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Lucas

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"Lucas!"

"Yap?"

"Come on we got to go, son!" I groaned and rolled out of bed, groggily walking into the kitchen where dad was sitting with his coffee and paper like he always did. He eyed me then shook his head. "Damn son, you get any sleep?"

"Yes? No?" I replied groggily. "Why did you get a new mattress?"

"It was old Lucas."

"No, it was perfectly broken in," I whined.

"Well, you can blame Lander for that. He took my chair and your mattress. I guess we're even."

"Hmmm," I hummed before I sat down at the table.

"You wanna grab some coffee now?"

"Where are we going again?"

"Lander's, then the pack house."

I nodded. "I'll just wait, we probably need to go anyways."

"Why? Excited to unload some dusty boxes." I groaned then eyed my dad who had a ghost smile on his lips. "I've got to make some calls. Lyanna and Evan should be here. Lyanna's probably going to need help so you're with them today. We can go hunt later then you need to chop some wood."

"What?! Really?! Come on dad..."

"Unless you want to freeze this winter," he replied cooly.

"Come on dad, really?"

"Really really Lucas. One day when you have kids you too will understand," he quickly replied before he wiped his mouth. "Alright, let's go. I'll have David bring you some clothes over."

"Fine," I grumbled.

Dad got up then put his plate and coffee in the sink while I beat him out the door. The run to Lander's house was like second nature to me; I had done it so many times. Yet no matter how hard I ran, it felt like something was weighing down on me.

Or maybe it was the smell of grief and sadness coming from his house that made me feel like I was carrying the weight of a hundred wolves on my shoulders.

Lander was outside looking at his tomato plants when we jogged up. He eyed dad and I; dad stepping closer to me while Lander gave us a tired smile. "I got coffee if you two want some."

Dad barked at him then started to walk towards him while David trotted out the front door with some clothes. He tossed me some sweatpants then tossed some to dad. "Come on, Lander's about to drink the damn pot if you don't hurry."

I quickly shifted and pulled the pants on then jogged towards David when Penelope ran outside. She smiled and waved at us. "Hi alpha Levi, hi Lucas," she practically sang out.

"Hey Pen," I said with a tired smile, ruffling her hair before dad caught up to me and walked inside.

"Lucas, you want some coffee too?" Lander called out, startling me a little.

"Um, ya that would be good thanks," I replied politely.

Dad walked in and looked around. "Where's Lyle?"

"Uncle Levi!" a white blonde haired boy with silver eyes called out as he came running down he stair, barreling for my dad.

Lander was about to open his mouth when Levi just waved him off and caught Lyle. "Easy Lyle, only had one cup this morning," Levi chuckled out. "You remember Lucas?"

"Lucas?" Lyle asked with wide eyes. He stared at me with eyes like the rest of ours–silver with specks of blue before he looked back at his dad who nodded to him. Smiling, he ran to me then hugged my waist, catching me slightly off guard before I hugged him back.

"Lyle, you got big," I chuckled out.

"Ya," he breathed out before he let me go.

"Here ya go Lucas," Lander said, extending me some coffee.

I took it and let him pull me into a hug. He kissed the top of my hair then looked back at Lyle. "Lyle, you with David today?"

"I told mom I would help her today dad," Lyle said with a tiny smile.

Lander sighed then nodded to him. "Alright, you stay close to her. She should be up soon, why don't you go bring her some coffee."

"Ok," he replied before he trotted off to the kitchen.

"He's gotten big Lander," I said as I looked after Lyle.

Lander nodded. "I know. You kids all grow too fast."

"Damn Lander, you got any coffee that doesn't taste so burned?" my dad groaned out.

Lander rolled his eyes and walked to the kitchen. "One day you'll be able to drink strong coffee brother, just not today."

I breathed out a laugh into my cup while my dad growled lowly at him. Dad shook his head and took another sip, scrunching his nose while David rolled his eyes as Penelope ran up the stairs after Lyle. "I've got to make some calls today, start getting things together."

"You thought about what you want to do with Amaruq?" Lander asked into his coffee.

Dad nodded, his eyes watching his coffee swirl in his cup. "Lucas had an idea last night we could try. We can give the pack the option, join or have some wolves step up. If they choose to step up, then just make sure they can hold their own and give it to them. We can pull more men off and let them start to stand a little more on their feet."

