Changed Ch 12

Theo turned back to Brett after watching Karen disappear into the bedroom letting his shock show on his face.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, his throat going dry.

"Yes," Brett said with a sigh. "I need to do what is best for my family, Theo."

Theo nodded, resignation setting in though a small part of him was angry too.

"What about MY family, Brett?" he asked with no real heat. "You can't expect Karen to..."

"Expect me to do what?" Karen blurted out as she was walking down the stairs. She walked over to the couch and crossed her arms over her chest, her nerves growing exponentially.

Brett heaved out another sigh and scrubbed his face with his hands. He looked up at the fiery young woman and gave her a small smile.

"Hello Karen," he said getting up to hug her, which she returned frostily. Her demeanor caused him to chuckle and both Karen and Theo looked at him surprised.

"Please have a seat," Brett motioned to the couch next to Theo, relaxing some as she did. "Before I say anything, I just want to congratulate you two on being able to accept each other. You will make a wonderful pair, and I can't wait for the ceremony."

Karen gave him a small smile, before snuggling in closer to Theo. He draped his arm around her shoulder and held her close. She could feel the worry rolling off of him in waves. Sighing, she turned to Brett.

"What did you tell him to freak him out so much?" she asked while Theo snorted.

"I'm not freaked out," he said softly, but the other two ignored him.

"I will be stepping down as the alpha of this pack once you two have gone through the mating ritual," Brett said bluntly. Karen looked at in him disbelief.

"What?" she asked incredulously. "You're handing over the pack? Can you do that? And why wait until we're mated? Unless..." she trailed off looking between the two men. She scoffed in disbelief, stood up, and was soon pacing around the room. "If this is any way that a normal wild pack works, there's the alpha male, and the alpha female, which means if you're handing the pack over to Theo, I would be alpha female?"

Brett simply nodded as both men watched the agitated woman pace around the living room.

"You want me to help run a pack of wolves?" she asked, her voice rising a few octaves as the severity of the situation settled on her. "Less than 6 months ago, I didn't even know y'all existed. Between then and now, I've lost my father, my best friend, found out I wasn't human, found out I was living with werewolves, had to go trekking through the forest with someone who had attacked me, got molested by a...a...a rock troll, found out that I'm fated to spend the rest of my life with Theo, not that that's a bad thing hun," she said quietly to Theo before turning back to Brett, "and now, on top of everything else. You want me to help lead a pack of wolves when I only know 4 of them. What the hell are you thinking!?!" She ended in an exasperated sigh.

Brett took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his wolf not even mad at her outbursts, as he looked at the tiny woman who would soon help lead his pack. As he looked at her, he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved at her reaction. If she had just accepted it, it meant that she had lost some of the strong willpower he had seen in her when he first met her. Karen blinked in surprise when the large man's eyes welled with tears.

"Do you remember what my explanation was when we first met, as to why I hadn't introduced myself earlier?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

Karen looked between him and Theo, before moving to sit next to Brett putting her hand on his large shoulder.

"Your wife had just given birth," she said quietly as the big shoulder shook beneath her hand. Theo got up and went to the kitchen to make some coffee, having already heard the reason. Brett nodded and looked at Karen, a single tear spilling over.

"One of my girls," his voice cracked a little and he swallowed and tried again. "She's sick. We aren't sure what it is. Werewolves have evolved separately from humans, so we don't have diseases, especially not'' he heaved a breath trying to steady himself "mental diseases.We don't know what's wrong with her, but the closest thing we can think of is that it might be a weird strain or form of the human disease: Autism."

"I'm so sorry Brett," Karen said softly, wrapping her small arms around the set of hunched shoulders.

He simply nodded and patted her arm. "Thank you. It's because of this, I'm going to step down. I need to be there for my family, and while the pack is my family, my daughter needs me more."

"I understand. I'm sorry," she said again, taking a settling breath and giving him a smile as Theo came back with a cup of coffee for Brett. "I'm sure we'll be fine, besides, you'll be staying at the compound right?"

He answered her with a nod as he sipped his coffee. "Then you'll be here to help if anything comes up that Theo can't handle, and I'm sure Becca will help me. Plus, we still have a little bit of time before the ceremony right?"

