Derek grimaced. Leaning forward to look at the page had sent another lance of sharp pain up his arm. The wound had improved since the day before, but it still hurt to move it too much. Even something as simple as trying to get a better angle on the coloring page in front of him was painful. It wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with pain from doing simple tasks, however. Despite how much Sean thought of him as soft, Derek’s training regimen had been brutal. There were more times than Derek had bothered to keep track of that he was left in mild to severe pain from his training sessions.

A tiny head popped into his field of vision. “Mr. Derek, why are you making those flowers orange?”

Derek eyed the little girl, Annie, who was one of the group of children who had all but kidnapped him in order to spend time with them. “Because those flowers are orange.”

Annie squinted at the picture. “My mommy told me that the orange flowers at the store are just dyed that way, and that people color them like that on purpose.”

Derek shook his head. “There are some flowers that grow like that.”

“So, there really are orange flowers?” she asked, hopeful.

Derek smiled. “And pink ones, yellow ones, red ones, purple ones, and ones that are a bunch of different colors. Gaia’s creations come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.”

“Who’s that?” she asked, scrunching up her forehead.

The other child, Stephan’s son Rico, popped his head up from the page he was focusing on. “Oh, I know! She’s supposed to be this lady who lives in the ground, and sometimes the sky, and she made everything.”

“That’s…one way of thinking about it. I guess you guys don’t know much about that, huh?” Derek asked.

Both children shook their heads, with Annie piping up. “Is there really a lady that lives in the ground?”

He knew this was potentially dangerous ground to tread. This pack wasn’t fond of the traditional tales about the creation of the world and werewolves. Considering all of Sean’s warnings to Derek to not meddle in pack affairs, he wasn’t sure if this was a safe topic at all. The interested look on the children’s faces told him that he wasn’t going to get away with changing the subject. Derek had dealt with his fair share of children back in the sept, and he knew that a child’s curiosity was as tenacious and stubborn as a greedy man’s hold on his money.

“Well, there are werewolves who believe that the world, and everything in it, was created by Gaia. They believe that she is the Mother to every living thing, from humans to trees, and even the ground itself. She even made werewolves, and she made them to watch over her creations and to keep them safe,” he said, trying to think of the safest explanation.

“Do you believe it?” Annie asked.

“It’s what I was raised to believe, and what I’ve been taught my whole life,” he told her carefully.

“Yeah, but do you believe it?” she insisted.

He squinted at her. “You’re pretty clever for someone your age, you know that?”

Rico snorted. “Her mom tells her that she’s nosy.”

Annie glared at him. “Well, at least I don’t have a weird nose like you do!”

Derek chuckled. “I think noses are always weird, don’t you?”

“Does that mean you think my nose is weird?” Annie asked.

Derek shrugged. “It’s no more weird than my nose. And there’s nothing wrong with being a little curious about things. It can be a good thing. You just…sometimes you have to be careful about what you’re asking. Some things are private, or not your business.”

Annie sighed. “That’s what my mommy says too, but I can’t help it.”

Derek tousled her hair with a short laugh. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll learn. One day, your mom might just be glad that you wanted to know so much.”

“You think so?” she asked.

Rico looked up from his page again, face brightening. “Sean!”

Derek turned from the table to see the Alpha standing a couple of feet away. He’d been wearing a strange expression on his face until the kids leapt up from the table to dive toward him. Sean’s eyes went wide as he stumbled back, now having two small children latched onto him.

“Good Lord, you two! I was only gone for a few hours,” Sean said as he tried to pry the children off unsuccessfully.

“Yeah, but you never come see us even when you are here,” Rico told him with a pout.

“I just saw you mongrels the other day. Remember, you dragged me into playing with you?” Sean said with a sigh.

“For like, five whole minutes,” Annie protested.

Sean rolled his eyes. “Little girl, you might know a lot more than you should, but you still haven’t learned how to keep track of time. It was a lot longer than five minutes. I had to reschedule a meeting with one of the other alphas for that, you know.”

“Yeah, but we’re more important,” Rico told him, matter of fact.

