It's a Little Alpha Pup's Life

   One hour to get Evan to school and then Aricka had to get to the library for her morning shift.  She checked again to make sure the cereal and milk was on the table. The she grabbed a small t-shirt and jeans from the laundry basket and knocked on Evan's bedroom door. "Honey, time to get up for school. Come on Mom's going to be late."

    "Morning Mom."

    "Here's some clothes, breakfast is on the table and your lunch is in your bag. I will check to make sure you really brush your teeth before we leave too." That look, Evan knew she had caught him just wetting his toothbrush. 

    Grudgingly he replies, "Ok, Mom. Be out in a bit." Evan then quickly got dressed and came into the kitchen. Finding his breakfast, "Yum! Apple Cinnamon Cheerios." He sits down and shovels big bites of cereal into his mouth. Then between bite he looks at his Mom as she packs up her things for the day. "Mom I talked to Uncle Gregory last night.  He's coming to help us. You need to get things settled before we have to leave."

    "Oh Honey, you were dreaming and I need to concentrate to make sure I have everything. I just don't have time to come home for anything. Now you will be picked up from school by Nancy and I will get you after dinner time but in time for bed.  If you are done go brush your teeth and I want to check to make sure you have done a good job."

  "Yes, Mom. But he is coming. He'll like you; you know. He's a wolf like me."

    "Werewolves again. Where in the world did you ever learn about them? You are too young to scare yourself with things like that.  Werewolves don't exist they are just in story books that only grown ups are supposed to be reading."

  "Werewolves aren't scary Mom they're my people." He leaves for the bathroom down the hall.

    Calling down the hall," Sorry kiddo you're all human.  No furry side at all." Her phone then decides to ring. Sighing softly Aricka answers her phone hating that she recognises the number, “Hello?"

    "Ms. Daniels this a reminder that you owe $400.00 for your phone bill.  If we don't receive it by the third, we will be shutting it off and there will be a $45.00 reactivation fee."

  "Thanks, I'll get to it. Have a good day." She hangs up and sighs.  If she doesn't get her paycheck tonight, she won't have enough money to pay the bill. Frustration and stress. She'd already given up her landline. "Ok, Evan your teeth should be clean by now and don't forget to brush your hair. Five minutes and we have to leave."

  "Yes Mom. Can I play with Sena after school?"

    "Nancy will have to say yes or no on that hon. So, ask her when she picks you up." Aricka hurried Evan out the door while slipping a jacket on him. Taking him down the street to his school she drops him off with his teacher and ensuring his teacher knew that Nancy would be picking him up this afternoon.

    Hoping on the bus and heading to the library she rushes in and puts her things in her locker and then scrambling to start her day. Shelving kids’ books and manning the desk there it was the one quiet reprieve for her day. She had to work this afternoon at the diner and hopefully they would have her paycheck ready this time.  They were a week behind on handing them out.

    "Morning Ms. Daniels can I get some time of the computers?" A small freckle faced teen asks as he regularly did most days. She didn't mind he was a quiet presence.

    "Of course, you can Jacob. It's quiet right now so don't worry about time limits." 

    The head librarian came up to the children's section a half hour before Aricka's shift was over. "Aricka can I speak to you for a minute? I need to cut hours again for the next few months. I know you need the hours but I just don't have them. Head Office has cut back again on the budget on wages again."

    Sighing. "How many shifts will I loose?" Aricka could see it was going to be hard again for the next few months to make ends meet.

    "As far as I can see I'm going to have to drop you down to two or three days a week. It's all politics. I have to start closing on Mondays too. There's talk even of charging people a yearly fee to use the library. We are having a hard-enough time to get people in. Paying to use is only going to get people to avoid all libraries." Margery sat on the corner of the desk looking very disheartened and defeated. "I'm stuck I don't know what to do."

  "I believe you. It's just I do have to pay the rent though sadly. I love working here."

                                *                                                *                                                    *

    "Greg I'm having problems getting any enrollment information for an Evan Daniels in this area but I'm still waiting to hear back from a few other inquiries.  They don't seem to be very forthcoming on information about their students for obvious reasons. But I'll keep trying." Terry said when she called back six hours later to give in her report for the day.

