Published: 24 Dec 2021

“Hey, Gloria!” greeted Stephan as he walked into the building the Woodland Guardians Pack was using as their headquarters during the month since officially becoming a wolf pack.. It had been donated by the family of Caleb Underwood who was one of the members of the pack. It was built by his grandfather who then got too bad off to use it for a workshop as he had planned.

“Oh! Hey, Stephan! I didn’t hear anyone come in,” Gloria returned the greeting as she went about arranging a few Christmas decorations on the one shelf in the room. It was a smaller room on the side of the building that they used for Council meetings. The other room was larger and held the whole pack whenever they got together.

“That looks nice,” Stephan complimented the girl stepping closer. “I’m glad you’re talking to me now.”

“I’ve come to not only accept my spot on the Council but realized that I never would have gotten Kallen like I wanted back then,” admitted Gloria as she made one last adjustment and backed away. “I could see how you looked at him and how he looked at you. A-n-d . . I was jealous.”

“Wow! I had no idea.”

“No, duh!” chuckled Gloria. “You were so clueless about Kallen and he wasn’t much better. If it wasn’t for Brutus you two would have never gotten together.”

“I know I’d been thrown for a big loop if he hadn’t talked to and supported me but . . Kallen?”

“Yeah, Brutus had to talk some sense into him too. I even had to assure Kallen it was okay.”

“Thanks,” said Stephan sitting down at the table where a large tome was sitting. “Maybe you’ll find a mate too.”

“As the Breeder I can’t have a mate,” Gloria stated sadly leaning on the back of a chair opposite of Stephan.

“Actually you can,” countered Stephan tapping the big book as he continued, “Kallen and I have been reading through the pack rules and regulations and the Breeder can have a mate. He just has to be willing to accept that providing pups for the pack comes first.”

“Don’t know if I could get that lucky,” sighed Gloria as she moved toward the door. “In your reading have you come across the reason I was able to accept you and Kallen?”

“What do ya mean?” asked Stephan looking confused.

“Don’t you know what it means when you have a late shift; after puberty has passed?” Gloria turned around to face the stunned teen. “You and Kallen were both late shifters and you had your first shift on the same day.”

Stephan sat silently mulling over what Gloria said but still had a clueless look on his face. Seeing the puzzled expression on her pack’s Messenger Gloria chuckled again. “If you haven’t found it or figured it out by our meeting next week I’ll clue you in,” assured the girl as she left the room and the building.

“I really like her!” exclaimed Brutus for about the third time while he and Kallen were hanging out on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

“I hear ya!” retorted Kallen. “Over and over but you haven’t said who ”’she ”’is.”

“I know but it don’t really matter. She can’t have a mate anyway,” Brutus replied miserably followed by a sigh.

“Are you talking about Gloria?”

Brutus looked with some surprise but still crestfallen and answered, “Yeah.”

“Why Gloria?” questioned Kallen curiously.

“You kidding!?” Brutus perked up some and continued animatedly. “You should have seen her during the battle against the Demons. She can really fight and she don’t back down. She would be the perfect mate for an Enforcer.”

“Well, according to what Stephan found as we’ve been reading through the rules and regulations the Breeder can have a mate. He just has to be alright with her providing pups for the pack.”

“Really!” exclaimed Brutus excitedly. “I can live with that. So, I can really pursue a relationship with her?”

“According to the book you can and I have no problem with it,” laughed Kallen, slapping his best friend on the back. “Go for it!”

“Thanks, Doc,” called Declan exiting the exam room while looking back. He didn’t see the slightly smaller guy rushing down the hall with two file boxes stacked in his hands. The two collided causing the smaller teen to drop the boxes and then fall when he tried to catch them.

“I’m sorry,” declared Declan as he picked up one of the boxes while the guy picked himself and the other box off the floor. Luckily the tops stayed on and none of the files spilled out.

