23- Lachlan

When Saoirse and Sirius arrived at the address Linda had given them, Linus announced that his sister had been found and the pack had a wonderful banquet.

(They ate all of Saoirse's animals by the way. That is what they decided to do with the animals, the poor things. However, we must accept that there are casualties in war.)

Saoirse hadn't imagined that her brother had so many descendants. She was used to vampires having one or two kids every few hundred years, but her brother had married several times in his few hundred years. Most of his 30 kids were grown long ago, and had had families of their own for centuries. So as you can imagine, to Sirius' relief. Werewolves actually outnumbered the vampires by at least ten to one.

Linus didn't announce right away that Saoirse had bested him. In fact, he continued being Alpha as if nothing had happened. That was fine with her for now. He was a beloved leader despite her first impression.

She sat there for a bit and observed a group of kids playing. Wolf cubs were happily running around without a care in the world and one of them in particular reminded her of herself when she was younger. She felt a flood of emotions and memories overcome her. Tears began flowing down her face at the thought of what she had lost when she died.

She couldn't help it but sob. She had never seen people be so carefree and free. She placed her arms on the table and folded them and rested her head, allowing the feelings to flow. She didn't notice Linus come and sit down next to her until he let out a sigh.

"I imagine you understand now how being with Sirius was holding you back." He said.

"Huh?" She sat up suddenly and couldn't help but get angry at him. "That's not what I was thinking at all!" She exclaimed.

"No? Oh well, I'm not saying he's still holding you back. I'm just saying he was."

Saoirse didn't respond so he explained what he was thinking. "When I was newly married, I was afraid of moving on past my fear of Alastor coming after all of the werewolves. There were other packs you know, and when I was in college, I happened to smell my wife from a mile away. And you know what I did? I found a place of refuge. I found out that werewolves were all over the place, living amongst humans, even living in Asgard. My wife showed me that perhaps the whole world isn't always out to get me. Perhaps I can be happy if I just move on and don't worry so much."

This didn't really help Saoirse, as far as she was concerned, the whole world seemed very out to get her and Sirius all of the time. Linus was more like Madeleine. He just wasn't involved in it.

Linus smiled at her, "Fine. Don't believe me. You'll have to learn that lesson on your own then."

A woman with a baby came over to sit next to Linus suddenly, as he beckoned her over.

"Thank you." He said to her as she handed the child to him.

"I will clock out now if that's alright." The woman said just as Saoirse was wondering if the woman was Linus' wife.

He smiled, "Alright then, thank you for your help." He said and the woman left. Then he turned his attention to Saoirse. "So you've decided to be Luna, and I won't stop you, I was just holding your place for you. In the end, mom and dad chose you, so I will honor that as if it were their last dying wish.

However, this is my youngest and I do have one concern about you taking my spot and that is what should I do with him?"

Saoirse was confused, "What do you mean?"

"If you didn't have to worry about protecting your kids from Alastor would you have lived life differently?" He asked instead of answering her question.

"Huh?" 

"That look, I saw that look in your eyes. Sirius has the same look in his eyes. That lonely look. That Oh those kids remind me of myself look, the Oh I wonder if I had kids, what would they look like? Look.

Linus was super observant. I nearly scared Saoirse.

"How many years have you guys waited because of that fear?"

Linus pointed towards Sirius who was watching kids running around. He was smiling at them with his soft eyes. Then he turned away and got up to get another drink. 

"I haven't ever noticed him have a look like that." Saoirse said surprised. "He's never had that look when he is around vampire kids."

"Interesting." Linus said as he took a sip. Then he said "Alright then, I know what I'll do." 

"Linus you're not making any sense right now." Saoirse said. To her it seemed like he was changing topics all over the place, or talking to himself. Are super observant people a little crazy? She wondered.

"You guys can have refuge in my pack obviously since you're the Luna and Alpha now and you can raise Lachlan." Linus clarified.

"What?!!! That is obsurd he is your baby! We can't take your baby!"

Saoirse stood up to walk away at this. This man was crazy.

"Lachlan was going to be my successor. I already marked him as my successor because my other sons have packs of their own now and I was getting ready to step down." Linus said interrupting her before she could walk away.

She turned around. "Then because of the death of his mother he has had to be raised by servants. Is that what he deserves? He is nobility, and my last child, I have raised 30 kids, it's not like I haven't had plenty of time to be a parent, but I'm getting tired. And do you want my successor to lose his right to alpha and to be raised without a mother?" Linus finished. "So I want you to take him as your own and he will have the pack once you grow tired. Do we have a deal?"

Saoirse was trying to think of a response to his words. First of all, he sounded crazy, he couldn't be serious, but he looked dead serious right now. She looked over at Sirius again and he was standing alone now. She felt his feelings of loneliness surround her. 

"Some vampires feel like they've lived too long in loneliness." She told Linus.

She looked at Lachlan's sweet baby face. A feeling of joy filled her heart a bit.

(Oh No! No! No! No! No! I yelled at my mom, that pudgy thing does not get to take my spot as the first born! How was this conversation even happening right now?)

"I'll do it if Sirius agrees to it." Saoirse answered.

(What the heck!!!!!)

"But he would never want his father to know. We would need reliable childcare when we are around vampires. We want to keep this a secret for now. This and the existence of the pack." Saoirse finished.

Linus smiled.

"I have a home here for you to live in already and I've fully furnished it. I've already hired staff."

"How?" 

Linus waved his arms as if to show that they were inside his mansion right now. "You're the Alpha and the Luna, this estate belongs to you now. Stay here as long as you want and come and go as you please."

(And so, somehow mom must be broken because she threw all caution out the window and that's how I ended up with an older brother...or so I thought….I smiled at dad. Evil bunny sabotage face. That's right hahaha. Everyone should know that if one parent doesn't give you the answer that you're looking for, you can always see if the other parent will give you a different answer. I looked at Dad who was giving all of the wolf cubs those puppy dog eyes, and I knew this was going to be a difficult battle. They were traitors, the both of them. Then I looked at Lachlan. I gave him a scowl. Pudgy little usurper. This means war!)