The Silver Guardian B. 01

A huge thank you to my editor Tex Beethoven for another amazing job and collaboration, thank you Tex you rock!!

Book 1

Chapter 17

Lily had just enough time when she got back to the suite to shower and change into a green sundress and black flats when she heard a knock on the hallway door. She opened it to see a taller young brunette who had been a friendly acquaintance when she was younger.

"Hi Rose, it's been so long, how are you? Come in please, and make yourself at home."

Rose smiled and walked into the suite. "Thank you Lily, I'm doing well and it's nice to see you again! You've changed so much recently that I hardly recognize you, wow!"

Lily smiled, "My mate is a very special man and he's given me lots of reasons to come out of my shell; he's the one to thank for my recent changes."

Rose hugged Lily. "Well, I like it and it's nice to catch up with you. Congratulations on your mating... that was so hot! Billy and I couldn't keep our hands off each other afterwards... and now you're assuming Madame Alpha Heir responsibilities! I take it that's part of what's prompting this design change you want?"

"Yes it is, you're exactly right. Dante and I want to make this space our own, as well as better fit our needs and new responsibilities. We're looking to make it a bit more mature, but warm and comforting too. We've worked out most of the details, but we also want your input and assistance, as well as your expertise."

Rose and Lily walked all through the suite and discussed the mated couple's ideas and decisions, working out final details. It took a while, but finally both Lily and Rose were satisfied with the plan.

Rose thought the remodel could be done in four days, given enough hands. There was furniture to install, wiring and shelving, painting and trim, and many other things to do, but it could be done.

Lily explained that since they lived here during the week work couldn't be done then, but that the next two weekends they could stay at the Cabin before they were chased out of there by those renovations. Due to the complexities of remodeling both locations, they had a deadline here to make sure everything fell into place so they could always have a place to stay that wasn't under construction. Dante and Lily had discussed it and had decided that time was more precious to them right now than money, as they wanted to start their life and step into their responsibilities without being too distracted by domestic requirements. Dante's argument was that he'd been waiting and saving money his whole life for something like this, so it was time to put that money to good use.

Rose said she was willing and able to see their suite completed during the next two weekends, and they agreed on a price. She would begin ordering everything today, and enough of it should arrive by Friday evening, so the remodeling could begin bright and early on Saturday morning. Some of the custom-made furniture would take longer to arrive, but would arrive by the next weekend, so everything would dovetail nicely.

As Rose was getting ready to leave she told Lily, "Stay in touch and don't be a stranger. I always wanted to get to know you better when we were younger, so I hope we can have a chance now."

Lily hugged Rose and smiled, "I'd like that Rose, thank you and I look forward to it!"

***

Dante had slipped into the bathroom while Lily and Rose were busy with their remodeling discussion and he quickly rinsed off and got dressed to head out and meet their architect. He couldn't stay to say hello to the girls, so he sent his love through the bond to Lily and winked at her when she turned to wave before he went out the door. He went downstairs to one of the smaller conference rooms. When Dante entered, he saw a middle-aged man with graying light brown hair, a slender build and a bit taller than most. Dante estimated him to look in his 50's, though he didn't know his actual age. From what he'd learned about lycan aging this morning, the man could easily be far older.

The man looked up from the paperwork on the table and stood, extending his hand to Dante. "Nice to meet you Dante, I'm Robert, and I'll be working with you on your renovation project. I've been doing this for over 20 years, and look forward to working with you."

Dante shook his hand firmly but cordially, "It's a pleasure Robert, thank you for meeting with me today. Both Lily and I are quite excited to get this started and see the finished product. Shall we jump right in?"

Robert nodded, so Dante opened the briefcase he'd brought and pulled out the sketches and notes he and Lily had put together during their long weekend. They went through them room by room, discussing what he and Lily had planned, and what it would take to accomplish it. In addition to the precise engineering required for the special door, the saferoom would be tricky, simply due to the immense weight of its walls. The foundation would have to be significantly reinforced to bear the load. Dante added two items to the weekend's plans, which was to have the outer walls of the nursery reinforced as an added layer of hidden security and a reinforced and braced front door. They discussed the garage and the workout room and the hidden access panels that certain locations would require for weapons caches and security equipment.

Robert quipped at one point, "So we're constructing a quaint, rustic mountain bungalow that at the drop of a hat can morph into an armed fortress with teeth!"