"And if they join?" Lander added.

"Well, then we'll start that process. We could use the extra men, but if they chose to stand on their own we could offer to help with the notion that they lend us some men," my dad said before he took another sip. "I don't want to split a pack up and neither does Ajax."

"I agree," Lander breathed out. "We could do that. When?"

"As soon as we can. I'd rather get this shit behind us so we can move on," dad said. "Was going to let you handle it with Lucas."

"That's fine," Lander said with a nod. "Probably good for Lucas to spook some of the warriors anyways," he added with a sly smile that had me rolling my eyes.

"Good," dad said quickly. "Where's Ev and Lyanna?"

"Straight to the pack house, Lyanna sounded like she was on a mission this morning," Lander chuckled out. "Poor Ev sounded like she drug his ass the whole way here."

"He always was a cranky child," David said before joining the light laughter.

"I'll send some warriors down to speak to some of the wolves at Amaruq," Lander said. "I can take Lucas with me and maybe Kyle this week. We need to make some of those calls today though brother."

"I can get that Lander–"

"Levi, we both know that bullshitting with other alphas is your very favorite thing to do," Lander sardonically injected.

Dad rolled his eyes and huffed. "That is true–" he paused, his eyes softening before he looked back at Lander. "Fine. I've got a list on my desk. We can cut it in half."

"Sounds good," Lander said as footsteps came down the stairs.

We looked up to see Claire walking with Lyle and Penelope, her hand in Lyle's while he told her something that seemed to make her smile. She stopped in her tracks though, her eyes snapping up to meet mine. It was like her whole body froze. She looked at Lander for a long while before she turned and went quickly back up the stairs.

Lander sighed and gave me a half smile while David nudged my shoulder as Penelope walked to us. "Dad, do I have to go to school today?"

"Yes Pen, we talked about this," he groaned out. "Actually we better get going before you're late. I'll meet you guys back at the pack house," he said before he started to herd his pup out the door.

Dad set his coffee on the counter. "Us too, we'll get out of your hair and meet you over there."

"Sounds good," Lander said with a nod while I followed dad out of the door.

We stepped on the lawn where I felt my skin twitch; turning around, I could see aunt Claire staring at me from between the window shades. My heart panged; dad turned around and caught her eye then put his hand on my back and pushed me forward. "She'll come around, she's just going through hell. It's still a lot son."

"I know," I sighed out.

"Come on," dad said. "Let's go see if you can't scare the shit out of Kyle."

I rolled my eyes and ran after my dad, while my skin shivered some more as wolves eyed us. The whole was there was like that; wolves would stop and cock their head as they looked at us. I think they maybe thought I was Lander for a second.

The pack house was like I remembered. It was still open and airy; big cedar beams going across the ceiling while windows on the opposite side opened up to the large backyard with a swing that my dad had built with Bowie and my uncle Lander.

There was a large staircase in the middle that spilled down in the foyer; wood stairs finely polished by the wolves that stopped in their tracks to watch my dad and I trot in. Dad trotted into an open closet and tossed some pants out for me while he tugged on some jeans and a sweatshirt.

I pulled on an old pair of Levi's, that I assumed were probably his, then a navy thermal that he tossed to me. He walked out and nudged his chin towards our kitchen. "Hungry?"

"Yes," I breathed out. "Molly still cooking?"

"Yap, she made a real good pie the other day," dad said while I trotted up to catch up with him.

Dad held his hand up to me to stop. My beast flickered his ears forward as we smelled something that smelled familiar. "It's Kyle. Just stay here until I say."

I smiled because my dad was just as much as a little shit as I was at times. I nodded and leaned against the wall while he walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Alpha Levi," Kyle's voice called out.

"Morning Kyle, how's it going?"

"Same old same old, I have to run to meet with Jake today. You?"

"Same shit different day Kyle–" dad paused for a moment. "Shit, Kyle I left my shoes in the closet."

"The bunny slippers?" There was a low growl causing me to bite back a laugh. I walked back to the closet and found my dad's house shoes that Lydia and I had given him one year for Christmas. "I'll get them you lazy ass," Kyle laughed out.