Brett gave Karen a warm smile, pride for her bravery burned in his chest. He cleared his throat and looked at Theo. "Yes. There is some time before the ceremony. Theo still has to complete his punishment for lashing out at you. He did the manual labor portion, now he has to re-establish his place among the pack. Any who feel that he is no longer suited to second in command has the chance to challenge him for his position. Once he has re-established himself within the pack, then we can get to the Mating ceremony,"

Karen nodded, not trusting herself to speak anymore. She had just gotten control over her emotions, and already they seemed to be trying to break free. First she was terrified about being an Alpha and then she was worried about Theo, not that she knew he couldn't take care of himself. She heaved a sigh and Theo gave her a crooked grin before turning back to Brett. They spoke a bit more about pack things and the upcoming challenges before brett got up to leave. As they said their goodbyes, Theo gathered her in his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"Are you hungry?" he asked softly when she finally pulled away.

"Yeah," she said a little sheepishly, she had always been one of those people who needed to eat right when they got up.

"Come on," he said with a smile as he grabbed her hand and lead her out of the house.

"Where are we?" she asked, standing close to him for comfort as they stood in front of one of the larger buildings on the compound that she hadn't been inside.

"This is the mess hall," Theo said with a smile before leaning down and whispering to her, "We can't have an Alpha female who doesn't know her pack now can we?"

Karen let out a nervous laugh as she eyed the huge mass of people sitting in a large cafeteria. She took a deep breath and forced all of her nerves out when she exhaled. She squared her shoulders and nodded to Theo who simply laughed and led them inside. He was immediately greeted by most of the wolves, and those who were in the proximity got up to shake his hand. In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded by at least 10 wolves, all of them staring at Karen. She shot them all a smile, relaxing some when she felt no hostility, just curiosity. Theo cleared his throat and held out his hand to the wolf directly in front of her. He was tall and lanky, with dirty blond hair and soft blue eyes that smiled at her.

"Karen," Theo said, his voice taking on a tone she hadn't heard before "This is Timothy, he's second in command at the hospital and is a low ranking Beta,"

Karen returned the tall man's smile and shook his offered hand, "Hello," she said softly, "I'm Karen. Though I'm sure you know all about me,"

Timothy let out a soft laugh, "Indeed I do though it is wonderful to finally be introduced properly,"

There was a small jostle of bodies and a smaller wolf pushed his way to the front excitement evident on his face.

"I'm Matt!" he exclaimed, quickly grabbing her hand. There was a soft growl to her right, and the small wolf cowed instantly, dropping her hand like it was on fire. "I'm sorry Beta Theo, I didn't mean any disrespect"

Karen looked over at her man, who seemed to be giving the now obviously young wolf a scolding with his eyes. But as quickly as it happened, Theo gave him a nod and cleared his throat.

"Karen," He said in what she now realized was his Beta tone, "This is Matt, one of the adolescents in the pack though he sometimes forgets his place,"

Matt gave her a sheepish smile and held out his hand again, his chest puffed up with pride that Theo was treating him like an adult. Karen gave a soft laugh and shook his hand for the second time. "It's nice to meet you, Matt,"

He gave her a beaming smile and blushed, quickly retracting his hand and rushing off to the group of adolescents by the door. All the adult wolves chuckled as they watched the younger members exclaim excitedly and quickly rush over to join the ever growing throng of people that wanted to get introduced to the elusive human who had been living on their compound.

And so it went, for hours, each member coming forward with a warm smile and a handshake and some with congratulations, all of them seemingly genuinely happy to meet her. Theo only stemmed the flow when Karen's stomach growled loudly.

They got their food and sat at the largest table in the middle of the cafeteria. Karen gave him a questioning look and before he could say anything, the table filled with people. She just gave him a smile and nodded to the wolf who had sat down across from her. He was quite large and had an angry scowl on his face. Karen gives the new man a questioning look, but he turned to Theo ignoring her. Before the large man could speak, however, Theo interjected.

