The Gift

1

This entire story is dedicated to Jen-1982. Without her, this would probably never have happened. between her, StarlightRyder, and Lore507 and so many other wonderful followers, I have been shown a great deal of love. Thank you for the wonderful support that you give me. Even, or especially when I whine and cry. You guys are great and have been for a long time.

"Freya!" A deep voice yelled out.

Heaving a deep sigh, she answered. "Yes Xander." Turning, she meet her youngest brother as he walked up to her. He was Freya's closest friend and her confidante. She had been so carefully guarded as a child that it had been difficult to have playmates. So many of the parents in the District had seen her as a way to get an "in" with the Alpha couple, that she had often been pushed into playing with mean and sometimes cruel children. 

"Are you even listening to what I'm telling you, Freya?" Her brother asked in exasperation.

"I'm sorry, Xander. I was remembering some of my rather unpleasant childhood." Alexander frowned. His sister had not had an easy childhood. She had been a target for wolves and human females seeking a change in position and status within the District. His mom and dad had done what they could. But not even the Alpha couple was perfect at guarding their daughter.

"I was saying that a visiting Alpha is on his way and dad wants us all to be there to greet him. He's supposed to be important." Freya waved his explanation of with a disinterested wave of her hand.

"Mom and dad always get a little uptight when another alpha or higher ranked wolf comes. I think that they are hoping that each time, it might be my mate. Dear Goddess, how many more years must I wait. I'm already 23. By the time mom was my age, she was a widow and living in the convent. I want my mate, dammit! I want someone who will love only me. Me! Freya! Not the first female wolf born in almost one hundred years! Not the alpha's daughter. Me!" In a fit of anger, she stomped her foot to emphasize her point.

Alexander responded to his sister's pain by pulling her into his embrace. "Ah Rey, you will. Grandmother does everything for a reason. You know that. When she allowed mom to be changed and get pregnant with all of us, she had reasons. Even dad has said that when it happened Grandmother had told him that she hadn't allowed mom to get pregnant with her human husband. That was something special reserved for dad. I strongly suspect that you will meet your mate very soon and that you will find that Grandmother does know what she's doing. I know you get lonely, but it will be worth it, I promise." Hugging her one last time, Alexander released her as they approached their home.

Taking a deep sniff, Alexander groaned in appreciation. "Mom's cooking. And it smells like homemade bread, and......Oh my God!!! Mom's making haggis! She never makes that. Even though it's dad's favorite. Says it stinks up the house for days. I wonder what else she's making." Turning to his sister, he grinned and grabbed her hand and pulled her along to the kitchen entrance of the massive house that they called home.

"Mom!" Xander called out. 

Their mother came out of the pantry with bundles of sweets that she had made the day before. "Yes, Alexander? Is there some reason that you are running through the house and dragging your poor sister along behind you?" Their mother stood all of about five foot, eight inches and their dad was somewhere along the lines of six foot five. All of the boys were tall like their dad. But Freya had turned out to be delicate like Amy's mom. The woman had been barely five foot tall. If she stretched really hard, that it.

Amy looked from one to the other of her two youngest children and smiled. They both stood there with their mouths hanging open with surprise. "Well, are you going to answer you mother?
Or do we assume that you have gone mute as well as having lost all of the manners that we tried to instill in you both?"