I waited a few seconds before I turned the corner. "Hey bro, looking for these?" There was a crash as a cup broke and coffee spilled all over the floor. "Damn Kyle, Molly's going to kill you," I teased.

I could hear my dad laughing it up back in the kitchen while Kyle just stood with his mouth open. "I thought they were lying..."

I sighed and shook my head. "You could just say that you missed me?"

Kyle snatched the slippers when a short she-wolf with a gray-haired bun came around the corner. "Damn you Kyle!" she hissed out before she turned to me and gasped. "Oh, my moon."

"Hey miss Molly, sorry about the mess. It was mostly my fault," I said as I walked over to her and kissed her cheek.

She gasped and watched after me while I walked to the kitchen where my dad was still laughing. "Not bad son. We're going to have to do that some more."

I rolled my eyes while Kyle marched after us. "How the hell man?!"

Dad took his slippers while I grabbed some coffee. "It's a long complicated story bro. Basically walked out of a portal, didn't make it back, and now I'm here," I said, leaving out the detail about Liam because saying it only made me feel more guilty that I did and dad was right–I couldn't change it. I needed to accept it and move on.

"Lucas dear," Molly rushed out. "Oh my stars Levi," she said with watery eyes, her hand covering her mouth.

"Now Molly settle down, he's fine. Probably hungry," dad said while he scrolled through his phone.

She walked over to me and looked me over before a smile tugged at her lips. "What do you want sweetie?"

"Whatever you are offering miss Molly," I replied.

"Well then, I'll make something special."

"What about me Molly?" Kyle whined.

"You are cleaning up that damn mess before someone slips and get's hurt," she replied.

I chuckled into my coffee while Kyle grumbled. "Not even a week back and you're still an ass."

"Yup," I replied.

Kyle shook his head then looked back at me through a mess of dirty blonde hair he had grown out past his ears, freckles that looked the same since we were kids, and big golden eyes. His wolf was golden too, I remembered that much; golden with four white paws.

"We should go hunting soon?"

"Sounds good to me," I breathed out, almost like I was relieved.

"There you two are," Lyanna called out as she rounded the corner.

"Hey sweetie," dad said as she walked into a hug.

"Uncle," Evan greeted.

My dad looked at the small pony tail on top of his head then eyed me before looking back at Evan. "Bout time to chop that off Ev."

"What?!" Evan replied with a mock hurt while he walked towards he coffee pot. "Uncle, you wound me–oh hey Lucas!"

"Hey Ev," I chuckled out before Lyanna came over to me any hugged me.

"I saw you got Molly all worked up?"

I smiled deviously and shrugged while she walked to the coffee pot. "Nothing more than usual."

"Well, Lyanna how's it going this morning?" my dad asked.

"Good," she breathed out while she quickly tore open some packets of sugar and dumped them into her coffee. "Remi and Ryder helped me lay everything out upstairs. I need those boxes though uncle Levi."

My dad nodded with a tired sigh. "What about you Ev? Ethan need you back today?"

"He and Char are making calls and digging through paperwork, but if you need me I can stay?"

"Well, why don't you help Lucas bring some of those boxes up from the basement?"

"The basement?" Evan almost whined out.

My dad growled lowly at him while Lyanna poured him some coffee. She kissed the corner of his mouth then rubbed his arm. "Go, I'll have your coffee upstairs."

"Fine," he huffed out. "Come on Lucas, let's go suffocate in the dust."

I set my coffee down then mock saluted my dad before I trotted after Evan. I looked at his hair then back down the hall towards the basement stairs. "Dad's right, you're hair's getting long."

"Well I like it and Lyanna likes it so I am definitely not cutting it, besides it was this or a beard and I chose this."

"You had to choose?" I asked, one brow arched before Evan opened up the basement door.

"Mates man," he muttered out. "She told me I could either grow my beard out or grow my hair out, but not both."

"Why not both?" I asked while we descended the stairs where the cool musky air greeted us.

He tossed his hands up. "Hell if I know, she said something about 'a caveman,'" he said with mock air quotations.

"And you choose your hair?"

He nodded and eyed me. "Ya?"

