his
beast to swear allegiance then he probably would have been a valuable
member of the pack, but as it was he caused more problems than he was
worth."
"Is that why
most wolves end up dispossessed?"
Shawn tapped the
desk in front of us for a couple of seconds before shaking his head.
"There isn't really a 'normal' reason why someone ends up out on
their own. Sometimes they are a submissive who just takes too much
crap from their original pack so they figure out how to get away and
just disappear. Sometimes they grow up never knowing their shape
shifter parent so they don't start out in a pack. Sometimes they are
too much trouble for their alpha to put up with. Sometimes they have
the stuff to take over the pack but know that doing so would make the
pack worse off so they leave."
I let his
explanation sink in for a minute and then cleared my throat. "But
it's not something a wolf would choose lightly, right?"
"Not
generally, no. You come across the occasional antisocial moonborn,
but for the most part we prefer the company of a pack to being alone.
Just as important though is the fact that we all know just how
dangerous it is out there. A pack provides a measure of protection
from the vampires, werewolves, and other assorted creepy-crawlies."
Whatever else Shawn was
planning on saying next went by the wayside as the next set of
visitors entered the room. Shawn sat up in his chair and zoomed in on
the three newcomers. The printer started humming as he absently sent
the screenshot to it, but it was obvious that he was focused on the
leader.
"Shawn, who
is that?"
"His name is
Grayson. He keeps a pretty low profile, but he's one of the
dispossessed, at least I thought he was."
"What do you
mean you thought he was?"
"He's got a
rather unique power. Dad made him an offer to try and bring him into
our pack as an asset, but Grayson said no. He turned down an
absolutely obscene amount of money without batting an eye. Dad was
pissed, but there wasn't anything he could do about it."
I started to ask
another question, but Shawn was fiddling with the volume on the audio
feed so I shut up and just listened instead as Ash announced the
newest arrivals.
"Grayson,
Wyatt, and Carson."
Just from the
expression on Shawn's face I could tell that it wasn't normal for
three of the dispossessed to show up at one time like this. Alec and
Ash's expressions didn't give that kind of information away, but a
wave of trepidation washed through me as I realized that Shawn hadn't
actually told me what Grayson's power was.
"Greetings.
May I ask why the three of you are here in my territory unannounced?"
Grayson's face
didn't give any more away than Alec's, but one of the two guys behind
Grayson didn't look happy to be there.
"My brothers
and I are here to offer our service to your house."
Alec nodded. "I've
accepted oaths of fealty from a number of individuals today, I would
welcome yours as well."
Grayson shook his
head and I suddenly realized just how big he was. He towered over Ash
and the other people behind Alec. "You misunderstand me. Our oaths are
not ours to give, but we would serve with your people for a time
before returning to other responsibilities."
Outwardly Alec
gave no sign of it, but I knew he was running different mental
scenarios as he tried to come up with the best possible response to
this development.
"Your offer
poses some difficulties for me. I'll not expose my people to more
danger by welcoming you into our territory and making you privy to my
plans and then have you depart abruptly, possibly taking everything
you've learned to my enemies."
Grayson nodded his
head fractionally. "I believe a compromise can be reached. We
could promise to obey all of your commands for a set period of time
and agree that we wouldn't reveal anything that could harm your
operations, both during the period of service and after."
Alec cocked his
head slightly to the side. "Why would you possibly be interested
in that kind of oath?"
"Our
beast to swear allegiance then he probably would have been a valuable
member of the pack, but as it was he caused more problems than he was
worth."
"Is that why
most wolves end up dispossessed?"
Shawn tapped the
desk in front of us for a couple of seconds before shaking his head.
"There isn't really a 'normal' reason why someone ends up out on
their own. Sometimes they are a submissive who just takes too much
crap from their original pack so they figure out how to get away and
just disappear. Sometimes they grow up never knowing their shape
shifter parent so they don't start out in a pack. Sometimes they are
too much trouble for their alpha to put up with. Sometimes they have
the stuff to take over the pack but know that doing so would make the
pack worse off so they leave."
I let his
explanation sink in for a minute and then cleared my throat. "But
it's not something a wolf would choose lightly, right?"
"Not
generally, no. You come across the occasional antisocial moonborn,
but for the most part we prefer the company of a pack to being alone.
Just as important though is the fact that we all know just how
dangerous it is out there. A pack provides a measure of protection
from the vampires, werewolves, and other assorted creepy-crawlies."
Whatever else Shawn was
planning on saying next went by the wayside as the next set of
visitors entered the room. Shawn sat up in his chair and zoomed in on
the three newcomers. The printer started humming as he absently sent
the screenshot to it, but it was obvious that he was focused on the
leader.
"Shawn, who
is that?"
"His name is
Grayson. He keeps a pretty low profile, but he's one of the
dispossessed, at least I thought he was."
"What do you
mean you thought he was?"
"He's got a
rather unique power. Dad made him an offer to try and bring him into
our pack as an asset, but Grayson said no. He turned down an
absolutely obscene amount of money without batting an eye. Dad was
pissed, but there wasn't anything he could do about it."
I started to ask
another question, but Shawn was fiddling with the volume on the audio
feed so I shut up and just listened instead as Ash announced the
newest arrivals.
"Grayson,
Wyatt, and Carson."
Just from the
expression on Shawn's face I could tell that it wasn't normal for
three of the dispossessed to show up at one time like this. Alec and
Ash's expressions didn't give that kind of information away, but a
wave of trepidation washed through me as I realized that Shawn hadn't
actually told me what Grayson's power was.
"Greetings.
May I ask why the three of you are here in my territory unannounced?"
Grayson's face
didn't give any more away than Alec's, but one of the two guys behind
Grayson didn't look happy to be there.
"My brothers
and I are here to offer our service to your house."
Alec nodded. "I've
accepted oaths of fealty from a number of individuals today, I would
welcome yours as well."
Grayson shook his
head and I suddenly realized just how big he was. He towered over Ash
and the other people behind Alec. "You misunderstand me. Our oaths are
not ours to give, but we would serve with your people for a time
before returning to other responsibilities."
Outwardly Alec
gave no sign of it, but I knew he was running different mental
scenarios as he tried to come up with the best possible response to
this development.
"Your offer
poses some difficulties for me. I'll not expose my people to more
danger by welcoming you into our territory and making you privy to my
plans and then have you depart abruptly, possibly taking everything
you've learned to my enemies."
Grayson nodded his
head fractionally. "I believe a compromise can be reached. We
could promise to obey all of your commands for a set period of time
and agree that we wouldn't reveal anything that could harm your
operations, both during the period of service and after."
Alec cocked his
head slightly to the side. "Why would you possibly be interested
in that kind of oath?"
"Our
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