“I shouldn’t have been hurrying so much,” declared the teen accepting the second box from Declan.

“I should have been looking where I was going,” asserted Declan walking beside the boy. “I’m Declan. Are you new here? Do you go to the high school? I don’t think I’ve seen you there.”

“No, I’m at the middle school. Eighth grade,” the youngster spoke quietly. “I’m Ethan.”

“Nice to meet ya,” said Declan with a sniff. “You’re a wolf too. Neat. Do you have a pack? If you don’t, you should come to our next meeting.”

“You wouldn’t want me in your pack. Not after you find out why I’m here with Uncle Ben instead of with my family.”

Declan followed as Ethan turned back down the hall after putting the boxes into the supply closet. “I figured they couldn’t handle your being a wolf. Who’s your Uncle Ben?”

“No, my mom comes from a wolf family and he’s really my great uncle. You just saw him,” explained Ethan before he disappeared through the door to the backroom.

Justin and Nate were on patrol along with two other members of the pack, Gage and Regina, in the woods near the park. It was the same place the core members had faced the Demon Wolves in battle. Near the far edge they came across an unfamiliar scent; the scent of an adult wolf.

They knew the scent of all their packmates and were familiar enough with enough of the older pack to know if it had been one of them. The four shifted back to human form to discuss the situation.

“Could it be one of the Demons come down?” asked a nervous Regina looking around. Gage nodded in agreement while swiveling his head around as well.

Justin looked at Nate and received a nod before speaking, “No, at least not one of the ones we fought. We would know their scent.”

“Let’s go back to wolf form and check it out,” suggested Nate and the others agreed.

One direction led out of their territory so they chose to follow the trail through their land. It wasn’t long before they spotted a small rundown cabin practically hidden by low hanging tree branches. The four wolves watched the cabin for about ten minutes but spotted no wolf or person moving around.

The four shifted back to humans and held a hushed discussion on how to proceed. It was finally decided that one wolf, Nate, would approach the house carefully and try to get a peek in a window or door. The others would keep watch on the area with one guarding Nate’s back.

Neither Nate nor the others saw anyone in or around the cabin but Nate reported that it appeared as if a small family with some kids was living in the cabin. Since they were already at the end of their patrol time the four went to find Kallen and make their report.

After listening to them and taking a few minutes to think things out Kallen decided to take Stephan and Brutus later towards evening to see for himself. When it was time to go he added Shayna to the group since she was there at the time and Kallen figured having a female along might be helpful.

Before they reached the cabin the four friends startled a lone adult wolf who bristled, growled and then took off. The four shifted quickly and took off in pursuit and as usual Stephan was soon out in front of the rest. A short bark from Kallen let Stephan know to be careful and not take any unnecessary risks.

Try as he might, the lone wolf couldn’t shake Stephan from his tail and couldn’t out run him. In desperation he tried turning suddenly on the younger wolf only to find he wasn’t there. Frantically searching he found the speedy wolf standing between him and his family. He froze momentarily trying to think of how to protect his wife and kids which allowed the other three to catch up and spread out around him.

In resignation, Frank, short for Franklin, shifted to human and waited to see what would happen. The four packmates also shifted to human form and as expected Kallen took the lead.

“Why are you here?” Kallen demanded.

“What’s it to ya?” returned Frank. “I ain’t hurtin’ no one. I just wanna be left alone.” He tried to act tough and as if he was alone but he couldn’t stop looking in Stephan’s direction and past him.

“This land belongs to the Woodland Guardians Pack and is under our protection,” answered Kallen boldly then added a little softer. “I think you’re hiding something.”

“I didn’t know. We’ll clear out,” sighed Frank in defeat.

“Who’s we?” queried Stephan in a kind voice.

A panicked look crossed Frank’s face as he realized he had let out too much information. His shoulders sagged in defeat as he answered, “My wife and my kids. Please don’t hurt them. We’ll get out right away.”

