Beauty and the Were~Beast

A Twist of Fate

After Callan's cold shoulder the other day, he all but disappeared. He does his daily tasks that are required by his position, but nothing more. His son is out and about more. Sometimes he has his two younger siblings in tow. Normally, I would chase kids out of the Manor, but they live in the Beta Wing. Occasionally, I realize that I am acting a bit stalkerish as I follow the children from a safe distance. But curiosity has been getting the best of me. Since when did Callan have kids? I thought we were friends. Maybe I was mistaking polite courtesy as friendship. Do I have any real friends? The answer seemed glaringly obvious. Not a single pack member has approached me unless it was out of necessity. Even then, it was professional and short. I have never felt so damn alone in my entire life. Not even the she-wolves that wanted me for my status were bothering to stop by.

I needed some fresh air. I lived in the largest residence on pack lands and yet it felt suffocating. As I stepped outside, I overheard the pups I had been watching through the window earlier. They were huddled up on the short wall with their backs turned to me. They were looking at something.

"Pwease Nowah, wead it again..." A pup no more than four summers old was pleading with him.

"Yes, please!" The other pup asked eagerly. He appeared to be around eight

"Okay, okay..." Noah sighed all too heavily for a boy of twelve. "Dear Noah, Adam, and Conner...."

"That's me!" Declared the youngest enthusiastically. He repeated it softer the second time as he pointed at himself due to being hushed by Noah. "That's me..."

"Conner, let me finish! Don't interrupt." He continued reading what appeared to be a letter. "Dear Noah, A-"

"You read that already!" Complained the one that must be Adam.

"AAAAAGHH..." Noah growled with annoyance. "FINE! LET ME FINISH!"

"Okay. geeze." Was the only response Adam offered.

"I hope you are doing okay. Your mother will be staying with my father and myself for the time being. She misses you so much. Please ask your father to give her a call if he can. Maybe we can arrange a visit. I would love to see all three of you again. I bet you are even bigger and stronger than the last time I saw you. Love, Auntie Rose."

"Can we ask Dad if we can go today?" Adam asked eagerly.

"I want to see Auntie Wose too!" Conner whined.

" No one is going anywhere. Half the staff are gone and it's the Betas job to make sure everyone is doing their job, and if they can't?"

Noah Promted.

"We do it instead... This sucks. We will never finish...ever." Adam huffed.

Well, that is a start. If I could figure out where this Auntie Rose is, I could find my Betas' Mate. How do people manipulate children into telling them what they want to know without giving themselves away? Children have always been a mystery to him, appearing out of nowhere, getting into things without permission, going missing for hours as if that were normal. Growing up, he was attached to his father at all times. Then again, he was the next Alpha after all and he had to be guarded as well as learn the role. So perhaps he was not a normal child. Brett put his attention back on the children, who were now quietly talking amongst themselves. If he could not hear them with his wolf hearing, then they must be up to something to be so quiet.

"Alright fine. We check in with Dad and tell him we want to go to the old Tree Fort and go from there. Conner, you get the snacks from the kitchen. Those Kitchen Omegas can never say no to you. Adam, get that cellphone as soon as I have dad distracted." Noah was a typical Betas kid. Taking charge and making decisions to keep those around him happy. All he needed was an Alpha to learn the ropes with.... That was a sobering thought. He did not like kids, but he still had to hand the pack over to someone someday. He started pondering if Noah would make a good Alpha rather than Beta. He and his brothers seemed to work well together. HE supposed they could learn to do it. He could not imagine having pups of his own, so why not?

The boys jumped down from the wall and headed to their respective areas to complete their missions. Brett stepped back behind the wall to debate with himself about how to proceed. He had trained with his warriors on how to stalk and ambush enemies but these pups were stumping him. Why? They were just pups! Frustrated, he stomped over to the wall where they had just been sitting and inhaled deeply. He picked up their scent. A mixture of earth and ... chicory? It was unique, to say the least. Easy enough to follow from a safe distance. Safe distance? As if he were ever unsafe from pups. Thinking over his next move, he realized no one was interested in finding him or talking to him at the moment. OR any moment in the near future, for that matter. He really messed up. He sighed to himself. He just wanted his pack to be free of humans, but not at the expense of the happiness of his pack members. They needed their mates. It's not like there were all that many humans in his pack after all. He could make an exception for the mates. As he pondered this, he discovered his feet had led him to the edge of the woods. His wolf stirred inside him. He wanted out. His restlessness was getting to Brett. So he stripped down and started shifting. With everything going on, he wished he was not accustomed to the pain of bones restructuring themselves. The agony of his first shift would have been a welcome punishment or a great distraction from what he was feeling from his pack.