"The Challenges will most likely be held in a few days Bruin and the meeting for people to challenge me is tonight," he gave the man a cold look, "I would appreciate it if you could take your anger elsewhere, you are interrupting my mate's breakfast,"

The cafeteria instantly fell silent, and Karen had to use all of her training to simply move the fork from her plate to her mouth without it shaking. It was obvious that some of the wolves had known that they were mates, but this had to have been the first time it was spoken out loud.

"Some mate you are," Bruin said angrily. Theo growled and it was unlike anything Karen had ever heard. This growl was not only menacing, warning, but it was full of a power that sent shivers down her spine.

Told ya

, her Spyrim side said as it basically rolled around in the pure, powerful proof that their mate was a wolf to be reckoned with. Karen tried to hide her smile, focusing on her eggs instead.

"Bruin," Theo's voice was laced with power and she was surprised that he could talk and growl at the same time. The other man looked away, showing submission.

"Tonight then," he stated simply before he got up and marched away.

Theo sighed and turned, smiling at Karen. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

She looked back at him, mouth full of food and smiled with a nod.

Within seconds, the seat the held the angry Bruin was occupied by a young wolf who was visibly vibrating in excitement. "Will there be a ceremony?" she asked, and the cafeteria, which had been silent broke out in soft murmurs.

"Yes Kathy," Theo said with a kind smile, "There will be a Ceremony,"

The young woman squealed, "Like the old times?"

Theo chuckled and gently squeezed Karen's thigh, they hadn't spoken about what the ceremony would entail, but he knew she wasn't going to be too happy about it. "Yes, Kathy, like the old times."

The cafeteria exploded in cheers, claps, and a few wolf whistles. Karen looked around, a deep red staining her cheeks. She looked suspiciously at Theo and was even more shocked to see that his skin also held a pink tint to it.

"What did you just do?" she whispered harshly, her embarrassment coloring her words.

"Something that I'm sure I'll pay for later," he looked at her, his eyes begging forgiveness. Karen groaned and put her head in her hands, elbows resting on the table while the closest wolves laughed.

"Excuse me," a soft, small, sheepish voice said one the din had died down. Karen looked up and to her left where an adolescent girl stood, clutching the hand of a much younger girl. They were clearly sisters, and the way the smaller one bounced with excitement, it was obvious she had begged her big sister to take her to meet Karen. Karen gave them a soft smile and turned around to face them.

"Yes?" she asked softly, the smile still on her face.

"I'm really sorry," the older sister said " Abby really wanted to meet you,"

Karen held out her hand to the child, "Hello Abby, my name is Karen,"

Abby beamed up at her, and the older sister relaxed a little. She was quick to stiffen again when, instead of shaking her hand, Abby crawled into Karen's lap instead. Karen laughed and held the little girl close and she got settled.

"Abby! Get Down!" the older sister cried

Karen laughed again, "It's okay..." she paused prodding for a name.

"Marcy," the older sister replied defeated. "I really am sorry, she's a pup and doesn't know any better,"

"It's okay Marcy, I don't mind," Karen soothed the older girl before turning to the child on her lap. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"Why do you have swirly marks all over you?" the little girl asked and again the cafeteria fell quite. Karen's smile turned a little forced, but she knew that she would have to answer these questions eventually, and she would rather pretend to just be answering a child then having to address the whole pack.

"The swirly marks shows other people what I am, and they help direct my power should I want to use it." Karen stated, reciting some of what she had read in her mother's journal.

"What are you?"

Karen chuckled, her tension easing at the little girls bluntness. "I'm half Spyrim, a soul nymph,"

"What kind of powers do you have?" the little girl rattled off almost immediately as she played with the necklace Karen had put on today.

"I can sense what people are feeling, and if I need to, I can control what they feel,"

The room tensed slightly, for obvious reasons. Having someone who could control feelings in their midst could be potentially dangerous. Karen looked around nervously, seeking Theo's warm eyes as an anchor. Behind his shoulder three wolves were approaching, the older ones obviously the girls parents and the younger one had to be a brother.

"So if someone is sad, you can make them happy?" Abby asked, her innocence immediately calming the mounting tension in the room.

"Yes," Karen said hesitantly. She knew she could theoretically do it, but hadn't done anything of the sort.

"Will you help Charlie?"

