Silver Moon: A Change Ch. 07

When Paulo walked into the office the girl looked up at him and the first thing she saw was eyes that were so green it was almost unbelievable. The next thing she saw was how gentle they looked. For a brief moment she wanted to fall into them but she couldn't. Instead she looked back down at her hands which were in her lap.

Dan looked over at him and stood up. "Paulo I have a job for you. You are going to be responsible for taking care of a potential new pack member's daughter. She has been hurt and you are responsible for her. For the time being, she is going to be in the pup's room and not the older girls' room. You are going to be with her day and night for whatever she might need. Do you understand?"

Paulo froze and then looked at the man and then the girl. When she looked up at him for a brief moment there was a flicker of interest and then just looked wounded again. Based on the look in her eyes, his face hardened into a look of resolve. "Sir, I accept your orders and will protect her and ensure she comes to no harm." He moved closer to Sylvia and stood tall and proud.

Damn it but Dan had to resist either crying or shouting out in happiness. Some of his wolves were starting to get the idea. "I expected nothing less from you son. Take her to the pups' room and introduce her around. I am sure that Giani will want to say hello." That little hellion would be good for her.

"Yes My Alpha, I will take care of her." He nodded and then walked over to the girl and when she flinched his face hardened and then softened. "My name is Paulo and My Alpha has placed you in my care. I will not hurt you. I will protect you, though you don't need to worry about that here. Let me show you to the pups' room and introduce you to some of my friends. I think you will like them." He held his hand out to Sylvia, but didn't force her to take his hand.

She looked at him and then at her father. When she got a nod from Maric she slowly and tentatively reached her hand out and took his. When she did, her fingers fluttered slightly and she didn't notice the tension around his eyes when he felt that. She didn't say anything but stood up from next to Angie. Her eyes were on the floor when she did and simply followed him out of the room.

Paulo wrapped an arm around the young woman's shoulder and his face was hard as rock. As they traversed the halls, some of the others recognized the expression from Dan and moved out of the way. When they walked into the kids' room he urged her over to what had been Mari's bed and settled down next to her. "Hey, you Mousekateers come here." He knew they were close and smiled when they came tumbling into the room.

He frowned slightly when the girl tensed up and he looked at them and shook his head at their antics. "Quiet little ones, this is Sylvia and she is going to be staying with you for a few days. Her father is talking to our Alpha about becoming part of the pack." Paulo gave Giani a hard look and then flashed his eyes at the girl.

Giani sort of got the idea and slowly walked over to her and leaned against her leg. "Hi Sylvia. Welcome to the pack. I hope you like it here." She sort of probed the girl, though it was an immature probe, and wrapped her arms around her leg. "Danny will protect you." For some reason, Giani seemed to have a bit more ability than most of the pack; probably because she was going to be an alpha female.

Paulo leaned over and lightly thunked her nose. "That is either Alpha or Dan stinker, and not Danny." He knew that Dan wasn't really fond of Danny though he allowed it with the cubs.

She growled at him. "My nose. Either spanking or tickly fingers and no thumping nose." She stomped her foot at him when she said that.

He snickered and then reached over and pulled her into his lap. "Tickly fingers it is then beastie." As he started tickling her ribs he glanced at the girl next to him and she looked shocked. "Our Alpha has dictated either a spanking or tickly fingers as a punishment for the little ones unless they are being really bad."

Giani was wiggling and giggling as he was tickling her till he was done and crawled onto the bed next to her. She was between Paulo and Sylvia and leaning against the girl. "Dan is a great Alpha and I think you will like him once you get to know him."

She looked shocked at the interaction and then the damaged eyes came back. She had never seen interaction between a younger and older wolf this way. It was totally outside her world and didn't know what to make of it.

Giani's minions walked over and one boy shifted and hopped up on the bed and wiggled his way into her lap and curled up. The other boy settled down at her feet and leaned against her leg to help comfort her. They could feel the agony her wolf was in and much like they had done with Dan, they were doing their best to help her.

Paulo smiled. "I have a feeling you are going to find a number of cubs in your bed at night. If you do, let them take care of you. You are going to have Mari's old bed and it has room for you and any number of us cubs."

