As twilight settled in around the Gibson home, the pack gathered for dinner, and like all large families, it was loud. At least two conversations were taking place at all times between the passing and consumption of food and drink. After dinner, the pack split up into smaller groups while they waited for the moon to rise.

Kaiden and Nate found themselves on their own for a moment as their grandparents had wrangled Hazel and Axel into doing dishes. Kaiden had only narrowly escaped the chore when Nate pointed out that they'd already been doing them the last few nights, so it was only fair that they be spared.

The two had retreated to the only place where it was acceptable to play loud music and smoke weed, which was the cab of Kaiden's truck. Kaiden actually had the volume down for the moment and Nate had pushed his seat back as far as it could go so he could lounge with his boots on the dash.

"Maybe..." Kaiden started as he let out a gust of smog "Maybe you could just ... try to avoid upsetting the beta's pup?"

"Eh, she'll live."

"I'm not asking for her sake."

"Are you concerned because she's Dakota's kid or because she's your half-sister?" Nate pondered aloud.

Kaiden was quiet a moment.

"I'm concerned because if you get kicked out of the pack, I'm not going to have anyone to hang with." Kaiden chuckled, brushing some hair behind his ear to remove some of the studs and other earrings. All of the silver ones, anyway.

"Well...what about that Sean kid?" Nate asked, but before Kaiden could reply, a car pulled up and drew both boys' attention. "Looks like your mom came after all..." Nate murmured before finishing off his Mountain Dew.

This time, Kaiden didn't try to respond — no witty joke, no casual observation, only silence as he watched the women head towards the house.

He disliked her. Not quite hate, but a severe dislike, and it had everything to do with his father. She had crushed his old man and took advantage of his uncle. His dad had recovered, sure, but never fully... and Kaiden doubted he ever would.

About a half an hour passed before Hazel stepped out onto the porch with Karla skipping along behind her. The teen strolled up to Kaiden's truck, beaming as he rolled down the window for her.

"Everyone's gathering back behind the house to shift, are you coming?" Hazel wondered in a sweet, melodic tone before turning her attention to Nate. "Axel thinks you're already bitching out of the fight, by the way," she added as Karla grabbed onto the handle of the closed driver side door. The pup was trying to tug on it or climb up maybe... Hazel wasn't sure.

"Why's it smell so bad in your truck?" Karla said while her face contorted into a disgusted look. "And dad says smoking is bad for you."

Kaiden exchanged looks with Nate before both rousted into motion. Kaiden kept a strong grip on the door as he gingerly opened it, careful of the petite girl hanging on it.

"That's right, smoking is bad, that's why it's so stinky," Kaiden agreed. He might have expected Nate to have his own opinion on the matter, but he was already way ahead of them. Hazel's recount of Axel's words had spurred Nate into an almost full dash.

"Do you enjoy encouraging them?" Kaiden asked quirking one brow at Hazel with a small and slightly disapproving smile. While he had to admit it was entertaining to watch Axel and Nate play top dog, he had this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"If it gets me some time alone with you," Hazel replied effortlessly — her eyes locked on Kaiden's sharp features.

"I'm still here," Karla said flatly, dropping from the door. "Are those real glasses, cuz they don't look like real glasses..."

"Nope, they're fake." Plucking the thin round frames from her face, Hazel handed them to Karla, giving Kaiden a brief reprieve from her hungry gaze. "They look pretty on you. You should show your dad," she suggested, smiling a little wider as the pup ran off with the borrowed fashion accessory.

Kaiden found himself still staring at Hazel though that feeling in his stomach had now grown about tenfold. Her forwardness caused him to take a step back from Hazel, and even though he was much taller, he felt intimidated by being alone with her.

Meanwhile, Nate joined the rest of the pack. While he was scanning the lot for Axel, a heavy hand gripped his shoulder.

"There ya are!" Kaiden's father, Slade, must have known he'd startled Nate because he emitted a hardy laugh.

Slade was an imposing figure, at least at first. With his broad build, leather biker vest, and long, copper ponytail, he looked like every tough guy you'd see astride a Harley Davidson. At least until you got to his eyes, which were bright, kind, and framed with laugh lines. It was no secret where Kaiden got his easy-going nature from.

"Where's my pup?" Slade wondered, looking around. "He's usually with ya."

"He's taking his sweet time...like always," Nate replied before adding, "Seen Axel?"

The big man nodded. "Yeah, back over there," Slade pointed with his thumb over his shoulder and like that, Nate was already heading off in that direction.

Axel puffed his chest out as he spotted Nathan, widening his stance while he slipped the silver rings off his middle finger and thumb, pocketing them quickly. The jock couldn't look any smugger than he already did.

"Needed to medicate first? It's cool. I get it," the alpha's son taunted in a lazy tone. "I'm honestly more surprised you took me seriously." Something in Axel's demeanor shifted as he rolled his shoulders.

He came closer to Nate until they were nearly nose to nose. Axel was a little taller, had wider shoulders, and more muscular arms. "I mean, I kicked your ass so bad last time, I didn't think you'd be up for the embarrassment, but maybe all that weed and shit fried your brain a little since then."

Axel didn't have any more time to jeer at Nate, however. It was time to shift. He could see people had already, which meant his father had definitely shifted as well.

From the elderly to the pups, every wolf in the pack had to know their place. It was how they functioned. And once the alpha had shifted, it was game on.

Dakota shifted before Karla while her mother watched from the back porch with carefully masked concern, as her beautiful little girl became a scrappy, leggy wolf. Regina knew the pack wouldn't hurt her daughter, but it still unnerved her to watch the pack members reaffirming and or reestablishing their roles.

Dakota barely had time to turn and face Travis as the alpha came barreling down on him first. Karla stumbled clumsily away from her father as she watched him stand his ground, but lower his head just below Travis's eye level, wagging his tail in line with his back.

Travis nosed his beta a couple times before resting his chin on Dakota's scruff, his piercing eyes scanning the rest of the pack. After a moment, the alpha trotted away with his ears forward, and his tail held nearly straight up in a dominant, confident posture.

Slade was one of the last to shift, and nearly as soon as he had, he tucked his tail and lowered his head. He carefully made his way towards the rest of the pack, dropping to his belly when other members approached, dutifully displaying his position within the pack.

In a span of less than a minute, Nate had traded his human clothes for black fur and was on top of Axel. Pack protocol was usually to wait for the Alpha to establish his dominance first before the lower the members worked out their ranks, but Nate was counting on that. Axel wouldn't expect him to make a move so early and that would give him the edge.

Nate's attack drew a startled yelp out of the white wolf he'd got the drop on, though Axel recovered quickly. An enraged growl and snarl tore from his throat as he tried to throw both his and Nathan's weight to the side. If he could buck the other boy off, he'd have a fair chance, but he knew that was exactly what that dirty half-human didn't want... a fair fight.

The moment Nate felt Axel try to throw him, he bit down on the other wolf's ear to stir his unruly packmate while using his hind legs to gain leverage. He couldn't let Axel win, he'd been in the lower rung of the pack for long enough. He'd decided that all ended tonight, starting with Axel.

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