“No need if you’re telling the truth,” Kallen stated with assurance. “We don’t want to run off wolf folk but we have to keep our friends and families safe.”

“Don’t you need to check with the Alpha before you can give us permission to stay?”

“I am the Alpha for the Woodland Guardians,” admitted Kallen just a tad bit forcefully. “You’re welcome to join us or you can get with the older pack. We’ve only been together a little over a month.”

“Do I have to decide now?” asked Frank worriedly.

“No, but we’ve held you up long enough. Let’s go make sure your family is okay,” Kallen said with a touch of alpha command.

They all shifted back into wolf form and ran through the woods to the small cabin where Frank and his family had been staying for the last few days. As they entered the ‘yard’ they could see a woman in the doorway searching the woods.

When she spotted Frank she sighed in relief then tensed up as the rest of the wolves came into sight. Kallen quickly shifted but had the others stay back until Frank shifted and calmed his wife down. Stephan shifted instantly and took his place by Kallen’s side.

Before the others could make their shifts the two children came to the door to see what was happening. The boy flew off the porch straight for the large wolf that was Brutus but the girl hung back with her mother.

The appearance of the kids and the speed with which the boy moved caught the four teens off guard and even Stephan couldn’t intervene before the preteen boy reached Brutus. Although the boy was average for his age of eleven years, Brutus was large enough for him to sit on with his hands buried in the fur at the ruff of the neck. He promptly did so!

Nate and Shayna who had now shifted gasped as did the boys parents. Stephan was a little concerned but managed to stifle any reaction. All but Kallen were surprised when the large Enforcer began to ride the delighted boy around the small clearing and in and out of the few trees close by.

Kallen knew that although the big guy wouldn’t hesitate to thrash anyone who threatened his pack or violated pack laws he was actually quite gentle with kids. Especially since one of the pack laws pertained to protecting the offspring of wolfkind.

The eight year old girl lost her fearfulness as she watched her older brother get carted around the front of the house. While Kallen and Stephan talked with Frank and his wife, Ellen, Nate and Shayna carefully approached the young girl.

She finally let Shayna help her climb on top of a shifted Nate. Shayna walked alongside as Nate gave the now grinning girl a much slower ride than her older brother was getting. After about another ten minutes the kids and wolves collapsed on the grass to rest and the others wrapped up their conversation with both sides being satisfied.

At the Council meeting and a few days later at the full pack meeting the service project that was expected of a newly formed pack was discussed. A few ideas were thrown out by various members but none caught fire with the majority. Everyone was encouraged to think about it between then and the next full meeting.

On the Monday after the full meeting Ethan was walking home from school. His route took him past one end of the high school. Leaned against the wall near the corner were four high schoolers who watched Ethan’s approach with interest.

Ethan watched them warily and by smell could tell three of them were wolves and one wasn’t. He hoped they would just let him pass on by and get home but it wasn’t to be.

“Hey! Bet that’s that queer my mom overheard Doc talkin’ about,” sneered one of the guys nudging the closest with his elbow.

“Hey, boy! You one of them pansies?” asked the one nudged belligerently while pushing away from the wall.

“Chris, James, leave the kid alone,” urged the third guy who was a wolf. He too pushed away from the wall.

The first guy to speak stood away from the wall also. “Figures you’d speak up for the little fairy with your pack being led by one.”

Justin, who was the one to speak up for Ethan, stiffened and a low growl emanated from his throat. The two antagonistic guys moved closer together while the fourth guy who was not a wolfkin decided to disappear around the corner.

Before the standoff could become more, two more guys materialized from around the corner. Mason and another baseball player, Austin, took stock of the situation and soon were standing beside Justin facing the other two.

“You have the advantage now but we’ll be watching,” threatened James as he used the back of his hand to get Chris to follow and walked away.

