Pack House.

"Welcome back, Alpha." The flight attendant said as she bowed to Isaiah.

Donna's mother gave us permission to leave immediately, so we waited a few days for Donna to recover and hopped on Isaiah's private jet.

I wish I had one of these! Maybe I should invest in one? Probably too much of a pain if it's just me and I only use it for comfort, rather than necessity.

Anyway, we had just stepped into the plane and the woman greeted us, or rather Isaiah, who nodded back to her. I helped Donna, who was still healing, get seated and turned to Isaiah.

"How long's the flight?" I asked him.

"Around four hours. You can relax for a bit. The pack will be excited to see you again!" He grinned at me.

I grimaced. Yeah, the mythical older brother of the alpha king who was the main force during the V/W war is finally coming 'home'. I already know what's going to happen. Some will ask for autographs or something like that, while others will be plotting against me for one reason or another. Fucking politics. They're the whole reason I kept away from any kind of Sup and decided to stay in human civilization. The only reason I would have ever stayed with the wolves was Ashina.

"Yay, me…" I said sullenly.

"So, Red. I heard that Isaiah is like, over two hundred years old." Donna spoke up.

I sat down across from her. "Yeah?"

Donna bit her lip in thought for a moment before shaking it. "So how old are you?"

"I'm old. Very old." I said in response.

She nodded her head in thought before turning to Isaiah. "So, what do I need to know?"

"You'll find out with time, pup."

She scrunched her eyebrows. "Pup?"

I grinned at her and she turned to me. "Yeah. 'Pup.' It's what they call young wolves. Considering you're only nineteen, you're gonna be a pup for another few years."

"I'm a fucking grown woman, Red! I'm not gonna be treated like a kid!"

Me and Isaiah looked at each other and laughed while throwing our heads back.

"What?! What are you laughing at, huh?!"

"Donna-" I said through my laughter. "You're gonna be-" I broke off and laughed harder.

She turned to Isaiah and glared at him. "Quit fuckin' laughing, you damn bitches!"

Isaiah choked on a laugh and looked at her before slapping my chest.

"Ow! The fuck was that for?" I said angrily.

He shook his head. "Bad influence. Shame."

My eyes bulged at him. "The hell are you talking about? Shame?"

I shook my head and giggle a final time before turning my gaze to Donna with a smile. "Okay. Normally wolves know about the in's and out's of what a pack is. They grow up knowing everyone and how a pack works. They are mentally prepared for their first change."

My smile faded and my face turned serious. "You won't have time to learn everything before your first change. Isaiah will explain the most important things first." I gestured to Isaiah.

Isaiah cleared his throat before speaking. "Uh, yeah. So when you change, you will meet your wolf. Your wolf is basically like another person that lives in your head."

"What?! The fuck does that mean?!"

"It's just as I said. Your wolf will be able to speak to you, and you will be able to speak to her. She has no control over your human body, but when you turn, she will be in control of the wolf."

"Okay, cool! So I'm just gonna have another person in my head. Yeah, totally normal!" Donna was freaking out.

"Donna, calm down. Listen." She turned to me. "From what I've heard from other werewolves, their wolf is their best friend. It will be… odd, at first, but I'm sure you both will get along."

She nodded. "Okay… so is she… gonna be like me?"

Isaiah paled. "I hope not!"

I slapped the back of his head. "Dumbass!"

I grabbed Donna's hand. "She may or may not be like you. Some werewolves have opposite personalities compared to their wolves, but get along perfectly. If I know you, Donna, you will get along with your wolf just fine. I'm sure your wolf will be very loving and understanding, as well."

She nodded and smiled at me. "Thanks, Red."

She looked down for a moment in thought. "So… I wasn't always a werewolf… so where… no, you speak as if my wolf is her own person?"

Isaiah nodded. "She is. Our wolves are gifts from the Moon Goddess. When we turn, she grants us a wolf befitting of our nature and personality."

"Moon Goddess? Like the Goddess of werewolves?"

"Yes." Isaiah nodded.

I spoke up as the flight attendant walked back in from the cockpit of the plane. "Okay, Donna. Get some sleep for now. We can talk more when we get to Toronto."

"We'll be taking off in a few minutes, alpha." The flight attendant said.

Once we got in the air, Donna had fallen asleep and Isaiah asked for two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. We both drank in silence, enjoying each other's company, while the plane flew us to Canada.

I was contemplating the choices I'd made after their deaths. It was still difficult to talk about. Painful, even. I've tried my best to seem normal, but it truly feels like I'm losing my mind. The liquor helped dull everything.

"Attention, alpha and passengers." The pilot spoke through the intercom. "We are beginning our descent in one minute. Please buckle your seatbelts and stow all lose items."

The flight attendant came to take our glasses and we buckled our seatbelts as we felt the plane lurch downward. Isaiah started to drum his fingers on the armrest of his seat and his eyebrows tensed.

"Still?" I asked him with a grin.

"Yeah. I can't stop a plane crash, man! If something goes wrong I'm dead!" Isaiah said in a tense tone.

He was cared of flying. It was true, though. And understandable.

Not a lot of beings could survive a plane crash. Be it humans or vampires and werewolves. I'm sure even I would make a visit to the afterlife before being thrown back into my body! Among vampires, plane crashes are a more common death than car crashes.