The Alpha sighed. “Alright. Well, if I promise to come see you guys again soon, will you let me go? I’ve gotta take Derek to go see the Big Man.”

“Do you really promise?” Annie asked, looking at Sean suspiciously.

“Totally promise,” Sean said gravely.

That seemed to be enough for the kids, who let go of Sean with a burst of giggling. Derek stood up to follow Sean out of the room, leaving the kids to resume their coloring. The few other children that were living in the building were off somewhere else, having had no interest in coloring. Derek could hear the sounds of their running feet somewhere behind them as Sean steered him away.

“They like you,” Derek said.

Sean shrugged. “No one ever said the kids had good taste.”

“Kids will like anyone, so long as they’re kind…and will play with them,” Derek replied.

“You seem to know your way around dealing with kids. Last time I had a guest here, he just stared at the kids like they were from a different planet,” Sean remarked.

It was Derek’s turn to shrug. “We’ve got plenty of pups back in the sept. Sometimes I go and spend some time with them. My mother always loved it, saying it was good for the children to see more of the pack than just those who were chosen to watch them. My father always frowned on it though.”

Sean glanced up at him with a frown. “Why?”

“He…didn’t feel it was appropriate for someone of…my status to be dealing with pups. That it was for mothers and the caretakers of the proper rank. I just liked spending time with them; they look at things so differently than we do, and they’re, well, far more honest about life than we tend to be. Whether it’s laughing at something without fear of being judged, or just blurting out a rude question, children are the closest things to nature sometimes,” Derek explained.

Sean snorted. “You tell him that?”

“Yes I did, but it made no difference,” Derek admitted.

“No offense, but your dad sounds like a dick,” Sean said.

There was nothing Derek could say that wouldn’t feel like either a lie or a violation of the values he’d been taught growing up. Part of him agreed with Sean’s statement, but there was no way Derek could ever voice a negative opinion about his own father. His pack had risen to a high status, not just for their abilities and accomplishments, but for their respect of those who came before.

“My father is a great warrior and an accomplished leader,” Derek told him instead.

Sean grinned at that. “Yeah, and in case you haven’t noticed, so am I. Doesn’t mean I’m not an asshole.”

“I never said that,” Derek replied neutrally.

Sean laughed. “You probably should. Just might make you feel better. At the very least, it would make you look like less of a pussy.”

Derek flexed his injured arm. “I thought we’d addressed that particular issue already.”

“I’ll give you this much, you’re not useless in a fight. You saved my man’s life, and you took a hit in the process. So, I take back anything I said about you being totally useless, especially when it comes to a fight. But don’t think that magically makes you okay. It’s not hard for a werewolf to be good in a fight, especially if they’re trained their whole life by an expert. And it doesn’t make you less of a pussy if you can’t tell me to fuck off when I’m being an outright dick to you,” Sean said.

Derek sighed. “If you know what you’re doing, why do you keep doing it?”

“I don’t have to play nice with you. Nobody is making me; not even you,” Sean said with a shrug.

Derek stopped walking. “So you’re a bully simply because you can be? How does a bully get anyone to follow him?”

Sean smirked. “Because they do; I’m a good leader, after all.”

“Being a good leader in battle doesn’t make you a good leader. It just makes you a good fighter,” Derek told him.

Sean’s eyes widened slightly. “Why, I think that was you almost insulting me. A few more days here and you might actually call me an asshole.”

Derek’s calm mood was rapidly evaporating as he tried to figure out why Sean insisted on trying to bully him. Did the Alpha simply enjoy trying to push him around for the thrill of it? Was he hoping for some sort of reaction? If Derek wasn’t mistaken, he would swear the Alpha was trying to get some sort of reaction out of him. It was as if Sean wanted Derek to insult him, yell at him, or maybe even take a swing at him.

Derek took a deep breath. “Weren’t you taking me to meet with your leader?”

Sean nodded at the door at the end of the hallway. “He’s in there. He’s a lot nicer than I am, but don’t piss him off.”

Derek walked past Sean. “I didn’t plan on it. I, unlike you, at least remember something of how to be polite.”

“Getting closer!” Sean commented from behind him.

