Hello everyone.
Welcome back to my exciting world of the Ivanovs and the Loess Pack. I tried to stay away, truly I did, but the story just wouldn't be quiet. So many unanswered questions, and who would ask the most. The children would. So here we go once again. It's time to learn the truth.
This story is a continuation of the She Wolf Series. Please read that story before reading this one. It contains background information that is crucial to understanding this portion of the tale.
I would like to thank FK for editing this chapter. Any errors are mine and not because of this wonderful person.
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Lars pulled up in front of the welcome center of the Thane Pack. Javon had already explained the protocol to him, so unlike on their pack lands they would be met at a public center. All of the wolves were curious about the visitors who had come from the South. As soon as they arrived, two large men approached the jeep. The guys climbed out of the car carefully, in an attempt to keep the Thane wolves who were approaching them from feeling like they posed any type of threat. Although, Benny felt a bit nervous as he looked around.
"Welcome to the Thane Pack. I am Fredrick, the head Beta and this is Clarence. If you would follow us, we will take you to meet the Alphas." The two men explained, extending their hands in greeting.
The men greeted them and followed the pair into the community center. Ares and Benny walked together, so Ares could give his cousin his full support. The Thane Alpha greeted them immediately upon their entrance. Lars was gracious, and each young man thanked the Alphas for the opportunity to become a temporary part of their pack.
"Gentlemen, when Alpha Loess called, I was honored to have you come here. We want you to feel as if you are at home. Come, let's eat and mingle a little bit. I want to introduce you to some of the key members of our pack. After you have met everyone, we can discuss the roles you will take on while you're here," he explained.
Madam Alpha Brandy spoke, "Like my husband said, we want you to see this place as your home. Come, you must be hungry. Let's all have a bite to eat." The group walked into the dining hall and found that all of the pack members were present. Benny quickly scanned the crowd searching for a familiar face. His sudden gasp quickly gained the attention of the betas. His eyes landed on an older female were, Hannah. His Grandma looked just like her mother.
Momma, Great Grandma Hannah is alive. I'm looking right at her.
He stood still and looked at everyone in the room. He saw a small group of men that looked like his Uncle BJ. Grandma always said BJ looked like Grandpa Benson.
His movement or actually lack of movement was noticed by the Alpha Madam, but she refrained from saying anything. She noticed how intently he watched the Daniel's family. She also noticed that Hannah had captured the young wolf's attention. She was curious,
Why was this young Were fascinated by those two groups?
Soon Miriam, the mother of his late grandfather Benson, called Hannah over to join their family. They often included Hannah in their meals and activities. Losing her daughter and then her mate shortly after had been very hard on the woman, and they tried their best to ease the pain and sense of loss she felt.
Brandy tried to help, but she could see that Hannah blamed both her and her husband for her daughter's fate. The sad truth was, she was right. Michael hadn't had the whole truth, so he trusted his Beta. That blind trust led to an unfair death and a small family being banned from pack lands. As soon as the truth was revealed, Michael searched for Hannah's daughter and learned they were taken in by the Jael Pack. Brandy shuddered, the pack was known for their cruelty. Their Alpha informed them of the death of Hannah's daughter and her pups, explaining they had killed by a band of vampires.
"Brandy, Brandy," Michael called, "love, let's introduce the young men to the other pack members."
The Alpha pair stood and called everyone to attention. Soon the dining hall was quiet. The Loess Pack Weres stood and introduced themselves one at a time. Lars, Terse, Kevin, Paul, and Ares spoke to the crowd briefly. Benny was the last to stand. He looked at the hundreds of faces gathered and felt fear for the first time, but he knew he had to do this. It was time. He took a deep breath and spoke, "Good afternoon everyone. My name is Benson James Daniels Loess. I want to-" Benny was cut off abruptly when Hannah suddenly screamed. The pack erupted into chaos, which prompted Lars and Terse to pull Benny behind them ready to fight if it became necessary.
