Duncan watched as Blair and Bryn raced around him both in their wolf form. Inside he was seething with jealousy that, at three years older than them, he still hadn't gotten his wolf. The twins were young to have reached their immortality, but it wasn't making him feel better. He wanted his wolf, to feel the ground pound beneath his paws as he ran free and bayed at the moon. He was going to be Alpha one day, he should have his wolf already.

"You ok, lad?" He turned to look at his father as he strode up behind him.

"I'm fine." Replied the younger version of Robert. The two men looked almost identical although Robert had a few more lines on his face.

"You'll get ya wolf when the time is right, lad."

"I know." He Snapped back.

"Ah, lad. I was much older than you when I got mine. You can nay rush it, even if ya be wanting it."

"I know." Repeated the younger wolf, his tone turning angry.

"Ya Ma be looking for you lad." Robert knew his son was angry, but at only twenty-one, Duncan was still considered barely more than a puppy. He stood watching his nieces frolicking as his sister approached him.

"Bryn's going to be a nightmare at the pack meeting." She said as she joined him in watching her daughters.

"Aye, she's going to be sniffing around every wolf there looking for a mate. Never known anyone so desperate to mate and have a family."

"Blairs refusing to go." 

Robert shook his head.

"You know I can't allow that Gara, all immortal, unmated wolves have to go. That's not just our pack rule, it's all packs in Britain. The Gods help her if she's still unmated for the next world pack meet."

"I know Robert, she's a stubborn girl, like her Pa, the God's rest his soul. If he were still here..." Gara broke off. Robert put an arm around his sister's shoulders. It amazed him every day that she was so strong as to keep going after the loss of her mate. He wondered sometimes if she would have kept going had she not been carrying the twins when he died. It would have devastated him to lose his big sister, it almost destroyed him when he lost his parents and brother. The family kept it as quiet as possible so that she could no longer shift into her wolf, if she did sanity would leave her and she would become feral. By law, he should have put her out of her misery, but he couldn't do it, not to his sister and the Isle was so private, it was easier to protect her than a mainland pack would have been. He thanked the God's every day that she'd pulled herself back and been able to retake her human form and prayed she'd never succumbed to the desire to shift again. "Will you speak to her Rob?"

"Aye."

***

"No. If you make me go I'll run away and go on an adventure. I'll... find some pirates, and sail off with them."

"Don't be ridiculous, child." Admonished Agnes as her mate watched the stubborn girl silently.

"I'm not being ridiculous. I don't want to go and you can't make me."

"How dare you speak to your Luna in such an impertinent tone. The Luna and I may not be as formal as other pack leaders but as Alpha, I will not have my Luna spoken to with such disrespect." Robert's tone was unusually stern and his voice low and threatening. "Do you know what other packs would do with an unranked she-wolf who was so disobedient?" Blair's eyes bulged as she stared at her usually easy-going uncle.

"Uncle Robert?"

"Alpha! Until you learn your place you will address me and my Luna by our correct titles. Have I made myself clear?" The girl looked from one to the other, a small nervous laugh escaping her lips.

"Aunt Agnes?"

"LUNA!" Bellowed Robert. Even his mate jumped a little at his booming voice. Robert was always so quiet and easy-going, paired with the idyllic peace of the Hidden Isle was why so few of their wolves ever left.

"I... I'm sorry, Alpha." Stammered the girl as she leapt from her chair and backed towards the door.

"Did I give you permission to leave?" 

She froze on the spot, her amber eyes large as she stared at him.

"N... no, Alpha."

"You will pack a bag and be ready to go to the meeting of clans. You will attend the meeting and search for your mate as is expected of a young she-wolf. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes... Alpha." She added his title quickly. Never had she seen her uncle like this, the wolf in her was whining in her head at being admonished by the Alpha. This submissiveness to the pack leader was a new experience to her, she knew it was hard for a wolf to go against their Alpha, but the experience was not what she would ever have expected and not one she liked.

"You may leave." He said dismissively, turning from her to face Agnes. As soon as the girl was gone he slumped a little and breathed a sigh. "I'm not cut out for that." Agnes gave him a seductive smile as she smoothed out the front of her plain brown cotton dress, her yellow gold eyes dancing with amusement.

"I thought you were very commanding, Alpha." She purred as her hand and her fingers danced up his chest. The wolf chuckled, the creases around his amber eyes deepening as he watched his mate smile seductively at him. She was a curvy little woman with hair the colour of copper and the kindest face he'd ever seen.

"Did my Luna like seeing her Alpha be a strong and commanding pack leader?"

"She did." Drawled the she-wolf as she leant towards him.

"Then I order her to our bed chamber." Agnes bit her lip as she gazed up at him. "Now wench." He said half laughing as she turned and he grabbed at her backside. Shrieking like children, the couple raced through the small castle that had always been home to the Alphas of the Hidden Isle and up the steep steps to disappear into their bed-chamber.

***

"My Da really yelled at ya?" Blair sobbed onto her cousin's shoulder as they sat on the coast, their legs dangling over the edge of the rocks into the salty water. Duncan watched his line trying not to think too much about her sobs scaring off the fish.

"Aye. He ordered me as my Alpha to go to the meeting of clans and search for my mate."

"Wow, ya must have really annoyed him. He hasn't yelled at me since I let a wild boar piglet loose in the castle."

"It's not funny, Duncan." She shoved at him and wiped the tears from her face.

"Do not be soft, Blair. You won't find your fated. Ya too young."

"I have my wolf. I'm not too young."

"Everyone says you are. You shouldn't have your wolf yet let alone your mate."