A human.

It wasn't that odd to see a human in the pack, as there were several who had requested sanctuary, either because they knew about the supernatural world and had nowhere else to go, or they had lost their mate in some way.

Some even wanted to join simply for the hell of it. To belong to a pack of mythical creatures. Either way, all entries be it were-creature, shifter or human, got a secure background check before they were permitted to join.

All cases of asylum were judged by a gathering of Alphas, who'd decide to take in the refuge or leave them for one of their other colleagues. Very rarely did humans get rejected from such gatherings and most Alphas jumped for joy when a human actually did ask for asylum.

After all, humans were well desired mates, even if they lacked the instincts that werewolves have in spades. Usually for the most dominant males and females, the human's lack of wolf would make sure their mates mellowed out somewhat.

An Alpha's mate was almost always a human, though there were some cases known where an Alpha was mated to another werewolf. Anyone could be born an Alpha, it wasn't a matter of rank, more a matter of power of the beast residing within. And it was that beast that would feel threatened and become more aggressive, if their mate had a beast of their own.

There were always some shifters who were reluctant to accept humans, even despised them and thinking of humans as inferior beings. To each their own, Brandon shrugged but their pack welcomed the humans with open arms.

So normally when their Alpha, his father, had brought in a new member to the pack, he'd made sure to announce their presence and arrange a meeting so the pack could welcome the newcomer. Then why didn't he do that this time?

The new scent that had trailed through the pack house had been unknown and when Brandon had asked his father about it, he simply said it was a new member. A new member, yet Brandon's father hadn't given him any papers, let alone an introduction?

How odd...

Several of the pack had asked who the new kid was and Brandon had tried to remember if he had somehow missed him during one of the many asylum papers he had categorized and filed away.

Truth was, he didn't have a clue. Father had been letting Brandon do the paperwork to slowly transition the Alpha responsibilities on his shoulders. Brandon admitted that in the beginning he'd been slacking off and joking about, not taking things seriously until the Alpha had taken him by the ear and forced him to join a Gathering.

Gatherings were held whenever people requested sanctuary and as any obnoxious teen that had a good life, Brandon had never paused to the implications of that. Not until he saw several people huddled in the back of the room, the stench of fear and blood thick in the air as they were called in the office one by one.

Father had pointed his son to a chair behind the desk, a stern look in his icy blue eyes as he had commanded him to sit down and watch. And Brandon had. He assumed that was the time where the wool had been pulled from his eyes, where he learned the truth and responsibility of being an Alpha.

It wasn't about power or money, nor was it about status and posturing. It was about the good and wellbeing of the pack members. Because an Alpha was nothing without its pack, and the pack was nothing without their Alpha. That's something that that Jungle book movie got right; The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

An Alpha wolf survived because of his pack. The inner beast was only soothed by the company of others, of being able to help and provide. It needed to be able to provide, to guide and nurture. Without the opportunity to fulfill that urge, any born Alpha would grow mad under the beasts' restlessness.

It had happened before, back in the day where humans hunted down anything supernatural. Young wolves had been cut off from their packs, dying off quickly if they were Deltas. If they had the misfortune of turning out to be Alphas, they would soon turn into savage, mindless monsters.

Hence why humans started believing in the legends of werewolves. Those that had encountered a deranged Alpha and lived to tell the tale were very fortunate indeed, though they'd remain forever scarred. Because they have learned the true nature of Alphas.

Take away an Alpha's pack and you would get nothing more than a bloodthirsty monster that could clear out a forest from all its life sources.

A creature that needed to suppress and dominate, to break another's will in order to regain some semblance of function.

Packs on the other hand needed their Alpha, as they drew from their strength to thrive. They needed the direction and purpose only an Alpha can bring. Without one another, they are nothing.

Throughout each asylum, Brandon had listened and felt his mood dip with the horror stories these people had lived through. Some of the packs were still stuck in their old ways or very influenced by human society, including their ungrounded disgust for same sex couples. Sadly, several of the people who'd ask for asylum came from that group alone.

Same sex mates that had been banished from their bigoted packs, teens who had ran away, leaving everything they knew behind them because of an arranged mating...

But the worst thing that night, the asylum that Brandon would always remember, was the very last one.

A young girl, barely a teen, had walked in with a toddler on her hip. Both had been shivering in fear, tears rolling down her eyes as her shirt seemed to be covered in blood.

His father and the other Alphas had instantly dropped everything and walked over calmly, doing their best to reassure and soothe the frightened children.