Derek sighed, pushing the door Sean had indicated open and entering what looked like an office. He hadn’t been to every place within the factory, and he was only just realizing that they must have been in the part of the building that had housed the offices, break rooms and other areas for non-factory work. The office he’d entered appeared to retain its original use, with all the equipment and furniture one would expect.

He hesitated in stepping forward when he spotted a richly dressed man standing at the window. “Ah, apologies,. I should have knocked before entering.”

The man turned, his shockingly bright hazel eyes twinkling in the desk light. “No need to worry about knocking, Derek. I apply the same rules to family as I do to my alphas, no knocking necessary.”

“Family?” Derek asked in confusion.

The man, referred to as Big Man by Sean, only smiled and cocked his head with a patient expression. It was the smile that jarred a memory loose from somewhere within Derek’s mind. In an instant, he was back in the sept, barely tall enough to reach his father’s waist, and a large man was crouched before him with that same smile. The memory was as clear to Derek as the comfortable looking chair in the office was. In his mind, he was listening to this man explain, patiently, how to properly tie a knot that wouldn’t give under stress.

Derek’s fingers rubbed together, remembering the feel of the knot in his young grip. “Uncle…Uncle Trent?”

His uncle grinned, eyes lighting up. “Derek, it’s good to see you again.”

Derek reached forward, steadying himself on the back of the chair before him. “By Gaia, you’re alive, you’re actually alive.”

Trent nodded, rounding the desk slowly so he was closer to Derek. “I suppose your father insisted I was dead, didn’t he?”

“I, yes, but I knew you weren’t. I…overheard him speaking with my mother once. I knew you weren’t dead, but I never imagined you were this close,” Derek admitted, feeling a little dizzy.

Trent snorted softly, looking down at the floor. “Your father, my brother, would prefer to pretend to everyone else that I was dead. He was always the better son, at least by our father’s standards. Always prepared for each and every lesson, and taking each one to heart. I always thought he should have been the one who was born first/ He was made for the life of being both Alpha and sept leader.”

Derek could easily relate to that. It was strange how similar that sounded to him and Aron. His brother had always been better at fighting, tactics, learning how and when to throw his weight around, and seemed so much more eager to be important and in control. Derek had only looked forward to the day that he would be free; the expectation that he would one day take his father’s place had always been an afterthought.

Trent continued with a small shrug. “I suppose I’m not at all surprised that he never mentioned he knew I was alive and well. Let alone telling anyone he has kept in contact with me over all these years.”

Derek’s head jerked up. “He’s kept in contact?”

Trent laughed. “Who do you think has been his contact here in the city? My brother is a proud man and wouldn’t bother to talk to just any old common wolf from the city. Only my presence has kept any sort of open communication between the werewolves here and the sept. The Council probably suspects, but it doesn’t matter who sits in those seats now. The Council has always, and will always poke its nose into business that isn’t theirs. I always suspected he kept our communications secret, but I suppose it still stings to hear it said aloud.”

Derek stepped closer. “I just can’t believe it’s really you. I always thought you were alive somewhere, but I never thought I would see you again. Especially not here, in this place. What have you been doing all this time?”

Trent reached out toward Derek. “And I will be more than happy to catch you up on my life, if that’s what you want.”

Derek didn’t hesitate, taking his uncle’s offered hand and squeezing it. “That would be…wonderful. Holy shit, I can’t get over the fact that you’re alive, and here, in front of me.”

Trent laughed. “I never thought I would see any of my family again. I wasn’t quite sure what to think when I heard it would be you that the sept sent. It was only the Council’s official reply that told me, and I haven’t heard from your father since then. I believe he’s a little angry that you’re here at all, and is probably afraid of what you might learn.”

Derek tensed at that. “What I might learn? Is there…something else?”

“There are no dirty family secrets, if that’s what you mean. But what do you think led to my exile?” Trent asked.

“I, well, the fact that you refused to take your place, and my father fought you for the right to lead in your place,” Derek answered slowly.

Trent chuckled. “Well, we can talk about that a bit more. Come on. I’ll treat you to dinner and a few stories. How about that?”