Becoming Beta

Chapter 5

Fenrir looked around for his newest pup, where is he? The rest of the pack was gathered, as he walked through his pack members, he made comments to some, slapping others on the shoulder, making the younger ones laugh. Tension was high as it always was right before the pack left for a full moon, tonight especially. The pack hadn't had a new pup with them for a full moon in over a year and a half. And that had been his last Beta, Raul, who had been dead for two months. Hopefully the Malfoy kid was better than Raul. What a waste of a good wolf.

Just then, Malfoy walked into the dueling court and stopped dead, staring at the group of huge, nude men waiting for him.

"Strip, pup," Fenrir told Malfoy as he walked toward him, relief settling his nerves.

"What? Why?" Malfoy asked him. Everyone thinks he can be Beta and he goes and asks a question like that?

"So you don't ruin your clothes, we're pack, you'll see plenty of nudity with us, get naked so we can get goin'," Fenrir turned back from Malfoy and motioned to Rand. He looked over his shoulder and saw Malfoy stripping on his way to his tent.

"Rand, keep an eye on the pup while we're out there tonight? I'm going to have plenty to do and I want someone else's eyes on him. We can compare notes after we wake up tomorrow," Fenrir patted Rand's shoulder as he walked the pack to the eastern door. He gave a wave, and started trotting to the south wood.

Once the pack was in the wood and the last of the wards settled into place, Fenrir started his change. Not many were aware, but Fenrir had worked hard and become an animagus several years ago, he'd had a thought that if he could become an animagus it would help with the transitions, and he was right. He still had the compulsion to change at the full moon, and once he had changed, he couldn't change back no matter what he did until morning, but it made the transitions so much smoother. He had plans to introduce it to the rest of the pack, he needed a Beta before that could happen. Once he coached his Beta through the change, he could leave some of the pack business to the Beta and work on the rest of the pack. If his theory was correct, then being a werewolf should make it easier for the pack to learn to be an animagus, their true animagus form should already be a wolf.

Malfoy was the last of the pack to change, which was common for the first time. It took Malfoy ten minutes to fully change into his werewolf form, not bad for a pup. For some pup's it took as long as thirty or forty minutes to complete the transition for the first time. The training Rand and Seff had put Malfoy through seemed to help. Once he was fully transformed, a huge silvery blond wolf lay on the ground panting in front of him. Fenrir gave him a few minutes, knowing he was getting acquainted with his inner wolf.

As Malfoy finally stood, Fenrir took in his size. Shite, the pup might turn out to be an alpha! He's at least as big as I am, and not full grown yet.

Malfoy walked around the whole pack, sniffing and playing with each member as he came across them, he seemed to be adjusting well to the pack. When Malfoy walked up to him and gave him a sniff, he bowed low, as was proper respect to his sire and Alpha. Fenrir sniffed him back, memorizing his wolf scent, embedding it into his brain so he would always know when one of his pack was near. He gave Malfoy an affectionate lick of his ear and nudged him toward the rest of the pack for play. He made eye contact with Rand, and through the collective thought, "He's larger than I expected, I think he'll be buying a new wardrobe well before Christmas."

Rand snorted and pawed the ground replying through the collective, "Better watch your back, old man, we may have a new Alpha in town."

Fenrir snorted and tackled Rand, pinning him easily. He licked Rand's neck and left off to go chase some prey down. Being an animagus helped in more ways than just the transition, Fenrir was present in his mind as a wolf. His wolf instincts became much more present, especially during the full moon, but the animagus training helped him merge his two personalities, so he was really one person. He had named his wolf, Wolfy, he was an unoriginal kid, but Wolfy was more a subconscious voice these days and not an active presence in Fenrir's mind. Part of it could be being an Alpha as well, Fenrir hadn't had a chance to speak with another Alpha in over twenty years, so he wasn't sure how it worked for them. And for the first ten years or so of being a werewolf, Fenrir didn't have a pack. Not being attached to the collective, not having that bond, really was detrimental to the psyche of a werewolf.