Bretts' reddish brown wolf, graceful despite his size, slipped through the underbrush in the woods and sought out the path that he knew ran through this area. He and his Beta used to run this path when they were much younger. They used to pretend they were running patrols and would mimic the warriors they watched in secret as they trained. They were not allowed to watch or participate until they were much older because the training they were doing was dangerous. Brett rolled his eyes at his younger self. One of the few times he could get away from his father and Alpha training and he followed him anyway and dragged his future Beta along with him. The faint smell of earth and chicory drew him out of his reverie. Just off the well worn path was the old tree fort that he and his Beta built. Someone had added on to it since he was a pup. From the smell, it must have been his Beta. He could smell those pups all over it. Were they really coming here or were they just saying that to get away with whatever they were up to? Deciding he had nothing better to do today, Brett found a place to hide himself downwind of the fort and waited to see if the pups would arrive. He didn't have to wait long. Which surprised him. He never knew that kids could be so efficient.

"What did you get?" Adam asked Conner as they opened the small knapsack and rifled through it.

"Ugh, water bottles? Veggie sticks? Crackers?" Adam glared into the bag as he whined.

"They said it will be supper soon..." Conner trailed off.

"Did you get it?" Noah looked at Adam, who held up the phone.

"Dad will kill me when he finds out..." A heavy sigh escaped Adam as he held the phone up.

"Let me see it." Noah held out his hand. He looked at the phone. A look of frustration and disappointment crossed his face.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked. Conner was not even listening as he crunched away on a peanut butter celery stick.

"Don't suppose you know mom's passcode?" The two older kids exchanged a look.

"You don't know it?" Adam asked.

"No, and I didn't think about needing it either." Adam looked as if he was about to say something smart when a look from Noah silenced him. Brett watched in fascination as the boys prattled off any number of combinations they could think of that might work to open the phone. So this is what they were planning. They were going to call this Auntie Rose of theirs. Not as interesting or complex a plan as Brett originally thought they would have.

"Where's Conner?" Noah suddenly asked as he looked up and about. Even Brett had not noticed the young pup wandering off. He was not all that worried though. He could smell where the boy went and was mildly surprised by the distance he seemed to have covered. Watching Noah panic though triggered an old memory of sorts. He had the same look on his face that his father had once. Once, when he was just a young pup himself, Callan had interrupted his espionage of his father, the Alpha. He had snuck off to watch the training when Callan showed up looking panic-stricken out of nowhere, almost ruining his fun. Now he understood what happened all those years ago. He was not as sneaky as he thought he was and Callan had noticed he was missing and went looking for him. How did he not figure that out? It was like watching the younger version of his Beta all over again. Brett decided to go to the young pup and intercept him. These kids did not know what his wolf looked like and without their wolves, they would not realize who he was. As long as he didn't shift or touch the kids, then no one would know he was around them today.

Silently sliding back deeper into the trees, Brett assessed his surroundings and reflected on what he remembered of this area and its trails. There was a stream around here he used to play in as a pup. If he was Conner, that is where he would be. His smell was certainly headed that way. As he approached the stream, he heard Conners' voice talking in a low, hushed tone. He sounded as if he was reassuring someone of something. Brett did not want to scare the youth but also knew he could not avoid interacting with him if he was going to send him back the way he came. He intentionally stepped on a stick to make it c***k as he approached. Conners' head shot up. He looked surprised but not frightened. He sniffed the air as if he could smell Brett.

"Are you Woge? They say woges smell..." He sniffed again and I pinned my ears back in disgust. I did not smell and I certainly did not look like a rogue. I reminded myself that he was just a pup and was learning. I huffed and shook my head and found a spot on the opposite side of the stream to lay down. Conner seemed to be satisfied with my reaction and held up a frog for me to inspect. It was a young frog that still had its tail. Was he talking to the frog?

"He lost his mom.' Conner stated matter of factly. 'It's okay, we find her." He cooed. I was not exactly a frog expert, but I was certain that whatever 'mom' he found for this frog would likely eat it.

"Conner!"

"Conner!"

"Where are you?" Aside from all the yelling, there was the occasional incoherent conversation coming from the trees not too far off. Brett yipped just loud enough to let them know he was there and, hopefully, they would realize he was alerting them to their brothers' presence. A few moments later, the two older brothers came crashing noisily through the bushes to find their brother dumping the Polly frog thing back into the water.

"Conner! What are you doing?!" Noah demanded.

"I found a fwog." The matter of fact reply as if that explained everything. Adam looked up and noticed me first. Then Noah. They both nodded their heads in my direction.

"Thank you." Noah said. Clearly thinking I was just one of the patrol. I was a hundred percent certain that if he knew who I was we would have a repeat of the earlier, So I simply nodded back.

"Can you take me to see my mom?" The question was abrupt. How are pups so direct? Noah and Adam tried to shush Conner and pull him back away from the stream. Conner was starting to protest and even I could smell the stress and grief rolling off all three of them in waves. One way or the other, these pups will find a way to get lost in these woods in an attempt to see their mom. So I woofed at the eldest and c****d my head sideways in question. He hesitated, but only for a moment.