Hannah and the family she sat with rushed forward, certain they'd heard this young man wrong. Michael called for silence, and the betas helped to try and calm the crowd down. He faced the young were and asked him to state his name once more. Benny stood to his full height, faced the Alpha, full of anger and trepidation and restated his name slowly and clearly. "I am Benson James Daniels Loess, grandson of Benson Daniels and his mate Nina," he answered defiantly.
Michael stood, faced his guests and issued one order, "My office, now!" The entire group from the Loess compound followed him to his office with Lars and Terse on full alert. Alpha Thane called Javon as soon as he walked into his office. He placed the phone on speaker, so everyone in the office could hear the conversation. "Good afternoon Javon. Is it true that a former member of my pack is now a part of yours," he asked?
"Hello Michael, it's nice of you to call. As to your question, since you expelled her she was free to join any pack she chose," Javon replied.
"So, this young man speaks the truth. Nina Daniels is his grandmother," he surmised.
"Michael, where is Benson and the others," Javon demanded? Alpha's could be very prickly. He wasn't sure if Michael would try and punish his boys for some perceived wrongs.
"We are here father, and we're fine. Benny told them the truth," Ares explained. He'd failed. His only job was to keep Benny in check, but his cousin went way off kilter.
Son, this is not your fault,
Elise sent, knowing Ares would blame himself.
"Uncle Javon, I know you said not to cause..." Benny started to say, but Javon cut him off, "Yet you announced your whole name, and I'm betting you also addressed Alpha Thane rather sarcastically when he questioned you," he concluded.
"Benny, I will deal with you later. Alpha Thane, I understand if you do not want them there anymore. However, they are going to school in that state. I am asking for asylum in your region on their behalf," Javon concluded.
Brandy was now rubbing Michael's shoulders, to help him remain calm. "No, he is family. This changes nothing. I do ask that I be allowed to speak with the remaining members of the Daniel's family though."
Javon was silent. Michael had no idea what happened to Nina. Javon was hard-pressed to believe that he had not at least inquired about them at some point. He took a breath and then spoke, "I would have to talk with Nina first. If she is comfortable, then I will approach her children with your request," Javon explained. "They all survived," Michael gasped," how is that possible?"
Javon opted not to answer Michael's question or go into any of the details of what happened to Nina and her pups after being expelled from his pack. It was not his place to share that information with anyone, even their former Alpha. "Michael, let me speak with Nina. It will be up to her how much, if anything, she chooses to share with you. I'll call you first thing," Javon assured him before ending their call. Michael hung up the phone and faced his guests.
"You all heard what I said to your Alpha. This changes nothing. You are all welcome here. Benson, I have so many questions, and maybe one day soon we can talk." A commotion outside of his door drew Michael's attention away from his conversation with Benny.
"This is my great-grandson! You will not ban him," Hannah growled as she stalked into the Alpha's office. "I failed my daughter. I will not fail her grandson," she fumed!
More wolves stormed in, and Benny could see traces of his Mom and Uncle BJ in them. "Hannah's right. He's family, Alpha Michael, he is young. Don't send him..." Michael held up his hand to silence all the protestations. He was hurt to realize that his pack members thought so little of him. They actually feared he'd force a child to leave.
"No one is being banned," he assured them. "Hannah, I would never do that again." Michael looked away from the group as tears began to glisten in his eyes. Benny faced his angry family members and spoke, in the hopes that he could calm their apparent fears. "Listen, Alpha Michael has the right to be upset. I should have told him who I was in private and given him the chance to decide how best to tell everyone else. But I was so mad, and I wanted him to know Grandma survived, despite what he did," Benny exhaled, "I never meant to hurt anyone. I just want the truth."
Brandy, who had said very little up to this point, took this opportunity to try and reassure both of Benny's Great Grandmothers, "Hannah, Miriam, he made a mistake. I'm sure he would never act so rashly again." An older gentleman stood up then, "Alpha Madam, Alpha Michael, we mean no disrespect, but...." he looked over at Benny, "he is ours."
Michael faced the older gentleman and nodded, "Jebediah, you are right. He is ours."