I shrugged then looked around at the sea of mismatched items. It was like the Island of Misfit Toys from Rudolf, except it was a mix of boxes, more boxes, and other objects that were just shoved in corners; an old Christmas tree, some plastic pumpkins, a bunch of extra plastic chairs, and boxing gloves.

"Well, I mean, you grow it too long you'll just get it confused with her's when you're–"

"Shut it, Lucas," Evan grumbled out while I laughed at the redness in his cheeks as he walked towards some boxes. "You just wait. They take your hair, they take your clothes, and recently she's been stealing my damn pizza bites."

"How tragic," I replied sardonically before I eyed some boxes. "This them?"

"Ya," he sighed out as we looked at the boxes covered in dust like perfectly frosted icing on a cake. "Char made Ethan do the same."

"What's that?" I asked while I scooped up a box. I coughed slightly and my wolf scrunched his nose as dust flew up in our face.

Evan was trying to carry the box and wave dust out of his face, both of us walking quickly back to the stairs and fresh air. "Char told Ethan he could grow his hair or beard out–he chose the beard."

"Mmmm," I hummed as he trotted up the stairs and out the door. "She has his ass whipped."

We walked past the kitchen and over to the stairs, Evan laughing lightly. "Oh she does but my brother would gladly bend over and let her."

"Sound's about right, you Everette's always did like to bend over," I said, my lips turning into a tiny smirk while Evan growled lowly at me. I rolled my eyes while we trotted up the grand staircase, turning down a hall where all the offices were located. "Oh please Ev, Lyanna has your ass just as whipped."

Evan mused then nodded with a shrug. "She does like my ass."

I rolled my eyes then turned a corner with him, heading towards another staircase that led towards my dad's meeting room. "So this is all Leland's shit?"

Evan nodded. "Ya, Lyanna's really good at finding shit in it. I swear she could be like a detective–I think it's all those crime shows she watches, you know?"

"We did watch a lot of Law and Order when I babysat them," I replied, my lips smiling at the memory of Liam, Lyanna, Lydia, and I crowed around the television while detectives Benson and Stabler tried to nail a bad guy.

"Ya well, she's definitely like a damn detective. Her and Andrea are both good at it. She and Char have been able to piece a lot together. Andrea and Jaxon have a lot of Jeremiah's old stuff that's helped a lot. Actually, I think they have more to send us. If you and your dad go down there you should get it, if not I can send Ryder or another tracker."

"I'll ask dad," I said while we turned to walk through large hand carved wooden double doors that opened up into a room built in the corner of the house. The two corner walls that faced the outside were made entirely of windows, while the rows of tables and chairs formed a circle that cascaded down in steps like stadium seating.

Lyanna had papers scattered everywhere while Ryder and Remi were on the other side of the room with Bowie; they were looking at maps, drawing routes, and putting push pins into things while Bowie was on the phone.

Lyanna looked up with a relieved smile. "Thank you, I brought both your coffees up."

"Thanks babe," Evan replied with a soft smile before he leaned over and kissed Lyanna chastely as he passed her.

Bowie looked up while he was on the phone and waved to me while I followed Evan. Ryder turned around with Remi, whose eyes had a hard time hiding the shock that they still held when they saw me. "Have fun in the basement?"

"I'm not even back a week and he's sending me down there," I grumbled.

Ryder chuckled then looked over at Lyanna. "Find anything yet?"

"No, but I have a feeling. I don't know, we'll see," she sighed out. "How's it going for you two?"

"Good," Ryder said with a nod. "Right Rem?"

Remi nodded. "It's good. We're trying to coordinate, but we should be able to start sweeping day after tomorrow."

"That's good news," Evan sighed out while he set a box down on the table. "Honestly if I ever see another snake again I am skinning it and making you a pair of boots Lyanna."

"I hate snakeskin," she grumbled.

I set my box down then walked over and grabbed my coffee. "So Lyanna, what do we do?"

"Well, the stuff that we have found of Leland's was mismatched. It's just so old you know? Anyways," she sighed out. "We need to figure out how they destroyed the first tree here. So anything that talks about the tree, or 'a door,' or the other side of the moon, we need to put a sticky note on," she said while tossing Evan and I each a pad of sticky notes.

"Can we get a list of those?" Evan asked with a tiny smile.

