"Alpha, we didn't know what to do. With Gary and Paul loose, we were afraid for their safety. Ben and I hope you understand why we brought them here." Nathan faced his new Alpha, knowing he may have gone too far by bringing outsiders to his new home, but they really had no choice. When he had discussed it with Lila, it'd seemed so logical at the time. But now, looking at Carr's face, maybe they should have asked for permission first.
Carr took a deep breath before saying a word. What Nathan and Ben had done would have been unheard of for one of his pack, but he did understand. But Lila knew about it and certainly knew better. Lee would be having a talk with her later. "I do understand. You were right to bring them here Nathan. Ladies," Carr was addressing the two human females seated in front of him, "I hope we can make you feel at home here. Karen and Sarah will see to your needs while you're with us. Along with Nathan and Ben and their mates."
The two women nodded, their tear streaked faces red from crying. One looked at Nathan before clearing her throat to speak. She stood to address Carr, realizing that his position, whatever it was, demanded respect. They were expecting these people to protect them, and they would do whatever was necessary to keep it that way. "Thank you sir, we appreciate your kindness and willingness to help us. We understand that Gary and Paul are causing you as much trouble as they've caused us, and we're grateful for any help you can give us." She sat down, still shaking. Today had been so strange and now she was sitting in front of the leader of a pack of Werewolves and feeling safer than she had in months.
Nathan smiled down at her, a proud look on his face that she was able to speak so clearly. He and Rebecca had really become good friends in the past six months. He and his wolf had known immediately that was all they'd ever be even though Gary had continued to insist she would be his mate. Lila had agreed with him that she and Katy should be kept safe from Gary. If he felt he could force matings what would stop him from just finding others to mate them to?
Lee noted that Katy was definitely the quieter of the two and could see why she would have been matched with the Omega. Both women seemed friendly, even though they were scared to death. "So tell me, just out of curiosity, how did you come to house Nathan and Ben in your homes?"
They looked at each other and dropped their heads, a bright red flush on their faces. Rebecca, as would tend to be the case from now on, spoke for both of them. "We both signed up for the same online dating service. Gary contacted us and met with us separately, acting like he was interested in dating. He seemed to be sizing us up for something, asked a lot of personal questions, asked about our families, and then introduced us to Nathan and Ben. He said they needed rooms to rent and would we be so kind. After Katy and I met we got be good friends and started comparing notes. We had met Karen and Sarah several times, but the two of us saw each other a lot since Nathan and Ben were close. Of course, at the time we had no idea they were..." she looked around the room at the assembled pack members, swallowed hard and finished her sentence, "Werewolves."
"A dating service? He was able to screen women quickly using their data bases. Interesting. I wonder what parameters he was looking for? And asking about family histories? Ladies," and with that Carr was addressing the two new women as well as Karen and Sarah, "do you have something in common in your family histories? Are you related?" He looked from woman to woman. They all looked very different. Karen was short, had auburn hair and brown eyes. Sarah was tall with black hair and blue eyes. Rebecca was a medium height with blond hair and hazel eyes, and Katy was a little shorter with red hair and green eyes. He didn't see any obvious similarities.
"I don't think we're related. Are we?" Karen had spoken first. "I'm Polish, Austrian, and Hungarian."
Sarah piped up, "I'm Italian, Russian, and Hungarian." She looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca answered, "My family is Hungarian and Polish, and Katy's is French, English, Irish, and Hungarian."
Everyone in the room looked puzzled. "Is there something we should know about Hungarians?" Lee looked questioningly at Carr. "Let me get Becky in here." She picked up a phone and called the pack genealogist to join them. She was an expert on Werewolf history. Maybe this was something significant.
Becky walked in the door and saw all four of the newly mated and yet to be mated pairs. She knew she would be doing research on Karen's family and just an hour ago had been notified she would be working on Sarah's, but there were two other human women here too. "Yes Ma'am, did you need something?"
"Becky, what do you know about Hungarian Werewolves?" Carr asked hoping she'd say there was no such thing.
"Well, the Verfarkas were said to roam most of Hungary, not to be confused with the Vlkolak of the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia or the Vârcolac of Romania. It depends on which boundaries and what years you're speaking of." Becky looked around the room at the shocked faces. She smiled smugly. No one knew Werewolf lore from around the world like she did.
Carr stroked his chin, pondering the possibilities. "Do you think we can trace their Hungarian lines to see if there's any links to these Were packs?"
"Of course Alpha. Actually, many of the Eastern European packs were decimated by wolf hunters in the 1800's and those that survived had another rough time during the two world wars. Those few that survived have thrived since, but for a while there were very few Weres in those regions. I did hear about some small groups who migrated to the United States from a time just after the Civil War through about the turn of the century. I know the Council of Elders has been trying to consolidate all pack histories and genealogies and to that end, have been sending archivists to Europe to search out and catalog whatever records that still exist." When Becky stopped speaking the room was silent. They just stared. She beamed with pride that her knowledge would be of use to the Alpha. She very rarely had a chance to interact with the Alphas so she particularly wanted to make them proud she was a member of their pack.
"See what you can do. I'd like you to meet with all four women and trace all their lines as far back as possible, not just the Hungarian. We don't want to miss an important connection because we're so fixated on one group."
Becky nodded her agreement. Even though he wasn't a genealogist, the Alpha had a good grasp of the ideas associated with family research. Whenever an Alpha found a mate, the pack genealogist was to trace the family history of the prospective bitch. Though it was just a formality now, in ancient times it had been important to prove that the lines were not too closely related. At one point, because of "Founder's Effect" the gene pool was so small there had been matings that had not been allowed. It hadn't happened in over a thousand years, but the idea that it could led the packs to continue the old ways.
"I'll contact the Council's Chief Archivist about accessing whatever Eastern European records that are available." This was the most excitement Becky had since the last hunt. Of course she was usually the only one that cared about these sorts of things. She scanned the room noticing that everyone seemed interested in what she had to say today.
