Both Alex and Cassy sighed in relief that Tyler was not showing any signs that their leaving bothered him by the time the last brother and his family left.  Instead he had waved and waved until the last car had taken the last bend.  He had cocked his head and listened intently for a short while before taking Ellie’s hand and leading her back to the house.  Cassy followed as Alex took her hand, the other kids following them inside, Tyler leading the way to the kitchen.

Alex watched in silence as Tyler lifted Ellie onto a chair, then he took out the juice and poured a plastic cup half full and gave it to her.  After he put the juice back into the fridge, he started collecting all the dirty cutlery on the huge table the kids had their breakfast at.  All twenty five of them.  Alex allowed himself a huge grin at the thought of how big his family had grown before worry settled in him again.  Even though he had enjoyed having his brothers and their families over, he had been concerned about what Tyler had said before Brian and Sam had arrived.

Was Tyler really able to hear his family and if he did, how was it even possible?  But the thing that worried him most of all was how Tyler would cope with all of this.  Right through the weekend he had kept an eye on his son, but Tyler had not mentioned anything like that again.  Instead, nothing but pride had filled him while he saw how his son had taken care of his cousins and siblings.  Tyler had watched out for the smallest of them and made sure that they were safe while they were with the ‘big’ kids.  He always made sure that they were fed when they were hungry and if by any chance they got hurt even a little, he was there in a flash.

Tina had even joked and said she had been replaced by a kid smaller than she was when her youngest, two year old Liam had fallen and hurt his knee.  Liam had ignored his mother and had gone crying to look for Tyler.  Later they had found Tyler in the bathroom cleaning the barely there scrape on the little chap’s knee as Liam had stared at his oldest cousins with awe in his tear stained face.

No, Alex shook his head.  If his son was somehow able to sense people in ways other than what they knew and it enabled Tyler to do what he was doing when he was caring for his family; it could not be anything but right.  He might not understand it, but he would give his son all the support he needed.  Even if he did not understand it at all.  Once he had reached that decision he felt Cassie’s support and it strengthened his resolve to try and understand what was happening to his son.

Tyler sighed; he could feel his dad’s worry.  It sounded loudly in his ‘ears’ as the cozy fire sound he normally associated with his father sparked and spat in agitation.  But not in an angry way.  Oh no, when his dad was angry the fire roared with a fury as if it were ready to eat everything that was in its way.  Tyler had been careful not to talk about hearing anybody after he had slipped that first time when he had been so over excited to hear that his uncle Brian and his family were almost here.

A while ago his father had done his best to explain how it would feel when he would hear the other members of the pack once he shifted when he had asked about it.  He had almost told his dad that he could already hear them that day.  But something had stopped him.  Tyler had thought that it was normal ‘hearing’ the other pack members until his dad spoke about the pack link.  That was the first time he had thought that something was wrong with him.

That started him thinking about all the ways that he thought he might be different.  But because he did not know everything about what it meant to be a full member of the pack; he could not see all the differences.  So then he had tried his to find out more about what changes would take place when a person shifted for the first time.

His father did not tell him much except to say that he would be faster and stronger.  His mother said that he would be able to recognize his mate.  Some of the older teens who had just changed had talked about how they were able to see and hear better.  Somehow they did not think that smelling better was a good thing.  Especially when the girls walked past them.  Actually that was a bit strange, because he knew they were telling the truth, and lying at the same time.  They liked what they had smelt.  That made him wonder if he would also like the way girls smelt when he was older.

Rebeccah and Audrey stood at his sides as they also started collecting dishes.  As the eldest children in the Grey household most of the chores fell on their shoulders.  Not that they minded much, they always liked that they were able to help their mother.  And Sean tried to help as much as he could stay focused on one task and little Ellie was a danger to any thing.  Her little hands always found what they shouldn’t.  Luckily Cassy had gone through and baby-proofed her home so most of the more sentimental things were safely packed away until the kids were big enough to know when to keep their hands to themselves.

Tyler handed some of the plastic cups and plates to Sean when he insisted in helping and they all took the dishes to their mother as she packed the dishwasher.  Ellie proudly held her cup out when she had emptied it and Tyler smiled at her as if she were the cleverest girl for finishing her juice; making the little girl clap her hands together in glee.