"Oh pup... What happened to you?" He murmured, sitting on the floor after he draped a blanket over their shoulders. The girl's lip wobbled heavily, her eyes flitting to the door behind her before whispering, "T-there were rogues... They b-bit me and tried to drag away Maya...Daddy told me to take Maya and run for the pack. He said he'd come after us as soon as he could..."

One of the present Alpha's flicked his fingers through the air, silently requesting for the pack doctor to check out the girl's wounds. Vicious bite marks circled her left shoulder, the wound so deep Brandon could see the bone gleaming in the light from where he was sitting.

The only reason why she was alive was because of their species heightened healing. Otherwise she would've slowly bled to death...

Shaking his head to get rid of the memories, Brandon quickly riffled through the papers once more, double checking to make sure that he hadn't missed any new arrivals. The folder for last week's Gathering was there, but... Brandon frowned as he noticed that the pages didn't match up.

What was going on here? He checked again and again, reviewing the papers to see if he had missed anything. The Gathering hadn't been that big, only a select few humans who'd requested to join; four out of five had been accepted into the neighboring packs. Yet from what Brandon could tell, the fifth human was the one his Father, and Alpha, had accepted.

Slipping his fingers back through the pages, Brandon frowned as he realized three entries were missing... yet, his father only spoke of one new member.

Allowing the papers to settle back together, he sighed and rubbed his cheeks. Why would he keep this a secret, if they could sniff out the new additions and go talk to them in the first place? Brandon knew several of the pack would grow curious enough and trail the scent to the source. It would've been much easier if father had just introduced the new arrival instead of keeping them a secret.

Pushing himself up, Brandon decided to go and find his dad. He didn't want to bother the new arrival too much and scare him off either, so his dad was the only option he had. That is, if the pack hadn't already sniffed him out.

Before the man even reached his father's office, Brandon could already sniff out the new scent of the human and smiled to himself as the scent was strongest right there. Knocking on the door, he could sense a spike of anxiety from inside, along with his father's deep yet soothing voice, telling him to enter.

And above all else, the spicy and overwhelming stench of fear.

Pushing the door open, Brandon remembered what his father taught him and smiled warmly, pulling his wolf down from the surface so Brandon wouldn't come across as too intimidating.

Still, the boy that shot a nervous glance his way was shaking like a leaf, fingers plucking at his nails before he noticed the bad habit and found nothing better than to sit on his hands.

Brandon suppressed the need to chuckle, lips curving up the slightest bit as he closed the door behind him. Father was already giving him a warning look, though it was quite obvious why.

The stench of the boy's fear was filling up the room, attempting to lure his wolf into a Hunt, to get in a predatory stance to chase and pin down the prey.

It reminded Brandon of his earliest memory in wolf form, his first hunt, where he had encountered a rabbit. The primal fear that it had released as it darted away had awoken the wolf's instincts, starting the hunt.

Already he could feel the beast underneath his skin, sniffing at the air and taking delight in the scent, knowing that this human knew what he was up against and knew when to surrender to authority.

The nails on the doorknob were already elongating, digging into the wood as Brandon fought back the beast that reveled in the boy's fear.

Fear. Only prey fears... Only prey runs away from a predator...

Yet on the other hand, his trembling and fear bordering to near hysteria was what also made the Alpha's son want to comfort and sooth him. The beast was torn between treating the boy as prey and treating him like a terrified pup. That, however, could end up very badly if the boy's fear escalated any more.

The curse of being born an Alpha didn't just mean heightened senses and strength. It also meant a more powerful beast, that could easily be lured into the Hunt.

If the boy were to flee now, Brandon highly doubted he had enough control over the wolf to stop him from taking over. The Hunt would make him feral and unable to recognize the boy until it was already too late.

His beast would see nothing more than prey running away and would pin the boy down.

After that, it all depended on how the boy responded. And as Brandon caught another whiff of his fear, he couldn't stop the low snarl that slipped from his lips and vibrated through his throat, nor the way the wolf crawled underneath tight skin, agitated and eager to give chase.

It was a hard habit to break, almost impossible to ignore the instincts but his father's pointed glare told Brandon that his smile was becoming a bit too toothy and predatory for his liking. So the man closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before shooting the kid an apologetic look.

The new arrival didn't seem to notice, eyes watery, hiding behind a veil of long, blonde hair. Twitching and growing even more nervous as he glanced through the room and refused to make any more eye contact.

His fingers twitched as he moved them back in his lap, twisting and pinching at the edge of his sweater. Plucking at the soft plush, fingers sinking into the soft texture before releasing it.

It seemed to be a rather persistent habit, as one side of his sleeve was already plushier than the other. A clear sign of constantly picking at the fabric until it fluffed out in small little clumps.