"She is human. She is at the first human house just outside pack territory. Will you let us go?"He did not try to bargain or make excuses. He knew they were busted. I pretended to debate whether or not I would let them before reaching out and grabbing the youngest by the back of his coat and carrying him towards the edge of pack lands.

"Hey wait!" Adams voice rang out as they scrambled to catch up. I put Conner down and crouched so he could climb on. Noah would flip if he knew who I was, as his brother nearly gave me a bald spot yanking fur out trying to climb onto my back.

We walked in silence for the hour that it took to get to the edge of the woods. Noah occasionally gave me side eye, clearly unsure what to make of the wolf that would disobey the Alphas' command. I said no humans, but I was pretty sure I never mentioned wolves not being able to leave the territory. All semantics. I stopped walking when the house came into view. I let Conner slip off my back and I lay in wait. The boys hesitated until two women stood up from the garden, their arms full of vegetables.

"Mom?" Noah whispered. I took this as my cue to get out of the site before they drew attention to me. I knew their mother would recognize me.

"MOMMY!" Conner shrieked, hitting a note that could be weaponized. Her head whipped around towards the woods just as I disappeared into the bushes. I watched as their mother fell to her knees and embraced the kids all at once. I could hear her crying but I could not make out the conversation. Noah was pointing back into the woods and was clearly trying to explain what was going on to his mother.

The other woman walked away from them and walked towards the woods. She stopped just shy of the treeline. Her voice, like music, filled my ears, her scent like jasmine and roses filled me with longing. "THANK YOU!" She said. Oh no.

'MATE'. My wolf called out. My whole body was frozen in place. No. Not possible. I am an Alpha. I cannot have a human mate! Yet there she stood. Beautiful and elegant. I shook my head to clear it and slipped further into the woods to wait for the pups. Their mother would not keep them for long, not wanting them to get in trouble. So I had to clear my head quickly and pull myself together. Now I knew I had to find out everything I could about her. It was the only way to reject her. I had to know her name at least. Maybe her favorite food. I could reject her over dinner. That was a thing, right? I saw a movie once where a guy broke up with a girl over dinner in a public place so she wouldn't cause a scene. No wait, that did not work the way it was supposed to in that movie either. What am I thinking? She is human, I just need to reject her. Period. She is not a wolf and therefore, will not be affected by the rejection. I would be. Just me. I can do this. With my mind made up and my heart already breaking, I waited for the pups to return.

I was so hyper focused on what I had to do that I barely noticed when the boys returned. I was on auto pilot when I crouched down for Conner to climb onto my back and did not snap out of my thoughts until we were back at the stream. I sniffed the air and the kids and realized they smelled of their mother and Conner also smelled like me. I didn't even think about it. I just pushed Noah into the water. He was flustered and irritated at first, but then seemed to realize what I was thinking. A huge grin spread across his face right before he launched at Adam, effectively dragging him into the stream. At first Adam was furious.

"Now I'm all wet! Dad will be so mad at us!" Noah just laughed.

"Not as mad as he will be when he realizes we went to see mom. What about the Alpha? What if he smells human on us? He will know right away we broke the rules." Noah and Adam just stared at each other for a long moment before Adam bent down to pick something up. When he stood, Noah paled.

"Dont you dare!" Noah commanded. With an evil grin Adam lobbed the mass of green sludge and mud at his brother. Noah, in an attempt to escape the stinky sludge, had turned to flee and was hit in the back of the head. Conner burst out laughing and slapped my shoulder repeatedly demanding I let him down. I stooped down low so he could slide off and at the last minute decided I needed to get their smell off of me too. I rolled in the sludge caking my fur, then pinned Conner to the ground and rubbed my slimy chin all over him like an overgrown cat. He squealed and laughed and I coated him in layer after layer of stagnant mud water.

I have never played with pups. I typically avoided them. Yet I was having fun. I was almost disgusted with myself. I never felt so torn in my life. Just one more thing I had to get straight in my head. I wondered what it was like living with so many rowdy boys all the time as I watched them walk home and then disappear from sight. Now I really needed a bath.

I decided to head to the lake for a swim but discovered, to my embarrassment, that the way was blocked. My Gamma Lewis and his mate Felice were sitting side by side staring at me with very different expressions on their faces. I could tell they both had been watching me for awhile. Felice looked confused with a bit of a disapproving undertone. Lewis looked like he had just seen the greatest thing on earth.

'So, you found your mate...' Lewis' voice came through the mind link.

'What... How did... How long have you been following me?' I demanded.

'Since you walked through my patrol area with the Betas kids. I'm still not sure if I imagined it or not. What will Beta Callen think of this?'

'Watch it, Gamma! Neither you nor your mate will say anything to the Beta about this and that is an order.' Lewis nodded and Felice bowed her head.

'What about your mate?' Felice asked.

'I will reject her. She is human.' I don't know why I felt the need to explain myself. But I did. Pushing through them, I ran for the lake and I swore I heard the Gamma female whimper. Perhaps the cold water would help clear my head.