    "Thank you, Terry. Keep at it."  Gregory sighed as he hung up with his assistant and looked at his Beta. "Well that seems a bust so it's back to the dream realm for me tonight. We need to get something confirmed or proven false for the elders."

    "I know.  What do you think he's seven or eight years old? Either she was pregnant with him when Richard was killed or he was just an infant at the time."  Jeff was standing at the one of the study's large windows looking out across the side lawn towards a wooded area.  They were just an hour outside of the City of Toronto on a large plot of private land.  "We've been cooped up in here all day and have next to nothing for it. Want to go for a run before dinner? I am ready to climb the walls."

    "No, I'm going to try looking for birth records. Maybe I can find something in BC or here. I mean wouldn't she put her husband's name on the birth certificate? She found us so he had to have been using his real name."

    "But what if it's similar to the marriage certificate? I mean honestly we never found that document so we don't know what name she is using."

    "Look how about I check this while you check in with our contacts at the police department and see if there are anymore reports that might point to further rogue activity.  That's the last thing we need. We can take a run after that." 

    Gregory just didn't want to leave this alone. All his scenes were telling him that this wasn't a scam. Why would his brother take a mate as a rogue? And a human mate at that?  Why was the woman staying nameless and not asking for money for herself and her son? Who just says, 'Oh by the way you have a nephew but you don't get to be involved with him.'? The pack and family are wealthy beyond most people's imagining and many want handouts from them without putting in the effort and earning it.

                                    *                                            *                                        *

      A nice older woman with slate grey hair and a cardigan came to the Evan's school to pick him up.  It was Nancy the lady who lived upstairs in their apartment building.  She looked after Evan when Aricka was working at the dinner which was often and she did it for free knowing Aricka just could not pay for daycare in this city.  It also gave her someone to talk and Evan liked that he could play video games and watch tv there. She also always had cookies and apple juice for him. 

    "Nancy can I play with Sena today? Please?!" Evan asked as he scrambled to get his bag and jacket from his cubby hole.

    "I'll call her mother when we get home and see. But I can't guarantee anything. Now have you got everything? Come on we'll check with your teacher before we leave.  Do you have any homework?" Nancy knew he was smart as a whip but if he could get out of homework, he would even lie to do just that.

  "Aw..I have to learn some words and have four math questions to do." He looks very sad as Nancy has a quick word with his teacher.

    "Oh, that's easy we will do them all before we call. You're smart you'll get them easy. Come on I have some Barepaws and apple juice waiting for us."

    "The chocolate ones?!" He looks hopefully at her.

  "Of course, they are. Would I get the bad ones? Ever?" Evan skips out the door with a large smile on his face. As they walk down the street. "You know when Mom and I leave this place and go live with the rest of my family I'm going to miss you and everything."

    This wasn't the first time he'd mentioned leaving to Nancy but she knew that Aricka has no plans on moving any time soon. Well not unless she is forced to leave. "Do you want to enjoy some time on the playground before we go home?"

    "Not today I'm hungry and I want to play some games." Evan looks at her. "Are you hoping to see Mr. James the Caretaker?" Evan suspected Nancy liked him but was too shy to say anything and Mr. James was just too polite to say anything. He thought it was nice but they really didn't need to waste time like that.  They were old.

                                *                                                 *                                                    *

    Aricka went from the library to the dinner and changed in the staff washroom. Stashing her stuff in her locker and getting down to prepping for the dinner shift.  Near the end of her shift she did get a check but again it was short.  Frustrated beyond belief but tired and just wanting to see her son she headed home to her Evan.  

    Taking the bus back she almost missed her stop. But she jumped off at the last second while getting a glare from the driver.  Sighing to herself, she knocks on Nancy's door. "Hi How are you? Was he good for you?"

  "Oh, hi dear. Of course, he was but can I speak to you.  Listen he's talking about moving again. So just a heads up."

