Naive Enough

preface

Warm water kissed the beach edge as I dug my toes into the soggy sand. Fading sunlight gave the shimmering surface a saintly glow as the smell of water filled air. It was all so calm and still. Above me seagulls squeaked as they soared above the water. There was nothing in the horizon but water--open space full of possibilities of a future.

An armed wrapped around my chest, chin wrestling on my shoulder as we stood cheek to cheek. His flushed warm flesh against my own, his skin a bit burnt by his reluctance to wear sunscreen. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked me softly.

His hand knitted with my own with an affectionate squeeze. "Yes. Beautiful."

***

There was nothing extraordinary about the conception of him. In fact it was nothing more than an pre-sleep romp done with in less than fifteen minutes and Callie's pregnancy was nothing special. She wasn't any more sick or any less sick than she had been with the two before. She was just as irritable as with her last two pups and her appointments were just as uneventful.

Truthfully the two never planned on more than two but life happens, they figured. They were very normal middle-ranks. Danny labored long hours in the elements while Callie spent her time between the administrative office at Lancaster School and home tending to her two pups and Danny. Their other children were nothing out of the ordinary either. Two boys, not too small nor too large, space three years apart. One took toward hunting while the other preferred to help his father with work.

The family didn't have much but they always had enough and they enjoyed their simple existence.

But once Leif was born everything was different. The lavender eyed, grey haired rarity changed everything about the family. Respect otherwise delegated to their superiors were rerouted. They moved to a larger home on a better plot of land. Danny became his own boss from the influx of work and had wolves working below him as wolves grappled for the ability for their children to be mated to an Omega.

Did they take advantage? Of course. They loved their child but even more than that, they loved what he did for their lifestyle. But as word spread outside of the pack about Leif others began to take notice. And they weren't going to waste their time with flattery when they could simply take what they wanted.