Chapter 25

Valaria and Dominic were cuddled up together in the lounge, the room that Valaria affectionately called sofa central, it wasn’t quite as large as the one they had at riverside but there was space for the entire Pack, Charlie was watching a documentary on Preternaturals in the military, Valaria was only half watching, she had heard enough military stories from Charlie and even Tyrone when he was still alive, she knew that Charlie missed his time in the service, and half wished he would consider re-enlisting, just so he would be happy.

Stacy walked into the lounge with a stranger in tow, she was smiling, it had been a while since Valaria had seen the young Wolf smile, and it was infectious, Dominic smiled at his Beta and asked,

“So, who is the new face?” then it hit him, the mixed scent of Wolf and Human, but the Wolf he smelt was long dead, “Bernie?”

“This is Kyle, he was a member of Bernie’s Pack, before the culling, I wondered if Charlie might talk to him about,”

“About being a bitten?” Dominic finished Stacy’s sentence for her.

Valaria shifted in Dominic’s lap, looking over her shoulder to him, “A Bitten?”

Dominic was still shocked at how little Valaria knew about Wolves, “It’s a non-born Wolf shifter, they are bitten by an Alpha and if they are strong enough to survive the first shift then they are just as much Wolf as a born.”

Valaria looked confused, her brow creased as she spoke, “I didn’t think that was a thing, I thought that was just a story in romantic novels.”

Dominic chuckled, “Charlie and his brother are both bitten, there is some stigma around it, and some Wolves believe that bitten Wolves are lower class, or even mongrels, but you know as well as I do, Charlie and Micky are two of the most loyal, we have.”

Valaria nodded and turned to Kyle, “You want to become a Wolf, well I have one question for you, Why?” her tone was sympathetic, she could feel the raw emotion emanating from him, all the pain of losing his adoptive parents was close to the surface.

“Well, if I’m honest, I hadn’t given it much thought, until Stacy reminded me that Bernie wouldn’t have taken me in unless he was going to bite me, he was just waiting for me to come of age, unfortunately he died before he got the chance, I want to honor what he wanted, he knew that me becoming a bitten was my destiny, who am I to argue?”

Valaria and Dominic both smiled at the new comer, Dominic spoke first, “This won’t be easy, it’s not just a bite then you are one of us, you need to know everything that is going to happen to you,”

“Which is why Stacy brought you here,” Valaria interrupted, “Sit with Charlie, ask the questions that are burning, if your answer is still yes afterwards then come find us, and we will, well, my Mate will talk you through it, I will be in the same seat as you, learning all I can.”

Kyle smiled and nodded to the Alpha pair, “Thank you, both, and thank you for inviting me into your home, Bernie spoke of you Dominic, he had a respect for you that I have never seen,”

Dominic waved off the comment, “Bernie was a good friend, we trusted one another that is all, stay the night, Stacy will arrange a room for you, and we will see you at breakfast.” 

With those words Charlie stood from his seat and lead Stacy and Kyle out of the room to somewhere a bit more private to talk about the process of becoming a bitten, a talk that he knew could take all night, at least Kyle had some experience with Wolves, which would halt a few questions at least.