Dean settled in... well, he spent about three days completely catatonic, muttering to himself about wolves and the nobility... so, not great, per se...

But after he'd snapped out of it, he was pretty adaptable. He's been able to hunt his own meals, find the river on his own, go out on his own without getting helplessly lost. Better than Sam had managed in his first week.

The newest wolf was fitting in rather well with us, and I could even call him a good friend of mine. Though, he and Sam got on the best. Their relationship reminds me of mine and Flare's, easy and relaxed, though a bit more... Sam-ish. His and Dean's personalities seemed well-suited for one another.

Moving on from the subject of their newest member, I turn my attention back to Flare, who sat, delicately smoothing the walls of his den with his paw pads.

"What did you want to talk about?" I ask.

Flare glances back to me, sighing. "When was the last time you felt guilty about the idea of killing a human?"

I frown. Flare wasn't the type to pull your leg about this kind of thing. Even though we'd only known one another a few months, I feel as though we were life-long friends. He is, without a doubt, one of my most trusted (though, who else was there to trust?).

So, instead of joking around, I think for a moment.

"I... I don't recall," I answer carefully, frowning in concern. "Thinking about it now, it's not guilt or even disgust that I feel, rather... indifference,"

Flare hums. "And one of our pack? Or even another wolf like us? How would you feel killing them?" He was clearly going somewhere with this.

I look away, brows furrowing in thought.

I feel a sense of affection and connectedness, of family, when I think of us. The word 'pack' seems an apt descriptor. To even consider killing one of them... it brings the awful taste of bile to my mouth, and an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, a tight feeling in my chest.

I look Flare in the eyes, shuddering. "Just the thought makes me feel... disgusted, outraged, I think... sad" I force out, taking a deep breath to calm myself. "It saddens me," I finish with conviction.

The other wolf nods, walking over to me, nudging me on the neck with his head. A comforting gesture, though I'm not sure why.

"I have a theory, my dear friend," he said, in a solemn sort of way.

My ears twitched. "Do tell,"

Flare sat in front of me. "I think, that when we go through the transformation, it's not just our bodies that change, but our minds,"

I blink, eyes wide. "Yes, I suppose that would make sense..."

Flare straightened up, clearing this throat. "Tell me, how do you feel about expanding the pack? Turning more humans into wolves?"

My ears perk up, and I immediately answer, "Excited,"

Flare nodded. "I thought you might," he says. "Which moves on to my less grounded theory,"

I lean forward, eager to hear what my friend had to say.

"You, are the Alpha," he begins.

I frown. "Not that I doubt you, Devil, but that was just a silly game we played to get the hunters off our backs," I remind him, confused.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Flare chastises, holding up a paw. "It was something that I said, during the game. Something that I said out of pure instinct because I know, instinctually, that that is what you are," he places his paw back on the ground.

"Think of how easily you can calm the newly-transformed, how you can tell us what to do and we just do it, because you said so,"

I frown, nodding. "O... Kay... I'm following so far. The question is, why am I the Alpha, and not you or Sam or Dean?" I say, cocking my head.

Flare grinned, standing up and beginning to pace the relatively small chamber. "I have two working theories," he begins. "The first is that you are just fundamentally an Alpha, and the rest of us are either some other classification or weaker Alphas,"

"And the second?"

Flare settles down again, tail twitching. "The second is that you are the first wolf like us, and, since you turned us, we default to you as our leader, our Alpha. Which explains why I came back to these woods the night of my transformation, despite having been bed ridden for the last two weeks. It was to find you,"

I nod. "But, I didn't turn Sam, I found him,"

Flare bobbed his head. "Yes, I know, which is precisely why I propose an experiment, if you'll allow it,"

I hum. "Let's hear it, then,"

###

"Now Sam," Flare begins. "The things we want you to do are going to seem a little... strange. But, I want you to ignore the oddness and just focus on how you feel about them. Don't follow through unless you're sure you want to, don't say anything unless you believe it,"

Sam nods. "Okay."

"Do you trust us?" Flare asks.

Sam doesn't even hesitate. "Wit' my life"

The red wolf nods, backing up and taking a seat next to me. "Just listen to whatever Darra says, and remember, don't do them unless you actually want to, and don't say anything if you don't actually believe it," Flare cautioned.

Sam nods once more before looking at me for instruction.

My ear twitches as Flare whispers the command into my ear.

I take a deep breath. "Bow," I repeat the command.

Sam hesitates, then lowers his chest to the ground.

"Do you trust me to protect you, feed you, house you, and offer you my companionship, even when all seems helpless?"

"I do" Sam chimes.

I nod. "Roll onto your back," I command.

He does so, breathing steadily despite having his most vulnerable aria exposed to two full-grown wolves.

"Do you trust this pack to love you, no matter what, and to never betray you, for as long as you exist within it?"

"I do," Sam says.

I nod. "on your belly, tail between your legs, ears back,"

Sam immediately complied, eyes on the floor rather than me.

"Eyes up," I say kindly.

His eyes flicker up to mine, confused yet honest.

"Do you trust the individuals of this pack to treat you their family for as long as you exist within it?"

"I do," Sam says.

"Come closer, keep your belly to the ground,"

Sam crawls closer to me, stopping just shy of my paws.

"Do you accept the hierarchy of this pack and any changes that may happen within it," I pause, thinking over what Flare had just whispered. I decide I slight adjustment wouldn't hurt. "With me as your Alpha, and Flare as your Beta, as having authority over you and your packmates?"

Flare sucks a breath in surprise but quickly gets it together.

Sam hesitates for a moment. "I do," he says, his voice steady, his eyes shining with complete and total honesty.

"Sit up, head low, ears flat, tail still, hold out your left foreleg"

Sam complied.

"Do you swear to serve the pack to the best of your ability, accepting and loving the individuals as they are without exception?"

"I do," Sam says.

And that was my cue. I take a claw, and nick the flesh of his outstretched leg, then repeat the action on my own leg.

I place my cut over his.

"Eyes up, wolf," he looks up. A slow smile spreads across my muzzle. "Welcome to the pack, my friend,"

Sam matches my smile. "Thank you, Alpha," he says, cocking his head at the foreign term.

Flare pulls back, humming. "I think we can call the experiment a success, don't you, Reaper?"