The boy's fear was more than enough reason to delay on a formal introduction to the pack. If he had such a strong response to Brandon's presence alone, the young Alpha could imagine how he'd feel if the entire pack stood before him.

No wonder his Father hadn't introduced the boy yet. If this reaction was just to him and his Father's presence alone, imagine how he'd respond in the full glare of the entire pack. Dozens of Betas, Deltas and even a few Omegas. The poor kid would have a heart attack.

Or the entire pack would be in an uproar trying to control their beasts from harming the boy.

Which also made Brandon curious though; why would the kid file for asylum in the first place, if he was this terrified in the presence of werewolves?

Taking another deep breath in an attempt to calm down his wolf, Brandon managed a more gentle smile to the boy. Relaxing taunt muscles and curled fingers, gentling his scent into something comforting, sweeter.

It reassured the quivering boy somewhat but still he wouldn't look Brandon in the eye, or the Alpha for that manner. The boy's scent wasn't pouring off of him anymore, making it a lot easier to breathe without Brandon being forced to fight his wolf every few seconds.

"Brandon," Father sighed with a headshake, pushing up from his seat while sending the shivering boy a reassuring smile. "This is my oldest son Brandon." He introduced with a wave and his son nodded at the boy, who managed to offer him a wobbly smile.

When Brandon accepted his trembling hand, he felt pity for the boy when his clammy hand peeped out from the oversized sleeves, dwarfed by his own larger, tanned hand.

The blonde let out a little squeak, lowering his head as he hardly squeezed Brandon's hand back. The young Alpha could tell he wanted nothing more than to yank his hand back, but was too terrified to do so.

Good. Good instincts...

Unconsciously, Brandon's thumb rubbed soothingly over the back of the boy's hand, wanting to comfort and settle down a fellow pack member. The trembling increased for a moment before it slowly disappeared.

His thumb pressed gently into delicate skin, rubbing his scent all over the boy's hand, reaching underneath to the pulsing vein of his wrist.

Spreading his scent over the boy's non-existent scent glands. He knew it was a cheap trick to keep his Alpha at bay, but Brandon knew it would work.

Covering someone's gland with your own scent gave a certain dominance and submission. To have your own scent overpowering the other, staking claim, showing unity.

Brandon's beast purred, elated that it could help and his own agitation slowly dispersed as the boy in front of him settled down along with the wolf.

The small squeak he had produced along with the lowering of his head, had made Brandon's wolf see the boy like a small, terrified pup. It had awakened the need to nurture and comfort within the beast.

Pup. Protect. Guide. Nurture.

"Brandon, this is ... Sean. I'd like you to accompany Sean for as much as your duties allow you, so he can become more comfortable with how the pack works before he's introduced." Brandon nodded at his father's words, keeping a close eye to Sean's reactions, especially when he seemed to pale at the very idea.

"B-b-b-but he, he's an A-Alpha..." The boy stuttered, twisting his face away from him and shakily withdrawing his hand. Brandon frowned at the disproportionate amount of fear at the mere mention of his nature and his father's deep, almost troubled sigh that followed.

"Sean, please...look at me."

The boy did, eyes glistening with tears as he worried his lip, unable to stop his hands from wringing nervously. His breathing caught in his throat to the point he nearly choked on it, before it continued its irregular gait.

Brandon had to grit his teeth, sinking his extending nails into the palm of his hand when he was flooded by a wave of scent that burned his nose.

Sean kept picking at his nails before digging them in the palm of his own hand to steady himself. Father gave him a soft, reassuring smile as he went through his knees, as not to tower over the lad.

"I am Alpha too. What I am...what Brandon and I are, is not something we can choose or change. But I can assure you now, we are not like them. You have nothing to fear here. "

The boy's breath hitched in his throat several times, eyes flickering around the room, as if trying to find a way out.

Terrified. Panicked. Like Prey.

He struggled to calm his breath, squeezing and pulling at his sleeves before Brandon's father reached forwards and gently placed a hand on Sean's knee.

"Sean... I would like you to at least try. Can you do that for me?" Sean's lip wobbled, eyes blinking heavily before they lowered, shivered for a moment. Sean took a few deep breaths, seeming withdrawn, perhaps thinking before Brandon slowly reached out and gently squeezed his hand.

"We can at least try, can't we?" His father shot Brandon a look before glancing back at Sean, relaxing when the boy nodded and cleared his throat. He sat upright and corrected his clothing, fingers curling the damp edges of his sleeves back before he replied in a remarkably steady and calm voice.

"We can try."