“I don’t need any advantage against two wolves who wouldn’t even fight to save their town when the Demons attacked,” retorted Justin, stepping forward. Justin and the two baseball players watched until the braggards were out of sight then turned toward Ethan.

“Sorry about that,” apologized Justin. “They used to be pretty decent guys but now I think they may end up going Demon when they graduate.”

“It’s not your fault they’re like that,” Ethan said softly. “But why do you hang out with them?”

“Yeah,” spoke up Mason looking at his friend and packmate. “Why do you still hang out with them?”

“I keep hoping they’ll change their minds and join our pack but I think it’s time to cut them loose.”

“Yeah, but we better warn the Councils and our pack about their attitude,” Austin added.

“Speaking of which,” Justin said, concentrating on Ethan again. “I sense that you’re a wolf so you should join our pack if you don’t already have one.” The other two nodded their agreement.

“What if they’re right and I am a queer?” asked Ethan nervously.

“Well, first off we don’t like the term ‘queer,’” Justin asserted. “If you are gay we don’t care, you should definitely join our pack. Wait ‘til you meet our Alpha and Messenger.”

“I’ll think about it.” Declan said the same about joining his pack. “Are y’all in the same pack?”

“We are,” answered Mason.

“See. You should join us,” Austin urged with a smile. “You’ve been invited by four members already.”

“Come on. We’ll walk you to where you’re going,” said Justin wrapping an arm around the smaller teens shoulders and giving him a quick squeeze.

After Justin, Mason and Austin relayed what happened with Chris and James, Kallen called an emergency meeting of the Council who all agreed. So the Council called an emergency meeting of the full pack where it was decided to keep watch on the two potential troublemakers. They also contacted Alpha Hemming of the older pack.

Several times during the following week or so Chris and James started after one of the three who had stopped them from harassing the young wolfkin. Every time they did one or two or more of the pack showed up causing them to back away. They never got a chance at Ethan because he never had to walk anywhere alone.

A week before Christmas Gloria and Stephan again were the only ones in the meeting house as they readied the place for a full pack meeting.

“You’ll never guess who’s asked me out,” blurted Gloria excitedly.

“Hmmm, let me see,” Stephan drew out his guess. “Could it be . . um . . Brutus!”

“How’d you know?”

“From Kallen. Brutus talked about you and Kallen let him know that you could have a mate as long as he understood the pack needs came first.”

“He’d really be okay with that?” Gloria asked, really wanting to know.

“Yes. Brutus is all about the pack and he is head over heels about you according to Kallen,” replied Stephan, stopping to look Gloria in the eye so she would know he was answering honestly and sincerely. “You should definitely go out with him if you’re interested in him.”

“Yeah, I will. Thanks!”

At the pack meeting Ethan formally joined the pack that had been keeping him safe and made his move here a happier one than he thought it would be. Although nothing had happened with the two troublemakers the pack chose to continue watching to be on the safe side. However, they still couldn’t come up with a project that the majority could agree on.

Kallen and the rest of the Council were apprehensive about being able to complete their project before Christmas. They only had the Council meeting on Wednesday before Christmas Eve would be on them on Friday.

At the Council meeting Kris suggested they help one of the poorer families that might not have much of a Christmas. They all thought that was a pretty good idea but no one knew how to go about finding a family or how they could help with such little time left to do it.

The next day Stephan was visiting with Lane, a friend from the track team, who was also a sophomore when Lane’s little brother burst into the house crying. Lane pulled his eleven year old brother, Link, into a tight hug. It was unusual for him to come home upset enough to be crying.

“I need to find out what has upset him this bad. Sorry,” apologized Lane as he rubbed his brother’s back.

“No ptoblem,” assured Stephan with kindness. “If it’s okay with both of you I’d like to see what’s wrong too. Might be something the pack could help with.”

Lane quickly gave his agreement and lifted his brother’s face up and got a nod from him. After a couple of minutes Link was finally calm enough to talk with the older guys.

