Notes:
     Everyone settles in. The boys start to wonder why they are having so much trouble shifting.
Warnings: none

     Over the course of the next week, things settled within the Emrys Pack as everything was taken care of.
     Each smaller pack settled into their new roles, both inside the selected pack and whatever job they had chosen for themselves.
     The town the Miller/Charming pack had come to call Storybrooke was set up within the first day within a plain field next to a set of woods where the more wolf than human weres were living. It took up just enough space to make that pack comfortable without taking away any land for the wilder were packs. And, within that town, several services were provided to ensure complete comfort for them all.
    Zelena lived in a farmhouse between Storybrooke and the farmland where the Shepard's pack lived and worked. Chad and Eric were already living with her but she had not yet mated Chad as she was told to wait until he had finished his training.
    Other buildings were sprinkled across Wolf Haven, from castles to houses to work buildings.
     A nursery had been built into the side of a mountain for the younger pups where Nyx and other weres took care of them.
     Several small buildings and medical tents were sprinkled across Wolf Haven, each with multiple healers and/or doctors working them.
     Other buildings had been built here and there for other things, such as classrooms for the older pups and a council chambers for the council members to hold their council meetings when it was needed.
     Soon, the entirety of the Emrys Pack had settled into their new routine and everything seemed to be going well.
     The former humans continued training along with the pups. While Chad and Eric seemed to do well with keeping up, Sam and Dean were finding it difficult to shift and keep the form for long before losing control and blacking out no matter how many times Sapphira made them try over and over again.
     One afternoon after yet another failure, Dean grew impatient and decided to take a rest for the day. Sam, however, went to visit Merlin to ask some questions, both out of curiosity and because he wondered why he and his brother were having so much trouble over something that seemed like it should be second nature.
     So he tracked down Merlin who was looking through a pile of books and what looked like parchment from medieval times.
     Merlin looked up when the tall were entered the cave he was in. "Good afternoon, Sam."
     "Alpha." Sam greeted. "I was wondering if you could help me with something."
     Merlin set his things off to the side. "What can I do for you?"
     Sam sighed, thinking how best to ask. "I just had some questions regarding the transformation that my brother and I went through."
     Merlin cleared his throat and set down in the nearest chair. "I'm afraid I don't know much about the bitten, having never really had much dealings with them before. With Mother Lupa and her children missing, not many bitten have gone through the turning in at least a few decades." He explained.
    "But there's one were I know of who could potentially help you. My Uncle Gaius. He's been alive a long time and knows pretty much everything about everyone."
     He pointed Sam in the direction of where Gaius worked and Sam thanked the Alpha before heading off in that direction.
                            * * * * *
     The cavern were Gaius worked was very well set up for what he was working with. Naturally carved shelving housed a variety of potions, each neatly labeled and organized, as well as several thick, leather-bound books and wrapped scrolls of parchment.
     Many plants hung in pots suspended in the air by magic, as did several candles.
     The only furniture to speak of in the room consisted of a beautifully carved table and set of chairs, all carved from a long dead tree.
     Gaius swept in from a back room, a vial in each hand, muttering something. He looked up to find Sam standing there, waiting for him.
     "Ah! Hello, Samuel." Gaius said, moving to place the vials in their spot among the other potions. "Sit down and we'll talk."
     Sam obediently sat down in one of the chairs. "I'm here because I had some questions about being a bitten and Merlin said you could help me."
     Gaius bobbed his head in acknowledgment. "Of course I can." He said, grabbing something off one of the shelves and filling a cup with it. He placed it in front of Sam and commanded, "Drink up."
      "What is it?"
      "It's a tonic to heal the body and ease the mind."
      "Do you have bigger cups?" Sam asked, partially jokingly, noting how small the cup looked in his big hands. "Nevermind." He added, shaking his head.
      Sam took a deep breath and drained the cup without hesitation. An immediate feeling of calm settled over him.
      "Feeling better?" Gaius asked.
      "A lot better. Thank you."
      Gaius smiled a warm smile, like the kind one would get from a loving grandfather. "You're very welcome, my boy. Now, tell me what troubles you."
      "Well, it's not so much troubling me. I've just always wanted to learn all I can about a situation. In the past when we were hunting, Dean always wanted to go in guns blazing but I wanted to understand what we were up against."