Unlike his worries, the plane settled down on the runway without issue. Donna woke up when the plane rustled and looked outside the window.

"Huh. Not many planes out there." She said in confusion.

"I only have this one and a slightly larger one for troop movements." Isaiah responded in a relieved tone.

"What does that…" her eyes widened. "This whole fucking airport? You own it?"

"Language!" I shouted at her.

"Whatever! You curse too!" She shouted back at me

"I'm older than the words I use!"

"Fuckin' old man!" Her eyes boggled.

"Enough…" Isaiah said as he rubbed his eyebrows. "Yes, I own the airstrip. It's run by my pack, as well."

Donna whistled. "I got a rich brother, huh?"

My eyebrows furrowed as I corrected her. "No, you got a rich alpha."

"But you said I was like a sister to you!"

I grinned. "A bratty, unwanted, little sister!"

She faked a sniffle. "Unwanted… oh, woe-is-me!"

I laughed. "Whatever!"

The door to the plane opened and the pilot stepped out of the cockpit to bow to Isaiah.

"I hope your flight was smooth, alpha. There will be a car waiting outside for you."

"Thanks, Maurice." Isaiah said as he stepped out with me and Donna following.

We walked over to an all black Suburban with complimenting blacked-out windows and stepped inside. Isaiah took shotgun while Donna and I sat in the back. The driver looked at Isaiah for a moment before turning back to us.

"Problem?" Isaiah asked in a growl.

"N-no, alpha…" the driver stuttered as he put the car into drive before taking off.

I turned to Donna to explain. "Alphas usually take the backseat, if they're being drove somewhere. It came from a human belief of important people being in the backseat. The driver didn't like that you and I took the backseat, meaning that we are more important than him."

The driver gulped audibly and spoke. "A-apologies, alpha."

Isaiah grunted. "Your reaction is expected. Do not fret."

Donna tapped Isaiah on the shoulder. He turned around to look at her with questioning eyes.

"I'm not bowing to you." She said with a smile.

He huffed a laugh. "Good. Birger would kill me if you did!"

The driver swerved in the rode before straightening the vehicle again.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" Isaiah shouted at him.

"Y-yes, alpha!" Gods, this driver was terrified!

I chuckled. Yeah, a lot of time has passed since I'd been here last. Most people wouldn't know me and some wouldn't remember me. Thank the gods for that. I just wanted to help Donna and bounce. I'll stay long enough to meet Isaiah's second-chance mate, of course. It's fairly rare to survive when your mate dies, let alone surviving 'and' finding another mate!

"She's there?" I asked Isaiah.

"Yeah. Rosalind. She's with our kids."

"Kids? Isn't it just Brit and Russo?" I asked him.

Brit was the daughter he and Clara, his first mate, had. Russo, I assumed, was the fruit of his new mate, Rosalind. Brit hadn't seen me for over two hundred years. She was thirty six when I left.

"Oh… uh, yeah… I forgot you didn't know." Isaiah turned back to the front and looked out the window. "She's um… very fertile."

"…Isaiah? What does that mean?" I leaned over and grabbed his shoulder. "What the fuck does that mean?!"

"I have seven children, Birger." He turned to me with an awkward smile. "Congratulations?"

"Congratulations?! I'm a fucking uncle of five kids I didn't even know about?!" I all but yelled at him.

He grumbled. "Not my fault you up and left."

I sighed. "Okay, fair. But ouch."

I let go of his shoulder and leaned back into my seat. "You'd better introduce them to me. I'm many things but I refuse to be a failure when it comes to family-"

I was a failure, though. I had failed to protect two of my wives and my child.

"Hey." Isaiah called and put his hand on my knee. "Don't. You couldn't have known. Don't ever think of yourself as a failure. If I trust anyone with me and my families life, it's you, Brother."

I smacked his hand away. "Damn right! I'm the best Brother in the world for a reason!"

He nodded with a smile. "Exactly!"

The rest of the ride was quiet. The miles of pine trees gave the place a feeling of peace. Along with the scent of pine, a new scent appeared underneath it all. Werewolf.

Just as I thought that, the road with trees on either side opened up to reveal a large area that was cleared of any trees. Nestled in the center was a large, two story structure made from logs. It looked almost like a hotel.

I knew it like the back of my hand. It was the pack-house. The structure itself was simple, but it was functional and comfortable for the werewolves. It consisted of several smaller rooms spread throughout the structure. In the center of the building, there was a spacious den, where the alpha gathered the pack for meetings and briefings. Other rooms included a sleeping area for unmated wolves and at the left side of the building there was a training room for practice. The right side included a large kitchen and a dining area for communal meals.

On the outskirts of the area, some cabins were set up. They housed mated wolves and their children. When I had left, there were only five. Now, there were at least thirty. Guess becoming the alpha king really increased the size of his pack.

Isaiah noticed me looking around and spoke. "The general layout of the pack house is the same. Your… room has been untouched. I cleaned it myself, every other week."

I nodded stiffly. "Okay. Thank you."

The room I had used, along with Ashina. We had both lived in the pack house while we waited for our cabin to be built. She basically moved in to my room while we waited. Unfortunately, the war had prevented any real progress and she had died before it was completed.

The car came to a halt in front of the pack house. We all stepped out and I moved around the car to stand beside Isaiah.

"Welcome home, Birger." He said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

I nodded. "I'm back."