Seven mates for seven brothers

47- They turned out fine!

Over the next two months things at Yellow Stone fell into an easy pattern.  Alex got to know each member of the pack very well and soon he had everybody fitting in and working together with Cassy’s help.  She started giving ‘extra’ lessons during Saturday mornings for the younger children about their back ground.  And the older children started combat training.

At first the parents thought it was unnecessary, but the Grey brothers soon had them convinced as they asked protesting parents to attend the training sessions.  It included everything from hand to hand combat and fitness training to studying historical lessons.  After a short while it became apparent to everybody that the kids benefitted a lot from these lessons.  It made them more confident and in the end, more easy going and relaxed about what they were.  Their environment also had a lot to do with how well they were coping; and Alex was convinced that that was the reason they had six teenagers shift during their second month at the pack grounds.  Much to Ethan’s dismay, Lucy was not one of them; however, she was doing very well with her home schooling and Ethan had finished of his final exams and was waiting anxiously for his results.

Brian was concentrating on the new risk assessment business they had started and they were getting more and more enquiries from further away; this meant that Alex was stuck without his beta for most periods.  After careful consideration Alex decided to get Rudi more involved because he was the first to join the pack.  And because he liked the way that Rudi was able to predict his next move.  It made giving orders so much easier now that he did not have to explain why he was doing things all the time.  Privately he thought that it was a good thing that Brian was so involved with the new business and his growing family.  Brian was a good guy; he just had some strong notions about how things had to happen and the best way to achieve results; and because Alex disliked ordering his brother to follow instructions, he always ended up explaining things all the time.  With Rudi that did not happen; he followed instructions easily and a lot of times, his orders were anticipated; so that certainly made life a lot easier for him.

On a sadder note; Ellen passed away in her sleep one night about a month after Brian and Sam came back from honeymoon.  It appears that all the excitement of the wedding and the news of Sam’s pregnancy was too much for her system to handle.  Even though Dave had been expecting it and he had thought he was prepared; at her funeral he broke down and Sam and Brian went to stay with him at his place; taking care of him for almost three weeks before he kicked them out.  Dave had come to terms with his loss; sort of, and said he just needed some time alone.  Cassy got her dad to invite him over as the two of them had gotten on quite well during the time after the wedding; so he had decided to take a long road trip down on his way to Timothy.

Amanda had moved in and was sharing a room with Dennis now; she had come to completely accept who she is and she was one of Cassy’s best students, even if she only attended Cassy’s classes in disguise as an assistant.  She got to spend so much time with the younger kids and some of the toddlers that it made her broody.  But after deciding that she and Dennis should have enough time alone before starting a family, she put her notions firmly behind her.  Knowing her so well; Dennis had been aware of her feelings and he could not decide whether he was happy with her decision or not; but after careful consideration, he had decided that at seventeen, they were both too young for them to start a family. 

Not that their decision would be frowned upon in the shifter communities; they all knew that due to their unique physiology, they ‘matured’ a lot sooner than their human counterparts.  Also; with the decline in their numbers due to the rogue war, them starting a family now would be more welcomed than frowned upon.

Carter, Tina, Derrick and Liz came to visit at least once a month and during these times it felt like old times to Alex and Cassy.  They would spend most of the weekend by themselves; most of it in the sauna as that became their private retreat.  During these weekends, Conrad’s younger brothers would tease him about being the only ‘mate-less’ brother; until Alex stepped in and ordered them to stop; knowing how upset Conrad was about not having found his mate yet and the possible danger she might be in.