for a family."

Ghan nodded and sighed, "I think I'll let her chill." He turned and left.

Wolfgang turned to Ash, "ignore those two, they were real good friends until Ghan turned around and said they were mates on her coming of age day spoiling her plans."

"This way." Amy said taking Ash up stairs and to the west wing of the manor where their family was situated, the Ancients had the east wing and everyone else had the south wing while the north front of the manor housed the social areas and libraries.

"Feel free to explore, just if you see a yellow door... don't open it." Wolfgang said; it was in fact the one rule that was the most important; the Merlins had connected the Manor to the temple with four very simple yellow doors.

"Yellow doors are very dangerous, avoid them." Amy added her own warning.

Ash nodded, he would avoid the yellow doors.

"Now there are several rooms you can choose from." Wolfgang said as they came to a hallway, the gentle sounds of a cello reached their ears.

"Thais plays the cello, Temperance plays the drums, and Serenity plays the piano primarily although she is really getting into the guitar." Amy explained, "So don't be surprised to hear music in the middle of the night."

"Gwynt?" Ash asked glancing between Amy and Wolfgang.

"Flute." They answered together.

Wolfgang opened a door and gestured for Ash to enter. Ash walked in and paused shocked, this room was huge. Its main feature was a massive bed which sat on a raised platform, bean bags sat in a bay window next to empty book shelves, and a desk was nearby.

"You have an en suit and walk in wardrobe." Amy said as she pointed out the well hidden false wall which hid the entrance to the bathroom, the false wall being part of the walk in wardrobe.

"Wait... all this for me?" Ash asked a little dazed, since his mother's death no one had really done anything nice for him and this was beyond nice.

Amy and Wolfgang nodded. "Now... clothes." Amy said as she paced around him. A decent pile of clothes appeared on the bed. "That will do for now, if you need anything and Wolfgang and I aren't around, see Haley, she'll take you shopping."

"We'll leave you to settle." Wolfgang said as he guided Amy from the room, when the door closed behind them they sighed relieved, "I now see what you saw... he is a very special young man." He pulled her close and rested his head on hers.

"Yes." She answered, "how about a bath?" She asked, "We have the time."

Dinner was an eye opener for the young man, there were just so many people and they were loud. Dinner was the only formal meal held in the house he would later learn, Thais grabbed Ash as he walked cautiously into the room and led him to a seat.

Sage grinned, "Hi, you must be Ash, I'm Sage." She offered her hand to him and he shook it. She watched him for a moment as he glanced around. "You get used to the madness. I promise."

Alanna sat and smiled at Sage, "hey Sage, you, me and Electra, tonight?"

Sage nodded she felt like a good rough and tumble run with her sisters. "Hell yeah!"

Wolfgang whistled and everyone went silent and turned to him, "Okay... everyone we have a fosterling in the house, his name is Ash and he is human so the no fighting in the manor rule is back... I don't have to remind you what happened the last time that rule was broken." His eyes landed on Sage who bowed her head and then to Mayhem who rubbed the back of her neck. "Introduce yourselves when you get the chance but don't crowd him." He smiled, "enjoy." He sat and everyone started to eat.

Dinner had gone quickly, he had never seen so much food and by the end almost all of it had been devoured. After dinner he had gone off and explored... actually avoid was a better word, he just felt overwhelmed. His exploring only got him as far as the great library; he had never seen such a large private collection before.

He walked around looking at the titles, running his fingers against the spines; his mother had loved her books and had passed that love onto him. Wolfgang found him there an hour later still looking around, only by now he was perched on a ladder and looking.

"So, you like books?" Wolfgang said startling Ash who quickly scurried down the ladder and put his hands behind his back thinking he had done something wrong. "Ash, the libraries are open to everyone in this house."

"Libraries?" Ash asked.

"There are five, this is the great library; it contains the largest collection of Non-human works outside of the Temple. Then there are four lesser libraries, two are dedicated to fiction both modern and not so modern, another one to human works and the last one is another Non-human library." Wolfgang explained, he held out his hand and a marking rod with Ash's name on it appeared in his hand, he was only just getting used to being able to will things from his mind into life.

"This is a marker, when you borrow a book you place this where the book was and when you are done you can find where it came from and put it back. None of the original books can leave the house but if you ask we can make a copy." Wolfgang offered the marker to Ash which he took

"Ah, here you are." Amy said as she walked in with a box. "I have some books for you, to start your own little library." She offered the box to Ash.

Ash took the box, "for me?"