Dante chuckled and agreed. They worked out the details over the next two hours and agreed upon a price and a timeline for construction to begin, and hopefully be completed. Dante and Lily were once again paying for time, and speed was the top priority even though precision and quality and above all indestructibility couldn't be compromised. Robert was convinced he could complete the blueprints very soon and that construction could begin a week from today, the very next Monday. The garage would be first, then the nursery and workout room, and the bedroom suite/saferoom last. This would allow Dante and Lily to spend both this weekend and the next at the Cabin, since work wouldn't need to start on the saferoom until later. By the third weekend from now their suite would have been completed and there they would remain until construction on the Cabin was finished. It was now nearing the end of July, construction would start the first week of August, and hopefully take just 6 weeks. By mid to late September they should be able to be back in the enhanced Cabin with all its remarkable improvements.

Robert gathered his things in his own briefcase and left the conference room. Dante knew he had to head up and find Alpha Odin to spend the rest of the day with him. Maybe if he was lucky he would get to see Lily.

He found Odin at his usual spot behind his desk with papers spread out everywhere, and a laptop open off to the side.

Odin looked up when Dante entered, "Ah it must be that time. Lily left just a bit ago with her Mother; we got in some time introducing her to the business aspects of the family dealings. She's with Victoria now, working on her Madame Alpha Heir duties for some Pack business. She's doing what you're here to do now, which is start your lessons for someday becoming Alpha. Why don't we sit down and chat a little to start things off?" Odin and Dante headed to the couches and sat down across from each other.

Odin started in immediately, "The position of Alpha is the most important one in the Pack, while at the same time it can be considered one of the least important positions as well."

Dante gave him a confused look before Odin smiled and explained. "On the one hand the Alpha leads the Pack. He or she has to be the most dominant wolf, the strongest and smartest; or if not the most intelligent, at least the canniest. With the advice and support of his mate he makes the final decisions in all things, leads from the front and is responsible for every single wolf in the Pack. But an Alpha is only one person, and the Pack is the whole. The whole is so much more important than the one, which is why I say that in some ways the role can be considered the least important.

"The welfare of the Pack is his most important consideration, and that should never be forgotten. Food, water, shelter, opportunities, activities, play, love, family, money and so many other things go into doing the best you can for the Pack. Each decision needs to balance those things and be decided based on how it will benefit and impact the Pack. We also need to balance that against how the outside world sees and thinks of us, always protecting the secret. That is the single most important thing that all lycans keep at the forefront of their minds, that the secret

must

be protected. None of us wants to see a lycan captured and undergoing experimentation by some insidious government agency and having the secret of the lycans discovered, a secret that has existed intact for 10,000 years if not longer."

Dante's eyes were hard as he internalized all of the information before he spoke quietly but firmly, "The Pack and the secret must always be protected. If only one of us fails in that, the consequences are dire. Got it. That's the reason things got so edgy when Lily brought me here, an unknown man smelling like a human."

Odin nodded to him solemnly, "Yes, exactly. Being an Alpha is about always keeping this in mind as we lead and we make decisions for the Pack. Always keeping in mind the bigger picture and planning not only for the right now, but for the next year, the next 5 years, 20 years and the next generation. Pack stability and harmony are what will keep us strong and influential among the other Packs in our country and around the World.

"The North American Alpha Council presides over all the Packs in North America. There are 100 Packs in the United States, two in each state, and to complete North America, 30 packs in Canada and another 70 in Mexico. Issues between Packs can be brought to the Alpha Council for deliberation to try and resolve them. Pack Wars occur on occasion but there haven't been any large-scale conflicts in a long time, the risk of exposure is just too great, and if we were outed, there would be no winners. The largest Pack War ever, became known as the Eradication War; it began around 100 years ago; the O'Connor Pack suffered tremendously, and as it happens, we were the ignition point that started the war.

"Being one of the oldest Packs in the USA, we have a tremendous amount of land and are also one of the wealthiest Packs in America. Between the O'Connor fortune and the Pack fortune, we... and when push comes to shove, 'we' means your Mother and I... control a great deal of money, and much of our fortunes are tied to our businesses and are published in financial journals and circles throughout the USA and the World. So for those who know where to look, our net worth isn't a big secret. At least not among lycans."

Odin took a deep breath and paused before pressing on. "Back in 1914 we were already very wealthy, and a number of other Packs were envious and became greedy. They colluded together, wanting our money and land, and decided it would be tidiest if they wiped us out altogether: the O'Connor Pack was what the aggressors in the Eradication War intended to eradicate.