She rolled her eyes and nudged her chin to the white board. "I'll write it down. If you find anything you think is important then just say. The quicker we burn this damn tree down the better."

"Need extra help?" Ryder offered. "We could use a break?"

"Do you mind? Remi?"

"No, that's fine," he sighed out.

"Good," Lyanna said with a smile. "Just pull a stack out of the boxes. I don't think there's a particular order about it."

Quickly, I set my coffee down then pulled out a stack of papers as Remi walked over. I handed them to him with a smile, carefully trying not to let the looser sheets slide out.

My beast eyed him and the guilt started to weigh on him. He just looked so broken, like he had lost a brother. Ryder walked to me until he paused, staring forward before he sighed and looked back at Evan. "Jake needs me." He turned and looked at Remi apologetically. "Let me know what Lusa says. We can run up there tomorrow to meet with them."

Remi sighed, holding his gaze for a moment then nodded. "Alright, my dad should talk to them soon."

Evan caught my eyes before I looked back at Remi spread out over the floor. I picked up some papers and walked over to Remi, sitting carefully in an area that gave him some space, but was close enough for us to speak. I needed to talk to him and at least try and make things right with him, or at least let him know that he was justified in his feelings and that I didn't blame him.

We all started combing through the dusty pages, the sticky notes barely sticking because of the dust. A few pages I put a sticky note on things, but for the most part there was nothing useful. After a while, I sat back and eyed my coffee cup while Evan stretched up. "More coffee anyone?"

"I'll take some Ev," I said, handing him my mug as he walked over.

"I'll go with you," Lyanna said. "I need to get up and walk around."

Evan put his arm around her waist while she carried her mug and mine, leading her out of the room and leaving Remi and I to our pile of dust. "You find anything?" Remi asked.

I shook my head. "Just a few things but I don't think it's anything. I don't know. It's all dusty shit."

"Ya," he sharply breathed out. "It really is."

"I'm sorry," I said with a half smile. "If that helps, I know it doesn't. I didn't want of this to happen."

Remi eyed me before he nodded. "I know. Liam was the dumbass who decided to be a damn hero that day," he grumbled before he let out a long breath. "It's all fucked up Lucas. It's not your fault. We've all been shit on pretty well."

I breathed out a sharp laugh and nodded. "That is true."

"Do you remember it? The other side?"

I shook my head. "It's like a dream, bit's and pieces mostly, but if it's any consolation I remember being happy over there–like it was really peaceful."

"It is," he sighed out. "Thank you."

I nodded then looked back at him. "You know Liam would have just wanted you to be happy right?"

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing," I sang out.

Remi eyed me then looked through his stack. He was flipping through pages, his fingers really just doing the work while his brain thought. He let out a hot breath and put a sticky note over something. "Is it really that obvious?"

I kept my eyes forward, flipping another page and shrugged. "Who cares, but you should do what makes you happy. You deserve that much."

"It's not that easy."

"It never is," I quickly replied before I turned the page. The page that quickly caught my eye.

Remi was saying something to me but I didn't hear him. All I could see was this faded sketch of a tree. It was drawn in old ink that was practically gone; but on the corner of the page I could see a word that I recognized, 'et intrinsecus.' In Latin it means, 'inside out;' I had to learn Latin throughout school–definitely my favorite thing...

"Lucas?"

"I think I found something," I breathed out.

"What's that?" Lyanna asked as she walked in.

"I found this," I said, holding up the page. "It has this tree and it has, 'et intrinsecus,' or 'inside out,' written on it. It's in pretty good condition compared to the other pages."

Lyanna set my coffee down next to me while she took the page from my hands. Evan eyed it over her shoulder and shook his head. "Strange, what do you think?"

"I've been getting phrases like that in my stack," she breathed out. "Things that talk about 'inside out,' or 'the end is within.'"

"What do you think it means?" Remi asked while he looked at the page.

She shrugged. "I dunno. It could mean a lot of things, but I just talked to Levi. I read something earlier that alluded to the fact that the willow is actually gone."

"The willow? The Quickfoot Willow?" I rushed out. "That's great news!"

"Well, hopefully the Clawfoot's don't use the cave. If we can find somethhing to confirm that, then that means that the tree over at Mangata is the only one left, which is a good thing. There's less places for her to strike now."