Amy nodded, "Were and Other history volumes one, two and three, Were Myths and Legends, A Guide to Were Culture and some others. Everything to help you understand the world you live in and some of the people around you."

Wolfgang chuckled, "Ash it's a primer box of books that Amy gives to anyone who comes into our life. I'm told it helps a lot."

A throat was cleared; the three turned and came to focus on Nathanael. "Wolfgang, Amy, I am here for Ash."

Wolfgang wrapped an arm around Ash, "Nathanael is the family doctor; all new people to the house get a physical from him so that he knows you."

"More so since you've been on the streets for a while." Nathanael added, "please sit." He gestured to a chair. Ash put the box down and sat, Nathanael put his bag down as he knelt and took Ash's hands and held them for a few moments, "good, not as bad as I thought." He said as he released Ash.

"Huh?" Ash said a little confused, he had been examined by doctors before and they did all types of things, none of which Nathanael had done.

Nathanael chuckled, "I am a Were healer which means I have some kind of ability to heal people without the normal techniques used by modern human doctors, although I have human medical degrees." he explained as he rummaged in his bag. "Okay you have some malnutrition which these tablets plus the healthy diet you will receive here will correct." He handed the tablets to Ash; "One in the morning until the bottle is empty." he placed a second bottle in Ash's hands. "You have picked up some internal parasites these tablets will kill them, one in the morning and one at night until the bottle is empty. I will know if you skip one." he warned before he stood and left.

"Come on, I think after today a big soft bed sounds good right about now." Amy said scooping up the box and taking his hand.

After being left in his room he had gone through the box placing each book carefully on the empty book shelves. Once they were arranged to his satisfaction he changed into a pair of silk pants and crawled into bed. To say the bed was big was an understatement, he could lie at any angle and still not hang over the side; he wondered why it was even necessary. He finally settled in the middle of the massive bed and finally drifted to sleep.

An hour later Ash's bedroom door opened, two wolf cubs and two sabre cubs crept into the room and over to the bed. To call them cubs was a little misleading, they were larger than any of their non-Were relatives and in fact larger than some adult Were, but for immortal cubs they were small when compared to their parents.

Carefully they crawled onto the bed with Ash and curled around him and each other before they all promptly went to sleep.

That was how Ash woke the next morning, surrounded by big warm bodies. He almost freaked out, Serenity raised her head and yawned before she rubbed her face against his and started to purr. He started to relax as he knew purring was a good thing, cats purred all the time when they were happy.

The door opened and in walked Anna, she rested her hands on her hips, "Ah, here you all are." She mused but no one moved. She grinned and walked over to the big bed; she grabbed one of Temperance's ears and tugged on it.

Temperance growled.

"Don't growl at me, get out of bed and go get ready for the day. Come on up." Anna reached for one of Gwynt's ears but Gwynt was already off the bed and following Temperance from the room. "You too Thais, Serenity, up and out."

Serenity chuffed and got up; she paused for a moment and licked Ash's face before she walked off the bed. Thais nipped at her and followed her out.

"Don't be surprised if they crawl into bed with you again, it's common with cubs and the main reason the beds are so big." Anna said before she turned and started to leave the room, "come down for breakfast when you are ready dear." She paused at the door and turned back to him, "by the way, I'm Anna." She said before she turned and walked away shutting the door as she left.

Ash got up and made his bed before he showered and dressed for the day. He raced down stairs and paused as the door was flung open and five people walked in, two were supporting three others, he recognised and knew one, Sage, the others he had seen but didn't know the names of. "AMY! WOLFGANG!" Ash called out as he raced down stairs and over to help support the three women who could barely stand.

"Thanks," Tarval said as he offered Alanna to Ash, as he knew Ash wouldn't be able to support Sage on his own. Ash wrapped his arms around Alanna's waist as her weight was transferred into him; he kept his eyes away from the very naked Alanna and tried to keep himself from touching anything. Amy and Wolfgang raced into the room, having heard Ash they thought something was wrong with him.

"They didn't come to bed last night," Tarval explained, "it's not uncommon but they said they weren't staying out they were just going for a run. We found them in a clearing not far from here, they could barely move and it looks as if they dragged themselves there."

Wolfgang walked forward and scooped Sage up freeing Tarval. Tarval went back to Ash, "here I'll take her, I'm Tarval by the way and that is Alanna." He said as he scooped his mate up into his arms.

"Hey Ash can you come help me with Electra." Mayhem asked and he raced over.