“I invited my new friend, Jordan, over for the day after Christmas so we could play with our new stuff but he said he didn’t want to ‘cause he wasn’t getting any Christmas this year. He wouldn’t tell me why when I tried to ask him. Who would be so mean that they wouldn’t give their kids anything for Christmas?” Link gushed out among a few scattered sniffles.

“Maybe their parents can’t afford to,” offered Stephan patting the boy on the back. “Do you know where this Jordan lives? Are his parents wolfkin?”

“I don’t know about his parents but he did mention living outside of town,” answered the preteen, calming down even more. “And he just moved here about a week or so ago.”

“Hmmm, I wonder,” Stephan thought out loud then tapering off.

“What are you thinking?” queried Lane still holding his little brother.

“I think this may be the same family we visited out in the woods not long ago but they didn’t mention having trouble or needing help,” responded Stephan, still a little preoccupied with the ideas running through his head.

“Probably too proud to,” offered Lane.

“You’re likely right. I need to find Kallen.” Stephan looked into Link’s tear stained face and spoke, “Don’t say anything to your friend but I think the pack might be able to help out.”

Link just nodded with a small smile.

Stephan took off running with his mind moving even faster than his legs. This family just might be the project for the Woodland Guardians to complete and it would help out a deserving family and maybe bring back the feeling of Christmas that Stephan hadn’t felt yet this year.

So much of his time had been spent on the new pack that he had missed out on some of the things his family usually did to get ready for Christmas. What he was imagining the pack doing for this family would bring some of that magic of Christmas back. He just had to convince Kallen and the rest of the Council then get the pack moving. They didn’t have much time.

Kallen and Stephan were amazed with all that the pack had been able to accomplish in such a short period of time. They had even gotten help from the older pack with a few things. Their meeting hall was filled with stuff from decoration materials to gifts for each member of the family to various foods for their Christmas dinner.

Stephan had found Kallen at his house and made a compelling argument. Even though he agreed Kallen still wasn’t convinced they could pull it off. Together he and Stephan had contacted every member of the Council and all agreed readily to the plan. The next day they reached as many of their packmates as they could with admonitions to pass the word along. Kallen was pretty sure that Stephan had made sure to track down every single member of the pack personally.

It was now Thursday night and it looked like they had everything they needed to complete their mission. Now they just had to get it all out to the small cabin without tipping off the family. Jordan and his sister were easy to keep out of the way. Link would take care of Jordan and found a friend of Emily’s that would occupy her until time.

Mid-morning on Friday, Christmas Eve, found Kallen and Stephan traipsing through the woods with their dads in search of a tree for the family they were helping. They had brought along an axe, a handaxe, a saw and a small two man saw so along with the pocket knives they all carried they should have whatever was needed to procure the perfect tree.

Hiking through the trees with his dad, his mate and his father-in-law while shooting the breeze was beginning to give Stephan the feeling of Christmas he had been missing. After about an hour of looking, checking carefully and asking opinions all around Stephan who had been the most critical finally okayed a tree for cutting. The four guys took turns carrying the tree to the small cabin that luckily was not far from where they found the tree.

By the time they got there Frank had been called upon to help rebuild porch steps at a house where the owners were expecting company on Christmas Day. They had to be fixed right away. The mom, Evelynn, had been invited by several women to an impromptu quilting bee. It was a relaxing time of camaraderie and town gossip for the lonely woman.

Leaving the standing of the tree to the two adults Kallen and Stephan hurried into town to help carry the stuff out to the cabin. They passed several groups already loaded with boxes and bags and exchanged happy greetings. They couldn’t help but notice with interest that Gloria made sure she was in the same group as Brutus. Both had huge grins on their faces as they labored side by side.

Before they had made it to the meeting hall Stephan was practically skipping and humming the tune of ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.’ Kallen just chuckled, enjoying seeing his mate so happy.