Slowly the other cubs walked into the room and shifted and padded over to Paulo and the new female and ended up curled around her. "See, I told you they are going to snuggle with you. Nothing will happen to you here." That was whispered in her ear. "I will be here as well and protect you as My Alpha told me to." He would be in wolf form but still he would be there for her.

Nancy walked in and looked at the other girl and immediately stripped down and changed before softly padding over and hopped on the bed. Nancy settled down next to Sylvia and covered the cub in her lap with her head and whined quietly. *You will be fine lovey. My Alpha will take care of you and teach you how to protect yourself.*

Sylvia slowly lowered one hand and stroked the female wolf's head. She couldn't trust that and couldn't believe it though her wolf tried to tell her that it was possible. Her father had brought her here to take care of her, but it just wasn't possible.

~~~

Dan watched Sylvia's father's face as Sylvia left the room. "Maric, I am going to say this once and once only. She is going to be well watched after and if anyone hurts her, I will deal with it. The two of you are now under my protection and that is the beginning and end of it." He stood up and sighed. "Just hope what happened last time doesn't happen now."

Maric stood up and then froze. "What happened last time?" That didn't sound good and if needed he was going to get her and take her from here.

Dan smiled. "Last person I accepted into my pack ended up with a mate. You remember Angie? Well she ended up as the mate of my other submissive, the giant that brought you in to my office. It was sort of an interesting day." They were talking as they were walking out of the office and then house and he heard a snicker or two.

Maric's face was a study in conflicted feelings. Eventually humor won out. "I am sure that was an interesting day." He didn't want a mate right now. He had loved his mate and loved her deeply, and they had been together a long time before she had died. When she had fallen and struck her head and died from the injuries, it had almost broken his heart. The only thing that kept him there was his daughter.

"Everyone come." Again, his howl was golden amber and even Maric's daughter responded and came out. "I am accepting a new member on an interim basis. He is going to be my Beta and his name is Maric. This is his daughter and her name is Sylvia. Sylvia is under the protection of both me and Paulo. I will deal with anyone that upsets her." His eyes wandered around.

The pack looked at Paulo and the girl in his arms as well as the Mousekateers who were surrounding them and tried not to snicker. All of them were looking very determined and Paulo had one of Dan's expressions on his face.

The mention that the new wolf was going to be Dan's beta got different reactions and several of the male wolves growled. Saul didn't since he could feel the man's dominance but knew it was going to be an interesting day or two.

Maric's head popped up and he stared at Dan and it took a few moments to really contemplate what he had said. "Alpha you don't know me, how can I be your Beta? I am not worthy of this position."

That was answer enough for Dan and he smiled. "That is answer enough. My pack, my rules, my decision. You are going to be my Beta till I change my mind." All of the pack lowered their heads including Maric's daughter.

Gary lowered his head and then growled. "No damn it. He is new to the pack and I challenge him to his position." He lifted his head and glowered at the other male.

Dan moved back from the challenge circle. "Do you accept the challenge Maric? It is going to be in human form and till one is unconscious or submits."

Maric moved into the circle and nodded. "I do accept. I will either win or give over the position you have given me." Since his daughter was there he wasn't going to lose come hell or high water. "Come cub, I will teach you to respect your elders."

Gary didn't even think twice before he launched his body into the circle. The fight wasn't anywhere as short as any of Dan's but it was obvious that Maric knew what he was doing and knew it well. At the end of the fight, he was kneeling on Gary's back and had his head pulled back with an arm around it. "Submit or die."

Gary rolled an eye at him and tilted his head. "I submit Beta. Spare me." It was barely a whisper but the other wolf could easily hear it.

Moments later the arms around his neck were loosened and Maric stood up. He looked at the other wolves. "Any questions? I am Beta and you will obey." He could feel the submission from the wolf he had just dealt with as well as from the pack.

Dan managed not to smile and was pleased with his decision. "Challenge accepted, resolved, and Maric is Beta. Go and continue with what you were doing." He nodded at them and then nodded at Maric. "Come and we will talk."