    "Thanks yes he said something to me this morning. He's dreaming that he's talking to his Uncle again and that he will come in and save us from our lives.  He's just too mature for his age. Honestly I'm not sure what to do or how to handle it."

    "Mommy! Look Nancy helped me do all my homework and I packed everything up so I won't forget anything for tomorrow.  Sena wasn't able to come over to play. She had to go to the dentist. Did you have a good day?"

    Chuckling, "Oh honey it was a day.  Neither bad nor good. Come on it's your bedtime. Maybe she can visit tomorrow then. Thanks Nancy see you tomorrow."

    Once she knew that Evan was in bed and asleep Aricka sat down and used her phone to deposit her paycheck, pay her phone bill and then settle in to read today's news reports. Another animal attack had happened but this one was closer to her own home. Another woman missing and a man dead to what they think might be a coywolf. Scary 

                            *                                                        *                                                *

    Gregory settled down for the night with determination of finding this mystery pup and getting some solid information from this pup.  It had been fruitless day chasing maybes or possibilities. The rogues were still an issue.  Hiding their attacks as dog, coyote and now coywolf attacks were getting harder to pass off each time without too many questions from certain media groups and investigative agencies. He'd sent some of his warriors out to track these rogues without much luck and to cover up the mess left behind by them, but he couldn't bring that father or mother back to their infant son. What were the rogues doing? Five attacks in the last four months five women were missing and three men left dead. No matter how much cover up they did it would never bring the parents back to the two children left behind.

    The lilac outside his open bedroom window was in bloom again. So, his room was heavy with its scent and he could barely smell the scent of clean sheets under him. As he drifted off to sleep, he sought the scent of the pup. It was dark there in the dream realm.  The moon was almost full with clouds slowly stretching over it like toffee being stretched.  It wasn't long before he caught the scent of the pup. He was here somewhere. Gregory could not risk calling out to him because he also caught the old scent of a vampire and bear shifter that had wandered through here earlier.  

    So, there he was sniffing and poking at all the shadows looking for this small shifter pup hoping that the others hadn't found him first.  Bears could get territorial and looking at a pup that small they may assume that they aren't really a shifter pup but something far more powerful and dangerous pretending to be a pup to fool them for some dark deadly reason.  Some ten years ago a group of crazed warlocks and witches had taken it upon themselves to kill shifter in rituals long banned to gain power from their blood and life force.  Vampires would just see him as a quick snack.

    Finally, he spotted a small fluffy brown tail. "Pup! Where do you think you are going? It's not safe here. Come on." Jerking his head towards a building that was well lit outside.

  "Uncle Greg! Uncle Greg! Hi! What's up?! You coming for us soon?" The pup all but danced over to him. He was just so lively and energetic. Looking more closely at the pup he did have similar markings to his brother Richard.  Those dark brown tufts on the tips of his over sized ears.  The near white giant paws. All Greg could think was he would be a powerful wolf once he was fully grown.  He was definitely going to be large. Just like himself and his brother. A mixture of feelings quickly played through Gregory's mind.  Sadness, longing, betrayal. and anger these were towards his brother and not the innocent pup in front of him now.

    "Well there's a problem with that young pup. You need to tell me a few things." The pup stops and cocks his head in question listening to Gregory. "Let's start with answering a few questions that will help me find you and your mother in the real realm." Taking a slow breath, he carefully repeated the questions he needed to have answers to. " What is your name? Where do you live? What is your mother's name?" Greg looked pointedly at the pup hoping that he would not have to use his alpha voice fully on him. He wasn’t even sure the pup would understand how to react to it properly.  He knew nothing and it put him in danger. At the same time, it made him a danger to everything he held dear too. But there was time to fix that.

    "Oh, didn't Mom put that in her letter?" the pup looks a little confused or conflicted. "She always told me not to tell anyone my name or where I live or who my dad is. She's afraid someone might steal me and try to sell me back to you or... " the pup gulps uneasily, "kill me to hurt you and her. Oh, I messed up I told you who my dad was. She's going to be so mad."