With the dishwasher going, the three oldest kids went straight to the study to finish homework.  The girls doing the work their teacher had given them and Tyler worked on the computer.  Cassy and Alex had taken all three kids to the school in town, but Sean had cried so much that it had upset Tyler and his sisters too much and they had decided to home school Tyler.  Rebeccah and Audrey were fine on their own but they insisted on doing their homework in the same study as Tyler.  And no matter how hard Cassy tried to slow down Tyler’s pace; it was pretty clear to her that he would be finishing early as well, just like his uncles and dad.

As the day had started off eerily quiet the rate of ‘incidents’ as Cassy referred to them started increasing as the day grew older.  Firstly Rebeccah and Audrey started snickering and then outright laughing at each other without reason and soon Tyler banished them from the study so that he could finish off his math problems.  Sean proved to be more innovative than normally; obviously making up for lost time and he somehow managed to end up locked in the pantry.  It was only after Tyler had picked up on his distress of suffering a nasty case of nausea from eating too many sweets that he was found.  And the bright Ellie proved to Cassy just how badly she had baby-proofed her home.  Just after three Alex gave up and ran outside mumbling something about changing shifts for the perimeter runs.

At the dinner table Alex looked at his brood strictly and told them that they had better behave the following day.

Audrey looked at him with a hurt expression on her face, not believing that her father could think she had been naughty while Rebeccah was stunned that what they did today was any different than what happened on other days.

Ellie just clapped her hands; happy to be included with what ever her other brothers and sisters were.

Tyler giggled and when Cassy looked at him, he shrugged.  “They just didn’t know what to do with themselves today.  Tomorrow should be like normal again.”

“That’s what worries me.”  Cassy muttered as she stood up to clear the table, Alex helping her while Tyler went upstairs to run Sean’s bath.  While the boys were bathing the girls chose their outfits for school the following day.  It always amazed Cassy that these two girls were such girly girls already.  When she was their age, she was mostly running around with Gareth and getting into trouble with him.  But she knew that Alex loved spoiling his two girls with something new whenever he went into town.  If you talked about the doting dad, he would be the perfect role model.

Alex had also taken something else she had said to heart.  At least three times a week, he would run around outside in his wolf form while he played with all five of his kids.  They learnt that their father did not mind being poked or having his fur pulled at with tiny fingers.  Something else they loved was riding on his back as he loped around the house as they clung tightly to him.  Both he and Cassy made sure their kids would not despise who they were and made it clear to them that they were part of the ‘alpha team’ by always including the kids when there was any official pack business to take care off.

That night when all the kids were safely tucked into their beds Alex made sure that all the lights were off downstairs before going up to bed.  He walked past his bedroom to peep into all the rooms to check that the kids were all sound asleep.  Cassy was already in bed so he rushed to brush his teeth before he joined her.

“The house is so quiet without them.”  Cassy said as she snuggled up close to him when he held his arm open for her.

Alex inhaled her scent deeply before kissing her temple lightly.  “I know.  Just when I got used to all the hustle and bustle they left.  We should make it a house rule that if they all come to visit; they have to stay until we kick them out.”

Her throaty laugh vibrated through him and he smiled in response, but soon the smile made place for a slight frown.

Cassy smoothed his frown with her fingers.  “I really think that you should stop worrying about Tyler.  If you worry, he is going to pick up on it.  You know that he is much quicker to pick up on emotions than anybody else I know.”

“I know.  It’s just that I can’t help but worry for him.  Not about him.  This does not seem to bother him at all.”  He sighed in frustration.  “And it would be a lot easier if I knew exactly what I was worried about.  I don’t want to ask him questions that he does not know how to answer.”

“Alex; you have always told me that you never used to hassle your brothers if any of them had something on their mind.  Do the same with Tyler.  If he needs to speak with you, I am sure he will come to you.  Perhaps he just needs to figure things out for himself as well before he comes to you.”

He took time to nibble at her neck before he continued their conversation.  “I just feel so frustrated because I keep thinking that I should have been able to pick this up.  If he hadn’t said anything, I would not have known about this.  I also keep on wondering when it all started.”

“I have wondered about that too.  And seriously, I don’t know.”

