Hammers in the Shadows

Part One: Shadows and Ice - Chapter Seven

He nodded before looking at the early evening colours in the sky"Now come in, I know Izzy would like to see you and Adam and Brook want to as well. They are busy with some pack stuff and will see you at dinner." He looked over at the pups and called out, "Take his things to my pod or you will be using tooth brushes to clean the hot springs." The various pups jumped to and scrambled to get his things. Since I'd spent two years at Wild Valley I was well aware that the springs did need to be cleaned periodically to keep algae from growing.

I smiled as I grabbed Shawn's things from the back of my over-powered truck and handed them to the various pups that made up Shawn's team. I saw Shawn blush once when a small worn looking white tiger plushy fell from one of his bags before Paul knelt to pick it up and dust it off before offering it to my cub. "You had this a long time Shawn?" He asked.

"Yes Paul, since dad adopted me an' turned me when I was a baby." Shawn answered and I closed my eyes remember that time back when he was so small. I'd owned it before him and smiled when the stuffing had begun falling out when he was three I'd had my mom repair it, though instead of more fluff I'd used my own shed fur to stuff it.

Paul looked up to me and I crouched down and he hugged me tightly. "Thank you for letting Shawn come back, Alpha Mark." He said, probably scenting that I was equal in rank to his own Alpha.

"I couldn't let what you have started hurt him Paul, take good care of him for me." I replied before standing and smiling at Zane. "He's going to be a good team lead when he grows up, I can tell that much." I told my friend. "I wish I didn't have to courier him here, but this is the easiest way to get him into the pack without causing him pain."

Zane gave the wolf pup a good look, "I will take them under my wing and keep an eye on them." He gave Paul a slight grin. It made the boy shudder, "I will ensure they are well trained in their jobs." He was going to need to talk to Adam and the parents of the pups to find out what they were going to be doing. When Paul winced, Zane grinned even a bit wider, "No worries Mark, I will keep a very close eye on them."

Tessa snorted at Zane before turning, "Come you know where our pod is but I will show you the room he is going to be in for the moment. I will protect you from the horrible Second. If he gets to annoying I will over-starch his boxers." She led the pups and cub away from the two who were still talking. Then again, she would be keeping a close eye on them and taking care of Shawn as well as the other junior wolf. Being she was an adult she did have some control over them.

"Zane, I wish I could bring you with me to help, the situation is worse than I'd been lead to believe, I'm not sure if our position in tenable." I told him grimly once the others were inside. "We are in a bad position and badly outnumbered with no real avenue of escape."

"Talk to Adam. I can't say much about that but he is Alpha as is Brook. They might be able to give you some help or suggestions. If nothing else send your children here and we can protect them for you while you look at options. Again, that would be something they would have to address." I knew that he had been keeping up to date on all the packs in the region and he was well aware of what was going on.

I nodded, "The one bright spot of hope is that we've located Shadow Valley and we know where that waste of fur Vladimir is hiding his miserable hide with his son." I growled feeling some frustration at being so far from where I belonged.

Zane gave me a knowing nod, "Tessa will take care of Shawn, why don't we go to my office and discuss this issue there." He waved Shawn towards the house and I felt it as he sent to have one of his junior wolves have some coffee and snacks ready.

I nodded as I walked beside him, "When I got home I saw the depth of our issues, but yesterday at the council meeting all the other members of the council seemed interested in doing was spouting speeches that had probably been prepared since we left for the Academy two years ago." I growled again. "There were so many more important things that we needed to take care of but..."