"Do you think Char and Ethan found anything like this?" Remi asked.

"We can ask," Lyanna said before she rushed to her laptop. "They have Dagny over, I have some questions for her anyways," she said while she pulled Skype up.

Lyanna carried the computer over to us and sat down on the floor while it rang. After three rings, someone picked up. A screen appeared and three familiar faces were smiling at us; Charlotte, Ethan, and Dagny along with her bunny.

"Miss us already Lucas?" Ethan teased while Charlotte slapped his chest with a scowl.

I rolled my eyes. "No Ethan, but we can snuggle later," I said, causing Ethan to muttered out a string of curses. "You used to love to snuggle! Geez man!"

Evan barked out a laugh while Lyanna rolled her eyes. "So Lucas found something," she said while she held up the page to the screen. "The words mean, 'inside out.' I'll take a picture and send it to you, but I've read lots of things like this."

"Interesting," Dagny mused. "Lucas, do you remember anything at all from the other side?"

"No," I quickly replied. "I'm sorry I don't. I mean, it's bits and pieces. I barely remember anyone over there."

Charlotte's eyes turned slightly sad while Dagny thought to herself. "We should see if Barrett could dream walk on him. When are they back?" she called over her shoulder.

"Two days!" a male's voice called back.

"How is Vincent Dagny?" Evan asked with a sly smile.

She huffed. "Alice likes him, I suppose he's not too bad."

"Not too bad?!"

She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, causing someone to cry out behind her. Charlotte snapped her head around then covered her mouth, suppressing a laugh while Ethan high five Dagny. "You don't want to know," Charlotte chuckled out.

"Well let me ask you this," Dagny mused. "When you talked to Charlotte and Ethan before? When they touched the tree before–do you remember how you did it?"

I sat back and chewed on my lip, the memories so foggy to me. It was like trying to catch a cloud. "It was like something called me. I remember I went somewhere and I was puled to a safe meeting place."

"You had to go somewhere?" Dagny asked.

I nodded. "I think so? It's all really fuzzy." I sighed while Lyanna gave me an encouraging smile. "I remember walking over grass. It was like it was freshly mowed and there was dew on it from the morning. I remember I could hear them calling to me, it called me somewhere but I can't remember, I'm sorry."

"That's ok Lucas," Dagny rushed out. "You're doing great. We'll just see if Barrett and Evie can't dreamwalk on you? Alright?"

"Ok," I breathed out.

"What about you, what have you all found?" Lyanna asked.

"Well," Char breathed out. "A lot of things that talk about what you just read. That and Ethan and I have been calling and organizing the meeting. Both equally as much of a pain in the ass as the other."

Ethan nodded in agreement. "Did Levi say if he can host? I would rather not have all those people here with the tree still standing. It would be too harder to keep an eye on everyone and keep the tree safe."

I groaned then eyed Evan. "Well, it's our place or Jaxon's. What do you think Ev?"

Evan shrugged. "Better ask Levi, you know how much he loves hosting that kind of shit. It would be better at his place or Jaxon's though since their 'doors' are already blown to shit."

"I'll ask," I replied reluctantly.

"Ok, well we'll let you know when the vamps get back," Charlotte said. "Lucas you can just come here or they can come there. We'll figure it out."

"Alright sis," I breathed out with a smile.

"Ok, be safe!" Dagny said. "We'll let you know if we find anything."

"Hey, son can and Remi go to the school and get Penelope?"

"Uh, ya why? Is she ok?"

Dad groaned. "David and I are on a call–she's fine just knocked out some kid's teeth. Got real worked up, David just wants to bring her back here."

"Ok, we'll go now," I answered before I looked up at Remi who was eying me curiously. "We need to go get Penelope, apparently she knocked some kids teeth out and David's on a call with my dad."

Remi rolled his eyes while Lyanna groaned. "Alright let's go. God, I can't wait until she and Lyle shift."

Standing up and stretching my arms out I nudged my chin to the door. "Let's go, Rem, before Pen knocks anyone elses teeth out."

Remi groaned and followed me out the door. The path to the school wasn't too far. The pack schools were mostly just a series of cabins built up with one larger cabin built as a rec hall where the kids could eat lunch and play games.

