Becoming Beta

Chapter 17

A/N: All of the beta love goes to brownlark42 and twztdwildcat! This is another of those chapters that has some super graphic violence, you have been warned.

Fenrir could not be prouder. Finally, after a year and a half he had a Beta. He could feel him in the collective. He could feel his Beta's energies radiate through the pack. It was brilliant. The pack felt more cohesive and at home than it had since before Raul died. Fenrir could feel the tension ease in his chest and shoulders. They still had the wolf ceremony to get through, but the human ritual was enough to solidify his pup as Beta.

His pack celebrated late into the night with round after round of firewhisky. Fenrir laughed as Seff helped Draco back to his tent. They had plied his pup with so much drink that he could barely walk. Fenrir and Arnou were sitting watching the party disband as everyone stumbled back to their tents. As Seff was on his way out of Draco's tent and back to his own, Fenrir called him over.

"Alpha," Seff said with a nod and a smile.

Fenrir kicked a chair out from underneath the table he was sitting at and waved Seff over to take a seat.

"I want you to move your tent next to Draco's, Seff. I know you are the Omega to the pack, but he's going to need you," Fenrir told him.

"Of course, Alpha. We get along well. I would be happy and proud to serve our Beta and in turn, you," Seff said deferentially. Fenrir nodded his dismissal and Seff stood to move his things.

"Pup did good today," Arnou commented. Fenrir nodded again.

"He'll make a fine Beta for you," Arnou said, clearly trying to lure Fenrir into conversation.

"What's bothering you, sire?" Fenrir asked, turning his gaze toward the old man.

"Lucius is gonna be a problem," Arnou didn't beat around the bush.

Fenrir gave a heavy sigh, "I know. But I don't know what to do about it."

"Dark Lord dunnit seem too pleased wit' him..." Arnou prompted.

"You think I should manipulate the Dark Lord into getting rid of the pup's father?" Fenrir mused. He thought it could work. The Dark Lord had been granting him favors, so he clearly needed something from Fenrir.

"I think it's worth a shot," Arnou told him as he heaved himself out of the chair, his joints cracking and popping loud enough that Fenrir could hear it. Arnou shuffled off to his own tent while Fenrir sat in the middle of the empty dueling court and brooded over what his sire had suggested.

As he listened to the snores of his pack, Fenrir felt more at peace than he had in a long time, maybe since Uma had died. It was an unexpected coincidence that his Beta, a pup who hadn't even had a year of changes, had a mate. At least she was a useful mate. According to everything Fenrir had dug up on the witch, she was smart - really smart. And being best friends with Harry Potter wasn't a bad thing in his opinion. Sure, it was a bit tricky, but the Dark Lord had seen reason. He knew t would be an asset to have someone in Potter's inner circle feeding them information, although Fenrir wasn't convinced she would feed them information. He had only met her the once, and his pup had been surprisingly silent about his mate. Draco had written to Fenrir about his mate, over the past month. Expounding on all of the thoughts and feelings she inspired in him, but he hadn't mentioned much about who she was as a person, or anything about her personality or friendships. She was still very much an unknown to Fenrir. And unknowns could be dangerous.

Fenrir decided he would need to have Draco bring her around to meet the pack, maybe at Christmas. The pack would need to recognize their Beta's mate, especially because she was the only mate in the pack. It would be good for the pack and the collective to have her around. Fenrir swallowed the last of his firewhisky and headed off for his own bed. Tomorrow was Halloween, which meant a Death Eater revel. His Beta would be Marked, and while Fenrir had always enjoyed a good revel, he suspected his pup would not.