The three wolves who had made their way over frozen, and all eyes turned onto the young boy who shrunk against his parents. Karen looked at Theo, who was looking at her with a thoughtful expression. He then turned to the parents, who were simply standing in shock.

"If it's okay with them, I don't see why you couldn't help them if he'd want it. Even Brett says it'd be okay," he said to her quietly, giving her permission to use her powers on the pack.

"Uh," Karen stammered looking between Theo and the parents. Her eyes locked onto the mothers, her heart clenching at the sudden hope that was buried in their depths. "If it's okay with your mom, dad, and brother," she said hesitantly, as she gently set the girl back on the ground "I don't see why I couldn't try to help Charlie,"

"He's having trouble with his wolf. He's always sad now, we don't know what's wrong. He's not talking to anyone," the mother said, immediately, pushing the son gently towards her. Karen shifted her focus to the young man in front of her. She sucked in a small breath at the tortured look in his eyes.

"Hello Charlie," she said gently, holding out her unmarked hand to him "My name is Karen, would you like me to see if I can help you and your wolf?"

The boy simply nodded and shook her hand. Taking a deep breath, she reached out her other hand and gently placed it on the boy's shoulder. Acting on instinct, she let her power flow into the boy, not carrying any emotion but looking for his. In the distance she heard a few gasps, he power made her glow, but she was too focused to care. As her power flooded through the young man in front of her, she felt a sudden blast of sadness. A deep well had appeared around the boy's heart, and at the bottom of the well, his wolf was curled up, whimpering softly. A name floated towards her, and she pulled back slightly, looking at Theo.

"Whose Margaret?" she asked, her voice sounding far away.

Again there was a collective gasp. "She was a young wolf who died in an accident about 15 years ago," Theo's deep voice wrapped around her like a blanket. In the back of her mind, she made a note to ask about a wolf's life cycle since the wolf in front of her barely looked 17. She focused back on the wolf at the bottom of the pit.

Why are you sad?

she asked, using her powers to gently draw some of the crushing sadness away.

I killed her

the young man's voice filled her head though she knew he hadn't spoken out loud.

How?

She asked, slowly drawing more of the sadness away, slowly trying to raise the wolf from the pit.

She fell off a cliff when we were playing. She managed to break enough bones on the way down that her body couldn't heal them. She landed in a dirty swamp and got an infection. She died because of the infection and the fact that she couldn't heal herself.

Did you push her?

Karen asked, a small bubble of hope flaring in her as the boy's anger sparked, getting rid of more sadness.

No!

He said vehemently,

Did you purposefully lead her to a cliff over a dirty swamp? Did you want her to fall?

NO! the boy yelled, his wolf scrambling over the edge of a much shallower pit, his hackles raised. Karen sighed, and sent the boy calm, reassurance.

I know that, You know that, your wolf knows that,

She said softly, draining off the last of the crushing guilt, leaving him with a normal healthy, normal dose of sadness over losing a loved one.

So why do you keep blaming yourself? There was nothing you could have done. You need to come back out of that dark place you were in. Yes, it's sad to lose someone, but you have many other's who love you and want you to come back. Look around. Everyone loves you.

She finished her small speak with a healthy dose of hope, and finally withdrew as the boy and wolf reconnected without the weight of their false guilt.

She looked back to the family, all of them had tears in their eyes. She slowly removed her hand from the boys chest, her tattoo's glow fading. She gave the mother a soft smile.

"He needs to talk to someone. He's been blaming himself this whole time for her death and his perceived guilt and trapped both him and his wolf. That's why he wouldn't talk to anyone. He couldn't even talk to himself."

"Thank you," the mother said softly, her tears finally spilling over as her son turned to her, burying his face in her chest. The father nodded, and gathered his girls, scooping Abby up and grabbing Marcy's hand before herding his family out of the cafeteria. The surrounding wolves stared in shock at what they had just witnessed. The levels of tension completely disappearing in the wake of such a healing. Karen turned to Theo, the love shining in his eyes making her stomach flip.

"Why didn't anyone talk to him before this?" she asked softly, the crowd finally dispersing.

"We tried," he said heavily and shook his head "He completely shut us out. No one could get through to him. Not even Brett. What you did was amazing. You saved his life."