"Son," Eli knew this tone as the Gamma Pearson tone, one he rarely used towards his nearly 8 year old child. He stood attentively in a military "at ease" position, one that their Yawara used in the children's training, as he was former US military, and had a preference for that pose when he instructed his classes.

         His father smiled at it, relaxing histone, "You're a bit young to worry about officially following my orders, boy. Come sit beside me."

        "Yes sir," the child scampered up on the couch and under his father's arm. He barely fit.

        "I met a little girl while on patrol, last night, from your class."

          Eli squirmed, as he was at the "girls have cooties" stage of childhood, "Why would I care about some stupid girl?"

        His father chuckled, "Son, you should care about everyone, even those girls. You're going to be a protector of the pack, one day. That means you have to have some care for even girls and humans. It's a life of sacrifice. Which is why I called you over—I'm going to give you the job of being this little girl's friend so you can practice being her protector, alright?"

        Taking up such a role at a young age was a responsibility which he wasn't expecting—which made him curious, finally. "Who is she?"

       "A little one named Nelle Barr. Quite little. We think there's something wrong at home, and we can't get an adult in there. Your job is to keep her out of whatever you can, and to find out just what is going on. You're going up against a grown human male, so you're not going to win in ahead-on fight, so you're going to have to be careful, and call for help if things go wrong. Either I or Alpha Vale will be nearby, at all times, alright?"

         "What am I looking for?"

         "Signs that he beats Nelle or her mother. If you hear him or see him actually do either, you're to call us in, and keep Nelle behind you. Do you understand?"

          The boy nodded against his father's ribs. For once, he was excited to go to school the next morning. He had a friend to make with some girl—which wasn't important. The responsibility was.