"Similar to World War I, existing treaties between Packs drew the Packs of almost the entire North American Continent into the conflagration, which caused massive loss of lycan lives on both sides. The only reason the humans didn't notice such an explosive event was that they were focused upon the Great War in Europe, which was almost simultaneous with ours and fortunately for us, lasted longer.

"The Eradication War lasted 3 years and at the end of it the Alpha Council was formed, and edicts were laid down that still govern our society today. It's how we setup many of our current laws, why we allow no matings or sexual contact until 18, why we have two Packs to every state with each Pack's territory clearly defined, and many other rules and regulations.

"Most of those regulations and more of the history you will learn about during your morning lessons with the Elders and our Archivist; but that should cover the important points for right now.

"The last thing I want to mention is that twice a year we have the Alpha Conclave, which is where all of the Alphas and Madame Alphas of all of the North American Packs meet to discuss policy, new issues, and the advancement for our kind. A lot of business deals and partnerships occur at these, and they help bind us all together. Since the last War, O'Connors have been careful to establish mutually beneficial business dealings with many other Packs to share our wealth, and reduce the temptation for any future Packs to attempt another such attack. The next conclave is in early December, and you and Lily will be attending as observers with your Mother and me this year, now that you're officially the Alpha Heir Pair."

With that, the office door opened, and Lily and Victoria walked in. Both Dante and Lily's eyes lit up when they saw each other, and they each sent a surge of love and joy through the bond to the other. Lily rushed over, crawled into her mate's lap and snuggled in while Dante cradled her in his arms.

Victoria and Odin contented themselves with exchanging a brief kiss as they chuckled at their daughter's forward behavior, loving to see their daughter's transformative love for her mate; their mutual adoration couldn't be more obvious, and they loved to see her new passion not only for Dante, but for life.

All four of them spent the last two hours of the afternoon working on Pack matters such as the next Full Moon Ceremony, upgrades to the compound, and some maintenance and upgrades for some of the structures in the community. Much of it was routine and unexciting, but necessary.

Dante started getting a handle on what security and training measures were already in place for the Pack, with an eye to formulating and suggesting improvements in the near future. A meeting had been set up for tomorrow afternoon with Ben to start to dig into the plans they were now discussing, so he could get started on those immediately.

By the time they were wrapping up it was nearly dinnertime, so they all made their way to the dining room. Dinner was rustic but delicious that night: a traditional and filling meal of bangers and mash.

After dinner both Dante and Lily were looking for some quiet time together, so they retired to their suite. They cuddled in an oversized chair in the living room area with Lily curled up in Dante's lap. She sipped on a glass of wine while Dante slowly nursed a pour of Four Roses bourbon. They each caught up on what the other had done during the day while they'd been apart. Lily gave Dante all the details on the remodel of their suite and the schedule for it to be done, and Dante walked Lily through everything involving the Cabin, including the extra protection for their future children. Dante spoke of his amazement in learning about their lycan heritage and the little bit of Pack and lycan history he had learned so far, especially the Eradication War.

They discussed their upcoming training as well. Dante told her how he had settled on twin katanas, and that Ben was ordering them for him... they sounded quite special... and would be arriving in hopefully as few as six weeks. He would start focusing mostly on learning to fight with them, as well as fighting as his wolf over the next several weeks and months.

Lily would be spending her time mastering her dual daggers as well as her hand to hand. But she also had to begin her firearms training as well. They decided that some time would be spent each weekend training Lily in firearms, as well as Dante giving her personal instruction in hand to hand techniques. This would give her an edge, and would speed up her mastery of her weapons above and beyond the training she would undergo with the other Pack Enforcers and Betas. Lily told Dante she wanted to shoot a single pistol and even though she was small, her lycan strength would be enough to handle the .45ACP caliber that she wanted to use like her mate. (He used that brag as an excuse to challenge her to a playful arm wrestle; he won, but she was no pushover so she'd proved her point, and he agreed to her desired pistol.) She also told him she wanted to develop a second specialty in sniping. Dante promised to shop around and speak to his military contacts to order her a rifle and a handgun so they could get started soon.

It was getting late, so Dante picked up Lily and carried her to bed. They slowly made love, sharing a very quiet but passionate lovemaking session, ending with Lily riding Dante excruciatingly slowly to their climax before she collapsed on his chest, then scooted into her traditional spot and fell asleep on his chest like normal.

***