    This woman was careful and almost respectful of our feelings.  Almost, she kept this pup from his home, his people and effectively making him a rogue to be hunted down and killed before he was fully grown. She could not know about wolf shifters or by the sounds of it she would have acted very differently. He hoped, "It's okay pup. Yes, you aren't supposed to tell strangers any of those things but I'm your Uncle and this is your safety at stake here.  I am family so it's safe to tell me because family looks after each other. I can't find you if I don't know where to look for you either."

     The pup looked conflicted then hesitantly started finally giving up the information Gregory needed.  Gregory was getting more and more sure the longer he spoke to the pup that he was truly his nephew.  “My name is Evan Richard Daniels. My mom’s name is Aricka. We actually live not far from here in the Holston Apartments. Apartment 129. Will you come get us?”

     

“I will start by contacting your mother and go from there. No matter what I will try to help as best as I can if she will let me.” Suddenly, Gregory heard padded feet running in their direction. “Behind me now!” Alpha voice in full display as it wasn’t the time for the pup to resist or disobey. The pup perks up and jumps behind Gregory making himself as small as possible.

      Another wolf came barrelling around the corner of the building and skids to a halt. It’s Jeff whom was supposed to be tracking the rogues and gathering information. “Greg there’s been another attack nearby.  We are tracking the rogues now.” He stops his report and frowns at the pup behind me. “Crap you have the pup here? Now. How?”

     “Later get back to tracking the rogues. We need to find out what they are doing with the women and what they are hunting.”

     “Oh, that’s simple. Me and Mom. They want both of us.”

     Both Gregory and Jeff look at the pup, “What?!”

     “Yeah, I’ve been watching them. I’m really good at being sneaky. They also talk a lot.” Evan looks at the two adult wolves proudly. He knew something they really wanted.

     “Pup this is no time for games. What do you know and I need to know it now!” Gregory was losing patience fast and he couldn’t help but maintain the Alpha’s voice.

     "They say Mommy is a proven breeder. I would be a perfect trophy and tool against the establis..esti.”

     “Crap Establishment.” Jeff shudders.

     “Yeah that.” Evan smiles proudly “And I might know where to find them generally too!”

     “This is getting bad if they are looking for unmated women and it would explain why they took the women.”

    “It gets worse right now. The pup just told me he lives nearby. Come on show me exactly where you live now and I will get there in the real world as fast as I can. By the way this is Jeff he’s my Beta which means when I am not around, he’s in charge and you have to listen to him. He will keep you safe.”

     “Okay. Hi Jeff. I’m Evan nice to meet you Sir.” Well at least the kid had some manners. “This way. It’s not far at all.”

     “By the way, Evan have you shifted yet in the real realm yet?”

     “No so I can’t show Mom yet. But I want to. But she thinks we are scary and I should not read or learn anything more about werewolves.”

      “Firstly, the term werewolf is insulting. We prefer wolf shifter or shifter because there are many kinds of shifters in the world other then wolves. So, we look at werewolves as being in books and movies. While wolf shifters are in the real world.” They got to an old walk up apartment building and quickly walked to the back of the building. The pup had left his bedroom window open; it didn’t even have a bug screen. It was dark in the parking lot out back because most of the lights were burnt out or broken. The apartment building looked like it needed to be knocked down. No one should live in a place like this.

    Approaching the window, a scent wafted from the boy’s room that wasn’t the boy’s scent. It smelt like warm Mexican chocolate. Chocolate with hints of cinnamon and chilies. Gregory’s mouth started to water and his heart rate sped up. All he could think was, ‘What the hell?’ he’d never reacted like this to a scent even when he was tracking a rogue.

      "Greg? Alpha? You're growling but I don't smell anything out of the ordinary. What do you sense?"

      "Simply put. I smell my mate."

      "By the Gods you can't be serious? Who else lives with you Evan?" Jeff turns and looks at little Evan as he hops on an old crate below his window.

      "Just Mom and me." Jeff would swear he sees the pup give a very wolf-like smile. "Told you Uncle Greg. You will like her."