~~~ Some time later

Paulo knocked on the door to Dan's office. "Sir, I need to talk to you please." His voice was tense as he spoke.

Dan looked up and nodded. "Come in son and have a seat. How can I help you?" He had a sort of open door policy for all of his pack members.

Paulo walked around the front of Dan's desk and stood there looking stressed. "Sir, I am not sure if I am the best one to watch Sylvia. I have discovered that she is going to be my mate." Tears were showing as he was talking.

Dan looked startled and then leaned forward. "Um, in that case you are the best one to be watching her. If she is your mate, then if I tried to put you elsewhere that wouldn't work out. I am glad you came to me since till both of you are 18 there will be no mating." God this was not what he wanted or needed. They were supposed to go to the Clan properties in a week and he had a damaged lycan who might be the mate of one of his oldest pups.

Paulo looked slightly shocked and more than a bit upset with Dan's comment. "Of course not sir and definitely not till she is healed however long that takes." He took a slow deep breath and tried to control both his anxiety as well as the sort of insult of Dan's comment. "I would never do that Alpha, never."

Dan managed not to role his eyes at the young man. He hadn't been intending to insult him but to simply restate the pack rules. Dan moved his chair back. "Come here son." Dan could feel his concern and irritation and wanted to comfort the young man.

When he did Dan picked him up and settled him on his lap. The boy wasn't small in any way but was well under Dan's weight at the moment since he still had some growing to do. "I am glad you found your mate but sorry it was in this way. I didn't mean to insult you but to remind you. We will do what we can for her and to return her to you healed." He tucked Paulo's head under his chin. "I promise as your Alpha that I will do anything and everything to heal your mate son."

Paulo tensed and then leaned into his Alpha and snuggled a bit. "Please do Dan it is killing me to see her this way. God, I want to kill the bastard who did this to her. I have never hated someone this bad and want his blood coating my teeth." His hands were tied up in Dan's shirt and if he did much more he was going to rip it to shreds.

"Paulo that is my job right now. I will deal with him. Right now all you need to concern yourself with is your future mate." Dan's voice was firm since he didn't want a youngling to have to kill another person. "It didn't really matter why you did but it would burn the kill into your soul. As I said your job right now is to take care of her and nothing else."

Paulo shuddered slightly. "Sir, she is my mate, how can I not take care of her? How can I not kill the bastard who did this to her?" He didn't want to cry but he was close to it.

Dan stroked the young man's back. "Paulo you are not an Alpha and will only kill to protect the pack. It is my job to make sure you don't have to kill unless you have to. Believe me I know how a kill can burn itself into your soul." Dan pulled the young man closer. "I can feel all the kills I have had to do over the years and if I can keep you from feeling that I will." He closed his aged eyes and sighed.

"Paulo go and keep watch on your probable mate. I am going to see what I can do to heal her. Go son and I will talk to you later." That was an order and Paulo nodded and left the room.

Dan groaned. This was definitely not what she needed, not that it mattered at this moment. They wouldn't have sex till they were 18 and their wolves knew that. "Damn it, this is a problem." He could only think of one way to deal with this. He pulled Alysson's card out of his rolodex and punched it into the phone.

When it was answered, he cut the other person short. "This is Alpha Dan and I need to talk to Alysson and I mean I really need to talk to her." Normally he wasn't this abrupt but he had to talk to her to get Sheliae down there to help the girl.

"Yes sir, just a moment." She transferred him over.

"Morning Dan, what can I do for you? My secretary indicated it was urgent. Is everything okay?" She didn't think it had anything to do with Mari or Geoff since he had been making regular calls to her and her mate.

"I need to borrow Sheliae from you. I have a badly damaged pup that I am trying to help and was just informed by one of my older pups that she is his mate." Dan wasn't sure how he was sounding on the phone though his voice was definitely showing stress.

"I can help Dan but I can't release her. She is directly responsible for Geoff's education and training and simply can't leave him." She paused and contemplated it. "Dan, I am going to send a plane down and all of you are going to come up here. I think all of you could use a break and though Sheliae is a spirit healer she is primarily a teacher. I have people who only do spirit healing and are much better at it. I will arrange housing and getting more food."

