A Pup Of Our Own

Chapter 7

Theo stood at the car door, his fingers shoved into the metal grate that barred him from Luvel. She was chewing on his fingers whimpering.

"We can't just let them take her, Theo. Derek said they don't treat our kind well." Liam was watching the pups in the carrying cages and he felt sick to his stomach. They were treated like animals, not babies.

"Can't you adopt her? You're old enough right?" Liam could hear the people from the agency coming and he just wanted to grab the girl and run.

"Unfortunately, no I can't. I don't have a home, or money. My application to adopt wouldn't even be glanced over once they saw my lack of a home." Theo had been thinking the same and had already ran through all the things that would be done and said. All ended with Luvel being placed in someone else's care.

"You have a home Theo, and a job. We have to try! God only knows what they'll do to her. Look at how they are taking her. In a damn cage. No car seats. Nothing for a baby." Liam growled before turning to the see Derek walk out with a stack of papers. That's when an idea struck the beta. He ran towards Derek and tapped his shoulder.

"You have to adopt the pups." Liam stated catching the wolf off guard. "I'm adopting the boy. He's scented me and already has gotten close. I don't know about the girl." Liam huffed at Derek's response.

"C'mon Derek, just adopt them both and Theo and I will help with Luvel." Liam offered, desperate to keep the girl. "Luvel? You named her?" The lady spoke behind Liam. She seemed even more unhappy then when Derek said he'd take the boy.

"Liam, who named her?" Derek eyed the beta. There were certain superstitions about naming a wolf to claim it. You give a wolf a name, and that wolf was bonded to you. It seems like the agency, or at least the lady, believed that. Maybe it was enough to keep the baby girl as well.

"Theo did. He said we couldn't keep calling her baby g or pup so he named her Luvel Raeken Dunbar." Liam shrugged like it's no big deal, afraid they did something wrong. The lady huffed, her face showing her anger for just a moment. Derek and Liam could both smell it.

"Luvel is bonded to Theo and Liam then, they have a right to adopt her." Derek spoke clearly, leaving no room for argument. "He'll have to prove he can care for the child." Derek cut her off. "He has a home and a source of income. There is no reason to bar him." The woman wasn't satisfied.

"He has to have some kind of savings, for emergencies." Liam lost hope at that. Theo didn't have savings, he barely had a job. "He has savings, more than enough to care for an infant. Give him the papers." Derek waved Theo over who had a stack of papers handed to him them moment he got close.

The lady left in anger. Derek waited till she was out of sight before turning to Theo and Liam. "Follows Stiles and I to my lawyer. He'll look over the papers and make sure that the adoption will be permanent. Then you and I," Derek pointed to Theo, "are going to the bank."

Theo and Liam got into Theo's truck and waited for Stiles to start driving. "What did you do Liam?" Theo looked at the beta, no trace of anger on his face. He wanted to know how Liam convinced the lady to even give him a chance at adopting Luvel.

"I just mentioned that we would help Derek with Luvel if he adopted her. The lady freaked at the idea that we named her. Derek handled the rest getting you the adoption papers." Liam was highly confused but happy that they had a chance to take Luvel home with them.

Theo thought it over for a bit as he followed Stiles. He couldn't figure out why naming the pup would set the woman off. Then it struck him. It's the same reason the dread doctors never called the beast of Givaudan by his name.

"We claimed her. It's a superstition among men about wolves. Giving a wolf a name is claiming it as yours. Meaning no other man can control it. We named her, we claimed her." Liam had never heard that superstition. "It's tied to the whole, calling a werewolf by it's true name gives you control or whatever. The thing that saved Mason from the beast."

Theo spent the whole ride explaining it to Liam as best he could. By the time they got to the lawyer's office Liam somewhat understood what had happened.

"My lawyer is gonna review the paperwork and help us fill it out so that it's permanent and no one can dispute it later down the line. Stiles and I will be adopting the boy. More than likely you and Liam will be adopting the girl. The lawyer can work around you being under 18 for now, Liam." Derek explained to them before walking in.

Immediately they were shown to a conference room. A man with jet black hair, slicked back, and piercing green eyes stood to greet Derek. "Mr.Hale, pleasure." He shook Derek's hand before gesturing for all to sit. He sat at the head of the table, Liam and Theo to his left, Derek and Stiles to his right. "Let's begin."

It takes about an hour and a half to go over all the papers, but by the end everything is signed. The lawyer was able to get a passable excuse for Liam to be the second adopting father of Luvel, and Stiles was able to get a name change for the boy, although he still called him Mischief.

When we left the office I gave my keys to Liam so he could drive the truck home while I went with Derek. Derek still hadn't told me what we were doing but I figured it had something to do with the adoption.

The ride was tense. I knew Derek still didn't quite trust me and still kept his guard up around me. I felt the same. I didn't know what Derek would do to me if he ever deemed me unworthy of the pack so I constantly had my guard up as well. We pulled into a bank park lot and parked near the doors.

"They can deny your claim if you don't have some kind of savings for the baby. I doubt you have an account so we're getting you one then I'm giving you enough money to suffice for emergencies." I gaped at him in shock. That was the last thing I was expecting. "You're giving me money, just like that?" He turned to me with a hard, serious look. "I'm giving Luvel money, but yes just like that. You've got a long way to go before I fully trust you but I can see that you care for that little girl so I'm gonna help you take care of her in the only way I can."

I thanked him for his help as we walked in, promising to do right by Luvel and promising to try hard to earn his trust. It took a bit to set everything up and get funds put into my new account. Derek even gave me a little extra for my self, which I promised to pay back. His only comment about it was he was tired of my truck having bullet holes.

He dropped me off at home and i walked straight to Liam's room. I told him what had happened and he seemed happy. "Now we just gotta tell my parents that we are adopting a baby."