Remi and I trotted quickly towards a burrow and threw some clothes on before we walked to Cindy's officer, or the school principal who I had become real familiar with growing up. Needless to say, if I wasn't my father's son I would have been in a lot more trouble than I probably got in.

Penelope was sitting inside on a couch with tear filled eyes and a Kleenex to her nose. My beast stirred and eyed her, whining a little while Remi looked around. "I'll find Cindy," he murmured to me.

"Hey Pen," I said gently as I walked over to her. She sniffled then looked at me with big eyes. "Pen?"

The next thing I knew she was sobbing almost hysterically on my shoulder; I'm pretty sure that there was a solid trail of snot running down the back of my shirt, but my beast and I really didn't care. From what I knew, she wasn't one to get worked up like this–I was itching more to find the little shit that upset her and remind him of his manners.

"Pen," I said while I sat back in the chair with her still clinging onto me like a damn sloth. "Pen, want to tell me what happened?"

"He," she said before she gulped a big breath of air. "Was–" gulp, "making–" gulp, "fun–" gulp, "of Lyle–" she paused and let out more tears as Remi walked into the little waiting room with Cindy.

Cindy about dropped her stack of papers when I waved her. "Hey miss Cindy, feeling nostalgic?"

She opened then closed her mouth before she pushed some of her long gray hair behind her ears. "Good God Lucas," she breathed out before she shook her head. "I guess so," she laughed lightly out. "Penelope got into a little fight. I brought her in here so she could cool down, but I talked to David I think it's probably best if she takes the day off from school."

"What happened exactly?" Remi asked.

Cindy sighed and eyed Penelope. "You want to tell them, Penelope?"

Penelope wiped her eyes then sat up. "They said that Lyle was a–" she paused and looked at Cindy then me. "It was a really bad word, Lucas."

"It's ok Pen, you don't have to say it, what happened?" I asked.

"Well, they said that," she rushed out with light sobs. "Because they said that only, the bad word, would cry that much." She paused and sobbed a little. "And they said Claire was going to jump next. They said that happens. Is she going to jump? She's not right?"

"No, no Pen," I rushed out. "Claire's not going to jump, she's going to be fine. She's just really sad right now."

"So was Evangeline," Penelope sobbed out.

Remi's eyes widened before he looked back at Cindy. "Where are the kids that told her this?"

"Well she knocked some teeth out of one so he's at the pack doctor's," she answered, her fingers toying with the ends of the papers in her hands.

"And the others? I assume this wasn't one kid?" I asked.

"In class, I didn't want any more disruptions."

My brows raised while Remi eyed me, a cold anger behind his eyes. "Go get them Cindy."

"What?"

A low growl shook out of chest, making Cindy slightly flinch. "Go get them now."

She stepped back then nodded, rushing out the door while Remi clenched his jaw. He let out a hot breath then walked over to and knelt down next to Penelope. "It's going to be ok Pen, you at least get to skip school."

She shrugged. "I don't want Claire to jump."

"She's not going to, those kids were just being, well," he sighed out before he looked at her again. "Well they were being dicks, but don't repeat that."

She smiled a little then nodded. "Ok."

"So, whose teeth did you knock out?"

"Tony's," she answered.

"How many?" Remi asked.

"Two."

Remi nodded. "Should have tried for three, but two's really good Pen." He turned his head back up at me. "You want to handle them or me?"

"No we are all handling them," I replied before I looked at Penelope. "You can't let them get under your skin Pen. I know it hurts but you gotta thicken your skin up. No one's jumping, no one's going anywhere. Claire's upset, but Lyle's not a lesser wolf for staying with his mom–he's a pretty strong pup for doing that, don't you think?"

"Yes," she breathed out before she wiped her eyes again. "So what do I do?"

"Well, we are going to make them apologize obviously."

"Ok," she said with a tiny smile while outside I could see Cindy herding some boys in.

I picked Pen up and set her on the ground then stood up. "Come on Pen," I said while Remi offered her his hand.

She took it and they followed me out where a group of boys, one holding a cloth to his mouth while the others were kicking at the dirt or bullshitting with each other. They reminded me of the kinds of boys that used to pick on Lydia until one day Lydia had all their asses in the dirt; Kyle and I both got a kick out of watching that.