"What can I do?" He asked.

"She is all dead weight; know what a fireman's chair is?" Mayhem asked. Ash nodded and flung Electra's right arm over his shoulders and locked wrists with Mayhem before they both bent down and locked their other wrists and rested them under Electra's thighs and lifted. Mayhem smiled, "thanks, I'm Mayhem by the way."

"Where do you want them?" Amy said turning to Nathanael who had come at her mental summons, it was so much easier having him live at the manor now, Maddie stood just behind him watching carefully as did Rhun just in case they needed access to the pod room in the temple.

Nathanael shrugged, "I don't know, what happened?"

None of the three women answered as they were either asleep or too dazed to speak. Wolfgang went to open his mouth but Thais was suddenly there. Wolfgang turned to his son, "what happened to them?"

"They stumbled into the forbidden clearing." Thais explained.

"Then what happened?" Nathanael asked.

"A mist rose up and they broke free." Thais answered.

Rhun walked forward, a long rod of clear crystal in his hands; he let it hover over each woman for a few moments. He stepped back a turned to Amy, "energy unbalance similar to what you experienced back before you first encountered the Tylwyth teg."

Amy frowned; the only way back then to correct the unbalance was to go to the teg, this time they had caused it. "Let's just put them to bed and see what happens, if they are still this weak in a few days we'll take them back out to the ley line and see if the teg corrects what's happened."

Everyone nodded and started up the stairs. Wolfgang brushed Ash's cheek with his fingers as Ash walked passed. Ash paused and turned to Wolfgang. "Nice to see you fitting in."

"It is the right thing to do." Ash answered.

Wolfgang smiled, "you'll fit in well Ash."

~present time~

Wolfgang chuckled, "honey, didn't you listen to your brother, you will still be a Beta; you'll just hold a little more sway with your group." He turned to Thais, "I always thought Ash would go off and form his own group."

Thais shook his head, "you underestimate the hold you and ma have over his heart; he would never freely choose to leave you."

Wolfgang hugged his daughter, "See, you'll still answer to me just like you would if you were a Beta, even now I can feel the Alpha inside of you submitting to me. We won't have any problems."

"Are the lessons hard?" Serenity asked.

"Not really, you just need to learn control it, to know when to use your influence and when not to and you'll learn quickly as a Beta, it will help you and you can grow into your influence. Your ma and I will help you as much as we can and Ash will help."

Serenity smiled, "if he is ever home," as the new head enforcer Ash was busy working with the current enforcers and training a new batch, it meant he had little time at home but that would change soon as the first few months of his new post was over and the changeover was complete.

"Come on you know it won't be like this for long, it shouldn't have happened this way, he was slowly meant to take over for Sammy but then Nathanael found out it was high risk pregnancy and ordered her to bed. I can't wait for her cubs to come; I want her and Ash to share the head enforcer role, her training him leading." Wolfgang explained.

There was a knock on the door and Gillian walked in with a smile, "Sorry times up, you have a meeting with some of your Betas now."

Wolfgang hugged Serenity, "Christmas break, we'll work on your control, until then try to meditate at night, bring the feeling you have of your influence and force it into a small box."

"And if I fail?" She asked.

Wolfgang smiled, "we all fail when we first try to do it, just keep on trying until you know you have it, have Thais or one of the others help you, they should be able to sense it if you haven't got it right and if you have." He messed her hair before he scooped up the paper work and left the room.

"We better go... Crystal and Myth are pissed." Thais said just as he willed them back to Serenity's room. Crystal and Myth were waiting and both had an unimpressed look on their faces.

Crystal pointed at both of them before she began to talk, "ours jobs... are to protect you, we can't protect you... if you VANISH on us."

"What she said." Myth agreed.

"Sorry... it was important." Thais explained.

"Okay... why was it important and where did you go?" Crystal asked resting her hands on her hips.

"We went to speak with da," Serenity explained, "see... if da were mortal... I would be the next alpha."

"Her influence has awakened; it can be a rude shock for someone who hasn't been prepared for it." Thais added. "So I took her to da for a chat, she needed it."

Crystal thought for a few moments, "Fine... if... there is a next time... take us. If anything happens to you while we aren't around we have to answer to your mother."

The siblings nodded.

"Um... could you all do me a favour, just keep this to yourselves for now?" Serenity asked and the other three nodded, respecting that Serenity first had to wrap her mind around this before everyone knew. Besides they had plans to blow off steam and relax at the end of the week, like Jay said... they needed to celebrate.