Inside the meeting hall they found Shayna and Isaac directing traffic. Everything seemed to be running smoothly. When they inquired, Shayna just pointed to a couple of stacks ready to be transported and the mates grabbed them and were back on their way to the cabin. With so much help it only took a couple of trips for each group.

At the cabin Shayna and Isaac were again the epitome of organization. Outside were tables with lunch food for all the teens and a few adults that had been working. Inside the living room were craft stations for making several different kinds of ornaments for the tree. There were also small tables where refreshments for the crafters were set. In the kitchen all the food for Christmas Day was in refrigerators, freezers and cabinets as needed. The presents were hidden from the prying eyes of the young ones although they probably wouldn’t know there were any to look for.

When all was ready calls went out to those keeping the family preoccupied and they began making their way to the cabin. After everyone was gathered it was a pretty large group. Nearly every member of the Woodland Guardians was present along with several of their parents and a few other members of the older pack. Quite a few of the packmates’ younger siblings had elected to spend the day helping as well.

Soon everyone was busy making ornaments or helping the younger ones with their ornaments. There was construction paper cut into strips to make paper chains and more construction paper for whatever someone wanted to use it for. A couple of the guys had spent most of the night cutting circles out of wood and there was paints and glitter and stickers to decorate them. There were things like popcorn, cranberries and pine cones to string together. One last table had beads of all kinds and wire to use to make beaded shapes for ornaments.

Frank and Evelynn mostly stood watching their two children having a blast making ornaments and making new friends. Once the crafters were all crafted out more food was brought out for an evening meal while all the glues and paints dried.

After eating it was time to decorate the tree. Frank and Evelynn intended to stay back watching once again but Jordan and Emily nixed that idea. The family worked together picking out ornaments and hanging them on the tree. Several of the Guardians started on the clean-up while the ornaments were hung. Soon the tree was loaded beyond full with ornaments and garlands but there were almost two full tables of ornaments left over.

Jordan and Emily knew just what to do with them. They invited their new friends to come pick an ornament to take home with them. Now almost everyone had a souvenir to remember this joyous day of coming together.

Stephan finally felt like it was Christmas as he leaned against Kallen’s lean hard body watching all the happy kids but especially Jordan and Link as they hugged goodbye. Emily hugged not only several friends her age but Shayna and Nate too.

Finally all was cleaned up and carried off and the last of the visitors bade the happy and grateful family good night and a Merry Christmas.

On Christmas Day all the Woodland Guardians spent the morning with their families and a few then visited with special friends. Stephan and Kallen met out in the woods at the park and exchanged their private gifts for one another.

In the early afternoon the pack was to gather at their meeting hall for a surprise announcement that included the Kingston’s, the family they had helped the night before. Kallen and Stephan grinned in pleasure as they came upon Brutus and Gloria walking hand in hand on the way to the meeting.

Brutus tried to get the announcement out of Kallen but he insisted that he didn’t know either. Alpha Hemming of the older pack was in charge of the gathering and the announcement.

Once everyone was there and had greeted their friends with a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings Alpha Hemming called them all to order.

“It is my duty to inform you that you must vacate this building as soon as possible,” he announced with a solemn face that soon broke into a smirk along with the rest of the older Council members at the expressions on the teens’ faces.

“What!? Why!?” exclaimed Kallen.

“Because,” answered the Alpha. “Caleb’s grandfather is being moved to the local nursing home and his house is being ‘sold’ to the Kingston family and since Frank here is a master carpenter he will be using this as a workshop as it was intended.”

When Kallen started to ask another question Alpha Hemming held up a hand to quiet him and continued, “Your pack gets the cabin they were living in free and clear as yours. Frank has even agreed to help with repairs and to teach anyone who wants to learn how to do the carpentry needed to fix it up.”

The teenagers were stunned for a moment then thunderous applause and cheers broke out as they realized they would have a permanent meeting place that was all theirs.

It was a very Merry Christmas for everyone!

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