He stiffened and growled at her. "I am not a dog to obey your orders woman. This is my pack and nobody else's." There was definitely a snarl in there as well.

Alysson froze for a moment and then sighed. "I am sorry Alpha, I didn't mean to make that sound like an order. I, as much as you, am used to commanding my clan." She sighed. "Let me rephrase it, I would like to invite you and your pack up here to see Mari and so we can see if we can help your little wolf. I would greatly appreciate getting to meet the wolf that can demand such respect from both Geoff and Mari."

His wolf thought on that and settled down and nodded. "I far and away prefer the way you put that the second time and to help several pack members I will accept the offer. When do you want us to come up?" His voice was calmer than it had been sounding.

"I can have the plane there this afternoon if that will work. If you have a damaged wolf and she is a kit as well, then the sooner the better." Kits were the next generation and the future and had to come first. It wasn't something some of the packs and other non-humans thought but she and Dan were in agreement on that.

"Have it here at 4ish and I will get my pack ready to travel." For a moment he tried to resist laughing since it sounded like a version of 'have gun will travel'. The laughter won. He started snickering and once he was able to control them he told her about it. "Where I come from, there is a saying 'have gun, will travel'. To me it was almost like saying 'have pack, will travel'."

She actually giggled at that and it had been a while. "Oh man that is wrong Dan but so funny. God I would hate to see what your old pack might be like since you were in charge. I know that your new pack is becoming very strong and capable. I will see you this evening." They talked for a moment or two more before she hung up.

~~~ Later that evening

Alysson looked at her husband and smiled. "I can't help but wait to meet him. To have someone like Mari looking up to him and even now calling him her pack leader says so much."

Jon couldn't help but smile at her and since she was sitting next to him he picked her up and settled her on his lap. "I think I might be a bit jealous... Might have to challenge him for my mate." He pretended to yip at her and then attacked her neck.

She started giggling and tried to push him away from her. "Gah, no, not my neck you evil man. I am going to have to do something to you." She couldn't help but giggle and try and wiggle away from him since he knew all of her sensitive spots.

Right about then there was a knock on the door and her assistant opened it. Next to her was Dan and she froze mid-step. "Um, ma'am this is Alpha Danilo Legarith..." She wasn't really sure what to do. She had found her clan leader in a similar position a number of times but not with a new Alpha coming to visit.

Dan tried not to smirk. "Um, if needed I can come back later?" There was definite laughter in his voice when he said that.

Both of them looked at him and Jon started snickering. "Maybe I won't challenge him... I think he could sit on me and squash me." He sat up and then stood and pulled his wife on her feet. "Please come in Alpha Danilo and have a seat. I take it you have your pack with? I will go and see to them."

Dan grinned. "If you are anything like Geoff with a sword I have a feeling it would be a fair fight and not sure why you would want to challenge me." His expression changed slightly. "Sylvia is in the room with the pups."

Jon laughed and shook his head. "I think I am going to go and take care of your pack Dan. I will make sure that they are in the guest quarters." He paused. "I will make sure that Geoff and Mari know you are here and make sure your little wolf isn't separated from your pups." His face softened. "Kits come first. I will make sure she is well taken care of Alpha."

Dan's face tensed up and then nodded. "I don't know if you know, but all the pups under 13 share a room. She has been sleeping in Mari's bed since she arrived. Make sure she and Paulo as well as the pups are in the same room."

Jon looked at him and nodded. "Can do and I will take care of it right now." He walked out of the office door and closed it behind him.

Alysson stood up. "I am pleased to finally meet you Dan. I don't really know you but seeing the person that Mari is has shown me you are as a worthy male is important. From what I have been able to see you are one hell of a Pack Leader."

They talked for several hours while her husband saw to his pack.

~~~

Mari felt Dan arriving and as soon as the rest of the pack walked in. She hurried out and gave all of them a hug. Now she was very obviously, though not heavily, pregnant and most of the women gave her a good hug and rubbed her belly. All of the little cubs scurried over and gave her a hug and rubbed her tummy as well. The new girl, she didn't even think twice about giving her a hug. "You must be Sylvia and welcome to the clan house."