The boys all snapped their eyes to Remi, eyes that widened while Penny walked with him. Many of them didn't know me, they were just babies when I died before–but they sure as hell were going to learn today.

My beast stood up and shook his fur out, walking closely enough that Cindy's eyes flickered down while her skin twitched. They looked like they had the air sucked out them as they eyed me, mouth's closing while they stood frozen in place.

"Now, we heard that you all were saying some things to Pen here that were pretty ugly–"

"Shitty," I injected as Remi spoke.

He nodded. "Shitty as hell, is that true?"

The boys were still, trying not to squeal on each other. My chest rumbled, shaking them and causing one to nod his head. Remi eyed him them looked at the rest of them. "So do we think that it's ok to go around talking about people like that?"

"No," they all quietly breathed out, eyes still looking down while my beast eyed them.

"So if you know better, then why the hell did you do it?" Remi asked while Pen wiped her eyes.

They were all quiet again. Cindy flickered her eyes to Remi, but she didn't dare look at me. She had good intentions, but she could be old and prideful. She also had her favorites, and I was assuming that these shitheads were some of them.

I stepped closer and knelt down so I could look at all of them, my beast eyeing them some more. "Remi asked you all a question, I suggest you answer it unless you would like to explain to Levi, David, and Lander today why it is that we had to have this conversation."

"Because," one boy said, his voice quiet and almost shaky. "My dad was talking about it with my mom and he told me that she would jump and that we were all wasting our tears on a dead woman."

I sucked in a breath while Penelope slightly whimpered behind me. "What's your name?"

"Mickey Daniels," he answered.

I felt almost bad for the kid. Kids like this, kids in general, are so impressionable. Hell, I repeated pretty much everything my dad said at that age, I still do. I knew they knew it was hurtful, but when the ones raising them are doing it at home then it's hard to just outright punish them.

"Mickey I know you heard that at home, but do you think it was right?"

He was quiet then shook his head. "No."

"So what do you think you all should do?"

"Apologize."

I nodded as he looked at me with wide eyes. "Well go on, you don't need my permission to do that."

"Sorry Penelope," he breathed out.

"Ya sorry Pen," another one chimed.

"Sorry Pen," another boy echoed.

"Good," Remi said with a nod. "Pen do you want to come with us or stay here?"

"She can stay?" one boy offered. "We have recess. You can knock Riley's teeth out some more if it will make you feel better."

"What?!" the boy with the rag to his mouth rushed out. He sighed then looked back at Penelope. "Ok, I mean, they'll come back."

I bit back a laugh while Penelope shrugged. "Ok, I'll stay."

"Ok," I replied with a soft smile before I turned back to the boys. "I don't want to hear about this again, do we all understand."

"Yes sir," they all echoed.

"Go on Pen," Remi said with an encouraging smile before he looked over at Cindy. "This doesn't to happen again, Cindy. This kind of talk needs to stop, understood?"

"Understood," she breathed out.

I walked over to Remi while Penelope started to walk with the boys over towards the playground. I looked back jus tone last time and one of then offered her half his sandwich at lunch, causing me to smile a little.

"Damn Daniels," Remi growled out. "He's always talking such shit. What should we do?"

"Well, I'm wondering if beating his ass myself would be more enjoyable then watching either David or my dad do it, maybe Lander? Uncle Lander can be a scary bastard when he wants."

"True," Remi breathed out. "I haven't seen David really lay into anyone's ass in a while."

"Ya but this kind of thing needs to stop–we need to send a message. My dad's been itching for a little blood anyways."

Remi nodded then eyed me. "Let's go get whatever Molly was cooking first. I definitely want to eat while I'm watching this."

I chuckled. "Dad does put on a good show when he wants too."

"Yup," he replied, popping the 'p.' "He probably needs to talk to Cindy too. Those boys needed probably more than a stern talking too."

"Oh I know," I quickly replied. "That's why we're going to tell David, he's still in charge of P.E. right?"

Remi nodded with a sly smile. "He is."

"Well, first stop kitchen, then David, then my dad," I thought outloud.

"Sounds like a plan," Remi replied before we walked in step to the pack house. "Not too bad for your second day here."

I shrugged. "It was the right thing to do."