I hope my readers are still waiting to hear more about the Baxter Pack! This story was bursting out of me, so I had to hurry up and get it out before I exploded on the spot! There will be many stories to come that will be posted in this series, but not on a regular basis. Right now, Archangel and I are trying to finish a story that will be posted in several chapters. But since it will be written in its entirety before posting, there won't be long to wait between chapters.
A huge thank you, as always, to Archangel_M for being my Editor in shining armor. Thank you as well to Doctime for the inspiration for one of my new characters and to Glen for his wonderful suggestions.
This story is a sequel to Wolf's Pet but could stand alone.
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Elko, Nevada – December, 2019
"Please, Daddy, hurry!" The little boy grabbed his father's hand and pulled as hard as he could.
Cole laughed as his six-year-old son dragged him towards the schoolroom. "What's the hurry, buddy? You'd think you wanted to go to school or something."
"Daddy, you know you promised to tell us about Grandpa Baxter and how he moved the pack to Elko. You were 'sposed to last week, remember?" The cub tugged on his father's outstretched arm, which seemed to make him move even slower, at least as far as Corey was concerned. "Daddy, everybody's waiting for you."
"Okay, okay." Cole grinned and snatched his son off the ground, swinging him up in the air and setting him on his shoulders for the remainder of the walk across the compound. Cole loved the sound of his son's laughter, and made a point of jostling him enough to keep him giggling for the entire walk to the classroom.
Karen watched from afar and laughed at the two people she loved most in the world. "You look like a totem pole." Their son was a carbon copy of her mate, the same chocolate-brown hair and green eyes, the same mischievous grin.
Seven years ago she had never dreamed she would have a child. She patted her growing stomach and wondered if they were going to have another boy or a little girl. She was secretly hoping for a girl. She'd begged Tracy not to tell her which it was. Tracy promised, but Karen could see the panther's secret smile every time she walked past her. Maybe she should just ask her. But Cole wanted to be surprised. She sighed and glanced down as she patted her tummy. "Guess we'll just have to wait, baby. We'll love you no matter what."
Of course we will.
Karen laughed at her wolf. She had been much more maternal than Karen to begin with. In fact, her wolf was really the driving force of any maternal instincts she had. Thank goodness for that! Every time Karen had been at a loss on how to handle her exuberant cub, her wolf had come through, handling it just right.
She fell into step with Cole and reached an arm around his waist as they strolled into the throng of cubs milling about in the large schoolhouse.
The Baxter Pack, along with most of the world's were packs, had had a frightening drop in birth rate over the last several hundred years. Prior to the influx of the Hungarian Vlkolak females into the gene pool, there had only been one or two cubs born per decade to each pack. The cubs had been home-schooled by their parents, and they had few if any friends their own ages.
But now, as was evident from the noise and activity in the fairly new school building, that would no longer be a problem. Every mated Vlkolak had become pregnant almost immediately after being turned into a werewolf or werepanther. Several were expecting their second and even third cubs. They had started building the new school as soon as they had dealt with their Dire Wolf enemies, Gary, Paul, and Erobos, six years earlier.
Cole was surprised by the number of people packing the room. He had expected the cubs and their teachers, Rebecca and Danielle, but not the rest of the adults that lined the walls.
Rebecca saw the look of surprise on his face and rushed to explain. "Cole, I hope you don't mind. I invited the other Vlkolak here to learn the pack history as well. We've all heard bits and pieces, but I think it would be great for all of us to hear the whole thing. Besides, then we'll have some idea how to answer our cubs' questions."
Cole exchanged a glance with an amused Karen. "I take it you knew about this and chose not to mention it, huh?"
"If I'd told you, you would have ducked out again. But seriously, we all want to learn the truth as much as the cubs do. Please?"
Cole grinned. "Well now I see where Corey gets his ability to wrap me around his little finger." The Beta took a deep breath. No time like the present to get over his two-hundred year fear of public speaking. "Alright, then let's get started." Cole set his excited son on the floor and walked slowly to the front of the room, where a stool waited for him. He sat down, and slapped his hands on his knees.
He looked out at the sea of cubs watching him expectantly. The room was lined with the Vlkolak women; even Katy and Jenna were there, recently returned with their mates. They had decided to make their the Baxter Pack their home base so their children could grow up among their many cousins.
"Let's see. Where to begin."
A little brown-haired boy sitting in front piped up. "At the beginning?"
Everyone laughed. The Alpha's son was never afraid to speak up. His sisters, Kyla and Tyra, sat next to him and giggled.
"Good place, Colin. Thank you." Cole smiled at his nephew and took another big breath.
Okay, if I can't talk in front of a group of cubs, I'm in big trouble.
You'll be fine, Cole. Corey and I have faith in you.
Karen gazed lovingly at her mate, the man who saved her from a fate worse than death: being the captive of an insane Dire Wolf. She listened intently as her mate began his story.
Cole cleared his throat, thought back to all the stories he'd heard from his father, and began to speak. "The Baxter Pack has lived in the Scottish Highlands since before humans came to Scotland, long before they had clans and kings. Our family lived in the Grampian Mountains, in the shadow of Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in all of Scotland. The werewolf packs there hunt the Red Deer, one of the largest species of deer in the world that can weigh up to 500 pounds."
He smiled when the cubs made "oohing" noises. "A little bigger than the 300 hundred pound Mule Deer we have here in Nevada, right?" He watched the emphatic nods from the little ones. "And the Red Deer's antlers are two feet long each. Can you imagine facing off with one of them?" He smiled at the frantic shaking of the head of each and every child.
"Our father's name was Ewan Baxter, and his father, Angus, was the Alpha of the Baxter Pack. Father had six brothers and three sisters." Cole was saddened to see the look of surprise on every face in the room. The new members of the pack saw so few families with more than one or two cubs nowadays. "In those times, the average number of cubs was about ten per couple. Hard to believe, isn't it? But we'll see that change in our lifetime, thanks to our newest members." He gazed lovingly at his auburn-haired mate.
"Ewan decided to leave the pack and start a new life and a new pack of his own. So he came here."
"Uncle Cole?" Colin had his arm up waving furiously until his bemused uncle pointed at him.
"Yes Colin?"
"Why did he want to leave home?"
"Well, that's a long story, Colin. Sure you can sit still long enough to hear it?"
The little boy nodded his head emphatically as did all of the other cubs and their parents.