Both were quiet as they cuddled; drawing strength from the other.

“Hey!”  Alex sat up straight so suddenly Cassy rolled off and landed on the bed with a huff.

“What?”  She asked as she fought back laughter at his apologetic face.

“I just had a wild thought.  Do you think his ‘hearing’ the others had anything to with how he knew when all the pack babies were born?”

“Hmm, it may be.  When the girls are at school and the other two are busy, you should have a talk with him.  Perhaps if you ask about something he cares about a lot it will be easier for him to find the right answers.”

“Yeah, I will do that.  You are very clever, do you know that?”  His voice had become husky and sent delicious shivers down her spine.

“I think we are both clever.”  Cassy said as she weaved her fingers through his hair when he began kissing the edge of her mouth.

Mid morning the following day Alex had to come back home to pick up some papers that had to go into town, so he decided to steal Tyler away from his computer and take him along.  This would be as good an opportunity as any to have their little talk.

On their way out at last Alex gave himself a brief moment of luxury to wonder if Tyler could sense that he was feeling nervous.  Well, perhaps nervous was not quite the right word for what he was feeling at the moment.  Apprehensively cautious might be more appropriate to what he was feeling.  How the hell do you go about asking your seven year old son to explain something you have no clue about?

Alex threw a quick glance at Tyler and saw him sitting with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face as he frowned at something through the window.

“Just ask already!”

Frustration leaked out very clearly when Tyler spoke and Alex knew it would not be fair to the child to keep him hanging like that for much longer.  Luckily he saw the ‘broken’ tree just up ahead that Tyler had spoken about when he said he had heard Brian at the start of their get together.

“OK, can you tell me how it happened when you hear Uncle Brian?  How you did it; did you listen for them and this was when you started hearing them, or did you start listening at the broken tree?”

A look of relief flashed over Tyler’s face before concentration set on his face as he tried to answer his dad properly.  “You once said that the broken tree was almost half way into town, so this is where I listened from.”

Alex took a few moments to think about what he had heard.  Tyler said that he had listened from here, did that mean he could have heard them earlier, and if so, how much earlier?

“Would you have been able to hear them from town?”

Tyler squirmed around in his seat.  Immediately Alex noticed that his son was reluctant to give a reply.  He ruffled Tyler’s hair playfully and then gave his leg a quick squeeze.  “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.  I am just trying to understand.  OK?”

Tyler nodded his head and swallowed before saying anything.  “I didn’t listen far when they came, but I tried to listen for as long as I could when they left.”

Alex waited patiently for Tyler to continue.  While he waited he wondered about a lot of things.  The first thing he thought about was to wonder what he sounded like to his son.  It took him a short while to realize that Tyler had not carried on talking and he looked over at Tyler.

“And; for how far, or how long where you able to hear them?”

Tyler was reluctant to say anything, but after his father nodded encouragingly, he began explaining carefully.  “I can still hear them now.  Very softly, and only the uncles ... and Lucy.  I like to think that I can also make out Ricky, but he and Uncle Brian sound almost the same so it is difficult to say for real.”

Alex grunted in surprise, the car swerving slightly.  With his mind reeling at what he had just heard, he pulled over.  He sat like that for about two minutes trying to understand what the repercussions would be for what Tyler had said.  Damn!  He could not even hear Brian and his son could?  For a while he battled to wrap his mind around the concept that his son had a new and strange ability that neither he nor Cassy would even know how to handle.  How were they supposed to help Tyler if they didn’t know about this?  And for that matter, how had Tyler been coping with this without any support?

“And you?  Are you OK?”  He asked urgently, too concerned to mask his worry.

Tyler looked at his dad with surprise written all over his face.  “Yes?”  Tyler shook his head at his dad like he had seen his mother do so many times.  “I have always been able to hear you guys.  It just wasn’t this loud to start off with.  It has gotten so clear now that I know that mommy is visiting with Dinah right now.  Sean and Wade are playing together and they are making Ellie cross.”

Alex reached for his mate and he sat there stunned as she confirmed every detail.  Alex looked at his son; amazement and a deep worry building up in him.  “What do we do now?”

Tyler smiled at his dad and patted his leg gently as he had done to Tyler a short while ago.  “We don’t do anything.”