      "From what I've seen of the two of you, you both have a tendency to be impulsive." Gaius remarked, though not unkindly. "You a great deal less so but it's still there."
      "True." Sam confessed. "But there's just so much we don't know about weres. Apparently, we know very little about them and it doesn't help matters that now we are what we once hunted and aren't prepared for a situation like this."
     The old man nodded in understanding. "There is much about weres that most don't know, even those who spend lifetimes trying to find out. You can learn much from your fellow weres if you only ask. But, since this is a matter of born verses bitten, I will gladly tell you what I can."
     Therein began a long conversation about the bitten, everything from the transformation itself to what could be expected to happen in the aftermath, including the differences between the bitten and the born.
     "You see," Gaius explained, "what a bitten becomes is based off of the kind of person they were before. Considering the fact that you and your brother were hunters before, it's highly likely that you'll both be much stronger than most weres as well as much larger and be better trackers. You'll be unendowed but what you lack in magic, you more than make up for in pretty much everything else. And...I believe you're both Alphas since you seem to have the traits of one."
     Sam nodded, processing this information. "There is one other thing I wonder about, though. Why is it that Dean and I have so much trouble shifting? I thought it might have something to do with the fact that we are bitten rather than born but it seems like Chad and Eric have gotten the hang of it much quicker than us."
     Gaius furrowed his brow in thought. "Well if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that it's because you haven't let go of your past."
     A sudden noise from the doorway caught their attention and they both turned to see Dean standing in the doorway, watching them.
     "Sapphira thinks it's because we used to hunt weres so we are subconsciously rejecting the wolf. Whatever that means." Dean contributed in response to what he had heard.
     The old man exhaled loudly before explaining, gesturing for Dean to take a seat as well, "She's right. You see, every were has one thing in common: they all have two sides, these being a human side and a wolf side and both are very different in many ways, including their lifestyles. So, in a way, the human and wolf are always at war with one another until you learn to accept that they are both you.
     "You are both, y'see...the human and the wolf. You need both because you are both and that's what makes you special. But, with that power, comes a very difficult task: to know when to embrace the human or the wolf.
     "So when it comes to shifting, the wolf inside of you is ready to come out, to run and be free from the human it is trapped inside of. When you haven't learned control, your body likes to remind you that a wolf is taking over and sets alarm bells going off in your head. And, as Sapphira has no doubt explained, if you let your human brain take over, you will lose control. It is only through accepting both that you learn control.
     "Now, to answer your question, the reason the others don't have as much trouble is because they have accepted themselves. But that's not always the case. Many of both bitten and born alike have struggled to accept that they are both. I trust you've met Ruby?"
     They nodded.
     "She used to deny herself too but all that changed when she found her true mate. For the two of you, it will be harder. You've gone from hunting weres to being one and that makes things difficult. Some part of you will always want to fight the wolf. But you mustn't. Learn to let go of the past, what happened to your parents, and accept what you are. That is the only way."
     "But weres killed--" Dean began but Gaius cut him off.
     "I know what they did. But I have spoken with Morgana, Merlin's sister. She is a seer that can see events in the past, present, and future. Those weres that killed them were ferals. And there's something else you should know. When Merlin was younger and a few years before he met Rose, he found those ferals killing humans and wiped them out for their misdeeds."
     Dean swallowed, tears pinpricking his eyes. "So...even before Merlin ever knew us, he was taking care of us, at least indirectly."
     Gaius nodded, solemnly. "Merlin is an Alpha that loves and cares for his pack dearly. He would do anything to protect it. But he will also care for humans, at least from unnecessary threats."
    Gaius placed a withered old hand on each of the boys' shoulders. "I know you've had a bad past with  weres but, just know, we are not all the same. Most of us only want to protect those we care about, our homes, our packs, our mates and pups, and our families. Take that into consideration the next time you try to shift. Remember, being a were doesn't make you a monster. You are what you are. It's your actions that define you, that define all of us. And remember that the wolf in you will not hurt you."
     The boys stood and thanked Gaius for the advice. Gaius smiled. "Anytime, my boys!" He called. "Oh and be sure to rest up! Tonight is the harvest moon!"
     With that, they headed out, their resolve now putting a new pep in their steps as they headed back towards their new home.